Solar Eclipse

by keithsterling

chapter 5

~It three weeks later in that same six month~

Walking through the marble tiles corridors of the Grand Royal Palace on her way to one of the many guest rooms in this part of the palace carrying fresh bedding was good looking 5ft 11in blue bodied unicorn mare with champagne pink mane and tail. Her superb physically fit equine figure was attired in peach color slightly below the knee length dress of the standard uniform of a Royal Maids, and on her bare feet were white slip-on shoes. This unicorn mare was Royal Maid Mirebelle Orderly and former head Royal Maid for Prince Somnus Silverlight.

After Princess Luna Silverlight, Princess Cadance Sparkle and the Royal Foals were branded traitors to Equestria, Daybreaker in the disguise of Princess Celestia Silverlight. Systematically started to arrest the royal head maids of the five traitors and sent them to Canterlot city prison. Word on the street has it that the royal head maids sent to the prison are being subjected to humiliating interrogations in an attempt to locate the traitors.

As the Head Royal Maid serves a dual role as a personal servant and secretary for their royalty. To keep herself safe, Mirabelle used a little know fact that Somnus her royal told her one day. With so many Royal maids working at the Grand Royal Palace at any giving time, the Royal Palace Guards can't keep track of individual mares.

That job falls to the Princess' elite protections unit, the Solar Guard, who been able to keep track of the Royal Maids who serve the royalty. The only way that Royal Palace Guards know that she was Head Royal Maid was a royal purple uniform she must wear, went accompany their royal. She quickly replaced her head royal maid royal purple uniform with a peach-colored standard uniform of a normal royal maid, allowing her to continue working secretly at the palace.

"Oh?" Mirabelle exclaim surprised as she saw out of the corner of her eye something moving in shadow following her down the marble tiles corridors.

"All right," Mirabelle said softly as she continues down the hallway to the further guest room in the hall with a white pedestal in front of the door. She paused momentarily to slip her blue bare feet out of her shoes and pitter-patter barefooted into the room.

A week earlier, why she stripped the old bedding off a bed in one of the guest room to replace it with the fresh linen, a hidden Prince Somnus spotted her wearing the standard peach-colored royal maid uniform. He secretly approached her in the guest room and was a surprise that she was safe, after being branded a traitor by the faker. During the encounter, Mirabelle informed Somnus that other head royal maids were arrest and sent to the Canterlot city prison.

She implored Somnus to rescue the other head royal maids from the prison as no mare deserves that kind of treatment. That night a hand-picked, highly trained Solar Guard rescue team freed the other head royal maids from the penitentiary and reunited them with their royalty. The head maids now fight at the side of their royal. Unfortunately, Lynda White, the unicorn head royal maid for Princess Aurora Silverlight, was rescued comatose as she was subjected to the worst of the interrogations. Now she slowly recovering in a small hospital run by Princess Blueberry Aurora's little sister.

"Tee-hee tee-hee." Mirabelle laughs as an invisible finger stroke the bare sole of her bare blue foot that rests on the bed she was making.

Suddenly Mirebelle's jade green eyes begins to glow solid white through Shadow Sight Ability that was taught to her by Princess Luna Silverlight, a skill that only the Head Royal maids of both Somnus and Luna know. She spots the outline of the transparent hand and wrist of her troublemaker; she follows the arms up till she reaches the face of Prince Somnus Silverlight, her royal.

"Now stop that your highness and come out of the shadows," Mirabelle said a bit agitated but not mad as Somnus drops his Shadow Walk Ability and appears before Mirabelle.

"I couldn't help myself, Mirabelle. You keep your feet so pristine, it too hard to resist tickling them a little bit." Somnus said playfully as Mirabelle sits down on the edge of the bed and crosses her leg over the other. Before resting her elbow on her knee and rest her chin on the palm of her hand.

"Just be happy that I am dedicated to you, your highness. If I wasn't, I wouldn't let you get away with tickling me like that. Beside as your head royal maid, Somnus, I must look my best to accompany my royal as his secretary and companion." Mirabelle explains as she smiles at Somnus.

"All right, Mirabelle? What do you have to report to me? Before I get the urge to tickle both of those pristine feet of yours." Somnus inquiry with a playful warning to her as it causes Mirabelle to chuckle.

"Anyway, Somnus. It seems that Sun Princess Twilight Sparkle is starting to get suspicious of that faker on the throne. I caught her snooping around your mother's room a couple of times went I was cleaning that area of the palace." Mirabelle reports as Somnus blink with surprise.

"Snooping around my mother's room? Why?" Somnus inquiry as his eyes blinks with incredulity.

"It seems that several normal royal maids have disappeared on that side of the palace. Went you ask the faker about it. She tells you that the royal maids had decided to quit their position." Mirabelle explains as Somnus looks a bit puzzled.

"What is so unusual about that, Mirabelle? Over half of the royal maids are temporary positions. So they come and go regularly." Somnus explains as Mirabelle shook her head.

