A young Human child is orphaned in Equestria, Princess Luna is the first to discover the child and takes it upon herself to care for the child among her many responsibilities.
On the continent of Chreathail, there exists a new pony nation. Formed on the dying embers of the three pony tribes, the country is unified in Harmony and guided through Chaos by its seeming immortal alicorn princesses.
After their success in defeating Discord with the Elements of Harmony, Equestria has had the luxury of nearly a century of peace and prosperity. Quickly the equestrians set to work, becoming the largest exporter of food and craft goods. With the power of Harmony, pony-kind seemed wholly unchallengeable. Yet, just beneath the skin of the seemingly perfect kingdom, there exists a dark secret. A single generation of peace cannot wholly erase the ideas of old. Prejudice and thoughts superiority are not so easily extinguished, yet they lie dormant, biding their time.
With the unexpected appearance of a foreign being, everything is about to change. The world will be thrown back into Chaos, hard choices will have to be made. Tragedy will strike, and the Royal Sisters will have to decide if Harmony can truly persist in a world so unexpectedly cruel.
This story is based only about 100~ years after the original imprisonment of discord, well before nightmare moon ever happened.
Sex, violence, and tragedy tags are mainly for things that will happen later on in the story. It won’t have any real impact on most of the beginning of the story, however, this series overall will get dark.
Now with awesome cover art done by the talented Pigeonsmall!
The moon rose high into the sky, as the horizon transitioned from a beautiful orange to a rich violet eventually fading into a pitch black, only to be lit by the radiant light from the moon and the stars painted beautifully onto the night sky. The disappearance of the sun signified the end of another day, as ponies and other creatures got ready to sleep, one particular midnight blue alicorn's night was only beginning. With a sigh Princess Luna; co-ruler of Equestria and younger sister to Princess Celestia, turned from her balcony on her tower in the castle of two sisters. As she made her way through her room, she donned her royal chest piece and crown, giving herself a once over in the large standing mirror she deemed her mane and tail to be in good condition. Walking over to her oaken door, she gave one last thought to simply going back to bed. But she could not, for Princess Luna was in charge of night court; which was a chance for her subjects to bring forward any issues that were not taken care of during day court. Or it would be, if anypony actually showed up. Instead it normally turned into several hours of sitting on a throne hoping somepony might bring forward a complaint or request.
As she made her way through the hallways, she saw several servants and maids pass by, most likely on their way home, she greeted a few of the ones she knew and nodded to the others. Her subjects gave a short greeting or a tired bow, she could not blame them, the day shift had been working from sunrise all the way to sunset. Still it hurt her to know that even the ponies under her employment would be sleeping through her night.
Reaching her destination, Luna took her seat upon the throne in the room. Time trickled by as she awaited to see if any of her subjects would show up. As time passed by and the moon traveled higher into the sky, Luna decided that tonight would progress as every other. Slouching a little so as to relieve the pressure on her spine, the princess of the night began to meditate.
While Luna surely could have brought something to do, she was worried what it would look like to her subjects if they showed up and she was distracted. Instead she found that she could use this time to do her second job; dream walking. Princess Luna was in charge of keeping her subjects dreams safe from the demons lurking in the dream realm; a place that connects the physical and spiritual worlds.
As Luna was attending to her subjects dreams, she suddenly felt a surge of fear and power wash throughout the dreamscape, thinking that a pony was under attack from a powerful nightmare she made her way over to the dream from which the fear was emanating. But when she got there what she saw confused her, or rather what she didn't see, in the spot where the fear had been emanating only a moment before there was nothing. No dream, not even the trace of a consciousness could be found. This worried her, taking a moment to actually look at where the dreamer may have been she found that the dreamer would have to have been inside the castle grounds considering how close it was to her consciousness.
Deciding this needed to be looked into, Luna started to pull herself from the dream realm, as she was returning back to her body, she distantly heard a guard trying to get her attention.
"pr.. cess"
"Prin ... es"
"PRINCESS"
"WAH, DO NOT SCARE A PRINCESS AS SUCH!" Yelled Luna, she had known the guard was there she had not been expecting him to have been yelling right in her face.
"I'm truly sorry my princess" Said the thestral guard, quickly giving a bow. "But there is an emergency and you were unresponsive."
"Emergency? What is going on?" asked Luna quickly getting up from her throne, her guard joining her.
"In the gardens, we found something, and we thought it best to get you or your sister." Explained the guard as they trotted risky through the hallways.
"That will be quite all right, I can handle whatever this problem may be." Said Luna, she knew she should tell her sister, but she wanted to prove at least to her guard that she was fit to co-rule. She wanted to show she was just as capable as her sister.
'I have made a grave mistake' thought luna as she looked at the scene before her, what she had been expecting was a grand battle, maybe against a dangerous beast like a manticore. What she was not expecting was her guards to be surrounding a small wicker basket, with a crying bundle of cloth inside, or more accurately a crying infant of some sort. Had it not been for the bright intelligent eyes, she may have mistaken it for a pet of some sort.
"Tis just an infant, nothing to fear. Somepony must have forgotten it, yes that is it, if we put up a found poster somepony should come retrieve them." Her guards seemed to stand down, but she knew despite her words that this was not the case, deep down she knew that something magical, something strange had happened. Moving closer she saw that the creature had some black hairs on its head and bright sea green eyes.
"You are but a wee thing, I wonder what your name is?" As if to answer her question she noted a piece of parchment inside the basket. Levitating it to herself she read:
To Whomever finds my baby,
Please take care of my baby, he comes from royal blood but he will not be recognized by his father. He is illegitimate, made from the mistakes of a drunken girl and a lustful prince. Now this prince is a king and he does not want me tainting his reputation, he would rather kill me and my son then support us.
I have gotten the assistance of a great and powerful mage to help me, and I am unsure as to where he will go, so for the sake of being thorough;
This is my son, he is a male. His or rather our species is called Human. We eat both vegetables and meat, and it is required that we get enough meat to sustain us. He is past breast feeding stage so milk is only an option not a requirement.
Oh and his name is Jack his last name does not matter, and no matter what please keep my baby safe.
Thank you.
As Luna read the note she saw that it had wet spots on the paper, as if the writer had been crying. Looking over to the now silent infant she saw that it was looking at her. Thinking over what she had just read she realized something, this child had been abandoned, it had no one coming to look for it and no one to go looking for. The child of a mistake; unwanted, despised, unloved. She wanted to help, but what would she do? Put it in an orphanage? Where it would likely never be adopted, eventually running away only to die alone and cold?
No, she would not let this happen, she would raise it herself if she had too, but she would be damned if she let this poor child be ostracized, just like her. It then occurred to her that this child had a few things in common with her, and that maybe just maybe this child was exactly what she needed.
Looking back to the note she read the last sentence over again in her head, 'Please keep my baby safe' coming to a decision within her self, she made a silent promise.
The first week had been rough on Luna, between trying to figure out what to do with the child and doing her appointed jobs. She remembered how bad it had been the first day after finding the child.
"CHILD CEASE YOUR CRYING AT ONCE!" Yelled Luna, as she smushed a pillow into her face to try and block out the infantile cries. Luna had not thoroughly thought out where she was going to keep the child, opting to have it sleep in her room. What she had not accounted for, because she was not and had never been a mother, was for the child to cry. And cry the child did, quite loudly as well. The other problem was the the child decided to do so early in the morning.
Now, normally Luna would have handled the situation much better, if she had not been woken only a scant few hours after having fallen asleep. Luna was nocturnal so to speak, slept for most the day and awake for all the night. The child however was obviously on another time schedule. Plus, he had almost instantly fallen asleep after she had brought him inside, so she had figured he would at least sleep a little longer than he had.
"Child... Jack stop crying please!" Begged Luna opting to use Jack's name seeing as she should get used to calling him such. To her surprise Jack seemed to quiet down a little at her words. And then promptly started right back up again.
"Ugh, Jack what's wrong? Dear Faust I wish you could talk." Complained the blue princess. At this moment she heard a grumbling sound, looking down at her stomach she realized that it had not been her. Looking at Jack she saw that he was quiet now.
"Oh, OH, oh, oooooohhhhhhhh." Oh'ed Luna. "You're hungry aren't you?! Ok I can fix that!" Said Luna just a wee bit insanely. "Just stay right there I'll be right back!"
She left the room so fast she left behind a dust cloud. Returning a minute later, she had a small basket with assorted baby foods, a spoon, and a bib. Lifting Jack out of his basket she noticed that there was a cloth wrapped around his legs, figuring it some kind of loin cloth Luna decided that she would probably have to toilet train, or at minimum get more made. Laying the bib over Jack's neck, Luna proceeded to take a small scoop of food from the baby food container and put the spoon in front of Jack. Jack for his part tried to understand what was happening, Luna saw this and huffed.
"Are you not hungry any longer?" She asked somewhat heatedly. "Or are you being difficult on purpose?"
'What was it my parents did to get me and tia to eat again?' Wondered Luna, 'ah yes, I remember now'
"Hey Jack," said luna. "Here comes the Pegasus!"
The next problem had been Jack's inability to use the bathroom. And while Luna could understand the necessity, she was still not happy about having to change smelly loin cloths every day.
But that all paled in comparison to when Jack started crawling around. She knew he could crawl she had seen him do it before, but she had figured that he would not go far, but at day three she really wished she had payed more attention.
