(Drakalian POV)

I give a small grumble as I toss and turn in my bed, finding it difficult for me to fall asleep. I keep trying to get myself lost in the dreamscape, but with a grumble I just end up more frustrated than anything. After a good hour or more, I just give up and with a grunt, kick the blankets off as I stand up from the bed, giving myself a small stretch.

After our talk with Celestia, Twilight and I met the maid who brought me over to my room, where me and the purple unicorn talked for a few minutes before she had to say goodbye. With the mare gone, I was left alone in the room, and seeing how late it was, I just rang up room service before sitting down to meditate. Once the food was here, I ate, meditated again, then went to sleep.

Well...tried to.

Seeing how sleep was going to evade me for the time, I just stretch again and look around the room to see if there was anything to help me get to sleep easier. It's a rather large room, almost making me wish for the smaller room back in Ponyville in the library, but I still managed. The bed itself was very large, most likely the largest possible, though in the castle why wouldn't they have large beds. Besides the bed was a desk, chair, closet, and even a vanity mirror. Besides that and a few decorations, there wasn't much else. Rather surprising considering this is a guest room of the castle.

Of course all of that matters not to me since I was trying to get to sleep, and none of those things really help me at the moment. I was about to try and meditate once again when I heard something from outside.

Curious, I slowly approach the balcony, wondering what the noise could be. My mind quickly went to something sinister, but this being the castle I doubt anything would have gotten past the guards so easily. They looked capable enough to stop just about anyone around here. Plus I didn't happen to bring my weapons from Ponyville with me either, so I was without staff or sais.

Deciding to just go ahead and make do, I walk to the double doors and push them open, looking around as I step outside for the source of the sound. Once outside, it became much clearer to me, and started to take on the form of words, almost like someone was muttering to themselves.

I start to look around, but like the room there isn't much on the balcony in the first place, just a plant next to the door. Even more curious, I look out over the railings at the setting sun, seeing it just vanish past the horizon as the moon slowly starts to rise. It's at this point that I see the stars start to twinkle in, one by one, rapidly filling the blank space above.

I couldn't help but to pause and marvel at the rather lovely night sky above me, finding it breathtaking as I just stood there and stared. Slowly I walked forward and leaned against the railing, my eyes watching the spectacle above me.

"Wow. That looks...amazing." I whisper to myself, my eyes locked at the newly forming night sky. At this point, I start to hear the voice again, this time realizing just who it was. Blinking, I quickly start to look around, my eyes finally locking onto the back of a certain Alicorn princess who was hovering a few feet away from my balcony, her dark, starry mane flowing in the empty breeze as her horn glows a light blue, lighting up the sky with many more stars. How I missed her at first was difficult to know, but I was distracted with the sky. It was at this point that I realized she was the one lighting the sky up and raising the moon, something that, even if I knew about it or not still left me with an open mouth in surprise.

It seems she was talking to herself, muttering random and not so random words about what she was doing, what she needed to do, what went where, and so on. I found it rather amusing, but at the moment I was more curious than anything else, and leaning over a bit, looking at her, I find myself calling her name to get her attention.

"Luna?"

---

(Luna POV)

"No, it should be over there, by that constellation, and then that star needs to be a bit dimmer...that one needs to be much brighter...where in the world did this one go? I think I may need to find another cluster to form there..." I slowly mutter to myself, eyes focused and horn glowing as I raise the moon and speckle the sky with my stars.

It had been a rather long day, even if I had yet to do much of anything. I've just been feeling so tense as of late with doing anything these past few weeks. Of course it doesn't help that my mind keeps on wandering to a certain human and the words that Celestia told me when we first talked about him, but it wasn't like I was still in love with him or anything...

...right?

I shake my head, getting rid of such silly thoughts as I focus on the sky once again. Come on Luna, you went out to fly for a reason, and that was besides to raise the night sky and watch the ponies sleep. Now focus on your job and not some silly filly crush. It was at this moment that I realize that there was another star missing from a group. "Damn it all, why do you keep on leaving that spot. It's so frustrating to just-"

"Luna?"

I give a rather loud "EEP!" as my wings lock, my mind already recognizing the voice, even if I had no idea they were behind me. As I start to plummet to the ground, I quickly unlock my wings and flap hard, slowing and stopping my decent. Looking up, a good dozen feet above me was indeed Drakalian, the human giving me a very surprised look as he looks down at me from the balcony he was standing on.

