> The Knight Princess
>  by MiniHorse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Dream
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The princess pushed a great deal of power through the relatively small form that was her unicorn horn. Shadowy blue light pulsed around it, making it glow like a lighthouse. The sun’s penetrating lights were retreating with a sun that was nearly completely sunken. Darkness would soon come to try to swallow up everything. This princess, however, did not like the darkness.

She whipped her horn in one direction. Light flashed from the tip, and when it moved away, a star could be seen in the sky, all by itself in the nascent twilight. She pointed her horn to one place and another with artisan precision, dotting the darkness with tiny white lights. As sunshine declined, she worked harder to fill her canvas. When it was all over, she had a reason to hold her head high. Her nights were not dark nights. 

Still, there was one ornament left to place. Magic engulfed her horn once again, brighter than it had been before. She turned her gaze to the horizon and made the clouds there melt for a moment. That way, she was able to see the large rounded shadow rise into the sky. Her horn guided the object in its long ascent. At last, the ornament found its place, and she finally let herself fall onto her haunches as her magic winked out.

In this brightest of nights, she found her sights falling firstly upon that dark, rounded ornament—the new moon. It was habit. Of all of the night’s intricacies, the moon was her favorite. Its glow was unrivaled. Its forms and shapes were many. It was as close to a living thing as the sky could ever produce.

Thoughts of living made her sigh. It was wonderful to truly have a life of her own again. She was once again able to look at the night sky all by herself.

Was this not just everything a princess could want?

Of course not, she thought bitterly. There was always more to have if you were foolish enough to imagine it. In her case, though, it was well within her power to get more. Her problem, however, was that she had no idea how to.

Until she knew how, she just had to hope she would somehow mature past those thoughts. Just like the moon, she had changed forms over time. She had grown in stature. Her mane that was once short and silver was now long and lush, and its stars were starting to reappear. Her voice was also relearning to speak with its former royal gusto. 

She stood upon the walls of the castle, high above everything else. She looked over the edge into a lonely courtyard. It was where the castle guards trained and exercised. During the day, there was constant activity down there. By night, everything lay idle.

She was a growing pony. That was hard to think about, but it was true. Did not most ponies learn to work towards their dreams while they were growing up?

She did not like being associated with idleness. Yet that was what she was: an idle pony drowning her growing pains in the stars, waiting for an epiphany.

&&

Her sister’s legs were delicate things. Taller than anypony else’s, that was certain, but still like toothpicks compared with some of the legs she had seen elsewhere. Despite that, she still found them suitable pillows for her weary head as they led her through the halls of the castle.

She turned to a door, but before she could think to ask where they were it swung open as if of its own accord. She tossed her doubts aside and let those legs guide her into a dimmer space.

“I hope it is like you remembered.”

She raised her eyes for the first time and saw something she could hardly believe. It was her old bedroom, exactly as it was all those years ago. Everything was left untouched. A ridiculous feeling came over her. Her eyes were telling her that no time had passed at all since she was here last, even though she knew that wasn’t the case.

She yanked herself off her sister and approached the enormous bed in the back. Even standing on all fours, the bed rose as high as her neck. She planted her forelegs in the edges and made a strong leap, tumbling onto the covers with tired energy. The sprawled pony slowly stretched her neck towards the white-haired beauty towering over her still.

“Sister, this does not feel right.”

The older one replied calmly, “How so?”

“It is….” Her eyes drifted around her for a moment, taking in sights that were terrifyingly familiar. The bedposts, the shelves, the vanity, the wide window. “Everything appears exactly the same. But it should not, because it is not.”

Her sister placed a delicate hoof over her shoulder. “It’s probably a strange experience, after being gone so long. But one day, it will all start to feel right again.”

“I know that,” she whined. The two of them had already spent hours talking this intimately, most of which involved her older sister saying those exact same kinds of things. Yet she still found herself harassing her sister for exactly that. “Forgive me.” She hung her head wearily; she too had been awfully repetitive. “I am feeling a host of uncertain feelings, and…I have not been motivated to hold them at bay.”

Her mind gave a jolt when she felt her sister’s lips peck her cheek. Her insides wailed with embarrassment. But that childish irritation was not physically present as she demurely met eyes with her.

“You are my beloved sister. And I have faith that you will grow once again into the intelligent, patient princess that I have loved for as long as I can remember.”

“Why must I grow up again?” Again, her feelings made her babble questions she already knew the truth of. The Elements of Harmony had stripped her of the chaotic emotions that had originally driven her evil. All that it could leave behind was an innocent child. And, unfortunately, it came with a child’s sense of entitlement. “How dost thou know I will be the Luna that thou knewest? I am not certain that even I know what she was like.”

Her beloved sister withdrew her neck, once again towering over her. “Faith is only for the pony that has it. The only thing that should matter to you is that you have a little bit of faith in yourself.” 

As she started to turn towards the door, she kept one side of her face towards her and smiled. “I think you’ll start to understand after a good night’s sleep.”

The little princess blinked when the dim lights of the lanterns blinked out at the wave of her sister’s horn. She became a shadow, tall and intimidating. “I love thee, sister,” she squeaked.

“I love you too.”

Her sister’s face turned at last, and soon the door closed behind her.

Now she was all alone for the first time since that fateful morning.

She screamed at herself to be strong. She crawled over to her pillow and sunk her head into its downy embrace. Her sister had been her pillow up until that point. It was shameful; it made her reel with indignation. But of all the things that had made this day the happiest she ever had, being able to lean on her elder sister once more was the best of them. Her sister had forgiven her for everything. Although she could no longer recall much of their time together, she was certain that there was never a point up until now when her sister seemed so perfect. Sweet, graceful Celestia….

She wondered if now her love was stronger than her envy.

She was lying on her side, staring again at her old room. She still could not get over how familiar everything looked. Nopony must have been in here for a thousand years. Well, that might not have been exactly the case since the place was surprisingly free of dust. Still, the very appearance of it made her feel like she were in the distant past. She actually remembered the last time she was in here. She had been looking out her window, silently marveling what was the most beautiful night ever crafted. That was the moment when she decided that her night would last forever.

She was gazing out that very window as the memory struck her. Things, indeed, were looking awfully familiar. Things needed to be different, and again she wondered if her love was enough.

One thing that was different, however, was the night itself. In her thousand-year absence, it seemed that her sister had been making the night. Celestia always told her how much she loved and respected her work, and now she could see that was not simply flattery. Although not quite up to her own high standards, her sister had crafted a lovely scene for her tonight. All the constellations were in their proper places from what she could tell. The moon was the size it needed to be. The stars, though, did not glow quite to her liking. There was a certain aesthetic intangible that went into that, and her sister had never been particularly artistic.

There were so many ways her sister kept awing her. The fact that she was able to manage both day and night this well for the past thousand years was no less incredible than everything else she remembered about her.

She was dead-set upon taking up her traditional duty after tonight. In fact, it really prickled her that she had essentially been told to go to sleep like a little filly. No doubt she seemed weak and frail to her sister now that she had taken such a small form, but she did not even feel particularly sleepy. Now that she thought about it, when did she ever sleep at night? Most of her rest took place during the day.

Indignant energy made her legs straighten. Feeling bold, she rolled out of bed. Her hooves clacked unceremoniously against the marble tiles, and they continued to do so as she walked towards the big window. She curled up in front of it and was again struck by familiarity. She didn’t even think about her actions. They filled her limbs naturally, and she was able to remember that this was exactly what she would do after she completed her duties. She would sit by a window, or on a balcony, or wherever she could see the sky, and she would read in silence while basking in her handiwork.

A wave of her horn made several books from her shelf glide in front of her face like a curtain. They presented their covers, and her eyes glided uncertainly from one to another. She groaned. They all had ribbons sticking out of their pages, which told her that she had been in the midst of reading them. But as she glanced again at the titles, she realized that she could not remember what any of them were about. Sighing, she whisked the books into a neat little stack beside her and let one fall open in front of her. This one’s title just happened to catch her eye that night.

She would have to start all over again. It was like that for the first book and for the rest that she pulled down after she was done. In hindsight, she did not really have to read through every book from the very beginning. After reading through those opening pages, she found herself suddenly recalling everything else she had read. She delved into thick volumes about science and astronomy, losing herself not in the facts—she knew them all already—but in the language. There was definitely art in the explanations of the natural world. Not many ponies would agree, but she could enjoy them for hours on end.

She whisked down another book, and opened it up to discover not dense blocks of explanation but rather rhythmic meters of romantic verse. The opening lines jumped into her memories, and, as realization struck once again, she excitedly followed the rest. 

This was a very dear book, she remembered. The words written within it were actually the words of Le Chretien de Pones, a very very talented bard. Every word on each page echoed in her mind in his distinctive voice. She remembered the first time it was recited in public. He had dedicated it to her, of all ponies. She had loved his poetry so much that she made him recite it again and ordered her scribe to copy everything down. She had quite an affection for courtly romance. Secretly, she admitted that she probably enjoyed it more than the textbooks she always boasted over. And Chretien’s rendition of Sir Lancetrot’s quest to retrieve Queen Guinemare was certainly her favorite, as she was rediscovering for the next few hours.

