//------------------------------// // 35. Calm Before the Storm // Story: Wolves of Night and Blade: Book I // by One of Nine //------------------------------// Haven smiled as we stepped into Joyous Frocks, her lilac and bronze eyes once again teaming with excitement, pulling an equally smiling Luna along. They were soon followed by Roret, Akiira, and myself, all spreading throughout the store as Mangle lumbered up toward me. The minotaur smiled as he shook my hand, dressed in his usual work clothes. “Greetings Fang, I see you’ve brought little Haven along.” He welcomed, waving to the little Wargess with a gleeful smile. His eyes then turned to the three other Wargesses, his eyebrows bobbing as he looked at me. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing such beauties into my shop. If you had, I’d have straitened up a bit!” My head reeled back slightly as I shook it, looking at the minotaur in bewilderment. “I—” “Welcome Princess Luna, a pleasure to have you!” Bellowed Mangle as he bowed low, the ruckus causing everypony in the store to gasp and through themselves to the floor. His smile still present, the minotaur stood, motioning to the store. “Anything I sell is ripe for the picking, your Highness. Feel free to try anything on, and I’ll take any orders you desire.” Luna stood tall and majestically, like any royal should, giving the manager a sincere smile. “I thank you for your generosity, though we are here accompanying Fang. As he is looking for common and everyday use ware, we thought would come join him.” “Ah, so I see, Princess. But still, if there is anything I or my employees can do, just ask.” The Lunar Princess nodded. “Thank you again.” “Ha! And who are these lovely ladies if I may be so bold?” The ever-cheerful Mangle asked, gesturing toward Roret and Akiira. Before Luna could answer, the two Wargesses bowed softly. “Roret, personal physician of the Princess.” “Akiira, handmaiden and guardian of the Princess.” “Broad Mangle, at your service!” He bowed again, pushing back his long hair as he stood back up. “Again, my offer extends to you lovely ladies, anything within my store is yours to purchase!” “Thank you very much.” Smiled Roret before going on her way towards a shirt rack, Akiira not far behind. Mangle then turned back to me. “I trust that you know what to look for?” “Indeed, my friend.” I nodded, the manager soon left me to watch Luna and Haven walk off, the ponies pampering the Princess with praises. After grabbing a cart for the inevitable haul, I took to scouring the shelves and racks for clothes in my size. I wanted to get a big stock for the dresser and closets in my new house. Along with said house, came a separate workshop and freezer shack. I had hoped that the workshop would be used for my blacksmithing, but I still had yet to find someone to teach me. But then again, was blacksmithing really for me? By that, I’d meant to use my fire magic to help with smelting and heating metals, but blacksmithing was not something I’d done previously. I then decided to lay off on that idea as I came up with new hobbies. Maybe I could get better with cooking? I’d taken a liking to it when I was thirteen, perhaps I could sharpen my skills as a cook. I was suddenly pulled from my thoughts as a small hand gripped mine, pulling me to my left, down the aisle. I looked to see it was Haven. “C’mon Dad! Mom wants you to see her dress.” My eyes gazed ahead to see Luna stepping out from behind the small wooden doors, clothed in a sky-blue mini dress with a loose glittering knee-high skirt and long sleeves. Said Wargess smiled and looked on me with warm eyes. “Well, what do you think?” I couldn’t stop myself from smiling back, my cheeks burning as I spoke what leapt from my tongue. “I think that if you walked into a room with that dress, all the guys’ jaws would hit the floor. So… y-yes, you look gorgeous.” The Princess blushed herself as her eyes fluttered, ending on bedroom eyes, her hands behind her back. “You really think so, hm?” “Heh, yeah. You look great.” I chuckled nervously, doing my best to ignore my blush. With a coy smile, her eyes fluttered, and her tongue licked her fangs, Luna sauntered back behind the short doors with her tail wagging softly. “Then let us see how you like this next outfit.” I turned away before I could look, I waited for the Wargess to finish. As I waited, I noticed a rack of hats to my right. Stepping over, I grabbed a red ballcap in my size and placed it between my ears. I looked at the price tag and nodded lightly, summoning my magic to bring the cart over to me, as I’d left it behind when Haven dragged me over to see Luna. I then went through a