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// 20: Just Your Average Morning 
// Story: The Night's Shining Armour 
// by Appleody 
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Chapter 20

Ah, that was a weirdly decent night’s sleep. Don’t get me wrong, the start of it was pretty disconcerting, with all the weird dream exploration. It’s just now, upon waking up, I feel like I’m for once well rested. Normally after night court finishes, I go to bed around 2am and have to get up for breakfast at eight. 

With that in mind, I sat up slightly and yawned in a distinctly feminine tone. Oh right, Loony’s here. “Morning Loony, sleep well?” I had Luna say to herself.

After a moment of waiting and feeling no movement from my wearer, it became clear I'd woken up before my friend. Well, this is a first. Normally Loony wakes me up for breakfast. Should I interrupt her sleep? What time is it anyway? 

Turning Luna’s head towards the window, the moon was still clearly visible. That makes sense, seeing as its guardian has yet to rise. Maybe I should just wait for her? There’s no way the so-called Luna Goddess would allow herself to sleep in, right? Laying our shared head back on the pillow, I caught sight of a moon themed clock showing 6am.

Wow, that is early. So early in fact, that I’m pretty sure more sleep is needed to ensure my survival through todays insanity. With that, I gave a quick affectionate scratch of Luna’s ears, before trying my best to wrap our wings around us. “See you in a couple hours.” I said to pretty much no one.

Sadly, it seemed that I’d be seeing a lot more of the comatose pony, as sleep just refused to return. It was nice and cosy for the first five minutes, but after that it really started to drag. After rolling over for the third time, I decided to sit up once again. This doesn’t make any sense; I’ve only had four hours. Everyone knows you need a good six to start the day. Or preferably fourteen, if the ponies would let me.

A feminine sigh escaped my borrowed lips, followed by a frustrated swing of one extra appendage I’d forgotten about. This resulted in the accidental dislodgement of my wearers duvet and caused me to direct my attention to the offending limb.

Oh, I didn’t think that would actually exist. Before my light blue eyes, was my brand-new metal cord of a tail, intertwined with that of the moon pony’s. Waging it around a little in experimentation, caused Luna’s treasured duvet to fall the rest of the way to the cruel floor. 

Wonder how this actually looks? Celestia didn’t seem to mind in that dream. Thinking of how I ruined the sun ponies dream soured my mood a little, until Luna’s eyes fell back on my tail. Sunny’s apology is a problem for breakfast time, just try not to think about that. Maybe messing around with my tail will be a decent distraction. Loony won’t mind.

With that, I somehow willingly rose from Luna’s luxurious mattress and took a few steps. After the first couple, I decided to do my habitual morning stretch and I can safely say having flesh and bones makes the experience much more enjoyable. Probably a lot more worthwhile too. The cat like stretch I achieved, resulted in a couple of cracking sounds which, while at first slightly worrying, appeared to relieve some undiscovered stiffness in Luna’s spine. Huh, maybe ponies have to do that every morning?

After the for once worthwhile exercise, I made my way over to the rooms ensuite in search of the fabled mirror, in a vain pursuit to review my new appearance.  Ha, success. Like in my own room, my prize was situated above the sink. When I approached, my armoured form could clearly be seen, obscuring the fluffy navy-blue Princess within.

My looks are still pretty normal really. Well, normal for me being a ghostly suit of armour anyway. At least with Loony present, I don’t have that creepy hollow look. 

Quickly turning to my side, an eye was again cast upon my new tail. Hmm, seems to fit pretty well. Moving it around doesn’t look that weird, unless it’s weird for a pony to move their tail. They are supposed to just be hair after all. Due to how intertwined my tail was with the moon ponies, it was actually possible for me to easily move Luna’s as if it were my own. That could be useful, maybe? It’s probably best not to overdo it though. Loony might not appreciate that tugging sensation. She also probably wouldn’t be too happy about the whole staring at her rear end thing.

With Loony’s face starting to heat up, my attention immediately left my tail and turned to my armours standard design. While it did seem pretty effective at protecting my wearer from the front; from the sides, the back of Loony’s legs are clearly visible. Not only that, but her wings only had a sliver of metal to protect them, with her feathers only slightly obscured by my mist. Maybe a redesign is needed? That metal feather design could be suitable. Although most of the guards seem to favour a more open design. Do the pegasus guards even wear wing armour? Bah, I’ll ask Loony when she wakes up.

