Chapter 6
For the next few days I stay in bed and have Jasmine bring me books on fighting styles and other guardly things. I read them voraciously. Most of it is based on instinct, supposedly, but the fighting part is what gets to me. It feels incredibly important but I can't think of why. Equestria is a place of peace, not violence. And even if there were to be need to stop such things, there's the royal guard, and for anything larger than that there's the mysterious Branch Force I've learned about in these books. But there usually isn't much of that at all… so what purpose do I serve? It boggles me.
Anyway, after about five days of confining bed rest, Jasmine allows me to stretch my legs. My wounds have healed enough that I can walk without risking them breaking open and bleeding. I'm not allowed to move my wings for the next month or so, but it feels good not to be lying down. Jasmine won't let me go far, though. She tells me that I shouldn't push myself.
How can't I? All I want is to be at Luna's side, but I need to be able to protect her. I must be fit and strong and capable. I can barely keep up a good trot without getting tired; my current state just won't do. When Jasmine goes to her room for the night, I get out of bed and wander the halls of the hospital. I sneak around, practicing my stealth and building my stamina. I don't go to bed until midnight, making sure I have time to watch the moon before I sleep. My room doesn't have a window, so I have even more incentive to sneak away. At this particular moment, I sit here and watch it travel the night sky.
I feel relaxed as I watch it. My aches from the hallway trots I was doing earlier melt away. My wings, plastered to my side with layers upon layers of bandages, relax into a more natural position. When I trot, they cling stiffly to my side and hurt slightly. My whole body is certainly getting stronger. It feels good. Mentally, I feel really good too. Knowing I have a purpose feels good. It feels amazing. To think that for all my life I've stumbled in cluelessness.. I sigh in relaxation when I hear the clinking of glass shoes. I turn to see who it is that's up this late and out on the balcony. My eyes widen.
"Princess Luna!" She seems shocked to see me too. I scramble to my hooves.
"You, Knights- I mean, Knight of Eclipses." She stammers.
"What are you doing here? Uh, Princess." I don't know what to do. I feel so nervous, so excited, so awkward.
"I am always up during the night, but on this night I felt restless. I started walking, and found myself here. What are you doing awake at such a 'late' hour?" She asks warily. And with disdain. I understand that feeling.
"I'm exercising. Well, I'm cooling down from my exercises. I.. I'm relaxing before I go to bed. I always take the chance to watch the moon. I can't sleep if I don't." I look up at the moon to avert my eyes from her. It's no use. It's like staring at the same thing.
"Really? So few ponies take a chance to watch my moon even once." She looks sad. She sounds.. slightly amazed.
"I know. It's a shame, too. Especially on a night like this. No clouds, all the stars are shining, the moon is nearly full; really beautiful." I look back at her. She's got her fore hooves over the railing, looking out over the city. "Not my favorite phase of the moon, but it's still amazing."
"Indeed." She pauses before turning to me. "Who are you, Knight of Eclipses?"
"Me? I'm nopony special. But, if you'd let me, I'd pledge myself to you." The words tumble out, sounding smooth and deep. I didn't mean to say them, but they came out anyway. Luna blushes heavily. I'm sure my face is similar. I look away.
"I am most flattered. But I have no need for guards. Celestia has plenty enough of those for my needs."
"For herself. They didn't enter her employment to be handed to the other sister." I say almost rudely.
"True." She looks back out over the city. "Why were you there? Seven days ago. On the tower. When I returned. It was fate that brought the Elements of Harmony and myself to that tower, but I can see no reason for you to have been there. I am most curious." Her eyes seem angry now, though her body speaks calm. I wish to placate such a dark and locked feeling.
"I…I don't know. When I saw you in the town hall, I went…crazy for a moment. I was filled with this need to see you and be near you. Then you disappeared and I followed you. I managed to keep up for quite a way, but at the river I thought I could cross and I nearly died. Your sister saved me, and told me you needed me. I wanted answers and I wanted to help, so I continued. I was silly, I couldn't find a way in the tower, so.. I climbed it. Then I saw you…I saw you being attacked and I was filled with such anger and violence to the ones hurting you. I wanted nothing more than to help you and save you, and be there for you. I suppose that's when I got my cutie mark. The next thing I knew I thought I was dying and I think I heard someone calling my name and then I blacked out and I was in a hospital when I woke up. And you weren't there, but your sister was, but I wished for nothing more than you to be there instead of her." I ramble at the end. I'm such an idiot.
"That is…quite a story."
"It's the truth, as I remember it." I bite my lip, feeling foalish.
"I believe you. I just do not know what to make of it."
"Celestia told me it was you that found me. What happened?"
"After the Elements returned me to my normal state, I remembered seeing you in the window, but the memory was so distorted I did not know if it was real. And then I remembered something from before I was Nightmare Moon. A black stallion with green eyes. Dark silvery gray hair. His voice. Him pledging his life and his sword to me, a thousand years ago, but in that haze I did not realize that large detail. I became convinced that he was you. I remember he was important to me, back then, so in my confusion I decided that it was important that I find you. On some magic or instinct I found you and healed you. That spell drained me of any energy I had left from being Nightmare Moon, but it saved you. …Later I began to realize the time difference. No pony other than a true alicorn could possibly be alive after a thousand years. I realized that you were not Dark Knights." She sighs, painfully. "I am most glad that you are alive, Knight of Eclipses, but I am equally sad for the one I have lost."
"Dark Knights?"
"My personal guard and …good friend. The similarities between you and he are astounding. Even your names are similar. Dark Knights and Knight of Eclipses; it is almost eerie how similar you are. It must have surely helped convince me that you and he were the same."
"Wow. That is quite amazing. Is that why you got me such expensive help? Out of confusion for the two of us?"
"Yes, initially. You needed it anyway. I am glad to see you are not so close to death, anymore." She chuckles, awkwardly.
"Thank you. I don't know how to repay you enough."
"You do not owe me anything. I did it for my friend. To honor him. To help you. It was… the right thing."
"Still." I'm quiet for a while. We both just stare at the white city gleaming in the moonlight. "You know, my cutie mark was earned when I realized I wanted to protect you. It's the one thing I'm going to be good at in life. It's the one thing I'll ever want to do."
"And?" She asks, slowly.
"I would, like your friend, pledge my life and my sword to you. As soon as I get one, anyway." It's my turn to chuckle awkwardly.
"I cannot accept this." There is no hesitation in her voice.
"Why not?"
"You are far too much like him. And besides, there is almost no such thing as war anymore. Little violence, or crime. From what I have learned, there would be no point in you becoming my personal guard. Celestia's guards are really more of a formality than anything else anymore…" Before she has finished, she removes her hooves from the railing and begins to walk away.
"I won't be far, though. Like I said, the only thing I will ever want to do in life is protect you. If you change your mind…" I gesture to around me, even though she isn't looking. "..I'll be there… for you."
She stops and turns to look at me with solemn eyes of sadness that stare straight into my own. I feel her words more than I hear them.
"Trust me. I will not."
