Full Moon Fever: A MoonLight Prompt Collab

by TheLastBrunnenG

20 Bombardier by Toratchi888

Bombardier
by Toratchi888

---

Twilight Sparkle lay on a cushion in the comfort of the Library’s main room. She was reading a thick book, propped on a hoof-high reading stand in front of her. Late afternoon sunlight poured in through the high windows.

Of course, she would be reading a book, and a thick one at that, but this was one she hadn’t read before: a gift from the Canterlot Archives from Princess Celestia.

The book had arrived in quite the dusty state, but thanks to Spike’s courageous sacrifice—actually, he had inhaled too soon after he flame-belched the book into the Library, sucking burning dust back into his mouth and nearly burned down the tree with the resulting back-backdraft—it was clean and readable. Spike was recovering the use of his sinuses in bed with a hot herbal infusion and a comic.

Twilight flipped through the pages slowly; idly, in fact, for she was more distracted by Midnight Blue, formerly known as Nightmare Moon. Twilight held a turned page halfway in her magic as she considered Nightmare’s—now Midnight’s—eponymous coat: it was silky and (obviously) blue, compared to Luna’s slightly rougher and blacker fur.

But something was missing from Midnight Blue’s look. Twilight flipped the page down and closed her eyes. What was it…?

“Armour!” That was it; Nightmare Moon had been accoutred for war in her earliest appearances, with full barding. When she had re-manifested late on Nightmare Night—the same night Luna had been welcomed back by the Ponyvillians—she had discarded the armour in an effort to promote humility and oneness with other ponies; so far, it seemed to have succeeded somewhat.

However… in Twilight’s mind, the strong, glamorous Nightmare Moon had diminished as Midnight Blue. Even though Twilight had grown close to the Mare of Midnight—discussing history, astronomy, and friendship in equal measure—Twilight was saddened that the mental strength of the mare was no longer physically reflected.

“Hmm…” Twilight flipped another page, snorted as she sought her place, and began to skim. Abruptly, she stopped, and peered at the page.

“‘Bombardier.’” She tapped the floor with her right hoof. She had never heard the word before. “Bom-bar-di-er. Uncommon polysyllabic composite; conclusion: ancient dialect.”

She craned her neck to focus on the shelves behind her and levitated down a dictionary, Old World Equid Linguistics. She flipped it open to “B”.

“‘Bomb, from the ancient Grecquine word for a booming noise; onomatopoeia. Bombas (irr./unkn.; see Lingua Franca et. al., Pre-Classical Grecquine 3rd ed., for etymology and history) were used to scare off marauding griffons and enemy pony-tribes in the ancient world.’ Hmm, and barding is a pony’s war-armour… so a bardier must be an old word for an armour-smith. Huh.” She rustled a page or two back, searching. “Hmm, no bardier. Must be too antiquated, or too rare.”

She tapped her right hoof to her chin. She wanted Midnight Blue to be more imposing. She wanted the old Nightmare Moon back, the powerful, the sexy—assertive! Yes. Assertive.

Twilight fanned her hoof in front of her muzzle.

“Hmm. Bombardier… I have her armour downstairs; it’s beautifully crafted, it just needs… Aha!” She leaped up, grinning, and dashed out the door.

* * *

“Uh, Spike?”

“Yeah, Rainbow Dash?”

“Uh, what’s that banging sound under the tree? And why was Twilight running all around town earlier?”

“Dunno. Twilight’s been down there for hours, screeching about ‘bombs’ and pony anatomy, or something weird like that.”

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“…Spike?”

“Yeah?”

“I, uh, hear Pinkie’s got a new muffin recipe on the go; why don’t we go see…?”

“‘kay!”

* * *

Midnight Blue made a graceful landing fifteen strides from the front door of Golden Oaks Library, pulling in her wings just before touchdown and prancing five strides to stop herself. Her trailing feathers brushed her Cutie Mark, a black halo on a white patch; against the glimmering blue of her coat, it was exceptionally noticeable.

