Your Faithful Student, Buggy Brush

by BUGFlower413

Chapter 4 - Your Faithful Student

Chapter 4: Your Faithful Student

It was the morning after that nightmare. Buggy just opened his eyes and the first thing he did was making his way to the castle, not without explaining Darky the whole situation, of course, how he met Luna inside of his dreams and that she found the necklace after they left the day before. Darky offered to go with him, but he knew she was still tired after all the searching they did. He told her to stay there and relax, that he would be fine, and that’s what she did, she stayed at home, drinking some morning coffee while listening to some music while Buggy headed to the castle.

He was a little nervous, that’s no news, but he wasn’t as quite as nervous as the day of the tour, probably because of the conversation he had with Luna just some hours ago. He felt a little intimidated and defenseless again, but her hug made him feel comfortable, it made him realize Luna understood what he was talking about, those feelings. She understood him, and that made him feel something really special.

He was getting close to the castle and the memories of what happened during the tour were coming back to his head. In moments like this he would really like to feel the protective wing of his friend over his back, but he couldn’t depend always on her, he had to do this on his own. He stopped walking, took some seconds to breath and calm down and continued his way until he arrived.

Just like the other time, Luna was waiting outside of the castle alongside some guards. She came closer to him to greet him. Buggy bowed to her without saying anything. He was still trying to figure out what would be the most adequate way to say hello.

“There is no need to do that, Buggy Brush,” she said with a calm and soft voice. “I’m glad to meet you again.”

“I- I’m glad too,” he responded nervously.

Luna told the guards that he was allowed to pass, but unlike the day before, this time she didn’t go ahead, instead she tried to walk at the same speed as Buggy and a little closer to him. He seemed nervous, and his friend was not there this time to help him with it, so she tried to make him feel as comfortable as possible. He noticed Luna had to slow down to follow his pace, so he tried to walk just a little faster. They remained in silence during the time they were walking, it was not an awkward kind of silence though, Luna knew he was a little shy after all.

Eventually, Luna stopped in the middle of a hallway where she met with one of the royal guards who levitated a little red box to her. She walked towards Buggy again and gave him the box with the necklace inside. He opened it and in that same moment a huge smile took place on his face as he put it on again.

“OH, SWEET CELESTIA! I WAS SO SO SCARED OF NOT FINDING IT AGAIN!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!”

Luna couldn’t help but giggling a little while he was prancing of happiness. It was the first time she saw him smile and she surely was happy of that. She turned her head to the guard and nodded at him, and the guard proceeded to leave them alone.

“Buggy Brush?”

“Yes, your Highness?” he said still smiling.

“I wanted to talk with you about something.”

“Yes? What is it?”

Luna took a breath before responding. Buggy seemed to be fine, but this time she was the one who was feeling a little nervous.

“I have been thinking about what happened last night in your dream and about what you told me.”

He was so happy about getting back his necklace that he completely forgot that happened, and after remembering it his smile turned into an expression of concern. He didn’t know in what he had gotten himself into by telling her all of that, but whatever it was, he was not sure if he was ready for it.

“You know? You remind me a lot of somepony.”

“Do I?”

“Yes. Somepony who also had those same struggles you have and passed through the same things you are passing through, but in a different way.” -she paused for a second and looked away- “Somepony who also needed to learn to accept herself.”

He just looked at her without knowing what to say.

“You remind me a lot of… me.”

She took some more steps toward him.

“I know how you feel, Buggy, and how hard it can be sometimes.”

He looked to the ground.

“But it is always a little easier if you share those feelings with somepony else.”

“I know. Darky always tells me that.”

“So, you and her have talked about it before I suppose?”

“Yes, we have. She’s always the one who talks sense into me, and aside from that, I have another friend who also helps me with it whenever she cans.”

“I’m glad to hear that you don’t have to deal with it alone.”

“Yeah…”

Suddenly Buggy felt Luna’s wing grasp his chin to lift his head, so his eyes could meet hers.

“I want to help you with that too.”

He was not expecting that at all.

“W- wait, what do you mean?”

Luna took another breath before answering his question.