It was the knight’s quest for that ideal romantic love. Not simply petty emotional attachment, but a state that encompassed a number of virtues. Faith, loyalty, courage, and so on were tested in the knight’s journey. Love was more than just emotional. It was spiritual. It was self-completion. She was every bit absorbed with those themes as she was with the workings of the cosmos. So many words were flying into her imagination that night. Her eyes would throb, and she would close them for a spare moment. Those moments, however, began to grow larger and happen more frequently. She tried her hardest to resist the weight in her eyelids; she couldn’t remember ever not finishing Sir Lancetrot in one night. At one point, her chin was nestled in the spine of the book while her eyes still crawled from one line to the next. To her horror, she realized that none of the verses were making any sense now. She tried to reread that passage, but her eyes closed before she could finish even one line.

She didn’t realize she had fallen asleep until she recognized that her head was pillowed between her forelegs. She lifted her head and stretched those sprawled out limbs of hers. She opened her eyes but had to force them to the floor when the midmorning sun shone through her window. Yawning, she rose up on all fours and spun herself around.

“As if she were here to remind me personally,” she scowled.

After a brief visit with the hairbrush and a short trip to her wash basin, she whisked open the door, trotted through the remainder of her quarters until she found another door, and took her first steps into the castle halls by herself.

She was startled, however, by the sight of a guard pony standing directly across from her.

“Pardon me,” he spoke. “The princess asked me to show you to the gardens.”

Her eyes narrowed indignantly. “We do not require thine assistance, guard. We have been to the castle gardens thousands of times, and we assure thee that we have not forgotten.”

The guard looked at the ground for a moment. She noted confusion in the way he stuck out his chin and narrowed his eyes. “Then…shall I follow you from a distance, if you ever do find a use for me?”

Instead of respecting his humility, she turned aside and began her trek through the hall. “Follow, guard!”

The sound of her own hooves against the floor was particularly aggressive. She could barely notice the guard’s clip-clops over her own. Of course, her posture was not at all indicative of aggression, high and dignified as it no doubt appeared. She trusted that her sister’s lackey had enough dignity to keep a respectable distance.

Finding the gardens was no task at all. It was not long before she passed through another pair of doors. Descending from the wide porch, her heavy hoof beats were muted by shady grass. Instead of continuing her trek, though, she stopped for a moment to watch the other side of the garden. 

Her sister had not seen her yet. She stood there in the sunny side of the garden, appearing to be chatting casually with a pair of smiling guard ponies. Luna was suddenly reminded of her own guard, and she briefly looked behind to see him standing grimly at the top of the porch. She shook her head. Those eyes didn’t feel proper for a princess’s “escort”.

“Luna, there you are!”

She looked ahead and saw three ponies looking straight at her—two blank-faced guard ponies, and one sweet-smiling princess. Her sister did not need to say anything else to her. She put up a smile of her own trotted into the sunshine to meet her. “Good morning.”

“Are you ready?”

“How would I know? Thou didst not tell me anything apart from, ‘Meet me in the garden tomorrow; we’ll spend the entire day together’.”

“Oh, lighten up a bit, Luna! We’re not going any farther than Canterlot today.”

“Of course,” she giggled. “I certainly would like to see Canterlot again.”

She stepped to her sister’s side and waited for her to lead the way. 

She couldn’t hear her hoof beats on the city’s roads either. It surprised her somewhat, but she remembered to look around her and realize that she was in the midst of a city. Not only was there the sound of her sister’s hooves, the hooves of the two guards that flanked them, and the hooves of that lonely guard that still followed her from behind, but also the sounds of everypony else who saw her sister walking through town and gasped in awe.

“Sister, dost thou do this often?”

“Of course not. Who would I have gone with?”

Then she gasped in awe when she saw her first Wonderbolts’ derby. There she was in the VIP booth, neck stretched over the rail until it hurt. She had no idea why, but her heart seemed to be racing alongside those pegasi. It was so…exciting. She didn’t even care who won or lost; it was a spectacle that had her leaping on her hind legs by the very last lap. She might have leaped over the balcony too had not her sister come up beside her giggling, making her crash back to earth like a bright red apple.

After seeing so many freakishly fast pegasi all gathered in one place, she found herself swinging her eyes all over this wondrous modern Canterlot. For a moment, her excitement simmered because all she could see were big brick buildings and stuffy-looking ponies walking to and from. Whenever her eyes swung into her sister’s, however, her sister would tilt her head in one direction and lead her to something that always seemed to surprise her. Like that porch at the end of the little brick side path, covered in drooping ivy while overlooking a statue of somepony she had  known once. Or like that old masseur that her sister all but forced her to let touch her. She was skeptical of being laid on a table like a doll and having other ponies pound on her back. When she walked back to her sister afterwards, she felt as far from being beaten as she had ever been. There was also that shanty little room at the base of another huge building where her sister introduced her to a crude-sounding pony who sold these strange, new, absolutely marvelous things called “doughnuts”.

They laughed in between bites. Her sister’s wit was impressive as always. She had turned the guard beside her into their own personal pack mule—he was burdened with their box of doughnuts while the two of them magicked a continuous stream of them into their mouths. 

“I’m sorry if I’ve given you such a workload,” grinned her sister as she whisked out the last pastry.

The guard pony chuckled, bearing his empty box proudly as they approached the castle gates. Two more guards stood at the doors. They raised their eyes far above Luna’s puny height, meeting her sister’s gleeful expression with practiced salutes.

“How are you men faring today?”

They dropped their hooves in perfect synch. “We’re well enough, your Highness,” said the one on the right. The one on the left twisted his head back and yelled, “Hey! The princess is back! Open the—,”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary.”

The guard twisted back. “Wha—“

A dramatic burst of air made Luna’s tiny figure nearly lose balance, and the guards reared up in fright. She looked up above her and saw her sister standing on the very top of the wall.

“Luna!” she called down. “Join me at the west ramparts!” And without leaving room for a response, she turned and leaped out of sight.

She noticed the guards were all staring at her now. Their hooves shuffled hesitantly, and their expressions were uncomfortable. Her mind filled with grumbles. Finally, she unfurled her own pair of wings and leaped into the sky after her sister. She flapped hard to land on top of the wall. She scanned the rest of the walls and saw her sister looking right back at her from way to her left. 

“Oh sister,” she huffed. “How did I ever put up with thine silly streaks.”

She glided to the western rampart and looked up at her with her best impression of exasperation. “Honestly, how is it that nopony has perished this day? Everywhere thou goest, somepony sees thee and promptly turneth purple!”

Her sister simply laughed. “I know! It’s simply unbearable!”

She felt her delicate white hoof rustle her mane playfully. Then she spun her around so that she was staring down at the courtyard. 

Dozens of colts were lined up on the lawn, shouting gruffly while they did squats, pushups, and various kinds of head butts. It was typical training yard fare, from what she could tell. There was one pony walking up and down the line of guards-in-training, his shouts always preluding the shouts of the rest. Yet all that masculine gruffness sounded so comically small while looking down from this rampart. It was like watching ants.    

“I swear.” A suggestive smile curled onto her sister’s features. “These colts can be just the most adorable things.”

That comment sparked her curiosity. What could possibly be cute about a bunch of sweaty, stony-faced ponies? She looked hard at the exercising mass. Sure there were some proper-looking stallions barreling through their routines like they were supposed to, but most of them were skinny things, some of them moving as if they had never walked on four legs before! Some of those faces looked far too foal-like for her to trust with her safety. The group began doing side-to-side jumps. She noticed one pony on edge of the front line who seemed to think he was dancing. It didn’t surprise her when he leaped too far to his left and made his neighbor topple.

Her jaw dropped in surprise when saw the entire front line collapse like dominoes.

The distressed shouts in the yard were quickly replaced by the leader pony’s angry voice. She had no idea what he was saying. Regardless, she found his ant-like rage to be strangely entertaining.

“Sister,” she spoke, “why art thou not laughing? Did thou not see how one foolish colt made his comrades fall down with him?”

“Oh-ho, I saw that, all right,” her sister replied. “But, laughing probably isn’t the best idea considering what’s coming.”

“What is com—,”

Her ear perked at the distinct pop that signaled a teleporting spell. She turned toward the source of the sound and saw that a sturdy white unicorn now joined them on the rampart. He was dressed like a guard, except that he lacked a helmet, and his breast plate was remarkably shiny. He approached them.

“Princess Celestia.” He bowed as he said those words. He let out an obviously-forced laugh. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I wish you could have picked another session to watch us train: I assure you, they are not nearly as incompetent as they were today.”

Her sister smiled bemusedly. “Shining Armor, you are awfully penitent for one who does very little wrong by himself.” She sighed. “But, I’ll forgive you anyway.”

“Thank you, Princess.”

He began to rise again, his forelegs straightening to their previous dignity. But in the midst of his rise, he froze as his eyes caught onto something much lower than the pony he had bowed to.

“Oh my!” He breathed. “Are you Princess Luna?”

Her eyes widened at this first recognition. She regained herself, however. “Indeed, we are.”