Midnight had taken only a few steps towards the door and lit her horn to pull the handle when it bounced open, revealing a bouncing Twilight Sparkle in the frame.

“Hi, Midnight!” Twilight chirped.

“Hello, Twilight,” Midnight replied warmly. “You appear most excitable.”

“I got you a present! I hope you like it!”

Midnight cocked her head as Twilight levitated parts of armour out from the Library’s main room.

“My armour…” Midnight eyed the peytral. “You were studying it, were you not?”

“Oh, yes, and I still am!” Twilight bounced around the pile. “But I had a thought; you see, it retains spells cast on it, so—”

“Yes, I know that much, my dear.” Midnight walked closer. On inspection, Twilight appeared to have buffed out some of the more sinister glyphs etched into the armour plate, smoothing them and adding some crystalline scoring. “Have you been enchanting it to some purpose?”

“Oh, well, a little, but I just wanted you to have some nice armour! I mean, you look so strong in armour, but it was a little scary the first couple of times, so I figured some nice, pretty armour—”

Midnight held up her left hoof; Twilight was panting. “Dear, I understand.” Midnight smiled. “I’ll try it on.”

Twilight grinned and levitated the croupiere; with Midnight’s direction (and a slight blush from Twilight, who could not avoid staring at Midnight’s Cutie Mark as the plate slid over her dock) Twilight fitted it into place. Midnight levitated her new hoof boots one at a time while Twilight fitted a sapphire-blue caparison, dotted with tiny diamonds like stars. As Midnight shifted her rump to test the fit, Twilight levitated the silvered peytral and made it snug, shifting the clasp over Midnight’s withers.

Midnight lifted a hoof to inspect the boots; they were glossy black onyx, and slightly more functional than the regalia worn by the Princesses, but still quite pretty. “I thank you, dear—” She made to stomp a hoof to test the fit—

“Stop!” Twilight cried. Midnight froze, her hoof poised to strike. “Ah, just, I figured maybe you should try them on a landing; I think they’ll still fit right, but might as well get it done all at once, right?”

Midnight smiled. “Certainly, dear. Now…”

“Um, actually, my friends are at Sugar Cube Corner, so could you maybe just hop over there and…?”

“Oh, certainly! I shall show them my new fashion!” Midnight Blue rolled her shoulders and launched herself over the roofs. Twilight grinned as she heard Midnight’s voice float back through the air: “Dear friends of Twilight Sparkle—” followed by a thump of landing and a resounding *CRACKOW!*

“AAAAAAAAH! IT’S NIGHTMARE MOON!” “RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!” “THE HORROR…!”

Twilight spun around, dropped on her haunches, and raised her hooves to her chest. “Victory! I am Twilight Sparkle, bombardier: She who makes the loudest of loud accoutrements! For Science! Ahahaha—!”

*K-K-K-KOW!* “TWILIGHT SPARKLE~!”

“Gulp.” Twilight spun back around, caught a glimpse of Midnight Blue’s white-burning eyes, and promptly teleported.

“I SHALL FIND YOU, CLEVER LITTLE FILLY! FEEL MY THUNDER!”

* * *

“Spike?”

*CRACKOWwwww!*

“Y-yeah, Rainbow?”

“That was, like, magic thunder, right? Like a Rainboom without the Rain?”

“Y-yeah.”

*KKKKKKrakow…*

“Midnight’s… totally… stolen my thunder.”

Comments

[dragonjek]

Did she just... make exploding armor?

[Toratchi888]

4978616 Do you not think that is--as the popular ponies put it:

...the bomb?

Also: go little Welsh mage, go!

[Kage no Brony]

4978616
4991314

Fun fact: A bombardier is also a rank in certain militaries.

Bombardier can also be a last name.

[Toratchi888]

5141957 Artillery corporals, and the dude who makes fine Canadian snowmobiles.

[AleaJactaEst]

It was hard, but I understood the humor, and oh, did I laugh