Jax slowly returned to consciousness with the familiar feeling of a wing spread over him, and that is how he knew that everything was alright. He pushed himself deeper into the warm body beside him, relishing the feeling of her soft fur, and the sweet scent of honey that fit her so well. Waking up with Luna beside him was the best way to start any day.
It only became better when a muzzle gently nuzzled the top of his head. “Finally ready to get up?” A loving voice asked him teasingly.
“Mmm… that would mean I have to leave your side, so that’s a no.” He answered with a smile. Last night already seemed like a dream - or nightmare rather.
“We could pretend that we were back when you could not let go of me - I could even carry you around again.” The mirth in her voice was almost visible.
He chuckled at the comment. “Surprisingly good times, those were… if we look away from all the awkwardness.”
“As we shall, now and forevermore.” She joined him in his chuckles.
He decided to finally open his eyes, unsurprised at being greeted by her blue fur. He rearranged himself so he could look up into her beautiful eyes. She smiled down at him, just as he liked. Luna looked most beautiful with a smile on her muzzle, and today’s smile was magnificent in its radiance.
His hand found it’s way to her cheek almost by itself, and she leaned into it with a satisfied sigh. His thumb stroked her muzzle experimentaly, yet unsure where to go.
“Jax, are you going to be alright? Or do you need me to stay here with you longer still?” She asked simply after a few moments. In her eyes, he saw a determination that would no doubt make her stay for as long as he needed her, which he realized that a part of him really needed to know right now. No matter what happened, Luna, and for that matter the rest of his friends, would be there for him without a single shred of doubt. It was simply… beautiful.
“No, I’m fine. Again, I’m sorry about yesterday, I wasn’t in the right mind-set. I do realize that you have your duties, and I don’t envy you for them.” He cocked his head thoughtfully. “We will have to find some way to sleep together every night, or day, though, because waking up to you there is the best thing ever.”
Luna smiled through a light blush. Her eyes darted behind him briefly before she spoke. “We shall figure something out, my love. For now I wish you a good day… if there is anything at all worrying you, just write to me with Spike’s gift.” At his nod, she teleported away.
He turned to get out of the bed, but froze completely at the sight of two day-guards standing by the door. “… How long have you guys been there?” He asked, though he suspected he knew the answer. So much for first impressions.
One of them was grinning from ear to ear, the other looked as if he had a face made of stone. Otherwise they both looked identical - white coat, blue eyes, blue tails and a golden armour and helmet, covering the chest and some of their flank. Didn’t seem super useful to be honest, but since they were both pegasi it probably needed to be light for when they needed to fly.
“It’s good to see Princess Luna smile so openly. She always seemed so stern to me. I haven’t seen her for a while though… what do you think, Shot?” The grinning one started.
The stone-faced one, apparently named Shot, stood still as a statue. The first one seemed disappointed by that. “Come now, Shot. Princess Celestia herself told us that we can speak freely on the mission. Don’t act like when we have to guard the castle. That’s too boring.”
“Uhhmm…” Jax started, gaining the stallions attention. He scanned his brain for something cool or clever to say, but came up empty - to his defence, he had just woken up. “Hello. My name is Jax.” He was glad Rainbow Dash wasn’t anywhere near. Being called lame didn’t sting that much, but at that moment he couldn’t deny that it was true. What a boring way to introduce yourself to your own guards.
“Everypony just calls me Trusty, so you should as well. This is-“
“Second Lieutenant True Shot, Recon and Prevention, pegasi division reporting.” Shot finally spoke, sounding like he was reporting to a commanding officer, which was weird since Lieutenant was pretty far up the ladder as far as Jax knew. It also stood in stark contrast of Trusty who had been as relaxed as he could be.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jax saw Trusty shoot Shot a disapproving glance.
“Uhmm… alright then. Nice to meet you both.”
“Likewise.” Trusty replied with a smile, while Shot gave a curt nod.
He rose and went past them to get some food. He had taken a shower last night, so he didn’t need one now. “You guys hungry? Need some food?”
Jax noticed that Mr. Bear was nowhere to be found. Probably out on another adventure… maybe he was preparing for winter or something.
“Provisions have been provided by the crown for the duration of the mission.” Shot answered neutrally. They had both followed him out.
“That and we’ve already eaten.” Trusty smiled in apology.
“Alright then. I make a killer omelette though.” He turned back to the kitchen only to frown. “Actually I have no idea how to make an omelette, it just seemed like the right thing to say.” To his surprise, Trusty actually laughed at that.
