> The Lovely Night Mare > by Star Plasma > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Beauty Unrivaled > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter One: Beauty Unrivaled "Luna, you look so beautiful tonight." you said, admiring the way the shimmering night sky matched Luna's dark flank so perfectly. So beautiful, as always you thought. Luna giggled and began to stare deep into your eyes. Your heart melted at the feel of it. She was so beautiful, and you were madly in love with her. You liked absolutely everything about her: her mane, her personality, her posture, but you loved the way she stared at you the most. You were infatuated with her eyes. Every time she looked at you like this, it felt as if you were drowning in their depths. It felt as if she was searching your very soul, but this didn't bother you at all, because if that was what she was doing, you had absolutely nothing to worry about. All she would find at the very center of your soul would be your absolute and utter love for her. You weren't usually good at romance, but it just seemed to come to you so naturally when you were spending time with Princess Luna. You blinked as the dark goddess looked away from you for a moment. "Luna, what is the matter?" you asked, detecting a flash of uneasiness in her beautiful eyes. "It's nothing really... I've just been wondering if we may be spending too much time together..." Luna replied. Ouch you thought, feeling a sharp pain in your heart. Was Luna going to break up with you? "What makes you say that?" you asked curiously. You wondered why Luna would be saying such things at a romantic dinner, such as the one you were currently having with her. You had done your best to impress her with this dinner, and you had no idea what you would do if she broke up with you. She was a goddess, but most importantly, she was your goddess. Your world would surely end if she broke up with you now! Luna looked back at you. "Well, if we keep spending this much time together, the other guards will surely notice that we've been spending far more time together than normal." Luna said, causing another sharp pain to poke at your heart. But Luna was not finished yet. "Not to mention Tia; she's been giving me strange looks recently." she finished. Your heart was nearly pounding out of your chest. You looked at Luna worriedly; if Princess Celestia had noticed that you were spending an increasing amount of time with Luna, she would surely have you dismissed! Or maybe she would want you to be with Luna. Shouldn't she be happy that her sister is happy? Luna's next words snapped you back into reality. "Because of this, I- I have decided that it would be the best for both of us if we just ended it here." Luna said. Oh crap, it's over! you thought. Your head suddenly became dizzy as you realized the magnitude of the tragedy that had just occurred. It killed you to see Luna like this, but before you could stop her and reason with her, Luna drew herself to her hooves slowly. You watched in shock as Luna slowly began to walk away from you, her head and tail low. * * * * * "Hey! Wake up!" You groan and open your eyes drowsily. Light seeps in through the window blinds, and it pours in through the open front door. You slit your eyes open to see who has woken you up. One of your comrades is standing there, tapping one of his hooves impatiently. He continues to do this until you decide to look at him through fully open eyes. You lift your head and stare at him through sleepy, and somewhat irritated eyes. "You're on duty." the guard says simply, then turns around and proceeds to exit the Guard's Chambers. The snoring of your allies made you yawn and stretch. You pull yourself out of bed groggily and walk over to your armor. You dress quickly, and proceed to exit your chamber. You find yourself thinking about your most recent dream as you walked to your station. You have been having dreams about being together with Princess Luna, but all of your other dreams had ended with you and Luna living happily ever after. So the newest dream wasn't even really a dream; it was more of a nightmare. And to make it worse, it was the worst kind of nightmare. It came as quite an unpleasant shock to you. You shudder; it was definitely the worst dream you had ever had. Sure, nightmares about being eaten alive by timberwolves and ones about being torn apart by Ursa Majors were scary, but there was no feeling worse than losing the pony that you loved the most for the rest of your life. A few of your friends call your name as they walk past you, but you are too absorbed in your thoughts to recognize the voices individually. So you just nod to everypony that passed you absently. Eventually, you walk into Canterlot Castle, shuffling your hooves toward