She looked at him in complete shock, the question she had just been asked she never thought about. Yet here they were he was holding his family ring out waiting for an answer to his proposal. When all she just gave was a shocked expression on her face his nervous confident smile started to waver.
"You know if this isn't what you wanted then it's fine." Disappointment seeping into his voice.
"Song, i-i don't know." She looked away in shame.
"What do you mean you don't know?" He asked quietly.
"Listen i never thought about it, and i'm afraid that i might lose you to that creature." She looked angrily at the cave. "The relationship we're in now is complicated enough with you being tormented by that thing." Tears of anger started to form. "I wish you were free, then i don't think i would be having this trouble." A hoof touched her shoulder and when she looked up she could see that he had a concerned look.
"Luna, you know that the creature is and will always be trapped in that cave. Yes i have to come here every week, but now that we've become a couple I've felt stronger. When that creature drained me, if it had did that before i met you then i would have died right there and then. But i didn't because i had you, and i want us to be together not as mare and coltfriend but as husband and wife. For that will give me all the strength i need." He looked at her with a pure love in his eyes. 'But if you don't want to get married then that's fine, as long as i get to be with you."
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She always enjoyed drinking a cup of tea in the mourning, for her it was like drinking coffee. Her sister and Song never came back last night after their day at the spa, and though she knew she had nothing to worry about she still felt like something happened. Though she was curious about it she knew she needed to stop peaking in on their personal time, mostly because they had gone and got that new special aroma therapy and massage.
"Excuse me Princess Celestia?" She turned and saw the captain of her royal guard standing there.
"And what can i do for you Shining?" He relaxed a little.
'Well i was hoping to take the day off today?" He asked in his usual confident manner he had with her.
"And what's the occasion?" She asked, though she had a feeling that it had something to do with her niece. They have been going out for a year now, so she had a feeling.
"I was hoping because i, umm, wanted to umm propose tonight." He stammered out looking very nervous.
"Oh, and tell me how you plan to propose to my niece?" She gave him a small smile and laughed a little at his embarrassment.
"I'm thinking of taking her to the first restaurant we ever went to on our first date." He said with a little more of his confidence back.
"Well then what are you waiting for, i think you two would make a good married couple." She smiled as he nodded and walked away. "Oh and Shining?" He looked back at her. "Congratulation, i know she'll say yes. and if you see my sister tell her that i would like to hear about her day yesterday."
"Thanks and i will." He saluted her and walked away.
She thought about it for a little while, maybe she should try her hoof on the dating thing. That aroma therapy only works if the two ponies are in love, so she was a little jealous the her little sister got to try it before her. Though the enchantment was created by her niece she never had anypony to try it with.
"I really need a special somepony myself." She said under her breath. Then she looked and saw two familiar ponies walking side by side, and she couldn't resist but think of how to tease them this time.
So she walked down to the throne room, she didn't have anything to do today. At least not that much, but she knew that it would be the first place they probably go. She made herself comfortable and looked at the door, and not a moment later the couple walked in looking at each other differently.
"So did you two have a nice time yesterday?" She asked smiling at the cute couple.
"Oh it went just fine." Her little sister answered looking at her.
"Anything happen?" She raised her eyebrow in suspicion.
"Actually something did happen." She just looked at her sister wanting her to continue. "He proposed to me last night."
"Oh..." A look of surprise crossed her for a moment. "Well from the looks of it you said yes?" She asked, but she did notice something but couldn't put her hoof on it.
"Not exactly, i'm not sure if about it. So i'm going to think it over." Her sister smiled at her.
"Hmm, strange usually in today's world if a mare of a stallion wanted to think about it then that usually means no. But by the looks of things you two seem closer than ever." She said curiosity taking over her mind.
"Yes that maybe true, but then again we're not like most ponies. If she wants time to answer such a life changing question i'm not going to hold her to it." He said.
"No i suppose that your not like normal couples, you two do seem to be on a more different level. But i hope you find the answer that will make both of you happy, and just know that if you two to get decide to get married then i will support it." She smiled at them with genuine happiness, but also confusion as most mares who had been dating their one and only special somepony they would have automatically said yes. But her sister wanted to actually think about it, now that was a new one to her as she would thought that her sister would be overjoyed and had already given an answer. They have been going out for then normal amount of time most ponies now proposed.