"You are correct about that, Somnus. They do come and go regularly. But the royal maids that have disappeared are permanent positions. None of them are temporary." Mirabelle comments as Somnus gasps.

"I seem what you mean, Mirabelle. Mother is pretty generous with paying those permanent positions. So why quit that position, it makes no sense to leave that many bits on the table. If that what going on, I order you Head Royal Maid Mirebelle Orderly leave the palace at once and head to the Whitetail woods. The Solar Guard unit members know you are my head royal maid and will let you in." Somnus commands as Mirabelle stood up.

She pulls on a blue rope opening a secret passage in the wall. Before leaving Somnus, she kisses him on his lips and makes him promise that he will see her at the secret rebel camp went he finish this mission.

He watches the secret passage close behind her, and he reassumes his shadow walk ability. For the next few minutes, he makes his way to the private living area of Grand Royal Palace, the location of the Royal family's bedrooms. Once in the area, Somnus makes his way down the fine marble tiles corridor toward his mother's bedroom. He arrives at a solid wooden door with a carved stylized sun design on it, the entrance to his mother's room. Regularly two top Solar Guard security guards are posted at his mother's door at all times to protect the Princess. But due to the rebellion, no security guards are posted here at all.

He pushes opens the wooden door and walks into the bedroom of his mother, Princess Celestia Silverlight. The four walls of her grand bedroom are painted in light blue paint with a mint green trim. Toward the center of the room was his mother's Alicorn size mattress covered by fresh bedding. An unlit fireplace sat to one side of her room, why on the other side along oak dresser fill the wall. Until it hit a huge oak wardrobe with all his' mother's clothing and shoes in it.There was nothing unusual about his mother's bedroom until he used his shadow sight ability.

Suddenly hidden by a shadow gate spell was a huge passageway, he walked through the opening on the other side was a long tunnel. A few more feet down the tunnel, it opens onto an 8 x 12 sized octagon room in the center of the room was a long table with four steel clamps for holding pony morphs to the table.

"By my mother's light!" Somnus exclaims, finding nude corpses of every missing Royal Maid that disappeared from the palace.

A closer look at one of the unicorns reveals that the mare was drained of all her life force. Somnus examined the wrists and ankles of the same mare only to discover bruising from the clamps on the table.

Suddenly Somnus heard fearful crying coming from a nearby room, looking through the barred window into the cell he saw a 5ft 5in beautiful purple pegasi mare with a pink mane and tail her wings were tied securely to her back. She was still wearing her royal maid uniform but had her shoes removed, leaving her barefooted.

"Bonnie Starsong, is that you?" Somnus asked as the pegasi mare get to her feet and looks toward the barred window.

"Your Highness!" Bonnie exclaims as Somnus' face appears in the window, and tears begin running down her cheeks.

"Please, your highness releases me from this cell. I don't want to be drained of my life force. Like your Royal Maid Anne Skydancer. That monster pretending to be your mother tied me to a chair and forces me to watch her drain the life force out her, it was horrifying. She told me fear makes the life force taste divine." Bonnie said her voice cracking as he opens the cell door.

A moment later, Bonnie rushes out of the cell to hug her rescuer with that Somnus asks her to turn around so he could cut her wings free. Once her wings are free, she quickly stretches them to loosen them and folds them onto her back once again. Somnus grabs hold of her hand and leads her to the passage. As Bonnie passes the long table with the four steel clamps, she begins to gulp air furiously, sensing his pegasi mare distress. He pulls his pegasi mare companion to him and hugs her tightly to reassure her that she is safe. The kind gesture reminds Bonnie why all the Royal Maids remain loyal to their royal. As it, the job of Royal Maids to be the last line of defense for their royal, the royal, in turn, protects them went that not needed.

"Your Highness, all these mares deserve their dignity to be restored and not left in this state by that monster. But I know that is impossible. But at least could you use your stronger magic to restore the dignity of Royal maid Anne Skydancer she was loyal like me to you." Bonnie asked to sadden as a tear runs down her cheek with a wave of his hand.

Somnus creates a makeshift dress out of the scraps of fabrics from around the room, and it appears on the nude body of Anne Skydancer. He could swear a smile formed on the still lips of pegasi mare's corpse. He is soon snapped out of it went he felt a soft kiss being placed on his cheek by Bonnie to thank him for restoring her friend's dignity to her.

As the two ponies emerge from the shadow gate into brighter lights of his mother's bedroom, it takes only a moment for Somnus' eyes to adjust to change of brightness as he had been using his shadow sight ability the whole time. He is taking back went he is finally able to lay his eyes on pegasi mare he just rescued from that dark prison. Royal Maid Bonnie Starsong was drop-dead gorgeous pegasi mare with a perfectly sleek figure for flying.

"Y-y-y-your highness, Please stops staring at me. I don't like ponies stare at me." Bonnie said, struggling to control quavering in her voice.

