//------------------------------//
// Emotional Support Demon [Drama] 
// Story: Endeavors of the Enigmatic and Eccentric 
// by Ice Star 
//------------------------------//

Anything that tears me away Starswirl and the Sirens had better be worth my time. The light on my horn flared with my alerted senses, shining a reddish tint through my pocket realm. Around me, makeshift äerint book-trees that boasted my collection were the most notable feature observable by hornlight. I narrowed my eyes in the direction of one of the 'branches'. Had one of the books been shifted? Or had one fallen? 

That could've been the sound I heard. The faint thump still played in my mind, and my ears were still perked forward, anticipating more.

Magic flowed to my horn, morphing the hornlight to a different magic. Shimmering in the grasp of my telekinesis was the hilt of a sword, materializing from where I had leaned it against a box. Virtue's pale blade reflected my aura and aided in letting me see in the near-darkness. 

I likely wouldn't need to use the blade, habit was just habit.

I felt safer with it.

I knew I wouldn't need it when the familiar enrapturing presence prickles along my coat. Blue-green pulsed faintly through the gray of my domain, weaving through the very fabric of this realm.

In tumbled Luna, tiara askew. 

I released the spell I had on Virtue, dissolving it from my grip and letting it return to where it had rested. A trill rumbled in my throat as my last shred of suspicion faded. Only Luna and I had access to this realm. Despite that, I was prone to vigilance... and paranoia. 

"I see you're finally back." A werelight sparked to life on my horn again, flaring bold and crimson. 

Luna rubbed at her eyes, blinking at my werelight. In the glow, I saw that she looked weary; her usually bright, curious eyes were hazy.

I received a mumble that sounded like it could've been a 'Hello, Sombra' before she rose. The gesture was quick and quiet, but without any of her usual fluidity. Before I could say anything else, she placed a kiss on my cheek.

"Did something happen in Maretonia?"

Luna shook her head 'no' and slide her cheek down my neck in an exhausted, languid gesture before nuzzling into my wither. I flicked my gaze to observing how her mane flowed sluggishly just below my muzzle. "You're just tired, then?"

I could try and guess why now, or I could let her rest and ask her when she woke up. Knowing how much my lovely ace of spades enjoyed travel, the trip itself was unlikely to be what had her like this.

I leaned into the awkward embrace we were maintaining as much as I could without disturbing her. The sight of her, the feeling of her magic, and how her coat was so warm against mine were downright blissful after not seeing her for two weeks. 

"Did the conference at least go well?"

"Bed," Luna mumbled, and I could feel the pout in her voice. 

I chuckled and nuzzled into her mane, which flowed around my cheek, no doubt Luna's worn effort to tease me with any amount of affection. "Bed it is."

With one wing draped across my back, she minds her long stride enough that I don't have to do anything to guide her beyond helping her mind her direction. She may be the one who can see in the dark, but right now she certainly didn't care enough to do anything but follow along and keep trying to snooze in my mane. 

She has the advantage of superior height - if not by much. I have the advantage of being coherent enough to know where we're going.

Once we're close enough to the mattress I have, she leaps forward and flops onto it, utilizing one last moment of agility for the sole sake of catapulting into the books I had hidden among the quilts there.

I had books stashed and stacked just about everywhere in here, since it was part of the hazard of having an always-expanding library resorting to impulsive self-education. I was lucky enough that Luna hadn't disturbed my usual tangle of blankets where I had been reading.

"Thank you for that." After rolling my eyes, I took my place next to her. As soon as I was comfortably lying on my stomach, one large blue wing smacked me right in the face, disrupting my horn's light.

"Myurp! Myurp!"

Among the blankets, Luna's giggles were muffled by how she was content to keep lie face down, oblivious to the full extent of my protests to her relentless aggression. In retaliation, I pull at a lock of her mane teasingly.

"Now that you've so unjustly attacked me, will you surrender the reason you're so drained?"