At least her head is full protected. Looking back at my reflection’s faceplate reminded me of my second dream crafted modification. Wonder if I can actually smile now? After a period of leering at my reflection like a waste of space, the only success I had was that of my faceplate mouth opening slightly. While a failure, it did still reveal my inner treasure.

Upon witnessing it briefly, I fully opened my faceplate revealing the smiling pegacorn within. “Hello beautiful,” I said in a playful tone. Really wish I could smile back at her like this. As the thought took hold, the smile Luna had gained fell into a sharp frown. Nope, can’t sully Luna’s face like that. After a little effort, a more neutral look graced my friends features. Well, it’s better than a frown.  No, don’t you frown again!

After passing some time staring at our reflection, it became clear that it wasn’t really the way to go. There had to be something else to do, right? Looking around the moon themed bathroom didn’t really give much inspiration. That was until my borrowed eyes fell upon a little brush, adorned with a tiny moon symbol. Suppose the least I could do is brush her teeth. Pretty sure I know how to do this.

Rearing up ready on the sink, the brush was placed facing upwards ready to receive paste. I then grasped the toothpaste tube in a shoe and attempted to apply it to the brush. Applying pressure to the tube with a single shoe proved tricky, so I had to settle for squeezing it between two. This was marginally successful, as the minty fluid easily escaped the tube and coated the brush. It also coated parts of the sink, the mirror and on further inspection, parts of Luna’s face. What a great start. In hind sight, my mist would probably have been better for this. Oh, well.

The next steps of applying water to the brush and then brushing the teeth were fairly straight forward. Just turn on the tap, stick the brush in Luna’s mouth, avoid the annoying tongue and jobs a gooden, minty freshness. 

Once I’d deemed the level of brushing sufficient, I put the lid back on the toothpaste tube and returned the brush to its rightful place. Hmm, well that wasn’t so bad. Probably means I should move on to the mouth wash.

The fluid in question was bright green in an appropriately labelled bottle, so it was hard to miss. Learning from past mistakes, I removed the cap with my mist and then used a shoe to bring it up to Loony’s lips. Then, without dribbling, I poured some of the contents into the awaiting mouth. 

Now this stuff tasted way too strong for its intended purpose, but once I’d started there was no going back. This meant I had to try to swirl the vile liquid around my borrowed mouth, which apparently takes more skill than a mouthless armour spirit possesses, not to lose some in the sink. Nevertheless, the task was completed and upon conclusion I immediately swallowed the mouthwash. Another mistake. 

As soon as the green, apparently poisonous, mouth wash went down, Luna erupted in to a few coughs. These were quickly followed by the sticking out of her tongue. “Why would you do that to yourself?” I couldn’t help asking my reflection. 

Luckily, upon reading the bottles instructions, it turned out not to be poisonous allowing me to sigh in relief, while returning said bottle to its home. I then set about cleaning the toothpaste from the room, Luna’s face and my metallic form, using a handy small towel, with yet another moon emblazoned upon it. 

Well, that was eventful. Is there anything else I can do in here? Maybe take a shower? Nah, Loony can just use that spell of hers. It was then that I looked upon the room’s porcelain throne. Does she need to go? Even if she does, that’s a bit to personnel for my liking. With that I left the room no worse for wear than when I had first entered, with new found minty freshness. Success.

Now that had to have killed some time, right? Moving back to the comfy bed, I tried my best to neatly make it, before sitting on top of it and reviewing the clock. 6:15? A disappointed sigh once again escaped. Suppose brushing teeth doesn’t take that long. Maybe I should tuck Loony into bed and go to the library for a couple hours. That’ll give me time to read and make it back for breakfast. She wouldn’t think I’d ditched her, right? 

Another sigh was threatening to emerge, until I had another thought. Maybe Loony has a book for me to read? Thus, I turned to the nearest end table for a quick rummage with my mist. After just a moment, I struck gold and recovered a blue book. Once again, like everything Luna seems to own, it had a picture of Luna’s identifying mark. Why would she read a book about herself? Maybe she was trying to see what the historians had gotten right?

Anyways, a regular book is interesting, but a book about Loony herself? Now that is bound to be a page turner. With that I happily stretched out on top of the bed covers, while attempting to open the treasure. Sadly, to my frustration, the book appeared to be locked. No matter how hard I tried to carefully open it and receive the treasured knowledge within, it just wouldn’t budge. In the end I gave up and stared at the books cover. “Let me in dammit.” 

