Asriel’s hand gripped the marker as he marked a big red X on the calendar. It joined the two rows of them already strewn across the page, and they were drawing very close to one that he had left a nice, bright red circle upon, alongside the words of ‘Field Trip’.
In a few days, it’d be a full month since he had arrived in Equestria. And to celebrate, Luna would be taking him on a tour of the city. Not just the palace, the whole city. A whole day getting to see what until now, he had seen only from a distance.
Not like he’d had the time to do so. He had done his best to keep busy after all.
From exploring the castle corridors til he knew the palace layout by the back of his hand. To making a few friends amongst the servants and guards. Add in quite a few study sessions with his Guardian, Princess Luna, and it was fair to say he hadn’t had a lot of time left afterwards.
A small smile crept across his muzzle as he thought back to when he’d told Luna he was fine with her becoming his Guardian. He’d thought it would be hard to do so, since a small part of him felt like, in a way, he was replacing his parents.
But the hug she’d given him had helped remind him of the budding connection he felt to the Lunar Princess. Her own past and his gave them a kinship he doubtless wouldn’t be able to feel with few, if any others. Even if she had yet to learn just what his past was like. And she absolutely adored his interest in and appreciation of her majestic nights.
There had been some worry, on his part, that accepting her as his Guardian would change how she interacted with him. But really, the only two things that had changed was that he was free to just call her “Luna” now, and she was a bit more firm on him when it came to studying then his mother had been back home.
Otherwise, she was the same warm and gentle Princess he’d come to know since he first woke up here in Equestria. And as for her Sister, he had gotten a few opportunities to spend some time with Celestia. She was opening up a bit, though he still couldn’t help but get the feeling she was keeping some of her guard up around him.
At least he knew now that it came solely from her instincts and ability to read people. Rather than the ability to see into the very depths of his SOUL. Equestrian magic didn’t have anything like the Judgement spell.
Speaking of magic, Asriel had gotten to learn more about Equestrian magic. And sharing everything he knew about Monster magic had been an… interesting occasion. Learning that they were rather similar was quite a surprise. Enough so that it was likely that Asriel could learn most Equestrian magic with ease if he put his mind to it.
There was however, a slight caveat to that. Namely, that it was technically illegal to use Soul-based magic in Equestria. And the magic Monsters wielded was essentially that, from a certain point of view.
Monsters, like the Equestrians, had a pool of magical energy they could draw upon to wield their magic. However, a great deal of their being, especially their SOUL, relied on magic itself. And when drawing upon their magic, they in essence drew upon their SOUL. Everything from a basic levitation spell or conjuring a flame to use with a stove… it was why intention mattered so much, both for general usage and in regards to self defense or attack.
Of course, to Equestrians, Soul based magic was magic that directly affected or influenced the soul of another being. Which, in a sense, Monster magic also did, but that wasn’t its primary function. And it certainly couldn’t be used in the sorts of manners that Luna and Celestia were speaking of. As far as he knew anyways.
After some brief discussion, the two decided that in a case like Asriel’s, an exception could quite obviously be made. Especially given the fact that Monster magic was as intrinsic to his being as being able to walk on clouds was to a Pegasus.
Shaking his head and pulling his thoughts back to the present, he hurried off to get washed up and changed out of his pj’s. Today he had some more studying to do after he had breakfast, but after that he’d be free for the day. And as it happened, one of the guards he’d befriended, a unicorn named Burst Arc, had offered to let him watch some of the guards practice duels.
Seeing as Luna had to prepare to host her first Night Court since her return, and thus wouldn’t be available for much, he’d accepted the offer. As much of a pacifist as he wanted to be (especially after all he’d gone through) Asriel still knew that there’d be times where one had to fight. Even if they didn’t want to.
Especially in a world full of some of the more dangerous and aggressive creatures that Asriel had read about in his studies. Dragons, Hydra’s, cockatrices, just to name a few.
Still, it’d be interesting to see them actually using combat magic. The part of him that had enjoyed watching his Father train with the Royal Guard before… everything, wondered how different it would be compared to what he was used to.
As he was finishing getting dressed, there was the familiar knock on the door and a call from Luna of, “Asriel~! Breakfast is ready and waiting!”
“I’m coming~!” Asriel called back, smiling as he hurried out the door, quickly catching up with Princess Luna and giving her a good morning hug. Which she returned just as readily before tussling the tuft of fur atop his head.
“I trust you slept alright? Did you dream up anything this time?” She asked, her voice taking a bit of a worried note with the second question.
Asriel rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he said, “I slept alright. Out like a rock once I got into bed. But uh, no. Still no dreams.”
