Chapter 3
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He had come to this castle with questions, but instead found more mysteries. Sleepy Head cracked his neck as he trotted away from Princess Celestia’s room. Some royal guards came running around the bend and asked Sleepy Head what had happened.
“We heard a loud thump coming from the princess’s quarters. Is everything alright?”
Sleepy Head scowled and replied, “It’s nothing, I accidently knocked over a chair is all.” The two guards nodded and trotted back to their stations. Sleep Head snorted in disgust, “Telling them what actually happened would be pointless. Better just keep that ‘conversation’ to myself so I don’t get in more trouble.”
Even though the princess told him not to try to leave, Sleepy Head was determined to try anyway. He could think of no excuse for the guards to restrain him from leaving. He walked confidently toward the main gate and confronted the two door ponies. They were surprisingly alert, even though it was the middle of the night.
“Excuse me, but I would like to leave now. Could you open the gate for me?”
“We were given orders that a maroon stallion was not to leave the premises,” one of the guards said. The two golden plated ponies didn’t even look at him when he spoke.
“By who?”
“Princess Celestia.”
“Wha? Why?! What possible reason does she have to keep me here?”
The guard to the right of the door finally looked at Sleepy Head, but his expression didn’t budge, “We were told that you were suffering from posttraumatic stress after being hurt from a… pillow fight. She felt it was necessary for you to recover at the castle instead of leaving on your own.” Sleepy Head couldn’t say a word and just stared at them. Though what they had said was totally absurd, neither of the guards changed their expression.
Sleepy Head spun around and fumed off. “How does she DO that?!” The maroon stallion stomped off back toward the entrance room. He decided the only place he could go was back to where he told Princess Luna to stay. On his way there, he collected his thoughts.
“I feel kind of bad that I told Luna to stay in that room when I was planning on leaving. She is a lot of trouble and annoying as hell, but it really isn’t her fault. The Elements of Harmony did its best to restrain that evil mare. Actually… now that I think about it… the Elements of Harmony couldn’t destroy Nightmare Moon in the beginning, so it makes sense that they couldn’t destroy her when the Ponyville mares used it. The Elements did weaken her though; that much is certain. If my fight with her taught me anything, it’s that she can’t control Luna’s body for long.”
Sleepy Head finally entered the guest room. In the middle of the floor, Luna was resting her head on her forelegs, sleeping soundly. The moonlight from the window cast a long shadow of her on the floor as Sleepy Head trotted toward her. He was irritated, but couldn’t find the courage to wake the sleeping princess. Though he wished the taller Luna were around, this one was, at least, acceptable. He smiled as she mumbled illegible words in her slumber. “Wow,” he thought, “Not a care in the world. It’s amazing how she can keep the moon up while sleeping so soundly.”
Suddenly, the shadow she cast started to move. Sleepy Head jumped back as the shadow moved across the floor and onto the wall near the door. The shadow spun, twisted and finally came to rest in the form of the fiend that dwelt inside her. The maroon pony gritted his teeth in anger; this was all her fault! Sleepy Head was not in the mood for another battle, but stood his ground the best he could.
“N-nightmare Moon!”
“Oh, don’t get your tail in a tizzy. I’m just a shadow.”
“What do you want then?” Sleep Head took a step toward her, sounding more confident.
“Well, I just wanted to inform you that I won’t be having fun with you for a while. I can only appear when Luna’s in her real form. It seems someone has put a magic seal on my vessel here.” The shadow was sitting on her legs and pointed to little Luna, who was still asleep.
“Magic… seal?”
“Are you dense? It means she’s stuck in that blasted Elements form until something breaks the seal.”
“Wha… really?”
“You really are stupid, aren’t you? Celestia probably put it on her so she wouldn’t have to worry about you crying like a little baby,” Nightmare Moon sneered.
“Heh, figures,” Sleepy Head mumbled. He walked over to Luna’s sleeping body and suspended his hoof above her head.
“Hey… what are you doing?” Nightmare Moon asked unsteadily.
“Oh, I was just going to wake up Luna. She doesn’t need to be sleeping through her beautiful night,” Sleepy Head said with a smirk.
The shadow slithered across the floor and surrounded the stallion. It rose from the floorboards and materialized into a smoky mare. Her body was fluid, but had a recognizable structure. Everything about her was hazy except the yellow glow of her eyes as she peered down at Sleepy Head’s back. Nightmare Moon put her hooves on the back of Sleepy Head’s shoulders in a comforting gesture.
