//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: The Lunar Conundrum // by CPA870 //------------------------------// The Lunar Princess's horn gave off a slight bluish glow, starkly contrasting with the near pitch black atmosphere of her royal bed chambers. A bead of sweat fell from her brow as she maintained her intense focus, nothing, and absolutely nothing at that moment could disturb her, lesst the consequences could be quite se- "Um, Excuse me, Princess?" Princess Luna jumped foward slightly at the guards pony sudden proclamation. "Yes?" She answered with just the slightest bit of venom dripping from her words. "What is it that your doing exactly?" Really? "If it is not obvious, I am raising the moon," she replied sternly. "No your not," the guard casually rested his head upon his hooves, meeting her glare with an unamused face. "And just why is that? Hmm?" She had always hated when ponies critized her night, yet she also hated it when they ignored it's natural majesty. Quite a quizzical partial paradox, no? "Because if you look into the sky," he guestered to the empty sky,"It has a DISTINCT lack of moon's. It took less time for Celestia to raise/lower it, and she was terrible at it! Half the Time she nearly thew it out of orbit!" The bat-winged lunar guard exclaimed. "It's almost as if, your stalling for time...." No, I can't be that easy to read, can I? Though she was currently experiencing tidal waves of panic, Luna still managed to hold her permanent scowl. "I am simply holding it back for the little one's sake, to ease their fears, and f--" "I'm fairly certain their more scared of the fact that moon is missing!" The lunarsmen dead panned. "And," she continued rolling her eyes," because of daylight savings," she replied in a victorious manner. "...you know where in fall back right?" Luna's smirk dropped instantly. Ponyfeather's! "Fine!" She huffed. "If you really want to rush perfection..." Her voice trailed off as she tried to compse herself. She gingerly turned her head ever so slightly to catch a glimpse of her so called guards expression. He simply sat resting his head on his hooves, expressionless. So her unfinished statement had satisfied him? As she examined her guard's compsure, their eyes met. Instantaneously she jerked her head away, getting the bat-pony to raise one of his eyebrows. "What were you doing?" "We simply making sure thou' hadn't departed before thine job is finished," she retorted. "Old dialect." "Oh, right, sorry sometimes w-I forget to switch," Luna apologized quickly. "Moon," he replied very exhausted. Why did he have to get the personal guarding mission? If he could, he would take any other one, ANY other job. But no, Princess Celestia saw it fit that HE be her guard. Despite the fact that he's a good decade older than the norm for most soldiers, meaning when it came to actual guarding, he'd be at a sore loss. He'd never forget Celestia's response to his concerns, "She's nearly as powerful as me! Truthfully she doesn't even need a guard!" And then she threw a dog treet at him- wait wrong story. "Hmph!" She exclaimed before facing front once again. Here I go, nothing to worry about. It's just a rock, just a rock, just a rock.... She thought hesitantly before summoning forth her magic. She gulped as her magic made contact the massive chunk of formerly planet earth that floated freely in Earth's gravitational pull. With a steady pull, she slowly but surely forced the massive boulder over the waning horizon. Justarockjustarockkjustarockjustarockjustarockjustarockjustarock.... The Night Princess reapeated her mantra an inumerable amount of times while guiding the moon to it's designated location. JUSTAROCKJUSTAROCKJUSTAROCKJUSTAROCKJUSTAROCKJUSTAROCKJUSTAROCKJUSTAROCKJUSTAROCKJJUSTAROCKJUSTAROCKJUSTAROCKIFYOUACTUALLREADTHISYOUGETFIVEDOLLARSJUSTAROCKJUSTAROCKJUSTAROCKJUSTAROCKJUSTAROCK!!! She thought so fast that if se were to have spoken it, Even Pinkie Pie would have been at a loss for words. Finally, the behemoth space pebble found it's way to its designated time slot, and the lunar princess was able to let it go. As soon as the glow left her horn she collapsed, Emotionaly over exhausted. "Are you okay?" The Lunar Guardsmen asked, not moving an inch. "Yes, I'm fine th-" "Then I'm gone," he replied sternly while pushing in his chair and leaving. However, he paused at the door, "If you need anything, and for Celesta's sake don't... You know where to find me." He concluded. "Right, thank you," with a simple nod the guards pony then left the premises, took a left turn, and proceeded to head straight for the Bar. Luna cradled her head in her arms/hooves. She had-she had tried to deny it before. Which completely justifiable, after all, it made absolutely no sense! But with every passing day, no, every waking night, it became more and more irrefutable. No matter how much she hated it, she had to admit it... Princess Luna, was afraid of the Moon.