With the sun rising up over the horizon, Lily could not wait any longer. As the sun’s warmth graced her wings, she spread them wide and flew from the top of the highest tower, flying down in wide circles until she landed in the castle’s courtyard. The tears had long since dried on her cheeks, replaced by an overwhelming sensation of anger and confusion. She had to find out why Princess Luna had scheduled her to work at the Gala, and there was only one place Luna could be at this time of day: the kitchens.
After taking a slow, shuddering breath to calm her nerves, Lily found that such a simple act did nothing to sate her anger; only one thing could fix that: a confrontation with Princess Luna herself. She flew down in tight circles, feeling an updraft try to push her upwards, but she tilted her wings further down towards the ground, accelerating her descent.
As she neared the ground, she flapped hard a few times, stirring up some dust and dead leaves. Her hooves finally touched upon the ground just outside the main entrance to the castle. She stormed up the steps to the castle’s doors, paying little mind to the two guards that snapped to attention and saluted her as she neared the top. She outranked them, but since she was in Luna’s service, they technically did not have to salute her. Still though, she appreciated the gesture, so she snapped a quick salute back with her right wing as she walked past them.
Though while she loved her job, it kept her from starting a family, an idea that had tugged at her heartstrings for the most part of last year. And now, after over twelve years of service, and twelve years of being single due to her job, she was wholeheartedly determined to change her life for the better.
And hopefully keep her job.
Lily quickened her pace, the words that she had practiced all night long dancing on the tip of her tongue. Nearing the kitchens, she felt her stomach twist itself into a knot as it grumbled; she had skipped dinner last night. She spotted Luna turn the corner at the end of the hallway, walking in her direction. Lily’s steps faltered, though she recovered as she set her jaw. With a quick flick of her tail, she slowed down to a brisk walk, her gaze locked on Luna. As they neared each other, she cleared her throat, making her look up at her.
“Lily, I have been looking for—”
Lily hissed as she blocked Luna’s path. “How could you schedule me for the Gala?” she asked, her tone full of unrestrained anger. She needed Luna to know how badly she messed up. “I thought we were friends.” She started pacing back and forth as she spoke. “I told you Jason asked me out while we were on the train back up here yesterday, and when I got back to the barracks, I saw that you had scheduled me to work the Gala! Ugh!” She flapped her wings once out of frustration as she ground her teeth, her fangs nearly puncturing her bottom lip. Fresh tears sprang to her eyes. “Why? Why? Why?” she demanded, stomping her right hoof onto the cold marble floor as she stopped pacing, standing right in front of Luna.
Luna stared at her for several seconds, her gaze stone-cold. “Walk with me, Lily,” she said, her tone neutral. She took a few steps forward, but Lily blocked her way with her wings spread.
“No! I’ve given you over a decade of impeccable service! I’ve worked every Gala ensuring your safety for the entire time I’ve been a guard, and never has a stallion asked me to go. Never! And now that one finally has, I can’t go because I have to work; the overtime isn’t worth it! Not this time!”
“But I thought you weren’t the type of pony to enjoy the—”
Lily scoffed. “Why, because I look fearsome?” she asked, baring her fangs as she let the side of her upper lip curl up. She tried to fight back a snarl with little success.
“Will you let me speak?” Luna asked with a soft smile as she sat down.
Lily took in her relaxed posture, her smile, and the way that her expression changed. “I... uh... Sure.” She sat down and flicked her tail around her side, then bit down on her tongue to keep herself from speaking, even though her heart yearned to expel her anger in the most glorious of ways. She wondered if she had already gone too far, though Luna’s soft smile soothed her worries about being kicked out of the guard.
Which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing; she’d be free to pursue her romantic interests with Jason.
Luna cleared her throat. “First and foremost, I make those schedules weeks in advance. I wasn’t certain if you were scheduled you to work the Gala or not, but if memory serves, as it usually does, I recall that you volunteered to work this year’s Gala.” She paused as Lily’s ears flicked down. “However...” Lily’s ears perked back up. Luna took a couple of steps forward and laid a gentle wing on Lily’s left shoulder. “I think I can make an exception. You have been an exceptional guard, so I think it’s high time that you deserve a little fun.”
“R-Really?” Lily breathlessly asked.
