The Night's Knight Ch. 1

Initiation

The next evening, after Princess Luna raised the moon, she and Princess Celestia walked along the corridor.

“...And that’s everything we need to do at the meeting on Wednesday. Understand, Luna?”  Celestia heard no response from her sister. “Luna, are you listening?”

“Oh! Um . . . of course we did sister,”  she responded. “We were just thinking about how to convince the regional governors to limit their spending in their cities.”

“I understand fully Luna, but considering the numerous problems such as the border wars between us and the Griffon Kingdom. If we’re going to avoid going in debt, then we need to take every precaution.”

“Very well Tia, but we-”

“Princess Luna, a word with you please,”  said a voice.

The two alicorns turned around to see Silver Storm standing nearby and looked a little impatient.

“Some of the guards have been caught hazing another recruit. I would normally bring him before both you and Princess Celestia, but since these guards are under your command, I’ll let you handle them. They are currently being held in the northeast tower.”  He gave a wink.

Luna winked back and said, “Very well then, we shall teach those guards what happens when you cross with a Princess.”  She turned back to Celestia. “Forgive us dear sister, but we must hurry along now.

“Goodbye Luna and let those guards know if I catch them doing something like that to one of mine, then they’ll be spending the remainder of their service patrolling the castle’s sewers.”

Luna waved goodbye and went down the opposite direction she came from. Silver Storm hurried along with her and didn’t say anything until he turned and saw Celestia rounded the corner.

“Is everything in place?”  Asked Luna.

“Yes, all the guards have been summoned to the northeast tower meeting chamber. You’re running a bit late though. I told the guards about this plan, but I told them to not say anything about it to anyone else than the other Lunar Royal Guards.”

“My apologies Silver, but my sister was talking about a meeting coming up and I lost track of time. Now before we go on with this, I need to know one thing. What if one of Celestia’s guards comes by and sees no other guards nearby? This could raise a lot of suspicion.”

“Already taken care of your highness,”  said Silver. “I’ll just tell the guards that Luna is lecturing them all about that ‘hazing incident’ and the consequences about what happens if a guard does that to a recruit.”

Luna chuckled softly as she walked alongside Silver. “You certainly have thought this out well Silver.

“Well, being the advisor of a princess one must be well prepared and constantly vigilant for any situation, especially when it comes to the situation of the heart.” he replied to her softly, grinning as he winked to her.

“W-well. . .” Luna flustered as she looked away from him. “This is all new to us Silver. Though honestly, you act more a mare than a stallion would.”

Silver withheld a laugh as he scrunched his lips. “Hardly, you should meet my husband. He is the feminine one of in the relationship.”

Luna’s eyes widened as she stared at her adviser in surprise. “Even after a decade, things still surprise me of the new Equestria...” she said softly as she looked forward, nearing their destination.

---

“Um . . . I forget. What we are waiting for?”  One unicorn guard asked another as they were sitting on stools in the northeast tower.

The other guard shrugged as he rolled his eyes. “I don’t know, something about Princess Luna being lonely apparently.”

“Lonely you say?”  Another one asked as he leaned into the conversation. “Well if she is lonely, she can just ask somepony into her room. Stand in for one night I’d say.”

Philip furrowed his eyebrows in anger as he his ears perked to the conversation. He turned his head to hear things clearer and decided to walk into the circle of the conversation.

The guards laughed at their friends’ reply. “Well unfortunately I’m not the one for mares here. My special stallion is waiting right at home,”  one greyish pink guard answered, but was met with silence. “What? You all have a problem with my opinion?”

“With the way you look, how can we not tell you’re gayer than Swayback Mountain?”  Teased one guard. The others burst into laughter while the pink guard shrunk back and said nothing.

“In all seriousness, why would Princess Luna want to date now?”  Asked another guard. “I haven’t seen Princess Celestia ever show any interest in wanting her own special somepony, so why Luna?”

“Hey, maybe she wants to try to fit more into society. Even after all these years since her return, she’s still feeling a little out of place. Maybe her dating somepony will help her feel more comfortable and maybe something even more.”

“So then why us guards then? What’s wrong with dating a noble?”

“Don’t even bother. I dated one once and she never stop talking about herself. Every time I look at a noble now, I want nothing more than to punch their teeth out to shut them up.”

“Well I don’t see anything wrong with dating somepony like Princess Luna. In fact, I’d say I’d love to be around her for the rest of my life.”

