Rarity got up with a loud yawn and a big stretch on Thursday morning, the way a cat lazily wakes up in the sunshine on a windowsill. She moved sluggishly as she dropped out of bed and made her way across her room and through the halls to her bathroom. She took a nice, long, hot shower, and wrapped herself nice and cozy in her towel when she was done. Once adequately dry, she went downstairs and made herself some coffee and breakfast.

While she was living comfortably, doing her own thing, Ryan was off in the fields at Sweet Apple Acres. She knew that he had gotten up early, but she also knew that he got up early every single day. He did not sleep much, by the sound of what Cinny had told her, and he also slept in a dirty ditch. Rarity had agreed to take him in because she not only wanted to see his suffering come to an end, but also because she felt guilty that she had so much, and him so little.

For the moment, she let her thoughts slide to the side. It was too early to think about things. Instead, she just finished her breakfast and coffee, and then made her way back to her room. She put on her blush, fake eyelashes, eyeliner, shadow, and took care of her mane in there.

Again, though, her thoughts went to Ryan. He had no personal grooming materials. In fact, he probably didn’t have any other clothes to wear, as strange as the practice was to some ponies who weren’t in the know. Another thing that she had that Ryan did not.

Once she was all ready for her day to start, she set the sign of her shop to “Open” and went about her business. Being Thursday at eight o’clock, there probably wouldn’t be that many customers around, so she started thinking about how she was going to get Ryan to stay with her.

“Well, he certainly doesn’t seem to want help. He rejects it.” She opted to think aloud. “How does one make another get assistance when another clearly wants none?” She remembered when Twilight had to get Applejack to accept help with her harvest. Maybe Ryan’s behavior was harming other ponies? “No, no. If it was, he would have been sent away by now.”

“Maybe if I play it as him doing me a favor?” It could work, right? “Yes, maybe. I do need to start designing for his body, in case more humans come this way.” It didn’t seem like a promising prospect, though.

While Rarity tried to think more about it, Sweetie Belle came roaring down the stairs. “I’m gonna be late!” she shouted. Rarity was kicked out of her stupor of thought by the sudden introduction of her sister’s voice. “Where’s my backpack?!” she wondered aloud.

Rarity levitated it over to her. “There you are, darling.” she said. But she didn’t give it to her just yet. “But first; where did you go last night? Ryan and Fluttershy came by with you and your friends on their backs. I was worried sick!”

Sweetie Belle danced around, eager to get out of the room. “We followed Ryan into the forest cuz’ he wanted to explore! It got late, so they took us home!” Rarity’s eye twitched at hearing this. “Can I go now?”

Rarity gave her sister her bag. “We’ll talk about this when you come home.” she said. Sweetie Belle ignored the foreshadowing warning and ran out.

Rarity stood in her place for a moment. Ryan actually let three young fillies, plus Spike; she had seen him on Ryan’s back; follow him into the forest. Unfortunately, her sister and her friends were off at school, so they were out of reach. “I need to find Spike.” she decided. She gathered some things and went out, flipping the store sign to “out for the moment” as she left for the library.

She trotted off to the library at a brisk pace, not wanting to exert herself, but still wanting to get there sooner rather than later. She had hoped to pass Ryan on the way there, but alas, this was not to happen. He was busy at work, likely, and would be unable to speak with her, unless she actually went to Sweet Apple Acres. She hadn’t the time for this, nor the will, when the library was so close, so she opted for Spike’s perspective. It might be better to get the perspective of a follower, too.

She arrived at the library in about ten minutes and immediately went and knocked on the door. She waited for a minute, then knocked again. Usually Twilight was up by this time. But knowing her, she might have woken Spike just to lecture him until the crack of dawn anyway.

The door creaked open slowly. “Hello?” a tired Twilight greeted. She yawned. “Who is it?” Rarity took in her appearance as Twilight realized it was her; she looked disheveled and exhausted. “Oh, Rarity! What brings you here this morning?” She yawned again.

Rarity smiled awkwardly. “I need to talk to Spike.”

Twilight groaned. “That makes two of us.” Rarity cocked an eyebrow. “Please, come in.” The alabaster mare obliged and entered the library with her friend.

