The Night sky above
I hate my job more than ever when I need a smoke. They make me stand out here in the cold dark night while I smoke as apparently smoking is a fire hazard, like hell I am stupid enough to drop my ash onto the floor or fall asleep with a cigarette in my mouth, I bet it is just because most of the guard don't smoke so they make us stand outside while everyone else simply laughs at us shivering our arses off in the dark.
"Mind if I have one?" spoke a voice I knew well but as always I had to turn to confirm but just as I expect I found an ivory unicorn standing before me in Royal blue armour with a trim of gold. "Of course" I chimed before passing out one of my many cigarettes before his face turned grim "You know that it is not wise to anger Princess Celestia, look alone what she done has done to guards she has trusted, let alone a corporal like yourself" I knew this would happen… I always get to be on the side that gets scolded and berated but I guess I do deserve most of what I get. I slowly let the smoke escape my lips before sighing "I am sorry Captain, I just have to stand by my oath and that is to Princess Luna not Celestia" now that was obviously something he did not want me to say as my sentence was replied with a cloud of smoke to my face... how did he light his cigarette, I didn't give him my lighte-.. Oh yeah, unicorn. "First of all, it is Rook Ink Blot. Don't call me by my rank if you can, it just feels so dequinizing to say the least" I slowly nodded now knowing the name of my Captain "Secondly, don't go around refusing orders from Celestia she already wants your helmet for what you did. Head included of course" he finished with a grim smirk across his face.
"I.. I am sorry Rook, is there any way out of this?" I squeaked out as my voice cracked mid-sentence which earned me a chuckle from him before I shied away into my corner "You are lucky Ink Blot, you have a salvation this one time. Luna wants you as her personal guard" What…? "I am not kidding Ink, she wants you as you have been the only guard to stand up against Celestia for her" What…? "You aren't getting fired" Oh.. I can deal with that! "Thanks, I guess"
"You're hopeless" he punctuated his sentence with another cloud hitting my face making my eyes water. "So what will I have to do as Princess Luna's personal guard Cap-.. Rook?" I spoke with a slight stutter over 'personal guard' as I was still trying to realise what I was to be doing for the rest of my career "Simple as, all patrol duties will be switches to her chambers in the morning and when she ventures out you will go with her, simple as it gets" he slowly took off his helmet showing his dishevelled brown mane "You better do good in this job or Princess Celestia will be sending you to the Moon!" he laughed at his own joke but actually made me get a little scared at such a though "Don't worry Rook, I will do my best"
-/-
By the time is came around morning I went through the same routine as always; wash, smoke, eat, brush teeth and finally put on my armour, simple as always if it weren't for Dizzy hounding me about what happened when I took his post "Look Dizzy, I got shouted at, that is all now bugger off" I grumbled while placing on my oversized helmet "You are no fun you know that Inkie, never telling your best friend about your misdoings, it is plain insulting!" he had that chuckle on him this morning which even though I didn't have a hangover it felt like I did at that point of time "Look, stop calling me Ink Blot it is Ash, as I said before, and I will smoke you out next time you try to sleep if you don't shut it" he trotted past slowly keep his eyes squared onto mine as he drew a breath "Never any fun!" to which he ran off chuckling madly as he does so. I was so going to camp outside his window while I take my evening smoke tonight.
-/-
As I walked down the halls I finally found the post at which I was yesterday, as I looked around before settling down I found it was a very nice spot to be in; good view of Canterlot from the window opposite me while also being at the forefront of all visitors to visit the two Princess so I get to know even more about the current affairs in the Kingdom, or should it be a principality due to only having Princesses and not a Queen or King or would it be considered a republic due to the various councils of the cities like Trottingham. I think I should write a book about the political situation in Equestria as it would be quite a big book due to all the considerations you would need to put into it whi-.. Where did my helmet go? "Hello Ash Cloud" spoke a soft voice behind me "You don't need to wear your helmet" I pivoted on my hooves till I could see the culprit. Gosh was I surprised when I saw those bright blue eyes staring into mine "Urmm.. thank you Princess, is anything the matter?" my voice was filled with hesitation as I slowly grasped my helmet from her soft clutch.