Philip raised an eyebrow as he heard that statement. “What dae yeh mean by that?”  He asked the guard.

“Ah, come on Philip, surely you don’t see the benefit as well, do you?”

“Haven’t the foggiest Polished Shield.”

The guard let out a laugh and shook his head. “Think about it for a minute there. You get to be around a Goddess for the rest of your life and not only that, but if you follow behind her, you’ll get a nice view of her moon, if you know what I mean.”  Polished let out another laugh, but it sounded rather cold.

Something inside Philip suddenly snapped as he realized what he truly meant by his statement. In a flash, he raised his hoof and punched Polished Shield’s mouth so hard, some of his teeth were knocked out of him and went flying across the room. The circle of guards stepped back as they saw an infuriated Philip standing nearby and was seething through his teeth.

The guard groaned as he rubbed his jaw and looked up at his attacker. “What the hay was that for!?”  He demanded.

“Yeh now full well wha’ it fer!”  Philip retorted as he landed his hoof back to Polished’s jaw. “Nopony dare talk about the princesses that way, especially Princess Luna.”

Polished rubbed his jaw and spat out to the ground, blood and saliva hitting the floor. He narrowed his eyes to Philips and clenched his teeth. “Why you little plotlicker!”  He shouted as he charged to Philip and tried to land a blow to his face. All he met was air as Philip sidestepped and took hold of Polished’s neck. Polished slammed his head back to Philip’s, causing Philip to groan and Polished to be free as he tackled him to the ground.

All the guards were rooting for a fight as they stomped with Polished and Philip rolling on the ground, trying to punch the other but not succeeding. The area became dark as all the candles went out and the air became as cold as ice. The guards felt a cold breeze coming from behind them and turned cautiously around facing another pony.

“What is the meaning of this!?”

Princess Luna stood at the entrance with her eyes white as her magic turned into darkness that bathed the room and gave off a chill that made the guards shiver. She stepped forward and looked down on Philip and Polished.

Philip let go of Polished and kneeled down to Princess Luna, not daring to look her in the eye. “Your majesty, I-”

“Quiet!” she ordered Philip and saw him kneel down further to the ground and looked back to her advisor, who nodded to her. She turned back to the two guards kneeling and waved a hoof to them. “Rise.”

Philip raised himself from his kneel and for the briefest moment, he looked Luna in the eye. He saw her eyes widen slightly and swore he could hear her gasp. He blinked a few times, but his one eye was slightly swollen now thanks to the brawl earlier.

“Tell us what happened here now, or we shall not be lenient to your punishment.” Luna said as she looked both ponies in the eye, and her gaze finally fell on Polished. “You. Speak.”

Polished gulp as sweat beads fell from his forehead. His eyes darted to Philip, and they widened slightly as an idea popped into his head. He smiled slightly and cleared his throat. “Well Princess, our young Philip here thought it would be appropriate to make remarks of your beauty by using vulgar phrases and actions. I only saw fit to punish him, yet I did not expect him to retort to the punishment he deserved.”

Philip’s eyes narrowed and his eyebrows furrowed as he turned sharply to Polished’s, grinding his teeth. “Ye lying snake! Don’t go telling the princess porky pies now ye-” he stopped when Luna looked at him, her eyes in a glare. He straightened himself up and looked away. “My apologies Princess Luna.”

“Is this true though Corporal Philip?”  She asked in an icy tone. “Is this truly why you were feeling ‘worn out’ yesterday? Because you were trying to not say anything vulgar about us?”

“N-no! Never your highness! I would never say that!”

“He lies! That guy’s such a pervert! He tried to look at the female guards’ barracks once to see them shower!”

“Be still Corporal!”  Ordered Silver Storm.

Philip looked at Silver, only to be met by a shrug and looked a little concerned. “Y-your highness . . . I would never say anything about you like that.”

“You are such a liar!”  Shouted Polished Shield. “You only want to see her ‘moon’ up close and personal!”

“Don’t ye dare talk to me fancy that!”  Barked Philip. “At least my mind isn’t constantly stuck in the gutter!”

“You’re right, it’s always stuck in it!”

“I would never say anything like that to her! She’s a very nice Princess who’s fair, kind, and beautiful. I would never say anything like you said to her about my favorite princess!”

Suddenly, something clicked inside Princess Luna’s mind as she heard that last statement. My favorite princess! A saying she hasn’t heard for so long, that it was like a giant shock wave to her. She staggered back a little as the emotional wave overcame her.

