//------------------------------// // A Reunion Many Years Due // Story: The Night has Claws // by Certifiable Insanity //------------------------------// Chapter 2: A Reunion Many Years Due Celestia stood there for a moment in complete shock before she regained her senses and examined the midnight blue Alicorn in front of her. She surprisingly wore armor, it was almost a full suit as well much like the griffon soldiers however this one had elegant silver trimming, additionally the helmet was replaced by a silver crown. She was also taller than before being almost Celestia's height. The most distinguishing feature however was a scar across the her muzzle, and her eyes showed that her spirit had been hardened by events that had taken place over the thousand years. Yet here she was Princess Luna, The younger of the two sisters. "LUNA!" Celestia cried as she moved to embrace her sister. In normal circumstances Luna would have been knocked over by her sisters charge, But Luna took it in stride and while she was pushed back she remained upright while embracing her older sister. "It's been too long Tia." Luna whispered as she began rubbing her hoof on Celestia's back. "Why did you leave?" Celestia asked as she actually cried into her sister' shoulder. Luna sighed and bit her tongue. She had planned this moment for years but this was different, here was the elder sister crying on her shoulder. "I felt alone." Luna stated. "The night, few of your ponies cared for it, they shunned me." Celestia looked towards her sister in sorrow. "We could have talked." Celestia balked. "I would have done anything for you, but all you left was a note which explained little and you said you would return." Luna looked away from her sister in shame. "I had though I would, That night we talked I left for the gardens, I looked among the dreams of your kingdom and found so little." Luna stated as she close her eyes and lowered her head. Celestia was feeling some shame now. "A dream to the east called to me, it showed a glorious kingdom under the moon." Luna began. "So I flew off and stumbled upon the griffons in the midst of a rebellion against a disgusting pig of a king." Luna began to tell the story the rather short rebellion following her arrival all the way to just before she decided to invite Celestia. "-So once we had the Economy stabilized we decided to from a guild to help with keeping said economy stable and encourage fair business." Luna explained her eyes twinkling with Joy. "Of course many also wanted to ensure they were treated fairly at work and so we had unions made as well, not that there really is a need as many of the leaders of our industry did not want to invoke my ire lest i bring the mailed hoof down on them." Celestia recoiled a bit. "You would strike your citizens?" Celestia asked in disbelief. Luna shook her head. "No sister I am not a cruel mare like that." Luna answered. "by mailed hoof i mean my loyal guard who would relieve them of their position and bring them before a select group of individuals who represent the rights of the workers." Celestia gave a please hum. "You have changed a lot Luna." She chimed. "Was it the rise to Empress or being around the Griffons?" "Both......I think?" Luna answered but began to drift off perplexed. "I mean I'm not really sure, Griffons are so different from Ponies and this position I'm in, it came so suddenly." Celestia laughed as her sister became flustered. "Change is good dear sister!" Celestia said with a smile before frowning and whispering. "Just don't lose who you are." Luna had heard her though and understood the reason behind such a line. "I promised you I won't ." Luna replied in a sorrowful whisper. "To much has been built here for me to throw away in the name of petty revenge on ponies who were none the wiser." Luna's demeanor changed quickly after that back to the cheerful little sister Celestia remembered as she gazed out-side and smiled. "It's almost time dear sister for the moon to rise." Luna chimed. "So let's get acquainted with your friends, then we can go about our duties." Celestia nodded then turned to Twilight (And Spike he's been there the whole time just for got to mention him my bad.), Shining armor and their escort. She pointed to Twilight and spike first and both waved while happily smiling. "Hello your highness." Both said as Twilight bowed. "This is my Student Twilight Sparkle, she is an exceptional unicorn with great potential, and the Dragon is her assistant." Celestia stated. She pointed to Shining Armor next. "This is the Captain of my Royal Guard, Shining Armor." Celestia continued while Shining Armor bowed his head. "He is also Twilight's older brother." Luna nodded to the both of them and then to the pony guards before turning back to her sister. "I am unsure if the last thousand years have affected your taste in a celebration but tonight is going to be grand." Luna chimed. "Perhaps you would like to join me dear sister on a tour through town?" "That sounds delightful Luna." Celestia replied with a smile. "First though I should get you some rooms." Luna stated as she turned to Twilight Sparkle. "Tell me Twilight what is one of your favorite studies?" "Astronomy." Twilight answered. "Lucky for you than that there is an astronomy tower in my castle and it has rooms open." Luna replied. "I will show you the way to the tower as me and Celestia will be heading that way to raise the moon." Luna than turned to Shining Armor. "Meanwhile why don't you and your Ponies go to the castle barracks and introduce yourselves to my own guards." Luna suggested. "Get to know each other." Shining armor nods. "Sounds like a plan your highness." Luna nodded before looking towards the hall. "Shadow, Lyn!" She called. The door's leading to the hall opened and two armored Griffons