Song of the Moon

by BlackWing

Liberty (14)

"Lark, I wish to have words with you." Luna told me in a formal tone.

"Your will?" I asked as I bowed.

"As you know, the wedding of Princess Cadence and Shining armor is upcoming. She has requested that you provide the music for the event." She smiled.

"I, I would be honoured!" Finally. Something goes right. I like Cadence. She's nice. She deserves the best and, well, not to brag, but that's me. It also gives me a chance to get out of this blasted castle. I've been travelling since I was young, being trapped within these stone walls for such a long time has done nothing to appease my wanderlust. Even a short period of freedom would be worth any expense at this point. That, and playing for royalty would certainly improve my standing with the public.

"You're going to have to work for the opportunity though." Aaaaaaand there's the catch. "I'm going to have you in your wolf form in the castle with me, around other ponies. You're going to have to be able to control yourself, and although you'll have constant supervision, you won't have constant instruction. Now, in the many months that have passed since I first began your training, you have shown remarkable improvement. This will be your first real test."

It had been seven months since Nightmare Night, it was now May. I had spent Hearth's Warming Eve, apparently the pony version of Christmas, in the castle, while the royal sisters went to watch a performance put on by Twilight and her friends. Among my company was Blueblood, and, in the time I have been here, other than his first impression, we have actually taken to each other quite well. We can both appreciate a person, or pony, of class. While he is somewhat haughty, compared to the royal ninnies I dealt with in my own world, he is rather tame in that regard. He's actually come to consider me a person, not an animal or glorified pet.

"Well, hopefully things go well. I would very much like to attend the wedding. Will you be attending as well?"

"Me? Of course. It's going to be the event of the century, although, I can't say I'm thrilled about the other attendants, even if they don't yet know they are attending. The captain wants it to be a 'surprise'. Him getting married at all is nothing short of a miracle." He replied with a huff.

"Ah yes, Lady Rarity is the friend of the groom's sister."

"There's nothing 'Ladylike' about her. She acts with poise, but as soon as pressure is placed, she cracks, and turns into a definite Ponyvillian. A country bumpkin playing dress up, nothing more. A false air of nobility."

"Well, from what I've seen of her, although it's not much, she's not that bad. Considering you have more experience on the matter however, I'll just take your word for it." We shared a laugh.

"Well, it's time for me to play the part of Luna's pet. She's holding court for some rather pompous nobles. Apparently, they don't think she's fit to lead, having returned after a thousand year absence. Any guesses why I'm going to be there?" He gave an amused huff.

"She just as much a princess as aunt Celestia, they really ought to respect her as such. Oh well, you'll go easy on them I expect?"

"Well, I sure hope so. It wouldn't look too good on either of us if I made dignitaries into chew toys."

"Alright Lark, your role is to simply lay there and look good. You may as well take a nap. Are you ready?" I nodded, and her horn began to glow once again with the light of the moon. I felt the changes take place, as painful as ever, then the soothing relief of the transformation being complete. I was no longer confined to my cell during those periods of time, as I had proven well enough to be able to control myself, around Luna at least. I still went a little out of it once in a while, but she was always there to remind me and reign me back in. I had gotten used to it really, and it was comforting to have someone, somepony I could rely on to keep me in check. For all the grief she put me through, she really always had the best intent. After all, she'd been training werewolves for far longer than England even existed.

She brought me down through the castle, to the throne room, where she had me lay down at the foot of her throne. I figured I might as well, so I walked around in a circle a couple times and curled up.

'I always wondered why dogs do that, and even now that I've done it myself, it doesn't make much sense.'

"Very well, first order of business....." She looked through an itinerary and called for a rather important sounding pony. He waddled in, oh joy a fat cat, I can already smell the arrogance, oh wait, that's just body odour. I looked at him briefly before just putting my head back down on my paws, disinterested.

"Princess Luna, what is this..... thing.... doing here?"

"Senator, this is Lark, a dear friend of mine. He's here to keep me company." She replied, gently petting my head.

"Princess, I must protest, having such a large.... brutish.... animal in the palace, the throne room no less, WHILE holding court, it's highly unprofessional." My ears perked up and I glared at him.

'Unprofessional? I note that you failed to bow on entering the room, you arrogant twat.'

"It is not your place to judge the company I keep. Now, if you are done belittling me, can we please get to business? You have no doubt traveled a long ways to arrive here, and the sooner we can settle this matter, the sooner you can be on your way to more important ventures."

'Basically, say what you're gonna say, then shut up and get out of my castle.'

He went on to ramble about something. If I had payed attention, I would have been able to understand it, but, I've had more than enough political jargon for a life time. Five hours, three visitors later, and the final dignitary enters. Well well, surprise surprise, a dog. A bipedal dog. That can talk. What?

"Princess Luna, it is an honour that you would hear us." He bowed. Well well, about damn time someone showed some respect. The princess however, looked stern. As a dog, I have an innate sense that lets me tell what others are feeling. His feeling was unreadable, while she seemed worried. Better pay attention to this one.

"Rise, Glimmershin."

"Princess Luna, might I inquire as to why you are using one of my kind as a foot stool?" He asked, annoyed.

"You are in error, Glimmer, Lark is not a diamond dog." Diamond dog? These dogs are named after gemstones?

"Oh? Then please enlighten me as to what exaclty 'Lark' is."

"Lark is a lycanthropic human." She deadpanned, very worried about what his reaction might be.

"Well, that is another matter, perhaps we should deal with the business at paw first?" He suggested.

"Yes. We shall attend to this matter at a later time." She seemed slightly relieved.

"I am here on behalf of High King Rothak, who demands the return of the three hounds you have taken prisoner."