At my words, a blue flash occurred over Luna’s mark and the book’s simultaneously. To my surprise, this resulted in the book flipping open to Loony’s book mark. Huh, must have been a magical lock. Having nothing better to do, I decided to continue reading from the final page Loony had reached. 

“Tonight, was a most worthwhile endeavour. We actually managed to teach our metallic companion a new skill that they clearly enjoy. While the method for attaining it was unconventional, Eclipse clearly shows a great aptitude for flight. ‘Tis our hope, that our assisting with their education, will encourage him to forgive our earlier failure to act on his behalf. Not only that, but also potentially lead to a future event where he will wish to accompany us for a few nights of leisurely flight. We can only hope for this eventuality, as Eclipse displays little interest…” 

A moment of realization hit me and I quickly slammed the book closed, before returning it to where it was found. Should have known something was off, with the weird spell lock and fancy hoof written text. Hope she doesn’t mind me reading a bit of her memoirs.

With the thought of Loony potentially berating me, I flopped back onto the bed a little disappointed. Ah, she won’t find out, if she wasn’t watching that is. 

Looking off the side of my bastion, Luna’s eyes spotted her earlier discarded regalia. Maybe I could tidy up a little? I’ve already made the bed. The discarded royal garments were quickly gathered within my misty grasp, while I scanned the room for their desired place of rest.

It was but a moment, before I realized the armour stand she always joked about me using, was their likely home. Leaving the safe haven of the bed once more, I approached the wooden pony and carefully dressed it in the regalia. This armour stand, to my pleasant surprise was way better than the one the griffons had me use. For one, its limbs could articulate. Not just at the shoulders but at the head, knees and even hooves. This made it very easy to slide each of Luna’s shoes onto the faux form.

Stepping back and looking at the newly adorned ponyequin gave me a thought. That thing really has that uncanny valley look. I bet with a few modifications, ponies would could actually mistake it for a flesh and blood pony. Just speaks to the craftsponyship of the thing.

Once the distraction of the ponyequin had past, I reviewed the remainder of the room and settled for tidying up the only other slight dishevelment. This was the moon pony’s dressing table. She had clearly used it in haste at some point, probably just before answering the door to me last night and either didn’t have chance, or more likely didn’t bother, to put away her various tools.

Thus, I sat my borrowed rear upon the chair facing said table and began trying to surmise where each of the different powders and tools should go. I was about half way through returning a moon endowed hair brush, before another idea struck me. Maybe I could sort this out for her like the tooth brush? It would certainly pass the time.

Instead of returning the tool, I looked into the smaller mirror and began running the brush through the starry mane. It was going well for a while, until the brush started to get caught on apparently nothing, eliciting a small amount of pain from Loony’s scalp. For fear of potentially damaging the nights sky, I skipped past the parts that would catch and finished up the brushing. 

A quick review of my shoe work, showed a lack of what could be considered bed mane, but also a lack of the usual style Loony would choose. Well, it’s a slight improvement. Luna, can just make the finishing touches herself.

With that out of the way, I moved on to the makeup. Picking up the mascara reminded me of Loony’s words at the galloping gala. She did tell me I didn’t have to help her with this sort of thing if I didn’t want to, but turns out making her day easier is exactly the kind of thing I want to do.

Opening my faceplate, I began applying the small brush to the tiny eyelashes. The fluid that coated them started to worry me slightly, so I used my mist to ensure non could enter her eyes. It took almost no time at all to apply and it wasn’t long until the brush was returned to its container. This is going to be a piece of cake.

Ten minutes later, I had just finished returning my wearers lipstick to the table and started to review my completed work. Well, this doesn’t look quite right, maybe if she was wearing her normal regalia? I then closed Luna’s eyes and transformed myself into her standard regalia, while hiding my mist for a better comparison.

What met my eyes was a horrified Loony. My efforts with one of the pad things had made her look a bit like a ghost and the combination of the lipstick had likened her to a clown. Not to mention the eyeshadow, that gave off the impression that the mare of the night had an entirely different meaning. Luna’s features quickly mirrored my disappointment at having to rewash her face. At least it was fun for a while.

That thought quickly dissipated, when a hoof started to tap on Loony’s bedroom door. Oh no! no one can see this nightmare! I almost automatically let out a shrill scream much louder than was probably needed, “Don’t come in. I’m indecent!”

The knocking stopped at that, causing me to briefly sigh in palpable relief. The relief I felt didn’t last long, as the door handle began to turn of its own accord, followed by a familiar jovial voice, “Sister, I have seen it all before. I really need to speak with you.”

