The dark gray stallion pinned his ears back on his head; now Cielo knew something was up, but he couldn't place his hoof on what just yet. “Ma’am, are you feeling alright?” He asked slowly walking by Princess Luna, eyeing her a little. She closed the door behind them and simply smiled still attempting to maintain her facade, though it was a poor one at best.
“Why do you ask?” The princess nervously retorted.
“Last I checked I was but a servant, according to you; not once since I started at your side, have you referred to me as anything remotely close to your guard.” He shook his head a little, “Not that I’m complaining m’lady, it’s just odd to see you do a… well a complete 180.”
“You’re right, and for that I’m sorry.” Luna led Cielo to a large, grand, and plush cushion upon the floor of her chambers; an item that by the surroundings appeared to be her bed, before she requested, “Lay down please.”
He looked back at her for a moment blushing lightly, before looking back in front of him. Though odd, he was not about to say no to a request of the princess. Walking forward, he made himself comfy and lay down on his stomach before speaking up, “S-Shouldn't I… maybe be cleaning something?” The fact she never actually slept on this bed put his mind more at ease, but still the fact she would even offer him a place to rest made no sense to him at all.
“Cielo, I have been more than unfair to you.” Luna stated ignoring the stallion’s question. Her horn started to glow a little, her magic levitating a tea kettle over the fire and setting it in place just over the flames on a small metal rod. “And I want to try to make up for it.” This time Cielo did not speak back, he only listened. It may have been out of character, in his eyes, to hear this from her; but her voice sounded truly sincere. “You were right, I treated you like dirt, and you know that I can’t recall you complaining once.”
“I only did as you asked.”
“You went above that. You know, I did not even know of your work in weather control until you left. I’ll admit when I first heard of it I thought it to be foolish. ANY pegasus could do it, I told myself… but then, when you came back and I saw with my own eyes the damage you willingly allow to be inflicted onto you. All in order to protect other pegasus and earth ponies alike, well, it’s noble.” She replied as the tea kettle started to whistle softly signaling the water inside starting to boil.
Cielo’s blush returned to his face once more, he liked hearing she cared now about what he did and was a little flattered that she seemed to be taking an interest in his health; but, he never liked being pitied and that’s what the situation felt like to him.
Letting out a soft sigh, Luna levitated the kettle off the fire before the whistling became too loud; not that she worried about waking anypony, but simply because she disliked the high pitched whistle. “Seeing your wings so, tattered, I knew I had made a mistake in judging you.”
“Ma’am, if I may interject? Why, why did you dislike me so?”
“I did not dislike you, not in the least,” Luna replied softly. She opened up a small cabinet and took out a tea cup and saucer. Briefly looking through her selection of teas she finally selected one. “I disliked the idea of you… I… I took out my frustration for my sister on you.” Cielo’s ears perked up upon hearing this, for the first time Luna appeared to be opening up to him. “It’s like she does not trust me, so she sent you; you, her loyal guard, to keep an eye on me.”
His ears lowered once more, it was in this moment he had come to regret his duties. He wanted to be honest with her, but he knew he couldn't tell her that she was right, not yet. He did, however, decide on a half-truth. “Princess, I serve you now, not your sister. Yes, I did serve her for many years and to be honest I can see why you would not trust me. In fact, you have no reason to trust me at all…but the truth is I AM here to protect and serve you. That is in no single part any fabrication, and, personally, I don’t see why she would have any reason to spy on you at all.”
Luna finished making a cup of tea and placed the tea box back in the cabinet; while Cielo talked, she levitated out a little vial without him seeing. This was given to her to help her sleep at night, and though it was all natural, it was indeed potent. She did not want to have to do this, but it would be the only way she could get some time away from him. In order for her to try and find out what he was hiding, she would have to be alone. Pulling out the cork, she carefully put two drops of the potion in his drink. Putting the little vial back, she turned and walked back over to the floor bed, and she gently lowered the plate and cup down in front of Cielo. “It will help you relax a little Cielo,” she said warmly trying to convey a tone of nurturing concern. Her smile was still soft and kind; to his surprise, she walked onto the floor bed and lay down next to him.
“Thank you Princess.” He turned his head a little and smiled warmly at her before picking the cup up with his hooves and taking a sip.
“My sister, of course, must have her reasons, but some thoughts will remain my own. I’m sure you can understand.”
