When I wake up I roll out of bed and go to my vanity mirror.... bed head. That's still not fair. I pick up my brush and start brushing my mane...

GO TO PONYVILLE

I stop brushing and look around my empty room, looking for the voice.

"Hello? Is somepony there?" I ask but don't get a response. I go back to brushing my mane, feeling as if somepony's watching me the entire time. When I finish getting ready I head down to the eating chambers where I find Celestia eating a small salad. I take the seat next to her and look over the small menu before me, giving her the cold shoulder.

"So... how did you sleep?" She asks.

"Fine." I say before I place my order to the waiter.

"That's good. What do you have planned for today?"

"*sigh* well, sitting in the court room, alone, followed by more loneliness until I go back to bed."

"Luna..." She starts to say but stops when a scroll appears before her. She takes it and starts to read it over before she writes a quick response and sends it back. She stands up and starts to march out of the room, leaving me completely out of the loop.

"What happened?" I ask as I run after her.

"Ponyville is under attack-"

"What! By who?"

"Diamond Dogs."

"Then let’s get going." I say as I trot ahead of her, only to get held back by her magic.

"Luna, you're going to stay here-"

"Are you kidding me!? If anything, you should stay here! It's night time, my time to watch over Equestria! Why would I stay behind?"

"Miles is going to be there... I think it would be too soon for you to see him." She says as she continues to walk forward, avoiding my gaze.

"Miles... you really think I'm incapable of protecting my country because of Miles." I say as I follow after her. She pauses and look back to me, taking a deep breath before she speaks.

"He would distract you. I know he's in the fight and I know you still harbor feelings for him. I don't want you there with..."

"I can still perform my duties Celestia! I'm not a foal, I can do my job-"

"Luna I'm not arguing this, go to court now, that's an order." I take a step back and look at her in disbelief.

"Order? You order me to?"

"Yes. I am your older sister, giving me seniority over you, now get going, you have a job to do." I stare at her a little longer before I shake my head and walk off. How dare she try to stop me from doing my job! How dare she bring Miles into this! SENIORITY?! She only five years older than me! I storm into the royal court room and stop when unicorn day guards start to appear next to my guards in pairs. Soon every guard is flanked and given orders, which makes them flash out of the room. Once all my guards are gone one of the guards approaches me and bows before me.

"Good evening Princess Luna. I am Private Dusk. Princess Celestia has requested that we take guard here instead of..."

"Let me guess, you're here to make sure I don't run off, aren't you?"

"Yes. Now if you don't mind, court needs to-"

"And how exactly would all of you keep me here if I decided to leave?" He takes a gulp as he looks up to me and charges his horn.

"I'm sorry Princess, we've put up a barrier that will hold you in the castle." I look out the window and see the barrier surrounding the castle. "I'm sorry. but court-"

"If you're going to make me your prisoner then I shall be one. Take me to my room, the dungeon, anywhere where I can be alone.... NOW!" He shakes a bit before he nods and leads me to my bedroom. I slam the door behind me and begin to pace back and forth. Is this what it's come to?! I'm a prisoner in my own home! How dare she do this to me! How dare-

DO NOT FEED YOUR ANGER

I look around for the voice but find the room empty. I shake my head and walk towards my balcony when an idea hit me. I walk to the door and slowly open it. Looking around I walk forward until I reach the end of the balcony. HA! I'm not the only one who forgets about double doors! I open my wings and take flight, heading towards the top of the mountain. I make it to the cave and head in to the Mico platform where I teleport to Miles's secret closet. When I appear, I hear the murmurs of what mast be a hundred ponies, talking, crying, shouting. I teleport myself to the roof and walk to the front to see what's going on. Miles has turned his home into a refugee center for Ponyville, filling it to the brim with ponies... that's my man. Several of the ponies are walking around the building with weapons that look foreign to Equestrian design. I look towards Ponyville to see a large group coming out of the ground from a hole in the ground, being lead by Storm Cloud. I fly down to greet the group only to fly over and behind them as several Diamond Dogs appear behind them.

"YOU DARE HARM MY LITTLE PONIES!" I yell in the royal Canterlot voice, making them halt before me as I create a blue orb above me. I send the orb at them and create an explosion in the center of their group. The explosion is larger than I had intended it to be, nearly making me fall back from it. When the smoke clears all that's left of them is a large crater in the ground.

"Princess Luna." I turn around to find Storm Cloud standing before me as the crowd runs to Miles's home.

"Storm Cloud, tell me everything you know."

"The dogs just appeared and attacked. All I know is that they are after unicorns. I found that group underground being held captive as the dogs were putting some black gunk on their horns."