“Mhm. You should have seen Abigale last night; she was looking all over for you. You should probably go find her and let her know everything is okay. And given the circumstances, I shall forgive your outburst. You of all ponies should know the proper etiquette when addressing a princess,” Luna said with a relaxed smirk.
“I was speaking with my friend, not my princess,” Lily shot back with a grin.
“There is one condition, however,” Luna licked her lips as she folded her wing back to her side. “If you do not attend as my personal guard, we would be one guard position short. If you can find somepony to cover for you, that would be great, but if not, then I suppose we can make do with what we have.”
“Okay! Thank you!” Lily spread her wings wide and flew out an open window, making a beeline for the barracks. She nearly tripped and fell flat on her face from her excitement as she landed, but she recovered by flapping an extra time. “Abi?” she called out as she pushed open the doors leading inside the barracks. “Abi, you in here?”
“Lily!” Abigale scrambled from her bed and trotted towards her. “Where were you? I was worried sick!” She briefly embraced her friend and sat down with a soft smile on her face.
“Sorry about that, I...” Lily pranced in place. “Oh, I just can’t hold it back anymore! Luna said I can go to the Gala, but I have to find somepony to take my place, and I—”
Abigale pressed a hoof against Lily’s lips. “I’ll do it; it’s what I wanted to tell you before you ran out of here.”
“Seriously? You’d do that? But you have that night off!” Lily said, her eyebrows furrowing.
“Well, duh! I’m your friend, and Celestia knows that you need a cute, strong stallion in your life. I do too, but that conversation is for another time and place, and—oof!”
Lily tightened her grasp on her friend and ferociously nuzzled her cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you so much.”
“Heh, you’re welcome,” she said, patting Lily on the back. “You covered for me and took the heat when I snuck those mangos into the barracks all of those years ago, so I got this.”
Lily laughed as she sat back. “Oh wow, I hadn’t thought of that in years! The look on the captain’s face was priceless when I told him I put them in your locker,” she said. “You probably would have been kicked out of the guard if I didn’t take the blame.”
“Probably? More like definitely! That was going to be my third offense, and the captain never did like me.”
“Yeah, because you put a few bad bananas in his armor after exercising one night and let them rot in there till the next day!” Lily shot back with a snicker. “You really should have put the peels somewhere else, and I mean this in the nicest way, but you could have hidden them anywhere else than under your mattress. That wasn’t the smartest thing.”
“No, it wasn’t, was it?” Abigale shot a grin at her friend. “After this, though, you can’t mention that to anybody. I think everypony’s forgotten about what I did, and I don’t want it hanging over me anymore. Nopony’s mentioned it for at least a couple of years now, so... yeah,” she said, rubbing her foreleg with a hoof as she fought back a giggle. “I don’t wanna be known as the banana mare anymore.”
“Then it might be a good idea if you stopped eating bananas altogether,” Lily said. “Wouldn’t want to remind anyone of your little stunt.”
“Ugh, but I love them so much!” Abigale said as she pouted. “They’re so tasty!”
“They sure are, so...” Lily flicked her eyes up to meet her friend’s. “Are you sure that you want to take my shift at the Gala? It’s a ton of work.”
“A ton of work? Come on, it’s not that bad! All you do is stand around looking straight ahead for a few hours, and don’t forget, I’ve done the Gala before.”
Lily rolled her eyes with a grin. “Yeah, that’s what a regular guard does, but you’d be taking my place at Luna’s side for the night. My job is not as easy as you think.”
“...Oh. Guess I’ll find out what I have to do when I report for duty, eh?”
Lily nodded. “Yep! Thanks so much again.” She stood up and flexed her wings. “I’ll be sure to bring you some food and say hi this weekend. Anyways... I need to tell Jason I can go, and the mail isn’t gonna be fast enough!”
“So you’re gonna fly all the way to Ponyville?” Abigale cocked her head to the side. “Are you sure about that?” she asked as she watched Lily yawn. “Did you even get any sleep last night?”
“Nope! I’ll be fine, though, and I can get some sleep when I get there; he’s a really good snuggler,” Lily said, averting her gaze as she blushed. “And I’m sure they wouldn’t mind a little company, either.” She trotted to the doors leading back outside, then glanced over her shoulder. “I hope Luna doesn’t make you do the thing at the Gala,” she said with a wink. She pushed open the doors and took to the skies.