row of sweaters and coats, keeping an eye out for Luna, seeing the odd shirt or hat above the doors. As I pulled a black hoodie over my shoulders, my ears perked to Luna stepping out from the changing room. I looked up to see her wearing a white V-neck sweater, a pair of grey shorts, and a set of purple leg warmers. And to be honest, she looked pretty attractive in that outfit. “You seem to like sweaters a lot. But all in all,” I nodded in approval. “Cute.” The Princess smiled warmly and bowed playfully. “Thank you, kind sir. And to answer your question, I’ve worn so many fancy gowns in the past, the stupidly tight things, that I just like having extra room to breathe. As it was near impossible to do so in those contraptions.” Her eyes flicked down to her wooly leg coverings. “You don’t think the warmers are awful, do you?” I followed her gaze and considered her words. “No, I think they go well with the white and black. Purple’s a good color for that matchup. Though, I’m not a fashion expert, so… what do I know?” “Enough that it matters.” A smile sprang to life on my muzzle as I stuffed my hands into my pockets, spinning on my heal to show off my new threads. “What do ya think, Loon?” The Wargess giggled as I spun back around, causing me to look at her funny. “What?” Luna stopped quick enough to speak. “T-turn the hoodie around.” I took off the hoodie and looked on the back, laughing as I saw a pale crescent moon sown into the back. “Well… I was always a Luna fan, so… no regrets.” She stopped her giggling at hearing my words. “A Luna fan?” My eyes widened at the possible mistake I’d made. “Aw crud… y-yeah… I was a Princess Luna fan back on earth. Please keep in mind that back there, you are seen as a fictional character, and you have a huge following. Celestia too… and Twilight.” “And Cadenza?” “Eh… yes, but she was one I never really payed attention to. She and Shining, at least in the show, never got good character development. They were always seen as the ‘Disney couple’ of MLP. That and Shining was as interesting as a brick when he was used in the show.” I found myself glowering at the floor, letting the weight of keeping my lips sealed come off. “He was pretty much the ‘damsel in destress’ every. Single. Time… Every villain fought was always handled by Twilight and company, never anyone else.” “Even I and Tia were pushed to the side?” She looked ready to glare holes into the nearest warm body. “…yes.” I rubbed the back of my head, uncomfortable with the situation. “Look, I’m speaking as a fan of a little girls’ show, so my opinion is bias. But, for me personally, I liked you as a character because you’d gone through struggles, faced them, and come out on top. Yes, you got jealous and fought Celestia, and were banished for one thousand years, not four thousand.” Luna’s mood soured at that, no doubt feeling like she got the deal that sucked. She crossed her arms in an admittedly cute pout but made no move to stop me. “And unlike Celestia, in the show at least, you had to adjust to modern life in a short time. I honestly can’t imagine waking up one day and having to learn that the world’s changed so much, everything you knew being gone in the past. Was it similar to your experience? Not that I want to bring anything bad up, but…” “No, it’s alright Micha. But, yes, my experience was similar to that, albeit a longer span of time.” She sighed, putting her weight on her right leg. “But even with my being four years back to the world and I still have yet to explore all the modern wonders.” “Yeah? What would you like to see?” She paused for a moment, humming to herself as she pushed her tongue into her cheek. “I have yet to experience the post office…” I gave her an odd look, a smile creeping onto my face. “What?” “Nothing…” I smiled innocently. “Continue.” She dropped it with a smirk and thought some more. “I have yet to see what all these ‘video games’ are. I have never laid eyes on them, but I’ve heard that they are entertaining. Oh, and I would like to see what all the fuss is about horror movies!” “Well, if you’re looking for video games, I’m the guy to talk to.” I grinned, bobbing my eyebrows at her. To which she did her best at muffling her laughter. “I was always into RPG’s and MMO’s, but I played one or two strategy-based games.” “RPG and MMO?” “Role playing games and online massive multiplayer games.” I explained with a smile. I then went into other game types, answering any questions that Luna asked. We carried on like this for the next hour as she changed from outfit to outfit, as I sometimes gave my approval of her attire, and sometimes not. “You seem to know much about video games. Prey