Could . . . could it be?  She thought to herself.

“Princess Luna! Are you alright?”  Asked Silver in a concerned voice.

The alicorn shook her head and saw all the guards were looking at her with either raised eyebrows or concerned looks on them. She turned to Philip, who seemed a little afraid of her, but something told her it wasn’t because of fear, but because of concern.

“We . . . We’re fine,”  she said. “It’s . . . none of your concern.”

“Enough of this already!”  Barked Polished Shield. “As you can see Princess Luna, Philip has nothing else to say in his defense. I say it’s time he gets the ol’ heave ho and be tossed out!”

Luna looked for a moment to Polished and then to Philip. She walked in closer to him, and saw he never flinched nor looked away from her eyes. She leaned in closer to Pip, with her horn nearly touching his forehead.

Polished smirk as he sneered in Philip’s direction. “That’s it princess. Get rid of that bum so that I can see your moon for myself!”  He suddenly blurted out and gasped as he shut his mouth and looked down on it with eyes that widened to the size of saucers. He felt a strange tingling on his mouth that soon disappeared, though he swore he saw a silver aura for a moment.

Luna’s head jerked back at her she looked at Polished with both rage and disgusted, as her mouth turned into a scowl and her eyes narrowed to the guard. “You dare?!”

Polished’s mouth was clattering as he looked around him and his eyes darted to every corner. “Princess- I- I- I would never say such things I-”

Luna stomped her hoof, causing a slight quake to silence Polished. “You dare lie to us?! You dare lie to the Princess of the Night?!”  Luna barked at him as she towered over him and saw him trembling to the ground.

Polished closed his eyes as he trembled in a kneel to Luna. “Please Princess, I would never do-”

“Silence!”  She hissed to him and she could hear him sob as he kneeled. She looked to her advisor Silver and her eyes soften a little. “What say you shall we do with this wastrel Silver? Option A or B?”

Silver tapped his chin as his eyes fell to Polished’s body, as his eyes showed disdain for the vulgar pony. “Option A sounds about right to me Princess.”

Princess Luna nodded to her advisor and again her eyes fell onto Polished as they turned into ones of absolute fury. “Polished Shield. Stand up.”

“Princess-”

“Stand up!”

Polished did as he was told as he slowly got up and was visibly shaking. “Y-y-yes your h-highness?”  He asked.

“For your crimes of speaking ill about your Princess and for attempting to put the blame on another pony, you are hereby expelled as one of my Royal Guards immediately. Your punishment doesn’t end there though.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“Since you have a heart of ice and your attitude is foul, I shall sentence you to the Glacius Base.”

“No! Anywhere but there!”  Pleaded Polished. “If I go there, I may die of-”

“Oh, don’t you worry about that,”  said Silver Storm. “I’ll be placing you in a section of the base that is indoors. I just hope that where you’re going, you don’t pass out quickly.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You’ll see.”  Silver used his magic to summon a parchment and quill and write something on it before handing it to Luna. Her horn glowed for a second as the paper flashed and was then rolled up. “And before you leave, whenever you finish a shift at your new base, take plenty of showers.”

Before Polished could say anything else, Luna’s horn glowed and in an instant, he and the scroll disappeared from the room.

---

A second later, he reappeared outside, but was met by a blinding blizzard and started shivering. He distinctly heard hoofsteps and turned to see a pony dressed in a white eskimo suit approaching him.

“W-who a-a-are y-y-you?”  Asked Polished.

“Captain Ice Blade,”  he said in a muffled voice. “Welcome to the Glacius Base, or as I like to call it, the dungeon, your final resting place if you aren’t careful.”  He noticed the scroll near him Polished and opened it up. As he read it, the Captain shook his head. “Well I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that you aren’t going to be stationed outside to patrol the base.”

“The bad news?”

“You’re being assigned to the sewage patrol and you’re just in time. It seems one of the septic tanks has busted and we need some guards to make sure it doesn’t overflow.”

“What!?”

“Best get going there Corporal, or else the whole base is going to reek of feces.”  With that, he uncovered a hidden horn on his head and used his magic to levitate Polished Shield and lead him to the sewers.

“Nooo!!!!”  He screamed as he was led away to his fate.

---

Luna sighed and twisted her neck slightly, emitting a few clicks from it. “That’s one rotten rat sent back to the sewer,”  she muttered and looked around the room. The room was deserted save for two ponies. Silver and Philip. “Where are the other guards?”  She asked Silver as she turned her head in all directions.