He bowed once again, but this time in her direction. “It is an honor to finally meet you. I hope that you find my guards adequate.”

It was comical to think that this pony, sweet-faced and sincere yet undeniably sturdy, was the one training those colts to be cold as rocks. His eyes were still glued to the ground. Hopefully he did not notice redness she was feeling on her cheeks. “All is well…Shining Armor, is it?”

“Yes, Princess.”

“Shining Armor,” her sister spoke again. “Are you done with those ponies down there?”

“Well...yes, I guess. After that big tumble, I yelled at them and dismissed the session, even though we ought to have gone on for longer.”

“Very well. Then I would have you accompany my sister and I on our fun day together.”

Luna looked up in surprise, as did Shining Armor. But then he bowed again. “It would be an—“

“Please, do away with the formalities. Today you are our dear friend.”

His eyes shot upwards all of a sudden. Slowly, he gathered back his posture. “Well…okay then! What shall we do today?”

Her sister grinned as she began to walk to the edge of the wall. “Nothing, actually. We’re just going to sit in the shade and tell you all about our day. Of course, we’ll let you talk about your wonderful day.”

She walked right off the edge and vanished, but the sound of flapping wings assured that she was flying off to safety. Luna leaped off the edge as well and glided after her.

It looked like there would be no more sudden take-offs from her sister. All three of them were sitting beneath the gardens’ porch, gathered at a little table with cool lemonade within reach. Contrary to her suspicions that her sister was waiting to pounce on poor Shining Armor or something to that effect, they really did just spend the afternoon talking. Especially about she and her sister’s little day out.

“I don’t get all the hype behind those races,” Shining Armor was saying. “I never found them that exciting.”

“Well, I know Luna was loving them, jumping around like she was.”

She punched her sister’s flank. 

Shining Armor raised a hoof to his mouth, trying to keep his chuckle hidden. “That’s adorable—I mean…uh.” He looked around himself desperately, his expression quite flustered. Once again, his eyes landed on Luna. “I’m sorry, Princess.”

“Oh stop that!” Her sister laughed. “Luna is your friend. Talk to her like one.”

He was her friend? Of course he was, if her sister willed it. Luna rolled her eyes knowingly.

He looked at the table for a moment. A brief sigh later, their eyes met once again. Those sincere, faithful eyes. “Have you enjoyed Canterlot as much as your sister claims you have?”

It would have been awfully rude of her to not humor him with a smile of her own. “We actually have.”

“I’ve actually lived here my entire life. It’s a fine city.”

Her beloved sister had picked a fine “friend.” The way he looked at her, she wondered if he had ever even heard of Nightmare Moon. It hearkened her back to a time when royal guards didn’t look at their princess like a potential problem.

“Princess!”

Luna watched as a guard sprinted up to her sister. “There’s a messenger from Manehattan begging for an audience with you. Says it’s fairly urgent.” 

Her sister sighed. “Fairly urgent?”

The guard nodded.

She rose up on all fours and looked at them apologetically. “I’m sorry. You can only put off these things for so long.”

While she was walking away, she stopped for a moment and swung her head back. “Oh, Luna. You can come along, if you want. This is your kingdom as much as mine.” She smiled. “But I won’t blame you if you want to stay here. I won’t throw all of your responsibilities on you if you don’t feel ready.”

Her sister’s words again made her feelings jolt, and she felt compelled to rise up and show her that she had as much authority as she. But Luna remained silent. She looked back at Shining Armor across from her. He was staring at her sister with eyes austere and respecting. Somehow, completely devoid of the coldness of the guards that had been watching Luna all that day.

“Actually…I think I shall stay here.”

“Very well. Shining, take good care of my baby sister.”

Luna spun around with a hoof raised for another punch, but her sister had already glided far beyond her puny reach. She finally disappeared through the doors, closing with an ancient thud. As the echo faded away, she heard Shining Armor trying to hide his chuckles again. When she turned back to him, she saw those same eyes now focused on her. There was one big difference, though. The unicorn was wearing a big smile.

Her sister had certainly put her in an odd position. “Um…thou may continue speaking as our sister commanded.”

“Yes, Princess.”

“Now, why art thou smiling like that?”

“Oh?” His face reddened. “I’m—It’s just really sweet, seeing Princess Celestia fawn over you like…well, a big sister.”

“She has always been doing that, to one extent or another. Although, even though our memory of the past is quite muddy, I do not think she fawned at us like that in, well, give or take two thousand or so years.”

“Well, she’s so much bigger than you, for one!” Shining Armor made a choking noise and nearly leaped. “W-Well, she’s bigger than everypony in Equestria, to tell the truth.”

“We were certainly bigger than this at one point. Not like Celestia, of course, but certainly bigger than thee.”

She looked behind her and noticed that the guard who had taken her sister away was standing by the door she exited through, looking at her table with yet another pair of grim eyes. She just couldn’t escape those eyes, could she? “Guard!” she screeched, “I command thee to leave us be!”

The guard leaped in surprise. He slowly backed into the door and vanished. 

She turned back to Shining and saw confusion on his features. “What is the matter? We do not need so much protection. We have our captain of the guard right here.”

“Oh. Well…I’m flattered.”

“We prefereth thy eyes.”

“Uh…thank you?”

Luna smiled. It pleased her greatly to see him flustered like he was. Maybe not in the same way it would have pleased her sister. Here, it was more like she was taking control of a situation for the first time. “It is true. We would prefer thine eyes to follow us than the eyes of those guards that we have met so far. We do not necessarily feel ‘safe’ with those cold stares always on our back.”

Shining Armor frowned. “I’m sorry that you feel that way. I do make sure they are consistently intimidating. Honestly, I think a lot of them try to look scary to keep themselves entertained.”

“Is there any way…to have them cease looking upon us like that?”

“We’re not just going to not protect you. Princess Celestia would give me an earful if I did that.”

“Then that leaves only one thing. Shining Armor, thou shalt be our personal guard.”

“Me?” He laughed. “I’m honored, Princess. But if I’m guarding you, who will run the rest of the guards?”

“Oh, come now!” She pouted. “Surely thou dost not work all the time!”

“I work pretty much from dawn ‘till dusk.”

“Ah, but we work well after dusk.” She smirked. “So time shall not conflict, yes?”

“I…guess not.”

“Then it is decided: thou shalt guard the castle when we sleep and be at our side when we wake.”

Luna leaped away from the table, skipping towards the door. “Well? Come, thou bodyguard!” she called over her shoulder.

“Um, actually, I’m not quite done with my duties yet.”

“Well, when will ye?”

“I don’t know. It isn’t like I can just clock-out. There’s all kinds of variables.”

She could hardly believe her ears when she heard herself growl at the poor pony. The thought of him squirming out of her already-small grasp was bringing the child in her to full swing.

Shining Armor’s expression stiffened as if he had been growled at by a manticore. “I’ll run to your side right away as soon I’m done with today’s business. I promise.”

She straightened herself and took a calming breath. “We shall hold thee to thy promise.”

She took one last look at those charming eyes she had hoof-picked. They were set well into a pony who was equally as fascinating. And this pony was well set against the sunny garden behind him. For now, however, she turned away from it all and made her own way.

She had told her sister that she was ready to govern the night once more. So while she waited for her sister to pull the sun out of the sky, she stood by herself atop the walls. She took a long look over the city beneath her and all of Equestria even further beneath that. This land—her land as much as her sister’s—stretched a great distance. Her eyes followed it to the horizon while the sun sank and drew dusk over itself.

A pop burst into sound and was quickly followed up by lonely hoof beats approaching her.

“I’m here, Princess.”

“Art thou watching us?”

“Yes.”

“Remain so.”

She began to raise her head as the sun’s final slivers fell away. Her horn lit up with magic that nopony should have been able to ignore. She waved it across the sky, and stars began to pop into existence. They were slow in coming, but she made sure that they glowed the way she wanted them to. Already the sky was a brilliant show of little white lights, but the grand finale was yet to arrive. The light in her horn intensified, and she dropped her neck and began to raise it up again. The full moon rose from the horizon in synch with her horn. She made sure that her crown jewel hung where there were no clouds to hide it. This was night how it was supposed to be—brilliant, unsullied, and bright.

“Princess,” Shining Armor whispered, “that was incredible.”

She lifted her head proudly. “Equestria has not seen a night like this in over a thousand years. We shall make every night sky beautiful.”

Shining Armor’s attention was rapt that night. And it remained rapt for all of the times he accompanied her night-makings. It seemed for a while that he would always show up in time for nightfall, so she always waited for him before she would do anything. She had to stop doing that, however, when she realized that some of his duties might carry over into later hours. It was her night, after all. She did not require his audience, although an audience certainly delighted her.

Her nights were not exactly full of activity. Well, at least not activity in the childish sense. Shining Armor was getting a break, as far as she was concerned. He watched her study in her apartments. He watched her peruse the royal library when nopony else was there. He occasionally watched her attend to royal matters when they were generous enough to happen at this hour, but most of the time he just stood by while she viewed the stars from her telescope on the balcony.

