Excerpts from the Luna War

by Sapare

Goodbyes

By the time I arrived at the meeting place my brother looked more impatiant then ever, his eyes locked on the door and his hoof tapping on the wooden table at a furious rate. And yet, when he saw me he smiled as warmly as he could, leaving the table to meet more directly.

"And here I thought you had gotten lost exploring the world, again, what has kept you away so long?"

I smiled back as I tried to find the easiest way to put this without worrying my little broher.

"Luna"

There was a blank stare from my brother as he expected me to say something more, and I suddenly was brought out into laughter, giving him a hug. He grumbled softly and mumbled a response.

"I am confident that implying something like that could have you fired... give me the real reason already."

I withdrew from the hug and nodded, hoping that the rather bad joke at least somewhat eased my brother.

"Well, it actually was Luna, but not like that of course. She will be traveling to Hoofington and across the border to the Gryphon empire for a deplomatic mission, rumors is that Celestia strictly enforced her view of peace on her sister."

It was obvious that my brother had not yet seen the conection to me, most likely because he did not want to see it. As such I just continued to explain.

"She called together a small group of her personal royal guard to join her on this mission, insisting that she did not trust the Gryphons and that a group of guards would put her in a better deplomatic position. I was one of the ponies she picked to join her on this journey."

And he still seemed not to understand, at this point rather obviously hiding from my words as the truth meant something he did not want.

"I will be gone for the next couple of weeks, maybe even over a month."

Silence, then another hug, this time initiated by him. Then his voice, much less happy.

"You are not going to get hurt, right?"

"I don't plan to"

"Why didn't you decl--"

I sighed, not the first time I had hear him ask that question, and yet it was never an easy one to answer.

"Little bro, I swore an ouath to both of our queens, I have my duty to fulfill exactly as all of us have. If I was to hide from responsibliy because of the fear of possible dangers, then how could I have a good conscious if anypony goes?"

There was another silence, and then Starshine nodded again, once more accepting the explanation with difficulty. He suddenly smiled, trotting out of the meeting hall and prompting me to follow.

"Well then, I guess we have to make this day the best day of our lives, so you can always remember it up there in boring old Hoofington and beyond!"

I followed, smiling to myself at my brothers momentarly uprisen spirit, though i knew he would be as downtrotten as ever in the morning.

"What do you have planned oh great party lord from the golden door?"

There was a fake sounding insulted grunt and my brother looked over with a just as fake angry expression.

"How many times do I have to tell you that guarding that door is the highest level of honor a pony can have. Not to mention, I think it has something for me, pretty sure it glimmered at me suggestively once."

There was a snicker, then all out laughter as we put away the worries of tomorrow and focused on the good that was today. Walking through the streets of Canterlot made that an easy thing to do, many interesting stores and places decorating the sight and trying to draw your attention.

After a short walk we reached a place we had visited several times before, it was smaller but rather cozy pub that served in my opinion some of the best alcoholic, and non alcoholic drinks.

As we entered I looked over the rather well known decoration, quaint wooden tables and benches giving it a bit of an old look, but not a bad one. We were greeted with knowing warm smiles by the barkeeper who pointed us toward our normal seats as he finished the order for another pony. My brother suddenly nudged me and spoke.

"It might not be Luna but that pony over there could keep me late anyday."

I rolled my eyes a little, but looking over at the butter yellow colored pegasus mare sitting at a small table off to the side I stoped doing so, and instead gave a bit of a nod. He had a point afterall. Trying not to be rude I withdrew my sight from her as we sat down at our seats, my brother giving me a sly look as we sat down.

"But in all seriousness, don't ever make a joke like that out there, unless you wish Luna to leave you with the Gryphons."

We both chuckled at that idea and I replied in a smugly overly confident tone.

"Little bro, I know how to wow the mares, I am sure it would even be good enough for a goddess like her."

As he said that the barkeeper came over and placed our usual orders on the table, giving us warm smiles and stating that if we needed anything all we had to do was ask, just like everytime. We nodded and went back to our discussions of mares, the world and anything else that would come to mind.

By the time the sun had left the sky and the moon was as high as it would go we were more then a little drunk, and both of us trying to hit on the poor mares in the bar. Most of them giving us silly giggles before leaving us cold, some making us pay for a drink before doing so.

But the night was still one of the best I ever had. However, at that point I did not know it would be the last chance I would have to hug my brother. If I had, I would not have spend it drunk in a bar but instead with him out watching the night sky, telling him how important he had always been.

Comments

[EnderDJ]

Another great chapter by a great writer