"Do you know anything else? Like who's behind this, where they are located?"

"Yeah, Miles and I went underground and found them watching the unicorns being processed... and I've seen him before. It's some grey griffin named Steelwing, I saw him at an abandoned cloud factory, picking up the poisoned clouds being made there. Miles chased after him and the Diamond dog leader a while ago..."

"So our next priority is Ponyville." I say as I start to march towards Ponyville.

"I'll assist you." He says as he runs up beside me.

"Thank you but I do not need assistance..."

"I know that. But Miles would never forgive me if I let the mare he loves into a fight without assistance." I stop and look over to him as a smile grows on my face.

"So... he does love me."

"Yeah... poor guys got it bad too. He also believes he has to stay away from you so he doesn't hurt you." I shake my head a bit as I continue to walk towards Ponyville. He loves me... he really does... I need to see him now... or after I save Ponyville. We come up to the edge of town where we find it nearly deserted of anypony. I see Twilight leading a small group of ponies towards us so we run up to her.

"Storm!" She yells as she runs up to him and hugs him tightly, then slaps him across the muzzle. "Don't you dare ever do that again you idiot!"

"Sorry Twi', but I needed to give Miles some backup. I'm back now, and Princess Luna is here as well." Twilight looks over to me and gives a slight bow before she looks back to Storm. "There's a group of ponies over at the high school gym being guarded by Big Mac. They had a lot of injured ponies there that couldn't be moved, so he decided to stay and protect them."

"Then we shall head straight there." I say, getting a smile from Twilight.

"OK, Rainbow Dash and I will take this group to Miles's home and continue looking for survivors." She says before she looks over to Storm and gives him a light kiss on the lips. "Be safe."

"I will, now get going. Staying still for too long is bad." She nods and takes the group past us. I look around for Rainbow Dash and find her in the air wielding a very bloody spear.

"Let’s make haste." I say as I walk into town. It's fairly quiet here. There are a couple of buildings on fire, but I take care of them fairly quickly with my magic. "So... it would seem you and Twilight are... close." I say to Storm as we continue into town.

"Yeah... don't tell anypony, but I'm planning on asking to marry her soon."

"Congratulations. I guess my putting you with Miles was a good idea after all."

"Yeah, it was the best thing that could have ever happened to me... thank you."

"Don't mention it. To be honest I only picked you because you looked like you were trying to avoid being picked."

"I was." We share a small laugh until we hear a scream come from a nearby building. We run to it and kick in the door to find two dogs approaching a pegasus mare holding onto a unicorn filly. I create my energy blades and stab them both into their backs, making them howl in pain before they drop to the ground.

"Are you two alright?" I ask as I approach the two of them.

"Yes, we're fine. Thank you, Princess Luna." She says as she stands up, still holding onto the filly.

"Do you think you can carry your filly down to Miles's place Derpy?" Storm asks.

"Y-yeah. I can do it. Thank you again." She says as she walks out and flies off with her filly.

"Let’s keep moving." I say as I head out the door and continue down the path towards the school. We make it to town hall where we find a dark grey unicorn colt running from three diamond dog. Storm and I launch ourselves at the dogs, me sending a blast of energy at two of them and Storm kicking the other one away. Storm quickly pulls out his sword and stabs the one he kicked in the gut, sending a blast of bloody air up. "Are you alright child?" I ask the cowering colt.

"*sniff* I-I can't find my mommy." He says as he starts to cry.

"Storm, continue to the high school while I take him to Miles's home." He nods to me and runs down the path. I look back to the colt and give him a quick nuzzle. "Hey, what's your name?"

"I'm Star Gazer."

"Star Gazer, why don't you come with me and let’s go look for your mommy together?"

"*sniffle* o-okay." I pick him up and set him on my back, getting him to hold on tightly around my neck. "Whoa... you're a lot taller than my mom."

"Hm... okay, close your eye really quick so I can teleport us to the safe house." He nods to me and closes his eyes tightly as he continues to hold onto me. I teleport us back to Miles's house... directly behind Celestia. "Well... shoot."

"Luna!" Celestia says as she turns around and looks at me. "What are you doing here?"

"My job. Now if you don't mind I have to help this colt..."

"MOMMY!" He yells as he tries to get off me. I set him on the ground and watch as he runs to one of the make shift guard ponies.

"STAR!" She yells as she drops the spear and runs towards him and hugs him tightly. I watch them hold onto each other for a bit before Celestia steps in front of me.

"Luna-"

"Celestia, can I have a word with you in private." I say as I teleport us to an open field on the west part of Ponyville. She was going to say something to me but stops and stares at me, due to me taking my pure form. "How dare you." I say as I get in her face.

