//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Soldiers Die // by Gimtek //------------------------------// Chapter 5 Eternal Love Princess Luna stands from her comfortable pillow on the floor and stretches her legs a bit. Looking again outside with a bit of worry on her face, she scans the sky for her older sister but comes up with nothing but stars and light clouds covering part of her moon. Twilight had asked for a short break to use the little mare's room, giving the Princess of the night ample time to not be distracted by the storytelling and become worried sick about her sister. Usually the two goddesses can detect each other's whereabouts at all times, save when they actively masked their presence from one another. "Tia... Where did you go that you didn't wish for me to know?" She whispers to herself as she looks out into the night. Celestia had never hidden from her sister not once, even before and after Nightmare Moon's banishment when her very life was potentially at risk. She always wanted to let her younger sister know that she was there for her. "I'm worried too, I tried to locate her also but could not, only that she traveled west before her trail disappeared." Twilight's voice broke the silence, nearly startling the younger goddess, her concentration so focused she hadn't realized that her unicorn friend had returned. "We will cover no ground staring idly out the window, there is much story left to tell, Twilight Sparkle." Luna heads back to her seat, a little relieved. "Aren't you worried about the princess?" Twilight reluctantly turns and follows Luna's lead. "If she has in fact gone west then I do not fear for my sister's safety. I do hope she finds what she is looking for though." Luna attempts to ease the lavender unicorn's worries before continuing. Xiphos returns to his quarters, night had fallen during his time eating and drinking with his friends. The first real enjoyable time he has had in the last week. Closing the door behind himself, he staggers a little drunkenly in the dark into his countertop, knocking his washbasin over onto the floor again, thankfully empty. He inches over to its silouetted form on the floor and picks it up with his teeth and stands back up, looking for a place to set it down in the shadows. "So.." A dark glow of magic illuminates the room, startling the young stallion, who quickly drops the basin and backs away instinctively. "This little drunk colt is who my sister chose as her personal protector." Sobering up slightly, Xiphos squints his eyes to focus into the darkness and makes out the outline of the princess of the night in full dress armor, no doubt for the intimidating factor. He quickly stands at attention, swaying a little left and right to maintain balance. He remains silent as the princess slowly approaches at an angle. "I don't see it." Luna looks down on him, her horn giving a sickly blue and purple glow to light up the earth pony. Her head was all he could really see in the glowing light. "You are not capable of anything more than wrapping up minor threats on the borderlands." "But your majes--" "SILENCE!" Lightning outside the window briefly illuminates the room, her face filled with rage as she stamps a hoof on the floor. "I only accepted my sister's decision because i know she has no real use for a bodyguard, she plans to use you for other purposes." She paces back and forth in front of the soldier. "I know of our sister's plans to bring peace, and i find them to be a waste of effort." She stops, staring right into his eyes. "If it were possible I would have brought peace about long ago." "Then why," he says hesitantly, the princess just raises an eyebrow at him. "Why do you let her try if it is impossible?" She leans forward, eyes and horn glowing brightly, causing Xiphos to flinch. "Bold, you are, to speak in such a manner to royalty." She backs away and begins pacing again. "I care much for my beloved sister, and protect her from her foolishness. I protect the kingdom by leading our armies and Celestia is free to do as she pleases so long as she is safe." "She does more than that." Xiphos blurts out, not sure if it was an emotional or alcohol driven outburst. The princess before him stops in her tracks and casts another icy glare at him. "She goes out and meets with ponies, she mourns for them, she cares for everypony in Equestria and shows it everyday. She has high hopes in Star Swirl's research and everypony around her feeds on that hope." "Speak out of line again and I shall-" "You shall strike me down? Banish me to Tartarus? Celestia sees hope in me where all you see is-" Xiphos steps forward defiantly toward the angry and powerful princess. "Love!" The princess finishes his sentence. "Eternal and everlasting." Her words confuse him a bit. Luna backs down some, her horn and eyes not glowing with rage anymore. "I love my sister, and wish not for any harm to come to her. Her 'hope' is good for the public, but the truth is her solution will place her in much peril, even by our standards." She calms her tone some more. "If it came down to it, could you lay your life down to ensure her safety?" "I... I have sworn it!" He replies, being a bit empathetic to his princess. "Not a single pink strand on her mane!" Luna stands tall, looking down over her subject again, staring directly into his eyes. "I believe you" She levitates a small charm bearing an engraving in a language that Xiphos does not recognize, but he does notice the image of Luna's cutie mark on it. "Your power is limited as an earth pony. If you break this charm, I will lend my power in the protection of my sister." She ties the charm around his neck and hides it in his mane. "Do not let anypony know of this pact." Xiphos looks up at his princess of the night and ponders what is happening, letting curiosity get the better of him, he opens his mouth again. "Why did you change so suddenly from wanting to kill me to wanting to help me, your majesty?" "Because I saw it in your eyes, the fire