“I actually know how to make a killer omelette if you want to learn.” Jax had a feeling he would get along fine with Trusty. It was good to have some males near as well, he had way too many female friends.
“Alright, I’ll gladly take you up on that.” He smiled back. He wondered if their smiles, or lack thereof, would be the only way he would be able to tell them apart. “Actually, how come you look identical? Twins or something?”
Trusty, already halfway towards the kitchen, smiled mischievously. “Yep. Actually all of the royal day-guard consists solely of twins with either a blue mane and white coat, or a gray coat and white mane.” He went past Jax to take out the ingredients from the fridge. “You see, we all birthed by the same mother, the only mare in Equestria who has a hundred percent chance to birth stallions. She has taken on the heavy burden of equalizing the male/female ratio. Not easy, you can imagine. We all become royal guards because Princess Celestia likes to get fris-“
“Trust Worthy… you better stop right now.” True Shot interrupted with the hint of a growl.
Both Jax and Trusty laughed. “You really need to learn to joke, my serious friend. We have to enjoy that we can speak freely with our new bipedal friend here!” Trusty gave a winning smile, closed the fridge, and moved over towards the stove. “What was I supposed to say? Enchanted armour? That’s just boring.”
“I rather liked this story more. Didn’t seem like it was fake at all. Celestia does seem like the type to get frisky with-“ He was obviously joking, but apparently somepony in the room couldn’t tell.
True Shot stamped his hoof hard. “Princess Celestia hasn’t taken a lover in over a-“
Jax held up his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright, no need to get mad. God knows I don’t want to mess with a guy called True Shot. Next thing I know I have an arrow in my knee. My life of adventuring would be over.”
Trusty snorted from one of the cabins, probably looking for a pan, but Shot looked appalled. “I would never defy orders based on personal feelings. We are to detain if necessary, and if we can at all avoid it, make sure not to cause harm to the body.”
“Found it!” Trusty came out with a pan between his teeth. He disposed of it on the stove. “Well I for one like your humour. We are going to get along just fine, Jax.”
Jax smiled. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
***
‘You’ve been quiet lately.’ Jax thought a bit apprehensively - alright, that was a lie… he was terrified as fuck of Sombra’s schemes - while lying on the grass outside his cabin. It was a bit chilly, but he had his beloved cloak covering him. That reminded him, he needed to visit town to pay back Rarity. That was really about time.
‘What is there to say? I fought and I lost. My plan was perfect, but once again Twilight Sparkle prevented its success. Now I can hardly do anything, being watched as you are.’
Jax snorted. ‘There was nothing perfect about it.’
‘If it wasn’t, then the fact that I almost succeeded says more about you than me.’
Jax flinched a bit at the response, and didn’t say anything for a while.
There was so much he wanted to know, however, now more than ever. ‘Hidden Gem… you loved her.’
‘That is none of your concern.’ The reply came quickly and harshly.
‘You gave me those memories yourself. You made it my concern.’ Jax’ reply came just as quickly, but gently. Now that he had seen through the eyes of his tormentor, he couldn’t get himself to make fun of him as much as he used to.
When no reply came, he went on. ‘Why those memories? There must have been others you could have chosen from.’
For a long time, he didn’t respond. Then: ‘It was… a risk. Those were amongst the happiest memories I had. If I showed you what my life had really been like, without her… maybe you would not want to be Sombra. That would ruin the plan… if you already thought you were Sombra, then becoming Sombra would not be a problem, unless being Sombra seemed… undesirable.’
‘But if you had her, then why…’ He left the thought unfinished, unsure where he was going with it. Why the evilness, tyranny, possession and general uncaring of others? Or rather… why was she not here with him? No wait, he didn’t mean that. One guest in his body was already too much.
‘Because she was a whore… and I became a king.’ Maybe being cryptic was his way of dealing with it, because that told Jax nothing. There was, however, a great deal of sadness in the thought, so much in fact that Jax felt his own mood sour.
He thought back to the memory of meeting Hidden Gem. He had felt everything Sombra had felt at the moment, he wagered. Sombra had been… more innocent back then. More sincere… and in desperate need of love. Why had Hidden Gem not been enough?
‘Whatever.’ He raised himself and went back into his house, feeling a bit more at ease. Trusty and Shot followed loyally behind, which felt weird beyond belief. He wasn’t sure if he would get used to it… he hoped not.