Princess Luna's chambers. You were to wait for her outside of her chambers until she woke up, then wait for her to give you your orders for the day. Luna, being the Princess of the Night, was not particularly fond of mornings, and she would often sleep until midday. But you, as one of Luna's most trusted and preferred guards, were accustomed to the Princess's sleeping habits, and it didn't really bother you anymore. Besides, you kind of like seeing Luna when she woke up, because you find her bed-mane quite interesting. Soon, you find yourself in Luna's chamber's hall. You take up your position on the right side of Princess Luna's chamber doors. You look to your left; one of the guards that is often stationed with you was staring at you expectantly. If you were a lesser pony, you would have straight up walked over to him and punched the hay out of him. But you weren't, so you just did your best to ignore him, and you accepted the fact that the guard was creepy. He often stared at you this way, as if he wanted to say something to you. But you didn't like him, so you just preferred to ignore him. You jump as a loud noise sounds behind you. "Ouch." came Princess Luna's beautiful voice. Your eyes brighten; soon Princess Luna will be out of her room, and you will have a chance to talk to her. But then again, that was what you always thought before you had the chance to actually do it. You always chickened out when you had the opportunity to discuss your feelings with her. You hear the sound of lazy hoof steps dragging toward the door. Yep, that's her all right, the always gloriously majestic Princess Luna. Three...two...and one you count off in your head, listening to the hoof steps drawing nearer to the doors. You and the creepy guard step aside as the timer marks zero. Princess Luna flings the doors open, then steps out of her room and blinks sleepily. She opens her mouth to let out an enormous yawn. Not one of her most attractive poses, but you were just glad that she was awake, and you were sure that you would have a great day with her. She looks at the creepy guard, and you remember that the creepy guard's name is Golden Bow. She nods to him, and he bows down to her. Princess Luna then looks at you and smiles. "Good morning." she says. You swallow nervously and bow to her, just as Golden Bow had. "Good morning, Your Majesty." you say softly, still bowing. You draw yourself back to your hooves and wait for Luna's orders. You notice that the princess was still looking at you, but then looks away quickly and gives you and Golden Bow your orders. "Today, you two are to accompany me through the Royal Courtyard." she says, then begins to make her way to the Courtyard exit hall without hesitating. About halfway there, she suddenly stops in her tracks. Her grumbling tummy is probably loud enough for the ponies clear across the castle to hear. She would occasionally do the same thing. She spins around and begins to march toward the dining hall. She would sometimes forget to eat breakfast for some reason or other. Come to think of it, you had forgotten to eat your breakfast today as well. So it was a good thing that Luna had forgotten too. Golden Bow continues to stare at you as the dining hall doors appear nearer, but you were just as good at ignoring him as you ever were, so you just tolerate it. Soon enough, you and your company arrive in front of the dining hall doors, and you, being a gentlecolt, open the door for the Princess and the far less important creepy guard. Luna beams at you, melting your heart, and steps into the dining hall. It was empty at the moment, so pretty much every table was available. Luna decides to sit at the one closest to the door, so naturally you and Golden Bow sit at the same table as her. You seat yourself on the right side of Luna, and Golden Bow seats himself on the left side of her. He was finally taking a break from staring at you, so you guess that Golden Bow is as hungry as you are, and the smell of the food is distracting him. Soon one of the chefs comes to bring Princess Luna her food; a luxuriously large salad that looked as if the hungriest pony in Equestria would only be able to eat half of it. Princess Luna's eyes light up. She instantly begins to devour the salad, leaving you to your thoughts. You wonder what you are going to eat; since apparently the chefs only cared about feeding the princess. You would get up, but that would mean leaving Luna's side, and that was absolutely unacceptable. You decided to ask her if it would be okay, but you dare not interrupt the Princess while she is eating, so you just drift off for a moment, thinking about your previous dreams and the ultimate goal of being with Princess Luna. Suddenly something jabs you in the ribs. You snap out of your