Luna's Apprentice

by ScientistTrixie

The Princesses Night

Luna sat impatiently, her forelegs crossed as she tapped her foot incessantly. She glared at her fireplace, glancing out at the moon to check the time once again. A wisp of smoke caught her eye, twisting its way through the sky straight toward her tower. She stepped forward, pushing the window open with her hoof as the wisp collected on the other side of the glass.

The wisp shot into the room, materializing into a scroll in a flash. Luna stretched out her hoof, snagging the scroll out of midair. She peered at the scroll, wrapped tightly in a fresh blue ribbon before lighting her horn, pulling the string with a tug of her magic.

The letter unfurled, her magic carrying it closer to the light from one of her lanterns so she could read the words upon the scroll. Her eyes darted from side to side, a thoughtful smile growing on her face as she approached the bottom of the scroll. Luna smiled as the letter rolled back up, her magic directing the ribbon to retie the letter.

She crossed the room, her thoughts drifting as set the scroll down on her bookshelf, stacking it beside other scrolls all adorned with blue ribbons. She smiled, her eyes roaming over the numerous other scrolls from her sister’s student, Twilight Sparkle. Ever since her visit to Ponyville during Nightmare Night, she and Twilight had kept in contact.

She stepped away from her bookshelf, her eyes drifting to the moon outside, sitting just above the horizon, almost tauntingly.

“For the first time in a long time… I find myself looking forward to the lowering of my moon.” She sighed, trotting grumpily to her bedside. She threw herself onto her bed, stretching her hooves out before her, wrapping them in the luxurious silk covers the maids had provided for the night. She rolled onto her back, gazing at her ceiling listlessly, an impatient groan escaping her lips. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to take a deep calming breath as she tapped deep into her magic.

Even with her eyes closed, Luna could see the glow of light above her. She opened her eyes, smiling at the shining tapestry of magic above her. In the air below her ceiling rested a scale model of her night sky, stars and moon shining brightly, and even the occasional shooting star playing out above her. She cocked her head at the display, reaching out with a hoof to nudge a star to the side. Above Canterlot, a single star drifted to the side, aligning itself to match the model inside the tallest tower in Canterlot Palace.

She waved her hoof at the model, watching as the days passed by in the stars. She would stop the model regularly, nudging a star here, fixing a constellation there. She sighed after a moment, dispelling the model with a flare of her horn. The stars exploded, spiraling out into twirling remnants of magic. As the silvery glow faded from the room, she shot another exasperated glance out to her balcony, clenching her jaw as she stared at the moon. The giant orb had dipped, but only low enough to just touch the far horizon.

She groaned, throwing her bedroom doors open with her hooves. The two bat stallions to either side of her door jumped, spinning on a dime and leveling spears at the amused Alicorn. They blanched, lowering themselves into hasty bows.

“Apologies Night Mother.” The bat ponies muttered, staring at her hooves. Luna shook her head, giggling as the two glanced up at her from the floor.

“Arise Silver Wing, Quickshot. Tell me, do either of you know if my sister is in her chambers?” Luna asked, smiling as the two stood, rolling their shoulders to adjust their armor. Silver Wing extended his wings, almost as if showing off their silver membrane. He retucked his wings, the unique coloring standing out against his dark blue fur. His mane was a bright silver, almost to the point of whiteness.

Beside him Quickshot smiled, revealing two fangs on either side of his muzzle. He fidgeted, his fur a near mirror image to the pony beside him, a shade lighter if only just. His wings were slightly smaller than Silver’s, with a color that matched his coat. Thin, but clearly defined muscles bulged under the coat on his forelegs from the intense archer training the stallion preferred. His mane was a dirty brown, cropped close to his neck.

The two glanced at each other, sharing a silent conversation. Silver Wing nodded his head, calmly meeting his rulers eye.

“When the last patrol made its rounds, Princess Celestia was in her bed chambers, presumed to be asleep.” Silver Wing said, nodding his head as he spoke, his silvery mane ruffling in the air.

Luna nodded, smiling at the pair. “Thank you Silver. You may both return to your post.” She said, already trotting her way down the hallway. Behind her, she could hear their armor clanking as they nodded, before retreating to their guard positions.

The alicorn trotted through the castle, nodding at any servants she passed at such an early hour. To Luna, with her night winding down, she would usually be getting ready for bed. For everyone else, the day had hardly even started.