Giving a small huff, I fly up higher till I was in front of him, my forelegs resting on the railing next to him. "Drak!? What are you doing here? And why did you sneak up on us? You know we hate it when ponies do that!"

He just blinks and gives me a very confused look. "Um...I do?"

I was about to berate him a bit more when it clicked that of course he doesn't remember. Sighing, I shake my head. "Never mind, we...I, forgot about the whole...you know." He nods. "You still have yet to explain what you are doing here in the first place."

The human raises an eyebrow at this. "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I would try and find a way. Granted coming outside and getting some fresh air might help, but I heard someone talking and thought I would look to see who it was. Turns out it was you."

It takes me a second to realize what he was saying, and when I do, I can feel my cheeks heating up even more. "Oh, you heard me talking to myself?" I say softly, looking away to try and hide my reddening fur.

He nods. "It seems like that."

I stay there for a few minutes, not saying anything, and Drak seems content to just remain silent as he looks up at the sky. I slowly turn to look back at him as he looks at my night sky, a small glimmer in his eyes.

"You know, I didn't think you made the night sky. Or raise the moon for that matter. Guess that's just another thing I forgot." He says, glancing back at me.

I give a small smile as I fly up a bit and land on the balcony with him, wings folded and sitting down next to him. "Yes, we do, though we doubt it would be something that you forgot. The change was rather recent. At least, recent for us." Seeing the confused look on his face, I continued. "After the war, we had to adapt to certain things, especially when the three tribes were united. One of the major things was that our sun and moon, cause of what happened, became unstable and unable to raise and lower on their own. Because of that, powerful unicorns had to raise and lower them by themselves, and more often than not, they would be left drained, sometimes permanently as well."

I see him frown as he hears this. "That's awful."

"Indeed, but thankfully not long afterwards, my sister and I discovered that we could raise and lower the sun with a much easier time than any pony else, and soon after that, we became the Princesses of Equestria. It has been like that ever since, except for that one time when I-" I start to finish, but stop myself as I realize what I was about to say. Not wanting to bring up bad memories, I turned to look out at the sky, but instead of silence, I get a confused question.

"Wait, except for what?" I turn to look at him, and what I see surprises me. Genuine confusion was on his face, head tilted to the side as he waits for my response.

"Wait, you...you don't..." I pause as I remain silent. How could he not know? It is basic history knowledge at this point, taught by all foals. He just shakes his head however, still having no idea what I was talking about. "I would have assumed Twilight would have had you read at least most, if not all of our history by now."

He nods. "She has, but I don't know what that has to do with..." He stops, and I can see his mind slowly ticking. The speed at which he was starting to realize makes me laugh in my head, realizing he still is as slow as when we first met him. That isn't a bad thing, and he is by no means dumb, just that sometimes things slip by him or go over his head. It can be amusing when it happens. As he finally figures it out, he speaks to himself, which causes my heart to sink yet again at the words. "Celestia banished her only sister..." He looks back at me with wide eyes and it is clear that he knows now.

I sigh as I look away, feeling ashamed to look at my old friend. "Yes, I turned into Nightmare Moon and tried to turn the world into a time of endless night." I say softly. "Cause of my actions, Tia had no choice but to...t-to banish me."

The silence falls once again, this time with a large tension in the air, so tense that a knife could cut through it. After a few minutes he speaks up. "But why? I mean it says you were jealous, but was it...was it really that?"

I nod, not bothering to look at him. "Indeed. I grew upset with how all the ponies adored my sister and yet did nothing for me. I grew so upset that it changed me, infected me, and turned me into that...thing." I say, spitting at the floor at the end of it. Silence again, then once again I speak up. "I only just escaped the moon a few years ago, and it was thanks to Twilight and her friends that I was able to change back into myself."

Silence again, heavier than the last. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I could feel the stare he was giving me. I dared not look at him, knowing that all I would see was hate in his eyes, a hate for-

I blink in surprise as I feel an arm wrap around my neck and pull me in close. The next thing I know, my head was nuzzled into his chest. Blushing a bit, I look up and see not just a face with no hate, but one of comfort, a small smile on his face as he hugs me.

"Luna. What happened was...horrible. It is something that should never happen to any pony...to anyone. I wish I could have been there to help you during that trying time, but if what you and Celestia say is true, I was already gone well before you two became princesses." I nod slightly and he continues. "Now, whatever happened in the past is just that; the past. There isn't a point to dwell on it anymore. You have grown so much from that time, even I can tell with my busted mind."