"Alright Jack I will be right in here, don't go anywhere now." Said Luna as she went into her bathroom. She had awoken with a bad case of bed mane, and decided she should probably straighten it out before day court. See her sister had left yesterday to go on a trip to the gryphon empire to do some sort of diplomatic stuff. Luna was not very well versed in politics. But while her sister was away she was left in charge of day court, so she had to change her sleeping schedule to match Jack's which made it easier to get up and feed him. But she knew once her sister returned she was going to have a hard time getting back into her old ritual.
As she was brushing her hair her mind started to wander, she thought about if she should tell Celestia about Jack yet. She had refrained from telling her sister at first because she wanted to be independent but then her sister had left and she wondered if maybe she should have told her sister. Jack was becoming a real hoof full and while Luna's pride said she was doing a fine job her logical side told her she needed some help. 'It matters not now, Tia is far away and can not help me currently.'
Realizing she should probably check on Jack, she went to look out the door. The hair brush in her magical grip fell to the floor as she was shocked to find or rather not find Jack anywhere to be seen. 'It's alright Luna he's probably just hiding somewhere,' she tried to calm herself.
"Jack, where have you gone?" She asked hoping to maybe hear him give one of his silly giggles or babble. Silence. Starting to worry, Luna started searching her room, under every piece of furniture, behind every drape, under and in her bed. But Jack was no where to be found.
"Jack?! JACK?! WHERE ARE YOU?" Luna was thoroughly panicking now. Opening the door of her room she began to search the hallway. Checking behind pots and plants, looking under tables and other decorative furniture. checking drapes and carpet. No matter how hard she looked she could not find Jack.
'I can't break my promise! Not now! It's only been three days, and I've already lost him!' Panic was thoroughly coursing through Luna's mind as she became more frantic, searching in vases and under paintings. Tears started to form in Luna's eyes as she thought about what might have happened to him. Her eyes widened as she realised where she had not checked yet; the balcony just down the hallway. Moving quickly Luna galloped full speed towards where she knew the balcony was located.
As she rounded the last corner she saw the pale figure of Jack looking over the edge of the balcony, his body small enough to fit between the safety bars.
"Jack! Come away from there it is dangerous!" She yelled, she felt her heart stop as Jack turned to look at her, while losing his holding as he began to fall over the edge.
Everything slowed for Luna as she unfurled her powerful wings, not wasting anytime and rushing after the falling form of Jack. Jack's small form gave little to no resistance to the air around him, as he dropped like a living rock. Despite Luna's powerful wings she simply was not catching up to Jack.
'I will not fail you Jack!' She thought giving her even more energy as she used her magic to go even faster, slowly catching up to the infant projectile. When she was within grasping range she used her forelegs to grab and hold Jack to her chest. Her eyes went wide when she saw how close to the ground they had gotten. Trying to pull off without crushing the small body in her hooves proved to be too much to late. Curling her whole body around the small form and wrapping her wings around herself, Luna braced for impact. When she hit the ground it was at an angle that at least wouldn't crush her from the force instead she created a large ditch as she tore the the earth eventually coming to a stop.
She grit her teeth as she slowly unfurled herself. Hissing at the pain in her back and wings. She could feel some mana burn on her horn as well. All was forgotten when she felt the small trembling form of Jack in her forelegs. Looking closely at him she saw there were no injuries, as tears poured from the small child's eyes.
"Ma-mama" cried Jack as he hugged Luna's stomach. Luna's eyes went wide at the comment before a smile crossed her face and she hugged Jack, no, her son to her chest. Perhaps it was post event jitters but she knew that at this moment Jack was hers, and she would never let go. She noticed several guards running towards her as she felt herself grow tired.
As one of the guards reached her, she gave him one order;
"This is my son, treat him as such." Then she blacked out.
The next day she had awoken in the castle's medical wing. Jack by her side. The day had gone by uneventful. The nurses took care of her son's needs for her so she could enjoy his company. She was not mad, for he was only a child and did not know that he did something wrong, but she ordered the castle servants to prepare her a ground floor room. One of her advisors had informed her that Celestia would be leaving early from the gryphon empire, and would be returning to the castle by tomorrow.
Something told her that her sister was not going to be pleased, the thought didn't make her day any better. The guards and servants acting weird around her son did not help either, she knew he looked different but was he really that scary? So different that he would be treated as an outcast? She would not let that happen. Her subjects would accept her son one way or another.
She spent the rest of the day snuggling with her son, she also had the royal tailor come in and take measurement to make her son a set of pajamas and day clothes. She also ordered Jack a crib, and a feeding chair.
Looking down at her son curled up next to her, Luna gave him a small kiss on his head and felt sleep take her.
True to her advisors words Celestia arrived the next morning.
To say she was unhappy was an understatement.
"LUNA WHAT THE BUCK WERE YOU THINKING!" Yelled Celestia as she reprimanded her sister.
"I was only protecting my son!" Replied Luna
"OH AND NOW YOU'VE HAD A CHILD WITHOUT MY KNOWING? TELL ME WHO HATH DEFILED MY SISTER SO I MAY MAKE THEIR DEATH QUICK!" Celestia was enraged to say the least.
"He's adopted! Sister stop this yelling!" Returned Luna as tears came to her eyes.
Seeing this Celestia calmed herself, "Lulu I only mean well, I was just so worried when I heard you'd fallen from the tower!" She said, "also you caught me off guard with this news. I would fully support you if you had a child, as long as you're happy."
"I know you do sister." Said Luna bitterly. "I did not tell you because you are not mother. I am independent, we are both hundreds of years old sister."
Celestia looked hurt for a moment before she sighed. "You are right, I have treated you like a child, and for that I am sorry. But you will always be my little sister."
"As will you be forever my big sister." Said Luna giving a small smile.
"So where is this nephew of mine?" Questioned Celestia with a smile.
"In my new room, this way." Said Luna as she began to the new room she had moved into. She was unsure how Celestia would react to her son's appearance. Deciding she should at least give her a warning she stopped at the door and said, "I will say he looks a bit different from what you may be expecting."
"I would never love anypony less for looking different." Replied Celestia. Luna thought about mentioning how he wasn't really a pony at all but just mentally shrugged and opened the door. Stepping inside she noticed her son playing with a few blocks. As she felt her sister enter behind her she looked behind her and noticed Celestia had froze. Deciding to ignore it, Luna levitated her son over to her and placed him on her back, where he squeed happily and hugged her mane. Luna chuckled at this, looking to her sister she noticed that she had a face that clearly said 'I don't get it.'
"Tia this is my son Jack, Jack this is auntie Tia."
Jack for his part tried to hide in Luna's mane. This action caused Celestia to snap out of her trance as she smiled at the little human. "Why hello there little one." She said in a soft voice, while leaning in close to Jack. Jack seemed to be more interested in Celestia's nose more than Celestia herself. He reached out one of his little hands to try to touch her nose but fell short. Celestia smiled at this and booped his hand with her nose, eliciting a happy giggle.
The rest of the day was spent between the two sisters and Luna's son. Playing laughing and naps were had in the small ground floor room.
Saturday was spent in a happy quiet. Breakfast was held in the royal dining hall, and they set up Jack's feeding chair on the right of Celestia so Luna could sit to her left and across from her son. Luna was talking to Celestia while levitating a small spoon with apple sauce to her son.
"So the gryphons want to actually sign a peace treaty?" Asked Luna, "and to think it was only two years ago they were threatening war."
"Indeed, I was fairly surprised myself, but I believe that they are truthful, they have much to lose from lying." Mentioned Celestia. They enjoyed their food for a few minutes in silence before Celestia brought up another topic, something Luna was not looking forward to.
"Sister you know we must give an announcement soon right? And then we need to get the adoption forms together. Not to mention their is still the ceremony, and the mphh." Celestia was cut short as loon sealed her mouth with her magic.
"Sister I know we must get the adoption papers done, but must we really do all the rest? Must I force my son into a life in the spotlight?" Asked Luna sadly.
"Mffhmnnnfff" said Celestia.
"Oh right sorry" said Luna sheepishly as she removed her magic from celestias muzzle.
"Firstly don't do that again, secondly; yes, technically we do, unless you want it to get out through a less, flattering, way ." Said Celestia. Luna knew full well what her sister meant; she was talking about the possibility of someone finding out and telling the public. This would make her look like she was hiding it, possibly ruining her son's life even more.
"I guess it is inevitable, but is their any chance we can at least wait until he is old enough to speak before we hold the ceremony?" Begged Luna.
"I suppose so." Answered Celestia, "it would surely make the ceremony easier."
The ceremony in question was less of an actual ceremony and more of a chance for other leaders and politically powerful people to meet the new prince. It was something of a show of good will, and often led to good trade deals between Equestria and other countries. Luna thought it better to wait for Jack to at least be able to talk, not only because it would be better for him in the eyes of their guests but also because she had the feeling that in his current state he may be more than just nervous around such a large quantity of creatures.
"But!" Celestia said, interrupting Luna from her thoughts, "we still need to have the criers inform the noble's, and the rest of our subjects, so you need to write down what you want them to say, or of course you could just let them do it.."
Luna knew that her sister was going to ruin her morning somehow. But she also knew it made sense; it wasn't everyday that one of your princess' is seen smashing into the ground from her royal tower. The nobles were sure to be getting nervous, they would need to be addressed to calm them down. At the thought of the nobles, Luna began to worry about their reaction to her son. Nobles were fickle people who she despised, and they seemed to reciprocate, but if they learned that she had an adopted heir, well... she worried that they may do far more than complain.
Voicing her worries to Celestia, her sister seemed to ponder this for a moment before giving a response.