Twilight brought her friend to the kitchen where there was coffee and food waiting. Rarity thanked her, though having already eaten, she declined the food. Twilight shrugged and dropped onto a cushion that served as her seat. Both mares sat in silence, trying to think about how to start a conversation that they both knew they wanted to have.

“So what are you here to talk to Spike about?” Twilight asked. She was too tired to beat around the bush.

“Well, when Sweetie Belle went to school this morning, she explained to me why she and her friends and SPIKE were out so late last night.”

Twilight’s ears shot up. “Oh?”

Rarity nodded. “Oh, yes. And I don’t think you’ll like it.”

Twilight sighed expectantly. “I never thought I would.”

Rarity took in a deep breath. “Ryan went into the Everfree Forest to explore, and the girls and Spike thought it would be fun to tag along.” She watched as the tired look on her unicorn friend’s face changed to a mixture of total fear and rage. “They took some time out there and came home late.”

Twilight looked like she was absolutely fuming. “Okay.” she said. She tried to calm herself, and it worked to some extent. But not fully. “That at least explains a few things, though there are certainly more that need explaining.”

Rarity furrowed her brow. “What kinds of things might those be?” she asked.

Twilight looked at her friend, eager to share. “When Fluttershy and Ryan came by last night and dropped off Spike, Ryan, as expected, wouldn’t share anything. What was odd was that Fluttershy was so tight lipped about it that she didn’t even open her mouth. Maybe she was afraid of me being mad, but she ought to know that I wouldn’t be mad if she was there.”

Rarity leaned back a bit. Maybe Fluttershy was hiding something? “Well, when Spike wakes up, we’ll just have to ask him about the events of alt night, won’t we?” Twilight nodded. Both mares were quiet for a time. “Is there anything else you need to talk to him about?”

Twilight shifted uncomfortably. “Well...” she began. “Apparently, yesterday, Spike asked Ryan about some... male subjects. Things that mares don’t exactly want to hear.”

Rarity found herself much more interested than she should have been. The little dragon with a crush on her sister talking to another male about special things? Too much.

“What kinds of male things?” she asked.

Twilight shut her eyes and took in a deep breath. She let it out. “I can’t say. So I’ll go get a book.” She left Rarity alone in the kitchen for a few minutes to ponder, then returned with a very unique book: Anatomy and Sexuality; The Drive That Makes Us Crazy. Twilight flipped it open to a specific page; Self Pleasuring. “This is it.”

Rarity’s face turned completely red. Was this what Spike was..? Did he want..? “WHAT IN THE WORLD?!” she shouted unceremoniously. She was taking it in the worst possible way.

“What’s all the racket?”

The mares turned around to see Spike standing in the kitchen archway, rubbing his eyes and looking very tired. It took all of Rarity’s self control not to strangle him. “Spike, we need to speak.” Rarity said aggressively.

Spike walked in suspiciously, but when he saw the book that Twilight and Rarity were standing around, he went into panic mode. “Uh oh.”

“Uh oh indeed, mister.” Twilight said. “Now for ‘The Talk’.”

Rarity was about to rail at him when he spoke up. “Look, all that yesterday, Twilight? That was a joke that Ryan decided to play on you. I just went along with it. Until he started making those innuendos, I had no idea where he was going with it. ThatwaswhyIwentwithhimtotheforest, so I wouldn’t get lectured!”

Rarity looked to Twilight, who had an indiscernible mixture of emotions swirling through her countenance. But she seemed to believe him. Truth be told, so did Rarity, which gave her huge relief.

“Okay then.” Twilight said. “But why did you follow him into the Everfree Forest?”

Spike froze. “Uhh...” His eyes switched rapidly between Rarity and Twilight, both mares expecting to get an answer out of him that wouldn’t be adequate. “Well, I didn’t want to have ‘The Talk’, so I thought I would just go with him. He can take care of himself, so I just figured it would be safe enough. Which it was.”

Rarity was more curious now. “Well, how do you know that?” she asked. “What could he have done that convinced you that he could make it safe?”

“He lived in a jungle for a little while before, remember? He said it was way more dangerous than the Everfree. I believe him, even if you don’t.” Spike paused for a moment, expecting to be asked something else, then continued. “Well, he’s also fearless. That was a plus.”

“Really?” Rarity and Twilight asked at the same time. Rarity continued. “What makes you say that?”