She was always concerned that he might close those eyes and fall asleep. Therefore, she made sure he was always busy. So he always set up her telescope, and he always put it away. He opened doors for her and he closed them. When she was in the library and needed to find a book, he would be the one to go find it. Oh, she made him work. It pleased her to no end that he never complained in the long time he attended her. The good humor that he displayed on that afternoon when they first met was ever-present on all of the nights after.

That wasn’t to say he was perfect, of course. Sometimes his sincerity was a nuisance. Although, it didn’t really strike too terrible a chord when she thought back on it. In hindsight, it was a…charming nuisance.

There was one night she remembered in the library. Shining Armor came over to her table, levitating a dozen or so books in front of him. He dropped them in front of her.

“Is this all thou couldst find?” she whined.

He chuckled. “That’s everything, Princess Egghead.”

She growled. Shining Armor was usually very good at book-finding. It didn’t seem plausible that more than half the books she wanted to read were gone. Upon scanning through the bindings, however, she was filled with relief when she saw the one she was most eager to read through again.

“Thou didst goodly enough, Shining. Now—“

“Right.” He walked off to a position far behind her, next to the window. She didn’t see him do it, but she knew that he was watching out of habit by this point.

“Oh by the way!” She twisted her head around. “Do not look at us!”

Shining Armor’s eyes widened. “Excuse me?”

She sighed. “Thy playfulness is cute, Shining Armor, but tonight we command thee to put thy nose to the wall.”

He shrugged and turned to the wall.

Luna let herself breathe easily. She whisked her book in front of her and finally flipped it open. She had been putting this off until she felt the need to read it. It was an especially pleasing text, and she felt a need to be pleased.

“Is it something you don’t want me to know you’re reading?”

She stiffened irritably. “No.”

A magical pop sounded, and Shining Armor appeared in front of her desk, with his neck bent like a crane’s into the open pages.

She reddened angrily. “Shining--!”

“I’m not looking at you, your Highness.” He chuckled boyishly.

“Remove thy insubordinate head, bodyguard!”

He lifted his head up straight, but kept his eyes away from hers. “There’s nothing shameful about poetry, Princess. I’m somewhat of a romantic myself.”

“Really?” She magically closed the booked and levitated it so that the cover was facing Shining Armor. “So, thou must be familiar with this work, then?”

He looked up once again and squinted at the title. “Um…no, nothing I’ve ever read.”

“And thou callest thyself a romantic.” She sighed. Any half-hearted lover of courtly romance has heard or read the Song of Sir Roanland at least twice, she scorned him secretly.

“I’ve never heard of it. Is it any good?”

“Well….” She sheepishly glued her eyes to the table. “It is nowhere near our favorite; it lacks… several qualities one normally ought find. However, the qualities it does have are worth examining every now and then.”

“It can’t be that hard to make something romantic.”

Luna gave him a bewildered look. “Really, now?” She laughed. “We doubt that you could do it.”

“I’ll do it right now.”

“Very well. Speak ye! Make us—,” Her hoof flew to her chest, and an exaggerated gasp flew from her lips, “swoon with delight, oh bard!”

Shining Armor backed up a few paces. He cleared his throat and hesitated for a moment. “Um…. Once upon a time…there was a brave knight. He was…strong, loyal, and quite good-looking. He was tasked with protecting his liege lady and her kingdom. However, he was also tasked by his family to protect his blessed younger sister, who had nopony else to watch over her. The knight was torn: he wanted to be off fighting for his kingdom, but he couldn’t just leave his baby sister to fend for herself. But, one day, he found a lovely young mare who offered to care for his sister. He was skeptical at first, but there was something truly trustworthy in her beautiful eyes.

“With this problem rectified, the knight was able to…um…go on a quest for his kingdom! He journeyed to the depths of the Everfree Forest to slay the creature that lurked in the river. When he returned in glory to his city, he searched for his sister. He found his sister safe in the care of the beautiful mare. His sister then told him about how a bully pushed her into a river, and how the mare saved her from drowning and scolded at the bully. The knight was in awe of the mare. He did not think to find such bravery as his own in this beautiful mare. He continued to let her care for his sister, and soon the link of affection between she and his sister grew. Likewise, his affection for his sister was also displayed towards the mare. He was in love, and he finally confessed it to her. She too confessed that she had loved him, and that it was the reason she offered to care for his sister in the first place.

“And…uh…they lived happily ever after!”

She did not honor him with any meaningful expression. She held a blank, non-comprehending look, and he finally gave her that big sheepish grin he gave whenever he told her something asinine, like he did just now.

“Thou hast no idea what a courtly romance is, do ye?”

He gaped as if he had a right to be surprised. “What’s wrong with my story? It’s very romantic!”

“Well,” she raised her hooves in exasperation, “apart from thy poor verse, there is nothing at all convincing in the love that thou portrayest. All that thy knight did was fight a sea monster! There must be greater, meaningful trial for him to prove his loyalty and spiritual competence to love.”

He finally closed his mouth and took on a suitably embarrassed demeanor. “Well…. I only said I was somewhat of a romantic.”

She giggled, letting the book fall back open on her desk. “Somewhat. Of course. Then, we suppose thou mayest watch us read. Perhaps thou couldst look over our shoulder to glean some wisdom from an old bard.”

He walked around, out of her vision. Once more, she could feel the safety his gaze at her back.

“It would be my honor, Princess.”

It was always an honor with that pony. He remained her dedicated companion for many nights to come. A constant companion, at least when wasn’t sleeping. She didn’t let herself look at him often. She had learned to trust his promise of obedience when she told him to keep his eyes on her. Though as the nights would drag on, he would talk to her less. She frequently did turn back to find him curled up against a wall or in the middle of the floor. Then she would have to cradle the slouch with her magic and carry him somewhere decent to sleep.

Every night he proved himself a worthy watcher. He never seemed bitter. He certainly did not fear her. She had suspected all of those things the first time she sat with him. She did not think of it too deeply initially—apart from her sister, she did not have any meaningful relationships with anypony. Yet the comfort that her lonely nights had initially granted her were now only comfortable with Shining Armor to watch her. It was just a luxury, sure, but just like all of her nice books and her comfortable castle walls, she simply could not imagine her nightly routine without him.

The more and more she thought about that, the more she realized that her treatment of him was unfortunately…material. She had a foal’s inhibitions for much of their time together. She had been unduly bossy, treating him more like a toy than a pony. See, sister, I am growing just like thou claimed I would, she mused as she lay in her bed one morning. She was feeling awfully proud of herself as she drifted off into dreams. 

She was waiting for him to come to her apartments. She was curled up comfortably on her couch. Her eyes were glued to the door. Sometimes, though, she lifted her wing and spared a glance at the little box tucked close beside her. It was wrapped up in fine silver paper with an adorable little bow on top. This was apparently how gift-giving worked nowadays. She had seen her sister receive many of these boxes. 

The knocking on her door made her look up again. She snapped her wing back down. “Enter!”

Shining Armor swung open the door. He approached her and, like always, bowed his neck in respect. When he raised it again, he smiled in his usual politeness. “How are you tonight?”

“We are well.”

His eyes darted around in an unusual manner. She instinctively drew her wing hiding the gift tighter to her body. However, as she examined it further, she realized that he wasn’t actually searching for anything.

“Art thou well?”

At last, he sighed. “Actually, I need to ask you a favor.”

This the first time that he ever explicitly asked her a favor. She was curious, yet also concerned. “What doth thou require?”

“I request that you free me from my duties to you.”

“Why? Hast thou been put to some assignment?”

“No…you see, I….” He looked away from her for a moment, sheepishly reaching behind his head. “Recently I’ve found…a very special somepony.”

Her eyes widened with excited curiosity.

“Well, I’ve known she was special for a long, long time, actually,” Shining Armor hurried on. “But now I’m certain of it: I’m in love. And I think she feels the same about me. I…really want to make this work. I’m really honored that you want me of all ponies by your side, but I just can’t keep doing this for as many hours as you demand from me.”

She had always wondered when this would happen. When Shining would finally tell her enough is enough. She always went over in her mind what she would say to him and what she would do for him afterwards. But whenever she imagined those scenarios, she imagined herself feeling angry or slighted. However, that was not the case right then. His plea was just…too sweet. He seemed like a child, begging for something indulgent but relatively unobjectionable. An adorable thought like that made her lips curl up a little. No, she could never be truly mad at this pony.

“We think we understand thy plight,” she answered finally, raising her eyes to meet his. “Thou hast been a fine guardian, Shining Armor, and we believe we may have kept thee in our service much longer than necessary. So thou mayest leave us to go be with thy beloved.”

His smile was the widest she had ever seen it. “Thank you, Princess. Well…good night.”

He bowed one last time and finally turned to leave. When the door shut, her senses were given a jolt. She did not expect him to leave so quickly. She thought he would spend one last night with her. She shook off the temptation to chase him down and order him back, however. It was unwise to delay the inevitable. She looked under her wing gloomily. He had left before she could give him his gift. 

The event had jostled her concentration more than she had thought possible. On that first night by herself, she spent most of her with her hoof beneath her chin, wondering what she would do. Doing the same things she always did felt wrong somehow, and she kept searching for new ways to conduct herself. But in the end she did what she always did, diving deep within her own thoughts and the thoughts of ponies written down in books.