Silver shrugged as he smiled. “They all fled,”  he said plainly as he looked back to the entrance. “Something about ‘fearing banishment’ or something similar,”  he said as his gazed fell to Luna and his smile disappeared when he saw her moist eyes. He bit his lower lip, though his mouth turn into an O as his gaze landed on Philip. He grinned slightly before clearing his throat. “Princess... believe it or not, I think we have found you a pony.”

“Sorry?”  Was all that Luna could say as she raised arched an eyebrow. She saw Silver pointing with his eyes to his side and she looked to see Philip standing next to him, though she could tell that he was just as confused as was for that moment. “Philip, I believe?”

Philip cleared his voice and stood at attention. “Philip Brave, princess,”  he said in a different accent from what he used earlier with Polished.

Luna tapped her chin as her lips scrunched, with her eyes squinted when she looked at Philip. “You seem awfully familiar somehow. . .”

Philip looked down and bit his lower lip. “How your majesty?”

Luna walked forward and looked at him thoroughly from top to bottom. She walked around him and saw his cutie mark that resembled a compass without the bearings. She noticed his cheeks were become red as her gaze would not leave him. She finally stopped when she was back before him, looking into his eyes.

“Are you sure we haven’t seen each other before?”  Asked Luna.

“Um . . . only when I’m patrolling alongside you to protect you.”  Try as Philip could, he couldn’t help but shake a little in intimidation.

“Do not worry Corporal, I just want to know one thing. Did you initiate that fight?”

Philip, unable to avoid the stare of the Princess, nodded feebly. “Yes . . . I just didn’t like how Polished Shield was talking about you.”

“I understand his actions were disrespectful, but you need to remember that you’re a Royal Guard. You won’t be dishonorably discharged or expelled, but you will be tasked to do one thing as ‘punishment’.

“What do you wish for me to do your highness?”  Asked Philip in a disappointing tone.

“We . . . heard there is a carnival in town tomorrow,”  she said, trying not to sound nervous. “We see you think highly of us and considering you’re the only guard left, you shall be accompanying us to the Canterlot Carnival tomorrow night.”

“But why your highness?”  Philip nearly smacked himself for what he asked. “I mean, why would you want to date somepony like me? I’m just a mere navigator on the E.C.S. Lunar Eclipse airship.”

“Ah yes, I remember that grand ship,”  said Luna. “It’s a shame they had to decommission it. But anyway, tomorrow we shall go out and partake in the fun that this carnival has to offer.”

“But you’d stick out like a sore hoof your highness,”  said Philip. “How are you supposed to go to the carnival without everypony noticing you?”

Before Luna could respond, Silver said, “Rest assure, she’ll think of something Corporal. Now then, will you accept the Princess’ request?”

Philip couldn’t believe what he was hearing. A chance at long last with Luna seemed like a dream come true. “Yes I would!”  He exclaimed before clamping his mouth and looking down in embarrassment. “I mean, I would love to, if that’s fine with you your highness.”

“We shall gladly accept you as our da- um . . . acquaintance,”  said the alicorn. “Be ready to leave the castle by tomorrow night at eight, understand?”

“Yes, your highness!”  Philip gave a salute.

“Dismissed,”  said Silver.

Philip walked out of the room and shut the doors to the conference chamber, leaving Luna and Silver all to themselves.

“Well your highness, it seems everything is going according to plan so far.”  Silver heard no response from the Princess. He turned to her and saw she looked out of it. “Your highness? Is something the matter?”

Luna’s lips mouthed inaudible words as she looked out to where Philip left. Her eyes blinked as she recalled a number of memories, including ones of dreams she viewed in the past.

She blinked her eyes before turning to Silver. “Silver. . . who was that?”

“Hmmm?”  Silver hummed as he arched an eyebrow. “Philip Brave my princess, just as he said. You do not take his word for it? I can verify his claim if you-”

“That’s not what we meant,”  Luna chimed in as her eyebrows furrowed. “Why is it that he reminds me so much of the past?”

Silver rolled his eyes away and shrugged. “Not sure princess, maybe you should ask him tomorrow.”

Luna nodded as her eyes fell downwards. “Yes, you’re right.”

“Now onto a more important matter. . . your disguise.”

Luna gasped and looked down on her own body, “Yes! We must find a proper disguise for ourselves.” she said as she focused her magic to envelop herself in her own navy aura. The aura intensified brightly, before dimming. When it was done, she looked over herself.

