Children of the Guardian

Chap 16

"Let's go everypony this has to be perfect!" The castle was filled with the clopping of hooves and the whispers of ponies as everyone prepared frantically for the coming day. The sun hadn't even risen yet and everypony was already busy hanging streamers and decorating the castle.

For as everyone knew, this day was very special. No one knew that better than David of course, since he had nearly forgotten it due to the events of the past week. It was Sunlight's 15th birthday. As servants and royal guards alike ran in every direction David himself walked along inspecting with Midnight by his side.

"This day has to be perfect son… A little to the left Dusty!" He commanded as quietly as he could to a light brown pegasus with a feather duster cutie mark.

"I know father, but is this chaotic preparation really necessary?" Midnight asked as David placed a banner to a pillar with his magic.

"Yes it is. I told you already that I nearly forgot and that we have to do this fast to surprise your sister. It IS her 15th birthday after all."

Midnight knew that his father was right. After when his 15th birthday had come around, David had pulled out all the stops to make sure it turned out amazing. The ponies continued their fast moving and quiet work as streamers and balloons of white and yellow began appearing all over the ceiling and pillar's of the castle.

"Father what did you get Sunlight for her birthday?" Midnight asked as he assisted a group of unicorns in setting up a large table and covering it with a purple linen tablecloth. David only smiled at his son's question.

"I got your sister something very special." He said as he turned and walked back toward he and Twilight's room. As he approached his mind drifted to the present he had gotten his daughter. It was a beautiful white and gold dress created by Rarity herself. Rarity had spared no expense in making the dress and had picked only the finest materials for it. Linen from Canterlot, gems from Dragonia, thread and lace from Manehatten. The dress was something right out of a princess's dream is how Rarity described it and she hadn't been kidding.

The images of Rarity and spike displaying the dress for him faded as he opened the door and found Twilight standing on her balcony looking out at the horizon.

"You're up already? The sun doesn't rise for another 3 hours Twilight." He said standing next to her. He then saw that tears were flowing down her smiling muzzle and gently landing on the white marble balcony.

"Twilight… is something wrong?" She quickly wiped her eyes with her wings and turned to face David with a smile. "Nothing's wrong. In fact I couldn't be happier. Our children are growing up in a peaceful world. What more could a mother want?" She asked turning back to the horizon.

"Oh come on now… you mean you don't want some more books? Or some new chemistry instruments to work with, or new scrolls to study?" David said jokingly as Twilight smiled and then began to laugh.

"Ok. Maybe a mother could want more "personal" items." She said nuzzling David.

"We will always want more Twi, but I think the true sign of a good leader/mother is to realize what you have is enough." David said kissing her lips. Twilight kissed back in return and their lips soon fell into the same cycle they had always done when they were alone.

First the lips touched and interlocked, then the tongues would probe their respective mouths as the kiss became deeper. The one surefire thing the truly showed their love when doing this was their tails which wrapped around each other as they lay out on Twilight's bed. They sat their together hooves crossed continuing their make out session until Twilight's wings shot up. "Oh…" She muttered blushing. "Sorry about that David. I just get really excited when we kiss and well…" David placed a hoof over her lips. He didn't care if she was embarrassed. It only showed how much they loved each other.

The kissing stopped soon after however when Twilight rose and with a bright glow of her horn, caused the sun to rise and bringing morning to Equestria.

"Now we need to go and wake Sunlight up." She said turning toward the door. Both of them exited and proceeded to walk to their daughter's room, Twilight admiring all the work that had been done to the castle.

"Is your student Stardust attending the party today Twilight?" David asked as they neared Sunlight's door.

"No I told her to take the day off. She's been working and practicing too hard. That and I want the day free so I can spend time with my daughter." She said as they opened the door. The inside of Sunlight's room was dark and the morning sun was only just rising so not much light filtered inside. However it was easy to see Sunlight fast asleep in her sun colored bed, her old doll Smarty Pants II held tight against her body.