“You know that big mote, the one that had the bridge to the old castle?” Spike asked. The mares nodded. “Well, we were going there, but the last time Ryan was apparently there, the bridge collapsed. So you know what he did?”

Rarity was finding herself more intrigued by Spike’s excited look, but also more worried. “What did he do?” she asked.

“Ryan climbed down the cliffside into the mote, walked across, and climbed back up. Then he had Fluttershy dive-bomb the bridge over so he could hook it up. He almost had to dive off the cliff to catch it.”

The mares’ jaws dropped. The only other pony who had done that was Rainbow Dash, and she had only been down for a moment, since she could fly. Then there was also the fact that the magics of the forest were more aggressive after Rainbow’s stunt.

Twilight finally managed to speak up. “Well. I guess that he is fearless.” Then a thought crossed her mind. “Why were you going to the old castle anyway?”

Spike panicked for a moment. He couldn’t tell her about her birthday present; Ryan had helped get it in secretly last night. He went through his options in his head. “He was looking for a place to do human things, so Zecora led him to the castle to inspect it. It wasn’t structurally sound, though.” Twilight seemed to believe him, and Spike let out a sigh of relief that went unnoticed.

“Okay, so we know he’s fearless.” Rarity interjected. “But how did he make it so safe for you all?”

Spike thought about how he was going to go about this one. They really wouldn’t like this; Ryan was the ONLY reason they came out of that forest last night. But when it came to important things, Spike knew better than to lie.

“We were attacked by Timberwolves.” he began, eliciting a gasp from the mares. “Ryan fought them off.”

“How did he manage to do that?” Twilight asked, astonished. Rarity was at a loss for words.

Spike began his story. “Well, we were walking down an unmarked path. The pack had surrounded us; I think there were like four. The first one attacked him, but Ryan used that weird thing that he always has on him to... uhh, kill it.”

“He killed a timberwolf?” Rarity more stated than asked, still at a loss for words.

Spike nodded. “Yeah. The thing made a really, really loud boom, and it made this blinding flash. When we looked, the timberwolf’s body was, well... wrecked. Wooden bits everywhere. The head was all out missing.”

Twilight swallowed hard, hoping that the sight didn’t affect the kids too much. “Three more came out. One went after us, two after him. Ryan used the thing to kill one of his two, but the other attacked him. He threw it off and then used the thing one more time to blow up the wolf that had us cornered. After that, he grabbed the last one, punched through it, and ripped out some big branch from inside it.”

Twilight and Rarity were feeling physically ill from hearing this. It wasn’t just the violence; it was the fact that the only thing that saved their loved ones was a human of very questionable morality. Rarity tried to distract herself.

“And he did all of this unscathed?” she asked, trying to forget her ill feeling.

Spike rubbed the back of his head. “Not exactly.” he said. The mares listened closely, terrified of what might have happened. “The first wolf bit down on Ryan’s one arm. The one that he punched through... He kind of had to let it bite his other arm to get close enough. He got pretty torn up by it, but he’s alright, I think. Zecora treated his arms.”

The mares sat in silence for a bit, processing the story they just heard. Ryan, the human who seemed resentful of everything in life, who seemed to have a lack of care for anyone, even himself, who had committed terrible acts and had worse acts committed against him, had saved the ones they loved. It made no sense at all.

“That might explain why Fluttershy was so reluctant to talk. And Ryan’s bandages.” Twilight said. She thought for a moment. “I should talk to Fluttershy, make sure she’s alright.”

Rarity nodded her agreement. “Yes. And I must speak with Ryan about giving him a place to live other than that ditch. And thank him for saving Sweetie Belle.”

Twilight chuckled. “Yeah, me too. Maybe Pinkie will throw him a party?”

Rarity thought about it for a minute; she probably would, but he wasn’t too into parties. Maybe if he had time...

“Idea!” she shouted, startling those present. “I have to go to Canterlot for a bit tomorrow, as I told you some time ago. I should bring him along and see if Fancy Pants will design clothes for him!”

Twilight pondered this. But not for long. “Yeah, that seems like a nice idea! I’m sure he could use some new clothes, and it might help him to see Canterlot and maybe the princesses. I’m sure you can get him to agree to come along.”

