Wind Racer couldn’t explain what made him think something was wrong. There was no sound from within Princess Luna’s chamber and nopony new in the corridor to raise any alarm. All he knew with sudden, ineffable certainty was that something had happened. Swift Wing, too, seemed to sense it, because he turned at the same moment, mimicking the shiver that went through Wind Racer. The doors they were guarding were not locked, but when the two stallions opened them they found an empty chamber within.
“Highness?” Swift Wing called.
“Princess Luna?” Wind Racer flicked his ears to catch any noise. He caught the sound of weeping and immediately ran to the balcony. Peering over the edge, he could see the princess sprawled on the grass below, in the embrace of the little yellow mare he recognised as her lover. “Swift Wing!” he shouted, vaulting over the edge.
The little mare looked up at his shout. Her face was tear-stained but Wind Racer had eyes only for the princess. He landed and whirled in case some enemy had hurt her and was still in the area.
“There is nopony else,” the little mare told him. “I … she … some malady ails her but she knew not what.”
“Wherefore was she here and not in her chambers?” Swift Wing asked as he inspected the princess.
“I … did call to her …” the little mare admitted. “But I knew not of her illness when I did so!”
Wind Racer turned and his heart nearly stopped. Princess Luna looked awful. Her whole body shuddered, though she was obviously unconscious. Flecks of foam speckled the corners of her mouth.
Poison! his mind hissed.
His gaze immediately shifted to the little yellow mare. He had surreptitiously asked other castle ponies about her since their last encounter. He knew her to be the daughter of a hedgewitch and more than likely one herself. If anyone knew how to poison a pony, it was a hedgewitch, and who else would have better access to deliver such a poison to the princess but a lover? If he had only been suspicious before, now he was convinced. No wonder the princess had taken such a dull commoner to her bed. Perhaps the hedgewitch had bewitched her. Perhaps she was even the cause of the illness that had robbed Princess Luna of so much of her beauty!
“Know this,” he growled, tipping the hedgewitch’s chin up with the butt of his spear so that she was forced to look at him. “If she dies, thou art to blame, and the vengeance I shall lay upon thee will be swift and terrible.”
She gawped at him. “I –”
Whatever she was trying to say was silenced by Princess Luna’s cry. The princess went suddenly rigid, all limbs splayed like she had been stung by a scorpion. The hedgewitch yelped as the top of the princess’s head smacked against the underside of her chin, knocking the spearbutt aside, but she didn’t let go. Instead, she clung on like a little yellow limpet, inspiring in Wind Racer such rage as he had never experienced before. Protectiveness over his princess welled up inside him and he went to pull her off, but was sent reeling by the blast of sudden cold from Luna’s body. The hedgewitch whimpered and Swift Wing barked in pain, wringing his hooves.
And just as suddenly as it had started, it was over. Princess Luna sat up, blinking like she had woken from a deep sleep. The hedgewitch slid off her, panting. Swift Wing and Wind Racer exchanged a pointed look and moved to detain the earth pony, pulling her away from their princess. She struggled against their hold and the princess turned on them a cool stare.
“Release her,” she said calmly, as if she had not just been trembling like a plague victim. There was no trace of hesitation, no uncertainty, just the calm detachment of a sovereign giving an order she expected to be obeyed.
“But Highness –” Wind Racer protested.
“Didst thou not hear me? Release her.”
Reluctantly, they did so. The hedgewitch stumbled to her hooves. “Luna, thou art … ‘tis a miracle!”
“Address the princess with due decorum!” Wind Racer barked.
“Wind Racer,” Princess Luna said coldly. “Swift Wing. Leave us.”
He was stunned. “But Highness –”
“Again thou art defiant. Perhaps I was mistaken to bring thee into my personal guard, Wind Racer. If thou cannot follow an order from thy princess, then I have little use for thee.”
Fear of dismissal took hold of him. He lived for the sight of her. He bowed low. “Nay, Highness, I hear and obey.”
“Good.”
“But before I take my leave, please, wilt thou allow us to escort thee to one of the castle physicians? Though thou appear well now, Highness, a moment ago thou didst seem at the gates of Tartarus.”
“I deny thy request,” Luna replied. “Though I will allow thee to provide transportation to my balcony. I must forthwith lower the moon and I prefer height for the task.”
He was reluctant to allow the hedgewitch further access to the princess, but it seemed his opinion didn’t count. However, Wind Racer now found himself not only able, but commanded to touch Princess Luna. Leaving his spear next to a squashed bunch of flowers, he gathered her into his forehooves and flew her the few dozen feet up to her balcony before Swift Wing could choose her instead of the hedgewitch.
Those few seconds were among the best of his life. The princess was light as breath. He alighted and she stepped away from him, inadvertently trailing her tail through over his hooves. It was wrong, and he knew it was wrong, but that simple thing was so arousing that he immediately leapt back over the edge to retrieve his spear so that his erect wings weren’t so obvious.
“Dost thou require us to resume our posts at thy door, Highness?” Swift Wing asked.
“If thou must,” Luna replied. “Close it tight.”
“As thou wish.” He waited for Wind Racer to soar across the room and through the door before closing it.
Once on the other side, Wind Racer set down and breathed out a single, heavy breath. He stayed that way for several seconds, eventually raising his head to meet Swift Wing’s knowing smirk.
“Thy wings betray thee, colt,” he snickered. “Some salt peter wouldst protect thy dignity and douse thy ardour.”
Wind Racer realised he had not folded them back and did so hastily, if with difficulty. “If I am a colt then thou art an old nag. How may thou jest after what have witnessed?”
Immediately Swift Wing’s expression soured. “’Tis a bad business,” he muttered.
“Worse than thou may think,” Wind Racer replied, and began to relate his suspicions of the hedgewitch.