//------------------------------// // A Trip through Canterlot, Night with Luna // Story: One Way Trip // by SoulSpirit //------------------------------// Upon leaving the Cafe, I wondered: What is it that Celestia could possibly need to shop for? I could tell that Celestia had plans and I had no doubt that Shining was in on it. The smug look on his face made it clear what he’s going to say. “I can read it all over you. You’re wondering what we need to get. Celestia, could you shed some light on our friend here?” “The purpose of our first stop is related to a bit of news I forgot to mention. I have decided to hire you as my personal butler. Therefore, our first destination is one that requires you to come with me.” she stopped to open the door of a shop we almost passed, gesturing for me to go in. “You’ll see what I mean when you go in.” Celestia just giggled at my confused expression. She’s up to something. After walking in I realized where they took me. I walked into a tailor’s shop, like what Rarity does. So she brought me here to get a suit. How fancy. A stallion in a fancy suit himself came up to me and asked “How may I be of service?” in that Canterlot accent I so didn’t miss while I was away. With a mischievous smirk, I pointed a hoof over to Celestia and Shining who were just coming in behind me. His eyes opened to a ludicrous size and his maw opened wide enough that one can use it as a stepping stool. I could only barely prevent myself from laughing. Then he started stuttering “P-P-Princess,” and I couldn’t contain myself anymore. It was priceless. The stallion, ignoring my outburst, asked Celestia “My Princess, how may I be of service?” Celestia simply replied “I need a suit made for my butler.” she pointed a hoof at me to signifying who she was referring to. I got off the floor, finally done laughing, put on a serious face, cleared my throat, and said “I apologize for my rude outburst.” but he refused to acknowledge me at the moment. The stallion went on. “That’s one suit. Would you like anything else, such as a tie to go with it?” “I’ll let Spirit choose.” After Celestia spoke her decision, she whispered something to the stallion but I couldn’t make out what it was though. “I have to go back to the castle now. Shining, please take care of Spirit.” Shining only stood at attention and saluted as she left. The stallion turned to me and said: “Alright, follow me to the back and we’ll get started.” I’ll spare you the dreadfully boring details of having my measurements taken. Shining and I was just leaving when he told me where we were to go next. “Next up is the castle armory.” “Why?” I asked in turn. “For your equipment. We’ll start training after you get settled in.” “You just want to deliver a few blows on the new trainee.” I accused. “Well…. I’m not saying I’m not looking forward to it.” he chuckled. “You devil!” I laughed. We were just passing through the castle entrance. Except Shining didn’t lead me to the front door. He took me around to the back of the castle, past the gardens, to an area I haven’t seen before that appeared to be set up like an arena, but with equipment all along the walls. “These are the training grounds. We’ll be spending a lot of our time together here, but we still have to visit the Smith first.” Shining explained, now leading me past the outer walls of the training grounds. “Why?” “The armory weapons and equipment are shared amongst the soldiers. Celestia wants you to have your’s to be your personal. I don’t know why,” he sighed. “I think she said something about Luna requesting it.” he chuckled. “Come on, just up ahead.” He was right, I could see it right at that moment. The Smith is stationed right behind the structure of the training grounds. It as an outdoor forge station next to a storehouse that I assumed was filled with supplies for production and maybe a surplus of weapons and armor.  There was a stallion working the forge that looked like he could scare a foal if he wanted to. As I approached, I could see that age showed on his face, a face that one can tell has seen many battles, covered in scars from those said battles. No need to judge based on appearances. Shining took the role of introducing me. “Evening, Silver Ore. I would like you to meet Spirit. Celestia has assigned me to train him personally in the use of as many weapons as possible.” The Stallion Silver Ore only made a curious hum as he came to look me over. It didn’t bother me though. He only said his mind when he was done with me. “He doesn’t seem like much, but neither did you. Don’t give him too much shit. I don’t think