Chapter 7
Tender could feel an uneasiness in the morning air as she made her way through the vaulted halls of her patron's castle. It seemed, quieter than normal. True the castle was not normally a loud place, but there was always some low din that could be heard reverberating around the stone walls, yet today it was silent.
The silence was broken by the sound of sharp hoof steps on stone. Tender stopped her travel to face the sudden noise, only to find a guard come around a corner. Even stranger he was looking right at her as if he had been looking for her.
"Ma'am, Her Highness; Princess Luna has instructed me to direct you to head towards Her royal lounge." said the dark grey guard in a very professional if emotionless tone.
"Oh, may I ask if she said what for?" This was a surprise, usually, Luna would let Tender eat breakfast in the mornings before asking for her assistance.
"I am sorry Ma'am I was given no further information."
"Oh well, thank you, and have a good morning." Tender Bowed her head thankfully.
The guard responded with a salute and walked off down the corridor.
Tender couldn't help but stand and wonder what she was being summoned for, was it good, bad, urgent, or just being friendly.
'Dilly dallying won't provide any answers' she thought and set off towards the lounge.
"Good Morning Princess, you called for me?" Tender asked as she entered the silver inlaid doors she had come to memorize.
"Ah yes, please have a seat, make yourself comfortable." Luna motioned to one of the many plush chairs. "Can I interest you in some Chamomile?"
And so it was that Tender found herself sitting with her employer in a comfy chair while drinking Chamomile tea.
"So, how was your date last night? It would appear that all went well at the least, since you have not demanded that Nightfire be removed
Tender blushed at Luna's forwardness, but she could not hide her happy smile remembering how wonderful the date had been.
"Yes it was amazing Princess, Nightfire truly is a lovely Colt."
Luna's smile reached from ear to ear at the confirmation.
"That's good to hear."
Silence reigned in the cozy study as Luna seemed to mull over something she wanted to say. Tender wasn't sure what was going on but decided to press her luck, and see if she could get Luna to open up.
"Not to be rude princess, but what would this all be about?" Tender asked as she blew on the steaming cup of freshly brewed tea. "I can clearly see by your expression that you invited me here for more than idle chatter."
Luna took a moment to sip from her cup, "I am that easy to read, am I... I suppose there is no need to beat around the bush. Tender, I would like to consider you a friend, though our interactions may be on a professional level, I have gotten to know you through my son and my guard. As such I must confide to you that I am going to be returning to my position as a head of state."
"You mean you are going to return to being a princess again?" Tender asked.
Luna nodded but gave no verbal response.
Tender thought of the implications of what she had just learned, and while slightly shocking, Tender could find no real problems with the arrangement that had been proposed.
"Okay, how does this affect things as they are now?" Tender inquired
"Well for one, I will have to return to my nocturnal duties, but since I would prefer to spend time with my son in an acceptable fashion, I will simply have to sleep in the middle of the day. Spending breakfast and dinner with him as I can. As such there will be no one who can watch over Jack, my sister will be busy on the throne while I rest."
Luna sighed heavily while placing her cup on a side table. "What this all boils down to is that I am in need of a caretaker, and not just a tutor. As such I must formally ask you, Tender Hooves, are you willing to be my Hoof-Maiden?"
Tender wasn't sure how to feel, on one hoof the offer of an even higher job was tempting, but she was also loathe to jump into any kind of decision head first. "I have to ask Princess, what the job entails."
"That is a fair enough question." Luna took a moment to compile her thoughts in an orderly way.
"Well, foremost; any time that I am busy you will be in charge of taking care of my son. I will have to return to hosting a night court, along with assisting my sister in legislation during the afternoon, so you will have to take care of Jack for most of the day." Luna took another sip of tea. "I plan to move my sleeping schedule so that it falls after breakfast but ends before dinner, so that I may enjoy some quality time with my son. During the time in-between I expect you to continue educating my son."
Tender was taken by surprise at the intensity of Luna's gaze as she seemingly locked Tenders eyes in her vision as she continued speaking.
"But that is not all. Tender, if at any time I should go on a diplomatic trip, you will have to come with me. You will be given full access to the castle, and you will have to take my son with you if you plan to go out of the castle while I am occupied. As such his safety rests solely in your hooves, as such you should be aware that I am only trusting you as much as I am because we are friends. But should you attempt to abuse my leniency there will be dire consequences."