trance and look to see what has disturbed you. Luna gives you a glance through narrowed eyes, then shoves her bowl of salad toward you. You see that Golden Bow already has some salad on a plate, so you feel free to hungrily ravage the remaining portion. As usual, Luna's appetite was big, and you were shocked by the amount of salad she seemed to have eaten by herself. Or maybe Golden Bow had just gotten more. Luna examines her hooves while you devour the remaining portion of the salad. Soon, you and Golden Bow finish your food, and Luna promptly stands up and begins to head for the doors. You and Golden Bow follow, slowed down due to your full bellies. This time, you were not feeling like such a gentlecolt, and Golden Bow opens the doors for you and the princess. You follow the steps you had taken earlier, back to the courtyard exit doors, but this time feeling much better, because you are full to the brim. Some guards walk into the castle as you approach the courtyard doors, and they hold them open for Luna, and upon seeing that you and Golden Bow are traveling with her, they hold them open for both of you as well. Sunlight is shining in through the open doors, and the warmth of it makes you shiver in delight. Just thinking about having a great day with Princess Luna made you smile happily, as it always did. > A Courtyard Commotion > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Two: A Courtyard Commotion You step out into the courtyard with Princess Luna in front of you and Golden Bow right behind you. The weather is great outside today, and it feels good to finally be outside with Luna. Golden Bow stretches his legs and shivers. Despite the warm rays of the sun, a light breeze is blowing, and it is a little bit chilly. But you are feeling warm inside due to your burning passion for Princess Luna. Suddenly, you hear some loud yelling nearby. You look to your right and see a familiar pink pelt along with a most respected pony: Shining Armor. Princess Cadence is yelling at Shining Armor about something, and he nods blankly, a distant look in his eyes. Ever since Princess Cadence arrived at Canterlot Castle, Shining Armor has had a weird look in his eyes, as if he wasn't paying attention to anything that was going on around him. Princess Cadence smiles as she sees you, Golden Bow, and Princess Luna. She also stops yelling at her fiancee, and the two quietly walk into Canterlot Castle without looking back. Luna seems surprised, and she turns around and looks at the pair suspiciously. You see that Princess Luna looks worried, but she turns around and shrugs. "Princess, what do you make of that?" you ask Princess Luna curiously. "I don't know; every relationship has its downside. Maybe they were just having a disagreement." Luna responds, looking uneasy despite her reassuring words. She quickly walks off in the direction of her favorite sitting bench, leaving you and Golden Bow with no choice but to follow. Princess Luna sits down on the bench while you and Golden Bow stand next to it. Princess Luna tilts back her head and closes her eyes, letting the gentle breeze blow through her mane. You stare at her mane while Golden Bow stares at you. You are captivated by the beauty of the princess. You didn't know why you were so attracted to her; why you didn't find Princess Celestia emanating this magnificent radiance. It is midday when Luna decides to wake up, and now you figure that Luna plans to do a couple of things before she raises the moon in a few hours. The weather is absolutely perfect for a nap, and you find yourself getting quite drowsy. You would have fallen asleep right then and there if you hadn't seen something so strange out of the corner of your eye. Princess Celestia had notified the Captain of the Royal Guard about a probable attack by Changelings, and he had quickly produced a large pink bubble around the castle; creating an impenetrable barrier that no Changeling could pass through. This pink barrier that Shining Armor had created was supposed to be indestructible, but you see something that makes you very uneasy; it flickers. As soon as you see it, it's over, but you are absolutely positive that you saw it flicker. Luna didn't seem to have noticed, but Golden Bow was staring at the shield through narrowed eyes. The breeze picks up suddenly, creating an ominous feeling in the courtyard. You are alerted by a low rumbling sound. It was coming in the direction of Princess Luna; apparently she had decided to fall asleep again. The nice weather has gotten the best of the dark princess, and she has submitted to a nap. The soft snoring of the princess was not helping you with your drowsiness, and your eyelids suddenly seem to have weights placed on them. You feel like a horrible guard; if something were to