Abigale darted outside. “Wait, what do you mean by the thing? Lily!” She stomped her hoof in the dirt and huffed as she grinned, shaking her head. “She’d totally pull something like that; why didn’t I see it coming?”
woot the date is on
please let the thing be real that would be funny as all hell
OH GOD, NOT THE THING! ANYTHING BUT THAT!
This was cute and really uplifting, plus the writing was brilliant as always, cheers Abyss!
I agree with Viper Pit, please let the thing be real.
I was just thinking about Nightshine the other day and hoping there'd be an update. I glad to hear Lily is getting the night off after all. Thanks Abyss!
Wait... What thing?
Alright, Lily can have a grand time with Jason at the gala afterall!
Okay she had a good reason for it, but I don't exactly like it if they don't accept their own fault or a honest mistake and still keep hinting at "don't be mean to me because I'm a priness".
I mean I just think they could have said nothing instead it wouldn't look bad, this way it looks to me like at least Luna likes to be seen as the high and mighty princess.
that too.
I would like it if Batponies (I call them that because it's easier to write and remember), are something exotic there, I mean that maybe some Mares would make small adcances on him and Lily get's really jealous. Personally I would like it if she would go really overboard with a lot of hissing and everything which would maybe be embrassing to her afterwards.
I`m not sure how their relationship went so far, but I think this would be the first date, which means personally I hope they don't go to fast in their relationship and take it to the next level at the second or third date. I just would prefer to see that it means much to them instead of Lily throwing herself at the first Stallion she gets.
Then again, this could be our main chars chance to stay firm and help Lily not do some hasty decisions beause she maybe fears she would never get another chance and is planning to do everything that could ensure Jason wants to be with her. Now I just like it beause I'm sure I haven't seen that yet.
I hope the thing is a song and dance number. That would be very appropriate. Now let's see how her friend reacts to her colt friend and his adorable adopted filly.
Great update. More Nightshine please
Awesome chapter looking forward to more of it soon. Keep up the good work
Made my day.
omg yes MOAR!!!
8903919
Good luck! I hope your revisions leave you more satisfied.
8903931
Thanks. I've already gotten some good advice; I just need to take some time to implement it. Part of the reason why I didn't make changes to the story back then was because I didn't want to delete thousands and thousands of words. If I deleted an entire chapter to make the story work, then I would lose all of the comments; I don't want that. So... it's gonna take a while to figure that all out.
Не останавливайся, жду продолжение!¡!)))
Please continue
8903492
8904253
King Kai, we got the things.
Here are a few potential errors I noticed in the chapter:
One ‘you’ too many.
BOOYAH! The date is on like Donkey Kong!
... and a pair of batponies have more game than me.
I'm so glad this is continuing. I was really worried it would just stay incomplete for years.
Whoop! Batpony coeties!
it looks as if things are going to work out for Lilly and Jason to go to the GGG.
More or you die a gruesome death.
Can't wait for more
This is another awesome chapter! :D Looking forward for more awesome chapters.
I so love it. Can't wait for the next chapter.....
But i have to...
Cute
9095134
Soon.
Awe Yeah! I'm all caught up now.
9106018
I'm almost done with the next chapter, and I'm hoping to get it out sometime this week, so you'll have more soon.
9106022
No rush. I know how hard it is to consistently put out good chapters.
Mangoes are banned due to an innate need to EEE at the site of such prey, methinks
cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/366999794117246976.png?v=1
9106022
Awesome I am looking forward to it, your story is the reason why became interested in the MLP Fandom.
9125642
Stop. I don't need people defending me. I deleted two of your comments because they crossed the line.
9125839 why not just ban them from commenting anyway so i'm not defending you i'm defending your story that you wrote there's a difference there
9139530
Do you have trouble reading? I told you to stop one week ago, and here you are going at it again. Stop trying to start drama for the sake of drama.
Do it again and I'll block you. Threatening to get my readers banned is totally uncalled for, and you have no power and no right to say such things.
9139530
Threats are always fun and aren't they? Especially when you're threatening someone to defend an author against a joke who has already told you to stop defending him against jokes.
9140510
Lol u for real rn?
9140526
Irony police, arrest this man.