he is as good at shields are you are. If Princess Celestia chose him, we would want this one to last.” his voice was deep and rough. “Actually, it wasn’t Princess Celestia that chose him. It was Princess Luna.” Shining added, making me remember that Luna told me about that during the last dream she visited me in. This seemed to surprise Silver. “Princess Luna!? Well, all the more reason. Though it is rare for Celestia to chose one, I have never heard of Princess Luna doing so. This should be interesting.” he chuckled. How come I feel like he expects me to end up in the infirmary from some sort of training injury within the first week? I finally spoke up. “Shining, I don’t mean to be rude, but maybe we should stop beating around the bush?” “Oh, right, sorry. Princess Celestia has an order. Any weapons Spirit needs will be made separately and  become his personal, along with armor and equipment.” Silver took on a surprised face. “Special needs boy, uh? That hasn’t happened before either. This day is full of surprises.” he paused, then sighed. “What do you need?” I thought about what I needed for a minute before making a decision. “A sword and eight daggers, along with sheath for all of them too, please.” Silver raised his eyebrows. “Well, your eagerness is refreshing. All right, your weapons and equipment shall be made and delivered to the Princess.” he left for the forge to begin his work. “Come on,” Shining instructed. “Let's leave him to his work.” As we left the smith, he continued. “That’s all that’s on the agenda…. Wait, forgot. Still, have to show you to your new home. Hope it’s not too awkward for you.” I took my chance to be a sarcastic smartass. “Don’t worry. Nothing awkward about moving in with your teachers' parents. Why did they agree to this? You pay them or something?” “What? No! They’re kind souls that are more than happy to help out.” “It just doesn’t feel right to me.” we were rounding to the front of the castle now. It just doesn’t feel right. My head bent down as that feeling bounced around my head. A sick feeling developing in my gut. Shining stopped, causing me to stop so I don’t bump into him. Though he didn’t turn to face me, I knew he was still talking to me. “Don’t think of it in a negative way. Follow me.” He took lead, I followed behind. I lifted my head back up to see where we were going. He took me into the castle. When we were right outside the throne room, Shining said: “Wait here.” A few minutes later, Shining came back out saying “Follow me.” I followed him into the maze-like corridors, asking “Where are you taking me?” “You need some cheering up, so you’re going to visit a friend,” Shining smirked, still leading me through the castle. “A friend? I don’t know many ponies.” “I know for a fact you know this one.” Shining and I are now on the far side of the castle at the base of a spiral staircase.  Are we at a tower? I continued to follow him up the stairs. The top of the stairs leads into a small hall only leading to a dark blue door. Said door had guards on both sides in purple and black armor. “Well, I’ll be back in the morning to pick you up. Have fun.” he left before I could say anything. I approached the door, stopping a few steps in front of it. I asked the guards “Who’s in there?” they just laughed. I sighed, “Geronimo.” I lifted a hoof and knocked a few times. After setting my hoof back down, I heard a sleepy, feminine, yet familiar voice call “Come in”. So I opened the door and went into the dark room, closing the door behind me. “How can anyone see in here?” I heard some rustling up ahead. I decided not to move in case of the possibility of tripping over something, let alone myself. After the rustling sound ended, I heard the voice shout “Who’s there?” “Spirit,” I replied rather bluntly. “Spirit? What is thee doing here?” Wait, ‘thee’? I can only think of one pony that spoke that way. “Wait, Luna? Is that you?”  