//------------------------------// // Chapter II: Foal // Story: Nocturnal Mayhem // by Silvak //------------------------------// "Nebula? Young one? Are you okay?" Luna asked, shaking me out of my stupor to see what she was giving me a concerned look. "Umm... it was nothing, I just spaced out there for a bit," I answered, blinking owlishly before scrunching up my nose. "And just wait a minute, you can't just declare yourself my guardian just like that," I stated, looking straight at Luna's eyes as she gave me a bemused expression. "So are you saying that I shouldn't be your guardian, little one?" Luna asked, causing me to bristle a bit at being called little. "Yes, I am saying that I don't want to have a guardian," I shot back, wondering if this princess is hard of hearing. "Very well then, I will assent to your desire," Luna calmly replied, causing me to tilt my head in confusion. "Oka—" "I will instead adopt you as my own foal then," Luna said with a smirk, causing my mind to stall for a moment. "Guards, follow us, for I am heading to the dining room so my foal can have a meal," Luna continued as she stood up, placing me on her back before starting a trot. "...What just happened?" I finally croaked out as Luna headed inside, with the two horse guards following behind. "I think you just got tricked," Grace said, only to fold her ears back against her head when Luna turned her head around to give the mare a glare. "I mean, it is an honor to meet the newest member of the royal family," Grace continued, giving Luna a smile as she gave her a snort in return before returning her attention to her front. "...Okay, you win this round, for now," I stated as I narrowed my eyes at the back of Luna's head, causing her to let out a chuckle. "I see that you have some steel in yourself. That is a trait I would like to see in my heir, for ponies have grown soft these days," Luna commented, causing me to give her a confused look before turning my attention to the guards. "You two are soft?" I asked, causing them frown at me. "We're your guards, princess to be Nebula," Grace shot back. "Do you think we're soft?" "Yes, yes I do. With coats soft enough for a child to pull into a bed and cuddle before falling asleep," I countered in a deadpanned tone, causing their frowns to deepen into scowls as Luna just let out a laugh. "Such steel and wit! You are indeed a great find," Luna said, as I felt that she had some kind of smug grin on her face. "I didn't know I was regulated to the role of royal treasure," I muttered, before noticing that we were leaving a hallway as we entered a rather large dining room with an oversized table, and various chandeliers hanging from above, but a few of their candles were lit, leaving the room poorly lighted. Before I could say a thing, Luna lit her horn again, lifting me into the aura in some blue aura before depositing me on a chair. "Now, my future daughter, is there anyth—why are you looking at me like that?" Luna said, due in part of me just giving her a curious stare. "How did you move me around like that?" I simply asked, causing Grace to groan out of annoyance. "Another foal that doesn't know about magic? Where are they coming from? Under a rock?" Grace muttered to herself, earning a brief glance from me. Unlike the female guard, Luna kept a straight face as she answered, "Why, by magic. More specifically, I channeled my magic through my horn to cast a basic levitation spell. Child, have you ever used magic before?" Frowning, I held back saying 'depends on your definition of magic'. Instead, I replied, "No, I haven't," as I glanced about, curious about something as I spotted a candlestick. Lifting my hoof by an inch, I flick the tip of it towards the candlestick, only to see that nothing happened to it. Grand, either I don't have my powers anymore, or they're too weaken for me to use right now, I thought to myself as a frown appeared on my face, that my mother-to-be happened to have noticed. "Do not fret, my child. I will teach you how to use your magic," Luna said with a smile that I believe was meant to calm me down, which only faltered as I simply returned her smile with a blank stare. "But aren't you a princess? Don't you have some royal duties and what not to attend to?" I finally asked after a short moment, breaking up the silence. "Nonsense, any mother will make time for their daughter," Luna answered as her smile returned, though a bit strained as I kept my blank stare. It went on for another moment before I pointed a hoof at her face, causing her smile to dropped as her expression turned into confusion. "Fine, but no teaching me politics, I'm not interested in that junk," I said, causing Luna to frown but nod in response. "Understandable, for an eight year old is still too young to understand such a topic," Luna responded, as Grace leaned her head closer to Shade as she tried to whisper to him privately, yet my ears turned to her direction. "Funny that she didn't refuse being referred to as a daughter when she didn't want a guardian," Grace muttered to Shade. "What's funnier is that you still think I can't hear you two," I shot back as I turned my attention to them, causing Grace to straight her head back up. "Besides, if I'm becoming the adopted daughter of a princess, who happens to be your boss, doesn't that mean I have some sort of authority over you two?" I continued, quirking an eyebrow at Grace who promptly started to sweat. "No hints at threatening the guard, Nebula," Luna reprimanded, before turning her attention to Grace. "And watch your tongue, Graceful Wind, or do you desire to irk me?" Sweat more visible