The group left the library and split up, saying their goodbyes. Twilight and Spike went to talk to Fluttershy, while Rarity started making her way over to Sweet Apple Acres. Before she could talk to Ryan about going to Canterlot, she would have to make sure Applejack was okay with letting Ryan off of a day of work. Twilight said before leaving that Ryan could miss Tuesday, since they would be returning that day. She had no doubt that Applejack would agree.

She trotted on over to the farm at her own pace. She wasn’t worried about anything at the moment. She knew Ryan would be there, she had several ways that she could convince him to stay with her, and she just had a feeling like everything would be fine. She hummed to herself the whole way there, through the streets, and then onward through the paths that led to the Apple household. She put herself in a delightful mood.

At the door of the house, she knocked three times. She knew that Applejack wouldn’t be in at the moment, and neither would Big Mac. She was looking for Granny Smith. When the door finally opened, Rarity did a little curtsey to show her elder mare respect.

“Ah, Rarity!” Rarity was surprised that Granny Smith remembered her name. “What brings y’all here this fine afternoon?”

Rarity smiled gently. “I’m here looking for Ryan, actually. And Applejack, I actually need to find her first. Can you tell me which field she’s in right now?”

“Well, sure!” Granny Smith pointed toward the east field. “She’s right over yonder, little lady. Ah’m sure she’ll be glad to see you; those fields’re tougher than a bolt in a steel door!” Rarity chuckled at the analogy and thanked Granny Smith, then sauntered off to find her friend.

She looked around at the trees as she entered the field in order to get a decent idea of which way to go. Applejack tended to work fast, so as long as Rarity followed the trail of apple less trees, she figured she would locate her friend eventually. And she did. Applejack seemed to be frustratedly attacking a tree ahead of her.

Rarity giggled a bit to herself as she watched Applejack work. A few apples tended to fall at a time, so it was perfect. Rarity waited for a few to fall again, only this time, they were stopped mid air by her magic and held there. Applejack just looked at them, partly in disbelief, partly in anger. She leapt up to try to grab them, but Rarity pulled them up just before to keep her from getting them. Right when Applejack was about to give up, she let them go.

“Having trouble?” she asked trollishly. Applejack spun around to meet her unexpected guest.

“Y’all might say that, little prankster.” Rarity laughed as she approached. “What brings y’all here? Ah never thought ya were the farm workin’ kind.”

Rarity nodded her affirmation. “Applejack, I came here to ask a big favor of you.”

“Oh?”

Rarity recounted the story that Spike had told her and her plans to have Ryan stay with her. Applejack listened intently, clearly very interested in seeing Ryan in a better situation than he was already in. She had balked when Rarity told her he was living in a ditch.

“And so, I need to ask you if he can miss work tomorrow to come with me to Canterlot to meet Fancy Pants and spend some time there relaxing. The best spas in the world, wondrous restaurants, and all the relaxation he’s certainly earned with his life.” Rarity finished. She had a lot to do herself, but she knew that she could get Ryan to at least try to enjoy himself.

Applejack thought about it for a moment. “Alright, Ah ain’t got anything against him going. Ah’ll let him off tomorrow. But Ah don’t know how he’ll respond to being in a big city. He’s a real private guy, we all know.” Rarity beamed. “Just be careful where you bring him.”

“Thank you Applejack.” Rarity replied. “I promise, I’ll make sure nothing bad happens while he’s there. If he agrees...” That was the one variable still unaccounted for. “Can you tell me where he is?” Applejack pointed her to the south field. “Thank you.”

Rarity left the east field in a semi-rush, eager to talk to Ryan about going to Canterlot. She knew that she could get him to stay in her basement; she had cleaned it up already; but this was the hard part. Just thinking about how it might go was getting her blood pumping.

She found herself in the south field before she even knew it, and then, before she knew this either, she spotted Big Mac and Ryan working on some trees. Before approaching, she decided to just watch for a bit and admire- no, observe their interactions.

Big Mac was a beast of a pony; she could see the appeal, though not to one so timid as Fluttershy. He was shiny with sweat, and even from a distance of about a hundred feet, she could see the veins and muscles rippling as they worked. He had to flick his mane away to get the sweat out of his eyes and see where he was kicking.

