Princess Luna had a few preparations to make before she could leave the capital in search of the Children of the Night so we decided to leave the next night. I followed my Princess around all night, we did not have much opportunity to talk as she delegated certain duties to those around her. The night passed too quickly and once the sun had been raised we separated and went to our own rooms. My room was conveniently located just down the hall from the royal chambers where Princess Luna slept through the day. As we reached the door to her chambers, I gave a bow.
“Good day Princess, may the day be short and you wake rested and at peace,” I said, reciting the ancient dialog.
“And may your sleep be as restful as well Sir Cloud Twist,” came the reply, as Princess Luna entered her chambers and closed the door behind her with a smile. I continued to my room and laid down to rest. Tomorrow would be a long night of flying to reach Neighagra Falls.
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That night I dreamt of a world, a world where everything was perfect. Nightmare Moon never existed and my Princess was beloved by all. None of the terrible crimes of my past ever happened and the love of my life stood by my side. I awoke to a knocking at the door and pushed the dream from my head. Wishes are just that, wishes. I can not change what has happened, I can only strive for a better future. As a second knock came I shouted out, “Who is it?”
“Princess Luna has requested your presence, Sir Cloud Twist,” came the reply.
“I'm on my way.”
I hopped out of bed and headed down the hall to the royal chambers. As I knocked on the door I heard “Come in Sir Cloud Twist,” from the other side. I entered and found the Princess eating her breakfast. In the center of the table sat a tray with a pot of oatmeal with apple slices, apple bread, a pot of apple spice tea and apple fritters. “Good evening,” said the Princess with a smile. “Sit, have something to eat. We have a long trip ahead of us this night.”
“Thank you Princess.” I sat across from her and picked up a slice of apple bread from the tray and poured some apple spice tea from the tea pot.
“Did you find your quarters satisfactory?”
“Very much so, Princess. The heavy curtains blocked out every trace of the sun allowing me to sleep well through the day.”
“I am glad, when I first returned I had difficulty adjusting. I am pleased that you are having no such difficulties.”
“If I may be so bold, Princess,” I hesitated. “What difficulties did you have upon your return?”
“Have you heard yet the story of what happened the day I returned?” asked the Princess.
“No, I have not.”
“When I returned it was as Nightmare Moon. Most of the ponies did not know who I was, who I had been. Only one recognized me, Twilight Sparkle” explained the Princess. “Twilight is the personal protégé of my sister and a very wise pony for her age. Her and her friends found the Elements of Harmony in the old castle but rather than banish me back to the moon as my sister had, they banished the darkness within me. For the first time in a millenia, I felt remorse for the things I had done. That has been my greatest difficulty, moving past that remorse and finding the love I had once held for my little ponies. There are still times when I struggle with it, whenever I see a pony running to my sister instead of to me. She does her best, I know. She attempts to convince them to talk to me instead, but many of them still fear me.”
Tears welled in my eyes as I thought of the pain my Princess had suffered, that she still suffered. “Those ponies are fools, and blind fools at that. They can not see your majesty and grace, the beauty that you bring to this world every night,” I stated. “Some things in this world will never change, but you should never lose heart Princess, because for every pony who fears you, there is a pony who adores you. You will see when we find the Children of the Night, there will always be those who are loyal to you and you alone.”
A slight blush rose to Princess Lunas cheeks, barely noticeable, but still there. “Thank you Sir Cloud Twist, you really are my most loyal subject. One day you will have to tell me the full story of how you came to be so wise.”
“I learned from you, and from my friends.”
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I looked up at the moon to see her visage hoping it would give me the strength to get through this. Things were getting worse in Equestria. The tyrants speech denouncing the Children of the Night had spread all across the country, everypony was on the look out for anypony suspicious and anypony out after dark was put on trial. The punishment if a true Child of the Night was discovered was death by fire. I knew we would have to fight again but I didn't want to risk the lives of the ponies who followed me. We only won our first battle because of superior numbers, we would not get so lucky again, not now that Celestia knew we were willing to fight.
I passed the nights training them as best I could, but few of them had ever held a blade or a bow, and I knew almost nothing of combat magic. Dream Song had learned a few combat spells from a book she had stolen from a town library and was busy teaching them to any unicorn with enough magical ability to perform them. Still, I did not want to fight.
As I slept, I dreamt of my princess. I wondered, what would she do in my position? Would she have risked the lives of so many innocent ponies?
“You seem deeply troubled Cloud, are you okay?”
I jumped at the voice from behind me and was reaching for my blades before I realized who it was. “Dream Song. You startled me.”
“Everyone is on edge. More bad news just keeps coming and we all know it's going to lead to another fight,” she said softly.
“That's what worries me. Is it right for me to lead so many inexperienced ponies to their death?” I pondered.
Dream Song approached me and placed a hoof on my neck. “If not for you, Cloud, many of them would already be dead. Many more still are out there, waiting for you to find them, to give them a home. These ponies follow you, not because you ask them to, but because they know you are worth following. It is a terrible burden, I know, but you need not carry it alone. Whenever it gets to be too much, I will be there to help lighten your load. Together, we can do this.”
“Thank you Song,” I said, nuzzling her and returning the hug. “You have helped me more than you can know.”
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As the Princess and I finished our meal there was a knock at her chamber door. “Enter,” said the Princess. A young unicorn of the Night Watch entered carrying a set of armor.
“Your Majesty. The armor-smith asked that I bring this to you right away. He says it was built exactly to the specifications you requested and enchanted with the best protection spells his enchanters could perform,” recited the unicorn.
“Thank you Starlight, you may leave it here.” She turned to me with a smile as Starlight excused himself, “Try it on Sir Cloud Twist, I hope I got your specifications correct.”
I stood and walked over to where the armor lay and examined it. The armor consisted of many interlinked sections so as to allow maneuverability and even consisted of 2 wing-shaped armor pieces that would rest on top of my wings without inhibiting the movement of my feathers. Overall the armor was light and flexible and contained a slight glow from the defensive spells guarding it. Princess Lunas light blue aura surrounds the armor as she uses her magic to strap the armor into place.
“Thank you very much my Princess. This armor is amazing and much better than anything we had in the old times.”
“The ponies have made many advancements in the past 1,000 years. Even the enchantments guarding this armor are far beyond anything the average unicorn could dream up back then. You could likely take several hits from a unicorns blade, though I would not like to see that theory tested.”
“I love it. I shall wear it with honor,” I exclaimed.
“Then let us take flight. We have a long way to travel to reach Neighagra Falls and we do not know how much farther beyond that we may have to walk.” With that we began our journey, a journey to find the missing Children.