Damn you Shining. I bet Celestia gave you this idea. “Thee don’t know is in our room?” I felt a weird feeling in my cheeks. “N-No, I didn’t. I was just lead here and told to come in and the guards didn’t answer me when I asked them who was in here. Glad I did though, it’s nice to meet you in reality, better than in a dream.” I felt a smile creeping its way on my face. I told her all I did today and what happened up till this point since arriving in Canterlot. “It seems they were just worried about thee.” Luna was referring to Shining bringing me here. “Give us a moment, we have to raise the moon.” she used her magic to turn on the lights. While she was rustling her way out of bed, I took a few minutes to admire her room. Various shades of blue everywhere. There wasn’t much for furniture. A dresser, a large mirror, and a bed in the middle of the room. Luna was on the balcony raising the moon. I snapped back to reality and joined her. I stood there and looked into the sky to watch as the moon made its entrance over the horizon and the stars twinkled into existence. Beautiful! “Luna, you’re just…. Fantastic!” after she finished raising the moon, I saw her blush. “Oh, sorry.” I need to learn to keep my mouth shut. “N-no, it’s okay. We always find it nice when one compliments our night sky.” she paused. “That’s right. Why was thou in the Everfree forest?” Surprise just gave me a good wack in the face. “How do you know about that?” “We know where all are when they sleep.” that sent a slight shiver down my spine. Kinda creepy. “Well…. I guess we should catch up. Alright, I.ll start from the point when I entered the forest. Please save any outburst for after the story.” I paused. “Actually, this first bit is right after you left the dream of our last little meeting,” I explained to her that the statue of Discord I made in the dream was actually Discord, who waited till she left to speak to me without interruption. I informed her of Discords proposition and rules. “That’s an obvious trap.” Luna blurted. “Hey, I said save your outbursts. What’s done is done. Besides, I thought a survival situation in the forest would be best for me to test what I’ve learned.” I continued my story, mentioning the incident of shrinking after stepping in a patch of Poison Joke. she barely managed to keep from laughing at that. I also mentioned my encounter with the Timber Wolves, which she looked like she was going to slap me for it. “It was about then…. I think….. When I decided to check the castle ruins itself for the sapphire Poison Joke.” “What made thou decide that? “Think. Discord, more than likely, doesn’t have the power to conjure anything while he’s stone. If it was in the wild, it would have already have been found a long time ago. If I were to hide something valuable, I would want to hide it somewhere not only easy to remember but safe too. The only place in the forest I could think of that fits the description would be those ruins.” “Seems right. Continue the story.” I skipped to the part after the dream about the second attack of the Timber Wolves, seeing how it is that I’m still not sure if it was a dream and that I don’t want Luna to slap me. I proceeded to tell her how my exploration of the castle leads me to find the puzzle which held the desired object. “After that, it was just a few hours of peace leaving the forest.” “Thou said Discord had a reward. Pry tell what it is.” I froze in fear. She’s going to kill me for having this book. I sighed in defeat. There’s no way I could think my way out of this situation. “I don’t think I can.” I shivered in the thought of what’s going to happen. “It’s fine. Thou can tell us.” she tried to reassure me, but it didn’t work. But there’s no avoiding it, so there’s no point in delaying it. Although, if I present it in a comforting manner, I might get out of this alive. I powered up my horn with the purple and black aura of dark magic, but instead of conjuring weapons, I made a teddy bear. Cute! I admired my work. I then noticed Luna, who just closed her maw after it opened itself in shock, tense up. I saw her horn light up. Shit! Thinking she was going to attack, I canceled my magic, causing the dark magic teddy bear to dissipate, and ran. I took off as fast as I could for the door. I should have known she would try to kill me either way. I almost made it to the door when I, only for an instant, saw the knob get covered in a blue glow followed by a *click* sound indicating it was locked. Fuck me! I was about to execute a teleportation spell for the stairway when I too was surrounded by a blue aura. “Wait!” I heard Luna call out. She levitated me onto her bed and release me. “W-what are you going to do to me?” I couldn’t stop shaking. Whenever I’m near Celestia or Luna, I could feel it. Power. Immense power. The radiated power that one would know not to mess with. Even though Luan wasn’t as powerful as Celestia, I knew for a fact I wouldn’t be able to survive if they became my enemy. According to the book I have, those who use black magic would go insane with no hope of recovery. I have no doubt Luna knew this and is going to kill me, thinking I went insane. I sighed, feeling tears tickling their way down my cheeks, and got ready to welcome death as he comes to collect my soul for judgment