"If they do not like their prince then their is nothing we can do, but if they try to harm a single hair on my nephews adorable head, then we can simply have them thrown in the dungeons for treason, or worse." Luna did not exactly disagree but the way her sister said that statement left a chill on her spine. But it was good to know that her sister supported her.
After breakfast Luna retired to her room to work on the speech for the criers, she decided to leave Jack with Celestia for the time being. It had been several frustrating hours when she heard a knock on her door.
"Come in!" Luna said without glancing from her parchment. "Hello sister, what can I do for you."
Celestia seemed quite surprised at having been identified without her even speaking. "How did you know it was me?"
"Well I used a small mana charge to bounce off of your mana aura and it brought back some of your mana so I recognized it was you." Explained Luna then broke out laughing at Celestia's confused face. "''Tis a jest sister, you are the only one who visits me without announcing who they are." Celestia began to laugh as well at this. When the giggles died down, Celestia noticed the mountain of crumpled up parchment in the corner.
"Are you in need of assistance?" asked Celestia, "with your speech I mean."
Luna gave a tired sigh and rubbed her temples with her hooves.
"Yes, I simply can not seem to write what I want to say, I try to be gentle but it ends up sounding extremely flat."
"Can I read what you have so far?" asked Celestia as she gestured to the parchment in front of Luna. Instead of saying anything Luna simply levitated the parchment to her sister. Celestia gave a quick nod and took the parchment into her own magic.
"Also where is Jack?" asked Luna as she looked around her room not seeing the small human.
"He's just sleeping in my room. Ah-ha here is the problem." Ah-ha'd Celestia, "you're not a speech writer! I'm jesting sister don't give me such a face. I think you should just let the criers figure out what they are going to say, though."
"I guess, I just don't want them to over dramatise my son." Grumbled Luna as she buried her head in her forelegs, "I just dont want them to make him out to be some weird or strange creature. I mean hes a living breathing intelligent being; not some dog."
"I agree Lulu, but I have much faith in our criers, I believe they will do a fine job. How about I talk to them, and you work on getting the adoption papers done?" Suggested her sister. Luna simply groaned some more. Taking that as a yes, Celestia turned to leave but stopped at the door saying, "Oh also the royal tailor said he should have Jack's pyjamas done by tomorrow." Then left the room. Luna spent the next couple hours working on the adoption papers, filling them out with Jack's information. She took a look at the sun and saw that she was going to need to take her nap now if she wanted to have enough energy to finish night court. Simply being a mother would not stop Luna from completing her duties. To be able to care for Jack, Luna had refit her entire schedule to where she was awake for most of the day, would take a nap, then do night court (which had been shortened to only a few hours), spend a few hours guarding the dream realm, and then retire for the night. Celestia would take care of Jack while she was at night court, and then return him afterwards.
The next day had been hard, after waking up Luna was surprised to have a pyjama wearing Jack curled up next to her. Taking a moment she looked at his pyjamas, they were a a deep blue that matched her fur, and had her cutie mark embroidered on the hips. All in all it was quite cute. Rousing Jack and joining Celestia for breakfast she heard that the criers had left this morning to go notify their subjects. Luna was understandably nervous. Noticing this Celestia suggested that Luna should spend some time with Jack today. Luna agreed, and after breakfast the two returned to their room. Everything had been fine up until lunch time, when Celestia opened day court. Her room was only a few doors away from the court, so when she heard yelling she knew where it was coming from.
Thinking about whether or not to investigate, Luna finally decided it probably wouldn't hurt to sneak a peak. "Jack, I'll be right back dear, stay out of trouble." She knew he most likely couldn't understand her, but it was the thought that counted. As she made her way towards the court, she could make out some of the words being yelled, she heard her name and the word son, being used quite often, along with the word thing. This made her halt and she wondered if she really wanted to hear what they were saying. Deciding it was probably smart to get it over with now then hear it from Tia later, she pushed forward until she was just outside the doors, which were open. Deciding not to reveal herself just yet, Luna sat at the corner. What she heard made her fill with both anger and sadness.
"We will not allow this.. this thing to be our prince!" yelled a male voice, which was followed by several confirmations. This nearly broke her heart, that her ponies cared so little for her and her son that they only cared about the fact that he wasn't a pony. What she heard next however, was worse.
"He is not our prince, because she is not our princess! It does not matter! She can call this monster her son if she wants, but I will not bow to either of them!"
Her rear legs gave way as tears formed in her eyes, it did not hurt as much as she thought it would, deep down she had always known they did not care for her. But to hear what they thought being said indirectly to her, it was too much. She felt the tears come to her eyes before eventually spilling out. A noble near the doors noticed the princess, turning on her he hissed, "why do you dishonour pony kind so much? Why must you make a mockery of us by taking in this thing!" At this point Luna had enough and got to her hooves shakily and ran back to her room. Accidentally letting her crown fall from her head.
Celestia had just barely gotten a glimpse of her sisters tail, but the puddle surrounding her sisters crown was enough to finally set her off.
"YOU DARE INSULT MY FAMILY! YOU ARE NOTHING BUT NOBLES! YOU HAVE NO REAL POWER, YOU THINK YOU KNOW MY SISTER? WELL YOU DO NOT! AND I SAY TO YOU IF I HEAR ANYHTING ELSE AGAINST HER AND HER SON I WILL HAVE YOU FOR SLANDER OF THE CROWN! GAURDS REMOVE THESE NOBLES FROM THE CASTLE AND CLOSE THE FRONT DOOR!" Celestia was more than pissed, she was enraged. Her tail and mane had burst into flames, and her voice had not been amplified by magic, she was that angry. The guards quickly jumped in action, backing the nobles out of the room and out of the castle. Celestia took several deep breaths to calm herself, eventually returning to her normal form. Standing from her throne, Celestia moved to where her sister's tiara lay on the floor. Grabbing it with her magic she then walked over to Luna's room. Taking a moment to listen through the door, Celestia heard only crying. Taking one more breath Celestia quickly knocked on the door. When she received no answer she said "Lulu, its me Tia. Open up."
"G- Go a-wa-ay" Celestia felt her heart tighten at hearing her sister so distressed. Instead of leaving Celestia instead decided to open the door anyway. The sight before her made her pause. There lay her sister on her bed, forelegs and wings wrapped around her son, while tears streamed down her face. Celestia rushed over to her sister, laying down on her bed and pulling her into a hug.
"Lulu, those nobles don't know anything, don't let them get to you!" Said Celestia trying to get her sister to calm down.
"Th- they h- hate m- meeeheehee" cried Luna.
Celestia could not lie, what she had just seen was troubling. Her ponies had acted very rashly and she was not happy with them. She could tell that most of the nobles had meant what they said. She could not tell her sister that the nobles were only scared, because she knew that would be a lie.
"Lulu, I don't care what the nobles say, what you do is very important. And I think you make a great princess."
"Tia, I... Thank you, that means a lot" Luna gave a small sniff "But i-if the nobles really think that way, what abut all our other subjects? Do they hate m-me as well? And my son? W-what am I going to do? I can-cannot live with all of my subjects hating me!" Luna was slowly working herself back into a panic. Celestia had to say something to stabilise Luna now or possibly lose her to depression.
"Luna look at me." Celestia said sternly, "our subjects sleep through your night because it is the only thing that makes them feel safe enough to do so."
Luna's eyes went wide. "Truly?" She asked with a small amount of hope.
"Truly" smiled Celestia.
"Thank you Tia, I love you."
"I love you too, Lulu" said Celestia with a soft smile. "You too jack."
And so Luna and Jack fell asleep in the embrace of Celestia, who promised to stay with them for as long as they needed.
For a week after the noble incident Luna stayed locked in her room, and Celestia had to raise the moon for her. Celestia would come by in the mornings with food for the two, and would stay with them until lunch where she would leave to do some paper work. Celestia had no plans in re-opening either of the courts for a long time, but she still had other work that was required when you were running a country. Celestia would often return for dinner and then would stay with them until they fell asleep. Celestia knew her sister needed all the support she could get, but she also knew it was up to her sister on whether she would fully recover or not.
As weeks passed Luna slowly re-integrated herself with the rest of the castle. Celestia was happy that her sister was recovering, but she had not been expecting the talk she found herself and her sister in roughly a month later.
Luna and Celestia were seated at their normal positions in the royal dining room. The two were enjoying small talk over breakfast, while Luna tended to her son. The two had been surprised by how much the child had grown in a month. Jack had also started standing and was capable of walking without support for a short time. He had also started using simple words to express his needs. Words like "Fud" and "momma" and "wata" were used quite often.
At some point in their conversation, Luna seemed to have trailed off. Enquiring into her sisters silence, Celestia received a shocking answer.
"I think I want to step down from being a princess" Luna's eyes showed a tiredness Celestia had not seen on her sisters face at all. "I simply cannot rule at this time, besides my son needs me." explained Luna further.
Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "if that is what you wish then I will always support you, lulu." Celestia knew she could not force her sister to rule, especially not now as she had a child to take care of. Even though Celestia was saddened to hear that Luna was hurting so much; she also knew that this might help her sister recover.
Opening her eyes Celestia saw her sisters face was a mix of relief and confusion. Celestia could not fully stop herself from chuckling at her sister.
"Do you think so little of me that I would force you to stay as a princess dear Lulu?" Teased Celestia, as she placed a foreleg over her eyes and turned her head.
Luna tried to keep her face straight.
"HA!" Luna blushed as a guffaw passed her lips.
Silence
And then the entire room was filled with the melodious giggles of Celestia and Luna. With a giggling Jack joining in simply because it seemed fun. Jacks giggle's only set off the princesses more. In the papers the next day it was said that the laughing could be heard for roughly an hour. It suffice to say that the three had been quite winded afterwards, opting to instead spend quality family time to pass the day away.