“Now, now, let’s not be too hasty. We still have much to talk about.”
Though the monster was at his blind side, he just turned his head and grinned at her, “It should be fine if I wake Luna. I think she would love to join the conversation.”
He was about to shake Luna awake, when he suddenly stopped.
“Please stop… my son,” and Sleepy Head’s heart skipped a beat.
He dropped his hoof and turned to her, “…What did you just call me?”
“Son, my child… my very own child,” she moaned, more creepy than soothing.
Sleepy Head backed away from her smoky presence, “Are you… talking to me?”
“Who else would I be talking to, my little colt.”
“No… NO! You’re just trying to mess with my head. How could you possibly be my mother?!”
“Aww… you don’t remember do you?”
Sleepy Head shook his head in frustration, “Stop, trying to be motherly! You know what I DO remember? Yesterday, when you tried to kill me!”
“Ohh, that was just to test your strength. If I wanted you dead, you would be,” she gave him a wink, trying to be cute. She was anything but.
Sleepy Head growled, “You’re pulling this out of your plot and you know it!”
“Oh really? And how’s that?”
“Well, let’s see… ok how about this? I’m, what, a full grown stallion? You escaped the moon a year ago! If I am your son, I’d have to be born on the moon! And you were trapped there by yourself!”
She looked sullen, “You even forgot about our time on the moon?”
Sleepy Head lost his breath for a second. What was it about that sentence that struck a nerve? “‘time on the moon...’ I think I remember being on the moon… I remember… a darkness so empowering… was it the moon?”
Nightmare Moon had a look of crafty understanding, “So you DO remember…”
Sleepy Head scowled at her, “Maybe… but that still doesn’t account for the fact of how I got there. You were alone, remember?”
The dark mare laughed, “Hahahaha, magic can do all sorts of wonders.”
“Huh?”
“Tell me, why are you an Earth pony that has a magical ability? That’s not natural.”
“I… I…” Sleepy Head didn’t have an answer.
“Let me tell you the answer: It’s because you’re not actually a real pony! You’re the physical manifestation of magic I stored for nearly one thousand years… and the key to my escape.”
“No…”
“I realized I needed to create some form of energy, a burst of energy strong enough to destroy my lunar prison. Since the only magic I had came from the moon, I decided I would make a night power strong enough to actually destroy a barrier of night.”
“No.”
“And the best way to hide such a key is in plain sight. No one would suspect an Earth pony for releasing me!”
“NO!!”
Sleepy Head’s yell startled the sleeping Luna. As soon as she popped awake, Nightmare Moon dissolved and Luna’s shadow became normal again. Little Luna rubbed her eyes and yawned as Sleepy Head stared at the floor.
“I apologize for snoozing, darling, I just had a horrible time trying to stay up for you. With all of the unfashionable curtains and furniture, I just couldn’t bear to look at this room any longer. …Sleepy Head?” She trotted over to the stallion who was staring out into space.
When Luna walked into his line of sight, he quickly gathered himself, “Oh! Sorry… I just got here, so it’s alright. I didn’t want to disturb you since you were sleeping so soundly.” He tried to give her a smile, but just couldn’t gather enough his spirits to do so.
Luna walked in front of him, toward the door, “Oh, it’s quite alright dear, but you DID take a long time to go to the restroom. I can tell you certainly took your time to make yourself presentable.” She turned her head and smiled at the maroon pony.
He looked surprised, “Really?... I mean, yeah! Of course!”
She continued out the door, “Now, I wanted to tell you all about my decoration ideas for your room…” her voice trailed off as she turned the corner and out of sight.
Sleepy Head rolled his eyes and sighed. “You’re too kind, Luna,” he said and followed her out of the room.
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He spent the following days trying to escape. Being an Earth pony, there wasn’t much he could do to get over the walls of the castle. And even if he managed to get over the walls, he still had that moat that surrounded the fortress. He wasn’t sure what was in the moat, and he wasn’t about to find out. Even so, whenever Luna was preoccupied with something, Sleepy Head would slink away to look for some path of escape. He tried everything: climbed a tree to jump out, inspected the wall for any kinks, fashion a pole vaulting stick. He even tried to find some way out through the huge hedge maze in the back of the garden, hoping there was some magic in there that could teleport him home.