attack you right now, you probably wouldn't even fight back. But if something were to attack Princess Luna, it would be a different story. Not only was it your duty as a Royal Guard to protect her, but it was also your duty as a pony, as she was now the center of your universe. You open your eyes as you notice that Golden Bow is approaching you. "Dude, did you see what happened to the shield?" he asks, excitement showing in his eyes. You look at him strangely; why is he excited and not worried about the flickering shield? "Yes I did." you reply to Golden Bow. Now that you have actually talked to him, it seems like he isn't as creepy as you had originally thought. You felt like you could get along with the guard quite well, actually. But the reason as to why Golden Bow was excited and not frightened by the flickering shield was beyond strange. Maybe he was tired of life with no action? After all, most Royal Guards join because they are tired of their peaceful lives. But what danger would they find as Royal Guards? None whatsoever. You remember it being very peaceful ever since you had joined. Well, it had been completely peaceful before the Changeling threat had caused Captain Shining Armor to place the security bubble around Canterlot Castle. Now it seemed as if many of the castle residents had become quite concerned and frightened by the Changelings. You did not know why; Changelings were puny compared to the Royal Guards, and Princess Celestia was much stronger than the Changeling Queen. But the reason why Changelings were so dangerous was because they had the ability to transform into any being at will. That was pretty scary. You look at Golden Bow uneasily. Nopony could be trusted at a time like this, but it was your duty as a Royal Guard to place your faith inside of your comrades. You grow even more uneasy as your flank begins to burn uncomfortably from a stare that somepony is giving you. You look up at one of the balconies that overlooks the courtyard. Princess Cadence is giving you and Golden Bow a strange look. You shiver; there is definitely something off-setting about the way that she is looking at the both of you. She gives you the same, strange stare for a few more seconds, then retreats inside of the castle. You look to Golden Bow, but he had not seem to have noticed the look that Princess Cadence had been giving you. The cool breeze has picked up a little bit, and you look at the sky. It is nearing the hour at which Princess Luna usually decides to go back into the castle and relax for the rest of the day. She has woken up, but she is just sitting on the bench, staring at the castle while squinting her eyes against the wind. It's funny, today had originally felt like it was going to be a great day, but now the wind carried an ominous chill to it. Come to think of it, if you listen closely enough, it sounds like you can hear whispering... Princess Luna calls your name loudly, making you jump with fright. You turn to face the princess to see what she wants. She motions to the sky, and you know that it is time for her to raise the moon. Your day had passed by all too quickly, and, as usual, you hadn't told Princess Luna anything about how you felt for her. You watch as Princess Luna gets up off of the bench and looks up to the sky. She closes her eyes gently, and her horn begins to glow brightly. The sun begins to sink out of sight slowly, and the moon slowly comes up over the horizon. Luna gradually raises it into the sky, bringing the beautiful darkness of the sacred night, which also happens to bring a drastic change in temperature. The moon is now set in the sky, and the glow from Princess Luna's horn fades away slowly. She lets out a quiet sigh, her breath causing a small puff of fog to escape from her mouth. Usually Luna heads striaght into the castle after she raises the moon, but she has different plans for tonight. "Golden Bow, you are free to return to the guard's quarters and get some rest." Luna tells Golden Bow. Golden Bow bows to Princess Luna and then gets back on his hooves. "As you wish, Your Majesty." Golden Bow says, and then turns around toward the castle. As soon as Golden Bow is out of earshot, you speak. "Your Highness...?" you ask the princess, wondering what further business she has with you. "...Just wait a couple of minutes." Princess Luna tells you. You and Princess Luna stand side by side for a few minutes as you wonder what she is planning. You wonder what she is waiting for, and then it all comes clear as one of the guards patrolling around the corners of the courtyard turns around the left corner of the castle to continue his route by taking the path on the side of the castle to the front gate. "Follow me." Princess Luna tells you, starting to make her way toward where