//------------------------------// // Duty to the Night // Story: With a Shine in His Eyes // by Kotushk Fier //------------------------------// It took me less that ten minutes to get to Ponyville and back. In that time, I left one note for each of my friends, and also told Snowshoe that I would be meeting with him when I visited again. Now I am sitting in Luna's study, waiting to hear what she needed from me. A flash of light from behind me made me jump and whirl around to find Luna staring directly at me. "I thought I told you to take two weeks off and have a vacation, Novalis," she said in a quiet tone. "Well, as your ambassador, I couldn't very well let him get away with his remarks towards you, your sister, or other ponies, Princess." "And as my ambassador, you have the authority to place judgment upon those you deem punishable. You do not need to personally bring a pony here unless he or she murders another. Instead, you brought him here, which forced me to return prematurely, after I told you to stay away from me for two weeks." My ears flattened against my head and I lowered myself to the ground, trying to avoid looking at her. Her tone conveyed disappointment with me, and I could feel my heart sinking. "I am truly sorry, Princess. And I am loathe to mention it, but," I spoke, remembering the mare in Ponyville who was with Razor, "not all ponies recognize me as your ambassador outside of Canterlot." I chanced a look at her as I finished speaking, and noticed she had a thoughtful look on her face. "Perhaps you need a sign of your ties to me. Very well, I shall give you an old form of recognition, one that makes it very clear who you work for. And Novalis, I thought I told you to call me Luna when we are alone." "I thought that was only for when we're on the moon," I said, a blush creeping onto my face before amazement set it. "Wait a minute, I thought that was a dream!" A mischievous smile lit her face as she stared at me while I could feel heat growing ever hotter on my muzzle. After a few moments of embarrassed staring, which felt like an eternity to me, she leaned her head back to her wing. Before I could ask what she was doing, she gave a small yelp, and with a quick jerk of her head pulled a large and very stiff feather from her wing. A small drop of blood fell to the floor, and I watched in concern as she laid the feather on her desk. She moved to the back of the desk, where she often sat waiting for me during my lessons, and motioned me to come closer. "Novalis Shiningeyes, I, Princess Luna, will now formally and completely appoint you as my ambassador and confidant, albeit after giving you a test of loyalties. This position holds much responsibility, but with much reward garnered for your services. You will also be given a small test within the test for my own agenda. I will be casting a truth spell upon you, to ascertain complete honesty to any and all questions I ask you tonight. Do you accept these conditions?" I nodded and bowed low, resting on one foreknee while setting the other leg straightly in front of myself. It was an old custom bow, meant to convey absolute respect. I figured since she was giving me an old test, I would follow suit. When I rose from the bow, her face was radiant with an approving smile. I felt as if I just passed a test already. "With all due respect, Princess, could you simply use your orb to tell what thoughts lie in my heart?" "One can easily deceive him or herself if he or she so wished, Novalis. My spell will strip bare all deceptions." "Understandable. I am ready when you are, milady." With a nod, her horn began to glow and she levitated the feather from the desk and pinned it directly over my heart. With a burst of pale light, I could feel her magic seeping into my body and mind. "Now, we shall begin the questioning. Novalis, do you consider yourself loyal to me, or my sister?" "You, Princess. Even if a split came between you two, I would choose you." My eyes widened at the borderline treasonous response my mouth issued. But her smile showed I had given her the answer she wanted. "If there is a job I require of you, no matter what it is, would you perform it?" "Only if it did not harm you in any way." "Final question, and most important one, Novalis. Do you love me as a ruler, a friend, a teacher, or do you wish to be more? If I so chose a consort, a lover, would you in any way deny me?" "I love you for everything you are to me. You have been a benevolent ruler, kind and just to all. You have been my best friend I have ever made, always joking and making me feel at ease. And I love your teaching, strict enough to ensure the lesson gets through, and yet always willing to simplify a concept to make it easier. And yet, as my daydreams have revealed before, I do love you deeper than any of those. I love your beautiful eyes, full of wisdom, kindness, and yet behind that is shown the steel required to be a strong and capable mare. You always manage to take my breath away, and when you decide to wear clothing, you tend to take my mind away as well. I love you, Princess Luna, just for being Luna, if nothing else." My mouth gaped at the long winded and potentially destructive answer. Here I was, a commoner, speaking so plainly to her. But her eyes were pools of unfathomable emotions. I could see different feelings swirling in the depths, admiration, amusement, tenderness, and so on. But I even saw a flicker of more before she managed to recover. "Very well, Novalis. One last question, now that I have thought of it. When I release you from the truth spell, Do you think you could continue to tell the truth so openly and plain to me? I value honesty like this, and am quite frankly tired of the noble's sly words. I would