The stifled sounds of a hum of consideration drifted up from the blankets. As a response, I reached to her and closed the space between us by stroking her mane with my hoof. Getting to wind my hoof through her cascading mane always relaxed me and gave me a chance to return the happiness I felt when she pet mine. Feeling how she loosened up below my hoof elicited a purr from me and the steady sound of it coaxed a response from her.

"The dreams of ponies and all the company I had to keep solely for the purpose of politics in Maretonia was tiring. How Tia doesn't wish to throw up after having such interactions border on leeching off of her is... puzzling, to say the least. The Duchess Ice Mirror throws too big, too grand of parties that are difficult not to get pushed into. Too much smiling and chatter of unimportant things."

I scratch behind her ear and move my foreleg down to give her wither a squeeze of sympathy. As much as I detest her, I'm glad to hear that her mood wasn't from arguing with her sister. Long-distance teleportation, fussing over transportation, and the general jumble conferences are hardly desirable ways to spend time to me too.

"Did you have a bad encounter dream-walking?"

I may have an unusual amount of control over my own dreams, but that never stopped me from wanting to be able to dreamwalk with Luna. She came to me with an array of stories she never shared with anypony else about her experiences and the ponies she counseled, sometimes wanting my input on issues when her own knowledge was exhausted or Luna's doubts stuck to the rest of her thoughts. 

"No, I was with Gleaming Tide again. Every night. For two weeks. She still is struggling to listen to me."

My hoof moves through Luna's mane again, continuing the long, steady strokes. I shift my magic so that telekinesis buds alongside my horn's light and reach out, probing my various belongings for a mane-brush.

"Was it anything specific this time?" I produce the blue brush I keep around just for when she stays over and pull it through her mane with expert strokes. Every pony that she visits, Luna brings up with me at least once. Any one of her subjects that she visits on a regular basis is better known to me. The particular name she mentioned was a filly she had been keeping up with for three months since the first dream.

I've heard about each one. I'm not sure that 'filly' is the best word for a young hippogriff, either. Experience with that particular hybrid species isn't one I have much of, and my knowledge is meager and second-hoof. I do have experience in being an outcast in ways Luna doesn't, as much as we've been a merry couple of misfits. 

"I don't think she's eating enough."

I think back to what Luna has told me about this particular kid before. She's a hippogriff filly living in Fillydelphia with her pony father. Luna told me that she was bullied too much at flight camp to stay and thinks that her griffon hindquarters make her look fat. Her diet was specialized not just due to her species, but allergies that Luna says cause her great grief and greater anxiety.

This is one of the cases Luna has that I'm not sure of how specialized my advice can be. "Did she say why? The kid's got a number of reasons to why she might not be. Does she want somepony to see this?"

"Ty says she hasn't been doing so for long, and she certainly doesn't appear to have skipped more than a few days. Oh Som, she just gets sick so easily that I'm worried she'll really be hurt, no matter how long she has been putting herself through this. Body image is plaguing her again, and so deeply is she troubled by these dark roots."

I pulled the brush through her mane again, frowning in thought. "If she isn't sick now, she will be soon. I'm sure it's been... two, maybe three days without food by the sound of it? Did she say anything about how she's been hiding it? That's usually what someone with these inclinations does."

"I'm afraid she didn't admit to much else." Ever since she began her story, Luna has adjusted herself so that her forelegs are folded under her head, though she still lies flat. "Her father does not dine with her and has been working more. I think she simply lies about eating dinner."

"She's still picked on at her new school, isn't she?"

"Not nearly as much. Overall, it has been an improvement. She just feels so alone. Fillydelphia is a city with a mostly earth pony presence. I do not think her father fully realizes that his home town may not welcome his daughter."

Few griffons and fewer hippogriffs can be found the farther east you go in Equestria, save for areas right near Griffonstone. I try to avoid griffons and their frequent hunting. That hasn't stopped me from encountering at least a few, just never in Fillydelphia. There might not even be any there, which is something that would be doubly unfortunate for this filly. 