I can't help but chuckle at that, his smile growing as I did that. "I guess so. If somepony with amnesia thinks I grew up well, then there is no point for me to worry about anything." I half joke, even if it was a poor attempt to make myself feel better.

"I remember hearing ponies talk about you at Ponyville. They seem to like you there, saying you are really an amazing pony and princess." He pauses as a thoughtful look comes across his face. "In fact, I think one of the small kids there said something about you being his favorite princess. Small kid even for his age, white with a brown spot or two on him."

I smile as I know just who that is. "That be little Pipsqueak. He is a very kind colt, and so sweet. I always try to make a bit of time for him during Nightmare Night."

"I don't know what this Nightmare Night is, but I'm guessing it must be fun if he likes you that much." He says, chuckling. We remain silent as I lean against his chest, both of us looking outside at the night sky and surroundings under it. The silence keeps going on, but this time it's a much calmer silence, both of us at ease as we just relax. I don't remember the last time I just stared up at the sky with some pony like this, I think it was with my sister last time, over a thousand years ago. It felt...nice.

"You know, I'm sure that Celestia missed you very much over those years." He says softly.

I nod. "She did. Some days after I returned, she came into my room and told me so many times that I lost count. I kept telling her that I was fine." I say, remembering those days when she would come in and apologize many, many times to me. "I think she is still upset with what happened and what she had to do, but I...I don't know what to do."

He looks down at me. "Just be there for her, as a good sister should." I nod in agreement as I look at the sky once again. After another few minutes, I finally speak up with a question of my own. The same one really, but he has yet to give me a proper answer to it.

"You know, you still have yet to really tell me what you are doing here."

He blinks. "I already told you, I just couldn't sleep, so I-"

I shake my head. "No, not that. I mean here in Canterlot."

I hear him pause and freeze up, causing me to look up at him. Seeing the look on his face I pull back from the hug and look at him a bit closer with some worry. "Is it...did something bad happen in Ponyville?"

He quickly shakes his head. "No, nothing like that. I just...I found a bit more about me."

I raise an eyebrow at this. "You did? Isn't that a good thing?"

He nods again. "It is, and I'm glad I'm starting to get some more things of my past back, even if it's just some marks on my body."

Now this got my curiosity. "Marks? You mean the scars from the basilisk?"

He pauses before shaking his head. "No, I mean different marks. Different scars I've had from when I was...with the Crusaders of Harmony."

I fall silent as I hear this, my heart dropping a bit. It takes a few moments but I manage to recompose myself enough to ask, "Did...did Tia tell you?" He nods. "Drak, if you don't wish to-"

"No, it's fine Luna." He tells me, giving that damn smile of his once again, making my cheeks flush ever so slightly. "I don't mind talking about it, especially to you, since you have been there as well."

I fall silent as we look at each other, his eyes of course avoiding my own, and I just remain staring at his own green orbs, even if he doesn't reply in kind. After a while I reach over to touch his arm with my hoof, getting his attention. "In that case, I wish to see them."

He doesn't say anything, just looking at me, his eyes even glancing at my own. This time I don't shy away, and remain stoic as ever as I look at the human, waiting for him to either say yes or no. After a good solid minute, he just nods. "But not here. Can we do it inside? It's rather cold out here." He shivers at this as he looks out at the snow covered landscape.

Looking out, it reminds me that I have yet to finish my sky, my eyes going wide. "Shit, I didn't finish! One moment please." I say before lighting my horn up and putting the last finishing touches. Once that was done, which only took a few minutes, I sigh, my magic turning off as my horn lets it go and turn to look at the human. "Sorry Drak, I just realized that-" I start to say only to see his rather surprised expression which causes me to tilt my head to the side with confusion. "What?"

Drakalian hesitates before shaking his head and raising an eyebrow at me, a small smirk on his muzzle. "Didn't know being a princess of a country allows you to get away with such a...colorful language."

I blush as I realized what I just said, my eyes going wide as I look away. "W-We mean no disrespect, it just sort of slipped from our muzzle and-" I started to apologize, but of course he stops me with that smile of his and a pat to my shoulder.

"It's fine, really." he says. "Besides, I bet Celestia has said a lot worse before. Now, how about we head on in, before I freeze myself solid."

Nodding, I walk with him back inside his room, using my magic to close the door behind us. Drak goes around and starts lighting a few of the lights. I just watching him move around the room, my eyes locked on his form before I realize I was staring and quickly look away.

"Ok Luna, so before I start, can I ask why you wish to see them?" I hear him ask, turning to face him and seeing he was now sitting on the bed.

