Where am I now?
The area around me is hazy. Anything beyond five feet is distorted. I can see a few flickering light sources and I can feel a small amount of heat coming from them. So I can conclude that they’re torches or very large candles. From what I can see, I can make out the grass below my feet. My hooves to be exact. Four of them.
I exam the rest of my body to see that I’m back to my ‘original’ self. My grown-up pegasus body. Without the scarf or that accursed collar.
Am I …back?
Suddenly I get a chill run up my spine. This prompted me to look around at my surrounding. Black figures emerged from the shadows, their faces still concealed despite them being near a light source.
I could tell that they were all ponies, pegasi at that. They all stood there not saying or making any noise. Then one of the ponies’ eyes began to glow, more specifically their iris. Then another and another glowed as well, each set was a different color. It wasn’t until then I realized that I was surrounded.
Are you ready?
A voice appeared in my head followed by a different one asking the same question. Soon it felt like the entire world was talking to me. It was becoming unbearable to have these voices in my head.
Stop it!
The voices didn’t stop. They just became louder.
ARE YOU PREPAIRED?
I screamed at the top of my lungs for them to stop and they did stop, but it was only a brief silence. Then another voice spoke. My voice.
Yes.
What?
“WAKE UP!”
I jolt awake at the sound of somepony screaming. I tumble off my bed, dragging the covers with me. I hit my nightstand, causing my crown to get knocked over and fall onto the floor. I rub the back of my head to deal with the small amount of pain. I looked over to see who thought it was a good idea to wake me up so rudely.
“Sup’ Flightless.” The culprit said with a sneer.
Of course, it would be you.
For the last few days, she was tailing me around. It didn’t matter what time of the night it was. Whether it be during my studies, dinner, or even combat training. There was no point in hiding from her as she wouldn’t be too far away to sniff me out.
Why do I say “sniffing out”? Well, it’s because she DOES. I can hear her sniffing the air around her. It takes just a few whiffs and she has my location. I’ve tried masking my scent with much stronger odors, but somehow she can still single me out.
She’s been a pain in the plot.
“Why are you here?” I ask.
“Cuz’ I can, Flightless,” she said apathetically.
Another thing about her is the nickname she gave me. She’s refused to acknowledge me by my title unless she’s in front of some high ranking officer or official. The reason she calls me ‘Flightless’ is because I don’t fly at all. I think she assumes I can’t fly because I couldn’t reach her in the tree.
I then remembered that I had locked my door before going to sleep.
“How did you get in?”
“Cuz’ I can, Flightless,” she said repeating her previous answer.
Bucken stalker. Why haven’t I reported her already?
I head to my bathroom to freshen up for the night. Speaking of the bathroom, it took me six months from when I was given the room to know that I had one. I think mom found it strange that I was traveling across the castle just to take a bath in one bathroom. How was I supposed to know? Mom has been taking me to that specific bathroom ever since she adopted me.
I pulled up a stool so that I could reach the sink. There was a bowl with water in it. One of the drawbacks of being in the past was no running water, for now. It was mostly magic that allowed water to be pulled into the baths. The technique was around but it had not yet taken off.
I grabbed a toothbrush and began to brush my teeth. I used circular motions to brush my teeth, going around five times on each section. After I was done I then headed towards the tub for an early bath. There was no real reason, but with that bat-filly here, my privacy is nonexistent.
I filled that tub with warm water. Going back and forth with a single bucket. Usually, it would already be done for me, but since it's early, or rather late, I have to do it on my own. I could call one of the maids to do it, but that would take a while and I don’t feel like waiting or waking one of them up.
I get in the tub and let my body soak up the water. Even though I had just woken up, the warm water was making me feel very drowsy.
Don’t fall asleep now.
“Great… just what I need: for you to drown in your own tub.” A voice said.
I immediately turned my head to see who it was that said that. My eye met up with two mismatched colored eyes. I instinctively used my wings to cover myself even though I don’t wear any clothes. My first thoughts were━ how did she get in here? And why is she here? I thought I locked the door before I got here.
“W-why are... you here?!”
“Pff...Oh, pipe down! I’ve seen better.” She said looking down.
...What?
“That d-doesn’t answer... anything!”
“Cuz’ I can! There!”
Okay that’s it I’m out!
