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// Chapter 49: Pillow Talk 
// Story: Return of the Ancient Mage 
// by Zoshe 
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It was late into the night, soft moonlight shone in through the windows, and the alicorn sleeping on the bed couldn't remember the last time he felt so raw, so completely exhausted from everything that happened. He might have kept sleeping, if it hadn't been for the pony who was currently digging through his feathers, looking for imperfections.

"Ow!" Clover cried out as a loose feather was pulled free. He was definitely far more awake than he had been before. "What was that for?" He complained as turned his head, only to find a pair of cyan eyes meeting his own.

"Oh!" Luna jumped back in surprise. "Thou art finally awake."

"Of course I am," he groaned as his gold-colored wings started to twitch. "Somepony started pulling on my feathers." He found himself thinking back, realizing that he had no idea when he had crawled into bed. "Say, um... Luna," he asked, unsure of his own question. "How long have I been asleep?"

"This is the third day that thou hast been asleep," she stated matter-of-factly. "We were starting to wonder if thou would ever awaken again."

"Three days?!" Clover exclaimed as he shot up, more than just a little shocked at the news. "What all's been happening while I've been out?"

Luna place a single hoof between his shoulders and easily pushed him down like she would a child. "Thee shalt remain until we hath finished," she ordered as she went back to sorting out the plumage before her. "Tis currently the middle of the night and everypony else still sleeps. Whatever else troubles thee can wait on the morrow."

Clover reluctantly let himself sink back into the cushions as he spread his wings and allowed Luna to continue as she pleased. "I see you're back to using equestrian formal dialect again," he said.

Luna paused for a moment before continuing her labors. "It still feels the most comfortable on our tongue, and we haven't slept much while thee remained unconscious," she said.

"You really shouldn't do that on my account," he said as he started to turn to face her. Only to once again find himself pinned to the mattress under her hoof.

"We said that thou shall remain until we hath finished," she said, brokering no room for argument.

Clover once again allowed himself to relax while the Princess of the Night continued to fuss over his feathers like an overprotective mother. They both kept their silence until Clover finally started to relax, for real this time.

"Feels nice," he said, reveling in the new sensation. "I've never had anypony else ever tend to my wings before."

"Truly," Luna stated with a measure of disbelief. "Surely thou hast had somepony else who could have done so before now."

Clover shook his head without raising it. "No. Not like this anyway. The only creatures who knew what I was before now would be Whisper and Starswirl, and I guess Discord as well, but that's a much longer story. Whisper would be more likely to start pulling on them if given half a chance, and Starswirl and I didn't have that kind of relationship, despite some of the wilder rumors I heard around the court. Besides..."

"Besides," Luna continued for him. "Thou had sealed away thy wings in that amulet we always saw thee wearing." She let out a small laugh. "It certainly explains why thee were so unnaturally skilled at grooming my wings in mine youth."

He gave a short chuckle along with her. "Yeah," he said. "That did help with that."

Luna suddenly stopped her ministrations, whether it was because she had finished or because she had something on her mind was quickly answered. "Clover," she said softly, her tone now sounding a lot less formal. "I must know. Were you aware when I returned from the moon? Why didn't come back to me?"

Clover tensed at the question. He had been afraid of her asking this very thing, more than he wanted to admit to himself. Part of him had wanted to immediately run to her side and embrace her, but he had been afraid. Afraid of the truth being revealed, afraid of what her sister would say, but more than anything... "I was afraid that you'd push me away," he finally admitted. "I wasn't there when you needed me most, and I've never really forgiven myself for that."

The sound of sobbing filled the room, and Clover could feel cold tears bounce off his neck. When he realized that he had driven her to tears, he pushed himself back up and turned to face her. Now that he could see her more clearly, he could see that Luna was a complete mess. More than just her tears, he could see the signs of exhaustion clear on her features with just a hint of anger behind her eyes. Her coat and mane had clearly gone unkempt for a number of days and dozens of feathers stuck out of her wings at odd angles.

Luna pushed him back until his back pressed against the back of the bed. She began to pound on his chest without any real force behind the blows. "You idiot," she sobbed. "I would've been happy just to have you back again. I'd have given up the whole world just to have another day by your side. Don't you ever do that to me again."

The words hit Clover's heart like a knife as he found his chest soaked with her tears. "I'm... I'm sorry," he said as he wrapped both his forelegs and his wings around her, holding her as close as he possibly could. His own tears began to well up as he leaned down and kissed her softly. "I'll never do that to you again. I promise."

He sat there quietly as he waited for her to respond. When she did not, he found that she had cried herself to sleep. So he sat there in the middle of the dark room with one of the most powerful ponies in the world pressed against his chest and sleeping for the first time in days. He hoped he'd be able to keep that promise, he really did. However, if his own turbulent life had taught him anything, he seldom had any real control over it.