Silver nodded his head in approval. “That looks good on you...” he said as he viewed the princess before him. Where once she stood a feet taller than him, she was now shorter to be lower than Silver. Her wings disappeared and her cutie mark changed to that of shooting star. The ethereal mane was now solid and formed into a ponytail, with her eyes changed to a sky blue.

“Do we look fair Silver?”

Silver chuckled as he moved forward to Luna. “Like a marvelous moon lily in season your highness.”

Luna giggled before clapping her hooves together and beaming in glee. “That’s it, for tomorrow only we shall be dubbed ‘Moon Lily’.”

“Smashing princess, just one more issue.”

“What may that be?”

“Your speech.”

“What about our speech?”

“You need to stop using bits of the Royal We. It’ll make you suspicious. You have to stop saying we or our and start saying I or you?”

“We . . . remember Princess Twilight talking to us about that when we visited Ponyville during Nightmare Night.”

“Try to remember about what she said then.”

“W-we . . . I . . . I will do ou-. . . my best, Silver,”  stuttered Luna. “This shall take some getting used to.”

“Everything will be okay your highness,”  assured Silver. “Now I think it’s best that you turn in for the night. Princess Celestia mentioned something about you being with her in a meeting with a noble about some new statue.”

The blue alicorn let out a sigh. “They never learn to stop being so egotistical.”

“That they don’t. Good night your highness.”  With that, Silver bowed and walked out of the room.

Luna stuck around though as her mind went back to Philip. I know I’ve seen that stallion before. But where?  She pondered.  

After a few minutes of thinking, Luna sighed in defeat. We- I guess it was nothing. I better get to bed and see what’s going on in the dreams of-  A thought suddenly crossed her mind. That’s it! We- um . . . I mean, I shall go into Philip’s dream and see who he really is!

She walked out of the room and trotted back to her chambers, with a confident smile on her face. Philip, whoever you are, I’m going to see who you truly are.

---

As soon as Luna was asleep, she was immediately brought to the dream realm. Even though she wanted to find out who Philip really was, Luna knew she still had a job to do and surveyed each dream. After finding and resolving a few nightmares, Luna continued to look around the various images. It wasn’t until she came across an image of a familiar brown spotted stallion that she found him. Wasting no time, Luna stepped into the dream to see Philip.

She looked around the dream and saw she was in none other than the Everfree Forest and noticed something that made her shiver: a statue of Nightmare Moon. Hearing hoofsteps, she quickly ran behind a tree and peeked to see who it was. To her surprise, it was Philip, dressed up with a red bandana on his head and an eyepatch over his eye. Luna couldn’t help but think that something about this costume was familiar, but her eyes caught something he was holding in his mouth. He was carrying a bag overflowing with candy. He set it near the Nightmare Moon statue and kneeled.

“After all these years, I’ve never stopped thinking about you,”  he said. “I know about your past and what happened to you and it’s a shame to see somepony as beautiful as you was forced to suffer that fate.”

“Does . . . does Philip actually like Nightmare Moon?”  Asked Luna with a bit of disgust in her voice. She turned away sharply only to be greeted by another pony. “Me?!”

The other princess Luna passed right through her and walked out towards Philip and stood alongside him. She leaned her head to rest on his shoulder and looked into his eyes.

“So good to see you again,”  the other Luna whispered to him and folded a wing over his back.

Philip nuzzled her chin softly with his as his eyes were closed. “For my favorite Princess, always,”  he told her in the most soothing voice Luna had ever heard from him.

The other Luna raised her head from the comforts of his shoulder and looked down to the sweets. She giggled as she picked them up with her magic and raised one candy to her mouth, plopping it inside. “You still do this foalish thing?”

“If it means seeing you, of course.”

The other Luna released a tear as she smiled wide to Philip, wiping it away. “Thank you so much,”  she whispered as she nuzzled him again and leaned in closer to hold him.

Philip held her close with one hoof as he nuzzled her back. He opened his eyes and did something others would never do; kissed Luna her on her cheek. “For you, my favorite princess. . . for you. . .”

Princess Luna stood there flummoxed at what she was seeing. She saw how happy her other self was with Philip and how blessed she was. He gaze fell upon the bag that he brought, having a name on it. Luna’s eyes widened as she gasped and she retracted back as her shocked eyes looked back at Philip, who was ignorant of her presence there.

“It’s you!”