***
Jax waited patiently in front of the private door at the back of the boutique. Trusty and Shot were behind him. It was a grey and windy day, the kind that depressed the hell out of anybody looking out their window. Hopefully his day wouldn’t be as grey as the weather.
“Coooomiiing~” Rarity singsonged, before opening the door. He couldn’t help but notice that her smile turned a bit awkward at the sight of him… he couldn’t rightly blame her either, with what had happened the last time they had seen each other.
Jax gave her a playful smile, and for the heck of it bowed gracefully. “Lady Rarity. Good to see your magnificent smile this day.” Now that he was aware of it, he realized that making light of things was probably just his way of dealing with everything.
Rarity giggled and bashfully swung her hoof dismissively. “Oh please, Jax. A taken stallion shouldn’t say such things to other mares.”
Jax righted himself. “You’re right, it was silly of me. I didn’t mean to lead you on-“ he put a hand on his forehead in a dramatic pose. “-for my heart belongs to Luna, now and forevermore.”
Some more giggles escaped Rarity before she made room for him to enter. “As it should be. I hope I find my own prince soon as well… but come in, come in. You and your… entourage.” She gave his guards a look as he passed by her.
“You don’t have any customers?” He asked as he found his way to the sofa and table. He took off his cloak and laid it nearby, before sitting down.
“I haven’t had very many today darling, and I have none on my schedule. We should have some time to talk. I’m guessing you won’t say no to some of that tea you love so much, hmm?” She turned to his guards when he didn’t object. “But what about you fine gentlecolts? Tea? Water? Oh I should introduce myself, I apologize. My name is Rarity, owner of this, if I do say so myself, fine boutique.”
“A pleasure to meet you ma’am.” Trusty said at the same time as Shot said: “We cannot eat or drink while on the job ma’am.”
Trusty gave Shot a look before rolling his eyes. “While technically true, since we’re… hmm… accompanying Jax all day, we’ve agreed that one of us can take a break while the other... doesn’t.”
“No need to dance around the words, Trusty.” Jax offered. Hearing those pauses while he looked for words that wouldn’t offend could get a bit tiresome.
Trusty gave him a smile before looking back at Rarity. “And lo and behold, I haven’t had my break yet. I would love some tea, miss Rarity. Oh and just call me Trusty, everypony does, and this strict fellow is True Shot.” He gestured to Shot who looked ready to say something, but apparently thought better of it.
“Alright. I know I have some cookies around here somewhere as well, if Sweetie Belle hasn’t eaten them…” she went out to the kitchen, while Trusty sat down beside him, and Shot took a position at the back of the shop… presumably to have a better view of everything, but what did Jax know. He wasn’t a guard.
“I can get that off my bucket-list.” Trusty suddenly said from beside him.
“Hmm?”
“Getting to meet some of the Elements of Harmony. Equestria would be in big trouble without those six mares, you know. They didn’t have to do anything, they didn’t have any experience or training or anything, nothing but scraps of information to go on… yet they went and saved us all.” Trusty looked at him with a truly genuine smile. “And that is amazing. I just didn’t know how to get here and meet them without looking like some weirdo. So I’m glad I got this assignment.”
Jax gave a low chuckle. “Yeah, they are amazing alright.”
They sat in silence until Rarity came out with tea and cookies. “We are in luck gentlecolts, my little sister didn’t eat all of them.”
Jax took his cup and started blowing on his tea, while wondering how to start. “About yesterday…” he started. Rarity’s ears turned towards him before the rest of her head did. Funny he never noticed that before. “I’m sorry you had to see me like that. It was… it was a stressful night.”
Rarity dismissed his statement with a wave of a hoof. “Please darling, there is hardly anything to apologize for. Celestia knows that I act even worse when I get stressed, and I’ve never even been close to being possessed.” She took a moment to take a sip of her cup. “If anything you should be complimented on handling everything so well… though I am a bit curious, as to why I didn’t get yelled at like some of the others.” She gave him a look of curiosity.
Jax took a moment to sip the tea as well, but it was still too hot for him. “Well… you’ve been nothing but helpful. It seems like every time I see you, you help me in some fashion. Making all these clothes for me without getting any payment. I couldn’t think of any reason why I should yell at you.”
“That reminds me! I’m actually glad you came darling.” She rose and quickly made her way into her shop. She came back with…
“Is that a mannequin? Did you make it just because of me?” Two stupid questions, he realized. Of course it was a mannequin, seemed to be made with only him in mind. Honestly, how many humans were walking around besides him?