One thing that was different, though, was her long walks around the castle. She found that she could think more clearly while she was walking. She felt very free during those long walks, but at the same time she never felt lonelier. The guards’ grim eyes always followed her whenever she passed them, but she no longer felt their weight like she did on that first day with her sister. The guards might as well have been statues. Nopony was actually watching her.

Her beloved sister was one of those ponies who slept through her beautiful nights. On the other end of things, of course, Luna was almost always asleep from dawn until dusk. Finding ways to meet in the middle was difficult. She found herself trying harder than ever to find opportunities to be beside her. She missed having somepony to talk to, even if her conversations with Shining were never technically worthwhile.

One of those opportunities came when her sister suddenly decided to throw a special congratulations party for her favorite niece. Apparently, her niece Cadence had gotten engaged right there in Canterlot, so her sister in all of her excitement decided to host a special get-together in the castle gardens to toast the engagement.

She took full advantage of this situation, of course, clinging to her sister wherever she walked. There were a dozen or so nobleponies and close friends milling in the garden on that sunny afternoon. It was nothing grand. Just a hastily planned get-together with her sister’s closest subjects in Canterlot. She wasn’t able to strike up as much conversation with her sister as she wanted to, unfortunately. Her sister spent the greater part of her time talking with her guests as they gazed up at her with awe and affection. She got just as many bows as her sister, of course, but they never actually talked to her. She didn’t give them much reason to. She barely knew this Cadence that her sister and her guests kept going on about. She looked across the garden while her sister was talking and spied the pink pony chatting excitedly to a hoard of giggly older mares. She was a lovely thing, she had to admit.

“Luna?”

She turned to her sister. “Yes?”

“Would you like to speak to Princess Cadence?”

“Uh…. Art thou going to?”

“We can greet her together.”

Her sister’s eyes were the most affectionate that she had ever seen in her life. It was no wonder that so many ponies adored her. It was no wonder that she herself adored her. There was enough love in her eyes to drown in.

She looked away immediately. “I believe that I shall greet her at another time,” she spoke with as much regal grace as she could muster. “Thou hast made today quite hot, sister, so I shall…sit in the shade with a drink.”     

“Very well.”

As her sister began to walk off, Luna spoke, “Is the groom here? Thou said we would toast to him.”

Her sister twisted her head back, smiling. “Oh, he should be here soon. He’s probably bumping up security extra tight. You know what a hopeless perfectionist he can be.”

“Um…” Her features filled with confusion. “No, I do not.”

“Oh! Here he comes.”

She turned her sights towards the eastern doors where everypony else was now looking. Shining Armor strode into the garden, wearing that same smile he wore when she dismissed him all those nights ago. As he stepped onto the lawn, Cadence rushed up to his side, and they nuzzled each other for a moment. It had been a long time since Luna had seen those eyes. There were just as comforting now as they were back then. Only now they were fixated on a different princess.

Her sister stepped forward. “Everypony!” She whisked a glass in front of her and raised it above her. “Let us now toast to our dear Princess Cadence and her husband-to-be Shining Armor.”

Murmurs of affirmation rumbled throughout the garden as the ponies raised their glasses high, either towards their blessed engaged couple or towards their beloved princess. Luna hurriedly whisked over a glass of her own. She leaped to her sister’s side again, and raised it.

“To a successful marriage,” she turned and met eyes with Luna. “And a love that lasts long and never goes unrequited.”

The two sisters toasted. The chime made by the glasses resounded and throbbed in her ears. Much like her sister’s words.

> Nightmare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She could not think of another time when she felt so strong and confident as she did tonight. The moon was full and bright, and crisp cool air filled her lungs. She took strong brisk steps down the stone path towards the square where her chariot awaited. She gave approving glances to the pair of pegasi that were pulling her ride tonight. She towered over the two ponies, and they subsequently made themselves even smaller in her presence.

They called this night “Nightmare Night.” It was a vulgar holiday that, from what she heard, revolved around the riotous consumption of sweets and some unfortunate superstitions about Nightmare Moon. She would not have chosen this night to do this if she had the choice. However, this was one of the few nights of the year where ponies actually stayed out past sunset. It was important that she do this while she still felt confident.

Tonight, she was travelling to a place called Ponyville. Her sister told her that if she really wanted to make friends, that would be the best place to start.

She stepped into her chariot and ordered her ponies to take off. They whinnied eagerly and promptly pulled her into the night sky. 

It was a wonderful night. She had picked a perfect way to travel. She felt so free up here in the sky. Since a chariot was pulling her, she had the freedom to pour all of her attention on the stars. How ironic, she thought, that this night was associated with nightmares. 

Long before this night had ever happened, she had to live through a nightmare. It was terrible and humiliating, but necessary, she realized now. The Elements’ restoration had forced her to grow into a princess all over again. Painful as it might have been, it blessed her with something truly memorable. Indeed, it would do well for other ponies to remember the consequences of vanity and childishness. It was why she was up here, carving her own personal destiny with a bird’s eye view of Equestria, and not face-deep in a pillow of secret feelings.




&&


She despised being idle. Now she realized that she was idler than anypony. It was uncivil to lash out in frustration, however, so instead of doing that she just grinded her hoof into the floor. The smooth white tile was slick and shiny, squeaking piteously underhoof. The audience chamber was very lonely at this hour, especially when Luna was sitting in it. She would kick out all of the guards whenever she took her residence here.

Her station was one that desperately needed upholding, so she spent more and more nights standing at the ready if urgency ever came while her sister was spent. But in truth, she never actually stood anywhere. She always lay in repose upon the dais, surrounded by a fortress of books. Even while she had a constant link to the plights of her subjects as long as she was available, nopony ever came to see her. 

Instead, she was stuck here reading the same old words she was always reading. Old Chretien’s tale was at her hooves again tonight. For the first time, its familiarity disturbed her. She felt locked in a place in time that should have been long past. 

Everypony had a purpose, a something that made her special. She was a princess. She had much more value to her kingdom than simply dotting the night with stars, did she not? Her sister certainly did. Her sister’s cutie mark could have been a number of things besides the sun. A heart, a staff, a sword, a wall. What could hers be? A book? If all she did was read, she might as well have just tossed her crown and became a librarian.

She never wanted to think about it. She was afraid of those feelings that made her do the things she did so long ago. Her sister deserved her love, and she wanted her to keep loving her. But that love did not always feel so warm. Living in the sun’s shadow for most of her life had turned warmth into a luxury.

So many tiresome thoughts, she told herself. Grudgingly, she swung her eyes back to her old romance, trying to make the verses banish her worries. The end of the tale was drawing near. Sir Lancetrot had finally triumphed over every test—the beast on the broken bridge, the riddler behind the rocks, and the temptress with the warm fireplace. He had proven the strength of his love and sneaked into Lady Guinemare’s bedroom, where at long last they realized the full extent of their love under night’s sweet blanket. It was a beautiful conclusion, as always. Romantic endings were always her favorite because of how personal they were. If this were an epic, then there would be rejoicing throughout the kingdom. Here, however, closure went only to the mare, the colt, and the night that hid it all. It was truly complete.

The old thoughts came rushing back as she closed the book. This should not have surprised her, she realized. But while memories of that sweet, sweet ending still swirled in her imagination, something sparked. It was an idea. An absolutely insane idea. It was an idea she would have self-consciously snuffed out if she had created it any time before then. She stared blankly at the book at her hooves. Crazy things always popped into her imagination, sheltered as she often was. She knew better than to take all those things seriously. 

But she despised idleness, she remembered. Now, she had lost track of the number of times she remembered this fact. 

She glanced around herself at the stacks of books surrounding her. She had trapped herself in a flimsy little castle, dense tomes of science and theory rising over her head. Did these books not begin as simply insane ideas? She suddenly rose up, knocking over several stacks in the process, and proceeded to walk towards the exit without even a thought given to the mess she made.

When she stood in the audience room the next night, she knew what she had to do. First, she had to wait.

The doors across from her creaked open, letting in one finely-dressed pony. She walked a great distance down the regal red carpet. Her posture was ever-proper, even with the bags under her eyes no-doubt weighing her down. She bowed. “You called me, milady?”

Luna hoped that this advisor was still capable of advising. She opened her mouth let out her royal gusto in full force. “We have certain questions about the social customs of ponies.”

The advisor was nearly knocked off her hooves. She landed back on all fours, looking like she had cold water poured on her. “V-Very well. Ask away.”

“We have…a friend. She is very lonely. She desireth…a lover.”

“Oh?” The advisor looked surprised.

“Yes. She came to us for aid, but…we are afraid we do not know how lovers court in this modern age.”

“Well…does this friend of yours live in Canterlot?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I can think of quite a number of places where the finest colts in Canterlot congregate. The derby, the museum, the square gardens, the opera house….”

“Specifically, we wish to know how…one may actually…initiate the relationship.”

“Oh, well…courting is a complicated business, your Highness. In my experience, however, it all starts simply by talking to the colt you are interested in.”

“Talking?” She placed a ponderous hoof under her chin. “But…what wouldst thou say?”

