Sgt. Clare, posted outside royal bedroom:

I groaned to myself as my head started to hurt. I had stayed up all night outside Luna’s bedroom door and I had this feeling that it was going to be an unbearably long day.

I lifted my arm up and looked at my watch, 3:30am. “Great… I still have like four hours until guard duty” I groaned to myself. The door to the royal bedroom opened and Luna stepped out. I stood in attention and she rested a hoof on my shoulder. “Please Carl, relax” she said in a soothing tone and I let out a deep exhale and yawned.

“Mr. Carl, would you be so kind as to escort me outside so I may lower the moon” she asked, though it sounded less like an order and more like a simple offer. “Yes ma’am… uhm I mean, I would be honoured to escort you Luna” I said, remembering that she wanted me to call her Luna until I was on duty.

She wrapped her foreleg around my arm as we walked down the hallways, god I hope none of the nightshift guards see me.

I opened the balcony doors for her and let her step out onto the balcony. It was truly fascinating to watch her as she performed her royal duty to lower the moon. I wondered if anyone else other than her sister could do something like that.

The moon was lowered below the horizon and the sky became a light haze of darkness as the morning began. She trotted back to my side and looked to my tired face. “Carl, would you like to get some sleep before your shift starts?” she asked and I shook my head. “I can manage” I replied as I led her back to the royal bedroom.

I opened the bedroom door for her and she took her foreleg away from my arm as trotted into the room. She stopped in front of me and turned around, “Carl?” she asked and I gave her a confused look. “Uhm, are you asking if I’m Carl or…” I trailed off from my utter confusion as she stepped ever closer to me, she had a weird look in her eyes.

As she leaned forward I thought it was weird, before this moment I had never noticed that her eyes were a beautiful cyan blue. My thoughts stopped suddenly as she closed her eyes and kissed me briefly on the lips. He lips were wet and it felt kind of good, well I mean get past the fact that it was a talking horse kissing me and it was a rather relaxing moment.

My mind went blank then I quickly came back to reality as she whispered into my ear “Good morning Clare” then turned around and trotted back to her bed. I just stood there, I must’ve been blushing because she giggled as she looked to me from her bed. “I uhm… good morning Luna” I said as I turned around slowly and walked out of the room, closing the door gently behind me as I left.

‘There was no way that just happened’ I thought to myself as I leaned up against the wall.

Princess Luna, Royal bedroom:

Had I been too sudden with him? Sure he blushed but then he just left, he didn’t even ask what it was for, he just left.

I sighed to myself and grabbed a Hearts and Hooves day magazine from my night stand and began to browse through it. Even though it was a joyous occasion for so many, it would be a sad lonely day for me. My elite guards usually took the day off to be with their very special some-pony and Celestia was usually busy at a meeting or something. It would be another day that I spent forever alone, but I suppose that’s what happens when you are immortal.

The only alicorn I know that has truly fallen in love is my dear niece Cadence, her husband Shining Armor is a true gentlecolt. If I remember correctly I think she’s due to have a foal soon, but I might be mistaken.

My thoughts drifted off to Clare, he was so kind and generous yet so bashful and hard headed. Even if he would take me, we could never truly love each other. He was mortal and on top of that he was a different species. A tear trickled down my face as I imagined what could be if we were in love.

Sgt. Clare, outside royal bedroom:

Captain Daniels looked at me as his life faded from his eyes, his last words echoed through my head “Goddamn you Clare…”

I felt myself being nudged lightly and I was awoken from my sleep. I had sat down and slouched over then passed out. ‘Yeah… it must’ve all just been a dream’ I assured myself as I remembered the strange kiss this morning.

I looked up to Hart, who was standing beside me and nudging me awake. He held out his hoof and I grabbed it with my hand. He pulled me up, I groaned in tiredness as I looked to my watch and realized it was 7:28am.

“Up late last night?” he asked and I nodded as I stretched out, hopping that my sleepiness would pass. My head began to throb and I groaned as I rubbed the sides of my head. “Drink too much last night?” he asked and I shook my head, “Nah, I was on night duty” I groaned and he chuckled.