tell, were you a master at many of these games?” She asked, pulling her messy hair into a ponytail. Remembering all the games I’d previously played, I smiled at the memory as I leaned against the wall next to her changing room. “Let’s see… there was Warframe and I was Mastery Rank 16, which is about half way to the top; MR 30—" “Why did you stop? Was it about the time you came here, and you left before finishing?” “No, I stopped because there really wasn’t a point to keep going. Pretty much everything could be unlocked at MR 15, so besides showing off your Mastery Rank, there wasn’t any point in continuing.” I admitted, feeling slightly depressed that the Devs didn’t give players more to work toward in leveling up. “Then there was Destiny 2, I mainly played it because Warframe had hit a lull and there wasn’t much going on. So, I gave Destiny a try, seeing as how a lot of people said it was good.” “And how did that go?” She then stepped out dressed in a frilly little white dress, spinning as she always did when wanting me to get a good look. “What do you think?” I hummed again, tilting my head at the dress. “It’s cute, but I can’t really see you wearing that a lot.” She shrugged and smoothed out the knee-high skirt. “At the least, I will buy this for nightwear.” “Yeah, probably.” I shrugged with a quick laugh, watching Luna return to her booth. “But to answer your first question. Destiny was good. Admittedly, the only gripe I had about it was that the story was so out of order. See, I’m one of those guys that likes lore, and when a game’s lore is practically a bunch of chaotic short stories, I tend to lose interest quickly.” (Any Destiny fans out there: please don’t murder me in my sleep) “Did somebody mention Chaos?!” Piped the voice of Discord, said Draconaquis popping into existence with a Railgun in hand. “Yeah, we were talking about Destiny 2’s disorganized storyline.” I said casually, looking up at the floating body of Discord. “Oh…” The Draconaquis literally deflated, pooling into a pile on the floor. Luna peeked over the doors to see the eavesdropper. “Evening Discord. How goes your day?” “Fine.” Groaned the Draconaquis, pulling himself back into a standing position and inflating himself. “Right up until I heard about that game that is destined to fail!” I then perked my ears, cupping my left ear. “You hear that?” Discord copied me but shook his head soon after, his voice coming alight with glee. “What? Do you hear my adoring fans rushing across time and space to come and worship me?!” “Oh yeah, lots of fans.” I gave him a smug smirk. “Fans of the Destiny franchise coming for you with pitchforks and torches.” “You do realize I could send you to the nearest alternate dimension, right?” “Yeah, but I know that the Princess here, and a certain pegasus would be very angry if you did.” I laughed. “Well…” Discord said with a pale face and he deflated again. “I can tell when I’m not wanted. Good day Princess!” With a snap of his fingers, the mismatched creature was gone, Luna releasing a sigh of relief. I just chuckled at the look he’d had, picturing a panicking Discord with a peeved Fluttershy looming over him. After a short while, I calmed myself long enough to hear Luna speak. “Fang, could you pick out an outfit for me? I’d like to see what you think would look good on me.” She looked away with a blush, keeping the white sweater over her so I wouldn’t see her nakedness. “Sure.” With this, she smiled. A sight that I had come to love. I then moved throughout the store, looking over what I thought she’d look good in. I wanted to go for a casual look, but still something that could be considered regal. After a long search, I noticed several ponies trying to talk with Luna over the stall doors, but Luna had ducked back into the farthest corner of the booth. I also noticed that Akiira and Roret had come back with me, watching as Haven tried and failed to push past the ponies to get to Luna. Luna’s eyes opened and landed on me, there was a hard look in her eye, one that told me to stay back and let her handle this. With a deep breath to calm herself, the Wargess rose to her clawed feet, glaring down at the ponies around her. “Enough.” At her command, the ponies stopped talking, all taking a step back in fear. “Not only do you approach your Princess at an inappropriate time, you do so while I am clothed in nothing. Have you no decency? Leave me be, I shall not answer any questions today.” I gave her a thumbs up from across the way, to which she smiled back. After a moment of confusion, the ponies emptied out of the store, leaving us Wargs and three remaining ponies to continue shopping. Seeing that the way was