"Thank you sister." Her little sister said, and turned to give him a kiss before waling off towards her room.
"I hope you aren't disappointed, and even though it looks like you two are still fine. But you out of the two of you should defiantly know that it isn't a good thing that she has to think about it." She looked at Song.
"I know, but i trust her. That and even though she hadn't realized it yet, but she already knows the answer. She just wants to confirm it before she tells me." He said confidently, but she could still see doubt in his eyes.
"Your right, she's only been back for about a year now. And this kind of relationship is new to her, so i'm confident that she only needs to think things through, i mean you are her first special somepony." He looked at her confused.
"You mean i'm the only one she's been with? I would of figured a beautiful princess like her would have had many stallions and mares line up to be her special somepony even back then." He said.
"Yes, well unfortunately back then all she felt was jealousy for me. So she did not have much room for other feelings." She told him, which he just gave her a sad and understanding nod. He got up and left. "Well today has been full of surprises, i just hope those two will be okay."
-----------------------
As she got back to her room she couldn't believe what happened last night. She was so happy that he had asked her that her head started to spin, and was still spinning. Then she hoped on her bed and squealed in delight.
"But why couldn't i just say yes? I know i love him enough that i feel it's time to take it to that level but still. There are somethings i need to figure out." She said letting out a sigh.
She still couldn't figure out why she didn't say yes, but she did come up with a few ideas. One was that since she was a thousand years behind on somethings that she felt like a bit rushed, and another was dealing with the fact that she would have to worry about the creature. For she didn't know if she could handle seeing him being tormented by. Then a knock came at the door.
"Hey there." Song came in, and saw her laying on her bed with a little bit of a sad expression. "He what's wrong?"
"It's nothing just thinking about your question." She looked away.
"Look Luna, like i said last night if you don't want to get married i'm not going to pressure you. Just know that i feel like it was about time, and that spa treatment really helped push me to asking." He said giving her a concerned look.
"I know you won't pressure me, and i agree with you that after that spa treatment i feel even closer to you, but i don't think i could handle seeing my husband being tormented by a creature for centuries, at least knowing that i could have stopped it." He put a hoof on her back trying to comfort her.
"So that's it huh? Luna like i said, as long as your my special somepony that will give me the strength to put up with the torment, as you put it.." He said rubbing his hoof up and down her back trying to relax her a little now.
"And as i said, i know. Could you leave me for a few moments, i want to be alone with my thoughts for awhile?" She asked, he stopped running his hoof up her back.
"Sure, and if you need me i'll be right next door okay?" She nodded, and also notice the very concerned look on his face.
As soon as he left she knew what had to be done before she could tell him yes. Though she might betray his trust, she had to do it to set him free. So she opened the window and hoped out spreading her wings and flying toward the caves.
-------
"Oh no, i should of stayed with her." He said watching her jump out of her window and taking flight.
He knew where she was headed, and so he grabbed his saddle bad full of supplies just in case this day came. She can't reach the chamber, or be found by the creature otherwise it could all end in disaster. For there was something he was hiding from her, something to do with the creature and him. As he galloped out of the palace and towards the cave.
---------------
She was already almost there as the cliff that was their spot could now be plainly seen. But that wasn't her destination, she wanted to go through the bottom entrance as it might be better to get to the chamber. Lucky for her she knew the symbols Song used to help guide himself if he got lost.
So when she got inside all she had to do was walk a little ways in and found the first symbol. She knew it meant to take a right at the next turn. After she took some mental notes about the way she was going, she could feel a presence behind her.
"Luna what are you doing here?" His voice full of anger. "After the first time you tried to come in i would have thought you know better, how could you actually set hoof in here?" She turned and saw Song standing there, giving her a harsh and betrayed stare.
"I'm sorry, but i have to set you free from that creature." She said not wanting to back down, though this may end them at least she knew she did it breaking him free.
"Why are you so obsessed with freeing me from the creature? You know that i don't want anything to happen to you." He said bringing her in for a hug. "Now please leave before the creature notices that your here."
