A/N: And the plot has kicked off! enjoy.
Maelstrom woke up with a pained groan. His bedroom was dark, except for a single stripe of light filtering through his curtains. It has been two months since the entire Nightmare Moon incident and life has somewhat returned to normal. He groaned tiredly as he pushed himself up from his bed and put his pants on. He stretched to soothe his stiff muscles a bit before sighing. His skin had repaired itself in the meantime and his muscles were completely done healing, but he knew that he was still going to be sore when he woke up for a while. After putting his shirt on, he walked downstairs and sat down in the kitchen.
A light gray furred earthpony mare with a long dark gray mane and tail set a glass of orange juice in front of him before taking a bite out of a piece of toast. She had a narrow, elegant muzzle and narrow dark purple eyes. She had a slender frame, fitted in a white blouse with a purple bow tie and black dress pants. Sewn on her breast pocket, was a purple musical key. Her cutie mark.
"thanks Tavi." He mumbled as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The mare raised an eyebrow and huffed. "there's a daffodil salad sandwich in the fridge. My shift at the store's about to start so if you could wake Vinyl up I'd be really grateful." She said while putting her own plate in the sink. Mael nodded as he put his empty glass down. "you're the best. Your shift ends at two today, right?"
The mare nodded before putting her black jacket on. "are you going to be in your workshop all day?" he nodded slowly. "good. Then I'll have Vinyl bring you lunch at noon."
He pulled his sandwich out of the fridge when he heard the front door open and close. He took a bite and went back upstairs with his sandwich and a glass of orange juice, to one of the two smaller bedrooms. He opened the door to reveal a huge mess. Empty cans of beer and energy drinks were strewn across the floor along with all kinds of clothes, shoes and music records. He sighed deeply as he witnessed the mess that his childhood friend made of his house. A snort broke his train of thoughts. He blinked twice as he saw his housemate Vinyl scratch, or better known as DJ pon-3 asleep, naked, on top of her blankets. Vinyl was a white furred unicorn mare whose mane and tail were cobalt with brilliant cyan streaks. She lied on her stomach, showing her exposed back and butt, which showed her cutie mark, consisting two black bridged eighth notes on both sides of her wide hips.
She snored loudly into her pillow, hiding her face from the world. Maelstrom smirked amusedly as he took another bite out of his sandwich. his horn glowed and an aura appeared around the blankets underneath her. One side of the blankets lifted quickly, rolling her over the edge of her bed and with a yelp she hit the wooden floor.
"motherfucker." She groaned from her position between the empty cans and discarded bras. Her ass comically sticking up. Maelstrom snickered as he listened to the long string of curses coming from the owner of said ass. "love you too Vinyl. Now get up and get dressed." The mare got up, showing her face. She had a short, thin muzzle and deep, almost mesmerizing, violet eyes. "why?" she asked a little too innocently. "too embarrassed to look at this hot young body of mine?" she purred playfully as she pressed her breasts together, making them look slightly bigger.
"with those tiny tits? hardly." He deadpanned before taking another bite and throwing a white tank top at her. She caught it with a pout on her face and put it on. "I'm a late bloomer you know?" She said while pulling her shorts up. Maelstrom snorted. "Vinyl you're twenty four. The only way your breasts could grow, would be if you'd get pregnant." He drawled before taking a sip from his orange juice.
"well then." Vinyl said, now sporting a grin. She quickly pulled her top up, showcasing her entire front side. "wanna help me make a baby then?" she purred as Maelstrom made an actual spit take. He glared at her while wiping the juice off of his shirt as she put her shirt down and laughed.
"Octavia would rip my dick off if I tried so I'll pass." Mael deadpanned. " also your shift starts at two." Vinyl gave him a thumbs up as she opened her curtains and bathed the room in sunlight. "sure thing, boss-man. What about you?"