Ryan was different, yet somehow similar. He had taken his clothes, except for his pants, off and thrown them onto the wagon. He was a bit odd, really; his forearms, as Spike described them, her bandages on them and were looking fairly, but not concerningly, red. His upper arms were well toned, certainly, and had several veins bulging. She couldn’t judge his musculature because she had never seen humans in action before. He shone with sweat, which made the fact that he had very little body fat very clear. He had gained some since the spa day, but now, he looked very athletic rather than skinny. And the scars were very prevalent.

Rarity stopped herself from looking and walked forward. Neither the stallion nor the human seemed to notice her approach. Ryan climbed up into a tree and started picking apples. “Hello~!” Rarity sang. The stallion and human both looked calmly her way.

“Howdy.” “Hey” came the replies.

Rarity nodded to Big Mac, then walked over to Ryan’s tree. “Ryan, I was wondering if I might be able to speak with you?” she asked. Ryan looked down. “It’s a bit important.”

Ryan dropped down from the tree and walked over to the wagon with his clothes. “Yeah?” he asked. “What brings a fancy lady here, wanting to talk to me?”

“Well, Last night, you brought Sweetie Belle home.”

“Yeah.”

“And she told me that she followed you into the forest.”

“I had nothing to do with that.” Ryan quickly replied. “I was going exploring for answers and stuff and she and her friends followed me. Fluttershy came with too.”

“I know. Spike told me everything, and Twilight is going to talk to Fluttershy.” Big Mac’s ears perked up. “She seemed a bit startled by the... events of last night, but she should be fine.” Big Mac relaxed, but continued to listen.

“Good to hear.” Ryan said, referring covertly to Big Mac. “But what does this have to do with me?”

Rarity blinked. “What does it NOT have to do with you? You saved the lives of our sisters and friends! You seem to have no concept of just how much you’ve done for us!”

Ryan shrugged and started putting his clothes back on. “Just another day, really.”

Rarity blinked again. “Maybe for you, but not for us. We are in your debt, you know.” Ryan remained silent. “And I, at least, plan to repay you.” Ryan cocked an eyebrow. “I want you to come live with me. I have an extra room and a basement.” Ryan tried to protest. “Now, now, none of that! I owe you for saving my little sister’s life. You’re going to live in a civilized manner, even if it means not living all lonely.”

Ryan sighed. “Fine, I guess if you really think you need to pay me back.” For some reason, he couldn’t seem to resist her generosity. “I have all my things here, I guess, but this is my outfit. I’ll keep wearing it.” Rarity smiled at him. “I’ll go there tonight, then?”

Ryan nodded and sat on the wagon, ready for a load of apple buckets to put in. “But, umm, there’s one more thing.”

Ryan looked at her suspiciously. “What is it?”

“Well, the girls and I thought it might be a good idea to get you out a bit, see some sights maybe. I’ll be going to Canterlot, the capital, to see a business associate and friend for a few days tomorrow. I talked to Applejack; she said you can go.”

Ryan hopped off the cart. “I... don’t really know.”

“Come on, I know you’ll enjoy yourself. Canterlot has the best spas and restaurants! The shopping is amazing, and I WILL bring you along. Since you seem to be into it, there are some very famous pubs and whatnot there.” Ryan’s attention was taken now. “You can see the princesses and the courts, meet guards and see their methods and things that I know little about. There are all sorts of things that you can do there.”

Ryan thought a bit longer. If Canterlot was the capital, Luna would certainly be there. So would Celestia, and bureaucrats and stuff. They weren’t a problem, and he did need to see Luna. Pubs, that was good.

“And I’ll get Fancy Pants to make you new clothes! The best designer in Equestria will help you out for certain.”

Fancy Pants, really? Who the hell names their child that? “I don’t know if I want more ponies seeing me in any kind of light.” Ryan said.

“Well, you were shirtless when you were working with Big Mac here.”

“Well, he can’t get enough of it.” Big Mac stopped working, walked over, and bucked Ryan in the shoulder. Kinda hard, too. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself.” Ryan returned his attention to Rarity. “He doesn’t try to talk about them.”

“And neither will Fancy Pants. I promise.” She walked right up to him and rested her chin on his chest, looking straight up at him. “Pleeeease?”

Ryan sighed loudly. “If you seriously want to pay me back for helping your sister and her friends, and you’ll stop leaning on me, fine. I’ll go. I have things I might need to do there anyway.”

