Sleep Walking

by Mercury Zero

Fearless

Celestia's quill scratched softly as she took the meeting minutes.

Aside from those issues reserved for the 'princess summit' meetings, these meetings handled the most critical issues facing the kingdom. Despite that, they had become little more than a formality.

"... require an even-handed application of trade restrictions based on the first quarter estimates for the trade gap on crystal berries with ..."

Luna wasn't listening.

These meetings used to be a lot livelier. In those days, Luna would take every opportunity to scream at Celestia, accusing her of being unworthy of the throne for even the smallest perceived lapse in good judgement. Luna had advocated for swift and ruthless justice, a conservative coin purse, and aggressive posturing against Equestria's neighbours.

"... passed unanimously to shift the assemblies of the legislature. They would start at midnight, and end at noon, to make it easier, if you so choose, to share ..."

Now, Luna would simply listen as Celestia would detail her decision making process. Occasionally, if she felt energetic, she would offer a token nod or mumbled platitude while staring at the expensive hardwood meeting table. Celestia would always patiently and fully explain herself. She was calm, serene, and dull, and she had even started to grow weary of her own voice. At first, ruling the kingdom alone was a significant adjustment for Celestia, but one can get very used to things over the span of a millennium.

"... Prime Minister Flashy has--" Luna perked up casually. "--requested that the final budget receive special approval for ..." Luna looked back down.

Sleepwalking. That was something completely new. Luna hadn't been so preoccupied with thought since her return from the moon. Lately, she had been wishing for something new to happen to her, to energize her life. From then on, she would be certain to take care when making wishes, for occasionally, it seemed, the universe was cruel enough to grant them.

"... griffon delegation has left with their thanks for our accommodations. They're still disappointed that you didn't provide them with a meteor shower, but, as we discussed, it's for the best that we don't abuse our powers simply to honor foreign dignitaries. Regrettably, an unforseen ..."

Luna looked down at the book she brought with her. She had checked it out of the library moments earlier, and hoped that Celestia would be late, so she would have an opportunity to read it. It was a dusty tome filled with arcane details of sleep magic, a specialty of Luna's. This new affliction of hers could not be allowed to continue. For one, her quill was missing again. She had spent at least an hour already plodding through dingy, musty smelling servant corridors in the hopes of finding that accursed quill. What lunacy would possess her unconscious self to fixate on a writing implement, of all things.

"... parasprite infestation was easily controlled, but it keeps finding purchase inside of hardware stores, for some reason we have yet to ascertain. ..."

This wasn't the first time Luna had checked out a book from the palace library. She would visit it at least once every night. She would alternate between magical reference books, and whatever new novel had become popular that week. She would avoid reading the romances, however. Just like seeing real romances, it was painful for her. For other ponies, connecting with one another was as natural as breathing. It had never been that way for Luna. For her, approaching somepony at the Grand Galloping Gala and striking up a pleasant conversation might as well have been an unsolvable gordian knot, forever tormenting her with its intricacies. She would sooner unravel the mysteries of time and space itself.

"... minotaur delegation has invited you to their bacchanalia tonight, and I've drafted a letter expressing your regrets for being unable to attend." A golden glow wrapped itself around a scroll that had been resting near Celestia, and it floated over to Luna. "If you could sign it, I'll be sure that it gets delivered to them during the event."

Luna was almost startled when she snapped back to attention. "Oh." The words Celestia had just spoken played back slowly in her mind, as if she was snatching them from the edge of her short-term memory before they fell away forever. "I'm sorry sister. I'm afraid I've misplaced my quill."

Celestia smiled with gentle amusement. "It's in your book."

Luna blinked down at her book. Sure enough, there was a tiny tuft of blue and gold, barely visible, sticking out of the top of the book between two of the pages. Luna opened the book with her magic, and stared, transfixed, at her trusty quill.

"The minotaur negotiations were hard fought. I wish you had been there, my sister. Lumber prices should be going down thanks to logging rights in northern ..."

Her quill tip was covered in ink that was still tacky to the touch. Next to it, scrawled haphazardly over top of the text of the priceless tome, somepony had written a word.

Fearless

"... the coming time we can expect tax revenues to increase as we see an influx of new business along the minotaur border. If all goes well, this should help us fully balance the budget. I would hate to go into a deficit for the first time in a quarter century. ... Are you alright, Luna?"