"I'll wake her up. You go and get everyone ready." Twilight whispered as she turned and began whispering in Sunlight's ear. David took off finding everyone in the great hall and ordering them to hide. Quick as a flash everyone was hiding and David got a chuckle seeing Angelos and Technia fighting over a hiding spot behind Sunlight's pile of presents. With a slight nod of his head David's horn glowed and all the lights went out shrouding the great hall in darkness.

The entire hall was quiet as Twilight and Sunlight entered, Sunlight bouncing up and down gleefully. "Wait mom… where is everyone, and why is it so dark?" She asked before jumping up when the lights came on and she was met with a large shout of "SURPRISE!" as ponies began pouring out from behind their hiding places and streamers and confetti rained from the ceiling. "Phew… nothing went wrong." David whispered right as Angelos and Technia came tumbling through the pile of presents causing it to collapse on top of them. "Well… almost." He said putting his hoof to his face and smiling.

Sunlight was swarmed by ponies all wishing her happy birthday and offering presents. As the party went on however David began to feel uneasy and decided to excuse himself from the celebration and went out to stand on the balcony alone until a familiar voice caught his attention.

"Thy daughter is celebrating her 15th year of birth. Is it not customary for one's father to be at said festivity?" The royal voice asked.

David turned to see the mare of the night Luna standing behind him.

"Luna!" he said happily as they both wrapped their hooves around each other. "It's good to see you! You've grown!" David said breaking the hug.

He wasn't kidding either. Luna had at least doubled in size since he had last seen her. She was beginning to look more like Celestia, tall, royal, and commanding. "Thou have not seen me in 17 years Guardian. It is only natural that one's size would increase in that time span." She said smiling.

"Is the medieval style of talking really necessary Luna?" David said rubbing her head.

"Of course not, but it makes me seem more mature than you." She responded jokingly. The two friends shared a laugh but David then turned and looked back out at the morning sun.

"Is something bothering you David? You seem… distressed." She asked coming up alongside him.

"Luna… I haven't… told anyone this yet… but… Nightmare tried to… seduce me in my dreams a few days ago." He said carefully shaping the words and then turning to see the calm face of Luna.

"That is not surprising David. She's trying to weaken you so you'll help her escape. She did the same to me for a very long time. She pokes and prods at our weaknesses, our desires, and our past, anything to get what she wants. That's how she got me…" Luna said sighing.

"What do you mean?" David asked wanting to know more but she held up a hoof. "Not now. Go to your daughter's party then return. I will answer all questions then." She said firmly. David nodded and returned to Sunlight's party just in time to see her open the gift from him.

"Oh daddy I love it!!" She screamed as she slammed into him with an aerial tackle. "It's so pretty. It's like it was made just for me!" "That's because it was silly." He said hugging her.

"Can I wear now? Please, please, please??" She asked her lavender eyes begging. "Of course you can." He said smiling, and with those four words she was off like a lightning bolt only to return a few minutes later in her new dress.

David then spent the time talking with old friends. He and Bio had some time to reminisce about how they were getting older but still had some fight in them. Technia showed David a new staff she had created to help her build new machines. It looked like a strange axe with a round saw blade on one end, a think rectangular block opposite the blade for hammering, and a screwdriver head on the bottom. "It's also good for killing ponies." She said with a very scary smile on her face. "Self-defense of course." She added as David backed away.

The only old friend that David didn't see was Primary Colors. Celestia and Celestial Brush were both there but Primary was nowhere to be found. "I suspected he wouldn't come." David said as he looked on over the party. He and Primary had recently gotten into an argument that nearly cost them their friendship. It was over now, but they weren't as close as usual. "I thought the war had changed him, but I guess it was our arguing that really did it." He said sadly.

He shook the face of Primary from his mind and went back to his daughter's party. All too soon however it was over and everypony was heading home. David spent the remainder of the morning and the afternoon with his children but returned to the balcony again to find Luna waiting on him. "Have you been here all this time Luna?" "No. I left when Bio did, but I came back because I knew you still had questions." She said as she looked up at the late afternoon sun. "Now… I can explain how Nightmare came to be." Next Chapter: Chapter 17 Estimated time remaining: 20 Minutes