In a state of slight panic, I attempted to gallop towards the safety of the restroom. Sadly, my attempt only resulted in me falling backwards on Loony’s chair, before the door swung open to admit a familiar sun pony. The only thing I could think to do, was duck Loony’s defaced face behind the upturned piece of furniture and begin trying to rub off my mistakes.

“Sister, last night I had a peculiar dream about Eclipse. They seemed like they may have been in trouble and aren’t in their room,” Celestia said informatively, while I remained behind the chair. My attempts at removing the chemicals, seemed to be smearing it upon my shoes and Loony’s forelegs. Not good.

After a moment of silence, where I continued attempting to remove the chemicals from Loony’s face, only worsening my condition. Celestia spoke up in a slightly confused tone, “may I ask what you are doing down there? Are you okay?” The tell tall clop of her hooves signified her approach.

I can’t have this; her proximity will render the chair shield ineffective! “I’m fine Celestia. Don’t come any closer,” was all I could think to say, while debating my next move. Simply wiping off the makeup is a no go. There’s probably some sort of removal stuff on the table. Wish I’d thought to check.

My words succeeded in getting the eldest pony to halt her advance but resulted in more confusion, “Okay? Please enlighten me as to why you are hiding akin to a child?”

A sigh escaped me, “You’ve kind of caught me in a little bit of a bind.” This is going to embarrass Luna for sure. Should I just admit what I’ve done? That would remove, or at least reduce the chances of sibling mockery. Celestia wouldn’t be mad at me, right? She seems to be here because of me in the first place. 

Celestia again started to approach, likely worried by my words. While raising a hoof in her direction to forestall her, I said with a slight gulp, “just let me explain first and, could you close the door?”

It was the alabaster pegacorn’s time to sigh, as the patented sound of her magic began, before being quickly followed up by the careful closing of Loony’s bedroom door. “Okay Sister, I am ready to hear about this, ahem severe issue,” Celestia began, while emphasizing severe. She doesn’t know what’s wrong, Loony could have hurt herself or something. The sun then continued in a more serious tone, “you know, that right now our newest friend may be having an existential crisis in the dream realm.” This is because I said she wasn’t real, isn’t it? That was in the void, cut me some slack.

I’m just going to have to come out and say it, aren’t I? Rip off the band aide and all that. “Erm, well Celestia. It’s nice that you’re worried about me, but, erm, you see. Luna is still sleeping.” Nailed it. In bizarro world anyway.

“Eclipse?” Was all Celestia said.

“That’s right,” I said in a deflated tone. Hope she isn’t too mad. She could make some terrible assumptions about my intent.

Contrary to what I was expecting, Celestia didn’t sound angry in the slightest. Her next words actually sounded relieved. “Your disappearance had me worried for a minute.” She also appeared to take my admission, as permission to once again approach. Not only that, but before I had chance to say anything, my protective chair was levitated from between us. This gave me just enough time to unfurl Loony’s wings and hide her head beneath them.

Sunny’s hoofsteps stopped abruptly, just outside of my feathery barrier and Celestia’s voice began in a calm tone, from right beside our head, “There is no need to be afraid to face me, we are friends after all. I understand that you may have had a terrifying experience in your sleep.”

Why does her niceness always have to bite me in the rear? “I’m not afraid of you,” came my muffled reply. I’m just a bit freaked out is all. Mainly due to the screwed-up face painting job. With that thought, I again tried to remove more of the blasted face tarnish with a shoe.

Apparently not convinced by my obscured reply, Celestia continued in the same tone, “something is clearly upsetting you. Is it the fact that you are currently using my sister’s body by chance?

“I can explain!” came out a little more forcefully than I would have liked.

A gentle patting sensation started on Loony’s wings directly above our head. “I know you can, so as I said before, there is nothing to worry about.” Celestia said in a friendly tone, likely hoping to get me to stand up. Doesn’t seem like that’s likely to happen. Maybe I should ask her to step outside for a few minutes? As the dreaded silence that fell continued, Celestia hummed, before saying, “maybe if you were to explain, it would help resolve your issue?”

After a taking a moment to gulp, I carefully said, “well, there isn’t much to the whole body borrowing thing really. Luna just wore me to bed and I woke up first.” 

My friend then happily said, “See, now that so hard?”

“No.” Mainly because I’m more worried about her discovering past mistakes. I’d probably prefer her to be mad at me, then to embarrass Loony. 