"Luna, maybe you shouldn't be the one to solve this."

"Som!" Luna protested, squirming. "I cannot leave Ty to harm herself-"

I keep running the brush through her mane as best as I can despite her sudden movement. "I never said you would. I think you should pass this on to somepony who has more access to her if she won't listen to you in her next dream."

"But Som-"

"Luna, there's others who are going to be more immediately receptive to your aid, and whose dreams will call to you even when you're in hers."

"Som, I know-"

"You're exhausted." I bopped her on the head with the brush's handle and Luna squeaked. I'm not one to interrupt her, and I really don't feel very good about doing it. Luna just needs to hear this. 

Everypony else lauds Celestia for engaging in traditional politicking like it's the hardest thing in the world, but nopony else really thinks about what Luna deals with in dreamwalking. As amazing as Luna is at this, I still want to help her, no matter how little ability I have to engage with her subjects the way she does.

By night, she prods through the deepest parts of everypony's minds, uncovering crimes thought buried, traumas, and more than just fillies and colts having problems with cutie marks and siblings. Luna is talking ponies out of throwing themselves of a bridge in the epicenter of their despair; Celestia is hosting dances. Is it any surprise that I find this split outrageous?

As carefully as I can, I use my magic to work through her feathers. The way she is breathing is causing her sides to shake with frustration and the choice that I know is weighing on her. 
"I cannot abandon Ty." 

"You won't." I don't care how many similar conversations we've had, I just want to steer Luna in the right direction. I lean down and nuzzle her, hoping that even if she's exuding gloom on the outside, she might feel comforted. "Writing somepony a royal letter alerting them of an emergency isn't abandoning her. Tartarus, it doesn't even have to be a letter."

Luna whimpers. I try to purr and rest my head on the base of her neck, near her withers. Her mane doesn't hit me as much and I rub my cheek against her. "Grant me this, Luna. Not for me. For the both of us. I'll help in any way I can."

One of my hooves tries to tease at her feathers again. Usually, I would be tempted to start preening them. Luna enjoys it whenever I surprise her with that. I just don't think she is going to want her wings touched so intimately when she's upset like this. Letting my purr fade, I work on nibbling at her crest and mane instead. 

As time passes, I get a few whickers for my efforts. Feathers brush against me as a gentle thank you. 

"Why don't you sleep on it?" I suggest, headbutting her. Luna has always been my protector and a source of strength for me as much as she's confided that I am one to her. Moments like this are the ones when I know that she wants me to protect her too. I've always been used to having her be the one to protect me, to suggest I be the one to get rest, that I be guided from whatever has seized my emotions...

Getting to nuzzle her and see her again is a reminder that I miss this. I do enjoy getting the chance to be supportive and indulge in be the protector too. I pull myself closer to her and purr loudly.

"I love you, Luna."

Under me, I feel Luna twitch and know she expected me to say something different. "Som...?"

"You flew all the way up here just to see me and sleep. Now that you've seen me, I think you know what you should do."

We've always taken care of one another. Rarely does Luna pass up on the chance to remind me that I'm her emotional support boyfriend and I always want to show her that I'll be here for her. 

"Fine," Luna huffs, squeaking again when I nip her withers lightly. "Som!"

"Yes?" I feed the light on my horn again, hiding my smirk within the safe confines of her mane, along with most of my face. 

"We still have to discuss this."

"After you get some rest, we can talk about anything." Purring deeply, I nuzzle her again. This time, I target the spot where I nipped her. No mark is there because I am careful to never leave one. It'd be too much for me, to really bite somepony. Ear nibbles have always been superior. 

"...I ...alright, Som."

We shift, reading each other's mutual want clearly so that we don't end up fumbling or crashing into one another to claim a kiss. 

"Goodnight, Som," she murmurs.

I nuzzle her cheek. "I love you too, Luna."