Luna's mane blew in the soft autumn breeze. She took a deep breath enjoying the smell of leaves and smoke coming from the houses and trees surrounding the castle.
All around the castle ponies could be seen stocking up wood and food for the winter, and farmers in plains in the distance were working on their last harvest. The Pegasi were busy rounding up all the clouds to repurpose them into snow clouds. The first snowstorm was scheduled for next week, and many foals could be seen running through the brown leaves that lay in piles around the park.
As Luna watched the little ones her thoughts drifted to the fun she had with Jack during the summer, she had spent as much time as she could simply playing with Jack, he had even started speaking more. Something she was glad about was that Jack's tendencies to throw tantrums had subsided. She had secretly named that period "the terrible two's." Her son had grown grown quite a bit in the 8 months since she first adopted him, and the pouf of hair on his head had started to fill out and darken.
Luna remembered the day her sister had called a doctor over to run a physical on Jack. Luna cringed slightly as she remembered how nervous she had been about a simple checkup.
"Sister is this really necessary?" Luna whined as she paced outside the room that had been given to the doctor for the physical.
Celestia rolled her eyes at her sisters antics,"Yes." Luna gave her sister an unamused look and resumed pacing. "Honestly Luna, I do not understand why you are so nervous."
"I could say I am just worrying like any mother would," Luna sat down next to her sister. "But its not just that. I am scared Tia, scared that I will learn that there is something wrong with him. I am scared that I will learn that I am going to lose my son!"
Celestia could see the fear in her sisters eyes, a fear of the uncertain. Celestia knew she had to comfort her sister, but she wasn't sure how.
"Luna-" started Celestia, but was interrupted by the doctor announcing that he was finished. Celestia gave her sister a quick hug, and an encouraging nod as they entered the room.
"Ah yes Princess Celestia, and Lady Luna, I have good news! You have a perfectly healthy foal! Erm, human!"
"YES!" shouted Luna, as she hugged her sister and the doctor, smushing the poor fellow.
"Lady Luna... Cant.... Breathe...." gasped the doctor as he slowly turned blue. Luna released the stallion with a quick apology. As the doctor caught his breath Luna picked up her son in her levitation and moved him to her back. Jack hugged his mothers neck, giving a happy squee.
"So doctor, what else did you find out about Jack?" asked Celestia.
"Ah, yes. Well, hes definitely omnivorous, his dietary tract appears to be fairly sturdy, but I would recommend cooking any meats, also his body does not process plant's quite as well as our bodies do, so flowers and grass will not hurt him but they wont exactly provide nutrients either." The doctor took a second to flip through his notes before continuing. "Oh yes, we also estimated his birthday to be some time in January, and he will be 3 years old this January. There is one thing that we found to be very strange."
Luna's face dropped into a worried expression at this unexpected twist. "And that would be what exactly?"
"Your son is magically capable, and not just that! He has a massive mana pool for someone his age! However that's not even the most confusing part! Since he has no horn he shouldn't even be able to use magic! He's a magical impossibility!" The doctor blushed when he realized who he was talking to, using a cough to recollect himself. "Apologies Princess', I meant no disrespect."
"That is quite the dilemma, however we have some of the greatest magical scholars right here in the everfree." Reasoned Celestia, "surely they would be capable of finding a way for Jack to use his magic."
Luna nodded her head, her sisters words improving her mood greatly; surely the greatest mages in all of equestria would be capable of helping her son learn magic.
Luna smiled at the memory as she made her way inside, not only was it extrodinary to learn that other creatures outside of equus could use magic, it also meant Luna could teach her son all the things she herself had learned from her mentor, which also meant spending more time with Jack. As it stood she found her time spent with her son was declining as he had started language lessons with his private tutor; a mare by the name of Tender Hooves. Luna recalled how she had been less than thrilled with the prospect.
The morning had started wonderfully, it had been two weeks since the good doctors visit, and the weather was perfect; sunny but not too hot, with a cool breeze. Luna, Jack, and Celestia were enjoying their morning meal; omelette' for the princess' and scrambled eggs for Jack. During a lull in the conversation Luna decided to partake of a glass of water.
"Luna, I think we should hire a tutor for Jack." Celestia put out.
"Sister, surely you jest!" Exclaimed Luna, but the force of her shout had caused the contents of her cup to vacate to the spot directly infront of her, which happened to be Celestia. while the sight of Celestia sitting dripping wet with wide eyes would have been considered hilarious, Luna was a strong willed mare who would never laugh at her sisters misfortune. For all of thirty seconds. Then came the snickering, which brought Celestia out of her shock.
With a nonplussed look and and a raised eyebrow Celestia only made Luna's laughing worse. Celestia grabbed her own glass in her telekinetic grip and threateningly held it over Luna.
"N-now now *ha* sister, let's not *snicker* do anything that we may have to *giggle* water down!" Joked Luna. Her mirth however was silenced when a glass full of ice cold water splashed upon her head. With a victorious smirk Celestia offered a warm towel to her shivering sister as she herself used one to dry her mane and fur
"Why do you think I need a tutor for Jack?" Luna asked her sister as she dried off. "Surely I can teach him!"
Celestia gave her sister a pointed look, "Are you sure about that? I feel that you would end up playing more than teaching. Luna, Jack is an intelligent creature not a pet."
"I love my son, I would never treat him like a pet!" Seethed Luna.
"I'm sorry, that was very harsh. Sister you make a great mother, but even you need help sometimes!" Apologized Celestia, "I just think it would be wise to hire someone to teach Jack and take care of him when you are busy."
"And who would you suggest? The nobles hate my son, and they have a large influence." Stated Luna,
Celestia nodded her head in understanding, after a short while she spoke again; "I think I have an idea."
"Thou cannot be serious." Complained Luna, "you put an advertisement out!?"
"Do you not think it will work?" Asked Celestia.
"Oh I'm sure we'll get plenty of candidates, the beggars and scoundrels will happily attempt to get into the royal pocket." Deadpanned Luna.
"Oh how your lack of faith disturbs me!" Joked Celestia, who received an unamused look from her sister. "I already took that into account, I made the advertisement anonymous, it says that a single mother is looking for a capable pony who can help take care of, and teach a young child. It also says that prior experience, or references are requested."
Luna silently admitted that the plan was pretty ingenious, if a little underhanded, but one problem was still prevalent at the front of her mind. "But won't they realize that it's for me if we call them to the castle for an interview?"
"I thought of that aswell, that's why the crown recently acquired a house just at the edge of the city." Explained Celestia, "I was thinking we could go in disguise to interview those who apply."
Luna nodded her head; "And when is the deadline for applications?"
"Next week"
A week came and went, and to be truthful Luna was feeling quite anxious. Even if she was still in disguise the thought of being around so many ponies was giving her butterflies. She was also worried she would fall asleep during the interview; there were roughly forty applicants that had made it past the screening process. She had also spent the previous day working on questions for the interview, the task had seemed simple, but the more she thought the harder it was to come up with questions that would be worth asking. She had done it in the end, but it had bit into her eight hours of sleep.
She took a look at herself in the mirror; as she was currently in the bathroom of the house that had been, "procured for royal business." Her disguise was fairly simple, but entirely misleading, her coat was changed to a stark white, her mane was blonde, and her eyes were green. And her cutie mark had been changed to an image of a canvas blowing in the wind.
A knock on the door brought Luna out of her thoughts. She opened the door to reveal one of her guards, who was disguised as a butler. The guard gave a crisp salute before addressing her, "Ma'am the first guest will be arriving soon."
"Thank you, I shall be down shortly." The guard nodded and turned to leave but before he could get far Luna called out to him, "pardon me but I forgot to ask for your name."
The guard almost tripped in surprise, but recovered quickly. "My name is Nightfire, Ma'am. Private Nightfire."
Luna smiled at the young stallion's nervousness. "Nightfire... Ah yes, I remember now, you are the stallion all the guards are talking about, youngest private in years I hear. I will say your skills are very impressive from what I have seen."
Nightfire rubbed the back of his neck "Thank you for the compliments princess. Though I woudln't believe everything you hear about me, the others tend to exaggerate."
Luna stepped out of the bathroom and walked down the hall, with Nightfire walking on her left. "Young Nightfire do not discredit yourself, I have seen you train and you truly are a natural."
"I have never seen you on the training fields, and no offense but if you had been on the field I would have noticed." Stated Nightfire.
Luna gave an understanding nod. "That would be because I watch from my balcony, I used to oversee all the recruits training. Before my sister gave command to the generals, that is."
"You used to be in the guard?" Asked Nightfire, "I never would have thought you to be the fighting type."
"It's true, I used to command the Equestrian army, though that was nearly a hundred years ago." Stated Luna mirthfully. "Don't let my looks deceive you, I was a skilled combatant. Though I haven't practiced in recent years. Nowadays since everything is so quiet I barely have anything to do, nightmares are few and far, and everyone tends to sleep when I am awake, so having a social life is nonexistent..." The conversation trailed off into an uncomfortable silence.
"I'm sorry for pushing my personal problems onto you private, I guess I will wait in the living room. When the first guest arrives send them in please." Said Luna as she turned to enter the room.
"Princess Luna, I..." but the door shut before Nightfire could get anything else out.
Luna felt bad for closing the door on Nightfire, but she needed some time alone.
It had never really fully occurred to Luna just how much she had lost over the years; she had lost her job as the leader of Equestria's army, and the generals who were supposed to report to her rarely even asked for permission to do training activities, much less ask her how she wants her army trained.. The only way she would even be allowed to monitor her troops was from her balcony.