"I'll go."

The soft scratching sound of Celestia's note taking came to a swift halt.

Luna looked up at her sister.

Celestia gently set down her quill. "To the bacchanalia?"

"Yes."

"Luna, you're aware that a bacchanalia is a party, are you not? A party with alcohol, and the occasional brawl."

Luna knew this was Celestia's way of asking if she was certain, but she had little patience for it, none the less. Her words came coldly. "I am not a filly anymore, Celestia. I know what a bacchanalia is."

Celestia took a moment to watch her sister's eyes, then lifted her quill once more. She scratched briskly, crossing out her previous item in the meeting minutes, then resumed her soft scribbling, followed by the gentle tamp of punctuation. "In that case, I believe the rest of the agenda can wait."

Ambassador Razor Barb pounded her fists onto the feast table with delight so furiously that small galaxies of sailing food and mead were ejected upward on all sides. "Luna!" she cried in a piercing baritone.

Barb turned around and leapt up onto another nearby feast table, slamming her hooves as she landed. Pamf! She held her muscular arms into the air, craned upward toward the waxing gibbous moon, and cried out mirthfully. "The princess of the night has honored us with her presence! This will be a night to remember!"

There were only a couple dozen minotaurs in attendance, but it might as well have been a thousand ponies based on the sounds of delight that issued forth in a deafening blast.

Luna's eyes could not have been wider. Her glance darted between the room full of cheerful minotaurs greeting her with mugs held high. She was loathing the possibility that one of them might run in for a hug and a friendly greeting at any moment.

Barb polished off a flagon of mead and pitched the empty vessel down onto the table below her hooves with a clank, sending it reflecting off into the bushes. "Wine!" she wailed, causing another thunderous cheer from the partygoers.

One of her aides picked up a wine cask with one arm, and pierced it with his horn, sending a flood of wine spilling forth. He held it high as a dozen flagons quickly dove under the stream, jockeying for position under the flow of running wine.

Satisfied with how events were unfolding, Barb hopped down off the table with a confident swagger, leaving the frenzied revelers in her wake. Luna developed a bothered expression and huffed through her nose as Barb started to approach. "Luna! Razor Barb could not be happier that you would drink with us!"

Luna tried to protest. "Drink? I do not remember saying that--" Luna squeaked as Barb leaned down to give Luna a one armed hug. Luna grit her teeth. Barb was treading dangerously close to starting an international incident with all this touching. One involving singed fur and lightning explosions. Why, she wondered, had she even come to this barbaric ritual?

Barb hauled Luna toward the wine, and she lurched and stumbled with mild resistance, looking off at another side of the festivities. For once, Luna's booming voice was in good company. "Should I not be--"

Barb turned to Luna and grabbed her by both shoulders. "Wine, mead, or ale my friend?"

Luna blushed and looked away contemplatively. She glanced around the party at the smiling faces of the beefy minotaurs who seemed to genuinely appreciate her arrival. "We... Yes! Yes, we are friends! I shall sample this 'ale' of which you speak."

Barb stepped away to pour Luna a drink, which Luna graciously accepted into her magic.

Barb laughed heartily and slapped Luna hard on the back. "Good choice!" She managed to remain completely oblivious to the fact that Luna was now firing a furious glare in her direction in the wake of being slapped.

Luna huffed softly, and stared down at the fizzy drink in front of her. She didn't like to get drunk. She regrets having ever tried it. She's had the occasional wine at formal meals, but she hadn't even touched a drop since she returned from the moon. There was something that didn't quite sit right with her about losing one's inhibitions. Luna liked her inhibitions. She's done some unsavory things even when she did have her wits about her. Still, she started into it with a sip.

Kaff!

It was strong.

Barb laughed hysterically at Luna's reaction to the ale. "That stuff will grow new fur on you! Come! We have much to discuss. Tell me, how familiar are you with the logging negotiations?"

Luna took another sip while Barb asked, and she coughed her response. "Very little I'm afraid. I have had little interest in such trifles."

"Too good for it are you?" Barb asked solemnly, then broke out laughing. "Razor Barb likes you!"