Rarity ignored his reasoning and smiled gleefully. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said, hugging him tightly. When she extricated herself from him, she did not even notice the nasty sweat all over her. “I just know you’ll enjoy yourself!” Ryan did not think it would suck, but he somehow doubted her words.

Rarity left soon after, saying goodbye to Mac, and left the two males alone. “So what exactly happened in the forest?” Big Mac asked. Ryan told him the story, and the two agreed to go out for drinks that night.

**************************************************************************

Luna had had a long day. It wasn’t nobles that she had to deal with, though. It wasn’t petty squabbles or pointless arguments. She didn’t care about Discord any more, since he had returned. No, she had to deal with a much more pressing matter. The Southern Griffon Colonies were still having trouble with the old government that had turned to terrorism. With Celestia dealing with Equestria during the day, that left it to Luna during that time.

It had to be the most annoying, hopeless situation that she had ever had to deal with. The current government of the colonies was always demanding Equestrian military aid, which was constantly being denied. The Colonial Government was dumping all of the information they had on Luna during the day, then Celestia at night. The worst part; they had to actually go over it.

Luna had dropped hints that they might be willing to provide some form of aid if they could find the stallion Blazer and tell them where he was. She never directly said it, as that would generate a deal to be honored, but she tried to make it very clear. Either the Colonial Governor was too feather-brained to notice, or he didn’t give half a damn about Blazer.

Luna looked at the clock; it was finally time to lower the sun and put the moon in the sky. She looked back at the enormous stack of papers before her and smiled evilly. Horn aglow, she used her magic to blast away all the papers she had read already and burned them to a crisp. She laughed victoriously as she stood up and exited the room.

Starstep watched the whole thing unfold from the corner, slightly disturbed by Luna’s seemingly maddened countenance. He had watched the whole time, but Luna forbade him to look at any of the information. He had told her that, having fought these guys before, he could help. But she still said that there might be some sensitive information that he oughtn’t see.

“Well, that was quite the show.” he commented as he followed his princess out of the room. “I must admit, I did get some joy in seeing the paperwork burn. Always hated that stuff, even as an enlisted guy.”

“Yes, it certainly is tedious.” Luna replied, letting out a sigh of relief. Celestia could start dealing with this stuff now. “And what’s worse, I know that we aren’t even going to do anything, since what we hope for probably isn’t even in there.”

“And what are you hoping for?”

Luna paused in her words. “Information regarding kidnappings of ponies, or something else that would force our involvement.” It was at least half true.

Starstep nodded understandingly. He had no desire to get back into a war down there. When he fought there, the deserts and mountains, plus a few forested regions, had made fighting incredibly difficult, even with magic. Of which the Air Guard had almost none.

They continued on in silence, Luna just wanting to get the moon up so she could ease her mind into relaxation, however hard that might be. She knew that she would still have the Southern Griffon Colonies on her mind. There was also the more specific issue of getting Blazer, Starstep’s old team mate. Then there was an odd nagging feeling that something important was to come soon. She had no idea what, and the official calendar had nothing, so she let it go for the moment.

They arrived at the balcony to a lively Celestia, who was humming a little tune to herself. One of her personal guards was nearby, to whom Starstep nodded, and who nodded back. The guards stood behind in silence as the sisters met up.

“Good evening, sister.” Luna greeted.

“Evening.” Celestia replied. “Lovely day, I would say. I bet it will be a lovely night, too.”

“Glad to see you had a pleasant day.” Luna said with mock annoyance. “I got to sift through paperwork all day that probably doesn’t mean anything. But there’s still half left for you.”

Celestia looked at her sister surprised. “Wow, you got through half? Impressive. I’ll try to get the rest done tonight or tomorrow. And I bet you’re right.”

They sat in silence as they set the sun below the horizon and brought the moon up from below. The land before them looked glorious in the changing light, a true treasure to be had. It was definitely not the Southern Griffon Colonies.

As the moon came up, Luna looked around for her special star. Sure enough, she found it, twinkling in its unique way. But something was different about it tonight; it glowed much brighter than normal. It wasn’t fading and returning, either. It just kept a constant, bright glow, blocking out nearby stars. Luna hadn’t seen it do that before.

“Dear Tia, do you see that star there?” she asked as she pointed up.