“Drinking too much wine with the princess eh” he laughed and gave me a friendly punch to the arm. “Mhmm yeah… I mean no, I uhm… I feel a migraine coming on” I groaned, not paying attention to what I was saying. “Yeah, Corporal Pastel said he seen you last night with the princess. Arm in arm” Hart chuckled and I rolled my eyes. “Nothing’s going on between us, she just needed an escort” I told him and rubbed my eyes as I yawned.

“Yeah, cause the princess really needs an escort. Come on man, I won’t tell. What happened last night?” he asked and I sighed. “Fine something did happen” I replied and he got a sly look on his face, he obviously thought something dirty happened between me and Luna last night. “So last night” I began and he nodded, “Me and Luna went outside” I continued as he stayed in perfect attention and nodded his head, “On the balcony and” I continued but he cut me off.

“No way, on the balcony” he exclaimed, but kept it quiet enough so that Luna couldn’t hear him. “Yeah, we went out on the balcony and she lowered the moon at about 3:30 this morning” I replied casually, he nearly fell over from the stupid bluntness of my story. “Arrg for the love of Celestia… not that. What happened between you and Luna, you know like in the bedroom” he scoffed and I chuckled.

“I never went into her bedroom and nothing happened between us” I chuckled and he sighed in irritation, he had one perverted mind I’ll say that much. “Well I’ll tell you, if she asked me to stay on night shift and was holding my arm we’d be getting it on by the end of the night. A little something like this you know?” he told me and made the motion like of rutting
her like a wild bull.

“Yeah well you can feel free to lose your job by trying buck the princess but I want to keep my job” I replied and leaned up against the wall as our guard duty started. “Yeah whatever, you know there’s a reason she has us on guard duty all the time right?” he told me and I raised an eyebrow. “Because we’re good at what we do” I replied and he shook his head. “Nah man it’s cause she wants us man, I can see it in her eyes. I’ll let you take first go” he told me jokingly, well I hope it was jokingly.

I chuckled humoressly and tried to think about something to make the time fly by but it was as if the day just wanted to drag on forever.

Midday,

Sgt. Clare, mess hall:

The mess hall was somewhat filled with the elite shadow guards, the replacements for the deceased guards had arrived and were trying to make friends with the older veterans.

I grabbed a tray of food and walked outside in the royal garden and stood alone by a wooden fence. I set my cup of soda, or whatever it passed off as, on a wooden fence post and picked through my food. I had slowly become accustomed to the vegetarian diet of ponies despite my appetite for meat.

I watched as woodland creatures scurried about and chuckled to myself as I ate some potatoes. A young shadow guard walked up beside me, ‘Jeeze, they were really scrapping the bottom of the barrel for replacements. That’s probably why they recruited me’ I thought to myself as I paid him little mind.

He trotted up beside me, levitating his tray of food and holding his cup of soda in his right hoof, well it really wasn’t soda because it was rather flat but it would have to do. “Howdy, I’m Cloud… Private Cloud Dasher sir” he informed me in a stutteringly happy voice. I looked to him with a raised eyebrow.

“Aren’t you a little young to be a soldier?” I asked and he shook his head. “No sir, I’m twenty one, sir” he replied. I groaned “Knock of that sir crap, I’m just a sergeant” I told him and he nodded. “Yes… uhm what would you like me to call you?” he asked and I rolled my eyes. ‘God doesn’t this kid have something better to do?’ I thought to myself.

“Just call me Sarge, everyone else does” I told him and he nodded and went to lean up against the fence beside me but accidently knocked my soda off the fence post. It landed on the ground and the contents of the cup spilled into the dirt, I looked down to the spilt cup then back up to him with a plain face.

“Shit sorry… here you can have mine” he said quickly and brought his soda cup forwards but in his hurry he ended up tipping the cup and it splashed all over my tray and my duster coat. Pees floated around in my tray and I looked to him with an irritated look. “What did you say your name was again Private?” I asked and he was breathing erratically.

“Dasher… Pri… Private Dasher sir” he stuttered fearfully, I stood up and wiped the mess off my coat and handed him my ruined tray off food. “Hold this, Dasher” I ordered and he held the tray in his hoof as I grabbed his tray of food and pulled out my salt shaker from my coat pocket and sprinkled salt over top of the food.

He looked in confusion as I dressed the food. I handed him back the tray and took mine, dumping the contents onto the ground and picking up my soda cup as I walked away. He just stood there in total shock of what just happened. ‘That should keep him confused long enough that I can get away’.