"I'll be working at the workshop today. I've got a guitar and a violin to finish this week, a new shipment of Sapphire Shores' new record is scheduled to arrive around noon and Lyra wants to discuss some plans for her new lyre this afternoon so today's going to be a bit busy." Vinyl opened a can of energy drink, taking a loud sip and looked at him with some concern "you going to be okay? I mean with your muscles and all." Mael shrugged. "I'm done healing so I shouldn't feel any pain during work. He finished with a slight chuckle. Vinyl shook her head and shooed him out. Maelstrom grabbed his jacket and left for his workshop.
The velvet note was a small, but very popular music shop in ponyville. It had a wide selection of music , ranging from classical music to techno and rock, and sold custom-made instruments as well. Behind the cash register sat Octavia, rapidly ringing up the amount of bits for each sale. Inside the shop, a few ponies were searching the shelves for that one record they wanted, that one amp they needed or that one instrument that just felt right. Some of them having friendly conversations with each other and some standing in the corner with headphones, listening to records.
In the back room of the velvet note, was a workshop. One that Maelstrom built by himself where he tunes, repairs and even makes his own instruments. The walls were lined with odd instruments that he collected from all over the world. Bongo's from Maredagascar, a pair of lamian maraca's, several biwa's from Neighpon, Saddle Arabian lutes, a Griffonian bagpipe and even an old flugelhorn from before the Crystal Empire vanished in thin air. In the back of the workshop was a massive closet filled with all kinds of drawers. Inside those drawers were strings, screws and other small parts necessary to make all kinds of instruments. On the floor beside the closet lied all kinds of wood and metal in all kinds of shapes and sizes. On the other side of the workshop sat Maelstrom behind a wide wooden desk. He was busy with an electrical saw to cut out the ornaments meant for his newest guitar. It was a nice little project that didn't really require much muscle power so for now he could handle that much. He peered through a magnifying glass as he grabbed a tiny file and started smoothing the tiny details out. After the last stroke he leaned back and admired his work with a proud smile. The ornament consisted of two minotaur's locking horns in a sea of fire. Not his idea, the client wanted it that way.
"finally. Now to just add the paint an' this beauty's done." He said with an air of finality. The rest of the guitar was already assembled and only needed some fine tuning before he'd deliver it. Then another customer would be happy, and he'd be able to eat for another month, so everybody wins. Just as he was about to grab a tube of red paint, the door to the store opened up and Vinyl peeked her head in.
"yo Mael! There's someone in the front who needs to see you. Some dragon kid." She said, before looking at the unfinished ornament. "nice!" she said before Maelstrom shooed her out and following her into the store.
There, leaning against the front desk, stood spike, looking as if he had just run a marathon.
"yo Spike!" called Maelstrom. "Vinyl said ya needed to talk to me." Spike nodded. He handed Maelstrom a rolled up scroll with a wax seal holding it shut. "we got a letter from princess Celestia with a side note that was meant for you. Twilight wanted to read it but that would've been an invasion of your privacy, so I told her that I'd bring it to you." The young dragon explained. Maelstrom smiled slightly and patted Spike on the shoulder. "alright, thanks buddy. Y'know what? While I'm going to read this letter, you get yourself something to drink. Fridge's over there." He pointed behind the counter. Spike nearly dove for the refrigerator and grabbed a can of energy drink. He thanked the older unicorn and began the short walk back to the library. Mael grabbed a can of soda as well and broke the seal on the letter.
Dearest Maelstrom,
It is my pleasure to courteously invite you to Canterlot Castle for a pleasant high tea with both Luna and me.
This is mine, and my sister's way of apologizing and thanking you for the entire debacle three weeks ago. Therefore we both hope that you will be able to attend. There are also some things to be discussed while we are at it.
We have included a ticket for the train to Canterlot and a member of the Solar guard will be waiting on the train station to pick you up.
After that, you will be spending the night at the castle and you will be served as royalty, before taking the afternoon train back to Ponyville.
We sincerely hope to see you tomorrow,
-Princess Celestia.
