The Princesses' Quill

by AtrumVenator

Chapter 5: The Demons Within

        He allowed himself to be led into the dining hall. He saw Celestia smile at her sister, then felt the temperature drop as the Sun Princess’ gaze shifted to him. He could see rivulets of frost forming on the windows, and the steam from the food was fading rapidly. Gallant felt his heart slamming against his ribcage at a breakneck speed; all the world became lost as the eyes of Celestia pierced his soul.

This darkness, what is this place? She couldn’t have killed me with a single glance... Right? No... I am here. But where is here?

You are within your mind, young Gallant.

Who are you? Celestia?

Ah, so you are not as daft as you appeared to be. Hmm, what interesting memories you have. What's this? Your father, oh he was THAT Quill.

What do you want? Why are you here?

Perhaps I am angry at you. Furious even. You disrespected me in a way that nopony dares to. You usurped my authority, assaulted me, and now you have the nerve to dine with me? Why should I respect your wishes?

My wishes? You misunderstand. I question you being here, not for my safety, but for yours. To play with my mind inside of yours is one thing. To come on my turf is entirely different.

A crimson star revealed two ponies. One, a white alicorn with pink hair. The other, a gray stallion, marred by shadows. Only his mouth was visible to the Sun Princess. But it was what caused the shadows that sent a shiver down Celestia’s spine.

Massive black creatures, who had no visible faces or limbs, dwarfed the stallion before her. And surrounded her.

You may be a goddess, but this is my kingdom, my land. I will ask you but one time, leave here and do not return. I cannot keep these creatures at bay for long. They know they cannot harm me now, but you? You are just a plaything, and they will tear you apart. Go.

Celestia recoiled, her eyes shifting away from Gallant, returning herself to her food. Luna look questioningly at Gallant, seeing at first his eyebrows furrowed and then his eyes beginning to water. The unicorn trembled and a visible shiver went through him, before he looked up at Luna, his stomach rumbling once more.

“I apologize, Princess Luna. I seem to be hungrier than I had thought.” His weak excuse was not missed by Luna, but she allowed the matter to drop.

“It appears so, thou seems to have lost thyself in thy mind. But no matter, sit beside us here.” She led them to a place across from Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, the only other occupants of the hall besides themselves and Celestia.  

“Captain Armor.” Gallant acknowledge the captain with a nod of his head but did not move to salute.

“Private Quill.” Cadance looked between the two briefly before sighing.

“I’m Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and I’m pleased to meet you...?” She introduced herself, giving Gallant and Shining something to focus on other than their hatred of each other.

“Err, Gallant Quill, Princess. Private First Class in the Lunar Guard.” Gallant fidgeted in his chair, shifting around.

“Former smuggler and criminal and who was supposed to be sentenced to a very long time in prison.” Both Luna and Cadance shot Shining a disapproving glare.

Cadance spoke in hushed whisper to her fiance, “Honestly, we’re eating, please just let it go. I know it was important to you, but please? For me?” His cheeks inflamed at the scolding, Shining gave a tiny nod.

“If I may interject, and I do hope I’m not interrupting your lovers quarrel,” All eyes turned to Gallant, who, along with both of the Princesses, had heard what Cadance said. “It’s not like I’m in a favorable position either. Everyone I knew would not hesitate to put a blade in my back now. You still got everyone else you rounded up, I may have been the big pony, but I wasn’t the only pony. Not only that, I’m sure they will send for me to be removed. They will come. I will end them. I serve Equestria now. For good or worse. Is that enough for you?” Gallant’s point made, he turned away from the Captain across from him and began to discuss with Luna what kind of foods were available and what was good.

Princess Celestia was determined to get the last word in however, “Oh and this morning’s events were what you call “Serving Equestria”?

Without missing a beat, “Well I suppose one could take it that way, depending on how long it’s been.”

Gallant studied a menu on the table quickly before placing his order with a servant who had just walked up next to him. Around him, the other ponies were desperately trying to hold back their laughter and Celestia’s cheeked were flushed at the implications of his words.

“I suppose so, but it wasn’t my room you were sleeping in front of last night was it? How long has it been Lu-Lu?” Celesta grinned widely at the pair, raising her eyebrows.

It was Luna’s turn to be embarrassed as she looked away and focused on the table before her. As she did so she noticed the blade strapped to Gallant’s right foreleg slide down from it’s place above his knee and into a fighting position. She could not see his face, but could see his muscles tensed and his jawline set. She placed a hoof on his shoulder. He turned to her questioningly, and she smiled at him and shook her head. He instantly relaxed and the blade moved into it’s previous position.

How far wouldst this stallion go for us? To fight our sister, in the castle... Gallant thy loyalty is stronger than even thou knows. Luna reflected on her protege as she ate in silence. After the exchange of teasing insults, the Lunar pair kept to themselves.