“After what I saw in your nightmares, I have been thinking about… something, to help you I mean. Some way I could help you using the knowledge from my own experiences.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“Buggy Brush,” -she released his chin and took a couple of steps back- ”You know who Twilight Sparkle is, don’t you?”

“Of course I know. How could I not know one of the Elements of Harmony?”

“Then you know how she ended up being one, right?”

He doubted for a moment before responding. He wanted to make sure he was saying the right thing.

“Yes. She was sent by Princess Celestia to Ponyville to organize the Summer Sun Celebration and to make some friends, then Nightmare Moon came back after a thousand years and they defeated her using the Elements, saving you in the process.”

“That’s correct.”

Buggy was confused. Where was Luna trying to get?

“Excuse me, your Highness, but I don’t understand. What does it have to do with this situation?”

“My sister, Celestia, was Twilight’s mentor, not only from the School of Gifted Unicorns when she was younger, but her mentor in the ways of Friendship.”

Luna walked a little further into the hallway, Buggy following her, until they both were standing right in front of a window with the image of Twilight and her six friends.

“She knew Twilight needed to learn a lesson. She needed to learn the true value and importance of Friendship,” she said looking at the window, then turned her head to look at Buggy again. “Something similar happens with you, but not with Friendship, since I can clearly see you already understand it, but with another really important thing: self-love.”

Buggy, who was still looking at the window, turned his head at her.

“You need to learn how to accept yourself as you are to truly defeat your inner demons. That’s why I wanted to ask you something really important.”

“What is it?” He asked with a mix of calm and nervousness in his voice.

“Would you like to be my student, Buggy Brush?”

That question made him lose contact with the reality for a moment. What was going on? Was he still sleeping? Was all of this just a dream inside of his head, or was it truly happening?

“W- what? I… I don’t get it. Princess… y- you…”

“Yes, I’d like you to be my student,” she said firmly, but with a soft voice and a little smile, “if you accept, of course.”

“Of course I do, I just… don’t know how to react to this. I wasn’t expecting- *sniff* -I was not ready for this.”

His voice cracked. Buggy had tears on his eyes, but this time they were from happiness. He felt a little overwhelmed by emotions, he was not expecting that at all. Going to the castle to get his necklace back and returning being Princess Luna’s student? He couldn’t wait to see Darky’s reaction when he told her.

“It is fine, and I’m more than happy you accepted,” said Luna while she approached to him to wipe one of his tears with her wing. “I may not be as experience as my sister when it comes to teaching, but I hope I can still help you in a way.”

He wiped his tears and tried to articulate an answer.

“Thank you, your Highness. I’m really, really grateful for this.”

“Don’t mention it, and you don’t need to call me ‘your Highness’ all the time, you know? You can just call me Luna.”

“Wouldn’t that be a little… disrespectful?”

Luna shrugged with her eyes closed as an answer.

Once Buggy had completely calmed down, she explained to him how being her student would work. It was not like being Celestia’s student, not even close. Since it was something more personal and more related to self-reflection, Luna thought the best way to help him would be to reunite with Buggy at least thrice a week in his dreams, so she would be able to talk with him, analyze him a little further and share some experiences with him, like some kind of psychologist, and if he needed something or wanted to tell her about his progress, he could write her a letter. He was fine with that idea (of course he was), so it was sealed.
They kept talking for a while until it was almost noon. It seemed like all the nervousness and shyness Buggy had had disappeared, being now more open and enthusiastic. They were having a good time, but it was time to go, he didn’t wanted Darky to get worried about him taking so long.

“One more thing: Remember, there’s no deadline for the letters, so no pressure about it.”

“Ok, I promise not to stress about it,” he responded smiling. “Wait, before I go, I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Did you know the necklace was mine? When you found it I mean.”

“I suspected so.”

“How?”

“Well, you were clearly trying to hide something yesterday under your scarf. It has been a lot hotter this last weeks, and a pony wearing a scarf with this weather it’s not something really believable.”

He didn’t think of that.

“Oh, that’s a fair point.”

She giggled.

They both said goodbye to each other and parted ways until their next encounter. Buggy was still processing everything that happened that morning, while Luna was going to get some well-deserved sleep, feeling happy and a little nervouscited (as a certain pink pony would say) about what was going to happen next, but she was sure of one thing: She made the right decision.