"Nice save."
Luna startled and whirled around on the spot, exclaiming, "Silver Spear! By the stars, you are quiet. How long have you been there?"
The stallion's only response was a wry grin, then he gestured down the hall and said, "Captain Bastion is waiting just around the corner near your bedchambers as usual. May I be dismissed?"
"Oh. Yes, of course. Thank you for your service today."
He gave her a somewhat lazy salute and trotted away, but just as he reached the far corner of the hall, he glanced back at her and said, "And hey... good job today." Then he trotted away without waiting for a response.
He always did act a little odd for his station.
Luna shrugged to herself and trotted briskly in the opposite direction, breaking into a grin at the sight of her appointed captain of the night guard.
"Evening Mistress!" He snapped into a perfect salute, "Preliminary reports--"
"Cease, I beg you. I have had quite enough of formalities for today and for tonight. Do you have any pressing duties?"
"Er, well no, I..."
He trailed off as she flowed past him into the room, gesturing behind her with a wing for him to follow. She had flopped to the floor in an ungainly heap before he had even shut the door.
Immediately his lavender muzzle slid into view, face full of concern, "Princess Luna!? Are you okay? I assumed today would be tiring, but..."
She gave him a smile as she rolled lazily onto her side and said, "I am quite alright, Bastion. I think I may need to vent once I gather my thoughts, but for now all I require is your company."
Her horn glowed as she removed her regalia and piled it haphazardly beside her bed, then shifted her magic to tug gently at his own helmet.
"Please, I am weary of expensive formal-wear and brightly polished armor."
Bastion hesitated, "But my Princess, I am duty-bound to guard--"
"Then you are dismissed."
He froze mid-word and stared at her in shock, and she grinned up at him from the floor.
"That would free you of your duty, would it not? Come, doff your armor and sit with me. Tonight I wish for nothing more than to talk with a trusted friend."
Still he hesitated, "If... If I am dismissed then I should fetch a new guard to take over my duties, only then will I be free to--"
"Yes, yes, your dedication is quite commendable. Now get over here before I strip you myself."
His muzzle darkened as he stammered, "Uh, y-yes Mistress. Right away."
He leaned his spear on the wall beside the door and, looking slightly abashed, began to unbuckle his armored saddle with the cerulean glow of his magic.
"So, uh... how did it go today?"
Luna sighed, "Poorly. I suppose it went well enough from the other nobles' perspective, but from my point of view it was quite an embarrassing display."
Bastion slowly removed his helmet and shook his head so that his navy blue mane fell loosely to one side, revealing a brilliant electric blue stripe normally hidden by the helmet.
"Oh!"
He froze halfway through placing his helmet upon his saddle on the ground.
"I do not think I have ever seen you without your helmet. I never knew your mane was anything but navy."
"That would be proper for my position, yes," he said as he resumed removing his armor.
"I think I prefer this over the mohawk."
He delicately adjusted the position of his helmet, one ear flicking as he awkwardly avoided her gaze, "Then I apologize for not revealing it earlier."
Luna let out a little huff, "Oh come now, my Bastion. I have spent the entire day surrounded by regal officials and pompous nobles and rich guild leaders and all their proper procedures and rules and regulations. What I would like more than anything else right now is a friend, and I have none better than you. Spare me the formalities for this one night, I beg you."
Her final plea seemed to startle him and he looked up at her with a crease in his brow, "Princess please, you need only ask! Begging is entirely unbecoming."
Luna's voice grew more pitiful, "But you are still doing it! Please, Bastion, can we forget our ranks just for tonight?"
"I... am not sure I can--"
Cutting him off with a short sigh, she stood and slowly approached him as she said, "My friend, you have always been there for me when I needed your strength and stoicism beside me, but right now I need only your companionship." He opened his muzzle to respond but she continued over him, "I realize it is unorthodox, but you must understand I have nopony else now. You are not merely my closest friend, you are my only friend. I have many ponies supporting me, to be sure, but I have very few I feel any real connection with, and without my sister..."
Trailing off as her thoughts returned once again to Celestia's peril, she grimaced and turned away. She was surprised, then, to feel Bastion gently touch her shoulder with a hoof.
"Come on, Pr... Luna. Let's sit and talk."
He stepped around her and sat near where she had been laying earlier, and she, pleasantly surprised he had come around, flopped onto her side next to him.
"Thank you, Bastion. I just... I am so worried. I do not know what I would do without her."
"You are handling yourself quite well, I would say."
"On the outside perhaps, but inside I feel I am being torn in two."
He quirked his head in a silent question.