-Princess Luna.
A small rune on the bottom of the letter lit up, and a single train ticket fell out. He checked the ticket for information and nodded a bit to himself with a single thought.
'well this should be interesting'
The next morning, Maelstrom stood up a little earlier than normal. He checked himself in the mirror and with a groan, he grabbed a brush. His hair, unfortunately was very spiky, and incredibly hard to control, therefore making it impossible to look neat. He eventually settled for a ponytail and a smooth trim of his facial fur. He put on a black blouse with a red undercoat along with a black tie, a black overcoat and black dress pants, hoping that that would be good enough for royalty. When he got downstairs, Octavia was eating her breakfast. He ate a piece of toast and with a word of goodbye, he left for the Ponyville train station.
The ride to Canterlot took little over two hours and he was glad to get out of the stuffy cart. A small distance away, he saw a large white Pegasus stallion in solid golden armor holding a sign saying 'Maelstrom' he walked over to the Pegasus and shook his hand.
"you Maelstrom?" the guard asked gruffly, his face a mask of seriousness. Maelstrom slung his bag over his shoulder with a 'yup'. He lit his pipe and both him and the Pegasus started walking towards the city gates.
Canterlot was a massive ivory city built in the side of a mountain via a series of colossal plateaus. The walls were made of white marble and the colors gold and purple were quite prominent. All in all, it reminded Maelstrom constantly that the royal family resided within these white walls. The city was the epicenter of glitter, glamor and sophistication in the kingdom of Equestria and just looking at it made him feel like a bit of a hillbilly. Sure, he'd been there before but something about the high towers, and expensive villa's just made him feel a bit uncomfortable. In his eyes he was just a humble music shop owner, while the people here were all jetsetters, rich families and ranking officers in the Equestrian military force.
"welcome to the city of arrogant pricks and stuck up ladies." He mumbled loud enough for the Pegasus guard to hear him. The guard kept a straight face, but maelstrom felt that he was amused on the inside. "what makes you say that sir?" the white guard asked him, unable to keep the curiosity away. Maelstrom shrugged while exhaling a cloud of smoke, flipping his bag from one shoulder to the other.
"be honest. How many decent people do you know here? People who don't look down on you for being 'nothing more than a guard'." The Pegasus thought about it for a little while. He looked around, seeing a lot of snobbish rich people walking around with their muzzles held high. He sighed a bit, sagging his shoulders. "you've got a point there. Besides captain Shining Armor, the royal sisters and some artists, most people treat others like the dirt under their hooves." Maelstrom patted him on the back, puffing out another cloud. "that's what I mean. I mean not all of them are bad, but some of them could do without the ten foot poles up their asses."
At that, the guard actually dropped his emotionless mask and chuckled a bit at the idea.
After a ten minute walk through a long shopping boulevard, they arrived at the massive golden gates of Canterlot Castle. Mael whistled lowly at the sight of said gates as they swung open and a trumpet could be heard across the courtyard.
"sir Maelstrom of Ponyville has arrived!" a voice shouted. The Pegasus appointed Maelstrom's bag to a butler who took it to his chambers and motioned the grey unicorn to follow him inside. The inside of the castle was elegant, yet eccentric. A couple of massive purple rugs covered the white marble floor of the hallways, while plants, tapestries and paintings lined the walls. The windows were filled with stained glass, depicting festivals, battles and other historically important points in history. The two stopped in front of a pair of large oak doors, which swung open with a loud creaking sound. The throne room was absolutely colossal. A red carpet ran from the door to the throne, which was almost a piece of art by itself. The windows ran from the ground to the ceiling and like the rest of the castle were made of stained glass, bathing the room in a myriad of vibrant colors. The ceilings were very high, and decorated with several chandeliers made of the highest quality crystal.