"No! I'm not leaving until the creature is no more and you've been set free of its torment." She pulled back. "And if you can't see that i'm serious and come along, then don't. I'll do it myself." Tears starting to form. "I don't want to see you suffer like how you did because of me."
"Is that how you truly feel?" She nodded. "Then i guess i can't stop you, but don't cry because i will be there to protect you." He gave her a confident smile then leaned over and gave her a kiss.
Though the kiss felt different somehow she didn't really notice as he told her that he would lead. So she followed him with new found confidence. For surely now that they would be working together the creature could not defeat them, and then a sharp shriek came through the caves.
"Come on run!" Song screamed and started to pull her down a series of paths.
With the shriek now fully faded they stopped to catch their breath. The since of dread that the shriek had put on her had made her almost start crying, He put a comforting hoof on her, though coldness had crept in the spot he touched she didn't notice as he took it off.
"That was the creature waking up, he knows your here. We have to hurry if it catches us it will not hesitate to kill me and take you as it's host. Though we may have gotten set back a little, at least the creature is now patrolling and won't be guarding the gem." She nodded and they continued, though she could not pay attention while running she was making mental notes about where they were and the turns they took.
"So, do you have a plan?" She asked.
"You mean to tell me you came in here without a plan?" She nodded and looked away in embarrassment. "Okay, i suppose it was a good thing you decided to break your promise. I found out that the protection spell can be broken, but i don't have enough magic so that's where you come in. Then after you destroyed the protection i'll destroy the gem, and if i'm right that should destroy the creature as well." He said looking at her. "You follow?"
"Yes i understand, and if it was just that easy then why didn't you say so?" She asked looking at him in his eyes, which still had anger in them. Something was strange about this, then she remembered the strange kiss and touch.
"Easy, it's because i just discovered it not to long ago. That and the reason why i didn't tell you is because i didn't want to give you false hope, until at least i knew for sure. Now that i know it'll work i'm willing to try, though it may end my immortality i still want to spend the last of my days as your husband." He said, his eyes softening.
They had heard the screech a few more times, some making them take more detours, and some were to far to be concerned about. But they slowly made their way slowly, but there was still something bothering her. He had been acting strange, but she just put it off as he was still mad for her coming into the cave.
"We're almost there, it should only take a few more turns." He said turning his head and smiled.
"Okay, are you sure your not mad at me?" She asked, though she was more nervous about getting this over with.
"I might still be, besides if this works then we'll be able to talk about it for a long time." He still had his smile trained on her.
"Yeah your right." She smiled back at him, then all of a sudden they were standing in front of a large set of doors.
"We're here, are you ready? Don't be surprise if we get attacked while we are trying to do this." He said.
"Yes and i am, and as long as your with me then that creature can't stand against us." She answered with confidence.
"Alright, let's try to get this over with as fast as we can." She nodded and then he opened the doors.
As the doors open a wave of dark energy rush out, it was powerful and primal. Though it defiantly intimidated her, she came here to defeat the creature and set him free. So she would not back down now, nor would she let the creature stop them. They entered the room and she saw a pure dark Night gem, though it had no star marks.
They walked up to it and as they walked closer she could see and feel the protection spell, but also she felt the protection spell with holding most of the darkness. She heard the doors close, and when she looked Song was there. He walked up to her with a serious look.
"Are you ready?" He asked, she nodded.
"Let's do this." She said.
She looked back and started to test the protection spell. Once she got a good feel for how strong it was she knew she could break it. Though she could tell that it was an ancient and lost spell that was very old, which made since seeing how it was ancient unicorns who had put it here in the first place. Then she started to build up the energy to shatter the protection when something didn't feel right.
"What's wrong?" Song asked.
"If the creature could tell that i was here when i first entered the cave, then shouldn't the creature be able to tell that we're about to destroy it?" She turned and asked still saving the energy just in case.
"That's why we need to hurry." He said.
"But then shouldn't the creature have been able to follow us? I mean since it apparently could tell where i was, so how could we have lost it?" She asked, his expression went to anger.