walked in. The first was male and wore a midnight blue set of armor complete with a helmet masking his eyes,. However what few gaps there were in the armor at the joints showed that he was a rare snow leopard variant of the Griffon race, while his feathers were black. The Griffoness however was a Light Grey Griffon breed with grey feathers and wore a lighter Variant of the armor that seemed to come with a cloak and hood added under the plates. "Commander Shadow Evernight, Reporting for assignment." The Male Griffon answered with an accompanying bow. "Lieutenant Lyn Darkblade, Awaiting your Command, My Queen." The Griffoness stated with a salute. Luna nodded to the both of them before pointing to Shining Armor. "My Loyal protectors will you please escort Captain Shining Armor and his cohorts to the barracks and help them get acquainted with our Castle Guard." Luna ordered quite politely. "By your command." Both Griffons said as the bowed to their empress before turning to Shining and speaking in sync. "Please follow us." Shining nodded and followed the two Griffons. "So you two are-?" Shining armor began before being cut off by an almost immediate answer. "I'm commander of the Lunar Claws, Luna's devoted bodyguard." Shadow answered. "And the Griffoness is both my second in command and a very common, very annoying distraction." Shining turned to Lyn who giggled. "You know you can't get enough of me." Lyn stated with as much of a smirk as she could considering her beak. "No I cannot." Shadow replied as he just shook his head. Shining could only smile as he though back too a certain pink Alicorn back home. His grinning was then stopped when Shadow spoke up again. "Now Griffons handle things differently here than you ponies do." He began. "If you begin an argument Griffon soldier he may challenge you to a spar in the barracks ring, No open fighting." The Pony guards nodded. "Oh and we are an extremely prideful group so if you insult us, whether directly or indirectly expect retribution." Shadow continued. "Whether that be a Gauntlet to the muzzle or a challenge is to be determined by them, any questions?" "Are we going to be trapped in the castle all night or will we get to see this.....Liberation night celebration?" One of the Ponies asked. "We are just introducing you too the soldiers here to get you more well acquainted, then we will set up rooms near the princess for you and you all can prep to explore the town tonight." Lyn answered. "now we are almost there so put on your smiles, after all they say diplomacy is the art of being among those you hate." "We constructed this tower specifically to allow a better view of the entire city, a useful vantage point and a great place to watch the sky." Luna stated as the group consisting of Herself, Celestia, Twilight and Spike climbed the large circular staircase of the tower. "I usually go to the Lunar Spire to raise the moon however, your stop is here twilight." Their ascent had ended in a small rotund consisting of four doors spread equally apart the circles the opposing half of the room than they entered. Luna pointed to the left most door and Twilight and Spike walked into it while the princesses left through the right most door. As Twilight had expected the observatory carried the Lunar theme the rest of the castle did, however the center of the room was host to a rather decorative circular floor tiling which showed the various cycles of the moon and what they represent being written just under their cycle. The roof held and odd Casing at the top of it that probably held something, but its contents eluded her. Twilight then looked towards the balcony where a rather normal Normal Telescope stood and staring into was a young black furred Alicorn who's mane was eerily similar to Luna's Stary Mane, the young mare even had the same cutie mark as Luna. The mare quickly turned and smirked when she saw twilight. "Um Hello?" Twilight asked cautiously. The Alicorn was in front of her in an instant, she did not trot over either she just teleported. "Hello~." The Alicorn chimed. "I.....am Nightmare Moon, You?" "I'm Twilight Sparkle." Twilight replied. "And this is my assistant Spike." The Baby Dragon waved from his position on Twilight's back. "A Pleasure." Nightmare Moon stated before turning back to the telescope and this time she merely walked to it. "I'm guessing mother brought you up here." "Yes she did." Twilight replied. "You are Luna's daughter right?" "Yep!" Nightmare chimed. Twilight had never heard of Luna having somepony special, There was never a word spoken. "Who's your father?" Twilight asked carefully in case she brought up a sore topic. "Don't have one." Nightmare replied still in her cheerful tone. "I wasn't born like a pony, nor was I hatched like a Griffon, I just sort of came to be." "How?" Twilight asked. "Not my story to tell, If affected my mother more than me." Nightmare answered. "I understand." Nightmare went back to gazing at the stars through the small telescope and writing down notes in a notebook she had with her. Twilight decided to look around the Observatory. The place was well organised with shelves holding starcharts, Books about constellations among many other curious star based books. Twilight noticed that there were other books not having anything remotely to do with stars as well. "This doubles as your own library?" Twilight asked. "Yeah." Nightmare answered. "Oh hey pull the lever near the door." Twilight turned back to the door and noticed two silver lever's built into the wall. "Is it safe?" Twilight asked. "It activates the Primary Telescope." Nightmare replied. "Pull tha levah!" Twilight pulled the lever down. and was soaked by water, Nightmare fell over laughing. "Wrong Levah." Nightmare cried between fits of laughter. Twilight merely groaned, as