Celestia sat on top of the throne, mane flowing in the nonexistent wind. She wore a pure white dress and the usual crown was perched on top of her head. Luna sat on a smaller throne next to her elder sister, looking slightly different than the last time he saw her. Her fur had become a little bit darker, and her mane and tail a bit longer. Much like her evil counterpart, her mane and tail had gained a more plasma-like state, making her mane look like a starlit night. Her eyes had also turned a little bit darker and more pronounced. She wore a simple black sleeveless dress with a cobalt blue sash around her waist, accentuating her curves. All in all, she looked a lot better since they talked three weeks ago. The two sisters wore a welcoming smile as they watched their esteemed guest enter the throne room.
"Welcome to Canterlot, sir Maelstrom." Celestia began as she and Luna both stood up. Maelstrom quickly kneeled when the two alicorns approached him. "miladies, it's an honor to be invited by you." He said with bowed head. Both princesses shook their heads in amusement as Luna pulled him up. "stand, Maelstrom. Today you are here as our guest, not as our subject so kneeling is not needed." Celestia said with a hint of amusement in her voice.
"very well." He said, immediately bouncing back to his normal attitude. "how are you doing?" he asked, losing all sense of formality, making Luna smile and taking Celestia by surprise a bit. The present members of the Solar guard bristled and quickly drew their weapons. Maelstrom quickly swiped his hand out, said hand coated in a faint red aura. Celestia halted every last member with a single hand motion. The guards lowered their swords and stepped back into their original positions.
"I'm sorry Maelstrom." Celestia said with a hint of mirth. "They are awfully protective of us and they do not like it when someone talks to us in such an informal way." She said with a small bow. "nonsense." Maelstrom responded curtly. "they were just doing their jobs. If they are as well trained in combat as they are vigilant, then I can understand why Equestria has been so peaceful for over a thousand years." He commended the royal guard. The members within earshot immediately puffed their chests out in pride and Luna laughed.
"besides." He continued with a friendly smile on his face. "those blades wouldn't be able to reach me anyway.
He snapped his finger and with a series of loud 'clang!'s the blades were shattered as if struck by a powerful hammer blow. The pieces fell to the floor and each guard just stared at their broken hilts in disbelief.
"so." He began chipper, as if nothing happened. "you mentioned something about tea." Both Celestia and Luna chuckled as they got up from their thrones and told him to follow them. He followed the two princesses onto a large marble balcony overlooking the entirety of Canterlot. In the middle of the balcony stood a modest round table surrounded by three elegant chairs. On top of the table stood a plate filled with an assortment of confections and next to the plate stood an elegantly crafted porcelain teapot. He sat down along with the two ladies and waited for a servant to pour him a cup of steaming hot tea. The two sisters engaged in a friendly talk with the young stallion about everything that had happened in the months since they had last met. After catching up, Celestia asked him a few questions about Maelstrom's childhood, which he responded to with some amusing stories.
"-so dad finally realized that I made his pants disappear and he started chasing me all around town screaming bloody murder, and not realizing he was still in his heart print underwear!" maelstrom finished his last story with a roar of laughter. The princesses were giggling at the thought of a full grown stallion running around in his undies while the guards were trying –and failing- to keep their faces straight. Luna gazed at the clock and widened her eyes as she saw the time.
"sister, the clock has already struck three." Luna informed her sister, to which Celestia emptied her cup and stood up. "very well, time really flies when you're having fun it seems." She turned to Mael and bowed her head slightly. "excuse me Maelstrom, but it seems I need to get back to my duties. Luna would you like to keep our esteemed guest company until it's time to raise the moon?"
Luna answered with a happy yes and beckoned Maelstrom to follow her. He stood up, bowed to the goddess of the sun and followed Luna inside. Two guards immediately wanted to follow the pair but were held back by a smiling Celestia.
"I think my sister and sir maelstrom can handle themselves quite well if something happens."