Time had taken her closest friends, and would continue to do so long into the future. Luna realized that one day Jack would die aswell, outlived by her long until his bones were dust. In that moment, something inside Luna broke, she felt angry, she was still sad but Luna also felt anger, anger at her sister for taking away her troops, anger at her subjects for ignoring her night. But mostly anger at herself; for being too weak to save her friends and too weak to save her son.
Though her body was calm, in her mind Luna was raging. She cursed her sister, and her own immortality. She screamed in her mind as hot tears seeped from her eyes. Her rage dulled and her heart ached, she knew that there was nothing she could do, so instead Luna moved forward. Locking away her grief and her anger, Luna instead vowed to spend as much time with Jack as she possibly could.
Wiping her eyes Luna felt that a weight had been lifted from her, walking over to the door she let Nightfire know that she was ready for the first candidate. With a small smile on her face Luna sat in her comfy chair, grabbed a cup of tea, and went over her questions in her head
"Truly this day must only be capable of getting better." Luna said to herself with a small giggle.
"How do you feel about omnivores?" Asked Luna. The mare infront of her wasn't all that extraordinary, if she was honest. Luna had already decided that the mare had zero chance of being a caretaker. But she continued the interview just to be polite.
"Well, I think anything that has to eat animals to live must be a monster." Said the oblivious mare.
'Nope' thought Luna
"Are you okay with meat? It will be served from time to time." Luna said, she had high hopes for the stallion in front of her, he had made it pretty far without any serious complications. Turning her attention back to the candidate she found a worrying difference.
'He hadn't always been that shade of green had he?' Thought Luna
Luna could not believe her subjects! Several hadn't even shown up, but the ones that had were either such wimps they wouldn't even make it a day, or were bigoted racists!
'That was a waste of several hours, I wonder how Jack is doing.' Thought Luna as she stood from her chair and moved over to the door. Sticking her head out she found Nightfire sitting next to a caramel colored pegasus mare. The two were deep in conversation, and not wanting to interrupt the two, Luna decided to head to the kitchen.
The kitchen was nothing luxurious, white tile backsplash and wooden countertops gave a very warm and clean feeling to the room. After creating a beautiful rose-daisy sandwich, (which Luna had not brought from the royal kitchens at all,) she decided to enjoy her lunch outside. Going out the back door Luna found a comfy porch chair and sat facing the beautful meadow. One of the advantages of having a house on the outskirts of the city was that you could enjoy the beautful landscape. As Luna simply relaxed and let herself unwind, she realized just how calm the world seemed when she wasn't stuck in the middle of the city.
'Maybe I will keep this house as a place for Jack and I to come sometimes,' thought Luna as she finished her most delectable sandwich.
Luna hadn't really realized how long she had been sitting in the warm summer air, but it had been long enough to worry Nightfire, as he had come rushing out of the back door. This had startled the slightly sleepy princess who proceeded to gracefully fall off her chair like a startled cat.
Nightfire had apologized for several minutes even after Luna had told him it was okay, but he stopped when she finally questioned him as to what was wrong.
"Well nothing is wrong m'lady it's just that it has been sometime and Ms. Hooves was wondering when you were going to interview her, so I went to check on you and I couldn't find you soipanickedandranaroundthehouseandigotreallyscaredbecauseithoughtyouhadbeenkidnappedandithoughtyoursisterwasgoingtokillmeandiwasohsoworried" the stallion took a deep breath, "And I'm really glad you're okay princess."
Luna had a hard time processing all that she had just heard so she decided to ask the only question that she could formulate.
"Who is Ms. Hooves?" She asked.
"Oh she's the last candidate. She's the caramel colored pegasus , surely you saw her on your way to the kitchen?" Answered Nightfire, which snapped Luna out of her stupor.
"Ah yes! I will see to her now. No need to keep the poor mare any longer than we have too." Luna would be lying if she said she was looking forward to the interview, most likely the mare wouldn't even make it halfway through her questions before something disqualified her.
"You are Ms. Tender Hooves, correct?" Asked Luna.
"Yes."
"Ms. Hooves, do you have any prior teaching or care taking experience?"
"Yes actually, I worked as a nurse for two years, and I taught at a preschool for a year."
Luna's eyebrows found themselves slowly inching upwards as the interview progressed. This one mare had made it farther than a majority of the other interviewees.
"Ms. Hooves, are you comfortable working around omnivores?"
Luna found herself holding her breath, as most ponies had failed this criteria.
"Yes, actually. I used to work as a maid in the royal castle, and I would often find myself around gryphon dignitaries. They are exactly like ponies really, I don't understand why they have such a bad rep honestly."
In her mind Luna was shouting for joy, however her only outward expression of her feeling was a warm smile.
"Excellent, are you okay with working around meat then? You may even need to handle some."
"That should be fine, I have actually taken on a taste for fish, something a gryphon dignitary shared with me on a date."
'YES YES YES!' the party had started in Luna's mind; as far as she was concerned Tender Hooves was already hired.
"Well Ms. Hooves, I must thank you for your time, however," Luna dropped her voice into a foreboding tone. Causing Tender's face to drop, "I must inform you that your chances of getting hired are... extremely high." And just like that Luna returned to talking normally. "Now how soon can you start working?"
"..." Tender didn't respond, her eyes were wide and Luna was worried she had gone too far and broken the mare, but her fears were unfounded as Tender's face stretched into a wide smile.
"Oh thank you so much! I promise I will do a good job, you won't regret hiring me!" Tender jumped from her chair and hugged Luna but let go quickly when she remembered that she was hugging her boss. "Sorry about that."
"It's quite alright Ms. Hooves, I understand your excitement. Just don't make it a common thing." Said Luna as she stood from her chair.
"Of course ma'am. Also you can just call me Tender, Ms. Hooves makes me sound old."
"Of course, if I can just have your address, I will send a chariot to pick you up tommorrow. I think it best to let you go home and get some sleep now." The interview had taken a fair amount of time and the son was close to setting, not that Luna was any rush to get rid of Tender but she did need to get back and raise the moon.
The two walked to the front door, where Tender and Luna exchanged goodbyes, after she departed Luna removed the illusion spell from herself. Walking back into the living room she found Nightfire sleeping on the couch. Poking the stallion on the muzzle she found him to be deep asleep. Deciding to leave him be Luna wrote a quick note explaining the situation and also informing him that he was free to stay in the house, or if he chose to leave he could lock up the doors.
Stepping out the back Luna spread her wings and took flight into the sunset, not long after the sun set and the moon rose into place, shining brightly in the starry night.
The first rays of dawn made their way though the cracks in the curtains of the small home on the outskirts of Everfree, the beams illuminating the small particles of dust that floated in the air. Tender Hooves however, was not enjoying the soft sunlight as she was too busy trying to rub the sleep from her eyes. Tender Hooves was not a morning mare by any stretch of the imagination, but today was speacial, today she had to get up extra early to make sure she was absolutely ready to meet her new employers.
Turning the knob on the stove, Tender cracked an egg onto the pan as it began to heat. On a separate brurner she started to fry a couple strips of hay bacon. Deeming the food stable she retrieved a plate and set it next to the stove.
Moving into the bathroom, Tender went about her morning routine. Looking into the mirror she took note of her mane's rough shape. Seeking to rectify her bed head, she grabbed one of her brushes and smoothed out the offending hair. A quick wing pruning, and Tender deemed herself presentable. Deciding to not leave her food unattended she made her way back into the kitchen and grabbed her now cooked eggs and hay bacon. After checking her stove was off, Tender made her way to her front porch, sitting down at the small patio table Tender was finally able to relax a little as she ate her breakfast. She watched as the hustle and bustle begin to pickup down the street, merchants could be seen walking to and fro on the road leading into and out of Everfree proper.
The cool morning air, combined with the comfortably full feeling from eating and the warm sunlight seeping over the horizon clouded Tender's mind with a comfortable buzz. Her eyes grew heavy as her breathing evened out.
Tender was suddenly awoken from her impromptu nap by the hard clack of hooves on cobble. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she looked around for the offending noise, what she found was not a noisy traveler as she had first thought; but was instead a carriage puller. The carriage was very fancy; fully covered with decorations and a colorful paint job. The carriage also had a large amount of gold on it, but Tender thought nothing of it. As the stallion came to a stop in front of her house, he unhooked himself from the harness and approached the steps to Tenders porch.
"Ms Hooves? I've been sent to collect you." To her credit she only stared in confusion for a few seconds, before remembering that she had places to be.
"Oh yes, thats me." Stated the mare, "I'm a little disoriented right now, you'll have to forgive me."
The stallion nodded in understanding before motioning for her to follow, as he stepped over to the carriage before opening the door for her.
Not wanting to be late, Tender wasted no time complying with the stallion's directions. As she stepped into the cart, she noted that the interior was just as luxurious as the exterior. The seating was also just as comfortable as it looked, she found out as she sat down.
The ride to her employers house would be just over an hour, so she decided to pull out one of her books she brought along.
The first thing that Tender noticed was that the noise had increased significantly. All around the carriage she could hear the bustle of crouds and the sounds of merchants advertising their wares. Taking a peek out the window confirmed that they were infact in the market district.
'That's odd, perhaps the driver had to make a detour.' Tender rationalized in her head. Returning her attention to her book, she couldn't quite shake the feeling that she was missing an important detail.