I jump out of the tub and march right out, not even bothering to dry myself. I push the door wide open and begin making my way to breakfast, where mom is surly at. One of the maids sees me still soaking wet and offers to dry me off with a towel. I gave off a harsher ‘no’ than I meant to because she seemed distraught after.
As I make my way over there, many of the guards and maids steer aside at the sight of me. I guess that’s because they’ve never seen me with an irritated look.
Every time I look back, she’s there and seems to get closer no matter how much I speed up. Eventually, we made it to the dining room and I see mom eating at her usual spot. It appeared that she was waiting for me as her food was sitting in front of her, untouched, and mine was too at the next seat over.
She spotted me as I entered the room. She smiled and was about to greet me, but then noticed that I was breathing heavy and still wet from my interrupted bath from earlier.
“Wherefore art thee out of breath and are wet, mine own son?” She asked.
“I has't... a problem, mother,” I said ignoring her question.
“Thee has't never hadst a problem before,” Luna said surprised.
I then pointed over at the filly who was standing only a couple of feet away from me. Luna looked over at her and then back at me with a confused expression.
“Is the problem with thy new bodyguard?” She said.
Bodyguard?
I was taken aback by her response. When was she assigned to be my bodyguard? I looked back to the bat-filly and saw that the expression on her face was the same as any other soldier on duty.
“What day didst... this occureth?” I asked.
“Four nights ago. I told thee didst I not?”
“No, mother.”
I was never told at all. She just started following me around out of nowhere Unless I was still drowsy from waking up one night.
“Wherefore wast the filly chosen?” I then asked.
Mom looked at me even more puzzled as if I should have known.
“Thee hadst referred to her as an old friend,” she said. She pointed at the filly. “Thy assignment required thee to maketh a friend. So I hath chosen her to be thy bodyguard and friend.”
Pretty sure you can't force friendships like that.
The filly’s right ear twitched at the word ‘friend’. When I looked back at her to see if she had changed express, she appeared as if nothing had happened at all. Turning my attention back to mom, I sighed and pressed no further with this issue. I took my seat next to her and began to eat.
The next night I was in my room reading a book for pleasure. I’m glad I could read now. It had taken me so long to be able to do so. I think I’m starting to understand why Twilight buried herself in books, there were so many interesting new things to learn from them. But when it came to the fundamentals of science and magic, my brain would shut down.
Am I becoming an egghead?
Many of the forms of entertainment that I enjoyed had yet to exist. Like the radio, for example, it wasn’t widely used by many, but it was around. Vinyl kept it around but never used it except once when she first bought it. I could go to an orchestra concert, but they only had one show late at night per month. Same with a play. So a book was all I had for now.
However, I was having trouble reading this night.
There was a knock on my door. I put the book down in annoyance, not because I was at a good part, but because I knew who it was and it was not the first time. I tried to ignore it, but they kept knocking.
“Yes?”
The door opened and the head of the filly, my bodyguard who I still don’t know the name of, popped out. She stared at me with a grin.
“Just checking in on your well-being, your majesty.” She said.
“Your checking in’s have been happening every three minutes for the last hour,” I told her irritated.
“Just doing my job.” She said in a monotone voice with a hoof up in a salute, but I could sense the sass behind it all.
She then closes the door and I try to resume reading, only for her to knock again. I threw the book across the room in frustration. I had been patient with her for the last hour. I stomped over to the door and waited for her to knock again.
Once she did I answered and when she poked her head in, I grabbed her by the armor and pulled her into my room. I threw her to the center of my room, but because of her reflexes, she was able to recover without much problem and just brushed it off like it was no big deal. She seemed surprised, not even slightly hurt, that I was able to lift and throw her.
“WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!?” I yelled at her.
Now it was her turn to yell, “YOU KNOW WHY!” She then tackled me to the ground.
She was striking with full force as I grunted in pain. She kept jabbing her hooves at my exposed chest as I was on my back. I felt like if she kept this long enough I would end up with a few broken ribs. So I raised my hind legs just high enough to grab her mane, even though it was short, it was enough that I could grab it and pull down. This caught her off guard, and she fell on her back.
She then jumped back onto her hooves and stood up straight, ready to strike again. I, on the other hoof, was thinking that I may have bitten off more than I could chew. She was ready to go again and I was almost out of breath.