"no disrespect your majesty, but the council told us to-" one guard began but was cut off by Celestia, whose smile had turned into a scalding glare. "forget the council. this kingdom is still a diarchy*, so no matter what the esteemed council tells you to do, mine and Luna's word will always overrule theirs. Am I clear?" she said sharply, causing the guard in question to shrink back into his armor and realize just why the princess had been in control for over a thousand years.
The mare was fucking terrifying when she was angered.
"C-crystal clear, your highness." The guard squeaked out as he quickly shot back to his original post as the princess retreated back into her office.
Celestia shook her head in exasperation and glared at a portrait of a beautiful, white coated, red maned alicorn mare holding a large golden zweihander in one hand and a silver cross-shaped tower shield in the other.
"why did you insist on keeping those bumbling idiots as high council, mother?" she sat down in a comfortable chair behind a massive mahogany desk filled with small, organized stacks of paper.
On the back wall, underneath the portrait of the former queen hung a massive, elegantly crafted polearm. It's staff was made from seven feet long ebony wood with a blade made of ruby encrusted, heat treated titanium, giving the blade a blue-ish color. On the bottom of the staff hung a small golden pendant in the shape of the sun.
Celestia sighed again and grabbed both a quill and a piece of paper from a moderately large stack of documents.
"let's see. Request to have princess Mi Amore Cadenza be betrothed to the duke of Fillydelphia, prince Blueblood." She dipped the quill in a bottle of red ink and wrote in big, bold lettering.
'DENIED! Signed, princess Celestia.'
Luna let out a content sigh as she and Maelstrom walked through the halls at an easygoing tempo. Both of them weren't in a hurry and sundown wasn't for another five hours (the merits of summer.) so they had all the time in the world to do whatever they wanted.
"Do you mind?" Maelstrom asked Luna, motioning to his pipe. Luna shook her head and Mael stuffed some tobacco inside, before lighting the pipe and sucking in a mouthful of smoke.
"I have to ask you." She began, gaining Maelstrom's attention. "during out little… skirmish a few weeks back I noticed that you have a considerable amount of magical power." Maelstrom raised an eyebrow at Luna calling a battle to the death a skirmish but kept quiet. "where did you learn those techniques? I mean no offence, but while some of the spells you used are of grandmaster level and excellently executed, you don't exactly strike me as a second coming of Clover the clever. It should be impossible to learn spellcasting of that level without at least a lot of help."
Maelstrom pondered the princess's words for a bit, exhaled the smoke through his nose and shrugged. "you're right. I've had plenty of help in the past. Ya see, from my sixteenth until my twentieth I've traveled the world on foot. I've been pretty much anywhere and along the way I've learned many useful skills. Not only music related, but also other things. I studied the meditation arts with the monks in Neighpon, a Zebrafrican shaman taught me the basics of runecasting an' alchemy an' a Xingese master taught me how to fight with a sword." This caught Luna's attention.
"you know how to fight with a sword?" she inquired making Maelstrom snap out of his musings.
"yup. I prefer to fight with my bare hands but I know my way around a blade. Though I do have to admit that my last teacher was the most powerful." He drawled, smiling wistfully as he thought of his last teacher." He was a dusty old unicorn, damn near ancient. Had a really long white beard an' he didn't really talk much about himself. He was really strong though. He zapped my ass six times around the field when I didn't listen to his lessons about proper mana distribution an' stuff. He was a stubborn, stingy, grumpy old bastard, but I wouldn't trade the eight months training under him for anything." His smile vanished as he thought of a slightly younger version of himself getting hit in the ass by a low powered lightning bolt thrown by a grey unicorn dressed in simple green robes with a curly white beard that reached his hooves and a slightly manic look in his eyes. "then again I could've gone without the 3000 volts in the butt." He grumbled as he unconsciously rubbed a phantom burn on his left ass cheek. This made Luna giggle even harder and even one or two guards were having difficulty keeping a straight face.
"yeah yeah, laugh it off why don't ya?" he grumbled before exhaling another cloud and playfully nudging the dark blue alicorn in the side.