the guard turned around the corner. She looks around cautiously, then closes her eyes as her horn starts to glow. You watch in awe as a section of the castle wall is pushed inward and then slowly begins sliding right. Princess Luna steps into the opening, so you follow her. She turns around and closes the opening, causing the room to go completely dark. Princess Luna quickly creates a magic light, and you see that there is a stairway that leads into the darkness. You and Luna begin to descend, and you find that the stairway is not as long as you had originally thought. You step onto a stone floor at the bottom of the stairs, and notice that the atmosphere has become significantly cooler. A large circle of dirt is in the center of the stone floor, and a giant tree stands in the circle of dirt. You find this rather odd, and turn around to ask Luna about it, but instead find your face only a couple of centimeters away from Luna's. You smell her sweet breath, and you are tempted to just go all the way and lock lips with the dark alicorn. You somehow manage to stave off this rather tempting urge, and wait for Luna to wait the next move. She looks into your eyes uncertainly, and when she realizes that you are going to make no attempt to stop her, she closes the gap between you, closing her eyes as she does so. You close your eyes as well, and meet mouth to mouth with the Princess of the Night. It is everything you had hoped for, and more. It was the greatest feeling in the world, and you wanted to bask in every second of it. Luna breaks the bond suddenly, leaving you kissing the air with your eyes closed. You are sure it's the stupidest and funniest thing, and apparently Luna thinks so too, because she takes one look at you and laughs out loud. You quickly stand back up, returning to your normal self, well, your normal self plus furious blushing. "It isn't funny!" you say, realizing how untrue that is, but it didn't matter because the still laughing Luna was on her back and she wasn't even listening. After a few more seconds, Luna stands up, stops laughing, and looks at you critically. "I know how you feel about me." Luna tells you, shuffling her hooves uncertainly. "I've known for quite a while now." she says. You aren't really surprised that she knows this, because although Luna could be rather clumsy at times, she was usually quite observant of her surroundings, and she could read others like a book. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" you ask, wondering why Luna had kept you waiting so long. "I don't usually find the castle guards to be too interesting, and it is very rare that I become involved in a relationship with one. Plenty of guards have found themselves in the same predicment as you; falling in love with either me or Princess Celestia. But they are the same as eachother. We observe these ponies, trying to see what really lies in their hearts. Most of them just want us because they want to brag about it to their friends, and the others have... alternative reasons." Luna tells you. You stare at her for a few moments, and she takes this as a sign that you are waiting for her to finish. "But you are different. I can see what truly lies in your heart. It burns with the desire to protect the kingdom and to fulfill your duty as a Royal Guard. But most importantly, I can tell that you really care about me, and that is one of the most important traits there is when you're trying to find that special somepony. True love." Luna finishes. "...D-doesn't that make you feel weird?" you ask stupidly. Luna laughs and shakes her head. "I've been alive for a long time; there isn't really much that I could consider weird anymore." she says. This fills you with a fiercee happiness, and you open your mouth to speak, but Luna has more to say yet. "Have you had any... weird dreams recently?" Luna asks you. You instantly realize what she is talking about, and you nod your head vigoroulsy. You realize that you were a fool for not remembering that Luna is the one responsible for giving ponies most of their dreams, and can barely believe that she has felt the same way about you this whole time. "Those were my doing, if you had still not figured it out by now. I thought that once I sent these dreams to you, you would come forth and ask me if I was the one who was responsible for them. Things didn't happen quite as early as I expected, but I'm patient." Luna says, obviously giving you a sign that you needed to make a move. You just stand there and realize how happy you are that your dreams have finally come true. "So...?" Luna asks inquiringly, tilting her head at you. You smile at her and she flashes one back at you. "Princess Luna, I would like to be your special somepony more than anything else in the entire world."