Living Under The Moon Chapter 4(55-72)

>>5194964
"Tell me everything now Anon!" Luna demands. glaring hot daggers into you

"I....um...I met the people who were trying to kill you and your sister?" you say hoping that didn't make things worse.

She stares angrily as Trixie in the background watches the both of you "And then what?"

"Well...I found out the identity of one" you say the memory flashing as you wince slightly. "Ivory....she was a unicorn I think" you say, you could practically feel her hoof pressed into your throat, you cringe at another memory,her lips pressed to yours..

Violated...buh.

"And you let them run off?" Trixie asked tiling her head.

"No he almost got killed and I saved him," Shining interrupted, "I teleported the two cultists away...if you want to blame anyone for their continued freedom you'll blame me." He stood infront of Luna sternly, eyes narrowed.

"Sir Shining Armor...I thank you for your bravery and concern to the life of my bodyguard" she said sincerely.

"I feel that of all the followers of my sister you and your younger sister may be the few I trust"

You blink as you see Shining blush at the mention. You're still genuinely concerned over Luna's way of speaking of  her sister.

"Thank you, your majesty" He bowed to her

"You need not humble yourself to me" she says to him "Now the both of you have training to attend to...I will take my apprentice to continue her training as well." She turned "I will recquire time to think of a proper way to tdeal with my body guards negligence." she says as her and trixie flicker in a shimmer of magic.

"So it's my fault that I almost got killed?!" you cringe in confusion.

"She's sort of like that" Shining defend her statements "She believes in personal responsibility to a high degree"

"That's...rather interesting" You mutter, rubbing your head sitting down. "So how are we gonna train today?" you look to him as he scratches his ear.

"Well, I'd like to think that almost getting killed is good enough an excuse to permit a non training day" he chuckled slightly "Feel free to walk the grounds and the entirety of the castle." he smile toward you "I'm gonna go to inform the rest of the guard to increase security...again" he frowns slightly at that.

"How long has it been since the last time you had to beef up security?" you tilt your head.

"A month" He answered as he tarted walking "I'm thinking of unofficially persuading people to join the Lunar guard, ponies aren't made to pull 24 hour shifts...." he says leaving it to that as he walks off.

Huh.

You get up and grab your armor, equiping the chest piece and shoes, leaving the helmet in your...hey they gave you a saddle bag! Cool!
You begin walking the halls again, checking your back and sides frequently, feeling a twinge of paranoia as your clopping hooves echo in the area. " I think...this is the first time I've been alone with myself since I came here" You mumble to a mirror,

"And be honest" Your reflections talks through you. "You feel better than you ever did in your old life, don't you?"

You tilt your head "A bit yeah....I certainly never had a lot of decent amount of socialisation with others..."

"Specifically with girls" The reflected you says back with a grin.

You chuckle "Got a point there,,,"

"Even got your first ki-"

"Thaat doesn't count!" You interupt....yourself...

"Good point....psycho's suck as love interests"

"We know her name too...."

"One name of someone playing for the enemy"

"Well...they'd have to have a life outside of The Son's, Right?"

"Would make sense..." You scratch at your head a bit as the reflection ponders as well "What would a pony named Ivory have for a day job?"

"Maybe they make jewlery?"  a voice that isn't from your reflection says from behind you making you jump about 3 feet in the air.

--

To save the recap the person who'd interupted your self conversation was Twilight. The overall verdict discussed between The two princesses, Trixie, you standing between her and Twilight as well as Shining armour was for Twilight and her friends to Search local jewelry shops in all the towns and cities in equestria, over a one month span.

You....were given a task by Luna.

"I am going to be here in the castle under watch from the Guard..we will be constructing a campaign to expand the guard" her voice echoed in your memory as you trudged through the swampy marsh of Everfree forest. "However You and Trixie are to go to a specific location I've marked in The furthest parts of Everfree forest, I've a few important artifact I need retrieving...."

And now your here in a rotted...gungy disgusting swamp area of the everfree forest.

"Are we there yet?"  Trixie's voice whines behind you.

"Does the map say we're there?"

You hear paper rustling "...no."

"We are not there yet then!"

Your voice comes out a little louder than you'd wanted.

Your tone was a little more irritated than planned also...It had been clear you'd not been a sleep for some time.

"Well you sound cranky."

"You try being choked out by some creep some time" You snap back.

"Anon, you're being very testy....stop it"

"You're being very....Trixie..."

"That doesn't even mean anything.  She says as you lead the way

"Just check the map." Your voice is kind of harsh as you cross under low hanging branches.

"The marker on the map says we should be...almost there"

Oh thank god!

"Who?"

"Oh I said that out loud didn't I?" you say eyes wide a moment before continuing walking, your muscles to sore to make you stand still for very long.

The mid day sun hung westward, almost unseeable under the wooded canopy of the forest.

"So did she ever say what we were getting?" Trixi asks as a clearing begins to appear on the path.

"Some sort of artifact or something." You say trying to shake the tired from yours eyes

The both of you make it past the clearing finding....Ocean.

Miles of ocean.

"....Whaaat?"