The two left the castle's main building and entered a massive courtyard. It was a fairly simple piece of grassland with a few massive ivory walls surrounding it and a watchtower on every corner. In the back of the courtyard stood a few simple white buildings with soldiers going in and out every once in a while.
'must be the barracks.' Maelstrom thought to himself before gazing over to a pair of rookie guards practicing their sword fighting skills in the form of a simple sparring match. In his own humble opinion the two guards weren't all that bad, but the critical eye he possessed due to Naruto's life of training, the memories absorbed from old man Mifune and the training under the master during his travels through Xing picked up a few flaws in their stances along with several holes both their defences. Unconsciously he shook his head, something that Luna picked up on.
"Is something the matter Maelstrom?" At her question Maelstrom merely nodded in the direction of the two sparring guards. "their stances are wrong." He began. "the left one's too low to the ground to properly defend against a low sweep. Not only that, but he has his sword held a bit too high. If the other guy gives one fast swing to his leg, he will fall to the ground and the match'll be over."
Before Luna could ponder his words, a cry of surprise rang out across the courtyard and Luna looked up to see that Maelstrom's prediction had come true. The left guard laid on his back with the right soldier standing over him, practice blade aimed at his partner's throat.
A slow clapping sounded across the training field and Maelstrom walked over to the two guards. He helped the one on the ground up and smirked at Luna, who was genuinely impressed that his quick analysis was enough to predict the exact outcome of the match.
"Impressive. I see you talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?" Luna teased him causing Mael to stiffen. He turned to her with a funny look on his face. He deeply inhaled another cloud of smoke before extinguishing his pipe, putting it away, exhaling the large cloud and staring her straight in the eyes.
"Lady, are you sayin' I can't put my money where my mouth is?" He asked her. Luna motioned the guards to hand over their wooden training swords, and handed one to the grey unicorn.
"so what if I am?" She teased. Maelstrom chuckled and stepped into the ring. "Very well princess, what are the rules?" Luna thought for a bit and took position on the other side of the ring. "No magic except for physical enhancement magic, this means no levitation, no teleportation and no magic missile. No blows below the belt or bone-breaking blows. The first one to give up loses, the first one to fall out of the ring loses and the first one to get knocked out loses. To make it even, I will not use my wings as long as you refrain from using runes. Does that sound fair?"
Mael nodded eagerly before taking layout of the ring in. it was a simple piece of flatland. the ground was hard enough to move around without trouble and yet soft enough to slightly cushion a fall. Here and there a small patch of grass stubbornly grew. the edge of the ring was marked with a red painted line. Simple, but not too simple.
Their banter attracted a small crowd of off-duty guards who now casually stood and sat a safe distance away from the ring. An elder pegasus Stallion in a large red coloured armor than the rest stepped forward and raised a nasty looking, gold plated war axe.
(music: la distancia para un duelo)
"the rules have been set! Are both participants ready?" He called out in an authoritative voice. When both he and Luna nodded, the stallion made a chopping motion with his war axe and quickly stepped back.
Both fighters exploded into action. Maelstom, horn glowing red channelled his aura through his body, doubling it's average speed and strength. He sprang forward, wooden sword by his side, preparing to stab. Luna laid her hand on her 'sheathed' sword sprang forward as well.
Mael stabbed forward. His sword was parried by Luna's sword in a fluid motion. She swung in a wide, yet precise arc at his midsection. Something he evaded by digging his hoof slightly into the ground and jumping back a bit. As soon as he landed, Luna flew at him, sword raised over her head. Mael raised his own blade and with a loud 'CLACK' the two made contact. Both participants struggled for dominance, bringing their bodies close while wearing wide smirks. Maelstrom noticed that, even without Nightmare Moon's powers, Luna's physical strength was still a lot greater than his own. Acting upon that realization, he purposefully gave in.