“But of course darling. It helps me visualize… but that’s not what you are supposed to focus on! Now that you are dating a Princess, I thought you would need something nice for those dates. What do you think?” She looked at him with that hopeful smile of pride that people had when they showed something they had spent a lot of time on.
There was no doubt she had reason to be proud. He walked over to the mannequin to take a closer look of the outfit on it. It was black with a white shirt underneath, and looked like a mix of old and new styles. It had the general shape of a suit but with elements of old styles, like the showy cape that was only attacked to half of the back. No gems in this one, but it seemed to be made from a soft green material, same colour as the tie… and Jax’ eyes. Somehow it just worked together.
He smiled brightly. “Working your magic yet again Rarity?”
“When inspiration hits you darling, you need to heed its call.” She winked at him. “And it’s always a pleasure to make clothes for you, Jax. Seeing my work being displayed every day and not just at social events is refreshing.
Jax laughed. “I’m sure. Anyway, a different reason I came here was actually to finally pay off that debt I owe you… and give you a gift for the trouble.” He sat down in front of her and took out his pouch and a rectangular box with a special item inside.
“Yes, I did hear that Filthy Rich finally has the pen out on the market. It’s good to see that you got paid already, and with the price he has put on them along with his patent you should be paid quite well.” She took another sip of her tea before smiling at him. “Well you promised to pay me back for all the clothes, and here we are. So the question is how much….” She looked down at the table in thought.
“… you have kept track right? I told you I was going to pay you back. And no crazy discounts either!” He warned her.
“Yes, yes darling, just let me…” she took out a piece of parchment, quill and ink, and started writing numbers on it. He wanted to give her her gift right then and there, but he held himself back. He didn’t want it to influence the price.
She looked up. “I’m giving you a thirty percent discount.” She told him with an expression that booked no argument.
“That’s… quite a lot.” He tried to argue anyway.
“Darling, in the months you have been here, I have made more clothes for you than most ponies buy in a lifetime. Not only that, but I have a feeling that you will be a regular here. So you get thirty percent.”
“Twenty.”
“Thirty.”
“Twenty five. Bits aren’t going to be a problem Rarity.”
“It’s not like they are a problem for me either. I am quite successful you know. Thirty this time, twenty five in the future.”
“… alright, deal. How much is it then?” Jax finally relented. This was so opposite. Normally he'd be asking for a bigger discount, not a smaller one.
“Well, the moonstones really threw the price up quite a bit, and counting materials and other fees, along with my usual working price… 490 bits”
Beside him, Trusty gave a low whistle. “That must have been quite the stack of clothes.”
“Actually… I need more. And as a side-question… what would it mean if I had Luna’s mark sewn into my clothes?” Jax started counting the bits.
“If you were a guard it would mean you serve her.” Trusty laughed. “Though that was an old tradition.”
“Nowadays, ponies mostly have their own cutie mark on their clothes, but I do believe there was a trend a few centuries back to have the cutiemark of you special somepony. As a sign of commitment, I believe.” Rarity took on a dreamy look, that turned into a shrewd smile. “You did say you would find a pattern for me to put on your clothes… is this what you have chosen?”
Jax pushed the right amount of bits over to her, which she ignored. “It is, if it really only means that. I can’t think of any pattern that means anything to me, but she means a lot. And I guess… it could be a bit romantic.” He tried to keep the blush away, but it came anyway. Saying such things were quite new to him.
Rarity’s sighed dreamily. “So romantic…” she shook herself of it, thankfully. “And did I hear that correctly? You want more clothes?”
Jax nodded. “While what I have now is enough to get by, it would make my life easier to have more. So… you have my measurements, I’ll let you keep surprising me… just don’t make anything with too much flair. And I’ll bring clothes so you can sew in Luna’s mark.”
Rarity’s smiled turned more excited by the second. Just before she opened her mouth to say something, he pushed the box over to her. “And here’s the gift I told you about.” He said as neutrally as possible, though a smile broke through despite his efforts.
She took the box in her aura and opened it. “Oh… my…” She looked at the pen within with her mouth slightly open. “Darling… do you realize how much this is worth?”
“All my appreciation for what you did for me? But seriously, thank you for everything, Rarity.” He smiled earnestly at her.
Her eyes started to water a bit, but she dried them quickly. She went around the table, to give him a heartfelt hug. “It was my pleasure darling.”