Luna’s smile thinned a bit at that, but she simply nodded as they continued down the hall. It was not the first time she had asked such, since a week prior when Asriel had admitted to not having had any dreams since arriving in Equestria.
He still didn’t really see the big deal. Considering that when he’d been a flower, he’d gone long stretches of time without any. And well, considering his past, there was no guarantee that any dreams he had would be good ones.
Both of the Princesses however had been concerned by this information. At least as far as Equestria’s own studies on mental and emotional health went, dreaming was an important feature of rest. And it was generally seen as a sign of something problematic if one either had mostly (or only) nightmares and more so if one didn’t dream at all.
If they knew how long I’d gone without them, they’d probably freak out.
Still, he was assured that once Princess Luna was able to return to watching over the Realm of Dreams, she’d assist him with such. In fact, as she’d tucked him into bed yesterday, she’d said,
“Even if it's not necessary for your kind, no one should be denied pleasant dreams as they rest.”
Asriel supposed that was true. Long before he and Chara had made the mistakes they had, he had dreamed quite a bit. Mostly of the things he’d do once the Monsters were free, though sometimes he’d dream of all kinds of different worlds.
Now that I think about it, Chara didn’t dream a lot. He had some sure, but they were rare. I wonder if…
Asriel shook his head. There wasn’t much point wondering at the why of such. Especially as they reached the dining room and he hurried over to his seat and he dug into his meal. The sooner he finished eating, the sooner he could get his studying done and then watch the guards train!
He had a rather strong hope it’d be at least as exciting as it had been to watch his father and the guards so many years ago.
He was perhaps a bit too eager, if the chuckles from the Princesses were anything to go by. “Slow down young one. There is no need to rush.” Celestia remarked with a smirk.
“Why in such a rush, Asriel?” Luna asked, and after Asriel shared the reason, she nodded in understanding.
“I’ve done that here and there myself, though I haven’t had as many opportunities to do so as I’d like. Once I’m caught up on everything though…” An almost predatory grin spread across her muzzle as she nickered, “I look forward to taking charge of the Lunar Guard’s drills once more.”
“Guard Captain Dhalvor does a perfectly adequate job at keeping your guards in tip top shape.” Celestia noted as she sipped at her tea. Luna just snorted before she bit into a biscuit. There was a teasing glimmer in her eyes as she replied,
“You’re just worried they’ll outshine your Solar Guard if I start handling their training personally.”
Celestia could only quirk an eye up at that as she remarked, “It’s more that there’s not much need for either of us to oversee such these days. It is rather rare when a problem arises the Equestrian Guard cannot handle. Remember dear sister, the era we live in is one predominantly of peace.”
For the discussion that followed, Asriel listened with only half an ear as he took his time with the rest of his plate. Conversations like this seemed to happen at least once a week over various things. Most of the time, it was over things like how things in the realm were managed.
Even as Luna caught up, there were some things Luna had trouble adjusting to, thought was foolish, or thought could be improved or handled differently. And while there were times that Celestia would agree with Luna even as she reminded her why some things were as they were, there were others that they would…
Argue was perhaps too strong of a word. Debate was probably a better one. In any case, this was one of the things that seemed to get brought up more frequently than others. And it seemed to stem from a fundamental difference of opinion between the two.
Princess Luna was, as Asriel had come to learn, a more martially inclined royal than Celestia. Even before her banishment, the study of Equestrian history and some of the stories of her past Luna had been open to sharing made such rather obvious.
By contrast, Princess Celestia was much more diplomatic. From his studies and interactions with her, Asriel would hazard a guess such came more from having to spend a thousand years ruling and leading on her own more than anything intrinsic to her character, but even if that was the case it was very much a part of her now and shaped quite a bit of her views.
In this case, Celestia believed Equestria’s military (what their was of it) was plenty sufficient to deal with the few threats that were likely to pose a problem. Luna believed that they shouldn’t be lax on such things, as the future was always an uncertain thing.
Thankfully, unlike some of the other debates between the two, neither was inclined to ask if he had any thoughts to share on the topic. And well, his thoughts on such were in a vein very much similar to what he had told Frisk before they had left to rejoin the others on the surface.
Finishing his plate, Asriel let out a cough as he said, “Done, gonna go take care of my studies now.” He got a nod from both of them, the two flashing him smiles before returning to their discussion.
Giving them both a wave, he quickly slipped out of the dining room. Shaking his head ruefully, he smiled and hurried off to the library. Since Luna would be busy, he’d be getting tutored by Ms. Sacral, one of Luna’s Thestral servants.
And if there was one thing he knew about the bat-winged mare, it was that she was very, very big on punctuality.
-*-
Three rough hours of studying later, Asriel was quite happy to put his books away and leave the library behind him.