“Good, can you get up now? I wanted to speak with you.” The sun pony firmly said.

Clearly, she no longer thought I had any reason to hide. Maybe there isn’t? “Fine. There’s erm, just one more, small thing…”

“We have until the sun needs to rise my friend.”

Okay, honesty is the best policy, or so I’ve been told. “Because I woke up first, it seemed like a good idea to help Luna’s morning along. It seemed to be going okay, until the… makeup.” The quiver to Luna’s voice made me sound way more upset than I felt. Luna was right not to trust me to help with this stuff. 

The pony towering over me took a moment to process my words. “Soooo, the reason you are hiding, is an attempt at protecting my sister’s dignity? You have nothing to fear in that regard, as being Luna’s sister, I have seen all manner of embarrassing moments. Even engineered a few.” She finished with a hint of mirth. 

Not sure I like the sound of that. Celestia might take great pride in embarrassing my Loony. Still, her words had gotten through to me enough to lower a wing just enough to reveal a single eye. The sun goddess, in all her glory, was standing ready with a clear look of anticipation on her face. She really wants to see how I’ve messed up. “Look, I’m going to lower my wings now and you’re not going to laugh or take any pictures. Please.” I barely remembered to add the last part.

A strange clicking sound came from the golden pony’s direction, before Celestia spoke up, “I promise to try my best not to laugh at your misfortune.” She better not have taken a picture just then. Do ponies even have cameras?

That’s probably the best assurance I’m going to get. “Okay then,” I said while standing up and furling Loony’s wings.

For a moment, the elegant Princess stood calmly, reviewing my partially rubbed off disaster. She stood just long enough for my hopes to rise enough to be dashed a moment later. Her face gradually started to turn red and a smile began creeping onto her face. Eventually she couldn’t hold it anymore and put a hoof to her mouth. “That was…pretty…unexpected,” she said through barely escaping snickers. Her wings shaking slightly in amusement.

At least she’s making an effort I suppose. Loony, I’m so sorry.

After a while the gradually growing snickers began to subside, as she again looked in my direction with a large smile. “Oh, come on Lulu it is not so bad,” she said, while stooping down to Luna’s level and looking into my eyes, “You know, Luna’s pout looks adorable on you.” Aw dammit, her trying to cheer me up is making this somehow worse. At least she’s hiding the amusement a little better.

“I know the level of defacement I’ve caused,” I began while looking back to the mirror. “Also, it’s Eclipse,” I continued with a poke to my tiara head. Really need to ensure she can’t hold this over Loony. If that ship hasn’t already sailed anyway. 

As we stood staring at one another, Celestia’s horn lit up and the sound of the ensuite’s door opening followed by running water began. A moment later, a damp towel with a gold glow began rubbing my face. The sudden wet thing in my face caused me to stumble back in surprise, but Celestia continued her assault. “I know, you just brought me back a little. Now hold still I need to clean Lulu’s legs. Honestly how did you manage that?” Celestia said, as my face was freed of obscurance.

“Hey! You try removing that stuff with nothing to shoe,” I said, eliciting a quiet giggle from my new attendant. Upon completion, I looked back into the mirror and was happy to witness a lack of clownishness, if that’s a word. “So, how do we look?” I asked with my best attempt at a smile. Really need to practice that more. Meh, don’t have a face most of the time so who cares, other than me anyway.

“You look like you just left your bed,” Celestia said, while standing up the chair and simultaneously dashing my hope of giving Loony an easier morning.

With a sigh, I hopped back onto the chair and gave the mirror a grin, before trying to be an optimist for once, “at least she doesn’t have to brush her teeth, right?” As the words left me, the grin once again became a frown. Hmm, having a face kind of makes you an open book. How does Celestia do it?

Upon that thought, I looked at her reflection to see a strange yearning look that wasn’t present before. Not only that, Celestia appeared a little more awkward than her usual relaxed self, even appearing to be debating her next move.

After taking a slight breath, the monarch appeared to make up her mind. “You know, it is still possible for you to provide that head start.”

“How so?” The borrowed face in the mirror, gained an incredulous eyebrow raise.

When I looked back to the sun, she had regained her usual smile, before saying, “Well it should be obvious. I can help you.” She appeared to be casually investigating Luna’s misused tools, abandoned in front of me.