Through some of these endeavors, he would get maimed in a terrible way. And although the pain was splitting, the night would kindly repair any damage he caused to himself. Whenever that would happen, he’d be revisited with visions of Nightmare Moon. Her words echoed in his mind and cut into his very soul. Was he really the embodiment of a dark power? It was unlikely, but it was also the best explanation he’d been given all his life. But then again, he didn’t really know anything about his life, for all the memories past a year ago ceased to exist. All he could think about was getting away from this awful place.
Now, he was afraid of what he might remember.
A week had passed since he had arrived at the castle. One faithful night, he had left the Twilight Sparkle version of Luna fast asleep in a book. This time he just trotted to the closest wall, but could think of no tricky way to get up it. Instead, he tried desperately to grind the wall to dust with his hooves. He cried. He cried because he knew it was hopeless. He would never leave with the knowledge he retains. He knew he would forever serve a crazy moon princess under the careful eye of her all-powerful sister. He wailed bitterly there and continued to grind away at his prison.
“What are you doing Sleepy Head?”
The maroon stallion didn’t want to turn around. He didn’t want Luna to see his face like this. Stallions were strong, dependable, and courageous. If they had a weakness, they didn’t show it. But… he had to speak to her.
Sleepy Head stopped chipping at the wall and hung his head, “I’m gonna be honest… I don’t want to be here… not with you, and definitely not with Celestia. I’m finished.”
Luna didn’t say anything for a minute, and Sleepy Head assumed she had flown away. His tears silently flowed as sat on his plot, still facing the wall. He shut his eyes tight to try to stop his weeping, but the hopelessness, the pain, the sorrow, the truth still weighed heavily on him.
After a moment, he suddenly felt a warm embrace from behind him. Luna’s hooves wrapped around his neck and she rested her head on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Sleepy Head… for everything,” she whispered.
He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so comforted. His tears stopped and he could feel his cold demeanor melt in the grasp of Princess Luna. “The mare feared by so many ponies… how could anyone fear such a loving princess… how could I have been so dumb as to think running away from my problems would somehow resolve them… No, I have to stay here; for Luna and for myself!” Sleepy Head smiled as she nuzzled his neck with affection. He returned the gesture and wiped the tears from his eyes.
“I should be the one apologizing, Luna. You didn’t even do anything wrong!”
She looked surprised, “Oh but I did! I was the one who got you injured from the pillow fight!”
“Huh?”
“My sister told me you were still suffering from anxiety attacks from that first night. I really am sorry. I’ve read more on what we can do at night so I can prevent myself from hurting you anymore.”
Sleepy Head looked at her for a second and burst out laughing. She gave him an odd look as he rolled on the ground in merriment. He got up and put an arm around Luna neck, “Sister knows best. I feel like she and I should have a talk tomorrow evening. How early do I have to wake up to see her?”
“Oh, uhh… well, we usually have dinner at seven o’clock. You could come then.”
“Wow… that’s early… I dunno if my body will get up then,” he said with a grin.
Princess Luna giggled, “Don’t worry, Sleepy Head, I’ll make sure you get up in time.”
“Don’t get mad at me when I throw a pillow at you when you try to wake me up. We wouldn’t want another pillow accident on our hooves.”
The two laughed as they made their way back toward the castle.
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“Sleepy Head! Wake up!”
“Uhhnnn, go away. It’s not seven yet,” he mumbled.
“It’s eight now! I’ve already finished dinner, and sis’ is almost done!”
Sleepy Head pulled the covers over himself in protest. He quickly found himself floating in midair, a blue glow surrounding his body. Luna shook the stallion in midair with her magic to wake him up. He was a little dizzy, but collected himself and reluctantly walked down the stairs with the moon princess. They had been around each other so much that Sleepy Head could tell which personality Luna was just by hearing her voice. “Her voice was a little raspy, so she must be Rainbow Dash.”
When they made their way to the garden, he spotted Princess Celestia finishing her meal. Luna flew ahead of him and joined her sister at the table. The sun had yet to go down, and Sleepy Head’s eyes were still heavy. Still, he was determined to talk to Celestia; hopefully she would give him the answers he needed. He cringed as he recalled their last confrontation. “This time, I’ll be more subtle.”
When he reached the table, Princess Celestia greeted him warmly, “Good evening Sleepy Head.”