when you defended her with your words. Your lack of fear of my power, knowing I would destroy you with a thought if there was any doubt in your words. That is when I knew that you would keep my sister safe." Luna says with a proud grin on her face, "I fabricated this whole conversation to see how far you were willing to go. The truth is I too see hope in my sister's plans, for she is much more wise than myself. I have sworn to be her sword and will defend Equestria in any way possible until my sister's plans come to fruition, buying her the time to complete them." She raises a hoof to his shoulder, easing any tension remaining in the room. "You shall protect her while I can now focus on protecting Equestria." "Thank you for your trust, your majesty." He manages to bow his head without wobbling too much, the adrenaline fading in his system slowly making him feel the effects of his drinking again. When he looks back up, he gets a smile from the princess before her horn grows silent, the room plunging into darkness again, them with a gentle breeze her presence is gone from his room. The tan earth pony staggers a bit toward his bed, and collapses in physical and mental exhaustion onto it. Before he can even begin to piece together what happened just now he falls asleep. Morning came quicker than Xiphos would have liked, staying up a little later because of one princess's visit almost caused him to oversleep meeting the other princess at sunrise. The castle keep guards allow him access and instruct him to wait in the main hall per Celestia's orders. The hall is unoccupied at the moment as Princess Luna and her guard had already retired for the night. Other than the chandelier and candles on the walls, there was little light in the hall, making it seem rather cold to Xiphos. Large windows on the sides of the hall that normally provide light during the day remain dark as the moon almost finishes it's decent past the trees in the horizon. "Good morning, Xiphos." A voice greets him from across the hall, he turns and sees Celestia standing there, looking out at the stars in the sky through the window. "Come over, I'd like to show you something before we start our day." She says without looking away from the window in front of her. Xiphos trots over and stands beside his princess, looking out the same window with her. Not noting anything special of note, stars, darkness, a treeline faint in the distance, he turns his head toward her. "What is it, Princess?" "It's a beautiful night that my sister had made, as always." She says with a smile. "But take note of the window itself." He looks at the window, noticing that it is damaged, a thin crack in the glass runs all the way down it vertically near the middle, nearly bisecting the glass in two. None of the other windows have any damage to them after a quick look around the room. "It's broken, why hasn't it been replaced?" "It was broken long ago during a battle here between my sister and I and a dangerous draconequus." She reminisces, "When we sought to rebuild after the battle, I thought to take it down and replace it as well, but then I noticed this." Her horn glows gently, and Xiphos begins to notice a light on the horizon. The sun slowly begins to raise, sending bands of red, orange, and yellow light across the morning sky which slowly becomes blue as the sun ascends. But he notices another light. On the floor in front of him, a rainbow a few inches across forms. Puzzled and amazed, he turns to Celestia with a questioning look. "How did..?" He only manages to say. "The window crack perfectly lines up with my sunrise, causing a prism effect and creating a rainbow." She explains to him, motioning for him to watch longer. The small rainbow begins to slowly elongate and stretch as the sun rises more until it completely covers both ponies sitting in front of it, casting a myriad of color over their bodies. "Even broken, I find it more beautiful than all of the other windows in this hall. That is why I kept it." Xiphos looks out the window some more at the sunrise, a bit speechless as the sight. "That was beautiful, Princess." He turns to look at her, the rainbow light making her light pink mane mix into bands of light blue, turquoise, and pink. He holds his breath briefly as he soaks in her radiance. "Your mane, princess..." Celestia looks back at him. "What is it, Xiphos?" "It's absolutely stunning in the rainbow light, i love it." He replies as the sun slowly raises out of the optimal angle for the prism effect, causing her mane to return to it's normal color. She blushes momentarily and looks back out the window, breaking eye contact with him. He panics a moment and looks forward as well. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to--" "No it is fine, Xiphos." She turns toward the front of the hall. "Come now, we have a long day ahead of us and we need to get you up to speed on our progress." "May I ask a question, your majesty?" Xiphos asks as he follows her. "Of course you may, and we will be spending much time together informally, please just call me Celestia when it is as such." She stops and turns to him with her signature heartwarming smile. "Yes, Princess." He says politely, "I just wanted to thank you for letting me watch the sunrise with you, but was wondering why you showed me on the first day of my new duties." "That is an easy enough question, I wanted to make you feel more comfortable around me." She says softly, slowly begins to turn but stops and turns back. "But..." She trails off in thought, "Princess?" Xiphos asks, "but, what?" "I'd like it if you could come again tommorrow morning, I think I would like to see my mane in a mirror as well during the sunrise, to see how 'stunning' it truely is." She tells him and turns back toward the door and trotting away. It is Xiphos' turn to blush as he stands there stunned momentarily in thought before he snaps out of it and begins to follow his princess again toward the exit. "Of course, Princess, I'd like that too."