I woke to a pain in my ribs, I looked down and saw Cloudflower with her head resting on the ribs that I had cracked the previous day in the fight with Rainbow Dash. I considered the pros and cons of moving or not, but in the end, the pain in my ribs won out. I gently reached down and put her head on my shoulder, giving my ribs some relief. In doing so, however, I accidentally woke her up.
“Hello Francois, what time is it?” she asked sleepily.
I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was a few minutes after two. I turned and looked out my window to see darkness, “It’s just after two in the morning. Let’s go back to sleep. Sorry I woke you up, you were laying on my injured ribs.”
“That sounds good to me. Sorry about the ribs.”
“After the time we had this afternoon, you don’t need to apologize for anything. I had no idea that you were that flexible.” I joked.
“It just comes naturally from me being a pegasus.” She replied with a smile.
“Well, maybe you can show me more in the morning. But for now, let’s go back to sleep, you wore me out.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, you wore me out too.” she said. Laying her head back on my shoulder and falling asleep almost instantly. I kissed her forehead and lay back on my pillow and fell asleep a few minutes later.
I awoke again to the sound of somepony pounding on my door, I sat up and looked at the clock; 9 AM. Cloudflower was still sleeping, but had moved off of my shoulder during the night.
THUMP THUMP THUMP
I quickly jumped up and ran to the door to see who it was. I opened the door and saw Sergeant Steel Sword standing in the doorway.
“What do you want Sergeant? I was asleep.”
“I apologize, your majesty, but Princess Luna would like to see you in her room.”
“Alright, give me a minute.” I replied, walking back into my room.
Walking over to Cloudflower, I gently shook her awake, “Cloudflower, wake up.”
She slowly opened her eyes, “Hmmm, what is it?” she asked drowsily.
“Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I have to go see my mother. So if I’m not back by the time you get up, you know where I am.”
“Okay, Francois,” she replied.
“I shouldn’t be too long. I love you.”
“Love you too,” she said, drifting back off to sleep as I walked back to the door.
I stepped out of my room and said to the sergeant, “Lead the way.”
As we walked out down the hallways that led to my mother’s room, I couldn’t help but wonder why she sent a guard instead of coming to my room herself. I decided to ask her when we got to her room.
Unexpectedly though, the pegasus guard made a turn that I knew didn’t lead to mother’s room. I called out to him, “Sergeant, my mother’s room is this way.” I said, pointing.
“She’s not in her room, she’s in her study, which is this way,” he replied.
I started to follow when I got the feeling that I was being watched. I spun around just in time to see two unicorn guards disappear in the hallway that led back to my room. I quickly fired a counter-spell to reveal them again as I readied into a fighting stance.
“Your Majesty? What are you doing?” I heard the sergeant call out. I ignored him.
“Sergeant, no need to play along anymore, I think he realizes that his mother didn’t send you.” I heard an all-too-familiar voice call out.
I turned and looked down the hallway that led to my mother’s room and saw Celestia.
“Celestia, what’s this about?” I demanded.
“I think you know, Prince Francois. Does the name ‘Agent Bentgrass’ ring a bell?” she sharply responded.
“I know that he’s the R.I.S. agent that you sent to Ponyville. As for what he has to do with me, I don’t know.” I lied.
“I just spoke with Director Top Notch from the R.I.S. and he told me that Agent Bentgrass has not checked in. I also spoke with the Ponyville Police Department and they told me that they saw him getting onto your carriage two nights ago.”
“What about it?” I asked
“When you landed that night, you were alone. Care to explain? Or should we just waive the formalities and put you right in jail where you belong?”
“You’re gonna have to do better than that Celestia. You can’t prove anything.” I said smugly.
“She may not, but I sure can.” I froze at that voice, it couldn’t be…
Agent Bentgrass stepped into view from behind my aunt. His yellow eye bandaged over, his left foreleg and right hind leg in a cast, but unmistakably alive.
“How!? How could you have survived that?! You fell what had to be a hundred feet!” I yelled out, unable to control myself.
“I’m more durable than you give me credit for, your majesty. I’ve taken worse punishment before,” he coolly responded.
“Enough talk, Francois! You are under arrest for the attempted murder of a law enforcement agent. Are you going to come quietly, or does this need to escalate further?” Celestia yelled out.
“You’re gonna have to catch me first.” I said, charging directly at sergeant Sword. As expected, he braced himself. A split second before I would have collided with him, I teleported onto the windowsill behind him. As Celestia and the two unicorn guards came around the corner, I gave a quick, mocking salute, and jumped to the ground outside the castle.
As soon as I hit the ground, I took off at a gallop towards the Lunar Guard barracks, knowing that Lieutenant Nightfall would be able to help me lay low for the time being.
I ran into the barracks and quickly looked around for Nightfall’s room, finding it, I ran to the door and knocked. A moment later, I heard hoofsteps and the door opened, revealing a tired-looking Lieutenant Nightfall.
“Prince Francois, what’s this about?” he asked groggily.
“No time to explain, you’ve gotta hide me. Celestia and the solar guards are looking for me, I need somewhere to lay low.” I said quickly.
He looked around to make sure the coast was clear, then waved me in and led me to a trapdoor in the corner of the room.
“You should be able to hide down there. First though, you need to explain what’s going on. Why are Celestia and the Solar Guards after you?”
“Agent Bentrass is stronger than I thought. Somehow he survived that fall a couple nights ago. Now I need somewhere to hide until I can get out of Canterlot.”
The lunar guard stood there for a minute before saying, “Alright, get down there, I’ll be down tonight when the guards change shifts so you can get out. There should be some food, water and some beds down there so you can sleep if you need to.”