on her face, Grace bowed her head down as she answered, "My apologies your highness, I meant no offense." "Very good then, servants!" Luna hollered out, clapping her hooves together, causing a side to open as the castle staff poured out. "This... filly and I will be having a meal now, so treat her accordingly." As the staff approached me, their eyes widen as they muttered to themselves, while I was able to get a view of the horses, seeing some with feathery wings, some with horns, and some with neither of them. This led me to realize that horses that had both might be a rare case, hence why alicorns were viewed as royalty. With haste, the staff placed down proper dining ware before me, even providing me with a menu. Opening it, I was able to read the menu, causing me to be pleased with myself as this told me that despite my active abilities were lost or suppressed, my passive abilities were still present. That or I ended up on a world that both had the same language and writing systems as my native homeworld, but the odds of that were incredibly slim. Coughing to get everyone's attention, Shade then said, "Umm... princess? Not to intrude, but shouldn't there be more light to make it easier for... Lady Nebula to read the menu?" Pupils widening, Luna said, "Of course, how could I forget!" as she lit her horn up. Instantly, all the candles in the room lit up, causing me to squint my eyes for a moment before letting them adjust. Okay, apparently the lifeforms of this world aren't nocturnal after all, I mused to myself as I scan the menu again. After seeing the various foods these horses ate, I simply ordered what I believed to be a well-balanced meal, which only surprised everyone, who were probably expecting for me to order the desserts on the menu. However, Luna's look of surprise soon turned into one of pride as she said, "An alicorn that looks after their own health! You would serve as a great example to my sister's own foal!" Frowning, I decided to tackle an issue that has been bothering me since the moment I got here. "Okay, but I got to ask: why are you so accepting of my presence without a question of doubt of where I came from?" Blinking for a bit at first, Luna eventually replied, "It is because you are an alicorn, and a young one at that. Furthermore, I detect no traces of another pony's magic on you, so you're not somepony's pawn in some nefarious scheme." Young my ass, I'm over two hundred dimensional solar cycles old, I thought to myself with a snort, before pressing on with my questioning. "Not to be ungrateful towards you, but I'm just skeptical of all this. I normally don't see... 'anypony' being welcome with open... hooves like this before," I countered while noting the term somepony that Luna used in her answer. Taking in a breath, Luna responded, "Nebula, it seems that you don't understand the significance of your presence in Equestria. Do you have any understanding of how important an alicorn is?" "Beyond being royalty, which is based on what I saw so far, I have nothing to say," I said, wondering what Luna was trying to get at. "Alicorns don't simply appear on the whims of the world, Nebula. Prior to recent events, there were only three alicorns in all of Equestria, but now we have two new alicorns to add to our number. Your appearance on our world was dictated by destiny, and since we are meant to guide everypony live better lives, then naturally your presence on this world is naturally accepted as a sign of good fortune," Luna explained, as I held back the need to snort. Destiny? If only she knew I was a fateless, then maybe she'll have second thoughts about me. Still, if they think I'm here for some glorious fate to bring others to a better future, might as well let them think that. Besides, I could use a break for a few years, I thought to myself before giving Luna a nod, receiving a smile of satisfaction from her in return just before the staff returned with the food I ordered, which consisted of a salad, some kind of flower sandwich, and a tall glass of milk. Munching on the food, I looked up at Luna as I asked, "Okay... so what's the plan... 'mother', if you're actually going to adopt me?" Chewing on her own salad, Luna answered, "Fret not, dear child, your mother will take care of everything," as she smiled at me calling her mother. "However, in the morning, we will be showing you to your soon-to-be aunt and cousin. I'm certain that you will love meeting them." Glancing out a window to look at the night sky, I replied, "Morning? And how long do we have till then?" Her smile fading away, Luna tapped a hoof against her chin as she said, "It will be a few hours time... oh! You would want to be out playing underneath... the sun..." as disappointment sweeped into her voice for some reason. Shrugging, I responded, "Eh, not really. Not a fan of bright lights to be honest," before I took a bite of the flowery sandwich, only to pause as I saw Luna looking at me with sparkling eyes. "Umm... mother? Are you ok—gah!" I started to say before Luna teleported to my side in a flash of blue light, wrapping her hooves around me as she brought me into a tight embrace. "Oh glorious night! You are like the perfect foal brought by destiny to be my daughter!" Luna exclaimed, causing me to look at the guards in confusion. Shade was the one to take the initiative, as he said, "Lady Nebula, Princess Luna is the Princess of the Night." Well... that explains a lot... but at least that means that I might not have to deal with... foals all the time. Now if only Luna didn't acted like an overgrown one, then I could see this royalty thing as a vacation.