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Luna sighed, leaning gloomily on her hands as she stared out over the balcony at the palace below. A week. It had been a week since the wedding. She had been led to her chambers by Dhalia Rose — a sandy colored, withdrawn mare — and that was the last she had seen of her husband.

…Not that she minded. Having a spacious, peaceful room all to herself was far more than she could have ever hoped for from this terrible mess or a marriage. She had heard terrible rumors regarding King Sombra: violent, bloodthirsty, unpredictable… The list went on and on.

And yet here she was, living in the same palace as and married to the supposed tyrannical King Sombra, and she was more free than ever. It was almost too surreal to be true.

No one breathing down my neck and watching my every move, no one taking a swing at me, no one shouting insults at me whenever I show my face outside my room… Luna tilted her head, blinking as she suddenly realized no one had insulted her since her arrival in Sahran. What an odd city this is. Insulting freaks like Luna was practically a hobby in Solaris. It didn't matter if they were a noble or commoner. A bat pony — especially a half bat pony — was a prime target for any creative insults that one could come up with.

Luna sighed again. Well, while she couldn't deny how peaceful this new life was, it was most certainly boring. She didn't dare show her face in the halls for fear of the mockery she knew would follow, but nothing could fill her time. She had tried doodling with the brush and ink that lay at her command on the desk provided her, but quickly grew frustrated with the endless meaningless lines and quit. She couldn't read the foreign alphabet, and she had only just finished learning Solaris' alphabet anyway, so asking for books to read was out of the question.

With the days ahead of her empty, Luna's mind often drifted to her sister. I wonder if she ever worked up the courage to speak with that guard, she wondered, smiling sadly. Celestia had confided with her sister right before Luna left that she seen the 'most handsome stallion in world'. The two had stayed up through the night, giggling and and musing about wedding plans for Celestia's fantasy wedding to the handsome soldier. 'We shall have twelve children and I shall name them all Luna, after their beautiful aunt!' Celestia had declared. Luna had shoved her off the bed with an embarrassed squeal, then promptly fallen off as well.

If only I'd learned how to read before I left, she thought mournfully. I'd be able to send her a letter.

Being an illegitimate child in Solaris typically had no effect on one's position in the family, but being a royal half-breed illegitimate child certainly did. From her childhood, Luna had been forbidden from learning to read and write. She had only learned the alphabet by now because Celestia had finally had enough and started teaching her sister in secret. I wonder if I could—

A sudden noise from the far corner of the balcony halted her train of thought. Was that… hoofbeats? She stood up from the couch she had been slouched on and was about to yank the curtain aside when a tiny shape scuttled from the curtain to one of the pillars further down the balcony. Luna started in surprise, leaning around the pillar she was behind to see what curious little visitor had come to see her.

A scruffy mane and tail, ears perked inquisitively, little hooves tap tapping…

Luna bit her lip to hold back the amused giggle that swelled in her throat. At the sight of such a scruffy looking colt, she could barely keep the laughter inside. She watched as he peered around the pillar into her chambers, glancing this way and that before tap tapping out of the sunlight and into the room, big eyes roving for any signs of danger. Unable to help herself, Luna followed behind him, coughing softly to get his attention. "Ahem."

"YAAIDIDN'TDOIT!!" The little colt whipped around, arms flung over his head and legs tripping over each other. He ended in a tumble and landed flat on his bottom, wincing visibly. "Pwease don't eat me!"

Luna managed to hide her smile and instead frowned in concern. "I won't eat you," she reassured him, crouching down and holding her hands up in a pacifying gesture. "Are you okay, little soldier? I didn't mean to frighten you."

The little colt sat up straight and puffed his chest. "I am a soldier," he declared brazenly. "N' I'll stab you wiff my stabby sword if you come any cwoser, dwagon pony!" He pointed a little stick that had been hidden under his shirt at the mare, brandishing it with as much gusto as any corsair.

"Easy there, sir. I won't come any closer." She sat down and crossed her legs, hoping to look less intimidating. "I'm not a dragon pony. I'm a bat pony." She spread her wings a little so he could see them and pointed at her face. "See? No scales. Just boring old skin."

The patched little foal blinked, momentarily confused. "But I thought you was a dwagon pony." He squinted suspiciously. "I fink you is twying to twick me." He crossed his arms defiantly. "I is too smart. You is a dwagon pony."

Luna squinted right back at him, pouting. "That's not very smart of you. Don't dragons have scales?" No response. "Don't they have claws? Don't they breath fire?" She opened her mouth and let out a big exhale. "See? No fire." She waved a hand in front of her face and grimaced. "Just bad breath."

The colt smothered a giggle in his hand. "Heehee! Yeah. An' they vewy scawey, too. Not silly." He tut-tutted her with a finger. "You is not a vewy good dwagon pony."

"Maybe that's because I'm not a dragon pony." Luna stood up and walked out into the sun. "How did you get up here, little mister soldier? You don't have wings, but this is four levels off the ground!"

Completely and totally not distracted, the colt sprang to his hooves and bounded past her, pointing proudly to the railing. "I cwimbed up the building thing." They both leaned against the railing and peered over.

"That?" Luna pointed to the face of the building, interspaced with balconies, window sills, and architectural moldings and crownings. "You climbed up just that?"

"Yep!" The child grinned from ear to ear, happy that his victim could be amazed by his incredible soldier talent. "Soldiers can cwimb up vewy difficult stuffs." He gestured to a balcony below hers. "I started from that fingy."

Luna nodded in appreciation. "I'll say." Even if it was only a one story climb, for such a small colt that took some skill. The only pony she knew who could climb like that was… well, herself. "We should have a climbing competition some time," she joked, leading the way back into her room.

"Yeah." Distracted again, the colt bounded over to the small pool on the far side of the room. "I come up here lotsa times n' there is never a dwagon pony here. I wike to swim here. No bossy ponies."

"Well, I'm sorry I occupied your play space," Luna apologized with a giggle. "And certainly no bossy ponies here. Just bored ponies." She plopped down on the edge of the pool and dipped her hooves in.

The colt regarded her with a stern frown. "Boring is no good. We pway a game!" He clapped excitedly. "You wanna play a game?"

A smile spread across her muzzle. "I'd love to play a game!"
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This picture was really fun to do! Decided to stop freaking out about a background and just flippin draw the stupid thing in piece by piece. I'm actually really happy with how it turned out, so ya'll can expect some more of this in the future XD

Upvotes at import: 60 | Stars at import: 39
Posted previously at: 2020-05-06T22:49:05