“You have my eternal gratitude, Lieutenant.” I said as I climbed down the dusty ladder.
The trapdoor closed and I was plunged into darkness, I remedied this by lighting my horn and continuing to climb down. Upon reaching the bottom, I found just what Lieutenant Nightfall had said was down here: a small cupboard with enough food for about a week, a well that seemed almost full, and a few old beds.
Before laying down to sleep, I decided to look around and see if there was anything else I could find. I walked around, casting the light from my horn into every corner I could find until I saw something. Moving closer I saw that it was a desk, and upon further inspection, found it well stocked with parchment, quills, and ink.
I suddenly remembered Cloudflower and decided to at least give her an explanation about what had happened.
Dear Cloudflower,
I know that this letter will both hurt and enrage you, and while I don’t deserve it, I ask that you try to find it in your heart to forgive me.
I am leaving Equestria because of crimes that I committed. Two nights ago when you saw me land alone, I didn’t take off on that carriage alone. When I left Ponyville, I had Special Agent Bentgrass of the R.I.S. aboard. While he was aboard, my anger got the best of me and I threw him from the carriage in an attempt to kill him. He ended up surviving and telling Celestia, which is necessitating my leave of this country.
From the bottom of my heart, I am sorry for everything that I have told you that was a lie. But know that when I told you how I felt about you, I told the truth. I love you still Cloudflower, and I always will. My only wish is that you will find happiness in whatever you pursue.
Love always,
Prince Francois Midnight.
I finished the letter and sealed it, making a mental note to give it to Lieutenant Nightfall when he came to get me. I stood up and stretched out, drowsiness starting to set in as I came down from the adrenaline rush. I walked over to one of the old beds and used a quick spell to get rid of the dust that had accumulated on the sheets. I laid down and soon drifted off to sleep.
I was woken up what seemed a few minutes later by Lieutenant Nightfall and the other Lunar Guard that drove the carriage the day I killed Rainbow Dash.
“Your highness, It is now night and the shifts have changed, it is safe for you to leave now. However, Lieutenant Nightfall and I cannot stay either. We know that you cannot hope to defeat Celestia and the Solar Guards by yourself, and we know of allies that would be more than willing to help.”
“Who might they be, Corporal…?”
“Moonlight, sir, and they are our kind; the Thestrals, or as we are mocked, the ‘Bat Ponies’. They have been oppressed since your mother was originally banished to the moon, and are only allowed to leave our underground cities when Princess Luna needs more Lunar Guards. Our numbers are many, most of them with military experience because of your mother only taking the best soldiers for her guard.”
I stood there for a moment, stunned at what I had just heard, overwhelmed at the information just given to me.
“Corporal Moonlight, I honestly don’t know what to say…” I trailed off.
“Just promise us this, when you take down that tyrannical overlord of the sun, you allow our kind out into the world. We have been underground for far too long and would like to have the freedom to explore,” Lieutenant Nightfall said.
“Corporal Moonlight, Lieutenant Nightfall, I promise that when the throne is mine, the Thestrals will have all the same freedoms as any other pony,” I replied to the night guards.
“Well then, shall we be off? We have a good day, maybe day and a half trip ahead of us to get to our territory.”
“We? Us? What are you talking about?” I asked
“Think about this, your highness. You attempted to kill Bentgrass and he survived. We, as per your instructions, did not tell a soul. We’re leaving Canterlot with you not only because if we don’t, we’ll most likely be put in jail. You also don’t know where the entrance to our territory is, and the Thestrals will be a little more receptive to two of their own kind with a royal pony rather than a royal pony by himself,” Lieutenant Nightfall explained.
“...Good point,” was all I could say in response.
“Good, now let’s go, we need to get out of here before daybreak,” Moonlight said.
“Wait, shouldn’t we get some provisions or-”
“We’ve already taken care of food, water, saddlebags, and we even managed to snag an old carriage,” Nightfall interrupted. “We need to leave now. Why are you stalling?”
I sighed as I pulled out the letter to Cloudflower, “I felt I deserve giving her an explanation before I just dissapear.”
“Fine, we can delay for about five minutes. If you aren’t back by then, we’re gonna have to wait another day,” Moonlight said impatiently.
Without waiting for another word, I ran to the ladder and started climbing, hoping I could get to my room and back without being spotted and in enough time that I wouldn’t have to wait another day. As I climbed out the trapdoor, I immediately used a teleport spell to get me closer to my room, but not so close that I would be spotted if there was a guard or two outside.
I did everything I could to keep quiet as I walked on the hard marble floor of the castle on the way to my room, making sure to keep my eyes peeled for any of the solar guards, or even Celestia herself. As I approached the hallway that led to my room, I took a quick peek and saw what I feared, a unicorn solar guard standing outside my door, and no doubt another one inside.
Realizing that I didn’t have much time to get back, I decided to risk it and teleport into my room, drop the letter off, and teleport out. If there was another guard in the room, I could quickly evade him and hopefully get back in time to take off. I braced myself for the worst, thought hard about the inside of my room and casted the teleport.
“What the hay?!” I heard a voice say as I landed, I didn’t give whoever it was a chance to react. I dropped the letter, teleported back outside and took off at a gallop back towards the barracks where Nightfall and Moonlight were packing up the carriage.
“Guys! We need to leave, there was a guard in my room, I don’t know how long we have until they start looking for me again,” I panted out as I ran up to them.
They looked at each other and nodded, “Alright, let’s go now, luckily we’ve been packing up the carriage to go hide it, but he have enough time to leave,” Moonlight replied.
“Alright, then let’s go. It’ll be nice to be back home.” Nightfall said.
They hooked up the carriage and we took off into the night.