Luna grew a delighted smile at Barb's words, and tipped back her ale, drinking it down in rapid gulps, before breaking into heaving coughs. She tried throwing the cup, much as Barb did, but it only skipped a short distance before rattling to a stop on the nearby table.

Barb seemed quite tickled to see Luna getting into the spirit of things. "I will tell you, friend, that we have gone to great lengths to please the kingdom of Equestria." Barb launched into some dry details about the nuances of the treaty, and Luna forced herself to pay attention. She wouldn't want to be rude to her new friend, after all.

"Of course. Thank you for your consideration." Luna nodded.

"Razor Barb asks you, how big is your liquid rainbow stockpile?" Barb asked.

Luna's smile slipped off her face. "'Tis not for you to know. I am no foal, Barb. I know what your administration would do with that information." she replied.

Barb laughed some more. "A mare with conviction! Here, have another ale." She grabbed Luna's flagon and filled it back up to the brim.

Luna accepted the beverage, looking down at it with a queasy expression, but she none the less sipped at it. "I must thank you, Barb. You have given me a reception befitting my status. If only my own subjects would worship me so."

Barb prepared to respond, but she was interrupted by a loud slam on the nearby feast table. A minotaur man, perhaps the biggest of the bunch, pointed his clawed finger at Luna's chest, and leaned in closely. His breath reeked of mead and he bore a surly expression. "Princess of the night! Bringer of the moon!" he snarled.

Luna was quite taken aback. She had wondered when it would happen. It seemed that something had already come to ruin her night, and remind her that she was better off in solitude.

He broke into a smile. "Honor me with a dance!"

Luna clenched her teeth and curled her brow nervously. She leaned past the brutish minotaur to look at the large bonfire in the center of the celebration. There were a half dozen minotaurs surrounding it, dancing to lute and harp music which was, at best, difficult to hear over the noise. "How does one 'dance?'" she asked.

Barb and her burly compatriot laughed uproariously at Luna's 'joke' and piled in around her, starting to walk off toward the bonfire before Luna could get out of the way. She stumbled to her feet, bringing her ale with her in her magic, sending it sloshing into the grass as she walked unsteadily. "Oof. Er. Yes! Of course, I will attempt these movements!"

Luna had developed quite a buzz by this point, and decided to discard her second flagon of ale by tipping it back, much as she did with the first, before dropping it listlessly into the grass and approaching the reveling dancers. Barb and her companion had already joined them, and were dancing in sweeping gyrations, clawing and grabbing at the air around them as if the shadows of the fire were some enemy against which they struggled valiantly.

It had been said that Princess Twilight Sparkle was the worst dancer among the four rulers of Equestria, perhaps the worst in all the land. That was because Luna had never before attempted it in earnest. She looked as though she were caught in a spider web as she convulsed in a twisted miming of the dancers that surrounded her, who themselves were pretty bad at the endeavor to begin with.

Over the course of a few moments, the party fell completely silent, and the guests turned their heads. The feast that had once been booming with noise was now deathly quiet to the point where the soft cricket song of the woods around them had returned. Obliviously, Luna continued to dance.

The mirth in Barb's voice was gone, replaced with a guttural furious rage. "What is this?!"

Halting her dance, Luna blinked with surprise and turned around.

An armored minotaur was holding a stallion pegasus by his scruff. He was jet black. The only brighter shades he had were in his messy mane, streaked with a dark gray, and his bright white and yellow cutie mark of a winged sandal. He wasn't a large stallion, even by pegasus standards, and he was no match for the minotaur guard that captured him. Quite justifiably, he was frightened. His eyes were darting, and his ears were pale as his chest heaved with anxiety. His body trembled so vigorously that it shook the arm of the guard holding him.

"He snuck past the guard parameter! I found him roaming the forest!"

"No!" the terrified stallion protested. "I flew in! I didn't know there were any guards!"

Luna frowned. This stallion had made grievous blunder. This was embassy land of the minotaur people. He was outside the reach of Equestrian law.

Barb walked over to the wine casks, grabbed a hooked device, used to tap the barrels, and walked menacingly toward the stallion. "You're here to spy on us to listen to our diplomatic secrets?! Razor Barb can not accept this!"

The eyes of the pagasus locked onto the gnarly looking tool. He panicked and flailed. "No!"