"Luna I-"

"NO! You don't talk right now, you listen! How dare you. First you deny me my royal duties, then you ORDER me to stay behind, and then you go and replace my guards and try to hold me prisoner in my own home! First off, it is both our duties to protect the ponies of Equestria. No personal matter will ever stop me from doing that. Next, you do not ever order me, EVER. We are equal rulers. I don't care if you were born five years before me, you will never...NEVER, do that again. And lastly you do not replace my guards. Not only was that just plain rude, it looked like a power play to them. We are equal; you do not get to take my place and do my job while I'm still here, do you understand me?" Before she could answer the ground around us suddenly collapses as Diamond Dogs surround us. As I continue to glare at Celestia I charge my magic, forming storm clouds above us. Once their strong enough I bring down multiple lightning bolts, striking down every single dog in one burst and encircling us in a bright wall of electricity. I hold the bolts there long enough to kill every dog and hold it even longer to drive my point across. When I stop electrocuting the dogs I ask Celestia "Do. You. Understand. Me."

"Luna..." I leave her standing there as I walk off towards Ponyville. I need to vent my anger; I need more dogs to fight. I take off into the night sky, flying quickly to the high school where I find what I need. The gyms front door is surrounded by some twelve dogs as they claw at the doors, trying to get inside. I roll upside down and launch myself at the ground. I land between two of the dogs by the doors and stare back at each of them.

"Surrender or die." The two closes to me reach for their swords so I grab them with my magic and slam them around, hitting the ground, walls, and other dogs as I beat the life from them. As I toss them aside all the other dogs pull their weapons out and prepare to fight me. I bring my energy blades up and wait for them to attack. A dog charges at me with his spear pointed at me, so I grab him with my magic and pull him towards me. I jump back and kick him as I do a back flip, making him go flying back. When I land, I charge into the group, stabbing two other dogs in the gut. I pull my blades back and give them a quick twirl before I bring them behind me, blocking an axe and sword from hitting my back. I twist my blades around and slash at the dogs, lopping their heads off. As the other dogs start to slash and stab at me I create more and more blades until I'm fighting all six of them at once. I flare my wings and launch myself into the air, avoiding them all stabbing at me at once. I flip around so I'm facing the ground and charge my horn. As they all look up to me I send a white beam down at the ground between them, creating a massive explosion that sends me a bit higher into the air. I flip back and flap my wings to level out and watch the plume of fire go into the air.

I didn't mean for it to be that large... when did I get this powerful? When did I learn to fight like that for that matter? Six at once... I don't remember ever learning to do that. I fly down beside the crater and look around. The houses that were near are blackened from the fire. The front wall to the gym has cracks going up the wall, leading to the broken windows above. I walk up to the door and open it, only to have the wall fall behind me, leaving me in the door way.

"Princess?" I look over to see Big Mac and Storm standing before me with their swords drawn, with a crowd of terrified ponies behind them. When did Big Mac get so buff?

"Uh... I came to help..."

"Eeyup." Big Mac says as they both sheath their swords.

"So, how’s everypony doing here?" I ask as I walk into the gym. Everypony bows before me as they tremble in fear of my pure form.

"Well, we've got a few injured in the back, but other than that it's just a matter of getting the civilians to move." Storm says as he walks along with me. I make my way to the back, making everypony tremble in fear as I walk through the gym. I sigh and continue anyway, right now I don't care what they think of me, I just want to see Miles. I find the area that's separated by medical curtains and walk in, making the nurse before me drop in fear.

"I'm here to help, what do you need." I ask her, but don't get a response right away. "Nurse, you don't need to fear me, I'm here to help. Now what do you need?"

"Uh....well.... we, uh need...*meep*." She says before she covers her head with her hooves and shakes before me. I walk around her and go to the first cot. It has a city guard with a large gash on his side. The wound has been sewn shut and he has a pouch of pain killers attached to his fore leg. Celestia was always the better fighter, but I was always the better healer. I charge my magic and get to work healing him, but something goes wrong. I feel something influence my magic and reach out to all the patients and start to heal them all at once. I should be weakening from healing this many ponies at once, but it feels as if I'm working on two. After a few minutes of healing I stop my magic and look around. All the patients are starting to get out of their cots, feeling their bodies for any signs of injury.

"Wow, you're quit the healer." Storm says as he looks around.

"Eeyup."

"Yeah... well, I'm going to check the area around and see if anypony else needs help."

"Alright, me and Big Mac will stay here and start doing rotations, I'll go first with Luna."

"Eeyup."

"Well, let’s get going then." We head back out to Ponyville and take to the air. Banking to the right and scanning the ground for any ponies or dogs.