As much as he enjoyed reading through the many books he had access to in the Palace Library, he could have done without Ms. Sacral’s presence. The taciturn bat-pony and her tendency to spring little ‘pop quizzes’ on him as he was reading didn’t lend itself to creating a relaxing atmosphere.
Now though, he was free for the day. And after making a quick swing by the kitchens to grab a glass of lemonade, Asriel made his way through the palace til he reached the Training Yard, where many of the guards were doing laps or other exercises.
A handful however, were gathered around an oval shaped patch of dirt. A white line was chalked around it, and two Pegasi were facing each other in their armor. One had a cocky look on their muzzle, the other bore a stoic one as a sergeant stood nearby as an observer. About a dozen ponies, most stallions, were talking excitedly amongst themselves as the two guards readied themselves.
Burst Arc was amongst them, helmet resting on the ground beside him as he stretched and joked with one of his friends. Since his helmet was off, it was rather easy to pick out the colorful unicorn amongst the guards as the glamour was dispelled. His electric yellow coat and neon purple mane would be hard to miss anywhere.
As soon as the Burst Arc spotted Asriel, he grinned and waved the young Monster over. “Heya kiddo, ya were able to make it!”
Asriel let out a soft bleat as Burst ruffled the tuft of fur atop his head, blushing just a bit at the chuckles the other guards let out. He gave his friend a bit of a mock pout as he protested, “Hey, I thought you said you weren’t gonna do that anymore!”
“Sorry kiddo, I just couldn’t resist.” Burst said with a smirk. He scooted to the left a bit so Asriel would have more room to watch. “Hope you’ll enjoy the show as much as the rest of us do.”
“We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?” Asriel replied, then followed it up with, “Will it just be Pegasi dueling? Or…”
Burst chuckled. “Nah, it’s whoever’s up for it. Cumulus and Comet were just the first to volunteer.”
Asriel gave a nod at that, listening along with the others as the sergeant laid out the rules for the duel. He was a bit surprised to learn that one possible way for the duels to end was for a combatant to get knocked out.
“Doesn’t that risk someone getting badly hurt?” Asriel asked, voice tinged with some worry as the two Pegasi began to circle each other.
Burst shook his head. “See the line?” At Asriel’s nod, he said, “The battle space here is enchanted in such a way that if someone konks out or gets hurt too badly, it’ll put a stasis field around the other combatant. If a really bad accident happens, it’ll automatically teleport a guard to the infirmary.”
Asriel nodded at that. With precautions like that, he supposed such rules weren’t so bad. And he had to remind himself that Ponies were rather sturdy. Or so some of the books he read suggested at least.
He turned his attention to the dueling field as the two Pegasi circled each other once more, before finally they launched towards each other. The next few minutes were mostly ones of hoofstrikes, kicks, ducking and weaving with the occasional gust of wind from their wings.
It wasn’t specifically what Asriel had come to watch, but it was still interesting. Very interesting in fact, as he found himself unwittingly paying careful attention to the pattern of attack and defense they both made use of. And he didn’t even realize he’d started to mumble aloud the flaws or weakpoints both were displaying til Burst gave him a slight nudge and whispered,
“How in Celestia’s name were ya able to pick up on all that?”
Asriel blinked in surprise, mind seeming to register what it was he’d been doing. He rubbed his head sheepishly, chuckling nervously as he closed his eyes and said, “I~It’s uh, I-I’m just good at picking up details I guess.”
Burst Arc didn’t seem to quite buy that, nor did the guard to Asriel’s right. But the next volunteers were quickly moving up as the duel came to an end with the younger Pegasus using some weather control to give his opponent a bit of an electric wing slash.
The next duel was one between two Unicorns, and after that, a duel between two Earth Ponies. Things mixed up a bit afterwards, as those who stepped forward took on a pony of a different tribe then their own. It continued to be an interesting and enlightening experience, as he did notice that there were some differences between what sort of spells and strikes the Equestrians used compared to what the Monsters of the Royal Guard back home would have done.
But Asriel found his enjoyment of the spectacle hindered by the fact that even when he tried not to, he couldn’t seem to stop analyzing every little detail. Finding weaknesses, seeing ways he could take advantage of each tribe's natural abilities as well as the peculiarities of individual guard ponies.
It was the sort of thing he’d done as Flowey, a trait that had become useful once he’d started growing bored with just being everyone’s friends and took a… darker path. He was even able to use it at times to make it so he didn’t have to fight some Monsters multiple times just to figure out their patterns and abilities.