"Luna the reason why is because i cast a spell to help shield your presence." He answered angrily. "Now we better hurry."
"I know for a fact that you did not cast a spell, otherwise i would have felt it." She said turning her building power towards him, a look of complete horror came to his face.
"Please don't, i'm sorry but this is true that we need to hurry and destroy the gem before the creature gets here. And your right i was just making an excuse but i do not know why the creature didn't follow us." He said.
"Are you sure? Then tell me exactly why you told me about the spell if you didn't cast it?" She asked but turning her horn back to the gem.
"Like i said we needed to hurry and i didn't want to try to explain why the creature didn't notice where we were, now please before it shows up. It's almost here, i can fell it." He said looking at the door.
With that she put her full attention to the gem and protection spell, and she built up the last of the magic energy needed. She started to put a little extra in just in case there was some kind of secondary protection spell or another defense. Then the doors burst open and without thinking she shot her magic energy towards the protection.
"No!" She heard Song scream, and when she looked her eyes widened in surprise as she saw two of him as the protection spell shattered.
"Thank you for falling into my trap princess." The Song she had been with through out the caves said, and then transformed and shot his own beam of magic at the gem and vaporized it. "Now i'm free, and now i'm free thanks to you." But before she could do anything she felt a sharp pain in her side, she realized that the creature had tricked her and shot another with an attack spell.
The pain was so unbearable as she crumpled to the floor black spots filled her view. She looked up and she saw that the real Song was in front of her with a look of pure anger and rage. But the last thing she heard was him saying that it will pay and everything went black as she heard them fight.
-------
"Come on and wake up!" She heard a sad and concerned voice that sounded familiar but it was far away. "I'm so sorry i couldn't protect you like i promised, i'm so very sorry." The sadness pulled her out of the darkness.
"Mmm..." Was all she could say, but she managed to open her eyes.
"Oh thank Celestia your okay!" He said but it was now obvious that he was crying now.
"Are you the rea..." She tried to ask but wince a little when she tried to sit up.
"Yes it's the real me, but try not to move your still very injured. I only know a few basic healing spells." He said concern taking over his sadness as he helped her sit up a little. "I should have warned you, the creature has the ability to transform into anypony it feed off of."
"And what happened to it after i was attacked?" She asked remembering that they had engaged in combat before she passed out.
"I manage to get both you and me out of there and used an attack spell to cause a cave in to the chamber entrance. It'll take awhile for it to get through all of the rubble, since it seems that since it destroyed the gem to have gotten a more physical form." He said getting up with a slight grimace, and then she noticed that he was injured as well.
"Song what happen?" She asked concerned.
"Oh this?"" He pointed to his injured side. "I think it happened when i caused the cave in, don't worry it's just a flesh wound."
"I know a higher healing spell, it should heal both our injuries in an hour." She said.
"No, you shouldn't strain yourself." He told her with more of a commanding voice, but she just gave him a look that told him that she wasn't backing down. "Alright, but please be careful." Laying down next to her.
Though she was still tired and hurt she knew that she had to cast the spell. Her horn began to glow and she gently touched it to his injury, and then hers. Both of them let out a sigh of relief as the pain seemed to already seep away.
"Thanks, and don't worry about you breaking your promise. I know that all you wanna do is help me, but i will say that i'm disappointed though but i'm glad you did because i think we have a shot at beating him. I mean the reason why i didn't want to do this is because the creature was a shadow and no magic could touch it, though it could make you feel that it was touching you." He said.
"Yes i noticed that when it does touch you it leaves a coldness behind. I'm so stupid for not realizing it wasn't you." She looked away in shame, and a gentle hoof was placed on her chin and gently turned her head to look him in the eyes.
"Look you don't have to say that, if i were you i probably would have fell for it as well. It's because you wanted to help me, so don't blame yourself when i would have made the same choice." He leaned over and gave her a kiss. "Now we need to start getting ready to move otherwise the creature might catch us, and it won't hesitate to take advantage of our injured state, can you stand?"
When she stood she felt a sharp pain again and almost fell back onto the floor, but Song caught her. She gave him a smile of gratitude and they started to walk through the tunnels. As they walked she enjoyed leaning on him, his warmth comforted her.
