“Sir?”
I blinked and looked away from my book, “Oh, hi Cloud. How’s things?”
My Pegasus friend smiled and shifted his wings in his golden armour, “I’m good. Kind of excited for my sister, she’ll graduate tomorrow.”
Closing my book, I grinned, “That’s awesome! Sapphire Rain, right? I don’t think I ever met her.”
Cloud nodded , and after a moment of hesitation “…I have a favor to ask.”
“Name it.”
He scraped his hoof on the stone floor of the library, “Rain wants to be a screenwriter, and it would mean a lot to her if you would talk to her, and maybe look at her current play; maybe even write her a recommendation for theater school? I know you normally don’t do this kind of thing and I would hate…”
“Of course, I will;” I interrupted him, “Stop being silly.”
“Thank you, Page. This will mean a lot to her.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said and jumped off the couch, “Getting off your shift?”
He nodded, “Yep. Been patrolling the airspace above the city all day.”
“That has got to suck.”
He shrugged his wings, “Not too bad, as long it’s not raining.”
I turned and looked out the closest window, where it was pouring down, before I looked at him again in amusement, “So…”
“Completely sucked today,” He agreed, “At least it’s not cold yet.”
I shivered at that idea, even though… in all honesty, since I grew the wings I haven’t been cold. I could still feel the cold, but being cold? Not since the wings.
“Wait, I thought pegasi were resistant to cold?” I asked with a frown as we left the library.
“There is resistance to cold and then there is flying around in freezing cold rain all day.”
“…Good point,” I agreed, “Come on, let’s find something to eat,” I continued, the book I had been reading into my satchel.
“I kind of just want to lay down and sleep for twenty hours. Something warm would be nice, but the mess won’t be serving anything for another couple of hours.”
“Who said anything about the mess?” I asked, “Come on, let’s see what the chefs have ready.”
That perked him up, “Oh, now that’s an idea… normally that sort of thing would get me reported!”
“See?” I asked with a grin, “Now you are just escorting me around, off duty, which should be commended.”
“Exactly!” he agreed with a grin.
Chuckling, we trotted down the stairs and turned towards the kitchens, “How’re things, anyway?”
“Eh, not too bad,” He said and shrugged his wings, “When it’s not raining on you, the patrols aren’t bad, and I don’t need to fly all across Equestria with messages anymore.”
“Doesn’t it get boring flying circles around the City all shift?”
He shook his head, “While some action would be nice, a boring patrol is a good patrol; it means everything is going right.”
“True that,” I agreed with a nod.
“Besides, it could be worse,” he continued, “Could be standing around outside a door all day. You know, like Swift.”
“That’s hardly all he does,” I said, “Besides, doesn’t he make a third again more than you because he gained a couple of ranks?”
Cloud grimaced and flicked his ears, “…With the paperwork he’s doing, I’ll prefer flying around in rainstorms any day; that’s not what I joined the Guard for.”
“It also means that you’ll never get above Sergeant, Cloud.”
He sighed and shifted his wings, “…There is that.”
Grinning, I slapped the back of his head with my wing, “Come on, I’ll bet you’ll at least make Lieutenant.”
“Lieutenant my tail! Captain at the very least!”
“I thought you had to be able to read for that?” I teased him, before ducking out of the way of his hoof and trotting into the kitchens.
Oh, that smells amazing. What is that?
“My Lord! What are…” exclaimed the white-coated earth pony, her blue mane tucket under a chef’s hat, as she looked up from her stew, before sighing “What can I get you?”
“Buttercup, how are things?” I asked with a smile at, “Why do you always assume I want something?”
“Because you only visit when you are hungry?” She asked with a smile, “I’m afraid I don’t have a lot of things ready right now.”
“Not even that amazing soup of yours? The one with paprika?”
“…I didn’t say I had nothing ready. What do you take me for, a common cook?”