Maybe we should just put Loony to bed and she can worry about it herself? That being said, Sunny is here and it could mean an earlier breakfast. With a newfound smile I turned back to the table, “hmmm, I suppose you need the same sort of maintenance, being a pony and all that. This could work.”

In response, Celestia uncharacteristically clapped her forehooves together and leaned over to pick up the discarded hair brush. “Excellent, just face forward and watch what I do. That way Lulu can enjoy your help in future.” Wonder if Loony would let me practice a bit? 

With the brush in hoof and me in position, Celestia began Luna’s morning maintenance. “You know, I’ve already brushed her mane.” I said quietly.

“Now when brushing a pony’s mane, you must first ensure it isn’t tangled,” Celestia said educationally, completely ignoring me. That’s probably due to how bad of a job I’d done. Anyway, how can you tell if it’s tangled? Luna’s mane just seems to float around. “Now it’s easiest to do this by starting at the ends and working back.” 

The instrument of torture I had once used myself, became quite pleasant in the hooves of an expert. Not once did it seem to catch and no pain was felt. I couldn’t help letting out a few hums of pleasure and barely noticed when Celestia had finished. “Huh, that’s interesting. I’ve never seen Luna’s mane like that.” I said, while admiring the style. Celestia had given Loony’s mane a part in the centre, allowing it to flow down equally on either side of her face. 

My pamperer just looked into the mirror with a smile and offhoofedly said, “Well Lulu has always gone for the same look. I thought she might appreciate a slight change in style. Anyway, we can see her face this was.” True enough, Loony’s smiling face was looking back at me. It is quite nicely framed.

Sunny must have taken my Cheshire smile as acceptance, as the dreaded makeup began to float into her grasp, while the brush put itself away. I stopped a few of the tools with my mist, while reluctantly saying, “maybe we should hold off on this part. I’ve already been a part of one disaster.” 

“Do you doubt my skills?” came a mock hurt reply, while the sun gave her best impression of a model attempting to show off her own adornment. 

“Wellll no, you’ve done a good job of your own,” I said awkwardly. To be honest, the only thing I can really tell she does is colour in her eyelids a bit. She probably looks nice enough without it, same as Loony really. “Loony doesn’t really need any, does she?”

“That is nice of you, but I think she would enjoy our attention,” Celestia began, before hesitating for a moment, “besides… I would appreciate it if you would let me help.” That strange yearning looks back again.

I couldn’t help but sigh, “Fine. Just don’t engineer any embarrassment.” 

A melodious laugh met my ears at that, “You could say, we have both grown up quite a bit since those times.” Those times didn’t happen to be over a thousand years ago, did they?

Rather than interrupt the happy pegacorns face colouring in, I decided to keep quiet and allow her to work.

After a few minutes, Celestia was finishing applying a lipstick that might as well have matched Luna’s coat perfectly. So perfectly that it was probably pointless. “Now, just remember when applying lipstick, you should always pick a colour that complements the mare’s fur,” Celestia educated. 

“Okay, that makes sense.” I’m never putting makeup on anyone ever again, unless they specifically ask for it. It could have been a real nightmare if a maid had walked in.

“Aaaand done. Do you think Lulu looks pretty enough?” the professional face painter said, while putting away her glorified pen.  

On inspection, Loony just looked normal to be honest. Makeup’s purpose will forever be lost on me. “Yeah of course. She always does.”

“Yes, I think she will be pleased with our efforts,” Celestia said happily, before letting out a content sigh, “I always used to love playing with Luna like this when we were younger. Hopefully she will be up for returning the favour, like old times.”

“So, why’d you stop?” I asked out of curiosity. Aside from the aforementioned thousand-year hiatus on your relationship.

Celestia seemed to take a moment to think on my question, before looking sadly at her reflection, “That’s a long story my friend. There were a few factors that led to it, but it mainly boils down to us growing apart overtime.” 

Part of me thought another awkward silence was going to rein, until Celestia suddenly laughed to herself, “Besides, it is not really the done thing for adult ponies if I am to be completely honest.” Really hope we haven’t just committed some major breach of trust. She then began heading towards the door and said, “Now come along, we should finish off that game of chess. I believe you were about to win.”

I was about to follow her, until remembering how I was currently dressed. “Okay, should I just put Luna to bed?” Would my absence worry her? Probably not, she is the ruler of a country after all.

To my surprise, Celestia simply said “Why? She will be waking up soon to lower the moon. Besides, I assume you would not want to mess up her lovely mane.” Well, that’s true.