"Those hounds are guilty of the crimes of kidnapping and enslavement of Equestrian citizens, upon, or rather, under, Equestrian soil no less."

"We are well aware of their crimes. They shall be duly punished upon their arrival at the capitol and an audience before the king." He replied. Luna scowled.

'Right, by punished, he doesn't mean for taking slaves, he means for getting caught. Basically, they're just going to get let off. Diplomatic immunity.'

"Need I remind you of the accord signed by your sister and the previous king during your absence?" She grit her teeth.

"No, I am well aware of the treaty between our peoples, they will be released to your custody in the morning. Now then, is that all?"

"There is also the matter of 'Lark' as you put it. He is a sentient canine, yet is forced to submit to you. This is also against the accord. 'No diamond dog or relative thereof may be forced into servitude against their will. As you are no doubt aware, werewolves are distant ancestors of our kind, and as such, he is one of us, and will return with me to our nation." At this point, I stood on my hind legs, a full eight feet tall, and growled lowly, glaring at him.

"No Lark. *sigh* He is our guest." I turned to look at her, then sat back down, still glaring.

"Lark is here by his own desire. He is not bound in any way. The fact that he is here in the throne room in and of itself proves this." Not bound in any way? I think not princess, although, considering what he is proposing, I think I can forgive this little white lie. The dog grumbled, then conceded.

"Very well, I will begin my return trip tomorrow, with the prisoners in my custody. I will however, be reporting this to the king. Expect a response in due haste." And then he left to his lodgings for the night. Once the throne room was sealed, I followed Luna back to my room and returned to my human form. We both sat for a moment before the silence was broken by the lunar princess.

"DAMNIT!" She stomped her hoof, causing me to jump back in surprise. Noting my reaction, she calmed herself, then began to speak.

"You did very well today Lark in controlling yourself, far better than I. For a moment, I was actually considering having you gore him to death."

"Princess!" I remarked with outrage.

"I know, I know.... I shouldn't have such thoughts. I suppose you want an explanation of what just happened?" I nodded.

"Very well. As I said before, the werewolves, being trained not to bite, had no way of spreading their 'disease' and eventually ceased to be. However, that did not stop the wolves who already existed from finding mates among themselves. Over several thousand years, their descendants became what are now known as the diamond dogs. They cannot pass their transformation by bite, and are constantly in their canine form. They are also far weaker than their ancestors. They tunnel through the earth, looking for gems, although they cannot dig through solid rock."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Well, despite their lycanthropy having risen from a disease and yours from a curse, meaning you aren't related at all, they still see you as kin. Ancestral kin. The fact that you are subservient to me is in violation of a pact between us. Going over the jargon, basically, to end a war before it started, we made a deal. We have open trade with them, and neither side is allowed to take slaves of the other. Of course, they still do, quite frequently, but they're stealthy mutts, and hide it well. Every once in a while, we catch them, but then they are immediately returned to their homeland for punishment, as if we were to bring judgement ourselves, it would be a break of the pact. So basically, they still do whatever they want, and they get away with it."

"So then, why the pact? They clearly aren't holding up their end of the bargain. Oh right, of course, you can't PROVE that. By their logic, they are holding up their end. They 'punish' the offending members of their race with a lash or two for getting caught, then send them right back out."

"Exactly. I wasn't expecting them to show up, as they reside in a far off land, their visits are unpredictable at best. They'll come back, and they'll try to find reason to prove that you're being held here against your will. They'll twist any little thing any of us say or do. If they find enough grounds for their reasoning, not only will they take you to their land, where you'll either be forced into service of the king, or perhaps treated as a god, don't know, grasping at straws on that one, but, there won't be any diplomatic immunity. Given that I'm one of the rulers of Equestria, the highest authority, they know I won't be punished, which, by the treaty, means that they will then be given just cause to do it themselves. Basically, any pony or diamond dog can take one of the others as a slave, and then be 'punished' by the authority of their homeland, but if the authority itself commits the crime, they are then subject to the punishment of the authority of the other."

"So, pretty much, if they decide that I'm here against my will, they'll take you hostage and hold you as a bargaining chip against your sister, so that they can do pretty much anything they want on Equestrian soil?"

"Yes." She hung her head.

"Well then, I have to agree with you. Damnit indeed."

"There are only two ways we can overcome this. The first is if you can complete your training and be fully in control of yourself by the time they return, and can prove that you are very much free to do as you please within." She explained.

"Alright, well, that's good. I think we can do that." I replied.

"I sure hope so. The second, and you're not going to like it.... if you can't, if they come too early.... I'll have to reinstate the assault charges that were dropped. You'd be considered a criminal, which would justify my keeping you here. You would then be brought to Cavernicous, the diamond dog capitol, to be 'punished' for your crimes against Equestria. If it comes to the second situation, they'll take you either way, and I'd have to abandon you to save face. I cannot allow myself to be used as a bargaining chip against my sister, as they would certainly force her to make absurd concessions for my continued safety. They likely won't punish you, rather, force you to submit to High King Rothak. He's a vicious bastard of a diamond dog. He might keep you as a pet, more likely kill you to prove his strength. There is an off chance that they'd treat you well, considering that they are big on ancestor worship, but, it still looks bleak. And, since you'd be too valuable to let go, unless you somehow found a way to escape, you would never be able to return. A dank dark cave would be your home for the rest of your days." She had a tear in her eye. She clearly didn't want to see me go.

"Well, that wouldn't be good at all. I wouldn't even be in wolf form then, because I'd be underground. They'd tear me apart."

"Which is why we're skipping to the final phase of your training. Complete control. The ability to change even without the power of the moon, and to prevent the change even when under it. You have made remarkable progress, it normally takes far longer to complete a werewolf's training, but given your cooperation, you've shaved several years off. We just have to step it up.