clear, I strode up to Luna’s booth and handed her the clothes I’d picked out. “Mom, you ok? They weren’t being nice.” Huffed Haven, crossing her arms sitting in a nearby chair. “No, they weren’t.” The Princess replied, pulling the cotton shirt over her head. “But I handled it as best I could, I didn’t raise my voice, nor did I abuse my power over them as their ruler.” “That you didn’t.” I agreed, leaning against the wall as I’d done before. “You handled it like royalty, with dignity and grace.” A small squeak escaped Luna’s lips and I looked to see her blush, working her hair into pigtails. “T-Thank you, Micah.” “Don’t mention it.” Then she stepped out, draped in a fuzzy green hoodie, a pair of tan drawstring pants, and the shirt from before. Luna, as she trodden into the open, berried her face into the hoodie’s inner fluff and was practically purring. “Mmmm-mmhhhmm… soooo sooooffftt…” I couldn’t help but smile along with her, watching as Haven shared in her experience when the Princess knelt down. “I take it you like the hoodie?” Haven and Luna nodded all at once, my daughter coming up and giving me her best puppy eyes. “Can I have one?” “Ask Luna, she’s buying.” Said Wargess gasped in mock horror, and hand on her chest in surprise. “What? Isn’t it the stallion’s job to protect and provide?” “I’m no stallion.” I smirked, standing tall and crossing my arms. Luna gave me her own playful pout, pulling Silver close so they were two adorable pleading faces. “Pwease?” A fake groan rumbled through my chest and throat as I slumped. “Fine, as long as you’re paying for lunch. With all the clothes we’ve gathered, my wallet will be bone dry by the end of this.” Luna stood tall and huffed, nose in the air. “Humph! Very well, you drive a hard bargain.” I chuckled with rolling eyes, shaking my head at the Wargess. “By the way, you look good in pigtails.” On her march back to the changing room, Luna stopped and looked over her shoulder, and promptly stuck her tongue out at me with a grin. As she changed back into her original outfit, I brought Haven and the basket of clothes to the counter to pay. After this, I lead the party of ladies through the streets back to the palace. I figured that since the sun was about ready to set, Luna would need to be back at the castle. It was soon time to put Haven to bed, and after a moment of prayer, I tucked her in and whispered her a good night. Haven still had the regular sleep pattern of a human child, so she had a habit of getting up before Luna and me. I’d sometimes wake to being tackled by the little Wargess. It was after this that I headed for the kitchens, finding Luna and Celestia having a drink, Akiira watching the two as she worked behind the counter. “… and you still think hunting them down is the best thing to do?” Asked Celestia, as she was slouched over the counter. “Celly, this has got to stop! You have to do something, banish them! Heck, I’ll even let them be imprisoned! Just deal with them.” Luna’s voice seemed more agitated, gaining a slight edge to it. The voice of Nightmare Moon. “They’ve become a threat to Equestria, and you are doing nothing!” “No, Moon, you’re wrong. I’ve kept tabs on the order since it’s creation, but they’ve never become a threat until now.” Said the alicorn as she stirred her drink. “I honestly can’t say why though. They’ve always kept to themselves until the week you were…” “Foalnapped? Yes, I know, dear sister.” Sneered the former Nightmare Moon. “And you couldn’t have bothered to station more guards at the palace, why? Is it because you need as much space as you can get for those melons of yours?” I felt my face suddenly heat to a boil, stopping in my tracks as I continued to watch the two Princesses. Akiira took a moment to stir the soup she had cooking, it’s delicious scent filling the room. “That was a little rude.” “A little?!” Squeaked Celestia, her face turning as red as mine, looking back at Moon. “My boobs aren’t that big!” “Eh…” Chuckled the Wargess, her silver eyes looking over the alicorn. “Regardless of your rack’s size…” Celestia gasped and fixed her sister with a glare. “…you’ve let the security of this country grow soft, just like you, Mrs. Sun Butt.” The alicorn let out another squeak, her glare intensifying as she squirmed in her seat. “Will you stop bringing my weight into this!!” The former Nightmare Queen huffed, rolling her eyes. “Fine. But my point still stands, clean up your act… and your diet.” Celestia’s face suddenly had an appointment with the counter, a loud thud sounding as I finally had the courage to move again. I soon made it to the counter, taking a seat next to Moon. “Hello, Star.” She smiled, resting