"What are you doing?" Luna called out to Barb.

Barb turned back toward the bonfire to look at Luna's silhouette. Her wings were spread to their full span in a menacing display. Barb growled. "He has invaded our sacred rite!"

Luna took a moment to respond. Her eyes seemed to glow in the night. She spoke very slowly and calmly. She would not want to be misunderstood. "You would do well to listen very carefully when your princess speaks, for it is not often that she would repeat herself. You were not asked what he had done. You were asked what you were doing."

Barb did not like Luna's tone. Her chest heaved, and she blew a frenzied puff of air from her nose. Tossing her tapping tool aside, she lifted both fists, closing them tensely with the cracking of cartilage. She twisted her jaw as she undertook the hopeless task of trying to remain calm. "How dare you speak to Razor Barb in this way in her own embassy? You are no princess of mine, little pony. You are no princess on this embassy land. You would risk the fury of the minotaur empire to protect one pathetic trespasser? Why? Are you not a friend to Razor Barb? Did you not just tell me that your people do not appreciate you?"

Luna felt a pang of guilt at Barb's words. Barb knew exactly where to hit her. What madness had that damned quill wrought? What game was her unconscious mind playing, that would direct her toward one more example, in a countless sea of examples, of how she will never be loved, and she was a fool to try.

Luna looked between Barb and the terrified stallion. She knew the only sensible choice was to leave the embassy, and file a protest, demanding the release of her subject. Her thoughts turned to what Celestia would have to say about this. It's quite likely that Luna had already started an international incident by making demands on minotaur soil. The long fought negotiations may have just crumbled to dust on the eve of their completion.

And would this stallion have been so bold in her defense? Barb was right. Her people don't appreciate her. Before her time on the moon, she would have relished the opportunity to see one of her subjects suffer. It was no more than they deserved, because they had rejected her night, and spurned her love for them.

Barb puffed through her nose once more, and turned back to walk toward the stallion; pressing her fist into her hand; cracking her knuckles. As Barb drew closer, the panicked whimpers of the stallion grew louder. He flailed now, fluttering his wings, desperately trying to free his scruff from the clenched hand of the minotaur guard.

"You will stop, or I will stop you."

Luna's eyes glowed white with an unnatural light. The bonfire flickered from the blast of wind that ripped through the forest clearing. A slow rumble of thunder cascaded through the air, echoing off the sheer face of Mount Canterlot, and in the distance, a timberwolf cried a piercing howl to mother moon.

Barb turned her attention away from the black stallion and, with thumping hooves, she accelerated toward Luna hollering an infuriated battle cry. The clearing erupted with the sounds of tables and chairs being tipped over. A clatter of drawing weapons resounded from the edges of the party.

Barb plowed her body into the cloud of black smoke that lingered where Luna's body had just stood. She stumbled from the lack of impact, nearly falling into the bonfire.

The cloud of smoke flowed up above the clearing, drawing up a spray of electric arcs that ripped through the grass, leaving fractal patterns of charred black at the hooves of the partygoers who were preparing to advance on her. The crowd halted and screamed with drunken rage.

Luna progressively returned to her normal form, staring down at Barb while she hovered in place with her wings. "Foals!" Luna's voice shook the soil itself, and cracks darted through the earth, slowly splitting into sink holes. "We were present at the birth of your puny empire, and thou wouldst invoke its name in defiance of thine princess?" Luna felt an old feeling welling up inside her; a good feeling. "Thou believest this savage celebration to be worthy of our night? We will teach thee the true meaning of darkness."

Barb pointed a clawed finger at the air furiously. "Come back down here and fight me like a minotaur!"

Luna was not usually one to be goaded, but over the centuries, she had discovered that a lesson is learned most well when the student asks to receive it.

Luna's wings crashed shut with a thunderous crack. A shower of rock and dirt sprayed upward in front of Barb, with Luna at its center. Barb barely had time to lower her arm from where it had been pointing at Luna's previous position before she was pounded in her muscular chest by both of Luna's hind legs. Her breath shot from her aching breast in an explosive heave.

She felt herself sail backward, accompanied by a the sound of a shuttering crunch of rib bones. She would have certainly flown several body lengths toward the edge of the clearing, but with another tremendous boom, Luna appeared above her in mid flight. With all four hooves atop the minotaur's helplessly floating body, she thrust Barb downward. There was an explosion of dirt and a cloud of dust as Barb bounced off the ground below.