"No, don't worry. I am sorry for disrupting your thoughts but you looked so funny looking out the window" she gave me a smile which for some reason made me smile back, guess it was just one of those smiles, but I slowly plonked my helmet back on "Well thank you for telling me that, I will try not to make myself look like a fool if I can help it Princess" her eyes wavered for a second before opening her mouth "Call me Luna" she shuffled her hooves as I met her gaze again "Excuse me Princess?" she continued to shuffle her hooves "Please, call me Luna" now this was surprising, a Alicorn Princess asking me to call her by her first name, I must be moving up in the world "Of course Luna" she yet again pulled off one of her now signature blushes "Would you like me to accompany you anywhere, Luna?" I had to speak up to break the silence, which is one thing I can't stand. "Yes, if you could accompany one to the gardens that would be most appreciated" Gosh did she have a gratitude to her style of speech, it is like listening to a noble who wants to one up their own class, but I could not comment on such a thing so I simply nodded and walked alongside the Alicorn.
As we reached the gardens I was met with the same scent I had been when I first met Luna, it was a rich smell but also sweet to the senses. I always liked it in the gardens as it was quiet enough for you to have time to think and also was not visited as much by officers so I also had time to smoke while I thought but unfortunately this always led to me bringing out a packet whenever I entered the gardens by mere routine which now being in company brought a look down onto me "Why do you smoke such things Ash Cloud?" the soft voice startled me "I don't rightly know."
As the Silence grew I knew that I would have to be the one who broke it yet again as the Princess seemed to be very meek when it came to conversations with other ponies "It is just.. they calm me down and allow me to think about my situation better" she nodded to this before looking down at the packet "May I have one?" My face must have dropped or I gasped or something as she shook her head and muttered a few choice words which I could not rightly hear "I am sorry Luna, it is just surprising for someone such as you to ask for one. It is quite an honour of sorts" I slowly opened the packet offering one to her "If you truly wish to have one, you may." She shuffled her hooves for a few seconds before she took one from the packet so I chose to join her, I had to shuffle around in my armour for my lighter which I found in the same place as I always did, my chest pocket, and I sparked the lighter holding it to mine and then the Princess' letting the ends emit their amber glow before a chorus of coughs interrupted the amber's glow
"Well my *Cough* that is quite surprising" she blushed as she coughed "Do not worry Luna, everyone coughs once or twice" I slowly puffed out a few rings before shooting an arrow of smoke through three of them which earned me a little 'Oooh' from the Princess before I turned to look at her staring at her cigarette "And that Princess is why they call me Ash cloud, smoke tricks are not my natural talent but they sure do come second nature" I gave my straightest face as I saw her take another puff from her cigarette before slowly letting out a few more coughs. "This feeling is a strange one Ash Cloud, I feel quite focused on anything I look at, it is almost nice" she turned back to me and she gave another one of those one 'if she smiles you smile' smiles before opening her mouth "But we think it is not a thing for one's self" she passed back the cigarette as I dabbed it against my armour and tosses it back inside of the packet, I am thankful that I can just dab these out and use them later as it saves me a lot in money over the course of everything.
We walked through the gardens for another hour before she wished to go to the kitchens for her breakfast which was rather strange due to it almost being mid-day and I would not think that a Princess would be tardy for anything; in fact I thought that the Alicorn Princesses were supposed to be practically perfect in every way but I guess every tale must be false on one or two aspects just like the tails of the guards only being ivory coat with blue manes but here I am a mangy grey coat and a red mane but then again I am a Nightstream guard and we are less in the public eye and more in the actual protecting of the palace but then again I was also not the main feature in the Nightstream guards either I was just a fancy shooter who could handle both a sword and a revolver but I guess I can always get better at being a guard over time and maybe this whole personal guard for Luna might go off without a hitch and I may become a Captain one day.
As Luna finished her meal she asked if we were able to take a stroll around the city, this is quite unheard of from a Princess as she has everything she could ever want in the Palace but due to my oath I just conformed with her request and we made our walk to the front gates.
"Who goes?" commanded a voice from high above the gate, looking up I could see it was not one of the guards from my regiment so I could not use some of our usual banter on my way out "Princess Luna and her guard, we are on our way to the city centre for a tour of sorts!" I bellowed up towards the guard who narrowed his eyes upon me before calling for the gates to be drawn.