The stallion nodded his greetings and went straight to the point. He turned to Luna and asked, “Luna, could I talk to your sister in private?”
“Sure!” she said, smiling. “Pinkie Pie now, huh?” he thought, for he recognized the high pitched voice. Princess Luna bounced away as Celestia rose from her seat.
“Let’s take a walk, Sleepy Head.”
“I was thinkin’ the same thing,” he agreed, following her toward the fountain. The fountain was still in the garden, but surrounded by statues of famous ponies. The Discord statue was not there, for obvious reasons, but the action poses of each stone pony was a sight to see. The fountain was outlined by a marble pathway, and lush grass grew in places not covered in fine stone. Princess Celestia sat on her legs in the soft green near the fountain, but Sleepy Head wanted to stand while talking to her.
“So, I have some ques-”
Princess Celestia quickly interrupted him, “Before you start, I have something to say.”
“Yeah?”
“I want to apologize for the way I acted back in my room. That was uncalled for and childish.”
Sleepy Head rolled his eyes, “You can say that again.”
“It was just a combination of things that day that really had me stressed. I had a hard day at work and I welcomed the time I had to rest. When you burst into my room shouting, I was a little irritated.”
“That’s understandable,” he said, remembering how he acts when people try to wake him up.
“That coupled with the fact that you wanted to leave us after the first night, it was hard to bare. I get passionate when it comes to my sister, and I have never been spat on before! I did not know how to react, and I apologize deeply,” she hung her head in repentance. Sleepy Head was taken aback by the politeness, and quickly forgave her.
“That’s actually a good segway to what I wanted to ask you. You injured me enough to cripple a regular pony, but knew about how the night can heal my wounds. I have never revealed that to anypony, so how did you know?”
“I have connections,” she said with a wink.
Sleepy Head was not amused, “Come on. I’m awake at night, so I know you aren’t watching me then. Give me a real answer.”
“That… that is something I can never tell you…” she said, with a distant look in her eyes.
“Great… well, can you tell me why my cutie mark is so important. You said something about how my cutie mark was supposed to help Luna… I think… It was hard to make out what you were saying while I was getting beaten up.”
“I… cannot tell you that either.”
Sleepy Head was angry now. “Can you tell me anything?!” he shouted, standing over her.
The princess looked up at Sleepy Head, and her face struck a nerve in the stallion’s heart. Her kind demeanor faded to an expression of sad longing. Suddenly, she seemed older than she appeared; like the years of her life weighed heavily on the poor mare. Sleepy Head took a step back, afraid of what he had done to the usually chipper alicorn.
“I wish I could tell you… but decisions I have made in the past have forbidden me to speak of it. All I can say is that you have to power to save Luna from herself…”
“Really?... are you sure about that?”
“Pardon?”
Sleepy Head grey eyes burned with a fiery passion, “Tell me this then! Who were my parents? Where did I come from?”
“How am I to know-”
“Am I really a pony, or something else?”
Celestia looked at him, surprised. Sleepy Head started to confess, tears forming at his eyes with every word, “A few nights ago… I was visited by the shadow of Nightmare Moon. She said… she said that I was her son; the physical form of a dark power she had created on the moon… I.. I-I really don’t know what to believe anymore.” The tears were streaming down his face now, overcome by his emotions and the thought that he was a demon spawn.
Celestia rose and walked over to the maroon stallion. She rubbed her head with Sleepy Heads neck to comfort the sorrowful pony. Her flowing multicolored mane rubbed against his muzzle as she hugged him softly. At that very moment, Sleepy Head’s heart skipped a beat. “The smell of her mane… the warmth of her body… this all seems so familiar…”
“I can tell you this,” she whispered behind his ear, “You were born on this world, naturally, as a real pony. That is the truth.”
She backed away with Sleepy Head putting a hoof against his heart. She smiled kindly at him and said, “Now, I must return to my quarters, for the sun is about to set.” Princess Celestia began to fly toward the castle when Sleepy Head shouted at her.
“Wait!”
She turned in midair, “Yes?”
“One more question: Princess Luna… is her form now really her or is it just the Elements controlling her?”
Princess Celestia smiled and answered, “The way she acts on the outside might be the Elements of Harmony…” The stallion looked disheartened. Then she added, “…but the way she FEELS is definitely the real Luna. They cannot change her emotions.”
And with that, she left him to wonder by the fountain.