“But, I can’t go out in public like this,” I said, while pointing a shaky hoof at my borrowed face. “What if I mess up?” Again.

“The walk to my quarters is only a short one. Nopony will notice the difference. You carry yourself rather well,” Celestia explained, before opening the door and stepping into the corridor.

Is she being difficult on purpose? It wouldn’t be that hard to put Loony back to bed. Maybe there would be some way to protect her mane, like a spell or something? Suppose she will be getting up in a few minutes. Fine, just gotta keep my cool, like in Griffonia. What a disaster that was. 

Huh, while I’d been debating, Celestia had already started her journey. That meant hurrying up. As I left the room, I was about to shout for her to slow down, when the sight of a bat pony guard reminded me, the corridors were filled with real ponies. Unlike that of the void. 

While my hesitation saved me from shouting for my apparent sister, it did leave me staring at said guard who appeared to be getting quite nervous. Well can’t leave him worrying like that. “Hi, erm, keep up the good work.” That got the guard to tilt his head in confusion and another to poke their head around a pillar.

Running out of things to say, I thought it best to just speed walk after Sunny and escape that situation. It turned out she was waiting for me around the corner and from the mirth she was showing, she had thoroughly enjoyed my display. “Ha ha, yes yes, really funny,” I said cynically, as the sunny mare fell into step beside me. 

Paying my complaint no mind, Celestia led the way towards her room and upon reaching it, ushered me inside. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever been inside your room before,” I let out, while passing the entryway. 

“Oh really? I could have sworn you brought me here before.” Celestia said disbelievingly.  I only carried her to the door. “Well, now you have seen it, what do you think?” She said, while walking over to a familiar standalone chess table.

It’s very sun themed, which isn’t much of surprise considering Luna’s room. “It does suit you.” I said, while gazing at one of the many sun laden items of furniture. 

“Thank you,” Celestia began before seeming to smile knowingly at me, “sometimes it feels like there are too many images of my cutiemark.” She is definitely right about that. Wonder if it was Loony’s idea to design their rooms like this?

As I joined the sun at her table, I realized just how familiar it was. Every piece matched exactly where it had been in our little dream battle. Not that I could remember it entirely, just the main details. It does still seem like my original strategy will win me the game. Then again, if Celestia remembered all this, she might actually have come up with some possible way of defeating me.

“Are you ready?” Celestia’s cheerful words broke me from my musings.

“Of course,” I said as confidently as possible, in order to hide my suspicions of a coming defeat.

Three moves later and my victory was somehow assured. “So, is that check mate?” Did she really set this up with no way to win? We might as well have started a new game.

“It does seem like my Prince has nowhere to go,” Celestia said, while nudging over her King. “Excellent strategy.”

“I’m surprised you took the effort to set that up. That was probably more trouble than it was worth.”

“Do you not think so? I thought it could help you with whatever trauma you were experiencing last night,” my opponent said warmly. Does that mean she did let me win?

“Oh, well, thanks then. Last night was a bit of a strange one.” It’s kind of weird that she’s just doing this for me. Doesn’t she have more important things to worry about, like maybe a country or something?

“Glad to hear it was only strange,” Sunny said, while setting up the board for another game. 

Maybe this is the time to apologise for ruining her sleep. The worry I’ve caused probably wasn’t the most pleasant thing to experience.

Before I could give voice to my apology, Celestia’s friendly gaze caused me to hesitate. This was enough for her to speak first, “By the way, thank you for the visit last night. It was a welcome distraction.”

“Huh?” I couldn’t help tilting Loony’s head at that. “You’re welcome, I guess? But I didn’t really do anything.” Anything good anyway.  

Sunny then looked down at the chess board. “Well, you did not really have to. Let us just leave it as, I was feeling a little alone.”

“Oh, well, anytime.” I suppose keeping her company, might have taken her mind off of the past a little. Still, I’m probably not the best option for her. Hopefully she has quite a few other friends in the castle. I bet everyone around here is desperate to be her friend and they know way more about pony problems than me.

“I know. Now then, let us focus on more light hearted subjects,” she said, while moving a pawn. “Your move Luna Eclipse.”

Part way through the second chess game, Celestia decided to raise another conversation topic. “So, something you said earlier has me curious.” As the words left her mouth, she castled her king.

Oh dammit, why is that a move in this game? Now that Rooks a problem. “Hm?” I said absently, while debating my next move. Maybe that could give me an advantage?