I walk up closer and sit down in front of him. "Tia and I have been with you for nearly the entire time of the Crusades, so we can most certainly tell you which marks are what." I tell him, getting a nod. He then starts to take his hoodie off, and as his shirt comes off, I can't help but to wander my eyes over his form. He was starting to look very much like his old self from before, the extra weight he had when we saw him at the hospital almost all gone now. I look over his lean stomach, his strong shoulders easily showing the well made muscles underneath-

I quickly shake my head as I realize I'm staring again. "I-If you don't mind, can you sit on the floor please."

Looking at his face, he gives me a curious look, but nods regardless, getting up and sitting on the floor, giving me a good couple of feet over him now as his head was now at my chest. I nod in thanks and clearing my throat, I look at his shoulder with the most recent injuries.

I frown as I see the scars he bore from the nasty serpent, my hoof automatically going up and resting on it. I feel him tense a bit before relaxing, and I start feeling the scars, the ragged lines and deep puncture wounds, nothing really new to me. I could feel my heart beating for him, my frown deepening as I keep sliding my hoof down a bit more, till I reached another mark on his stomach, a stab wound by the looks of it, about the same age as the basilisk marks.

"By the Spirits..." I start to say, when I feel a hand on my shoulder. Looking up again I see his eyes are still as kind and understanding as ever, and with a nod I focus on his left shoulder again. I lean in a bit as I focus more past this new scars, and start seeing the older ones.

The first one that I see, a cross of two slashes on his chest, my hoof resting and tracing lightly on those lines. "This one is from a training session with Tumult. You tripped when he went for a strike, and sadly he wasn't able to pull back fast enough. Thankfully it was a shallow cut, but still left a mark." I say out loud.

He says nothing and I just continue, my hoof soon reaching the next part of the marks, several long slices with jagged cuts right below his left pecs. "This one is doing a climb in the mountains. We got ambushed and one of them, a griffin I think, came from the sky and almost got Alexius, but you jumped in the way and his talons got you instead." I see him blink as I mention that name, giving me a curious look, but again he says nothing.

After that I moved around so I was behind him, and place my hoof on another puncture wound, this one having a deeper look as it rests on his shoulder blade. "This one is from an arrow, when we got ambushed again in a town. A little one was standing there, a young human girl I think. She was about to get shot when you covered her and took the hit instead."

The next mark is on his right shoulder, going down his forearm, a long puncture wound. "You were pushing against a barricade, holding it back to stop the enemy from overtaking a building. One of them got a sword or dagger through, stabbing you here. Couldn't use that arm for a week, but we managed to keep everycreature in the building alive. And your arm intact."

I continued on with this, my voice slowly getting a bit softer till it felt like I was just talking to myself. My hoof moves from one scar to the other, seeing the new skin and old as easy as day and night. Each one brought back a memory from the past, going through each of them one by one.

This one from a griffin's strike again, slicing at him as he blocked it with his forearm.

This one a sword slash finding his chest dead center, a warning blow from a unicorn.

Another stab wound, on the back of his hand as he was pushing the weapon away from another innocent.

The marks kept going, my words almost mumbles at this point, but Drak seemed to be following. Not once did he say anything, his eyes following me whenever he could. I could feel the intensity behind his gaze, but I didn't blush or stumble like I thought I would. I just kept on going, showing him each mark and explaining how he got it.

It takes a few minutes, almost ten, when I finally sigh, sitting down before him. I glance at his eyes and can already tell he has a question for me. However even while I knew the answer, I wasn't sure if I should give it to him.

I remain quiet as I look at the last mark, the largest one of them all. The one that seems to have nearly cleaved his left arm off. Slowly, I reach over and place my hoof on it, sliding it down to his stomach where it stopped. I remain quiet for a bit before, with a sigh, I speak up.

"Large battle axe. Minotaur made and used. The first blow that would have killed you. It happened before we met you, and before you joined the Crusaders of Harmony."

This causes him to blink as he wordlessly repeats what I just said before looking back at me. "Wait, but if this was before, then how-"

"During our first stop, you told us about it. It was a miracle that you lived at all during that, your arm would be nearly hanging from your body with such a blow." I simply replied.

The room fell into silence by then, and I did my best to not even look back at him, not wanting to finish this memory. When he told us, there was so much heartache, so much pain...I didn't want to bring that back to him.

At first I hear nothing, and I was worried I may have offended him in some way for not telling him, or that he did remember and is now grieving, but when I looked down at him, he just gives a sad smile as he nods. "It's fine, you've told me more than enough for now." He simply says, to which I let out a small sigh of relief.