“Yes Princess, I do.”
“It’s like she is intent on keeping me trapped here… and, something is telling me she is maybe trying to replace me. I feel so… so,” Luna’s voice was starting to crack a little as her sorrow began to show. She had kept all of this in for so long and to finally let some of it out was almost overwhelming her self control. Even though it hurt to talk about this she had to admit it felt good as well.
“You feel trapped, Princess Luna, perhaps even oppressed? Even I can see it, and I have seen it from Celestia’s side as well. Not her point of view, but her actions, I have seen how they affect you and how they have hindered you.”
Luna turned her gaze to him in astonishment. “you, you are on my side?” She expected a little understanding, perhaps for him to even tell her everything would be ok. To agree with her entirely, was more than she thought she would get, or for that matter deserved considering her past treatment of the guard.
“Yes I am I don’t think you’re given enough of a chance to do things yourself. I think you’re safeguarded like a little foal, instead of being allowed to blossom into the mare you are. I do agree with you, but I don’t think Celestia means to be doing all of that to you. She loves you; I know this to be true. She just, her love has turned into over protection from where I am standing.” Cielo shook his head and took another sip of tea. What he had just let slip could be considered insubordination; a career destroyer for someone of his current rank. “Forgive me, I should not be speaking so openly.”
“No, No, please do speak your mind Cielo,” Luna exclaimed quickly, turning to him and giving him a little startle. Her cheeks turned a dark blue, blushing at her impromptu action. “I-I mean,” she looked away and composed herself a little. “It’s nice to have somepony to talk to for once, and to hear for a change that I am right in challenging my sister.”
“I…” Cielo looked back at his tea and took another sip. “Thank you for trusting me, I know it must not have been easy to share any of that but Princess,” he set the cup back down and looked over at her. “I really am here for you, anything you need. Anything at all, even if it’s just to clean, I’ll always be here for you. If you ever feel like you need an ear, I have two, and they are always willing to listen.”
A tear fell from her teal colored eye as she looked back at him, “Thank you,” was all she could muster before she had to stop speaking. She refused to let herself breakdown in front of her guard. Cielo placed his hoof on hers for a moment and gave it a little pat to let her know it was okay, though brief the contact was still welcome.
Cielo took the cup one last time and finished off the tea; once the cup hit the plate he instantly felt odd. His head nodded a little in response to his body suddenly being overcome with a dizzy spell. Putting his hoof to his forehead, he attempted to shake it off.
“Are you okay?” Luna asked, in full knowledge of what was actually transpiring.
“Ya, just a little dizzy is all.”
“Here,” Luna levitated a pillow onto his hooves for him to rest his head on; “Rest your head a little, you have been through a lot in the past few days.”
“I-I can’t rest here, I… I just need a moment.”
“Shhh it’s alright my guard,” the princess of the night mused while placing her hoof on the back of his head; she easily lowered it to the pillow. “I’m giving you my permission,” Luna said using her wing to brush a tear of guilt from her cheek. “If you rest your head, you might feel better.”
“I need T-….” Cielo could not even complete his sentence before he fell asleep; Luna caressed his mane for a moment, making sure he felt a sense of comfort.
“This is for your own good Cielo… I trusted you, now it’s time you trust me.” Leaning down she gave his cheek a little kiss as he slept. Although she meant well, she felt guilty about drugging him, but it was the only way she was going to be able to go anywhere without him following. “Please forgive me,” getting up she fetched a few blankets. She wanted to be sure he would be kept warm while she was gone.
Once he was covered, up she could not help but smile. The grey stallion did look kind of cute when sleeping peacefully. Turning to the door, she walked over and opened it giving one last look back at him before walking out.
Luna made her way to the infirmary with haste, knowing she would not have too much time before Cielo awoke. If she could not make it back before he did, that would only make her life a bit harder. Truth was she only wished to know what was really wrong with him so she could help him. After seeing what he went through, she found it impossible to get the question of his well being out of her mind.
Luan peeked her head around the corner, trying to be stealthy, though in the well-lit hallway she was anything but; to her surprise there was no doctor to be seen. Luna made her way through the waiting room and to the doctor’s door; her heart racing, her breathing heavy. This was her first time doing anything like this, and it was nerve racking to say the least. Placing her hoof on the door, she tried to open it but it was locked. A real good thing, the doctor was not coming back for a while, she thought. Her horn started to glow a light blue, with little effort she unlocked the door using her magic and slipped inside.