"So what do we do about the creature?" She asked.
"Well if we cross paths, and if we're fully healed by then, well i guess we fight it, and we will win." He said confidently.
"What will happen to you?" She looked at him with concern.
"I don't know." He told her, but she knew he was hiding something from her.
"Song please tell me, i know that you know what will most likely happen." She said managing to stand on her own and look him in the eyes.
"Are you sure you want to know?" She nodded. "Well as i told you the first time that the creature and i first met, it took a piece of my soul. If i manage to get this piece back i will be able to live a full and healthy life, but i don't know what the creature did with it." He answered.
"So why don't we look for it, or try to get the creature to reveal where it put it?" She asked wanting to find it.
"You can't reason with it, i barely reasoned with it but that was because it wanted to feed off me. But now it won't reason to anything since it's got a physical form. And as for why we won't search for it is because with the creature on the loose we need to defeat it, and besides don't you think for the last two hundred years I've been searching for it?" He asked.
"I-i-i..." She tried to say.
"Look i know, but there's nothing we can do about it. But what we can do is defeat the creature." He answered in a soothing and calming voice. "Now let's get moving."
"Okay." She said and they started to walk.
The first sign that they knew the creature was coming when they heard a loud explosion. Then they heard a loud screech, which she remembered from earlier. But it was right when the creature who now had a body stood in front of them, their injuries healed and they were fully rested even though they've been walking for awhile.
"There you are my food, i will spare you and your princess if you swear to be my food forever, and i mean both of you." The creature smiled cruelly, but Song stepped protectively in front of her.
"No, we will never swear anything to you. And now we will make sure you never torment anypony again." He took on such an angry and murderous tone that she felt a little scared by it.
"So be it, if you want to die then so be it." Then the creature sent a blast at them, but Song stood his ground and summoned a protective spell. "What? It seems that you've learned a few tricks over the years."
After that everything went to chaos, they were separated but could still see each other. Blast after blast flew through the air, the caves started to shake as they hit the walls. They knew that the caves would not last long at this rate, for rubble started to fall around them.
"Give up, even with an alicorn with you, you wont stand a chance." The creature called out.
"As long as we manage to trap you in here forever we will give our lives." She called back, and then when she fired she managed a strike the creature on its side, and it let out a scream of pain.
Though it did not last long as the creature intensified it's attack, rapidly firing out its dark blast. When she looked over at Song to see how he was doing, she saw pain across his face for a second. But she could not tell nor could she check up on him to make sure he was alright as that would put her in danger, and distract him. The creature was pushing them back, but she noticed a crack in the ceiling the creature was standing under and she took the shot, making rubble crashing onto it.
Another loud screech came out of the from under it, and she walked up to the pile of rubble and saw the creature struggling under it. She felt no pity for the creature as she looked at it, and as she approached it she heard a low growl. But this did not bother her as it seemed the creature could not cast any spell.
"You will not cause any more pain or torment." She said in a a commanding and angry voice.
"Do it then, just know that i have one last torment just for you." The creature started to laugh but was silenced when she shot the final blast.
She didn't feel guilty about ending the creatures life, as she knew it was more than a fair punishment than it deserved. But she did not feel pleasant about it even if it was justified for its crimes, and possibly endangering her kingdom. Though how they manage to win against the creature, it had a lot more power than what she realized.
"We did it Song, now we can look for that piece of your soul!" She said a little happy, but when he did not respond she turned. "Song? Song!" When she looked he was on the floor with a great amount of pain on his face, and as she looked he had major injuries.
When she ran over to his side and looked over him she felt fear and panic rise as he had his eyes closed, but then they barely opened. It sent a little bit of relief but not much, she then started to use the healing spell that she had used before. Though she knew that the injuries might not heal fast enough.
"How did this happen?" She asked fear and concern in her voice, tears forming as she looked at his broken body.
"D-d-don't worry i'll be fine." Then out of no where he started to cough, and he spat up blood.
"Song tell me please?" She said tears fully running down her face.