Tender was thoroughly convinced that either her driver was insane, or had picked up the wrong passenger. To her it was the only logical reason for why her carriage was currently at the royal palace. As the carriage trundled onward, Tender's imagination was running wild with all the ways she was doomed.
'I am in so much trouble. They are probably going to throw me in jail for impersonation. Oh no! What if they think I'm a spy?!'
Her worrying was interrupted when the door was opened on the carriage. After a few seconds waiting for the guards to rush her, she decided that she would explain her situation.
"Um, I'm sorry but I think I'm in the wrong place. I was supposed to meet my employer; you see I'm a caretaker and-" her ill prepared speech was cut short when she saw who was waiting for her.
"Oh yes I'm well aware of your job description, hello again Ms Hooves," spoke a grinning Nightfire.
"Huh? Buh... wah... you.." she intelligently replied
"Hmm yes I am quite stunning. But let's not let that get in the way of work," Nightfire's grin was only growing. "Now if you would like to follow me I promise everything will be explained."
As he said this Nightfire turned and started walking towards the castle entrance, snapping out of her stupor Tender hurried to catch up.
"So wait, you're a Royal guard?" Questioned Tender as they walked.
"Yep"
"So what was with the whole butler thing?"
"..."
"You're not going to tell me are you?"
"Nope."
The two walked in silence as Tender took in the interior of the palace. Bright banners and tapestries lined the walls, alternating between Lunar and Solar. Beautiful stained glass windows were dotted around the corridors, and flowers and paintinsg were abundant.
The duo came to a halt in front of two large doors, flanked on either side by two guards. Nightfire turned to the one on the left and saluted, before a hushed conversation was carried out. After a minute the two nodded and the doors began to open.
Luna's morning had been much more hectic than was normal. She had spent the night thinking on how best to greet her new employee without frightening her. She had decided that having the carriage simply bring Tender to the castle was much simpler than some large charade where she continued to use her disguise and lived in the small house. After the mare arrived she would have a guard retrieve her and bring her to the throne room. There Luna decided to have a grand entrance where Celestia, Jack, and her self could greet the mare properly.
Unfortunately this required getting Jack to behave, which had become increasingly more difficult as he had started to act 'independent'. Luna did not find him to be difficult to deal with, but he had become stubborn often complaining, vocally, about doing things, like taking baths, or putting clothes on.
"Jack! Stop squirming! The shirt is not going to bite you!" Growled Luna as she tried to wrestle the shirt onto the human child.
"Nuh!" Argued Jack as he continued to squirm. Jack himself had already been tricked into wearing pants, but once he had realized what was really going on he was outraged. Or as outraged as a three year old can be.
With a victorious shout Luna finally slipped the white shirt over his head, she then used her magic to get his arms through the arm holes. The result was a very dapper human boy, a grumpy boy, but dapper no less.
Smiling at the small frown on his face Luna levitated her son in her magic and placed him on her back. "How about breakfast now? What say you Sir Jack?
"Yuh!" Agreed Jack, as he instantly perked up at the mention of food.
"With all do respect princess, you almost burned down my entire kitchen!" Luna had gotten herself into a spot of bother after trying to prepare breakfast for herself and her son.
"I don't understand, I was only making cereal, how does one burn cereal?!" Luna was honestly confused how one minute she was pouring milk into a bowl, the next the counter was on fire.
"I'm not quite sure either, but can I kindly ask that you don't make any food in MY kitchen from now on?" Asked the exasperated chef.
Luna nodded in agreement, "I think I shall leave the cooking to the professionals, if only for my own sanity." A sheepish smile appeared on Luna's face as she realized she still had no food. "Could I perhaps ask you to prepare some eggs and pancakes for us?"
Roughly thirty minutes later Luna and Jack received their meals. Normally it would have been quicker, but repairing the damage had taken some time.
Luna was currently spoon feeding Jack, he could eat with his hands but Luna didn't want him to get dirty. Placing the utensil down, she focused on her own meal. The sounds of levitation magic twinkled softly in Luna's ears alerting her that someone else had arrived, but looking around Luna found no one else in the room. Checking on Jack next to her she found him to be using the spoon to feed himself.
"Oh it was just you, Jack" stated Luna absentmindedly, then her mind processed what was actually happening. With a squee Luna levitated Jack into her embrace, nuzzling him lovingly. "Oh my Faust! Jack! You're doing magic!"
Jack giggled happily in her embrace as he used his levitation to play with her mane. Luna could not stop herself from giggling along with Jack.
Celestia was enjoying her morning time to herself. As the handler of the sun, she was often one of the first ponies to awaken in the morning. Currently the Solar diarch was relaxing in the throne room before court, enjoying a cup of Earl Neigh tea. Taking a deep breath, Celestia closed her eyes as she enjoyed the warm sunlight streaming through the windows. She reveled in the calming feeling that-
"TIA!" Shouted Luna as she burst through one of the private side entrances.
Celestia groaned as she felt the blissful feeling disappear rapidly. Recognizing that she would not be relaxing again any time soon Celestia popped an eye open to look at her sister questioningly. "Yes Luna?"
Instead of responding, Luna levitated Jack off of her back and sat him down in her lap and whispered something in his ear. Jack looked at Luna curiously. Luna gave an exasperated sigh and motioniioned at him then to Celestia then to him again while whispering again. Meanwhile Celestia was looking at the two amusedly.
Finally Jack seemed to understand what was being asked of him as he clapped his hands while smiling. Suddenly Celestia felt a tug on her mane. Looking at Luna she said, "If you Just came to entertain Jack by playing with my mane, you need not act so strange."
Luna shook her head in an exasperated fashion before replying, "I am not the one playing with your mane sister." And it was true as Celestia noticed that Luna was indeed not using her magic.
"But then, who is manipulating my mane?" Asked Celestia, as she looked around obliviously.
Luna facehoofed. "Jack is."
Celestia Looked at Jack and noticed that his hands were aglow with magic. "Did you teach him how to use levitation?" She asked Luna with wide eyes.
Luna shook her head in the negative with a small smile, "No, he just started levitating his spoon by himself this morning." Suddenly Celestia and Jack burst into a fit of giggles. "What is so funny?" Asked Luna.
In response Celestia pointed at Luna. "I didn't think I was that funny, wait..." Luna summoned a large mirror to check her reflection. "My mane!"
"My mane!"
Tender and her escort stood shocked by the scene they had stumbled upon. Princess Luna was sporting a rather... odd mane style, while Princess Celestia was lying on her side laughing while clutching a small form. Tender felt very awkward given the situation, like a house guest in the middle of a family argument.
Her escort however, didn't seem to be fazed in the slightest, as if the princess' acting like children was an everyday occurrence. Or maybe that was just his training.
Nightfire coughed into his hoof, loudly.
The two royal immortals turned to face the sound. Princess Celestia smiled ebarassedly as she stood up and straightened her regalia, whereas her Lunar sister Gave a wide smile.
"Ah! Miss Tender, I'm so glad to see you have arrived!" Stated Luna merrily as she walked towards Tender, "I was worrying that I might have scared you off."
Tender suddenly remembered who she was in the presence of and dropped into a bow. "I'm so sorry your higness', I did not mean to interrupt-"
"You need not apologize, you have done nothing wrong." Interrupted Luna, "I called you here of course."
"Not to be rude, but I have no clue why I am here princess. Infact I kind of need to get to-"
"Your new job?" Luna smiled knowingly.
"Um yes actually." Tender was very confused at this point, was she in trouble? She had heard stories of the princess' pulling ponies off the street for a quick chat, but she had never put much stock in them. "So, um, is there some reason I am here?"
"Has Nightfire explained anything to you?" Asked Luna.
"No? He has been quite tight lipped." Tender said while giving the mentioned stallion a pointed look. Nightfire chose to become very interested in the trees outside.
Luna gave Nightfire a glare before turning her attention back to Tender. "I must apologize for his behavior." Nightfire's ears flattened against his head. "I suppose I should explain why you are here." A sheepish smile made its way onto Luna's muzzle, "perhaps after I fix my mane, that is. How about we can discuss over some tea when I get back? I am sure your employer will be lenient if you show up with a royal letter." Not waiting for a response she turned to Nightfire, "show Ms. Tender around if you would be so kind, I shall not take too long."
Tender meanwhile was more shocked than anything. She had just been plucked off the streets on her way to work, and now she was having tea with Princess Luna.
'This day could not get any weirder' thought Tender.
Celestia watched from the background as her sister left to fix her mane and then Nightfire led his charge off on a tour. Celestia shared a look with Jack, "So Jack, do you like cake?" she asked.
"Ye! Cake!" He responded.
"Hm, I like cake too." Smiled Celestia, she levitated Jack onto her back as she walked to the kitchens.
"And this here is the training ground." Stated Nightfire as he gestured to the large field filled with dummies, targets, and a whole assortment of military items Tender couldn't identify.
Tender smiled politely, it wasn't that she was uninterested, she had actually quite enjoyed the tour. It was just that her mind was focused on other things. Mainly, whatever was so important that Princess Luna herself had to tell her.
"Hey, are you okay?" Asked Nightfire.
"Oh yes, sorry. I'm just a little distracted." She replied.
"Look, I know it's very overwhelming, but I can guarantee that everything will be fine." He said with a reassuring smile.
This did nothing to soothe tender's fears but she decided that there was no use worrying about something she had no control over.
"So what next? Secret rooms? Dungeons?" She asked jokingly.
"No actually, I've shown you just about everything, and we should probably head back soon." Nightfire said as he looked at the sun's position.
"Oh, okay..."
They walked in silence for a while until Nightfire broke the silence.