The door may have been locked but the candles were still lit; this meant the doctor was not going to be gone for long. Rushing over to the filing cabinet, she started opening drawers one by one until she found the R’s, “okay... Rey, Rey.” She kept repeating as she sifted through file after file. She checked and double checked yet no Rey turned up, next she went to the C’s. A highly unlikely system for filing, to go by first names, but his file had to be in there somewhere.
“HAY!” a deep voice shouted from behind her, causing her to jump. She quickly spun around to see the doctor standing in the doorway. He was a large unicorn with a light green coat and a light aqua mane. Once he saw who it was, his expression was nearly as startled as hers. “P-Princess…!?” He quickly bowed his head. “Forgive me for my tone. I thought you were somepony else,” slowly he raised his head a little. “W-What exactly are you doing in here Princess Luna?”
Luna was caught and there was no point trying to hide it. “Okay, okay you got me… I was looking for Rey’s file.”
“Princess, I mean no disrespect but personal medical records are private, even to you and Celestia. A doctor and his office must be a safe place somepony can come without worry of any persecution or ridicule for ailments or diseases,” he replied in a soft tone. “If you had been anypony else, I would have laid into them something fierce and called for the guards for your immediate arrest!” Given it was the princess; the doctor’s tongue was quelled suspecting that there had to be reason.
“I know but… but I can’t help it. I NEED to know what’s wrong with him. I know he is lying to me about his wings being fine. I… I just want to know how I can help, if I can help.”
The stallion closed the door behind him and walked over to his desk. “You know what you’re doing is not very princess like?”
“I know.” Luna replied a bit sheepishly, realizing she was actually exposing a secret vulnerability to the doctor.
With a sigh, he made his way to the cabinet. Luna stepped aside, and felt her heart become a little uplifted at the thought of him helping her. The doctor though spoke up, “If this ever comes up anywhere, as far as I am concerned, you ordered me to do this, alright?”
“I completely understand.”
He opened up the R section and started to search the same sections Luna had looked in. “Well, that’s odd.” Closing the drawer, his attention turned to the C’s. “I don’t think I would have filed it under C,” he muttered to himself as he looked. Luna’s expression slowly turned to one of worry as once again he closed the drawer and went back to the R’s “You didn't take the file already did you princess?”
“No! You came in yourself as I was searching, you would have seen me with it.”
“It’s… gone!?” His voice almost seemed a little angry. “Fifteen years at this job and I have never ONCE misplaced a file.” Turning back, he glared at Luna. “You SURE you did not take it?”
“No, I don’t have it. I swear by my sister, I looked but found nothing,” Luna protested.
“This is not good, I must report this to Celestia.”
“Wait! You can’t tell her that I was here.”
The stallion stopped for a moment considering their predicaments. “One last time, did you take it?”
“No!”
He let out an exasperated sigh. “I will leave you out of my report princess, but I must let your sister know a medical file has gone missing. If you did not take it, that means somepony else broke in here and took his file.” The doctor thought for a moment. “Was the door locked?”
“Yes, I had to use my magic to open it.” Luna looked down, not only did she fail, but now she felt like a thief even though she had stolen nothing. The doctor still managed to make her feel guilty when she had no part in perpetrating the crime.
“Thank you for your honesty, and forgive me for raising my voice Princess Luna. Please do not punish or think of me as a mean stallion.”
“I understand, you take your job seriously and want to protect all your patients’ privacy. You thought me a liar and called me on it, you can’t be faulted for that after I broke into your office.”
The stallion bowed to her in apology for his actions, he knew even if she had done wrong, simply by him raising his voice to her, gave her cause to have him arrested for verbal assault on a public figure. “Again, you have my apologies.” Lifting his head a little his gaze remained on the floor as he started to walk to the door. Though it was late, Celestia would want to be woken for this. There were a few ponies that she had instructed all medical staff to wake her for should anything ever come up such as injury. Cielo was one of them.
“Wait please, can you tell me… tell me what happened to Cielo and if there is anything that can be done, please?”