enjoy someone being absolutely honest with me." "I can do that Princess, but will likely have reservations occasionally. I can promise to not lie, but I cannot promise to always answer." "Fair enough. Very well then, Novalis. I will now imbue that feather with a few powers that you will need in this job. Welcome to my service, Novalis Nightshine." With her horn glowing once more, the feather was removed from my chest. A pale blue sheen of magic also rolled off my body and surrounded the feather. Her horn glowed brighter for a few seconds, and a pale white sheen of magic, the color of moonlight, rolled off of her and mixed with mine. The two colors mixed and swirled, and seemed to soak into the feather before disappearing completely. "Now, you must pick that feather up of your own free will. You cannot use magic to do so the first time, as it needs to bond with your body first." "Bond?" Only her knowing smile answered, and I looked at the plume with newfound apprehension. Shrugging my shoulders, I leaned in and picked the feather up with my teeth, and a surge ripped through me at the contact. I gasped as my eyes opened wide. The quill levitated itself in front of me and came to rest against my chest again. This time, though, the contact triggered a flood of memories to me, showing me through another pony's eyes. I could feel that pony's emotions as well, feeling a protective surge for myself. Another memory flashed by, watching an ethereal daydream I remembered, but it floated over my head, and amusement, and another, smaller emotion, washed over me from this other perspective. When the memories died down, I found myself on the floor, with the feather laying next to me. I found to my surprise that it was glowing. A faint eddy of magic was around it, looking very much like Luna's mane. A deep blue aura with white pinpoints of light clung to the plume, seeming as if the feather was taken from her head. I picked it up and placed it over my heart, feeling a sense of peace and completion pass through my body. "Very good, Novalis. You passed the true test with that." "What do you mean, Princess, and why did you call me 'Nightshine'?" "For the second, look in the mirror when we're done. For the first, that feather would have rejected you if it found you unworthy of anything I intended with you. That feather holds all possible feelings I have for you, and apparently seems fit to deem you worthy. As such, I will be honest with you about a few things that I am no longer afraid to divulge." She breathed a sigh of relief at the end, causing me to look back from the feather to her face. She seemed to glow with ecstasy, almost giddy with happiness. "Now, I've known of your love for me for awhile, but I honestly thought it may have been foal's love at first. The love everypony seems to hold for my sister or I at some point in their life, however fleeting. But the days kept on, and your emotions for me never lightened in the least. In fact, you seemed to only strive ever more to impress me. And it worked, trust me. You have shown a rare and deep seated affection for me ever since we first met at my parade. And instead of dulling into adoration as shown to rulers, your thoughts and feelings for me have always burned brightly. You have earned my admiration... and my love. Love for more than a subject. Love for more than a friend. I love you Novalis, as much as you love me. BUT! I will not take you as my mate, not right now. You have yet to taste relationships with other ponies first, and I will not take that from you. Go into the world, and try to make a small herd for yourself. Become intimate with the mares, or colts if that is also your wish, and experience love that isn't borne from immortals. I want you to be well versed in the world, both as my foreign ambassador, and as a pony who knows how other ponies feel. Only when you can show true empathy to all ponies, and can make decisions that are best for them, will you be able to fully accept your duties to me. And only then can you accept the things I may ask you to do. And with that, I must ask you to return to Ponyville. I sent you there because I am very busy with a foreign matter. I do not wish to have any distractions while having to also deal delicately with a dragon lord." "Yes, Luna, I understand. I doubt I'd be able to help, and if I tried I would only get in the way. I will take my leave now. Thank you for this honor. I will return when you call for me." I turned and was almost out of the room before she called to me. "Oh Novalis, aren't you forgetting something?" I looked at her quizzically, causing her to give a sigh before speaking sarcastically to the air, even voicing it as well. "Perhaps I have to be the leader in this as well? Yes, he does seem to be somewhat denser than you gave him credit for. Oh whatever shall I do? Take the lead, but punish him if he forgets later? Yes that sounds lovely, thank you airpony." Looking back to me, I felt embarrassment flush my face at her display, realizing I missed something important. "Now, say after me, Novalis. 'I love you, Luna'." That blush deepened considerably as I tried to make my mouth obey me. "I-I l-l-love you, Lu-Luna." "Hmm, that doesn't sound very convincing." "I love you, Luna." "Nope, still don't hear it." I squeezed my eyes shut and mustered all my emotion into one loud proclamation. "I LOVE YOU, LUNA!!!" "No need to shout, Novalis. I love you too." I looked up to see her smiling playfully and wickedly at me, causing me to turn away in embarrassment from her joke. Before I could turn completely around, she had taken a small leap and flutter over to me and kissed my cheek lightly. Before I could react, she teleported away from me and out of the room. I fainted.