"Tell me, Miss Starsong? How is that I have never actually laid my eyes on you before now? I have at least seen each of my royal maids at least once during their routine duties. But still, I have never seen you." Somnus inquiry as Bonnie shook her head and blush.

"Normally, I wait for you to leave on your royal duties before I join the cleaning crew to straighten your room. I get very nervous went I am around you." Bonnie said her voice breaking as Somnus does a quick evaluation of her.

"I simply can't have that, Miss Starsong. Went this all over, you are being promoted to my traveling group of Royal Maids as a chief maid. Which means you will be assigned pale purple uniform and ivory white strap sandals. Plus you will get an increase in your salary. You must also adhere to keeping yourself pristine from head to foot. Now with that done, a quick escape from the palace and fly to Whitetail woods. Inform the Countess of what going on at the palace." Somnus said as he ushers Bonnie onto his mother's balcony so she can take flight, before taking off, she sneaks a kiss on his lips.

As Bonnie disappears into the distance, Somnus notices the doorknob turning on his mother's bedroom door. Quickly he ducks behind one of the larger flower pots that decorate his mother's grand bedroom as his shadow walk ability must recharge for a few minutes before he can use it again. From his hidden position behind the flower pot Somnus' heart pounds in his chest. Slowly the door opens, and in enters, a beautiful 5ft 5in purple Alicorn mare with moderate sapphire blue, moderate violet, and brilliant rose streaked mane and tail.

Her fit equine figure was encased in green mid-knee length short sleeve sheath dress and gold pumps on her bare feet. Somnus' lips curled with disgust upon seeing this Alicorn mare wearing his mother's original gold tiara on her head, an artifact she has not earned. This Alicorn mare was Sun Princess Twilight Sparkle and formally the Princess of friendship. Quickly Somnus regains control of his disgust toward that Alicorn mare.

'From what Mirabelle told me, Twilight is starting to get suspicious of that faker on the Throne of the Sun. But how suspicious is she toward that fake Princess Celestia Silverlight? I think a little talk is in order.' Somnus thought as he lifted his hand up and whipped his fingers in the air.

This gesture caused Twilight's horn to become stasis locked as magical bindings locked her extremity and wings in place. As Twilight lay on the ground of the fake Celestia's bedroom with her eyes tightly closes, her body trembled with fear. She figures that the fake Celestia finally discovers her snooping around her bedroom and decided to silence her, to keep her secret. Soon she felt someone pick her up and carry her short distance before laying her on a soft spot (she figure the bed).

Slowly she opens her moderate violet eyes and is relieved that it is not the fake Celestia but is saddened that it was the real Celestia's son Prince Somnus Silverlight. Before all this started, she was trying to build a bond of friendship with him. She was kind of jealous of the friendship between him and Rarity. After concluding his royal business with her at the Castle of Friendship, waiting outside the throne room was Rarity with her purse.

The two unicorns would greet each other and leave the castle together, discussing along the way where to stop for lunch and who will pay for it. During her Royal duties in Ponyville, she would encounter the pair at various places around town. Both would have a huge smile on their snouts, which make her even more jealous of them. One time at a brand new café in Ponyville, Twilight encounter the pair they were discussing something between themselves.

The moment she approached the table, the two stopped talking and greeted her as a friend. After being called by spike her number one assistant to a scheduled appointment, the pair went back to talking. Out the corner of her eyes, as she was walking away from the table, she noticed Somnus looking at her and shaking his head, why Rarity was explaining something to him.

~Back to the Present~

"Now, let have a little talk, Your Highness," Somnus said mysteriously as he begins to remove Twilight's gold pumps from her small purple bare feet with red nail polish.

Twilight shook her head frantically no pony knows, except for maybe a dragon that the soles of her feet are uniquely sensitive to a light touch. Somnus barely touch Twilight's sole with his finger went she arched her back and unleashed a muted No. This caught Somnus totally by surprise as a smile form on his snout. He touches the magical binding on her snout and makes it disappear, so she can speak.

"Were is my real mother? Your highness? Or do I have to tickle these unique soles?" Somnus inquiry brings his fingers close to Twilight's bare feet.

"Please your highness, don't tickle me! I honestly don't know where your real mother is, that the honest truth. But you just confirmed my suspicions of that fake Celestia." Twilight answers as her chin sunk dejectedly into her chest with a snap of his fingers the magical bindings vanished, allowing her to sit-up.

"Went did you know, Twilight?" Somnus inquiry as she leaves her feet in place, knowing if she moves them, Somnus will stop believing her.

"Not right away, your highness. I have known your mother for a long time. As the civil war dragged on into months, that fake Celestia never forgave the royal foals for betraying her. Even at her worst, your mother always sheds a tear. That fake Celestia never did. Then those Royal Maids started to disappear from around the palace went the fake Celestia started to get weak. After the first disappearance of a Royal Maid, the fake Celestia would be invigorated." Twilight explains as Somnus slips Twilight's pumps back on her feet.