The fact he could still figure such things out, just from observing these Guards as they dueled…
Asriel trembled from head to toe, taking a few uneasy steps back. His entire being felt rather queasy now, and he found he couldn’t stand to watch anymore. Burst quickly caught onto the change, as he glanced back and asked,
“Ya’ll alright kiddo?”
“I… N-No I’m… I’m going to go rest in my room. I don’t feel so good.”
Offering no further explanation, Asriel dashed away as quickly as he could, trying his best to not think about all the ways he could deal with those guards if the need arose.
No, the need will never arise. I don’t need an ability like that anymore. I don’t need to be able to figure such things out at the drop of a hat. I’m not… not that thing. Not anymore! I’m me, Asriel Dreemurr, not…
As he reached his room, he locked the door and threw himself into his bed, sobbing softly into the pillow as the intrusive thoughts lingered at the edge of his mind. Try as hard as he might to push them out entirely, he couldn’t eject them. And it was mentally tiring trying to do so, more so each time he failed.
At least when he passed out an hour later, curled up around his now tear dampened pillow, the thoughts didn’t follow him into his rest.
-*-
Celestia listened to the report from Burst Arc, frowning as she let her gaze remain seemingly fixed on the roll of parchment before her. In reality, she was wishing she could see through it and walls towards the room where her sister’s ward had run off to.
“Anything else to report Private?” She asked after a moment, to which the Unicorn shook his head.
“No your Majesty.”
Chewing her lip briefly, Princess Celestia gave him a soft nod. “Thank you. I don’t think this warrants any change to your orders. But I appreciate you bringing it to me so quickly.”
Burst Arc gave a salute and a nod of his own, accepting the unspoken dismissal as he turned and strode out of her study. Once she was alone, Princess Celestia shook her head softly as she murmured,
“Just what secrets are you hiding, little one?”
-*-
For the Princess of the Moon, things seemed to be looking up.
She was steadily regaining her powers, she was taking charge of the responsibilities she bore as the Stewardess of the Night, and it wouldn’t be long before she was again the Guardian of the Dreamlands. The first evening in which she had hosted a Night Court had higher attendance than she had expected.
And despite her sister’s friendly warning, quite a few of the petitioners had actually brought issues forward that were worth the attention of the throne. All in all, her return to her place beside her sister as an equal was proceeding well.
Yet, with all of this taken into consideration, if one was to ask how Luna was doing, she would have to admit she was feeling worried and anxious.
Worrying was not a new emotion for Luna. It was an emotion she had quite a bit of experience with, in both a positive and negative fashion. However, it had been some time since she felt it so strongly for someone besides her sister, yet now her thoughts were often focused on her young charge.
It wasn’t just that Asriel still hadn’t had a single dream since arriving in Equestria. Which she was plenty concerned about, there was no doubt about that. No, it was what Celestia had shared with her just before she headed to bed after her first Night Court, and the behavior of her young ward that had followed which left her fretting.
Asriel had not been around for all that long, yet she and her sister both had gleaned a fair bit about his personality. From their own observations, and small talk with the staff and reports from some of the guards alike. The young Monster was a treat to be around, even if it at times took a bit for him to open up to somepony. Once he did though, he was bright, cheerful, and exceptionally friendly.
Which contrasted rather heavily with the withdrawn, anxious, and sullen state Asriel had been in the last few days. He spent most of his time in his quarters now, and had to practically be dragged out of his room for his studies or to eat.
Seeing the adorable, fluffy Monster in such a depressed state was eating at quite a few of the staff and residents of the palace. Even a few of the nobles who frequented the palace and knew little of the child seemed to express some consideration of his state.
Attempts to speak with him about what was weighing him down had not gone far. Considering that both she and Celestia suspected it had something to do with his past, which Asriel remained reluctant to go into full detail about, it wasn’t that surprising. However, it became much harder when she accidentally let slip that she knew what might have triggered his mood change.
Asriel hadn’t exactly been happy to learn he was being spied on… even if the very next day he’d said he understood why they might do so. Still, it had created a bit of distance between them, making it more difficult for Luna to help the young Monster out of his slump.
As the week passed, this eventually led to Luna changing up the plan for the one month anniversary of Asriel’s arrival. A tour of Canterlot focusing on the historical sights and giving a general idea of its layout didn’t seem like it would be all that fun for a young child.
Even for one who seemed to enjoy any moment they got to spend outside.
So she had enlisted some help from a few of her guards and staff who had young ones of their own. Or at least, were relatives to some.
As such, she now had a list of places to visit that a foal of Asriel’s age would likely find interesting. While she did plan to mix in some visiting of historical places and give a redacted version of the tour she’d originally planned, the goal was now one of alleviating the depressive cloud hanging over dear Asriel.
Hopefully, it would not prove as daunting as she worried it might.