Unlike Luna, Celestia enjoyed having her room close to the heart of the castle, instead of the large towers Luna favored. As she came to the lip of the hallway, she slowed herself to a crawl, peeking around the corner silently. She grinned devilishly as she spotted the two guards at her sisters door, their spears hanging listlessly at their sides.

She pulled back from the lip of the hallway, her horn alight with a dark blue aura. She smiled as her hooves faded from view, shadows idly rolling off her horn in waves. She giggled quietly as her entire body faded from view, the shadows rolling from her position being the only clue she was there.

“Did you hear that?”

“Will yah stuff it Bronze! I’m tryin’ tah sleep…” The pegasus guard replied, cracking a single eye open to glance at the pony beside him.

“Wake up Roller!” The earth pony whispered, eyeing the hallway wearily. The pegasus stood straighter, slowly extending his wings threateningly as he glared at Bronze.

“I have told you before, Rookie! My name is Rolling! Rolling Breeze! Do not… I repeat do not. Call. Me. Roller!” The pegasus yelled, glaring at his partner. To their left sat an empty hallway, stretching down about fifty feet and than turning to work its way back into the castle. To their right, the hallway stretched the same length as the left, but the end of the hallway was shrouded in what appeared to be a cloud of shadows. He looked past Bronze, cocking his head at the deep shadows at the end of the hall. “Shouldn’t it be nearly morning now?”

“That’s why I tried to wake you up…” Bronze said, voice trailing off as he looked at Rolling with hurt in his eyes. He snapped to attention as the sound of hooves clacking on porcelain filled the air, originating from the shadows at the end of the hallway. Beside him, he could see Rolling snap to attention, both staring forward at the wall.

The sound of the hooves came closer, his head turning ever so slightly to look to his right. Beside him, he could hear Rolling grunt to get his attention, but Bronze ignored him as he stared into the shadows. Unless his mind was playing tricks on him… the shadows were actively moving closer.

The hooves echoed eerily, four hoof beats evenly spaced apart, as if someone was walking in the depths of the shadow. The shadows overtook the pair, twisting and cloaking them in a blanket of blackness. Bronze shivered, turning to look at Rolling, only to see the pitch black all around him. It was so dark, the poor earth pony couldn’t even see the wall behind him.

Within the shadows, the hooves cantered on slowly approaching the two stallions. Bronze shook, his coat standing on end as he gripped the shaft of his spear, tightening his hoof on it nervously. The hoof beats stopped suddenly, directly in front of him.

Bronze could feel his heart beating, so loudly he was sure Rolling could hear it beside him. He sucked in a deep breath, his pulse picking up as a hoof tenderly stroked his cheek, causing panic to rise in his chest. He touched a hoof to his muzzle, twitching at the icy feeling spreading across his jaw, slowly inching its way down his neck. He whimpered, rubbing his cheek with his hoof.

He closed his eyes, muttering quietly to himself. He jumped, his armor rattling loudly as the hoof beats started once again, slowly moving away from him down the hallway. The shadow slipped away, giving way to the moon’s rays once again. He followed the black mass with his head, his eyes going wide as they slipped away revealing Rolling beside him, his body stiff at attention, his face determinedly pointed forward. The tapping of hooves echoed through the hall, broken only by Bronzes panicked breathing.

“Rolling… Wh-what was-s that?” Bronze said, repressing a shiver as the shadows vanished around the far corner.

“It was me!” A voice whispered, from the center of the door between the two. Bronze whirled around, his jaw dropping as he stared into a pair of razor sharp teeth easily as long as the head of his spear. The mouth curled into a large smile, two large blue slitted eyes opening to stare at him. The mouth seemed to be part of the wall behind him, a slight mist spreading across the surface of the wall. Bronze blinked twice, smiling weakly before slumping over, his eyes rolling their way to the back of his head.

Luna cocked her head at the earth pony, glancing at Rolling Breeze with a lifted eyebrow.

“New guy?”

“New guy.” Rolling confirmed, stepping closer to the unconscious pony. He nudged him with a hoof, shaking his head at the recruit. He turned, bowing low to the alicorn extracting herself from the wall before him. “Good evening Princess Luna. I assume you wish to speak to Princess Celestia?”

Luna smiled, nodding as she stifled a giggle with her hoof. She stepped forward, slowly inching the door open. She slipped inside once the door was just her size, turning to poke her head through the gap between doors before closing it.