-/-
As we made our way around the city centre I was very surprised at the way that the Princess would be so breath taken from the simple site of shops which I would have just walked past without noticing at all which of course struck me as an oddity as the Princess has seen more than I could ever imagine yet she thought of the things I have seen in my life as astonishing. I also have noticed that over the day her manner of speech has been changing to almost the same way she spoke to her sister but with a tint of formal tone to it.
"Is something the matter Ash Cloud?" chimed Luna's soft voice as I shook my head before returning her gaze and looking at her truly concerned expression "Do not worry Luna, I just got caught up in my thoughts for a second" this was answered with a tap on my helmet and a chuckle "You should stay in the now then, less regrets than thinking about what you are about to do." Okay, what was going to happen that I was going to regret? I had to look over my shoulder quickly which was replied with another chuckle from Luna.
"Don't worry, you aren't going to do something you regret" she spoke with a smile across her face but that was not a smile of a prankster or someone trying to get another in trouble it was a chummy smile to say the least yet I could still not shake the paranoia. I lit up another cigarette as we started our return route. The cigarette at least made me feel a little bit calmer…
Luna suddenly stopped in front of a café which was serving to the late lunch ponies who either just got their lunch break or are still here from midday either is likely in Canterlot but what struck me was Luna suddenly looking me in the eye with a puppy dog expression. "Can we please have lunch here?" was she seriously asking me if she could do something? This took me back, making me stagger for a second before gaining my composure "O-Of course Luna, I am simply here to guard you after all, what we do is your decision" I got a beaming smile from her as she happily galloped into the café as I trotted behind her.
After placing our orders and dismissing a few onlookers who were simply amazed that an Alicorn Princess was eating in a café with them. I got my black coffee and she her daisy sandwich which she licked her lips at the sight "Thank you for this Ash Cloud, I really don't know what to say" she spoke with a slightly embarrassed tone, no don't due to all the eyes in the room staring intently towards her "Don't worry Luna, I am simply honouring my oath, but you really don't have to act as if you don't do this with your previous personal guards." Was that pure confusion I saw on her face or was my mind simply playing tricks on me again?
"Not one did offer such things and neither did they agree to accompany me, they all were on order from my sister" she let out a sigh looking down at her daisy sandwich as I sipped at my coffee "I am sorry if that pains you Luna but at least now you have a guard who follows your orders, no?" That brought the smile back to her face as she nodded before taking her first bite from the sandwich letting out a school filly style giggle from the taste I suspected. After we had finished our lunch I paid the bill as I was the only one carrying bits and we set off back to the palace at a even trot.
-/-
As we re-entered the grounds of the palace it was breaching dusk as it does in the days coming up to Hearts Warming. When we came into sight of Luna's chambers I could see that Dizzy had already taken up my post for the night shift which meant he wouldn't be having smoke blown through his barracks window tonight but more of a rude wakeup call in the morning to repay him for this morning. I said my goodbyes to the Princess before do the customary bow.. CLANG! Why don't they make these helmets in smaller sizes… As the Princess places my helmet back on my head in between her laughter she lent down and whispered into my ear "Meet me in the gardens when I am finished raising the moon, I must speak with you in private." And with that she went inside her chambers leaving me stunned for a few seconds.
"Did she just kiss you on the cheek after placing your helmet on?!" yelled Dizzy with a exited look on his face. In unison two voices sounded, one behind the door and one outside the door, both saying the same thing "NO!"
The realisation in Dizzy's eyes that he was heard by Luna was sensational! No need to wake him up anymore either as that more than makes up for this morning but I had to go wait in my barracks until Luna finishes raising the moon so she can speak with me. From the experience today I would not begin to be able to think what she would speak to me about but as they say 'Thinking causes regrets' so I strode off with a smile on my face back to my barracks for a little kip.
(( : Sorry for the wait, I have had to re-write this chapter quite a few times to try and get the right feel that I want it to have but I will probably end up editing it later on but for now, enjoy the cliff hanger and please leave a review if you want I greatly appreciate it. ~ ))