Luna suddenly lurched forward due to lack of resistance and before she could correct herself, Maelstrom had already ducked underneath her. He swung his sword upwards, tapping her right arm and raking the tip from her right side to her left shoulder. In retaliation, Luna gave him a kick to his inner leg, making him lose balance as well. The two both fell, Maelstrom on the bottom, and Luna on top. The alicorn firmly planted her knees on his shoulder and pointed the tip of her sword at his throat. He smirked and whipped his legs around her throat, before tensing up and flipping her off of him. She flipped in the air and landed on her feet the same time as he did. Not wasting any time or movement, the Fighters both flew forward again to continue their dance of savagerie. One stepped forward, the other back, one struck and the other blocked before countering and getting blocked. They spun circles around each other; her dress fluidly following her movements, and his tie whipping out as he struck.
The soldiers could only stand and watch as the two expert swordfighters spun around, striking, dodging and blocking at a level of mastery they could only wish they possessed. The elder stallion grinned as he saw the ability with which his leader and the unicorn from the reports were dueling.
Both Luna and Maelstrom were grinning like loons; unlike their earlier battle, this time nothing was on the line so they could thorougly enjoy themselves. It had been years for Maelstrom since he had a decent opponent and Luna was unlike any sparring partner he ever had. She enjoyed their little savage dance as much as he did and she did not hide it, her abilities were far above that of any run-of-the-mill soldier and he could feel that she was actually holding back a little, much like himself.
'Ah fuck it!' he thought to himself as they disengaged from yet another lock. he threw his wooden sword up, slightly distracting the lunar princess and charged his palms with magic aura. he quickly closed the distance between himself and the shocked royal and thrust both hands forward with open palms.
"murum percusserit!" (wall strike!) He called out as his palms made contact with her chest and the aura gathered in his hands released outward. a violent gale erupted between them and Luna was thrown back. She skidded over the ground, digging her hooves as deep as she could and grit her teeth as she pushed as hard as she could. Slowly she came to a stop mere millimetres away from the line and she laughed.
"Tis unbelievable. You actually almost got me out of the ring." She commented before her smirk turned savage. "But seeing as you were serious about that, I guess I'll just have to take off the kiddie gloves as well."
Maelstrom's eyes widened as she instantly closed the gap between them and struck out with one fist.
"OH FU-" he called out hefore her fist struck him dead centre and he got launched off of his feet. he flipped twice in the air before landing on his back roughly three metres out of the ring.
"Oh dear." Luna ran over tot Maelstrom along with the elder stallion who had broken up the crowd, only to see that her guest was smiling widely at her.
"Are you okay?" She asked him with some concern as she helped him up. Maelstrom slapped himself on the shoulders, getting rid of some dirt and grinned. "I'm fine Luna, how about you?"
"the princess is fine young Maelstrom." the elder stallion answered him before sticking out his hand which Mael accepted. "greetings young man, I am general Galewing; the general of the seventh aerial division." They shook, staring each other in the eye and smirking. "An honor to meet you sir." Maelstrom drawled as the elder pegasus nodded. "Though what I'm wondering is what the famed hydra slayer of the east is doing in Canterlot this time of the year? I thought the general summit took place in September."
"very perceptive of you." the general noted. "Yes, usually I'd be stationed in the fire swamp this time of year but seeing the circumstances a few months ago princess Celestie thought it to be wise for her three top generals to be present in Canterlot until all of the paperwork is taken care of." Mael raised a sceptic eyebrow at the pegasus. "paperwork?"
"Princess Luna's reïntegration into the royal family, division of the workload between them and of course the expenses for the entire Summer sun celebration fiasco two months ago." The general responded smoothly.
a little too smoothly.
Maelstrom's eyes turned orange as he reached out for Galewing's emotions and realised that the stallion was only telling half-truths. His eyes returned to their normal colours as he turned around.
"As a general you are allowed to keep any secrets, sir Galewing; but I don't like bein' lied to."
the General frowned before lightening up and laughing boisterously.