“I will only be a few minutes. When…” She trailed off, beckoning at the earth pony beside Rolling.

“Bronze Shield.”

“When Bronze Shield wakes up, please express my apologies to him.” Luna said, ears flattened apologetically.

“Will do Princess.” Rolling said, tapping Bronze with a hoof once again. From the ground, Bronze groaned.

Luna chuckled, stepping into Celestia’s bedroom and closing the door with her rear hoof. She looked around the sparsely decorated bedroom.The room was furnished in delicate golds and oranges, and deep reds and rolling crimsons. Most ponies assumed Celestia loved these colors because of the sun, but Luna knew that Celestia picked these colors for her love of Fall. Even as a filly, Celestia had loved the Fall season. She had always told Luna, it was the one point in the year when their respective season, Summer and Winter, cooperated and painted a tapestry of beauty across the land.

Unlike Luna’s own room, which showed obvious signs of being lived in, Celestia’s room had an almost unnatural sterile feel to it. The floor was devoid of any clutter, the books upon the shelves were perfectly shelved, with a thin layer of dust upon most of the spines. A massive window, currently blocked with velvety red curtains, sat directly across from Celestia’s bedroom door. A desk sat at the foot of the window, the only signs of anyone living in the room being located here. Scrolls sat unfurled, ink pots empty, with quills laying sprawled across the wooden surface.

In the center of the room, sat a massive bed. It could easily hold three Celestias, with room to spare on either side. Luna crept closer to the bed, smirking as she spied Celestia’s muzzle sticking out from under a pillow on the far side. She smirked, snatching several pillows from the bed, allowing them to slowly orbit around her head. She cocked her head, mentally comparing Celestias position on the bed, to the pillows floating around her.

Her horn hummed ever so quietly as she slid the pillows into position, just off the edge of the bed, creating an improvised cushion. She slid closer to Celestia, sucking in a deep breath as she prepared to give Celestia, the traditional royal wake up call!

“Don’t. You. Dare.” Celestia said, muzzle still poking from under the pillow. She lifted her head, pillow balancing perfectly atop her head as she sat up. Celestia yawned, tugging the pillow from her head with a flourish of her hoof as she smiled smugly at Luna.

Luna stared at her, trying, and ultimately failing to stifle laughter at her sister’s bed mane. Celestia’s pink mane stuck up in a frizzy ball, leaving her with a look reminiscent of Twilight Sparkle’s friend, Pinkie Pie. Celestia frowned, hoof going to her mane as she sighed. Her horn flared brightly, a sound not quite unlike the crackling of summer flames filling the air as her mane took on the shimmering rainbow look everypony was familiar with.

“Party pooper…” Luna muttered, pursing her lips as she pouted. She smiled as Celestia laughed, a music like quality to the sound. “How did you know, anyways?” She asked, jumping up on the bed beside the white alicorn.

Celestia cocked her eye at Luna, groaning as she stretched her hooves above her head. “Please Lulu, you honestly think you can get anything past your older sister? Now, is there a reason you are waking me so early?” As if to accent her point, Celestia drew the curtains away from her window, revealing a moon that was merely half way set upon the far horizon.

“Well sister… I want your opinion on a potential student.”

Author's Note:

A/N: Leave a comment below, let me know what you think!

Edited by: Phaoray & The Abyss

Comments

[Frankie2]

Oh my goodness, the rookie fainted.
The image of Celestia with Pinkie Pie's mane style and color.

[The Dimension Traveler]

Poor noob rookie, everyone picks on the rookies.

Celestia with Pinkie's mane...that would explain so much. CELESTIA IS A SECRET PIE!!!!

[Tome]

I found myself grinning at Luna's little pranks. Love the story so far.

[Strythio]

I had fun once.

It was not doubled. (Celestia foiling Luna's prank effort).

The new guard in the castle, in so many fics, just gets it rough. Heck, I don't blame him though; considering everything that has happened in the series with Discord and Chrysalis and the lot...

[Venerable Ro]

“Will yah stuff it Bronze! I’m tryin’ tah sleep…” The pegasus guard replied, cracking a single eye open to glance at the pony beside him

And why, might I ask, is somepony on guard duty trying to sleep? That seems, counterproductive. Not to mention appallingly undisciplined.