The room given to Gallant was a large suite located next to Princess Luna’s room in the living quarter of the castle. He and Shining Armor had rooms across from each other and Luna explained to Gallant that he was given this room because the diarchs preferred that their personal students lived close by, except in the case of Celestia’s current student, who lived in the middle of nowhere. He suspected that was not entirely the reason that he had been given a room so close to the Princess, and that it was perhaps to keep his leash short that Luna (or more likely Celestia and Shining Armor) had him live there.

The room itself opened up to a spacious living area, with two couches, a small table, and large window overlooking the gorge below the city. Whoever had designed the room had obviously assumed someone familiar with Princess Luna would stay there, if the midnight theme was any indication. Navy blue, royal purple, and jet black dominated the overall color scheme of the decorations, and the bedroom was no different.

Nostalgia overwhelmed him as he entered the bedroom with Luna shortly behind him to find a few of the knickknacks that had been confiscated from his apartment in Lower Canterlot. A small box containing a program and a ticket from each of Octavia’s concerts, he had never missed one; A Princess Luna plush toy; a picture of his family when his father was still alive; and the two guitars he had found in his family’s attic the day before he left home. A set of black clothing had been left for him on the bed, evidently it was his uniform as a member of the Lunar Guard.

Luna walked over to the few things that Gallant held dear,picked up the plushie of herself, and shot a questioning glance at the unicorn stallion. He turned his head and looked away, pretending not to notice what she had found, praying that she wouldn’t ask about it.

“Gallant?” No such luck then, he sighed internally, “What is this?”

“Well it’s a stuffed toy...” He looked at it and her for the first time since she had picked it up.

“We are aware of that, why dost thou have it? Was perhaps our sister right in thy affections for us?” She smirked down at the stallion, as his cheeks began to flush and he pushed at the ground with his hoof.

“NO!” He exclaimed, causing Luna’s smile to fall a bit. He quickly corrected himself, “I mean err, It’s not that, er, it was given to me. And it’s one of the few things I hold dear.”

“Oh, and who gave it to thou? A mare perhaps?” Luna’s smile was slightly too wide, and her tight jaw line betrayed her true thoughts.

Gallant, did not notice however, “Yes... In a manner of speaking.”

Luna frowned slightly, “What dost thou mean?”

Gallant sighed, feeling his throat growing dryer by the moment, recalling the memory, “It was a couple weeks before my arrest, hah, I remember seeing this pony, selling these on the street, and this little filly going up and buying one. She was no more than five years, the cutest thing. She was all alone, and it was a rough part of town, but she wanted it so bad. And she was so very happy to get it, she didn’t notice them come out of the alley and start following her. Two of them. Big dirty pegasi. But I noticed. I followed them from the rooftops praying to every god I could think of that they would just go away. They didn’t. When she passed by an alley, they moved quickly, pushing her in where nopony could see her. I moved as quick as I could, teleporting directly over them. I was almost too late. I dropped out of the sky, breaking one’s back instantly. I bucked the other in the head, bouncing him off the wall and knocking him out. I grabbed the little filly and we teleported on top of the building. I told her to wait for me. I teleported back down, and made sure the two pegasi would never fly again. I grabbed the filly and took her home. When we reached her house, her mother was so relieved. She had come all the way from Upper Canterlot for the stupid plush toy. On her own. I mean, what kind of foal does that? What kind of parent lets their kid roam like that? Anyway, she hugged me and gave me this. The stupid toy. Why couldn’t she have just stayed where it’s safe?” Gallant’s head was lowered, and tears dripped onto the floor.

“We- No, I do not understand your sadness. She was okay, was she not?” Luna questioned the sobbing unicorn.

Gallant collected himself, before answering her, “No. They worked for someone, I never found out who. I got arrested before I could track them down. But they found the filly. And they burned the house down. They whole family died. The stupid foal. All for a bucking toy. I went to the funeral. I was drunk. They wouldn’t let me in. I wanted... I wanted to put it in her casket... So it would be with her. So that she had the thing she wanted so much.” He sighed, running a hoof through his mane, and looked up at Luna. “Sorry Princess, I bet I don’t look much like a Lunar Stallion right now huh?” He laughed weakly.

To his great surprise, Luna wrapped him in a hug, “On the contrary, thou looks to be even more of a Lunar Guard than ever before.” She released him, stepping back into the doorway. “We suggest thou rests before Sergeant Spectre visits for thy training.” She turned away, but as she reached the door to the castle hallway, she called over her shoulder, “Oh and Gallant, we will never think less of thou, for thy emotions. That is a promise. Goodnight.” With that, she exited the room.

Sighing once more and rubbing his eyes, Gallant turned to inspect the uniform on the bed, and hoped he would be able to get to sleep. He could feel the old demons of depression, self-doubt, anxiety, and  regret clawing at his soul. He resolved himself to not let them win again, for the sake of that young filly.