"you really are way more perspective then you appear!" he called out before flapping his wings and taking to the skies. "I hope to see you around young one!" With a last laugh he entered a window in the highest tower and vanished out of sight.
"Strange man." Mael commented offhandedly before looking at Lun who shrugged. "Perhaps he is, but I've read his reports. He's one of the most powerful and efficient members of the equestrian army in several generations. Ithink that he's entitled to a few quirks."
As the pair continued, they shared some more stories, jokes and banter before Luna was fetched by a random guard.
The raising of the moon was a beautiful experience. First, Celestia covered her hands in her unique golden aura, before rising into the sky with her massive wings spread out. The sun itself flared a little bit as the mare's tremendous mana made the connection. Maelstrom could not help but feel insignificant as he could feel the absolute vastness of his Lady's ocean of mana compared to his. A twinge of jealousy sprouted in his heart as he thought back to his previous life's chakra, which he quickly suppressed.
The princess's gown billowed a bit as she descended, the sun's golden rays constantly touching her back and bathing the white mare in a golden cloak and a serene smile playing on her lips.
As soon as she touched down, luna spread her own wings, before lighting up her own cobalt aura. She raised her hands as the top of the moon peeked over the edge of the horizon. She gave a flap with her mighty wings and ascended, the moon following her, bathing her in it's glorious silvery light.
Maelstrom simlpy could not stop staring at the ethereal beauty of the lunar princess as the guided the moon to it's location. Luna lowered herself back to the ground and stared up at the sky as her aura intensified and the stars started aligning themselves into amazing patterns. Swirls, animals and even vague pictures appeared in the night sky as Luna expertly moved them around like a seasoned artist. She reopened her eyes and smiled at the small crowd she had attracted, before noticing Maelstrom staring upwards with open mouth.
"you're going to catch parasprites like that you know?" she asked the unicorn teasingly before Mael quickly snapped his mouth shut.
"S-sorry. It's just... Wow. It's beautiful." He said breathlessly as he motioned for the panorama above their heads; to which Luna grinned proudly.
"Yes. Sister did a fine job at keeping the night intact but she lacked the finesse needed to form full pictures in the sky." She joked halfheartedly as Celestia sent her a playful glare.
"Now then."Celestia began with an amused smirk. "How about dinner."
Dinner was a relatively quiet affair at Canterlot castle. Surely only the most exquisite grains of corn, grass and hay was being served, along with a very expensive wine and several cheeses, pies and other lavish food. But dinner itself was rather quiet. The table was not as big as you would expect from the rulers of a country, but that just showed that they appreciated the simplicity and closeness of having a meal with your loved ones.
After dinner everyone except for Luna went to bed. Maelstrom was shown his room by one of the maids. it was a large white room with a bathroom attached to it and a balcony that connected the two while overlooking Canterlot city. his bed was a simple queen sized bed with white covers and many, many pillows. Maelstrom wondered why he would need so many of them but decided to just let it go and go to sleep. As he laid down he recalled everything that had happened that day and grinned. He gained a new friend, and a damn interesting one at that.
In the Canterlot garden, Luna sat on a chair as she stared at the moon. She reviewed the dreams of the millions and millions of ponies that were yet again under her rule. Some were happy dreams, some were nightmares, and some were about her sister. Luna could not help but let out a shudder at the thought of her sister being like the ones in those dreams; absolutely disturbing.
When the last lights in the castle were dimmed, she closed her eyes and started focusing her conciousness on one particular persons subconciousness. Her world went black and she appeard before a sturdy door. on the door stood a single name.
'Mealstrom 'Naruto Uzumaki' Zap-apple Smith'
'time to see what our dear friend dreams of.'
END CHAPTER!
*diarchy: a kingdom or empire ruled by two people of equal political power.
so that took me a while to write. The main reason for that was simply because my laptop is a piece of shit that decided to crap out on me in the middle of my final semester. I am sorry for the extremely long wait.