"It was...it is something I wish to not put you through ever again." I tell him, at which he nods as he slowly stands up. Once up, he walks back to the bed and sits down, looking down at his body and all the marks I have shown him. He gently rubs his hand a bit before I stop him with a hoof, feeling his hand against it as I smile at him. "It doesn't matter how you ended with those marks though. In the end it was what you did that earned the trust you got from others."

He gives me a dubious look at that. "I'm not sure, if I got so many marks and battle scars, how did I do so good as to earn other's trust?" He asks.

I climb onto the bed and sit down with him, my wing wrapping around his shoulder as I get him to look at me. I can see the small blush on his cheeks, and it causes me to blush as well, however I don't pull away, not this time.

"Think, Drakalian. What is the one thing most of those marks have in common?" I ask him.

He pauses before responding with a chuckle. "That I suck at blocking or dodging?"

I give him a small swat on his shoulder, which just makes him laugh more. "No you idiot." I try to chastise him, though it was hard to do when I was giggling as well. "You could block and dodge all of those attacks with ease, and most of them were avoidable." He looks at me with confusion, and I finally say, "At the time of those marks, you were defending some pony from harm."

His eyes go a little wide as he looks down at them, and he remains silent and falls still. I look at him, head tilted as he remains like that for a minute, then two. After five minutes of nothing, I start to worry as I shake him a bit with my wing. "Drak? Drak."

He blinks as he shakes his head, looking up at me. "Sorry, I just...I just recalled something." I could feel myself holding my breath as I nod, waiting for him to continue. "That one mark with the arrow...the kid, she was in a pink dress, orange shoes. The town was being seized and was starting to fall apart, but we...we were holding. The archer was aimed at her head when he fired. I...I remember hearing you call my name." He pauses again, looking at my eyes.

I smile as I know where this is going. "Go on. What happened next."

"There was movement, and I...I don't know how, but I was somehow pushing her down, getting her out of the way. The arrow hit and I remember the pain behind it. Stung like a bitch." He chuckles as he says that before falling silent. "But when I looked at her, I saw...happiness. So much of it. Just glad to see someone to have saved her. To help her."

He falls silent as he looks down, eyes closed now as he tries to recall anything else. "I think we pushed them back, stopped the rest of them from invading and got the town folks to safety." He blinks as he looks up at me. "They said we were heroes."

Still smiling, I can't help but to nod. "Yes, that little girl was the town leader's daughter. The place was getting overrun with both Chaos and Order factions, and we went in and stopped them. We saved a-all of them." I tell him. I was hoping he doesn't get the crack in my voice, cause in reality we saved most, not all.

Even our brightest moments had a silver lining to them, but I didn't want to bring that up with Drak. Not yet, not now.

He smiles as he nods. "Yes...we did." He says, and I can see a tear slowly leaving his eye. Reaching over with a hoof, I gently rub the tear away, causing him to blush as he turns around. "S-sorry, I didn't...I don't-"

"Shh, it's fine Drak." I tell him. We remain quiet, my wing around his back as my hoof rests on his chest, rubbing small, soothing circles to help him stay relaxed. It takes a while, but soon he starts to lean in to my embrace which, while does make me blush, I still am able to keep my composure.

We stay like that for a few more minutes as he rests from his recent new memory, and I start to slowly hum a tune. It wasn't much, but it is my favorite, the same one Celestia would sing to me whenever we were little, and even after the war when I kept getting those nightmares. I kept him close as we held each other, and soon I heard the telltale sounds of light breathing, indicating that he has fallen asleep.

I sigh, satisfied as I gently uncurl off of him, lightly placing him on the bed before pulling the blankets over him. Once he was settled and tucked in, I smile down at him, looking at his resting form. Slowly I lean in and nuzzle his cheek. "Sleep well Drakalian." I say, then give him a gentle peck on the check.

My eyes go wide as I pull back sharply, realizing what I just did, but when I look at him again, he is still asleep, his eyes locked closed, and a small smile on his face. Even so, the blush on my cheeks was intense as I slowly take a few steps back before walking to the door.

Once just outside, I look back in to make sure he is still sleeping, and seeing that he is, I turn the lights off before closing the door behind me. Sighing, I start to walk down the hallway to my own rooms, feeling more relaxed than I ever did in the past month.

Perhaps I do have that crush still, but at the moment it doesn't matter, cause I know that as long as he is here, I can still be there to help him in this new life.

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