Luna smiled down at Rain as he opened his eyes. He shut them again when the hospital’s harsh lights hit his dilated pupils. “Where am I?”

She raised her wing to shade him from the overhead lights. “Somewhere safe, Rain Shadow. Perhaps not as picturesque as as the castle gardens, but safe regardless. Within these walls, I am your helmet, your shield.”

His body convulsed beneath the bedsheets, and he moaned. “Still hurts… Hurts everywhere.”

“Then be still. Open your eyes when you can.”

Luna waited for several minutes, her smile broadening as his forelegs twitched and then finally began to move. She watched his hooves gently inspect the body he’d woken up in, not the burly frame of a seasoned Royal Guard, but that of an emaciated pony connected to monitoring equipment and wrapped in white bandages.

When his shaking hooves finally found the bandage around his forehead, his tear-filled eyes opened. “Princess Luna?”

She smiled as she met his gaze. “A respectful address, even in greatest turmoil. Please call me Luna.”

Rain’s hooves returned to his torso. They caught on the ribs bulging against his skin. “What happened to me?”

“Look around you. Something here might stimulate your memory.”

After staring at her for several seconds, seconds she would forever cherish, his eyes found the many bouquets, cards, and balloons piled on every available surface in the brightly lit room. A small banner over the door read “Canterlot’s Hero.”

“There was… an accident… something about the wedding… and changelings…”

“You described the incident to me quite accurately: rubble from the damaged castle wall fell, and you flew to the rescue of many civilians who would otherwise have perished. In so doing, you took their place… nearly dead, and rendered unconscious for months.”

His whole body convulsed again, and he returned his gaze to her. “Months? The invasion was just a few days ago… I know it was!”

“You merely have no memory of it. The doctors assumed you would never wake again, and so I… attempted to rouse you myself. I entered the dream world your mind created. Do you remember?”

He nodded, this time without wincing. “Unwanted fraternizing.”

“The mind is very adept at adapting to new situations, sometimes to its own detriment. Yours mistook deep sleep for constant wakefulness and locked you into a familIar place and a familiar routine. As for my presence… my methods… Had I merely inquired into your duties as a guard and the finer points of your accident prior to entering your dreams…”

“I'm awake now. Thank you.”

She turned away. “Regardless, I must apologize. Princesses have a code of conduct as well, one that I set aside all too quickly. I could have been more direct once simple suggestion failed to further invigorate your mind and reconnect it to your body. Instead I toyed with you… I adopted your fantasy for my own selfish pleasure rather than adhering to my duty. I chose to live and relive our private evenings together rather than doing all that I could to immediately return you to the waking world by forcing you from your routine.”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw his foreleg slowly rise, the closest he could come to touching her. “But it was my pleasure, too! It’s not like I'd ever get stationed under your balcony… especially not now. I’m pretty sure my left wing is broken… I can’t even feel the other one.”

Luna gave a quick nod. “Yes. Your injuries… healing will take time. A medal of valor and a less physically demanding assignment await you, Rain Shadow, Hero of Canterlot. You have fulfilled all that could be asked of a Royal Guard, including weathering a Princess’s unbecoming conduct.”

“I never wanted to be a hero… but I’m thinking about becoming a painter.”

Luna flinched. She glanced at him, blushed, and looked away. “Surely you can not end your family’s generations-long tradition… not on account of me.”

“Then I’ll start a new one, and I’ll do it for me. I like painting, I’ll get better at it with practice… and there aren’t any fraternizing rules for painters and Princesses. We could talk as much as we wanted.”

A smile crept onto her face. “True. There are also no provisions for painters standing beneath a Princess’s private balcony, alas.” She pushed the happy thought away just as quickly. “But I still must protest. I will not condone you doing such a thing in the foolish hope of you and I continuing… whatever we may choose to call this. Such is the difference between dreams and reality.”

“Protesting is about all you can do, Princess. Keep the hero medal… I’ve got painting to do. It’s my turn to be the spear… or brush, I guess.”

She wrinkled her muzzle and frowned. “Insolence does not suit you. Are you truly determined to follow this dream of yours?”

His smile remained, albeit with waning strength. “You should try it sometime. Do something for you… just for you. Don’t let the wall you’re paid to stare at… control everything… be everything.”

“I can hardly abdicate my throne for personal whims, nor will I ever, not even if this… this interest I’ve taken in our conversing so regularly persists.”

“I didn’t mean that. I just hoped you’d come visit… Come by my studio once in a while. I can’t promise my work will be any good… but I’d like to share the experience with you. I’d like to share… everything.”

Luna stared at him, and soon found herself leaning in closer. She stared directly into his eyes, into the world she’d spent so many wonderful hours within. Peering in through these twin amber pools was every bit as wonderful. This was the one element all their previous evenings together had lacked. He was no longer a phantom voice in her ears. He was pony before her eyes: strong, frail, endearing, and troublesome all at once.

“Luna?”

A warmth filled her, a sensation that banished all lingering guilt and misgivings. She smiled a smile that felt as natural, and unshakable, as her desire to breathe. “Perhaps I could spare a few hours at the close of each day, provided you continue to look at me as you are now… and provided that you never stop.”