Celestia looked up at it. “Yes, the one that you made?”

Luna nodded, ignoring that she didn’t know how Celestia knew that she had made it recently. “Yes. Did you do anything to make it glow this way? I simply wonder.”

Celestia furrowed her brow, not unhappily, but intrigued. “No, I did not. I thought you did that for your guard.” She whispered this to prevent the guards behind from hearing it. “Has anything recently happened that might make this so?”

Luna shook her head. “I don’t know what. But I didn’t design it to do this, or fade and return the way it usually does. There is something odd about this star.”

“Hmm. You might want to look into that sometime.”

Luna nodded and bid her sister good night, then took Starstep and returned to her chambers. Starstep matched her steps perfectly on the way there, making it seem like only one pony was walking through the hallway. Luna had to look back once or twice to make sure her guard was still there. Once back in her chambers, she shut the door and leaped onto her bed.

“Oh, dear, this feels so good!” she announced, rolling around on her bed. “Finally, some time to relax.”

Starstep walked around the room casually, thinking about what he would do for the moment. He had talked to some of the other guards today, and they all decided that they would go out for drinks on Sunday night. Luna would be alone, but she had said that it was fine, as long as Starstep enjoyed himself. But for now, he could still spend time with her.

“Starstep?” Luna said. He turned around and saw that she was lying on her back. “Would you rub my tummy?” He shook his head, amused by his princess’ antics, and obliged. Her belly was quite soft. “Don’t let those eyes wander.”

“My eyes aren’t what you need to tell that to.”

Luna giggled. “What if those are the only things that I’m concerned about?” Time for the game again, and Starstep was determined to win.

“Well, then, I would say that you should be glad that I rub myself all the time; I’ve become quite skilled.”

Luna blushed, but didn’t give up. “I bet you do. In fact, I’ve seen you in action. Most impressive.”

“Oh, I had a feeling that you’ve seen me rubbing myself before. You needed to make sure that my hooves are gentle enough for your delicate body, after all.”

“Yes, I did. And might I say, that you certainly do have magic hooves. You- hey!”

Starstep had moved one of his hooves to Luna’s outer thigh and very slightly moved it back. “What?” he asked innocently. “I thought that you might want a full body massage, get that nice feeling in every possible crevice.”

He would have said more, but he was interrupted by Luna quickly flipping over and tackling him onto the floor. She didn’t seem mad at all, just flustered. She was trying to distract him from speaking. This game wasn’t over yet.

But he wasn’t about to lose this one. “Is it my turn?” he asked. “Make sure you get firm and strong motions, consistent, too, or else my body won’t relax and become as loose as spaghetti.”

Luna tried really hard to think of something to say, but nothing came to mind. When words fail, actions tend to speak louder.

She let herself fall onto him. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to get some oils from my bathroom to get this done right, won’t I?” She pressed herself into him, but kept her face away. “Gotta do it right, right?”

Starstep was about to respond, but the door shot open and a guard ran in. He stopped when he saw the two ponies on the floor, staring back at him. No one moved or spoke. “I’ll leave this here.” he said, dropping an envelope on the floor.

When the door closed again, Luna resumed her attack. “I bet-” But she was interrupted by Starstep licking her nose. She reeled her head back and looked down at her guard, who had a strange look on his face. “What..?” Then she realized. “Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew!” She flew off of him and looked down at her guard, who was chuckling like a mad stallion.

“I guess that your rub will have to wait for now, huh?” He stood up and walked into the library, then to the bathroom. “I’ll return short and shortly.” He had won this game.

Luna went over to her window and looked outside, trying to forget what had just happened. Her thoughts, though, kept drifting to it, and over time, she was less perturbed by it. She was close to her guard, after all.

He returned in no time, but since he did not take a shower, he stank like a monster. “You should have showered.” Luna commented. “You smell.”

“And I bet you’ll always keep this smell in mind.” he replied. “But sure, I guess I’ll go clean myself up.” He left again to take a shower.

While he was busy doing that, Luna decided to look up at her star and ponder. What was making it act so strangely? She should be able to control it, but it was acting on its own. She tried to make it move in the sky, but by the time Starstep returned, it had not budged. She tried to change its color, but to no avail. She couldn’t change its brightness either.