her chin on her folded hands, elbows on the counter. “Good evening, Micah. But if you wouldn’t mind, call me Moon.” “Why change it in the first place?” I asked, looking in her direction with my jaw in one hand. Moon sighed in irritation, looking off to the side for a moment before her gaze returned to me. “I tried changing it so the ponies would hopefully let go of my past misdeeds, even going so far as to act all friendly and sweet. But in the end, it did nothing. So, here I am, the famous Nightmare Moon.” “I don’t mind one bit. We all have our misdeeds; such things can be forgiven.” “Yes well, ponies have this stupid thing where they forgive anything on the spot. We’ve read much of the bible you gave us, and we’ve seen that only God can forgive that fast. Nopony by their own will can match his grace.” “Yeah? Do you think the ponies are able to forgive similarly, or do you think they learn by watching someone else…” I looked across from Moon to peer at Celestia, an eyebrow raised. “Maybe they learn by example? Putting off something until someone else can deal with it in the next millennia or so? *cough* Twilight Sparkle *cough*” “Yeah, why is that? Why not just deal with the enemy or problem then and there, not later?” Asked Akiira, stirring a bowl of cookie dough. Celestia gave her a scowl, her mood taking a dip. “Well, I’d thought we’d seen the last of them, but as seen, I am apparently terrible at ‘putting the baddies away.’” Moon scoffed, rolling her eyes as she muttered, “That’s an understatement.” When her eyes landed on me, I gave the former Nightmare a quick glare. Even if she was right, she could’ve kept her misgivings to herself. I then looked back to Celestia, finding the mare staring hopelessly into her cup. “Regardless of this, what will you do now? How will you fix this mess?” The alicorn Princess breathed a long sigh, hanging her head. “As of now, I have no idea.” “We still have tomorrow, so think on it. But don’t lay it off for a long while, they still need to be taken down. Besides, don’t you have advisers or someone to help you rule? Hint, hint…” I nodded toward Moon. “Don’t waist your time, Fang. She never listens to me… especially when it comes to matters of national security.” Groaned Moon with another roll of her silver eyes. Celestia practically gasped. “Yes I do!” “When? You didn’t listen when Sombra came with the promise of courtship, and at his return, you sent Twilight and her friends to face him. Mind you, this was against the Dark Prince of the Umbrum and your former coltfriend… without a backup plan. Then came Discord! You just had to put him on display! Not berry his stoned body in the deepest hole, not shatter him to bits—” “Ugh!” Came the muffled voice of Discord through the roof. “I’m SO glad YOU were not in charge all that time!” “...” Moon glared at the ceiling before continuing. “…my point being, you left him out in the open where he could be tampered with, under weak security. Then came Chrysalis’ SECOND foalnapping! Really Celly?! Are you that much of a fool to not have a backup plan or maybe some extra protection?! Dare I mention Tirek and your ‘plan’ to stop him?!” Celestia looked ready to open the floodgates, looking over to me for support, yet I offered none. Why, you may ask? Because I felt that she needed to hear this. “L-“ The Princess of the Sun sniffed. “M-Moon… I-I’m sorry.” “Well, being sorry is a start, Celly. But you need to clean up your act before we can trust you with this country’s security again.” Said the Wargess, her voice getting softer. “Henceforth, we shall take command of Equestria’s Guard for the time being under the sixth amendment of Equestrian law. ‘When a Princess is unfit for duty, another has the authority to take temporary command of the state until the former is well. Until that point, all assets of the Guard and military factions are to be handed to the raining Princess.’” My eyebrows shot up and my eyes widened by a fraction in surprise. I honestly liked the idea of Luna taking control of the military, thinking it’d suit her well. “And until you have earned my trust back Tia, I am placing Fang in command of the rookie Guards’ training.” WHAT?!!!! “While he may have no military background, I believe his attitude and willingness to see them improve beyond their current condition shall prove to be a good start.” My eyes widened until it felt like they were ready to pop out, my jaw hanging slightly open. I was then brought back to reality as a plate of eggs was set before me, two others set in front of Luna and Celestia. “And nothing provides a good start like scrambled eggs, bacon, and wheat toast.” Akiira worriedly grinned.