//------------------------------// // A surprising change // Story: Luna's personal guard // by Wonder //------------------------------// Breeze chugged down what must have been her fiftieth cup of beer and slammed the wooden tankard onto the oak table. This was now officially her favourite tavern in Equestria. Not only did it look awesome, but the ponies here where awesome as well. The bartender, a mare by the name of Mirror Jane, always bore a smile and had a cute little voice that would make even the most muscly of colts say 'Aww'. The manager, a small old stallion, was always on the move. He was never still for long and was going from table to table and having small chats with each customer. Mostly the mares for some reason. The patrons of the bar were like something she had never imagined. A way to describe them would be 'lively'. There never seemed to be a dull moment, and at one point two of the stallions engaged in a friendly fight, one had a light red coat, while the other had an ice blue coat. They continued to fight until a tall mare with a blood red came up to them and knocked them both unconscious. Yes, lively was definitely the right word. On top of the friendly atmosphere, was the quality of the beer. It was way better than anything her usual bar served, but there was also something odd about the beer. She didn't know why, but somehow no mater how much she drank, she wasn't getting drunk. Tipsy maybe, but not drunk and frankly she was thankful for it, otherwise she'd be face down on the ground having another crazy nightmare. Either the beer here had next to no alcohol, or none at all and her tipsiness was just a placebo effect. "So I just have to ask, where did you get the sweet gear?" Breeze put her elbows on the table and rested her head on her hooves. "I mean seriously, where does a pony even get a glove like that?" Breeze was currently sitting at a table chatting idly to a random stallion she had met. He was also 'lively'. While he wasn't rowdy like some of the others but he had other odd things about him which made up for that. For one, he had a sword made from what appeared to be diamond and a glove with fingers. The pegasus on the other side of the table frowned at her. He didn't know who this mare was. She had waltzed up to his table and plonked herself down and no matter what he said she wouldn't leave, so he just decided to indulge her. "For the last time, it's a gauntlet, not a glove. There's a big difference." He rolled his eyes at her. The pegasus in question had blood red fur with black wings, which was an odd thing to see, but then again, considering what some of the other patrons looked like, this was normal. His mane was black and shiny, with a red line of hair going down the center. He also wore a vest and scarf the same colour as his fur. All in all he looked bad flank. If there was ever such thing as dragon slayers, this is what she imagined they would look like. "How so? They both go on your hooves don't they?" Breeze smiled smugly. She had been talking to Zero for the past half hour, trying to get him to drop his guard, but he stood firm, not falling for any of her ploys or tricks. She got the feeling that he was trying to get her to leave. "Gloves, for one, are more for comfort. Gauntlets are build for durability and strength. Plus gauntlets are cool." Zero grinned. "Can't argue with that. But they still look funny. Especially the claws." "These are digits, they're not claws. They. Are. Digits." He tapped the table with every word, to add emphasis. "Much more useful." He flexed the fingers of the gloves. She had no idea how he did that, but she assumed it was some sort of magic. "yeah, whatever." Breeze tipped her head back and took another swig of beer. It was nice and cold, and had a slightly sweet taste to it that others beers lacked. When she put the tankard back down her vision started to get blurry. About time! I thought I would never get drunk. Breeze thought to herself. This must be some weak stuff, but at least it taste good. Breeze went to grab another cup but her hoof missed and she almost ended up falling off her chair. "Okay, maybe not so weak." She looked up at Zero and frowned. "Did you put something in my drink." She mumbled. "You okay? You're not looking to good." Zero looked at her funny. Her vision continued to get blurrier until the bar completely disappeared, and the roof of Luna's room appeared in it's place. What the hay? Before she could take in her surroundings, a large dark blue shape filled her vision. "Oh good. Thou art awake. Did you have a nice sleep?" The voice sounded nervous, like when a filly was trying to be nice to cover up breaking a vase. "Huh? What's happening?" The shape receded and Breeze could finally make out what it was. In front of her sat princess Luna, who was looking at her expectantly, like a puppy. "Oh, hi Princess." Breeze sat bolt upright, eyes wide open. "Oh no. Please tell me that bar was real, and not a dream. Please, I beg of you!" Luna chuckled to herself. "I could say it, but that would not make it true. Sadly it is merely a fantasy tavern, only existing in the realm of dreams. It is a nice place though, is it not?" "Dammit!" Breeze slammed back onto her pillow. "That place was so awesome." "That it is. Maybe one day I'll send you back there." Breeze rubbed her eyes to clear the last remnants of sleep. "Yeah, maybe. Hey, Princess." Breeze's expression quickly turned solemn. "About last night. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sorry that I'm not the guard you wanted... and sorry about getting us chained together." Luna looked down at the filly before here and frowned. "It was not your fault. Anypony could have made the same mistake. Besides, the armour got us stuck together, not you." The princess smiled. "Don't worry about a thing. From now on we'll both do our best. You protect me and I'll protect you. Deal." Breeze looked at the princess for a while before nodding, a large smile now on her face. "Deal." "That is good to hear, and maybe if we ever find who made this armour, we can punish them together, yes?" The princess let out a small giggle which seemed to brighten Breeze's mood a bit. "Sure thing, princess. Just one question though..." "Yes?" "Can I sleep in the bed tonight? The floor doesn't agree with my back." The batpony stretched her back in an arch and sighed in relieve as her spine popped and her muscles stretched. The princess flinched with each crack. She looked very uncomfortable with the question but replied quickly. "Of course." Luna smiled, letting out a nervous laugh. "With the condition