“ ‘Hello, how are you!’ and the like. You have to start a relationship with him, become his friend. Then when you’re friends…well, you just have to wait and see if that romantic longing ever appears. Between both ponies, of course.” The advisor sighed. “I hope that is a good enough explanation.”

“That sounds…awfully casual.”

“Well, I and many others believe that true love should not be restricted by laws and regulations. Arranged marriages are very rare these days.”

“Fascinating.” She really meant that. It certainly explained how Shining Armor was able to get engaged to a princess. In the old days, something like that would have had her parents crying out for blood. “And yet…we do not think our friend has the time to frequent all of those places thou hast mentioned. Is there not a way to…bring all of Canterlot’s stallions in one place?”

“That is well within your power, milady. You could host a ball. That would attract many prospective colts.”

“Then it is settled! We shall host a ball and invite every gentlecolt in Canterlot! Make it so!”

“Um.” The advisor was thoroughly ruffled up under the force of the Royal Canterlot Voice. “When would you like to have the ball?”

“Three nights from now.”

“V-Very well, Princess.”

The advisor turned around and started fixing up her mane while she made for the doors. Luna in the meantime was playing out all of the scenarios in her imagination. She had hosted a number of gatherings prior to this, although never for the reason she was doing it now. She recalled with fondness the galas of old, the bards singing, the lyres ringing, and all of the food that got passed around. Yet she was always the one who stood off looking regal while her subjects alternated between bowing and dancing. Now, she would have to take a more active role than she was used to.

The ballroom rumbled with voices. The strings quintet carried a relaxing melody. She looked all around and saw a great many gentlecolts idling. There was some nervousness in her hooves that night. Regardless, she puffed out her chest and strode into the midst.

She came up behind one and tapped him on the back. “Greetings!”

Her voice nearly blew the colt over. Recovering himself, he turned around and bowed. “Ah, milady! It is an honor.”

“Tell us how thou art.”

He shirked back a little bit. “Well….” He rubbed one of his ears, as if it were sore. “Fine! Yes, positively capital!”

“So art thou a lover?”

“Excuse me?”

“Dost thou have a romantic interest?”

“Uhh….” The colt turned red with embarrassment.

She responded with a suspicious look. “Dost thou not know?”

“I mean—“ His eyes darted around himself desperately. “I’m sorry. I’m just…flustered because I…promised to dance with my sister right this very minute!”

He bowed curtly and dashed out of sight. She sighed. He was a fine-looking colt, and now she had no idea where he was. No, she told herself. That pony ran off rudely just because she asked him a simple question. Doubtless there were better in this crowd.

The more she talked to these colts, however, the more she began to see a pattern of failure. Her royal gusto seemed to do more to bowl ponies over than to allure them. Her conversations were awfully brief. She assumed that by asking tons of questions, she would learn more about these colts and subsequently know enough to be their friends. Yet what normally happened was that she would talk, and they would endlessly kiss her hooves. 

She was bewildered. She was asking the same kinds of things that her sister would ask ponies whenever she talked to them. When her sister did it, ponies looked up at her with genuine pleasure. Here, they might have been smiling, but she could plainly see that they were uncomfortable.

She turned away from another unsuccessful encounter, trying her best to keep her head from falling in shame. Of course, she wasn’t trying to be exactly like her sister tonight. Her sister had never been in a romantic relationship. She had told Luna this herself. Her sister simply couldn’t imagine herself as being anything other than a mother-figure to all her “little ponies.” So that romantic closure, that sweet satisfaction that came under cover of night between a male and a female—Luna believed that she could have it. Love was in the night’s realm, and the night was in hers. It made sense. 

It might have been inane and childish, but what was the harming in trying? Is that not what ponies do when they grow up? Try to find the thing that sets them apart from everypony else?

“Luna?”

She couldn’t forget that voice. When she turned to look beside her, she saw Shining Armor looking up at her. She had not seen those eyes in a long time. They were so much brighter than she remembered. He was no doubt getting much better sleep these days. He was strikingly well-dressed to boot. She was so used to seeing him in his chest plate that she was surprised at how sophisticated he looked in a black tuxedo. 

“Shining Armor,” she greeted. “This is a pleasant surprise!”

“Yeah…” He reached behind his head, smiling the way he did whenever she used to point out his petty mistakes. “I probably should be up in the keeps, but my guards insisted I take off the rest of the evening. They think I’m going to die from stress or something.”

“Ah. So thou hast been busy?”

“Well, security has been as uninteresting as always. It’s actually been the wedding that’s been keeping me up at night.”

“Is it now?”

“It really has. Like, for example, we’re trying to agree on a place to get married. Cadence is torn between a beach wedding and getting married on her parents’ estate. And I was hoping for a wedding in the park or someplace like that. And to complicate things, Princess Celestia really wants us to have the wedding in the castle, but, ahh…I don’t know. Seems like too much of a spectacle, if you ask me.”

“How is Cadence?”

“She’s fine. I’m sorry I couldn’t bring her with me. She’s been called back to her estate to deal with some issues.” He sighed. “It’ll be a couple weeks before I get to see her again.”

“That is most unfortunate.”  

“Yeah….”

There was an awkward silence between the two. She had had a great deal of those that night. Then she realized who she was standing in front of, and her heart gave a sheepish tug. Surely she could say more to the pony who had been her constant companion for most of her new life. But she couldn’t. The words froze deep in her chest.

Shining Armor’s eyes drifted away from hers. Immediately, her hoof darted out and grabbed his chin. She forced him to meet eyes with her again.

Why in the world did she do that?

“Princess?” he muttered. “Are you okay?”

She withdrew her grasp as fast as she could. She could feel herself trembling. It was a disturbing sensation. It wasn’t helped when he kept staring at her. Those eyes that used to guard her in the night were filled with sincere concern.

A new fancy jolted into her thoughts at that moment. It was just as insane as the one that inspired this ball.

She made a serious look. “No, Shining Armor. We are not well…. We believe we may need thy aid.”

His expression took a dark turn. He bowed his head, only slightly so as not to make a scene. “I am at your command.”

His loyalty awed her. He was just like Sir Lancetrot. She shook off her silly imaginings, however. “Follow.”

Curious eyes from everypony watched her exit the ballroom. It was a rude thing to do to simply leave her own ball, but she did not care one bit. She led Shining Armor up to her apartment. Of course, there was still more to their journey even though they were as far as her parlor. She approached the door of her bedchamber and realized he was no longer following her. She looked behind her and saw him staring back at her in uncertainty.

“Please, Shining Armor.”

He followed once more.

She whisked open the bedroom door. She strolled to her bed and leaped upon it, twisting herself around so that she was lying facing where he now stood. She magicked the door shut behind him.

“Now,” she spoke, “we are in need of thy protection once again.”

“Have you received threats, your Highness?”

“We…certainly do feel threatened. We realize that this may seem sudden. We promise that thy time in our service will be much shorter.”

He didn’t say anything. His eyes were quivering nervously. She could feel herself quivering as well. Unacceptable.

“Come, Shining Armor!” she blurted harshly. “Kneel before thy princess.”

He snapped back to attention and trotted to the foot of her bed. He shifted his weight to his forelegs and bowed down in servility.

She got a mischievous idea. She squirmed backwards, all the way back to the bed’s headboard. “We cannot see thee kneeling, Shining Armor.”

His head rose slowly over the edge of her bed. With some hesitation, he placed one hoof and then another upon the sheets and pulled himself upon it. She rose up on her haunches as he continued his walk towards her. He bowed with his head just a foot from her hooves.

“Now….” She bowed her own head, letting her horn hover over his prostrated shoulder. “Dost thou swear to stay by our side for as long as we will it?”

“I swear.”

“Dost thou swear to keep our all our secrets hidden, including the bond that we forge tonight?”

“I swear.”

“And dost thou swear to be our loyal and obedient servant?”

“I swear.”

She tapped her horn once on his shoulder. She raised her head once more and looked down upon the colt, greatly pleased. “Now rise.”

Shining Armor’s legs began to draw back beneath himself while his neck sought its former posture. But before he could stand once more, she rushed into him with forelegs opened wide. She tackled him to the bed. She had him tight in her embrace.

Their faces were the closest together that they had ever been. His jaw was hanging limply, breaths coming unsteadily. His eyes were wide and full of shock. Regardless, she had the pleasure of being this close to eyes like those. Her sister most certainly never felt this before. Those eyes were hers to swim in when she so desired.

Before now, she had never once thought about fulfilling that romantic vision within her own life. Now, she was feeling nearly every piece of it falling into place. A long struggle. A series of decisions. The cover of night, and that unattainable, forbidden love. It all made sense now. Guinemare was right here in her arms. And, as everypony who knew the story knew, Guinemare was married.

“Now,” she whispered. “Talk to us.”

She could not carve true love with bluntness, as she had learned the hard way at the ball. It would require caution, words and gestures that were like needles. So while this strong little unicorn was tight within her grasp, nothing more intimate than mere words was shared. 