"Half of me knows my responsibilities lie here, particularly with two of Equestria's princesses in some other dimension, but..."
"But the other half wants to fly out and save your sister yourself before anything else happens."
Luna sighed and reluctantly nodded.
"Tia herself would scold me for leaving our little ponies even as I rescued her, yet still I want to go. She has stopped healing and may even be weakening again."
He started at this latest news and said, "She is getting worse?"
"Maybe. It is hard to tell, but she is wasting away, I think. At the very least she is getting no better. She cannot possibly save Twilight in this condition and I am afraid you are right that she would not leave without her."
Luna hesitated briefly before continuing in a quavering voice, "I fear at any moment her life force may vanish... Oh Bastion, I do not think I could take it. I fear I would lose all hope, all control... and I fear the living nightmare."
"No," Bastion said instantly, surprising Luna with his firm tone, "It is not possible. The beast is gone from within you. The Elements blasted that menace from you entirely, I am certain of it."
"But... Bastion, I fear she remains, lurking, waiting. If I lost control now, with the additional power I now wield, I fear not even the Elements could stop her... and even if they could, Twilight is not here to lead them!" Her voice began to crack, "Do you know, when the nightmare had control, I was still in there? I... I could see everything she did and I screamed for her to s-stop, but was powerless against her will."
"It sounds horrifying."
"It was. My own mind was a prison, my body no longer my own. But the worst part is it still felt like me! It felt like I was the one attacking my sister, sneering at Twilight, destroying the elements..."
"She destroyed the Elements?"
"Yes. Did you never notice they changed form?"
"I just assumed it was from their magic taking a new owner."
"Only in part... They reformed after I destroyed them."
"No. Stop that. Listen to me now, Luna."
Startled, she looked up into his eyes, blurred slightly through the threatening tears.
"You did not destroy them. You did none of those things. The nightmare did them. You are not her, and she is not you." He leaned forward, staring at her with such fervor as she had never seen before. "You are stronger than her, infinitely stronger, because she was alone. You have so many ponies behind you, supporting you, trusting you, loving you."
"But what if--"
He waved a hoof, cutting her off for the first time she could remember.
"I have watched you for years now and, save for today, I have been by your side nearly every waking moment of your life. I know you almost as well as Celestia herself does--maybe even better, as she is not present for your every minor concern as I am."
He leaned closer still, his eyes burning with intensity.
"In all that time, not once has there been even the slightest hint of the Nightmare returning."
He lurched forward and took hold of her hooves.
"Luna, my Princess, Mistress of the Night... You are healed. You are whole. You are safe."
Entirely taken aback, reeling from this new side of Bastion--and not at all displeased by it--she felt her eyes brim over and pulled him into a hug, burying her face in his mane as she choked back a sob.
They held each other for some time, and as she slowly regained control of herself she found she quite enjoyed holding him like this. She had not realized how much she wanted it. Yet she knew she must be careful. She had already pushed him well outside his comfort zone, she knew, and any more pushing could do more harm than good.
So, as much as she was loath to do so, she slowly released him, he did the same, and they both relaxed to their prior positions--though he was noticeably closer than he had been before.
"Thank you, Bastion. I... needed that."
"It is my pleasure, Luna."
Hearing him say her name felt different now, too. Was she imagining that extra inflection in his voice?
She decided to change the subject and said, "However, I am still conflicted about Tia... I do not think I can bear another day of waiting anxiously without doing anything, but I feel there is nothing I can do."
After a brief hesitation, he cautiously asked, "Is there nopony else you could send?
She gave a short frustrated sigh, "This creature has already defeated Twilight AND Celestia. Who, exactly, could possibly qualify for a rescue mission now, save for me?"
He shrugged and she was about to brush the idea away, but then, realizing that there was now time to spare for preparation, it did allow for a few other candidates.
"Actually, with the right kind of assistance..."
"What do you mean?" He asked with a tilt of his head.
"I have an idea, Bastion. Please remain here for now. If I have not returned by quarter night, you may don your gear and return to your duties."
"Uh, y-yes, of course Mistress."
She eyed him playfully, "I thought I told you to drop the formalities."
"Right, sorry Mis--uh, sorry Luna."
"Let us just make it a rule for the future: so long as you are not wearing your armor in my presence, you may speak casually and be at ease."
"Ah... so I take it this is to become a regular occurrence?"
"I would like that, yes."
Bastion hesitated for a moment, his tail flicking nervously, then he nodded.
"Okay. I will do this for you."
"Thank you, my Bastion. I will be gone a short while."
The glow of sunlight about her abruptly intensified to a blinding flash, and when it faded, she was gone.