Then her gaze softened as she gained a sly smile. "Well, not completely anyway. I will of course be assigning one of my guards to you at all times. I am sure you have good relations with Nightfire yes?" Luna wiggled her eyebrows. "You can take my son anywhere you want so long as he agrees, and it is safe. Though if he is being stubborn for childish reasons feel free to take him anyway." Luna held her hoof to her chin in thought, "Oh yes and since you are my Hoof-Maiden, you also have my authority, to a reasonable degree. Should you abuse this power, well the privilege is part of the Hoof-Maiden clause, so you would have to be laid off."
Tender head was spinning from the thought of such a position. While the job itself didn't seem too hard, or abnormal, it also was obviously a large commitment and responsibility. Tender had no doubt in her mind that if something happened to Jack on her watch she would face the full fury of the Lunar Princess.
Despite the risks, Tender could see in the eyes of the mare across from her that Luna needed her help, that she was asking for Tender to assist her not only as an employee but also as a close friend.
"I accept your terms." Tender said with a warm smile.
"Thank you Tender, you have no idea how much this means to me." Luna smiled as she wrapped Tender in a friendly hug.
Tender found the action odd but comforting. Luna wasn't the most socially outgoing pony that she had ever met, but when she did react emotionally it tended to showcase her feelings openly. Tender gladly returned the hug.
After a moment the two dropped the hug.
One thing still bothered Tender though and she could not contain her curiosity. "If I may, why did you decide to return to your princessely duties?"
"Truthfully, I did not want to return, not while Jack was still young anyway. My sister was the one who convinced me to return. In my absence relations between us and the Gryphon Empire have been deteriorating, and our connection with the Crystal Kingdom has grown distant." Luna hung her head with a sigh. "And it is technically my fault, since my absence has forced my sister to take up more work than she could handle. Though I have no regrets about leaving; as a mother I will do what is necessary to make sure my son has a peaceful life."
"I had no idea that the situation was so significant." Tender was honestly astonished, as long as she could remember, the Gryphons and Crystal Ponies and been stalwart allies of Equestria, and for the two to have fallen out of touch was dire indeed.
"Neither did I. But alas that is in the past, now there is only what can be done to fix the problem. Dwelling on the could have's is not a particularly good habit." Luna said with a look of confidence. "I am sure through perseverance and hard work we will be able to reconnect with our allies and restore our bonds."
"And I too will give my all to assist you, my lady, I am at your beck and call." Tender curtsied with her statement, surprising the Lunar Princess.
Luna chuckled at Tender's attempt at proper etiquette. "While I appreciate the professionalism I must ask that you retain our somewhat casual relationship. While the position is real, I would prefer for us to stay on a friendly basis. Though, in the company of diplomats and the like, I believe procedure must be called upon for the sake of image."
"That I can do princess." Tender smiled as she returned to her normal behavior.
"Come now, I believe that enough time has been spent sitting around. There is work to be done, and I'm sure Jack would love to see you." Luna rose from her seat and made for the door.
However Tender was faster as she scrambled to hold the door for her employer.
Luna rolled her eyes at her friend's behavior as she acknowledged the kind act.
Princess Luna; Protector of Dreams, Creator of the Night Sky, Moon's Caretaker, adopted mother of one Human child, was not having a good day.
It all started that morning when a strongly worded letter was delivered to her by a guard.
Said letter was hastily written by her sister, begging and insisting to her that she must return to the throne. Apparently, in her absence, Celestia had become burdened with responsibilities and in her tiredness had not been able to keep up relations with the Crystal Kingdom and Gryphon Empire the only two allies that Equestria has ever had.
According to Celestia, the assigned diplomats had decided to take advantage of the lack of supervision to begin doing things the way they wanted. In just a few short years they had managed to create powerful connections between themselves and some very unscrupulous individuals. They then forsook their duties and the relationship between allies came burning down in a matter of days.
Luna knew not what to do in this situation at first, but after some self-reflection, she had decided to ask Tender Hooves if she would be willing to step up with her and assist her with helping Jack have a normal life, while also allowing her to resume her duties.
She had been grateful beyond words when Tender has said she would continue to help Luna. And the Lunar Princess knew deep down in her heart that Tender would do an excellent job so that she could focus on what needed to be done.
Compounding on the terribleness of the day, Luna spent far too many hours than she would have liked sitting in meeting with advisors as they caught her up to speed. She also knew she would later have to deal with Night Court.
Unfortunately, that was not the end of what made today so bad, no, what was worse was that she also still had to explain to her son, how she would not be able to spend much if any time with him from now on. The thought was almost heart-breaking.