"F-fine, you win. W-w-what happened was that the creature fused the piece of soul it took from me t-t-o.." He coughed again. "To itself, so when it gets injured so do i."
"What? You mean that since i killed it your gonna die?" She asked knowing it was her fault.
"No, don't blame yourself. I knew this would happen..." Another coughing fit. "I knew this would happen, that was another reason why i didn't want to do this. Because i was trying to find a way to get it back."
"But because of me your gonna die, and what about your promise that you at least stay with me until your old and die a natural death?" She managed to ask through her tears.
"Never blame yourself for this, i'm glad to see your still wearing the necklace i gave you today." He said, his voice sounded more and more tired.
"Yeah i am, and i will promise you that i'm gonna make you better, and if not i will promise that i will not blame myself." She again managed to say.
"G-g-good, but before i go i must know two things?" He asked his voice now weak.
"And what is that my prince?" She asked trying to calm herself.
"Actually it's..." He coughed weakly and spat up a little more blood. "It's more like three things, first i want you to smile for me one last time, second i-i- i want to know what your answer is?" He asked weakly. "As f-f-for the last thing could you sing that lullaby that i sing to you?" The second question was more than enough to catch her by surprise, but he wanted to hear her sing. "I remember when i was in the hostital bed y-you sung it to me, and i want to hear it again."
"Alright, the answer is yes to your proposal, and i will sing for you." She said giving him the best smile she could muster under the circumstances.
"T-the ring is in my saddle bag, i want you to take it. But i'm feeling tired and i would like you to sing before i fall asleep." He said his voice barely audible now.
She carefully laid his head down on the now empty saddle bag that she had, and once she made sure he was still awake and comfortable she stated to sing the lullaby. As she did she manage to keep a smile on her face, but tears kept on coming. This was the hardest thing she ever had to do as she watched her prince light slowly burn out as she sung, and when it was the last verse she could feel warmth around her neck but she ignored it and finished it.
"I love you...." Was the last thing he manage to say before closing his eyes and his breathing stopped.
The warmth around her neck was still there, but she also felt a warmth in her chest. Though she laid there crying she took little comfort in knowing she had made him happy for his last moments. But even though she promised she couldn't help but to blame herself for what happened, but she stopped that train of thought and she leaned over and lightly kissed his broken body on the forehead.
"I love you to my prince." She said.
--------------
She had been getting complaints about some tremors coming from inside the mountain, so she decided to go check it out herself. Though she had brought some of the most skilled royal guard members, which included Shining. Though he had not been excited for this he understood the danger well enough. The tremors were from a battle raging from inside, but by the time they had manage to get to the cave entrance they stopped.
"Mmmm, that's strange." She said sending a small orb of light into the cave, and what it revealed completely shocked her.
Her sister was slowly walking toward them head hung low, and she was crying. And when her little sister saw her waiting out by the entrance her tears only got worse. Then she notice that she was carrying somepony on her back, and that somepony was completely limp.
She knew that whoever it was didn't make it, most likely got hit in the cross fire. But when her sister took a few more steps and collapse the body rolled off her back to reveal who it was. Her eyes went wide with even more shock as she saw Song's broken body laying next to her sister who had completely broken down and was balling on the ground.
"Retrieve that body, and leave my sister to me." She ordered and the guards retrieved the body. "Shining you are released from duty now. There is no longer a threat right now, and you still have to prepare for tonight." Giving him a direct order, and he just saluted her.
As the rest of the royal guards carefully moved the body outside her sisters line of sight she told them to take it back to the palace and told them who to give it to. Though watching Song's body being carried away she still could not believe it, he never looked so broken. Her attention quickly turned to her sister who was still laying in the same spot, though her muffled crying was now gone she knew her sister was still as broken on the inside as Song was on the outside.
"Luna?" She spoke softly and soothing. "If you don't mind, but i need to know what happen." Her sister raised her head a little.
"I-i-i.." Tears broke from her again, so knowing that she couldn't push the subject or else her sister would suffer more.
"You don't have to tell me right now. Now let's go home." She said softly using her magic to gently levitate her sister and took off gently. She knew she would have to talk with Luna but she also knew that she couldn't until Luna was ready.