Loyal Shining Armor abided by his oaths. She no longer forced herself to sit in that audience chamber and wait for ponies to need her. Now, it was similar to older times, with her spending much of her time in her apartments or in the library. Yet she now had this beautiful colt at her side. A colt to hug, to pet, and to cultivate love from. 

She taught him a thing or two about the poetry she indulged in. They read some of it out loud together. She did not keep him far from her. Either he was close by and watching her, or he was close enough beside her for her to explore his coat with her hoof.

The only thing of his that he had not surrendered was his heart. But she was confident that it would fall into her hooves eventually. There had never been ill will between them at any point before, and despite the shy glances he cast whenever she touched his face, the warmth in his eyes never vanished. Indeed, there were a number of things that made her think that things were going her way.

There was the time he watched her raise the night. It was the first time he had seen it since many months ago. In that time, her magic had grown back to much of its former glory. The lights that flew from her horn shocked even her. The night sky was sharp and lucid, like the edges of the crescent moon.

The first thing he said was, “You know, I’ve never seen more beautiful nights in all of my life up until this year.”

To that, she replied, “This is how nights are meant to be.” At that point, she stretched out her wing and wrapped it around her guardian. They watched the night in sweet silence.

She often kept her wing over him when he was next to her. One time, she was in her apartments on a stormy night, lying in front of her fireplace. She was unusually tired that evening. She couldn’t focus on her book. Instead, she laid her neck on the floor and stared dreamily into the flames. Then she felt a jolt up her spine. He was petting her. She had thought about raising her head and seeing what kind of look was on his face, but she decided against it. Perhaps he was only comfortable showing that kind of affection while he thought she was asleep.

She wondered when she might have more moments like those. Their renewed union was very much like their old one. She gave him petty chores, and he complied with them. She chided him for his mistakes, and he found ways to be witty. And of course, there was quite a bit of talking. They were very familiar conversations.

“So thou hast been doing well with the young recruits?” 

“Yeah, surprisingly,” he replied.

“We do trust thee to make those colts trustworthy.”

He nodded.

Luna had one hoof pinned to the spine of her book and another one stroking Shining Armor’s leg beneath the table they shared. It was a familiar location—just the two of them in the library. These days, however, she was fine with him sitting in front of her at this close of a distance. 

“Dost thou have any favorites?” she asked.

He chuckled. “They’re all equally terrible, at the moment.”

“We find that hard to believe.”

“Well, it’s true.”

She looked up from her book. He was watching her as always, with those eyes that never seemed to lack devotion. They never changed in all her time with him. Yet it concerned her to see those genuine eyes match with the rest of his features. His lips were drawn in, and his chin was struck slightly forward. He looked strained. But it was not a strain out of any sort of pain. No, she saw it as a strain to maintain normalcy. She noticed this whenever she stroked him like she was right then. But those eyes of his couldn’t lie. She stared into them, searching once again for the truth of things. Was he afraid to show his true reaction? Was he embarrassed?

“Are you okay, Princess?”

Her gaze flickered—it fled to his chin, but darted back to his eyes just as quickly. “We are as well as we have ever been.”

She could never search his eyes without being asked if she was well. He asked her that quite often. It spoke true to the pony behind the always-concerned eyes. Yet she had heard that question for far too many nights. Why was he outwardly trying to reject what his heart had put into his eyes, she wondered. 

She had to know when she could embrace him for real.  

“Princess?”

She spun around with a polite smile, away from her sky and right into the eyes of her guardian. “Yes?”

His hooves made cautious clops against the tiling on the balcony. He stepped into the starlight and breathed deeply. “Princess Celestia has asked me to personally lead the guards who will be escorting her to Manehattan for the Summer Sun Celebration. This means, of course, that I will have to leave Canterlot as soon as the sun sets to make it for the sunrise. So….”

“Thou hast come to ask permission to go?”

“Uh.” He looked taken aback at her suggestion. “Well…yes, basically.”

She didn’t respond immediately. She planned on granting his request, of course. She would not dare interfere with any oaths he had made to her sister. But it did take her by surprise, and irritated her. For that, she decided to let silence linger between them. He needed to know the weight of his decision.

“Thou mayest go, Shining Armor,” she said at last. “But please return to our side when thou art able.”

He nodded. “Of course, your Highness. Shall I, ah, find you a replacement bodyguard?”

She waved him off. “Do not worry thyself. We shall take care of that.”

“Very well. Stay safe, Princess.”

He did not come to her three nights later. That didn’t bother her: she too had left Canterlot. She stood all alone atop one of Manehattan’s tall buildings. This city did not exist yet before she was banished. It was an impressive expanse of urban sprawl, very different from the cities of old. The only significant distraction to the city’s architecture was the huge park in the city’s center that spread out right below her. It was here that the Summer Sun Celebration was set to take place.

It was not often that so many ponies would congregate when the sky was still dark. Of course, it was all in anticipation for the sunrise. They would all be looking to the sky, waiting for her sister to work her miracles.

She looked down into the park. She could see vast crowds of ponies in the lawns open to the sky. She wondered where Shining Armor might be. No doubt he was at her sister’s side. As to where her sister was, she could only guess. Regardless, she had an audience, and she would show them something they could not ignore even if they wanted to.

Her head was held high. Magic climbed to the tip of her horn and flashed. The stars blinked, as if awed, but they returned with a newfound brilliance. Now there was a full moon’s glow beside the shadow of the new moon. A radiance that one could marvel at without the fear losing one’s eyesight, she thought with pride. 

She swung her horn forward. Immediately, a shooting star flew overhead. She swung her horn again multiple times, and with each swing another shooting star streaked across the sky. She made her last swing and finally looked up. Each heavenly object passed over the moon’s dark sphere, following one behind the other, lighting up the surface for fleeting moments. She smiled at this spectacle. Not every night sky could have this kind of activity. Manehattan was very lucky.

All the sudden, a brilliant white flash yanked her eyes down to the park. She could hear gasps echoing even where she now stood. The lawn where crowds had been standing before had now cleared to make way for the towering pony whose body was now engulfed in a golden white light.

How could she forget her sister’s brilliance?

She could see her so clearly even from this distance. Her horn was pointed to the ground, but it slowly rose skyward. The night sky began to brighten. The stars faded. The moon’s dark circle became painted over with a misty morning blue. Finally, the first orange beams crept over the horizon. Slowly, the circle of the sun climbed. At long last, her sister’s horn reached its peak, and the sun sat whole and unchallenged in the sky. And just like that all of her hard work had been burned away.

She heard cheers and applauds from the park. Like herself, her sister usually set herself apart from other ponies when she performed her duties. For all of these little ponies, they were witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle. They would likely remember it forever. Luna fell upon her stomach, lifting her wing over her face. The morning sun was in her eyes.

She found her beloved sister sitting in a personal pavilion set up in the park. Luna made sure to sneak around the celebrating ponies. It was almost noon, and they were still playing as much as they had been that morning. She crept up beside her sister, but her sister turned and saw her before she was close to the pavilion.

“Luna!” she chirped. “I was wondering when you’d come say hello.”

She smiled back at her. The guards that flanked the pavilion bowed their heads as she joined her sister under the shade. She rubbed her face against her neck affectionately and met her eyes. “How came thou to expect me?”

“Well, that display last night couldn’t have happened on its own, could it?”

She grinned. “Did it please everypony?”

“I thought it was simply wonderful. And there were a lot of ponies pointing at the sky.”

She looked past her sister for a moment. There were five guardsponies surrounding the pavilion. Their stony gazes darted carefully between the crowds beyond and the princess they watched over.

“Where is Shining Armor?” 

“He was here until about a half hour ago. I let him run off with Cadence.”

“She’s here?”

“She doesn’t live far from Manehattan.” She laughed in her sweet tone. “She came for the celebration and ended up finding her fiancé as a bonus.”

“Oh….”

“Luna?”

She saw the seriousness on her sister’s expression. A part of her trembled. “Yes, sister?”

“I know that you’ve made him your bodyguard again.”

Her eyes widened in shock. “Did he—?”

“No, he did not say a word, which concerns me even more.”

She was not sure how to respond.

“He works as hard as anypony I’ve ever known,” her sister continued. “He doesn’t need to be kept up all night in your service, especially when he’s getting ready to start a family.”

Luna looked away for a moment. “I am not making him jump over mountains,” she muttered petulantly. “I let him sleep when he needs to.”

“Do you really still feel insecure after a year?”

She looked to her sister, outrage creeping into her features. “What?”

“Nopony is conspiring to get rid of you, Luna. I know the guards were a little intimidating. If they still are, I’m sorry. But I assure you, everypony respects you. Whatever you might have done in past, you are as safe in Canterlot as I am. Besides,” she spared a confident smirk, “if anyone did want to hurt you, they would have to go through me, first of all.”

Luna lowered her gaze in embarrassment. “I did not plan on keeping him long.” She angled her eyes up at her with irritation. “Canst thou not see how quickly I have grown since the last Summer Sun?”

“Of course I do.” Her sister flashed a hurt look. No doubt her sister was hurt, Luna thought bitterly. Hurt by her unwillingness to simply assume that her bright and shiny big sister never meant ill toward anypony. “If you plan on releasing him,” she continued, “please consider doing it soon. There are plenty of other good ponies you can have at your back. I don’t want you keeping him away from my niece.”