'It's not forever Luna' She told herself 'Only until we can repair our relations, after that I can spend more time with him and maybe go back to a somewhat normal life'
It was perhaps not the most useful way to rationalize what was going to have to happen, but it at least gave her some hope for the future. She did not believe it would take long to route the traitors and reestablish communications with the Crystal Kingdom. The Gryphons on the other hoof might take longer, but she would deal with them after helping the Crystal Kingdom, and once that was done she could spend more time with her son!
Yes, that was all she had to do, one step at a time.
'Perhaps this will not be so bad." Luna thought as her advisors continued to talk about farming tax law changes.
Later that evening Luna found herself outside Jack's bedroom door. She had not been there long, but she wasn't sure how long she might continue standing there. Anything to keep her from having to have the conversation she was horribly dreading.
Unfortunately for her, her luck had run out for the day as the door opened to reveal Nightfire on his way out.
As his head turned to look out the door his eyes widened at the sight of the surprised Lunar Princess standing in front of him.
"Oh! Princess, I'm sorry I wasn't looking where I was going, uh, let me just get out of the way!" He hurriedly said as he scooted to the side allowing for Luna to pass through.
"Ah, thank you," She said nervously, stepping into the room her brain was in a panic trying to ready herself for what had to be done.
"If I may, I wish to spend some time with Jack alone," she said looking to both Tender and Nightfire.
The two nodded understandingly and after bidding Jack goodbye, they left together. Jack looked up curiously at his mother as she shut the door after the two lovebirds left.
"Mommy is everything okay?" He asked as he looked up at her innocently with his bright green eyes.
"Yes love, everything is okay. I just wanted to talk to you about something important." She said as she knelt down beside him and wrapped him in her wing. After taking a moment to compose her thoughts she began;
"Honey, Auntie Tia has been having a really hard time working alone recently." Looking down she saw Jack had his full attention on her "She has... She asked me to return to the throne as she needs my help."
"As such.. I am going to be v-very busy and I will have to s-start working at nights again" she could feel her will breaking by the moment. Taking a deep breath to calm herself she started again "T-that means I won't be able to spend as much time with you any-anymore" She could feel her eyes starting to water. "But that's al-alright be-because Ms. Tender is go-going to be ta-taking care of you o-ok?" She could feel the tears starting to run down her cheeks. But despite this, she kept a fake smile for Jack.
Then Jack hugged her neck hard. "Mommy it's okay, I understand. Just like Tender can't spend all day with Nightfire."
Luna let out a sob as she hugged her son back. "Yes Jack that's right, But I won't be g-gone all day, I'll wake you in the morning for b-breakfast, and I-I'll be there to put you to bed t-too."
"Mommy don't cry, I'm your big tough knight, I will be okay, and I like Ms. Tender too," Jack said as he snuggled into his mother.
Luna let out a sad laugh, "Who taught you about Knights little one?"
At this Jack perked up and happily explained "Mr. Nightfire did! He told me all about what he does and about Knights too!"
Luna wiped her eyes as Jack began to tell her about all the things he did with Nightfire and Tender today. Slowly but surely she could feel a smile re-appear on her face the longer they talked.
'This will work just fine.' she thought happily as she enjoyed her night with her son.
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Awwyeah, an update for a lovely story.
Finally!!!
Hooray
Love this chapter. Waiting for the next 🙂
At long last, it has returned.
Now for potential errors:
The comma seems unnecessary.
The semicolon looks like it should be a regular colon.
Uppercase B should be lowercase.
won't
Missing quotation marks at the end.
‘‘at the intensity’’
Tender's
abuse?
Should there be a comma after ‘well’?
One ‘the’ too many.
friend's
That part feels off, but I cannot tell what it is supposed to be.
It's
Maybe there should be a comma before ‘Luna’?
your
I forgot how good this story is!
Yes! I'm happy that your updating thisbagain ^.^ great chapter by the way. I wonder how your going to continue the store. I'm excited thinking about it!
all i can say is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJbmB9k2Y88
10316625
Hey! Thanks for the help! :D
I don’t have the easiest time going through and error checking my chapters since I do most of my writing on my phone.
Also autocorrect is a beach :P
so when will the next chapter come out?
10430318
SoonTm
Can’t wait for the next chapter
10432438
How soon? Because it’s been a looooong soon witch will be still extending until it ends.
I wished there was more chapters