did Spike who was still on Twilight's back and was therefor soaked as well. Twilight then pulled the other lever which opened the odd casing on the roof and down came a large telescope nestled in a Gyroscope that held numerous lenses. "As you can see the Gyroscope rotates to allow different zoom settings." Nightmare stated. "Should the Observatory not be at the top though?" Twilight asked. "So that it can rotate around." "Did my mom call this an Observatory?" Nightmare asked. "This is my study." "Yeah she did." Twilight replied. "Witherwing Observatory is on top of the mountain south-east of Griffonstone." Nightmare stated. "But there are other things we have to do right now." "Like what?" Twilight asked. Nightmare used her magic to pick up her notebook and show it to twilight. It was filled with constellations she had never seen before. "It's a Self made guide to constellations that Luna creates over the the continent of Moon Heart." Nightmare stated. "That's the name of the continent that encompasses the Lunar Empire, it was formerly called Griffonia but with the radical change in government lots of things changed." "You will need to tell Princess Celestia that after all our maps still refer to this a Griffonia." Twilight replied. "I shall, or perhaps you should." Nightmare said. "Now, let us await the coming of the night, for when the moon rises the festival begins." Meanwhile Celestia and Luna ascended the stairway to the tallest point in the castle. "Behold the Lunar Spire!" Luna cried. "From here I direct the night, the moon and the stars." The room Luna was talking about was an open pavilion with a large purple gemstone built into the roof. The gem had caught Celestia's interest the moment she spotted it. "That Gemstone what is it?" Celestia asked. "It has no name but it acts as a sort of boost for my spell, more specifically those i use to make sudden changes to the night sky." Luna answered. "Such as giving the sky a red hue or something like that." "So....you channel your power into the gem and it enhances the power?" Celestia asked. "No it enhances the range." Luna answered. "The Spell used must either hit the moon or at least high enough in the sky, I'd demonstrate but many of the colours are usually used to alert my soldiers all across the Continent." Celestia was looking at a book on a pedestal against one of the Pavillion pillars. A soldiers guide to moon and sky "This the book right here?" Celestia asked. Luna nodded as she moved to the middle of the area and sat down. "Shall we do our duty sister?" Luna asked. Celestia moved to the center as well before siting alongside her younger sister. The two gazed towards the sky. Luna nodded and Celestia slowly began to lower the sun. Once it hit the Horizon Luna rose the moon until it was high in the night sky. A moment later Celestia could here muted cheering which was not surprising considering the towers height. Luna then turned to Celestia with a massive grin. "It begins dear sister." Luna began. "Let us indulge in a night of party and mingle among the citizens of my empire." Meanwhile Shining found himself in awe of what he was currently staring at. In front of him looking down at him was a truly intimidating specimen of a Griffoness. She stood about Celestia's Height and was covered in scars along her athletic limbs. In fact there were scars all along her body some light and hidden by fur or feathers but many were visible. "Valana Guildgrave." She announced in her deep yet feminine voice whilst holding out a talon to shake Shining's hoof. "Supreme Commander of the Lunar Empire's Military." "Shining Armor." Shining replied while gingerly lifting a forehoof to shake Valana's talon. "Captain of Celestia's Royal guard." Valana looked at him oddly. "Just the Royal Guard?" She asked. "Who commands your military?" "The Royal guard is our military." Shining answered. "So your royal guard patrols the country side and guards your towns?" Valana asked. "No." Shining answered. "We are based in Canterlot and most cities have a Police force funded and run by representatives of The Solar Kingdom." Valana looked shocked. "I'm impressed that your empire has stood for so long uncontested with out a proper military force." Valana stated. "But please don't take that as to much of a compliment, after all every empire falls with time and enemies will appear and you must be ready." "I hope your wrong." Shining replied. Valana had looked away and was viciously pondering something. "I was hoping to enjoy the festivities but i will need to find ways to test your guards." Valana stated. "TEST?" Shining shouted in alarm. "I want to see the effectiveness of your royal guard." Valana replied. "But don't worry about the six pegasi you brought they will be able to enjoy tonight, but tomorrow i will have a challenge ready for them." "A challenge?" Shining asked. "Just what are you going to do?" "I will test your guard to see if they can competently handle threats to your princess." Valana answered. "How they perform will determine the size of the division of my own troops I will send back with you to help you train an Army." "ARMY?" Shining shouted his face showing horror. Valana noticed this and sighed while face-taloning. She remembered what Luna said about how Equestria never had a large scale war since she had last been there. "I both pity and envy you ponies for your lack of war in your history." Valana stated. "You have never experienced the true and lasting hardships it can bring but at the same time it strengthens the bonds of a nation, if it can stay united that is the true test." "Ugh many ponies would not react well to such an act." Shining said. "Then let's end this talk and get you outside the festivities begin shortly." Valana chimed as she dragged Shining down the corridor.