"So, I have to ask, why aren't you and Big Mac scared of me?" I ask as we fly over the market area.

"Why would we? You are on our side."

"Yeah... only if every other pony knew that... also, why are you and Big Mac so buff?"

"Spartan training. I'm assuming if Miles was a pony he'd be like how we are." Good to know.

"Where is Miles... I mean, I know he went after their leaders, but shouldn't he be back by now?"

"Uh... maybe. I don't know for sure. We could swing by his place to see if he's there or not."

"Let’s circle Ponyville one more time before we go." He nods and takes off before me. We scan Ponyville over only to find Twilight and Rainbow Dash running through town, so we meet up with them.

"Storm!" Twilight yells as he lands before her.

"Hey Twi', have you two seen any action?"

"Nah, I think the fights over." Rainbow Dash says as she leans on the spear.

"Have either of you seen Miles?" I ask, getting slightly embarrassed.

"The last time I saw him he was chasing some griffin into the Everfree forest, but that was a while ago..."

"Luna!" I turn around to see Celestia land behind us with a squad of royal day guards with her. "The fights over, let’s head home..."

"The fight is not over. Miles has yet to return from chasing down the leaders. We need to go after him..."

"Luna... can we speak in-"

"No. Anything you need to say to me you can say in public. Otherwise don't say it at all." She takes a step back and glances over to everypony behind me. "Good, now Rainbow Dash, show me where you saw Miles chase after them." I say as I turn back to her. She looks around a bit in confusion but complies anyway.

"It was over by the eastern path to the Everfree, I could show you where he entered, but after that I wouldn't know."

"That's alright, just show us where they entered, the rest of you should stay here and check on all of the residents, make sure they're okay." They all nod to me and run off to their tasks. I jump into the air and follow after Rainbow Dash with Celestia and her guards following right beside me.

"You see where the tree line has a little dip, that's where they entered. After that I wouldn't know." Rainbow Dash says as she points out the area ahead.

"Thank you Rainbow Dash. I'm going to go ahead and check the area out, go ahead and go back to Ponyville." She nods to me and flies away, with the guards following after her. "Not keeping your guards?" I ask flatly as I fly towards the area Rainbow spoke of.

"No. What I want to say needs to stay between us."

"Well, what is it then?" I ask as I land by the tree line and start to walk in.

"Well... what exactly do you see in Miles?"

"What?"

"You barely know him. You've only met a few times before.... what do you see in him that would make you fight so hard to be with him?"

"I'm not fighting to be with him Celestia. I came here to protect Ponyville-"

"Luna, I've known you long enough to know your hiding something." I ignore her and find a trail of broken branches. I start to follow it into the forest with Celestia close behind.

"Luna?"

"He's different."

"Well, yes, being human-"

"Not what I meant. He looks at the stars as if he's never going to see them again. He treats me like an equal. Heh, he's pretty goofy at times too-"

"Luna-"

"When I was with him... I didn't feel so lonely. He wanted to be there for me, and I want to be there for him-"

"Even though he's going to die within a year? How could you bare to be with him when his time is so limited?" I stop and look back to her.

"Because... I feel as if I must. He's dying Celestia. I can't even imagine what he must be feeling right now."

"Luna... I still don't like you getting this close to him, but... maybe you should.... I don't know, visit every once and awhile..." She says as she looks away.

"Do you mean it..."

"I don't want you doing anything though. Strictly friends. That's it." I smile at her and run over to her, wrapping her up in a hug. "Friends only Luna, you hear me."

"Don't worry, nothing is going to happen. Thank you."

"Just remember that you're never alone. I'll always be here for you, no matter what." I let go of her and take a few steps back.

"I know, thanks Tia." She smiles back to me but loses it as she starts to walk towards something behind me. I turn around to see the entrance to a cave. A wall of plants used to cover it, but somepony cut the vines down, showing the cave's inside.

"Well, this is where the trail leads... what do you think?"

"Well, Diamond Dogs do operate underground. Makes sense that their headquarters entrance would be a cave.... let's head in."

"Luna wait. We should call for a group of guards to follow us in-"

"Pfft, come on Tia, what could possibly be down there that we couldn't handle?" I say as I walk into the cave entrance. We stop before a large hole in the ground and look down into the pit of darkness. Celestia looks down and sends a ball of light down.

"Wow... it just keeps going... I don't know Luna, maybe we shouldn't-"

"Come on Tia, where’s that adventuring spirit you had when we were little?" I say as I nudge her a bit.