that as long as you are in my bed you wont try anything funny. Before we can speak further on this, we have work to do. Come on. Up you get." Luna nudged Breeze in the ribs with her nose. "Okay, Okay." Breeze whined. Breeze slowly got onto her hooves. "Just a sec. I need to pee." Breeze trotted towards the toilet but was suddenly yanked back. "Aww c'mon. I gotta go." Breeze looked behind her and saw an amused expression on Luna's face. She was looking at Breeze's chest. Out of reflex, she followed Luna's line of sight. It took her a moment to realize that a chain was still attaching her firmly to the princess of the night. "Oh, right... do you need to go as well?" The batpony asked, blushing slightly. "I am fine. But how do you suppose we do this." Luna lifted up her hoof and shook it, making the chain jiggle. "I guess you could look the other way." The smaller pony chuckled. "I fully intend to, but if I ever catch you watching me while I am relieving myself, you will learn how cold the moon can truly be." The batpony looked at her for a moment before speaking, tilting her head slightly. "I can't tell if you're joking or not." "Would you like to find out?" Luna grinned. Breeze shrunk back slightly. She definitely didn't want to gamble on it. Luna sat on her throne, watching and listening silently as yet another noble pony came to her for advise or to request something that her sister had probably already said no to. That was usually the only reason they even came to night court. It had gotten so bad at one point that she had to get her sister to make a list of ponies she had denied. The pony currently in front of her was a stallion called Solo Act, who was asking for a loan to start up his own theatre. Luna was becoming tired of his seemingly endless 'reasons' for her to support his claim, and decided to cut it short. "Have you considered applying for a loan at one of the banks in Canterlot?" Luna asked in such a tone that hid a majority of her annoyance, but allowed a small hint of malice to slip through. It had the effect she had hoped for. Solo froze in his tracks, his argument forgotten. "Well... yes, I have but they have been less than reasonable in their response." He swallowed nervously. "So you believe that I will grant your request when many others have not. Is that correct?" Luna's face betrayed no emotion as she watched the noble pony squirm. Solo felt his throat go dry momentarily. "Um yes, your highness. I was hoping you would see reason." "Do you travel through the city often?" "Pardon?" "'Twas a simple question. Do you explore the city often?" "N-not really, your highness." Solo had no clue what Luna was trying to say and neither did anypony else listening. "Would you be able to give an estimate on the number of theatres located in Canterlot?" Luna was staring intently at the stallion now. "Five maybe? I'm not too sure. I've never really counted." "I can tell you right now how many there are. seventy-eight, excluding the one you wish to open. So tell me, with so many theatres already spread around Canterlot, why should I fund yet another?" Solo looked like he was about to argue, but hung his head in resignation. He couldn't think of an answer for this. "I apologize your highness. I'll show myself out." Solo left without saying another word. As the door shut behind the saddened pony, Breeze let out a massive yawn. "Since when have there been that many theatres in Canterlot?" Breeze asked. She had only actually ever seen a few theatres around, mostly on the main streets, but she would never have guessed there were that many hidden around. "There aren't." Luna replied matter-of-factly. Breeze froze. "But you just said-" "To put it simply, I lied. He wasn't going to leave unless I gave a definite answer, so I gave him an answer, even if it was build on fabricated facts." Breeze suddenly gained a lot of respect for the princess, which was minute compared to the mountain of respect she already held for the lunar princess. Breeze didn't talk for a while after that. A few more noble ponies came in, each with a similar but unique request. Luna turned down most. There was even a suitor who arrived, which Luna physical blasted out of the room. Breeze was guessing that meant 'no'. For the next hour or so, more business ponies showed up. It was boring and Breeze finally decided to voice her opinion. "This sucks. Is this what you do every night?" Breeze yawned yet again. She could hardly handle this for one night. How was she supposed to remain alert if she had to sit through this every night? "Not every night. Perhaps once a week. More if necessary. Night court is more of a formality than a requirement." Breeze leaned in further so that she could whisper without the other guards hearing. "Do you want to ditch?" Luna didn't move but responded in a whisper as well. "Ditch, as in abandon my duties, or ditch as in the hole?" The batpony stared at Luna blankly. She couldn't tell if the princess was joking or not. "You definitely need to get out more." Breeze grabbed Luna's hoof and dragged her out of her thrown. Luna didn't gave any resistance, she was always looking for an excuse to cancel court and this was as good a reason as any. "C'mon, we're going to have some fun." As they were leaving, the batpony guards around the room looked at each other confused. The batpony guards opened the large doors to the throne room as they approach and then closed them again after they had left. After a few silent moments one of them decided to break the silence. "So did any of you see the hoofball game yesterday?" A few days passed and slowly but surely Luna and Breeze were getting more and more comfortable around each other, but Luna still insisted on having a pillow wall between them when they slept. They were currently out in the royal gardens. Luna was apparently giving Breeze a tour, detailing the aesthetics of the castle and anything else that she thought Breeze might be interested in. From the balcony of her tower, Celestia eyed her sister and her new guard suspiciously. Luna was acting very differently to how she had the previous night and seemed to go out of her way to make the young batpony happy, even to the point that she had cancelled night court because Breeze looked bored. At least, that is what she had been told. Celestia was happy to say that she knew her sister better than anyone and she knew for a fact that her sister was quite stubborn, almost as much as Applejack, so something big must have happened to sway her opinion of Breeze and she had a pretty good idea of what it might be. At least she hoped she did.