Starstep sat beside her as she went along, watching in silent content. He could always do this; watch her play with her night sky, take in her fantastic nights. It was pleasant. Exactly what he had always wanted after leaving the Nighthawks. And when he was assigned to be her personal guard, he was overjoyed by the prospect.

Luna gave up and sat back, falling in next to her guard. “It really is beautiful.” he commented. “The night sky. I’ve always loved watching the stars.”

Luna smiled, despite her frustration with the star. “Thank you.” They were silent for a moment. “You know, I always make sure to add a star for every pony that moves on. The ponies that fell in battle defending others get special stars.”

Starstep tried to hide it, but the pain of his old memories came back for just a moment. “I’m glad.” He barely didn’t croak out. “I can still see my squad mates up there.”

Luna instantly regretted saying what she said, but it was too late now. “They will always be beside you.”

Starstep nodded, tears beginning to form in his eyes. “Do you know where Serene might be?” he asked. “She was a mechanic for my team before and after the Nighthawks. I... I want to know which star is hers.”

Luna, curious but unwilling to pursue it, used her magic to find the star of this Serene mare. “There.” she said, pointing to a blue one straight above them. “That is hers.”

Starstep looked up at it. “It’s nice.” he said. Luna looked at him; tears flowed freely, and his jaw quivered. “It’s nice.” He whispered it that time.

Luna extended her wing and wrapped it around him, pulling him close. She had no idea who this Serene was, nor what made her so special. She knew that the rest of his squad mates were dead, but he asked for a mechanic mare. She had an idea, one that saddened her in more than one way, but let it be.

The two sat quietly for a time, then went to sleep, neither one wanting to be awake and in the real, harsh world at the moment.

***************************************************************************

Ryan and Macintosh sat in their usual booth, Ryan facing the doorway. Lately, they had been drinking together more often, not speaking, yet not exactly silent. Ryan could drink with him because Mac respected his desire to be quiet. When one wanted to communicate something, they could easily just look at each other and it would come out.

Cinny walked over and dropped off the drinks. “Here you go, handsome.” she said to Mac. “And here’s to you, Mr. Man.” She gave Ryan a wink and turned around to get back to work, walking the way she usually did.

Ryan picked up his drink and took a sip. Mac had silently encouraged him to drink less hard stuff and get drinks that were actually half decent for once. Ryan decided to try it, and it was actually pretty good. He was already buzzed, after two glasses, and he could certainly afford more.

“Canterlot.” Mac said out of the blue. One word was all it took for them to have an entire conversation.

Ryan shrugged. Yeah, I know she’ll bug the hell out of me if I don’t. And for some reason I can’t seem to ignore her generosity, even if I don’t want it. Like when Twilight asked me to show a little faith.

Big Mac nodded. Yeah, I get what you mean. Mah sister gets on me about stuff all the time. Socializing, mostly.

Ryan looked up from his drink. Mares, making life difficult for us males. No different than usual, amIright?

Big Mac chuckled. Yeah.

Ryan sipped his drink. I wish they would just leave me be. I really want to avoid interacting with too many of these ponies. I don’t want them to be exposed to what I am and what I come from. He set his glass down with a thud.

Big Mac grunted. You might be from there, but you ain’t what “there” is. Ryan looked at him. Ah know what you did. Ah don’t feel any different. Big Mac was looking intently at Ryan.

The human sighed. No, you don’t. But others will. And while I am what I am, I won’t put innocents through pain again. I never wanted to before, and I don't now.

Both were silent, as always when they drank and worked, and the conversation ended. They sipped their drinks quietly. When both were out, Cinny seemed to magically come out of nowhere to refill them. “Same.” Both said. Cinny smiled, mostly at Ryan, then left.

“You know she told Rarity to take you in.” Mac said. It was the longest sentence they had exchanged at the table.

“Yeah.”

Ryan watched Cinny as she walked away, flirting with customers, getting extra tips and phone numbers. Ryan chuckled when he saw her grind the papers with the numbers into dust, then put them in that very stallion’s drinks. She only did that to the ones that tried to get all touchy-feely, though. He figured he would have to get to know her better sometime.

He decided not to think any more for the night and just let his mind be still. It seemed that having company was perhaps one of the better ways to keep his demons away...

But not all demons find friendship repulsive.