“You do think quite highly of my little sister. I was just wondering; do you really think she is pretty?” Sunny asked, distracting herself from the game.

Her question had me raise a borrowed eyebrow. “Sure.” So, if I move my rook here, Sunny might take the bait and lose her Queen.

To my satisfaction, she moved her Queen in preparation to take the bait. “Well, if you do not mind me asking. What is it you like about her?”

Huh? Now she’s distracting me. “I don’t know really? Maybe that she was one of the first to respect me.” There’s probably lots of reasons to like Loony. She’s great.

That gained me a light laugh. “While that is good to hear. I was more interested in whether or not you were capable of appreciating the pony form. Seeing as we are… a little different from yourself.” 

That earned Sunny a head tilt. “I… think so?” Ponies can be quite adorable sometimes. Even the taller ones.

The sun started to lean more on her fore hooves in interest, “Come now. You can indulge one of your friend’s desires for knowledge. Hmm?” She does like learning things.

I brought one of Loony’s hooves to her chin in thought. Okay, what do I like about Loony’s physical features? Hmmm. I like the way her ears move about when she thinks about things. It’s kinda cute. Maybe that happy hoof raise she does when things go her way? Huzzah and all that good stuff. That’s more a thing she does than her physical traits. While scratching her fluffy chin, the answer came to me. “Well, physical trait wise, my favourite part is her fur.”

My answer seemed to surprise Sunny. “Her fur? Really?” 

Is that a weird answer? “Well, it’s just so nice and soft. Nothing else is really like it.” Some damage control might be needed. “Erm, I also like her happy face as well. That’s a physical trait, right?” If I could smile when looking at it, I would. That gained me a smile from the pegacorn. Looks like a bullet may have just been dodged. “Look, I like a lot about her. That’s why we’re friends.”

“Not just superficial friends as well. That is nice to hear.” What’s that supposed to mean? Apparently sensing my confusion, Celestia clarified, “it is nice that you like her for what is on the inside.” Doesn’t everybody? Suppose not, seeing as many ponies don’t like my appearance. Saying that, they probably wouldn’t like what was found inside my head either. Anyway, now to spring my trap.

Before I could lift a hoof, Loony’s eyes started to become incredibly heavy and even started to close on their own. Is that Loony? I should probably let Sunny know. “Celestia, I think Loony is waking up,” came only partially out of Loony’s mouth. 

“Ah, right on time. By the way, you can call me Sunny if you like.” Aw dammit. I forgot I said that out loud.

After a moment my borrowed limbs stretched out on their own accord. Then in a more fatigued tone then earlier, Luna’s voice said, “Morning Eclipse,” while her wings tightly hugged us both.

The hugging however, abruptly ended when the amused voice of the sun chimed in, “morning sister. Did you sleep well?”

Loony’s wings rapidly returned to our side at that and we suddenly sat up a little straighter. “What happened?” Loony said, while starting to quickly take in our foreign environment. That rapid turning of the head is pretty annoying, but I suppose it’s only natural when you don’t wake up where you went to sleep. After my wearer gained her bearings, she looked at my shoe and simply said, “Eclipse?”

Before I could awkwardly cry out, I can explain, Celestia beat me to it. “Oh, you know how it is sister. Eclipse and I had a little chess game to finish and we thought you would like to come along.” She said coolly. Well, that is true and probably way better than my explanation.

“Really?” my wearer asked, while once again looking more closely at my shoe. 

Is she not sure if I’m here? Suppose my form is different at the moment. Well better rectify that, “Yeah, I didn’t want you to think you’d been abandoned.” 

The pleasant feeling of a smile graced my wearers face, before she looked towards our game. She then almost screamed in panic, “Eclipse! Thy rook is in peril!” Before immediately moving said piece to the side. That was supposed to be bait!  She then looked up towards her sister who had gained a wide grin. Did she know I’d set that up? “Sister, we had best start the day for our little ponies.”

“Ready when you are Lulu.” Came the warm reply. Hopefully this means an early breakfast. I could use quite a bit of magic snacking, after last night’s training montage.

Without warning, we suddenly stood up from our seat and began walking to a door we hadn’t entered through. Loony then spoke in a slightly strained manner, “We shall just attend to something first.” 

“Erm, Loony, where are we going? Don’t you need to lower the moon and all that?” Part of me still can’t believe she can do that.

“Of course, We will. We just need to use the restroom first,” was the horrifying reply.

“Take me off first!!!” 

A barely suppressed laugh could be heard from behind us.