That was never her intention, she wanted to say. She always planned on releasing him when Cadence returned from her estate. All that she wanted was to feel that romantic sensation, just once. Cadence could keep him forever; he belonged to her. Luna just wanted to see if something like that was possible for herself. It was unfortunate that she couldn’t think of any other colt that she could do it with.

Luna remained with her sister, standing beside her in the shade. This was yet another moment to spend with her that she had been deprived of in recent days. She was truly blessed to have Celestia as her sister. Being in her presence again after many weeks of keeping to herself made her realize the obvious all over again. If not for her words with her, she still might have believed she had something to fear from her sister. She still might have believed that she had to prove herself superior somehow. She still might have believed that claiming Shining Armor’s heart would have done it. But, no. She had been illuminated.

She let her head hang. What a blessing! 

But she had come so far. She had to at least finish what she started. If Shining Armor would not wear his heart on his collar, then she would have to force it out. They would have one final night to themselves. 

Shining Armor reported to her, as he always did, while she was standing in the middle of her parlor, her insides trembling while thinking about what she planned to do. He came to her hooves and bowed. While he was on his knees, she called up her magic and made the both of them wink out of existence. 

In another instant, they reappeared in a vast, empty field. Shining Armor jerked awkwardly out of his bow and looked around him. She hoped he liked what he saw. She could think of no other place as beautiful under a night sky. And she had made the night sky just as lovely as it had been the night before Summer Sun.

“Shining,” she spoke finally. 

He yanked himself towards her. His concerned eyes glimmered in the starlight.

For a moment, Luna forgot what she was going to say. She quietly cursed herself, but she did not let silence reign. “How was thy trip to Manehattan?” she quipped in a forced, cheerful tone.

“Uh…. Successful, by all accounts.” His hooves tittered at the ground nervously. “No problems that I know of. I even got to partake in a couple of the festivities.”

“That is…wonderful….”

That was all she had.

“What did you do?” asked Shining Armor.

“Oh, us? Much the same things we always do.”

What a horrible thing she had done, she thought. She had done everything in her power to make this night perfect. Her heartstrings were taut with hope, even when she knew what she was chasing was only temporary. It was unbelievable. She truly felt that she had something to lose if he rejected her. It shamed her into silence.

No, she told herself. This silence was only making her insides churn. She could not waste Shining Armor’s time any longer after putting him through so much. She came here with full intentions of finishing this. She mentally girded herself and stepped into the unicorn, breaking the silence with the sound of shuffling grass.

“Shining Armor,” she whispered. “Surely thou knowest that we have much affection for thee.”

Now grass shuffled beneath his hooves. “I’ve…suspected that for a while now, actually.”

He stood his ground even while she moved her muzzle close to his. His eyes were shaking nervously. In her the pit of her own stomach she could feel a similar tremble. Her mouth opened and moved towards his. 

At the last moment he jerked back, breathing heavily.

Luna withdrew her neck as well. As she was straightening her posture back to what it was a moment ago, she was shocked at how quickly his rejection had come. They had made such simple body movements, and yet they carried enormous implications. This shock was yet another layer of the swirl of emotions that had now bubbled to her thoughts’ forefront. She looked at Shining Armor, right into those eyes that she knew would not watch her any longer. All of the sweetness that she associated with them was gone, replaced with terror. His mouth hung open slightly. His expression was full of…disgust.

“Thou dost not need to fear,” she muttered in a harsh tone. “We do not simply lash out at rejection.”

He gave his head a rehabilitating shake and took a deep breath. “Princess…I’m sorry I can’t be as obedient as you wanted me to be. But…this kind of affection is…wrong.”

“Thou didst not object to the other touches I gave thee. Thou evenst touched us!”

“And I’m ashamed.”

“But thou still did it!” She stamped her hoof like a child would, voice rising with emotion. “Art thou saying thou led us to believe thou had affections when thou knew it would lead to this?”

“I—I guess I did!” He sounded desperate now. “But it wasn’t out of spite!”

“What else could motivate such deceit, such…treason!”

She immediately regretted that last word. The glint in his eyes were like nothing she had ever seen before. They were fear beyond reckoning. He looked ready to scram at any moment.

“No! Please, calm thyself, Shining!” She tried to get him to stop shaking. It didn’t work. It irritated her. She shouted, “Calm thyself!” She stomped her hooves in frustration, cursing her anger. She had tried to prepare for this unraveling, and she was failing horribly.

“All right.” She finally heard a clear tone out of the colt. He shifted a little bit and cleared his throat. “Basically, I was afraid of you. That night you made me come up to your room and swear loyalty to you…I was thinking somehow I was being involved in some dark plot. I’m sorry, but…you were Nightmare Moon at one point. It certainly seemed suspicious, with the whole ‘keep our secrets’ deal. I’ll admit, though…there was a lot more confusion as it all went forward. It didn’t seem so much a sinister plot as it was…a cry for help. I couldn’t possibly understand what was happening. I’m sorry if I don’t, but that’s what it seemed like to me. And I felt like I had to see it through. To help however I could.”

This was his heart, she realized. She was staring at him, awe causing her anger to cool. This was the care she had always seen in him. For the longest time, she had only seen it in his watchfulness. Now, he had revealed it with his own word. 

“You know,” Shining Armor continued, “Princess Celestia always asked about you while I was guarding you, back when you had just arrived. She really wanted me to keep being with you. I guess she thought you needed some kind of companion. I didn’t have a problem with that. As tiresome as it could be, I actually really enjoyed our time together.” He smiled distantly. “You were just like my little sister, always an egghead, always so sure of yourself. I’d never let her be unhappy if I could do anything about it.” 

A great sinking feeling hit her stomach. All kinds of bitter sensations welled up in her. Salt being poured into ancient wounds. It wasn’t enough for him to show her his heart. He had to go and explain it as well. 

She was his little sister.

“I am sincerely sorry that thou hast been put through this,” she muttered. “Leave us. You need not attend us any longer.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“With all due respect…you’ve put me through enough distress to warrant more explanation than that, your Highness.”

“This is not about thee.”

“It absolutely is!” He stepped forward. Luna actually doubled when she heard him raise his voice at her. “What if Cadence had found out about this?” he yelled. “That would have ruined me! I was walking on glass this entire time for your sake!”

Luna grounded her hooves, her features contorting gravely. “We never planned on taking thee away from her!” she snarled. “We were going to release thee before then!”

“Then what was the point of this?”

Luna had breathed in enough air to yell a thunderstorm into submission. But when she realized what he asked her, the words froze in her throat. Her hooves trembled in shame. No…. She could never admit to the vanity that made her do this. Not she, a princess of the highest esteem, to this…trembling peasant!

Shining Armor used her silence to take a long, calming breath. “Please, Princess,” he said. “Just tell me what drove you to do this.”

“Hush!” her mighty voice roared, thunder clashing right on its heels. “I am not thy little sister, dost thou understand?”

More thunder punctuated her venomous rebuke. Shining Armor’s hairs were thoroughly rustled now. But he still had a brave face on him. The concern in his eyes never went away.

She didn’t want them anywhere near her.

“There is nothing thou needest to know, because there is nothing thou canst do,” she said calmly now. “We know our errors. Whatever thou intendest to say, we already know.”

“How do you know that?”

She didn’t. But she was certain that she knew enough. “We know because we want thee gone. Surely thou hast enough loyalty to obey that command.”

He stepped back a couple of feet, and light began to surround his horn. “As you command.”

He vanished in a flash of light.

Luna’s legs gave. She lay there on the grass, her head angled to the one thing she had left—her night. It was a wonder that she didn’t feel any tears. Her heart shuddered with a host of horrible things. She had charged into her foolishness regardless of her doubts and thusly paid the price.

Why couldn’t just watching the stars satisfy her insecurities, she wondered. They were beautiful, and they were all hers. Her sister could never make a night like this. Of course, there really was no other pony besides herself that could really appreciate it. But still, it was better than some fantasy feeling steeped in banal poetry. 

“Goodness!” She forced herself a bitter laugh. “He really is like Lancetrot!”

In Chretien’s old tale, Lancetrot found himself trapped between the oaths he made to a temptress and the affection he had for Guinemare. It was most certainly the most difficult trial he had up to that point. It seemed that he had no hope of surviving without sacrificing his honor in one way or another. To accept the temptress’s offer to share a night would have compromised his dedication to his quest, but to reject her offer would have been the same as spitting on her hospitality. In the end, he was spared from either decision. The temptress let him go, saying that she had only been testing his honor for Guinemare’s sake.

Luna’s face plummeted into the grass. If Shining Armor was Lancetrot…. Then she was the temptress. The filthy, scheming, nameless temptress. She wiggled her head in the dirt in as if trying to fend off some loathsome bug. It was so obvious, and yet this entire time she felt like she was a heroine. 

Feeling and knowing were just two conflicting ideas, it seemed. And she had just told her sister how much she had grown, too. 

She did not raise her head up again. She lay there in the field, hoping that the sun would rise and maybe fill her with warmth.