She flew up a couple of feet, but then swoop back down and rammed into me, she dragged me and we burst the door open as she used me almost as a battering ram. We broke through a window, ending up outside in the courtyard.
I kicked her face to free myself from her clutches.
“CALM DOWN! WE DO NOT HAVE TO DO THIS!” I yelled. She retaliates by yelling out profanities.
This is getting out of hand. Just what is her problem?
She's getting ready for another attack as she gives herself some distance. So I think to myself that it’s probably best to use that training Shining Armor gave me, or I can kiss my flank goodbye. When no pony was watching I would perform the various moves he'd teach me, but lately, I haven't been able to do so. So I might be a little rusty.
She uses her distance to gain speed. A direct hit would probably cause me to be incapacitated for life. As the filly gets closer I try to calculate as fast as possible for a counter. I take a deep breath and the whole world slows down. Just as she’s about to make contact, I move to the side at the last possible second and slam my left hind leg down on her.
She’s knocked to the ground below us. She hits the ground with a hard thud, but this time she struggles to get back up. I float down and land next to her.
“Have you finally calmed down?” I ask, looking down at her.
She glares at me but does nothing more than that. I felt my left ear twitch. I stood up in alert and could hear various guards making their way towards us from all directions. I look down at the filly.
Do I leave her or do I stay and say what happened?
I weigh my options, if I leave her here they’ll surely punisher her for leaving her post, but If I stay and say what happened she’ll get punished alongside me too. Then I thought of a third option.
I hope this works.
Placing my hoof on her back I closed my eyes and concentrated. I haven't tried to do this once since the incident with my crown. Hopefully, it wasn’t a one-time thing.
The sound of hooves hitting the ground got louder and louder as the guards drew closer, then suddenly they were gone. I opened my eyes to see that we were back in my room.
I sighed in relief that it had worked, but that feeling was soon replaced by a nauseous feeling. My insides felt like they were ready to burst out. I dashed towards the bathroom immediately.
When I was finished I stepped back in the room and saw that the filly had moved, she was standing on all four but seemed to have trouble staying up as she wobbled from side to side. She took notice of me entering the room again. We stared at each other, waiting for the other to speak first.
“Well? Aren’t you going to do anything?” the filly said harshly.
“Do what exactly?’ I asked innocently.
“How..how can you be so calm? After what I did?” Tears started to fall from her eyes.
I moved closer to her, still a bit wary. She didn’t do anything. I felt awkward as soon as I was right next to her not doing anything else.
What do I say now?
“Uh… You were blind to rage?”
“What?” She raised an eyebrow at me.
I let out a heavy sigh. “Look. I barely remember you and you got mad at me and I want to know why.”
“Why?” Did she just ask why I wanted to know why she was mad at me?
“What do you mean why?” I asked.
“No. Why did you forget?”
“... about?”
“...us.”
WAIT!? WHAT THE BUCK!?
US!? What does she mean by “us”? What the f**k happened during my time at the orphanage? Why did that happen? How? We were no more than two years old for Celestia’s sake. We shouldn’t be having thoughts about this now!
You know what? I may be getting ahead of myself. Maybe that’s not what she suggested all.
“What were we?” I asked hoping the response was friendship or something.
“You were my first.”
RED ALERT! CODE RED!
AH! What the hay? Now I’m really panicking this just went in a whole different direction.
Before I could say anything else my door was kicked open. Two female bat pony guards entered my room with weapons at the ready. They spotted me and the filly. Then two more guards entered and the four of them encircled us.
“Anything?” said one of them.
“Negative.” another answered.
A flash of blue light blinded us for a bit. I then felt myself being pulled by the chest. I made contact with something firm but fuzzy.
“Mine son! Are thou unharmed?”
I recognized who was speaking. Mom had my face planted on her chest. A feeling that I welcomed since I started sleeping alone. She asked me the same question again, but since my face was against her chest I couldn't speak. I pointed back and forth between my face and her chest.
“Oh! Forgive us, Lunar.”
She loosened her grip on me and I was able to free my face and breathe. I felt a wet drop hit me so I looked up and saw that she had tears running down.
“I am fine,” I said.
Mom placed me down and signaled me that she wanted me right next to her. One of her wings draped over me and then she shifted most of her attention to the guards.