Trixie stands beside you looking through the maps Luna had given her "There's an island" he hoof points off to a small land mass several miles off

Please god don't let that be where the artifact is. Please...

"That's where the artifact is."

FUCK!

Damn you cliches!

You turn to the side looking for something

"Ah yes! a boat! Good. Sweet Neptune! "

"Trixie laughs at your outburts.":... She actually said that by the way,

"Okay...oars!" You say grabbing the wood oa- OH GOD THEY TASTE LIKE ROTTED GRASS!

You're willing to bet they heard your anguished cries all the way in Canterlot.

You're also willing to bet this is your punishment for almost dying.

Fucking moonbutt of hell!

"I swear I have no idea what half of those angry you shout really mean."

"Fucking broken monoluge!"

"Again, Right over Trixie's head" She says as she hops into the boat, the oars floating up to the sides of it.

"Now, puuuuush!" Trixie cheered as you pressedd the canoe boat through the sand into the water wtih your helmet and head. Your wings pulling you up into the air as you fly into the boat.

"There we go" you said taking just a second to remove your helmet and rub your hair a bit. "And now you get to row"  you say with a slight smile, closing your eyes to rest.

Trixie has quietly began humming a tune as you hear the paddles splash against the water with light slapping noises. The noise quietly luls you into that special zone of feeling like your almost asleep. but just barely concious enough to be alert.

"So Anon," Trixie starts talking as you imagine a silly 3 year old drawing version of her talk. "Where did you come from exactly?"

You shake your head slightly "hmmm?"

"Luna said you weren't from equestria originally" she says "I'm curious where your from"

"Bat country" you chuckle "Don't stop there if you ever pass through."

"what?"

"That's fine." She replies, "You're running on....very little sleep last I checked."

"I think six hours...." you say placing your helmet back on top of your head. You chuckle again, "sleep's not exactly been the easiest for me since becoming her bodyguard, and never easy even before that too."

"I hope I don't get sleep issues myself then" she says.

"You'll be fine" you say keeping your smile.

She laughs a bit "Oh The Great and Powerful trixie doesn't doubt th-"Suddenly the paddles hit the surface of something hard, a loud deep 'thwack' noise being emitted.

You open your eyes at the sound.

"What the,,," Trixie turns over as she makes the paddle hit the water again, this time causing a loud, angry, roaring noise to be come from the water.

That can't be good...

A second roar blasts from underneath the canoe as suddenly everything goes black, you feel yourself go flying through the air in a swirl of water and broken wood. You barely even feel the impact as you hit the sandy shore of the island.

A few feet over you here Trixie land. "What the hay was that!?" She yells.

"Ugh..., not a fish I bet" You mumble as you get off the ground feeling for your helmet before realising it's still on your head.

You both turn to face the water as a massive form begin to lurch and walk toward the shore. The water dripping off of it as it gain visibility, it towers a good two feet taller than you and trixie as it walks forward. as more of it comes into sight you notice the first thing.

It has no skin!

The beast continues forward the human features becoming more noticed as the muscled humanoid moves forward, growling in frustration.  And then you see the horse head....An equally skinless horse beneath the human features connected where a rider would normally sit.

"Holy....balls"  you say, eyes wide in fear

"Nuckelavee" You hear Trixie say behind you.

"Oh.....that's...wonderful name to run from" you mumble.

The Nuckelavee pulls from his back a large claymore nearly the entire length of his body, his breath exhaled in a dark green mist.


"Get"


"OFF"

"MYYY"


"LAWWWWWWWWN!"

That was far too scary to laugh at.

The creatures smoky mist breath reaches the wooden scraps of the canoe rotthing it away as he stomps on it. Making his way toward you.

"Trixie?" You move back looking to the side to see how  Trixie is holdin-

She's running away...

...Good idea!

You scream out as you chase after  Trixie "Wait for me! Wait for me!"  you stumble a bit before fully dashing away narrowly missing a swing of the massive sword as the beast begins to chase you.

You hate. Your fucking liver. So fucking much.

You eventually catch up, running side by side with Trixie "What the fuck is that thing!?" You scream as you both trot through the jungle area now, the beast closing in.

"Nuckelavee" She answers back "Perpetually angry horse beast thing!

"How do we get away from it?!"

"We don't it's gona kill us!"

Wanna know what you're grateful for at this very moment?

You're Wings.

They are literally carrying you faster than you would have expected through the jungle like terrain of the island.

It would almost be something completely enjoyabe..

If you weren't being chased by an angry skinless death machine.

The Nuckelavee's trotting hooves pound and echo as it's breath reeks out in a visible green mist, melting and rotting the foliage in it's path.

Below you you can hear Trixie pant as her hooves and legs carry her along, fueled souly by the fear of being killed by the monster behind you.

You're pretty shure that's whats keeping you both going. The fear. That and adrenaline.

The both of you move through the jungle as you both hear this sword swiping behind you, the nasty sword snapping multiple trees with one swing before disolving away to goo from the power of the beast breath.

Jesus Christ how horrifying.

"Any plans? Bat boy." Trixie shouts as you both dash through the jungle.

"Terrified beyond capacity for rational thought!" you yelp as you suddenly, with out thinking sweep her up with your forehooves.

