Chapter 2: The Contest Winners / The Castle Tour
A young unicorn and his best friend, a daemonequus (a creature part pony and part demon) were the 2 winners of the contest announced by The Royal Sisters. They won the chance to see the whole castle through a tour guided by Celestia and Luna themselves. It was the night before the long awaited day, and the unicorn was feeling nervous.
“Aren’t you excited?” said the daemonequus. Her name is Darky Spell. She isn’t that different from other ponies: she has a light blue coat, a long, puffy white mane and tail, a long horn, bat-looking wings and a cutie mark of a feather with some ink; and wears a pink shirt, a black choker and a huge red ribbon over her head.
The dead giveaway that she isn’t a regular pony are her eyes. She has an orange left eye and a blue right eye, both so pale that they are difficult to notice at first sight, making her look like if her eyes were completely white. She used to wear sunglasses to hide them and avoid question, until she started feeling more comfortable about them.
“Yeah, of course I am. I’m just a little nervous,” responded the unicorn. His name is Buggy Brush. He has a purple coat, a round jaw (unlike most stallions), a short, yellow mane with a green lock of hair, a short, yellow tail, green eyes and a cutie mark of a brush with some green paint on it.
He always wears a certain necklace, a really special necklace. It has a round, blue and black pendant with a white moon in the middle, looking exactly like Princess Luna’s cutie mark. It makes him feel a little more confident.
“Just a ‘little’ nervous?” asked Darky walking towards him.
He sighed.
“What if something goes wrong? I have wanted an opportunity like this more than anything else. I can NOT ruin this!”
“And you won’t ruin it. How could you possibly ‘ruin’ it?”
“I don’t know. What if I freak out and just freeze in front of her?”
“You’re not worried because of The Royal Sisters, but only because of her, right?”
“Wha- How did you know??” asked Buggy while he stopped levitating the pencil he was drawing with and turned to look at his friend.
“First of all, I have known you my entire life, I can practically read you as a book at this point; second of all, it’s no news to me how much you admire Luna; and third of all-“ she raised her hoof to point what Buggy was drawing “-you are literally drawing her right now… again.”
“Am I really that obvious?”
“Yes, you are.”
“I just don’t want… I don’t want the whole ‘magician’ situation happening all over again.”
“‘Magician’ situation?” asked Darky with a confused look on her face.
“Don’t you remember? When I fell in love with that blue unicorn magician, then one day I tried to get close to her to say ‘hi’ and I just freeze in front of her awkwardly.”
“Oh, yeah. I still remember that. Why did you like her anyways?”
“I don’t know, she was cool,” he answered looking away. “What if that happens again? What if I freeze in front of Luna making her feel uncomfortable?”
“That won’t happen,” replied Darky with a really confident voice. “And remember I’ll be there too. If I see that’s about to happen, I can always kill you to save you from the embarrassment,” she added jokingly, trying to make him laugh and feel more relaxed, yet failing at it.
She noticed Buggy was not convinced yet, so she grabbed his face with her hoof and looked straight into his eyes to make sure he was paying attention.
“Bug, listen. She may be a princess, but she’s still a pony like you and me, and you know that. It’s normal to be nervous, especially in a situation like this. It’s normal to be scared, but don’t let that get the best of you. Everything is going to be more than fine, I’ll be there if you need me, and if I notice you need a little push, I’ll help you.”
After saying that, she hugged him. She knows that always makes him feel safe.
“Everything is going to be fine, Bug. I promise,” she said with a soft, comforting voice.
“I-“ he tried to said something, but wasn’t sure how to reply. He was still feeling nervous, but a lot less than before.
“Thank you,” he finally said while returning the hug.
They stayed like that for a little before releasing each other.
“Feeling any better now?”
“Yeah, thank you (again).”
“No problem,” she said while winking an eye.
“I guess it would be good if you go home to get some sleep before tomor-“ he was interrupted by the sound of a thunder, followed by rain.
“They didn’t mention anything about rain tonight,” said Darky.
They fell in silent for a few seconds.
“Would you mind if I stay here tonight?”
“Of course I won’t! Sleepover time?” he said smiling at her.
“Sleepover time!” she yelled excited.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The next day arrived and the 2 friends were making their way to the castle, until Buggy realized something.
“WAIT! I can NOT let her see my necklace!!”
“Why not?”
He didn’t really know how to answer that.
“I just… can’t!”
“Why didn’t you leave it?”
“I forgot. I thought wearing it would help me feel less worried as always, but I forgot she could notice it!”
“Ok, wait here. I have an idea,” Darky said before teleporting herself away. Teleportation is something only the most skilled of magic wielders can use, and Darky was no stranger to magic. She came back a few seconds later.