Luna landed softly astride Barb's wheezing body, and looked down at her new 'friend', struggling for breath below.

The crowd could contain itself no longer. A rush of lumbering combatants stampeded on her position.

With an asymmetrical blast of blue magic, Luna staggered the small army of minotaurs, spreading them into more manageable groups. She shot toward the nearest one, launching herself off the body of one minotaur, and using her leverage to crash into another.

The stallion fell to the earth with a thud as the guard that was holding him decided to shift priorities and join the fray. The ebony pegasus wanted to flee, but his legs and wings quivered violently. His body threatened to stumble and collapse as he watched, slack jawed, at the unfolding carnage.

Luna slid through the dirt, kicking up divots of grass and stone. She crashed into the legs of a small group of minotaurs, bowling them in several directions. One of them reached out and grabbed her scruff as he fell, wrenching her to the ground with a thud. She struggled free of his grip just before a club strike came crashing to the ground where she laid.

The club wielding minotaur heaved his weapon high, and was about to strike a connecting blow just as a feast table flew into his side, wrapped in Luna's magical glow. It exploded into a pile of firewood, sprinkling heavy chunks of debris onto Luna's back. She loosed a frightened scream and wormed her way out of the wreckage just as a half dozen minotaurs piled atop her.

The black stallion had never seen a lightning strike from that close, before. The thing that's most surprising about it is how loud it is. Thunder is normally a soothing rumble, or at worst a startling crack. This was different. There was a piercing cry as the heavens themselves split asunder and cast their judgement on the crowd of warriors attacking Luna. The stallion's ears rang screamingly as he was temporally deafened by the blast. He watched with astonishment as a dozen minotaurs rained back down to earth.

Luna slowly rose from the ashen crater left in the wake of her lightning strike, and hovered in mid air. The clouds above swirled with blackness, and stray arcs of electricity bounced from object to object. She surveyed her handiwork with a satisfied snarl. The minotaurs were crawling, coughing, and trying weakly to stand up and continue the fight. A few were curled up in the fetal position, wheezing for air and pounding the dirt with their fists. Barb was weakly trying to stand, but kept falling to one knee.

Luna's contemptuous satisfaction started to fade, and her breast warmed with the feeling of terrified regret. What had she done? She gently touched down to earth and looked around at her defeated foes. "No. No, no, no." She didn't know what to fear more, her own lack of self-control, or Celestia's inevitable reaction.

Luna snarled at the frightened stallion, and marched toward him. His eyes shot open wide, and he found himself unable to breathe under the convulsions of his trembling body. He had never been more frightened in his life. "You!" she bellowed loudly enough for him to hear over the ringing in his ears. "Dost thou know what thou hast done!?"

The stallion couldn't answer. His body was swiftly overtaken by a wave of relaxed muscles. He released a soft puff of air, fell limply to the earth, and fainted.

Author's Note:

My intention was to have every chapter be a day, with a dream at the end, and a piece of the next evening when Luna woke up, but this chapter started getting long, and I wanted to gauge how people felt about having an action scene in this story, so I published it at this point.

I'm in this for the feedback, so I appreciate anything you can give me.

Comments

[RadBunny]

oh dear.

[Corporal Fluttershy]

One does not simply drop-in unannounced with the Princess of the Night.

[zero588]

The scene is good, Luna has the conviction to stand up for her people and fight even if they don't like her. Celestia cannot fault her sister for wanting to defend one of their own from certain harm.

[Ringcaat]

Chapter 3: This was an unexpected turn, all right! A minotaur bacchanalia! Too bad we didn't get to see much of it before it went wrong.

It seems to me Celestia wouldn't really be justified in an angry reaction upon hearing the news. The minotaurs were behaving ridiculously aggressively. Even at the expense of a logging treaty and the related income, that kind of behavior from an international delegation can't be tolerated. Which isn't to say Luna handled things flawlessly.

It occurs to me that the minotaurs, having respect for ferocity and toughness, may not actually be all that upset with Luna. If none of them are permanently damaged, maybe they'll see this as a jolly good time and have renewed respect for the night princess!