"Luna... that has to be at least a mile deep..." She starts to say, but I jump into the hole and fly down. I turn my body so I'm facing the ground and flare my horn to light the way. I glance to my side and see Celestia doing the same a little behind me. As we fall together we send out occasional flares until we finally see the ground quickly approaching. We twist back and open our wings, slowing us down enough to land safely. "Whoa... I think Miles was here." Celestia says as she looks down at the ground. I look down to see a small crater with two foot prints in it. I bring a light to the top of my horn and light the way for us.

"How far down do you think we are?"

"I don't know... two miles at least-"

"No way, he's way shorter than that." I say jokingly.

"Right... so, how far have you two gone?"

"What!" I yell as I trip and fall flat on my face.

"Oh my-"

"We haven't done anything!" I yell as I get back up. "Well.... we kissed...but that's it!" I say as I continue to walk down the path.

"So... how was it?" She asks, making me trip and fall on my face again. "Wow... either that good or that bad." I get up and walk off, with her giggling behind me as my face begins to numb from my blushing... or from tripping. I mumble my answer to her, making her lean in closer. "Sorry, couldn't hear that." I repeat my answer, mumbling a little louder. "One more time."

"I said he has soft lips!" I say as I run off. When I stop running she teleports next to me and walks along side with me.

"I didn't know you could blush enough to show through your black coat." She says, making me trip and fall on my face... again.

"You're enjoying this too much." I mumble from the ground.

"Only because you're such a pain in the flank, now come on, we have to get moving." She says as she walks past me. I get up and walk after her, trying to think of something to stop me from blushing.

"What’s that?" I ask as we walk up to a wall with an open slash in it. Behind the wall is as open area with what looks like a small building in it.

"Go around and check the back for another entrance, this could be a secret meeting place." Celestia whispers to me as she sneaks to the door. I run to the back and find another open doorway. I bring up my blades as I walk in, only to find the room empty.

"Well... that was anticlimactic." I say as I look around.

"I can't but feel as if this place is familiar... like I've been here before." Celestia says as she levitates her tiara off and feeds some energy into it, making the picture appear. She looks at it, then the room, then back to the picture. "Oh my god... this is it. This is the room. This tunnel doesn't lead to some secret enemy facility.... it leads to Topaz Falls."

"What? No... that's impossible. Why would Miles go home when he was chasing after the griffin?" I say as I look between the picture and the room. It's a match alright, even the table matches... except for it being broken. "Maybe they're using Topaz as their base, or just this tunnel..."

"Or maybe he went home."

"No! He wouldn't just up and leave... there has to be a reason he came here other than him wanting to go home... there has to be."

"Luna... he may have left-"

"Don't say that! I know him, he wouldn't just leave without a reason." I say before I turn around and march out of the door. I walk around looking for the next tunnel, but only find a small hole in the ground. I look down it and send a flare down... it’s just as deep as the other.

"Luna." Celestia says as she walks up beside me. "Maybe we shouldn't-"

"He came down here for a reason, and I'm going to find out why."

"And if he came down to go home? Then what?"

"Then... then I give him a piece of my mind and go home." I say as I widen the hole with my magic and jump down. When I land at the bottom I start to run down the narrow path. I don't know what I'm going to do if he left... but I know he didn't just leave... he couldn't, he said he loved me. I come to a stop when I find a large metallic wall ahead of me.

"Is... is that Topaz Falls?" Celestia asks as she stops beside me.

"Only one way to find out." I say as I approach the door. Suddenly two red lights start to wave back and forth, going from my hooves to the top of my horn.

Unknown Identification, please identify says a strange voice. I think about it for a second before an idea comes to mind.

"Guest of Miles Eremita... uh... identification... what did he say... A02017464?"

Miles Eremita... Identification cleared, welcome, guest of Lieutenant Miles Eremita says the wall as it starts to raise.

KRA-BOOM

As the door lifts it reveals a massive explosion that send Miles and a massive metal... thing flying back.

"MILES!" I yell as we run in after him. Emergency protocol, emergency gate lock down activated says the voice as the door shuts, sealing me and Celestia inside. I run up to Miles and look him over. He has several deep cuts all over him, plus a chunk of metal sticking out of his stomach.

"Can you heal him?" Celestia asks.

"I don't know... I'll try." I say as I pull out the piece of metal and start to heal him. I somehow manage to close all of his wounds, the one on his stomach taking almost an hour, but he's lost a lot of blood. I try to shake him awake, but he's out cold.

"Luna... does he have a heart beat?" I lay my head on his chest and listen for a beat.

......

Come on....

......

Please Miles...

...... Thump.... thump.....thump....

Next Chapter: Chapter 70 Luna's Love Estimated time remaining: 72 Hours