if that’s how it works in Equestria. All I heard from Luna's direction was “How?” and I froze. What? “How are thou alright?” I was too shocked to respond immediately. What she asked didn’t register in my head. How am I not dead? “Explain to us now.” that earned me a headache. “My only guess is that it’s my reward form Discord.” she looked frustrated at my answer. “That magic is forbidden because of the unavoidable consequences, but thee is not affected.” I could see the confusion on her face, and I can understand it too. “I don’t know how and to be honest, I think it’s better not to question it.” I don’t know if she heard me, but she calmed down anyway. “Until we can find out more, don’t use that magic under any circumstances.” she sighed. “Speaking of magic, Twilight only taught thou the basics right? Take this.” she levitated a necklace with an intriguing pendant on it around my neck. Half a sun on one side and a crescent moon on the other. “Thou now has access to the royal library and royal archives.” In my excitement, I threw my hoofs around her. “Thank you.” it was only when she wrapped a hoof around me in return when I realized what I did. I broke the embrace, my cheeks heating up. “Sorry.” “Don’t be. Where is thy living now?” “Celestia and Shining told me I am to move in with Twilight's parents.” I sighed. “But I told Shining that it just doesn't feel right to me.” Luna’s ears perked up. “Why not?” she got up on the bed and sat down beside me.” “We don’t know each other, so they don’t have any reason to do so, and I’ll be too busy to do anything for them in return.” I sighed in the stress of the thought. I just don’t understand. How can these ponies be so friendly? “Don’t worry about it. Think of it as a sort of payment for what thee is going to do about Discord.” it didn’t help though. “We’ve got to go run the night court now. Rest here for the night.” she left the room before I could make any arguments, locking the door behind her. I went to the door to try leaving, but I heard Luna talking on the other side. “Make sure he doesn't leave.” “Yes, Princess.” I believe the response came from one of the guards. Fuck me! I decided to not try anything stupid and returned to the bed. Dark. No matter where I looked, there was nothing but the dark. I tried to call for help, but my voice refused to obey. I was starting to panic, feeling my heart rate skyrocketing. Then, there was light. It was small, dim, and far, but still existent. I ran in the light’s direction, only to slow to a stop in my hesitation as a silhouette of a bipedal creature appeared in front of the light. A human. A light, tender, caring voice came from it. “Come here, son.” Son? My body spoke on its own. “Mom!” I had no control over my body as it ran toward the figure. As I got closer, the light began to flicker. “Please! No!” I yelled. I almost got close enough to the figure to touch it when the light faded away, leaving nothing but the dark once more. I couldn’t handle it anymore. I collapsed to the ground, curled up, and just cried. The longer I cried, the worse it became. I felt each an every tear drain from my eyes, each filled with different emotions. Sadness, longing, confusion, despair, but they all had one thing in common. They each were mear reminders of how alone I truly am. How different I really am.  The fact that I don’t belong in this world. It didn’t help that I had no memories of my old personal life to hold onto. My balling eventually died down to just whimpering. I awoke from my depressing dream. “Mom?” I breathed. Just like in the dream, my face was soaked in tears. “Mom.” I whimpered, a few more tears slowly sliding down my cheeks. What did I do to deserve this? I jolted, startled by a large, dark blue wing being draped over me. Said wing tugged me into something large, warm, and soft. It was comforting. I rolled over to see what it was just to have my face buried into a patch of fur. Fur? I cranked my head up to see Luna looking down into my eyes. Right, I forgot. Still a little puzzled about the current situation, I asked “Luna, w-what are you d-doing?” she smiled at me. “We saw your dream. Thy has our sympathy and pity. Thee is safe now.” she gently guided my head back into the fluffy patch of fur on her chest. I was confused. Why is he doing this for me? I was trying hard not to cry again and failed. “Let it out, we understand.” I threw my arms around her, my eyes leaking. I was getting Luna's fur wet, but she didn’t seem to care. “Thank you.” was all I could say before I passed out on the spot. I didn’t have any more dreams that night.