“Report!” Her voice changed from a motherly tone to her authoritative Canterlot voice.
The four guards, three being mares and one stallion, lined up shoulder to shoulder.
“We have studied the window glass and deduced from how the glass shattered is that it was broken from the inside, your highness.” The stallion spoke.
“Any evidence of intrusion from elsewhere in the castle?” Mom asked.
“Negative, your highness.”
Then mom looked over at the filly. The filly has fixed her composure and is now straight as a spear.
“Resonance, speak please.” Mom directed at the filly. The filly’s right eye twitched at the name.
Resonance? That’s her name? Well, at least I don’t have to refer to her as “bat-filly” anymore.
“I was standing guard outside the prince’s room...” She began to say but then hesitated.
“Continue, guard. What caused the window to shatter?” Mom pressed.
I could tell the Resonance was hesitant to say. After all, this is the second time she got in a fight with a royal member. If she tells them that, then I don’t think she’ll get off lightly this time.
“Resonance! The princess is talking to you!” One of the mares said.
Now everypony was staring down at her. It was not looking good. Should I do something? It can’t be as bad as what they might do to her.
“I am to censure,” I spoke.
“Explain Lunar.” Now it was my turn as Mother spoke to me.
Okay, I can do this. Lying can’t be all that difficult. Can it?
Well, that worked… kind of.
“Keep up your highness.” A guard ahead of me said.
My lie sort of work. I told her that I broke the window after I got frustrated with a book I was reading, so I tossed it out and it hit Resonance then it bounced off her at broke the window. So my punishment for losing my temper is being on patrol for an entire week.
Being on patrol wasn’t the problem, but where I was sent is. I was assigned to be at the edge of the Everfree forest. I mean seriously, isn’t the place filled with dangerous creatures? Why would you send a kid? Why would you send the prince out? But then again the guard we were with was no ordinary guard.
The guard we were with was a female bat pony like most royal night guards. But by the look of her armor, it was more flashy, with gold accents around it. She carried a spear on her back, decorated in the same fashion as her armor. She was an elite.
“Come on! Can’t you go any faster, bookworm?” A voice said behind me.
Oh yeah. Her...
Resonance was sent out with me of course. She followed closely behind, but she was pushing me to go faster. I glared at her and she stuck her tongue out in response. The guard didn’t even care, to her, we were just kids. She was probably annoyed that she’d have to babysit us for the next week. She probably expected a more prioritized assignment for some pony of her rank.
“Come on you two. We are almost at the next outpost.”
“Yes ma’am.” We said in unison.
The next outpost was a small campsite with only three tents, two of them being small and the other being large in size. You could fit about 15 full-size ponies in it. It had a fence around it made out of logs that were about four inches wide in diameter and high as five feet. Rather high for a pony, but since all the guards had wings they would just hover above them.
“We will be stationed here until the next group arrives.”
Once we reached the outpost we were greeted by two other guards who were standing at the entrance to the outpost. They had faces of relife. The guard that was with us walked over to them, they exchanged a few words and the other two retreated into one of the tents. One of them gave me a dirty look but went unnoticed by every pony but me.
“You, filly, stand here.” The guard ordered Resonance. She complied.
The guard then took her place on the opposite side of the entrance to the camp. I just stood there like an idiot.
“What about me?” I asked.
“You shall join us when I call you. For now, rest in the large tent. It would be unsafe to have you for the entire shift.”
Oh? And being at the edge of the forest isn't already?
I turned around and headed into the tent. When I entered it I was greeted by two familiar maids. It was Hidari and Rīt, twin unicorn servants.
“Hello, your highness.” They said in unison.
“Hidari, Rīt, I did not expect you.”
They bowed their head when I spoke their name before telling me that they were here on mom’s orders. They said that they would follow us, more specifically me, until the week is up.
“We have also brought your books and assignments.”
The more they told me the brought made me feel that this wasn’t any ordinary punishment for breaking a window. So, my daily activities are mostly the same just outside the castle.
So mom just exiled me!?
Might as well continue reading my book, so I dug around my things looking for it. However, it became clear that it was not here. I asked Rīt where my book was.
“Your mother destroyed the book saying that it was the root of your problem.”
WHAT THE HAY!?