If she weighs anything your too scared to notice as you fly up high into the air above the canopy of treetops "Where the fuck is the artifact thing!" you swear in a mix of fear and irritated exhaustion as your tiredness starts catching up at the worst possible time.

Trixie hastily pulls up her map, looking at it  for a second or so "That temple!" she says pointing as the map gets ripped from her telecinetic grip."oops.."

"Doesn't matter we;re going there anyway!" You say making a beeline for the decaying ruib of an old temple dedicated to god knows what,

A few seconds pass as you both shakily fly down to the ground, placing Trixie on the stone path as the large stone temple tooweres in front of the both of you...Yu can make out moss covered moons as you land stumbling slightly as the full extent of your exhaustion starts to hit you "Oh...fuck" you shake your head a bit, 3 days...no sleep...not good. You look up to see Trixie jumping slightly as she appears out of focus.

"It's the...moon temple.." she stares in awe.

"That's...amazing how original that sounds" You say as the sky apppears red above the both of you...pretty sure that's the fatigue setting in,

"Seriously this was made by the followers of nightmare moon"

"Oh...well that explains...that explains the beingoff the coast of the everfree forest with a monsterous horse beast fucker guarding it..." you mumble.

"They're supposedly all wiped out sometime after she got banished so we should only have the traps to worry about."

"Traps...oh, Trixie I don't know if I can do this" You manage to mumble.

"What do you mean you can't?"

"I...I've been awake for three days...with littl voluntary...voluntary sleep." YOu say "I think I'm going to die." You babble on as you  slowly walk towards the door, body almost forcing you to do it. "I'm seeing things..." you mumble staring at the spinning green dots in front of your eyes.. "I...I...oh...this sucks..." You feel your head go light as yousee everything blur diagnally.

((Author note! The missed scene detailing Trixie navigating the temple and taking on the Nuckelavee can be see here http://pastebin.com/uizidSsW Written by TechnicolourShortie/Skittles.))

"Anon!"...that's all you hear before the loud clink of the metal of your helmet hitting the stones of the path.

You're faintly aware of something pulling you along as you sleep.

A loud roar in the distance....an echoing shriek.

Something tells you Luna's gonna be pissed if you die....She'll probably punish you if you die....maybe find a way to punish you in your afterlife...wait...oh god that's gonna suck..

"Anon?"

What if she makes you the mind slave captain of her zombie army.

"Anon?"

What if she makes you haunt her as a ghost assistant? or makes you a liche or something?

"ANON?!"

You suddenly lurch upward off a bed in....your...bed,,,okay...

"Oh thank Luna you're not dead" You turn Seeing Trixie standing next to you.by your bedside

"W-..what happened? We were ther in the jungle!...I...passed out...please don;t tell me I slept through every awesome moment."

"Okay you didn't sleep through me trapping the Nuckelavee in the Temple dedicated to nightmare moon."

You stare at her "Thanks..." Your voice reaks of sarcasm "Did we get the artifact though?"

"That and then some"  She said sliding a bag up. her head dissapearing inside it as she pulled out something unexpected.

"We almost died over armour?" You ask almost flabbergasted by the dark blue silver armor.

"No no no. Not just any armor." She grinned the smile you knew from 'Boast busters'   "This armor. is the NightMare Armour"

You blink "Oh!....holyt crap but...I...how?"

"Apparently Celestia found it and had it locked away."

"So...We're doing stuff that...oooh we are darkside aren't we?" you say looking at the armor.

"Luna has informed me that we're taking it to be reforged and reshaped" She tells you as you stare at the armor.

"I'm a bit weary  about all this implied going behind Celestia's back though" you say worried this could all come to bite you in the ass later.

"Well, it's not a monarchy."

It's barely that, you think, if the season 2 finale was anything to go by. "I'm just worry Tia will get angry"  you tell her asyou slowly start to get out of bed "HOw long was I out?"

"well this will have been your second day of sleep"

"Wha. I...what?!"

"You must have been really really tired."

"Well...Yeah...." You actually feel pretty damn good... "Well...what do we do today?"

"Rest!" She grins.

"what does that word mean?!" you joke at the word whilst wiggling your hooves above your head. eliciting manic giggles frome Trixie.

"Well we do have one Errand" Trixie told you.

"And what's that?" You say walking out of the room with her following.

"The Grand Galloping Galla is soon." She started "And we need to go get fitted for formal wear."

"So we go to the royal tailor?" you ask as you both get to the kitchen. You going to the small refridgerator to find something to drink.

"I thought that too." She started "But since the royal wedding it seems they gave the job of tailor to a ponyville socialite"

You pause, slowly feeling marinara leak from your ears. "Where will we be going then."

"Carousel Boutique" She answers.

NOODLES EVERYWHERE!!!

"Carousel Boutique?!" You freak a little "Like...owned by Rarity Carousel Boutique?"

"Last I checked she was the owner," She said, more than likely not understanding your sudden nervousness.

You hesitate. "I don't know if I can do that Trixie."

She tilts her head, "why?"

"Because reasons." You state with out elaborating, the reasons being spaghetti and ragu covered. .