"Alright, I didn't show you everything, how about later I finish the tour?"
"I think I would like that." Tender said with a sly smile.
For the second time today, Nightfire had lead Tender to an impressive door. This one was not nearly as large as the previous door, but it made up for its size in grandeur. The wood was a deep blue, with an inlaid silver design. The design depicted a caricature of the moon, with pegasi wings behind it, the door's edges were bordered in a silver olive tree branch.
What was on the other side was even more breathtaking. The room was circular, with bookshelves lining all of the room. Thousands of books laid upon the shelves, ranging from astronomy to novels. The most interesting things was the night sky. Tender had been stunned to see the enchanted roof, which she later learned was a perfect replica of the night sky, it could even focus in on certain areas like a telescope.
The center of the room was filled with comfortable looking chairs and cushions, two of which were already occupied by the princesses. The two diarchs were deep in conversation, so Tender decided to explore the books. Tender had always enjoyed reading, ever since she was a foal she was mesmerized by the tales novels could spin.
"I see you have found an interest in my library."
Tender gave a startled squeak; she had completely forgotten about the others in the room. Turning to see Princess Luna looking at her with an amused smile, tender felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment.
"Sorry, I just really like books." Tender apologized as she returned to the center of the room.
Luna motioned for Tender to sit down. "Tea?" Luna asked.
"Yes please." Tender graciously accepted the offered cup of steaming liquid. Taking a small sip, she hummed as the pleasant warm feeling spread through her body.
"I prefer Earl Neigh myself, but this is a very fine mix." Said Luna.
Tender sat and sipped on her tea awkwardly. "Not that I'm ungrateful Princess, but what was it you wanted to talk about?"
"I suppose I have been, 'beating around the bush' as they say." Luna said bitterly, "I suppose the easiest way to explain our situation is to start from the beginning."
"I'm sure you have heard that I have adopted a child, but it has been brought to my attention that I can be rather busy." Luna explained, "I also needed someone to properly teach my son. So my sister suggested that I should look for a tutor, which is what lead to me posting an anonymous ad."
Luna cast her illusion spell that changed her appearance to that of the disguise she used, "So, it was actually I, Princess Luna, who was looking for a caregiver, in disguise."
Luna dropped her disguise, "So, Ms. Tender, are you still willing to work for me?"
Tender let what she had just learned sink in for a moment. Sure, she had already figured out what Luna was trying to tell her as soon as the princess mentioned the advertisement, but it wasn't until Luna said it flat out that it really hit her. The more she thought about it, the more she realized what a great opportunity was being presented to her, but Tender still felt hesitant for some reason. Then it hit her:
"Can I meet your son before I make a decision?" Tender asked.
Luna was confused for a second, then she remembered that Tender had never actually met Jack. "Oh, of course. How silly of me." Luna said, "Tia, where is Jack currently?"
"He was quite tired, so I put him down for a nap in your room." Celestia answered from behind her book.
"I will be back shortly. Make yourself comfortable." Luna said as she headed out the door, to where Tender assumed was her bedroom.
After waiting a few moments Celestia placed her book down and turned to face Tender. "You will have to forgive my younger sister, she is just very excited. When she came home from interviewing candidates she could not stop talking about you." Tender blushed at the praise.
"My sister is a little out of her zone here, if you couldn't tell. She's always been the more anti-social of the two of us, so she finds it hard sometimes to explain things." Celestia looked Tender in the eyes, "She really does need your help, she's a great mother, but a terrible teacher. Plus she believes that you are the most suited for the job, you see Jack is not a pony, nor a gryphon. Hes not even from this planet, but that doesn't keep my sister from loving him." Celestia's stare softened, "But I must agree, you are most definetly the most qualified, seeing as you were one of the maids that worked the embassy section, I heard you were very popular with the ambassadors aswell." Celestia gave a sly wink, "welcome back Ms. Hooves."
"You actually remember me?" Asked Tender in bewilderment.
"Of course, I never forget any of the ponies that work for me." Celestia smirked, "currently employed with me or not."
"That is a very impressive memory."
Celestia nodded in agreement and returned to her book.
Tender was about to ask the solar princess if she had said something offensive, but was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. "I have returned! I apologize for the delay, Jack was being very difficult." Luna stated.
"It wasn't that lon-" Tender started to say as she turned to face Luna, but her words died on her lips as she noticed the peculiar creature sitting on Luna's back.
Luna noticed that Tender was fixated upon Jack, and with a slightly awkward cough decided that she would introduce the two. "Ms. Tender, this is my son, Prince Jack." Stepping closer, Luna levitated Jack off of her back and onto the ottoman so he could sit eye level with Tender.
Tender stepped closer to study the infant, finding him to not be so different from a Minotaur, besides the obvious lack of fur, horns and hooves.
"Hm, so...." Tender drawled as she turned to face Luna, "Where do I sign?"
Suddenly she was engulfed by two large shadows, that began to crush her life force out of her.
Seconds later Luna bashfully released Tender from her bear hug, oblivious to Tender's futile attempt at breathing.
"Great! I must thank you dearly! We will have some mover ponies sent to your residence to help you move your belongings to your new room."
"Wait, new room?!" Tender gasped futilely.
"Oh did I forget to mention? You will receive your own suite within the castle, you will be treated as one of my personnel, so while you are a fellow employee do not hesitate to ask a maid or butler for assistance." Luna explained, "you will be payed a monthly salary of 10,000 bits, which you can spend however you please."
Tenders mouth dropped, "Princess, that's simply too much!!!"
"I suppose it is a bit extravagant, but it is my decision. And it is also my money, so I shall spend it however I please." Luna responded coolly.
Tender bowed her head and pawed at the floor akwardly, wondering if she had already upset her employer.
Her worries were alleviated when she felt a wing wrap around her, lifting her head she found Luna smiling at her. "Besides it's not like the taxes are going to go up to pay for you, your funds are coming from my savings." Tender returned Luna's smile. "Now, let's get you settled in!"
Luna awoke from her day dream to the sound of knocking at her door, checking the sun, she was relieved to see that she had not spent to long reminiscing about the past. The knocking sounded from the door again, forcing Luna to answer.
"Ah hello Tender, how can I help you?" Luna greeted to her newest employee.
"Celestia asked my to let you know that dinner would be served soon." Tender said with a bow.
"Hmm yes, thank you for letting me know. Tell my sister that I shall join her shortly."
"Princess, if I could, can I have tommorow off? I wanted to go see that new fair that arrived."
Luna nodded sagely "I'm sure that's the only reason." Luna winked, "Sure, go have some fun, I can hold down the fort for a day."
"Thank you so much!" Tender bowed.
Luna blushed with a small chuckle, "Its quite alright, don't hesitate to ask for time off when you want it. Of course I will say no sometimes, but still ask."
Tender gave another bow of thanks and walked off, with a slight trot in her step.
Luna rolled her eyes at her caretakers silliness.
'I remember on her first day she wouldn't stop bowing, even the guards were giving her weird looks.' Luna reminisced, 'she's made some progress, but she still acts much too formal."
Forgoeing her royal regalia in favor of some slippers and a scarf, Luna decided to dawdle no longer and started her trek to the royal dining chamber.
Somewhere within an unknown noble's house, several cloaked figures crowded around a table with a map of canterlot in a dark room. The group talked in hushed whispers as if afraid the guards would hear them from the street above. Quietly yet another robed figure entered the room, the group ceased there chatter and made way for the newcomer.
The group sat in silence as the newcomer studied the map. Several tense minutes passed, until finally the cloaked figure spoke.
"We shall attack the royals on their stroll after dinner, I want our best assassin's to go in first, with our mage, and bow-stallions on the lookout." The speaker looks around, "any objections?"
The other cloaked figures shake their heads.
"Soon, the royals will fear the might of the Nightfire guild!" Exclaimed the leader.
"Wait, I thought we were the Earthhammer guild?!" One of the cloaked figures complained.
"Don't speak out of character, your ruining the immersion dude!" Hissed the cloaked figure to the right of the complaintant.
Suddenly a bright light shone throughout the room, and a voice called out. "What are you nerds shouting about?"
The cloaked group covered their eyes from the blinding light.
"Sis how many times have I told you not to interrupt on Dragon's and Demons night?" Complained the leader as he pushed his hood back. Beneath the hood was was a squinty eyed Nightfire.
"It's not night time anymore, you've been in here for the entire night! You need to get to work in three hours!" Exclaimed the female pegasus. In the better lighting she was easily identified as Nightfire's sister, same coat and mane colors, but with azul eyes. "Now I want the rest of you nerds to clear out, Nightfire needs atleast an hours nap before he heads out."
The group of cloaked friends lowered there hoods and said goodbye to Nightfire. Once it was just the two siblings Nightfire turned to his sister.
She gave him a look, "get that stuff off and get atleast two hours sleep, I'll wake you when you need to leave." She stated as she walked towards the door.
Before she completely left, Nightfire called out to her. "Thanks sis, atleast one of us is responsible."
She gave him a soft smile and wished him good night. "Good night Nightfire."
"Good morning Nightstrike," he replied.
Nightstrike closed the door on her way out, and as Nightfire fell asleep, he thought about how happy he was that he had a great sister like Nightstrike. And then he realised how tired he was going to be tommorow. Oh well.
The one thing that surprised Tender, was how intelligent Jack was.
Despite his quiet demeanor, the adopted prince was more than capable of holding a steady, if basic conversation. He also showed a eagerness to learn that Tender had never seen in any colt or filly. Tender wondered if it was something pertaining to Jack’s species or if it was simply a trait that was solely confined to him.