This was the first time he had ever heard the word please come from her mouth and sound sincere. He relented, “To put it bluntly, the muscular padding between the ball joints in his wings are deteriorating causing severe pain. If his habits don’t change, as I told him, he will lose his ability to fly within the year. If you truly want to help him, just take it easy on him. Try to make him stay grounded and rest his wings. If you’re feeling real generous, you could take him to a masseuse. Have them work on his wings with a light massage to loosen up his muscles a bit and just to help him relax. The less stress on his shoulders the better, that stallion has enough on his plate right now.”
Luna stayed silent. She could not believe that Cielo was acting so normal after being told he was going to lose his wings if he did not change. He even offered to still use them if she needed him to, but she could not wrap her mind around why. Was he this dedicated to his job? Or could it even be more than that, could his dedication and valiance be to her? “Thank you doctor, for everything; I will do my best to keep him on the ground and look after his wings. One more question,” she asked softly. “Dose, my sister know it has gotten this bad for Cielo?”
“No,” he replied. “But to be honest, I just might let that slip and deal with the consequences. I understand it’s his choice to make, but some ponies need a little push in the right direction.” Looking back at Luna he smiled. “I really should be off, good luck to you.” He went to walk out the door but stopped. “And Princess Luna, it’s good to see you care enough to come here and try to find out. I think you two will benefit quite a bit from one another.”
“W-What do you mean by that?” She asked blushing a little. There was no way he could know about the dreams she had while missing her guard. She never told anypony, not even her sister.
“Call it a hunch,” the doctor replied before walking out of the office and leaving Luna alone. She stayed there for a moment pondering what he could have meant. She did not linger too much longer though; soon Cielo would wake and she had to be there when he did.
Luna made her way out of the office and back down the hall to her chambers. Once safely back inside she lit a few extra candles and placed them near the bed for better lighting. She then gathered up some paperwork she had neglected for a few days along with a quill and ink well. Luna did this all with her magic, trying to make it look like she did a lot in the room without ever leaving. She then lay back down beside Cielo and started to work as he slumbered; he was out a little longer than expected letting her get thought five pages before he woke.
“Mmmm...Mph” Cielo’s eyes slowly opened with a groan, picking his head up he looked around a little confused but relaxed a bit when he saw Luna still next to him. “L-Luna?”
Her ears peaked hearing him call her by her name for once. “Cielo, you’re awake,” She replied looking over at him happily. She could have corrected him if she wanted, but she really didn't mind him using her name so informally. She was admittedly upset with him for lying to her, but she could not let on that she knew exactly what he was trying to hide. ‘Surely he must have a good reason’ she told herself over and over, before finally asking, “How are you feeling?”
“My head's still spinning a bit. I am so so sorry, I don’t know what happened.”
“And… your wings, how are they now?”
“Sore still,” he admitted causing her to smile a little. Maybe he hid it from her because she had yet to gain his trust. She would give him a little more time to see if he would come clean after a few days when he went in for his follow up.
“Well, I have nothing but paperwork tonight so why not rest a little more?”
“You… mean that? You’re really okay with me having fallen asleep here in your chambers?”
“I insisted, remember? Besides, you have been through a lot. I can understand you needing rest. I want you back at one-hundred percent Cielo, I want you healthy.” Her words caused him to look over at her once more, but with how sleepy he looked it only caused her to giggle. “What? Is it so odd that I wish my personal protector to be in peak condition?” She asked this in a kind and joking tone, though he could tell she meant what she said.
“I guess that is logical, isn't it,” Cielo replied with a grin as he lay his head back down and closed his eyes. “Will you wake me when you’re done with your paperwork, or if you require anything else at all?” he asked with a yawn.
“You can count on it Cielo, if I need anything I will wake you.”
Cielo let out a happy sigh as his body relaxed once more; while Luna, she felt his hoof move over and rest on hers. “Thank you,” he whispered before dozing back off with his hoof still on hers. Blushing a little she smiled once more looking over at him as he slept leaving his hoof where it was.
“You’re welcome Cielo, my guard. Rest up and get better,” she whispered softly. In her heart she genuinely hoped he would recover. She could not imagine seeing a stallion, whose very talent relied on his wings, having the joy of flight taken away. “And I will do everything I can to help push you in the right direction.” Luna watched him sleep for a moment before returning to her paperwork, though she did not yet understand why she was so drawn to him, one thing was certain. She was happy he came back to her, and she never wanted to have him leave her side for so long ever again.