“Here-“ she gave him an orange-green scarf. “She won’t notice your necklace if you cover your neck with this thing.”
“You’re a genius, Darky. Thanks”
She gave him a smile as an answer.
After walking for some more minutes, they found themselves in front of the castle. Waiting for them at the entrance were Princess Luna and some royal guards. Celestia was supposed to be there too, but she wasn’t able because of some not-related last minute problems. Buggy was already nervous with the idea of The Royal Sisters, Darky and him being alone during the tour, but now they were going to be only Luna, Darky and him. Darky was noticing he was getting nervous again, so she pulled him closer to her with her wing and whispered:
“Everything will be fine, I’m here, Bug.”
He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and answered with a subtle smile.
“Greetings, young ponies. Welcome to the Canterlot Castle!” said Luna, walking towards them. “You must be Darky Spell and Buggy Brush, right?”
They both bowed to her, as a sign of respect.
“Greetings, your majesty. And yes, he’s Buggy Brush and I’m Darky Spell, and we’re honored to be here today,” Darky answered, taking control of the situation. She was also feeling nervous, but she had to stay calm or she wouldn’t be able to keep her friend calm.
“Come with me. Let’s not waste time,” said Luna, turning around to tell the guards that it was ok to let them pass.
When they crossed the entrance to the insides of the castle, Darky noticed Buggy was walking a little slower, so she pulled him closer to her again, this time keeping her wing over his back to make sure he wasn’t being left behind. They walked like that for a long part of the tour while Luna was talking to them and Darky responding for both.
Eventually, Luna stopped talking about the castle and changed the subject a little, asking Darky a more personal question.
“What about you, Darky? I’d be interested to know more about you.”
“Me? Well em…” her mind was in blank. She was not expecting that question. She may feel more comfortable since she and Luna were talking for a while at this point, but that didn’t mean she was ready to talk about herself.
“Well, I’m just a common daemonequus Canterlot resident, nothing special.”
“I haven’t heard much about daemonequus before, aside from being half demon and half pony.”
“That’s probably because my species is not from anywhere near here. We are from far beyond Equestria.”
“How did you get to Canterlot then?”
“That’s kind of a long story.”
“I’d love to hear it.”
Buggy was listening to their conversation, but it eventually got overshadowed by the sound of his own thoughts. He hasn’t said a thing since the tour began, not even his name, since Darky introduced them both. He was too scared to just intervene in the conversation, but he couldn’t help feeling left out.
“And you, Buggy Brush? Tell me about you.”
Luna’s voice took him by surprise and, since Darky took her wing off his back a few minutes ago, he just continued walking without realizing it, until he bumped into Luna.
“I- I’m sorry!! I d- didn’t- I-“ he quickly took some steps back. He felt really embarrassed, like if he was completely defenseless in front of her.
His face went completely red in a matter of seconds. Darky quickly realized he was unable to get out of that situation by himself at that moment, so she walked to him and embraced him with her wing a third time in a desperate attempt to calm him down. Luna noticed Buggy was starting to freak out, so she also tried to calm him down.
“It is fine! It was just a little accident, it’s ok!” she said while looking at him, who was trying to avoid her eyes. He could feel the tension all over his body.
“Bug, it is ok buddy,” whispered Darky with a really soft, reassuring voice. Buggy tried to rise his head again, but he was still avoiding looking at Luna’s eyes.
“I- I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, don’t worry,” Luna answered. “Now, tell me about you.”
“I… am just a normal Canterlot resident,” he said, trying to think in something more to add. “And I like to draw.”
“Oh! That’s pretty nice! Maybe one day you could draw something for me?”
“O- Of course!” That was the last thing he said before falling in silence for the rest of the tour.
“I’m sorry,” whispered Darky to him, making sure Luna wasn’t listening. She felt guilty for taking her wing off him and putting him in that situation.
“Please, don’t let me go,” he answered to her. He knew it was not her fault, and he didn’t want her to feel that way. It was not her responsibility to take care of him, but he needed her support, he needed to feel her wing protecting him. He was not able to continue without that.
The rest of the tour passed faster than expected, so they (and with “they” I mean Darky) decided it would be good to go home and rest, instead of staying a little longer like it was supposed. They said goodbye to the princess and made their way home.
“Are you ok?” asked Darky to her friend, who was looking to the ground trying to hide his face.
He didn’t answer anything.
“Let’s go home, Buggy.”
After the tour finished, Luna couldn’t help but feeling worried for that young unicorn. She noticed he wasn’t feeling alright after that little situation. She was walking through one of the hallways back to her room when something on the floor caught her attention, something little and sparkly.
“Is that-“ she got closer, “-a necklace?”