However; math was a different story.
“Good job Jack, that ends our reading class. Now we can move on to math.”
“Do we have to?” Jack whined from his desk. Currently they were in the room Princess Luna had provided, that had been renovated with a teachers desk and students desk for her to use for educational purposes.
“Yes, I’m pretty sure when your mother hired me to teach you she expected me to teach you every skill you need.” Tender booped Jack as she said this. “Besides, it’s not that bad.”
“But I don’t like math, it’s stupid and useless!” Jack argued
Tender frowned, the young prince had been adamantly against math, usually complaining that It was ‘useless’, But Tender speculated that it was actually his lack of progress that was causing Jack’s anger. Now he was in no way stupid, in fact it wasn’t that he couldn’t do math, it was just that he had a hard time understanding the concepts. Once he understood the concept he could easily apply what he had learned to any question.
Addition and subtraction had been easy enough once she introduced visual aids, but Tender didn’t have a way to display long multiplication visually.
Tender frowned, “You said the same thing about addition and subtraction, but you understand it now don’t you?”
“Yeah I guess so, but this doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Jack finished his proclamation with a grumpy pout.
Tender simply giggled into her hoof, “If you say so. Alright so let’s go over the multiplication table again...”
“Alright, I think that’s enough for today Jack.” Tender stated as she gathered her books and papers, “we’ve made good progress so let’s-”
Tender was cut off by the rooms door slamming open quite loudly. Both Pony and Human waited expectantly for something to happen.
After what felt like an eternity byput was really only a few seconds a large black board on wheels squeaked its way into the room, revealing its escort to be-
“Mom!” Jack proclaimed as he got up and ran over to give his mother a hug.
“Hello darling, how are you. Were you good for Ms. Tender?” Luna asked as she looked at Tender.
“Yes he was an angel as always, and we have made some significant improvements today.” Tender answered, after a moment she decided to broach the obviously elephant in the room. “Not to be rude your heighness, but what is that?”
Luna seemed to remember the large object she was pushing. “Ah yes this is a ‘Blackboard’ as my sister calls it. It’s a special coating that allows you to use these chalks to write on it.” She demonstrated the ability as shed said this, “and when you are done you can use this eraser her to remove it and write something new!”
And sure enough the strange sponge like eraser removed the white line as easily as water removes dirt.
“Wow that truly is a useful tool, I must thank you Princess!” Tender could already visualize how much easier this would make explaining most of her subjects already.
“It is quite alright! Anything to help you and my son.” Luna seemed to think for a moment, “speaking of which I was wondering if I could steal Jack from you early.”
“Of course Princess, I wouldn’t dare stop you, besides I think we were nearly finished up here.”
“Marvelous!” Princess Luna scooped up Jack in her magic and deposited him on her back. “Well then I was thinking we could go get some ice cream if that is agreeable with you my little prince.”
Jack gasped before embracing his mother in a death hug (well he thought he did anyway) proclaiming ‘yes!’ Over and over again.
“Well that settles it then! The Aye’s have it!” Luna glanced back to Tender, after a moments hesitation she cautiously asked. “I don’t suppose you would like to join us?”
Tender was taken aback but she recovered quickly giving a genuine smile but shaking her head. “No, sorry. Unfortunately I have some other matters I attend to today. But thank you for the offer and if you ask again at a later date I would gladly accept.”
Luna’s smile fell slightly before she nodded understandingly. “Aw, too bad. Oh well, I wish you luck Ms. Tender. I bid you adieu.” She stated as she turned to leave.
Tender waved as they were leaving before a memory resurfaced and she blurted out; “Wait!” Luna’s and Jack’s heads snapped to view her.
With a burning face she gave an award giggle before speaking.
“Sorry. Um, I was just wondering if I could possibly have tomorrow off?”
Luna’s smile turned devious as she pondered the request. “Hmmm. I suppose that would be fine, most curious that a guard of mine also asked for tomorrow off for that exact same reason.” Tender could feel her cheeks heating up at the realization that her employer knew full well what was really going on. Luna nodded her head wisely, “Never the less, I shall grant your request.”
“Thank you so much Princess!” Tender said as she shook her hoof.
“Just go easy on him. Nightfire is a young colt, but he’s also one of my officers, I need him back in working order.” Luna whispered in her ear.
Tender nearly died.
*The next day*
Tender found herself standing outside the entrance to a particularly fancy restraunt called “Le Zuerst” waiting for her date to make himself known.
As she stood there, trying to keep her dress from getting dirty, she couldn’t help but think about the events that had lead up to this day.
She had been working for Princess Luna for a little over two months when he had approached her. The two had hit it off as friends from day one, and she had to admit that she had caught herself admiring his physique occasionally.
Alright more like every time she saw him. Usually when he was walking away from her.
It wasn’t just his physique that she liked about him of course, she also admired his strong but geeky personality. He was as much brains as he was brawn so that helped too. Besides there is no harm in trying, right? But despite this she had still been shocked when he had asked her on a date to go see a new fair that had popped up in the city. She had accepted of course, and now they were on their first anniversary.
She was snapped out of reminiscing by the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her. She turned around to find a floating bouquet of roses with... Black ears and a horn?
The bouquet floated to the side to reveal the smiling face of Nightfire, in full tuxedo.
Giggling at his antics, she gladly accepted the roses and tucked them under her wing.
“How did you know roses were my favorite?” And indeed they were, she would almost call it an addiction, I’d it weren’t for the fact that she couldn’t usually afford them prior to her royal employment.
“Call it royal guard ingenuity.” Nightfire winked at her as he took up a position beside her. “You look dashing tonight”
Tender blushed at the compliment, but she was quick to respond. “You don’t look half bad yourself when you clean up and brush your mane.”
It was Nightfire’s turn to chuckle as he held out is forehoof, “So, shall we proceed milady?”
Tender giggled at his antics before nodding in agreement as the two walked into the establishment. The inside of the Zuerst wasn’t the most amazing thing she had ever seen, but it wasn’t a tavern by any means. The building had nice wooden floors, and high quality paintings could be seen hanging on the walls over booths and tables alike.
A couple of magic chandeliers provided an even, steady light that gave the Zuerst a homey feel. Treble Clef’s third symphony could be heard playing if you listened over the din of polite chatter.
As they entered; a stallion, presumably the host, approached them and asked if they had a reservation.
“Yes sir, Nightfire party of two.” Nightfire answered.
“Ah yes! Mr. Nightfire, right this way please.” Tender was surprised at the expedient service that they were receiving. Sure she knew they had a reservation, but she still expected to have to wait some amount of time.
And then she saw where the host was leading them.
The indoor restraunt had suddenly opened up to a porch, with one table that had an umbrella covering it. But what was most interesting was the view.
“Wow, it’s beautiful.” The scene before tender was quite beautiful, the Zuerst had been built on a hill that was steep on one side and gradual on the other. And now she knew why, as she stared out over the rolling plains as a tangerine sun set on the horizon, giving the grass a golden shine as it blew in the soft wind.
“I know, you wouldn’t believe how hard it was to reserve this area, I had to book two months in advance!” A small amount of annoyance shone through Nightfire’s mostly smiling face.
“Well I must thank you then. Quite the patient stallion you are.”
The two took their seats and ordered their drinks.
“So how has work been?” Tender asked from behind her menu.
“Not too bad actually, its been all quiet on the home front. The princess has been shortening the shifts so she can have more guards working in a day without being over staffed. But of course that means we get payed less.”
“Well the time off sounds nice, the whole less pay thing, not so much.”
An awkward silence fell over the party of two.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought up money on a date.” Nightfire apologized as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"I guess your just going to have to make it up to me later then," tender stated with a wry smile.
Nightfire's cheeks lit up in embarrassment as he stammered uselessly.
"Mm yes, I think I know exactly how you're going to make it up to me."
Nightfire was saved from any further embarrassment by the waiter as he returned with their ordered drinks.
"That... That was amazing." Tender stated with a yawn.
"I know right?" Nightfire said from next to her.
"I don't think I've ever felt this full before." Tender stated as she patted her tummy.
"Me too, I didn't realize just how big the serving sizes were!"
The two sat on a bench in the city park, having just left "Le Zuerst" feeling completely satisfied. The sun had dipped below the horizon and the moon was just beginning to give off its soft white glow. The two Lovebirds snuggled closer as they watched their princess' moon come into full view.
"Tender."
"Yes?" Tender asked as she turned to face him.
Nightfire felt his tongue choke up as he witnessed the most beautiful creature he had ever seen."I just wanted to say that.. That I really... I love... You."
Tender smiled at him.
"I love you too."
Nightfire felt a sudden pulse of bravery as he darted his head forward and left a peck on his lovers lips.
Tender was taken aback by the sudden move, before her signature wry smile broke out and she grabbed her stallion and brought him into a deep kiss.
The last word heard out of Nightfire before he submitted to his doom was a panicked eep.
Luna smiled as she watched over the couple below.
'my work here is done' she stated as she powered down the spell she had been using to keep an eye on her guard.
"Mom, why is the moon so big tonight?" Jack asked from beside her.
"I just felt like making two ponies a little happier tonight" she replied as she turned around and levitated Jack onto her back.
"Now I believe you were supposed to be asleep, about an hour ago actually."
"But mom, I'm not even tired!" Jack complained.
"You will be tomorrow if you don't get your little butt into bed right now."
"Fine, but only if you read to me."
"I believe your terms are acceptable." Luna stated as she tucked her prince in as she pulled out his favorite book. "There once was a mouse who wanted a cookie-"
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.
