//------------------------------// // Green string // Story: Not Here // by ulcuran //------------------------------// Luna was in a good mood this morning, again. Her mane glowed even brighter than usual days, and the stars in them were dazzling and eye-catching. Each of them a star shining brighter than the moon at night. Why? Because she was going to have breakfast with her friend and sister! Such fun they will have, maybe even her sister would make a new friend? She hopes that they make good friends too, and then she could spend time with her sister and her friend simultaneously! How efficient would that be? After his accident, she knew that he needed some much-deserved reward and as such she had helped her sister make a grand feast for him. And of course, she has made a meal fit for the gods! …okay, she might have burned the eggs, a couple of times, the castle was now devoid of a dozen eggs but still! Her dear sister's assistance proved vital and they finished up their preparation. Luna doesn’t like to brag but she thinks that even the most gourmand of nobles would be amazed at their meal. Celestia told Luna that she would set the table and she should get her friend. Luna told her sister that they could just send one of the many servants available to get him for them. With a shake of the head, Celestia told her sister: ‘’He is your friend Luna, you should get him yourself, he would want that too I imagine.’’ She was right, Luna thought if Laika did something like this she would have wanted him to come pick her up too. So she went to gather him. She was slowly making her way to the room. Halfway through the way, she spotted a peculiar lime-maned maid with a tray on her back. Which had waffles? Oh, she was on her way to bring breakfast to her friend? That would not do, he was going to have breakfast with her… and her sister too. So she moved in to stop the maid before she could proceed any further. ‘’Maid.’’ Luna declared from behind her. ‘’AH! Oh-... Princess, you scared me.’’ Moonlight jumps back and almost drops the tray but she manages to balance it on her back at the last second. Luna doesn’t apologize for scaring her. ‘’Where are thou headed?’’ Luna is almost sure the answer is Laika’s room but she still asks her. ‘’Me? Uhh, I was on my way to Laika’s room to bring him breakfast. Hearty Meal made these amazing waffles today.’’ Those waffles indeed did look amazing but they would not compare to her breakfast. ‘’That will not be necessary you may resume your duties as Laika shall be dining with us and our sister this morning.’’ ‘’Oh, I see… t-that’s okay, let me get Laika.’’ Moonlight's smile faltered a bit. ‘’That would not be required as well for we shall collect him ourselves.’’ ‘’...okay.’’ Moonlight stops for a moment her smile gone now just a neutral look on her face. ‘’I will go back then.’’ Moonlight turns around and only the clattering of the plates on the tray can be heard as she leaves. She didn’t bow. Luna resumes her journey towards Laika’s room. In the hallway towards his room, Luna hears a gust of wind like some very fast pegasus just bolted in the sky. She doesn’t panic, she knows who made the noise. It’s the Wonderbolts, yesterday she informed the Captain to train and keep a lookout in this part of the castle in case something like a balloon crashes or a very stupid pony falls out the balcony trying to save another even stupider pony. And with a shake of the head, she knocks on Laika’s door. She hears him say come in and she slowly comes inside. Seeing him sit on the balcony sets off alarms in her mind but she remembers that she repaired and even made the barrier stronger so her worries are quickly dissipated. Luna doesn’t say anything when walking towards him, maybe he thinks that the maid is here? Perhaps she can scare him a little? No, that would be too cruel in his current state. ‘’Moonligh- Oh, hello Luna.’’ Laika looks over his shoulder and sees that it is Luna and not that maid. She tries to tease him but his response just gets a quick slap to the back of the from him. A light slap of course Luna doesn’t want to add more to his growing injuries and she doesn’t want to see more bandages on his body. They talk more and it seems like Laika forgot that he was going to be dining with her and her sister, silly little pony. He even compliments her, she has to look away to hide the assault of pink on her cheeks. When they start moving she spares a brief glance to his bed, which looks just like a normal messy bed. But something catches her eye, any normal pony would not have seen it but she is no normal pony. Luna sees a single strand of green hair shining above the sheets of his bed… is that… is that from the maid? ‘’Uhh, Luna?’’ Why is her hair in his bed? On the floor or anywhere else she understands since she was in this room for quite some time but why on his bed? ‘’Luna?’’ Did she… did she sleep on his bed?... with him? No, that would be insane, he would not allow it… would he? ‘’What is there like ghosts or something haunting my bed?’’ Luna swears that if that maid did something outrageous to Laika, she would have to bring out the old chopping block! That maid would not dare to do that after he saved her life by trying to sacrifice his own! Her sister would not allow that though. Hmmm, she could get her fired and have all of Equestria know what kind of mare she is. Would that be enough? But…but what if Laika wanted her to do… those things? What could she say then? Nothing, she could say nothing, Luna’s only hope is that Laika is not that kinda stallion but she doesn’t get that impression from him. And if he is?... Luna could help him with his problem, she is his friend after all! That is what friends are for, helping each other. Luna would accept him and help him break those habits and become a better pony. ‘’LUNA!’’ ‘’WAH!...Laika?’’ Luna might have lost herself in thought, she may have even forgotten the person she was thinking about was right beside her trying to get her out of her pit of thought before it got even deeper. Luna reassures him and they leave the room and moving through the marble-tiled halls of the castle make their way to the expansive gardens. Passing by some of the guards and other staff Luna notices their gaze but she pays them little attention, actually wait, some of them are not staring at her but Laika? Their eyes hold the same fear when they look at her. Of course, the mysterious pony who made a grand entrance and the Nightmare Moon walking together makes them nervous. How does Luna feel about this? Well, she doesn’t really care about it that much she kinda got used to it in these months but what about Laika? ‘’Don’t pay them any attention Laika.’’ She thought that with him saving that maid the staff would be more welcoming towards him, maybe that mare didn’t tell anyone about his bravery? That ungrateful wench!...but she does seem to care a great deal about him. Her thoughts don’t get finished as they finally come to the doors of the garden, Laika’s question sparks a little worry in her but it gets put out quickly as fast as it came. Luna opens the doors and steps through with Laika following beside her. Luna always liked the garden, she loved spending time with her sister but sometimes she wanted to be alone and at those times she would to the gardens at night, lay on the grass amongst the trees, and watch the moon and the stars. Due to how big the garden is and at her well…you know, sometimes short temper and with her being Nightmare Moon and all that, the staff didn’t search for her so she was left by herself. Maybe she could invite Laika sometime? They make their way to her sister and Celestia of course teases her. Luna watches Laika look at the table with hungry eyes, he is especially eyeing the eggs, and she hopes that he likes them. Even though Celestia knows his name from Luna and Laika most likely knows Celestia’s name too, they still exchange names. They all sit and start eating their meals. Luna sees Laika take the eggs and eat them with a smile on his face, which brings a smile to her face too. Luna brings the fork to her mouth and goes in to take a bite out of the eggs. ‘’So Laika I heard you saved Moonlight?’’ Luna couldn’t bite the eggs. Her mind wandered back into that pit again at the mention of that maid’s name. Luna knows that she is probably overthinking it. Her hair most likely just drifted there because of the wind from the balcony. ‘’Well I almost died but Luna saved me, hehe.’’ Was Laika talking about her? She kind of tuned out the conversation between him and her sister. But she hears her name so she gives out a small smile. ‘’Yes, when Luna told me what happened I thought about changing your room, but she changed my mind.’’ Yes, she did do that. Celestia deemed him to one of the rooms on the lower floors. But Luna thought he would mourn the loss of the balcony, she even found him there when they first met. She didn’t want to take that away from him because he saved somepony’s life at the risk of his own. Luna can see that his mouth forms a quiet ‘thank you’, she is glad that she was able to change her sister's mind now. They could still watch the stars together on his balcony now. She smiles at the thought and nods at Laika. Laika wanted to deliver his thanks to the chef? When Luna heard that she almost squealed with delight but didn’t say anything. Celestia saw her sister grinning from ear to ear. She wondered if she should tell Laika that Luna made those eggs he ate up so happily but decided against it. Luna should tell him herself Celestia thought, she can’t hold her hand every time. Everything was going swell…then came the time to drink tea. At first, Luna was a little worried that he wouldn’t want to drink tea, and would take his leave but that didn’t seem to be a problem, since his face lit up a little at the mention of tea and he quickly agreed. Her sister pours tea for all of them and Luna and Celestia begin sipping their tea. It’s lavender again? Celestia sure likes lavender, doesn’t she? Well, Luna doesn’t mind, she is quite fond of it too, so she drinks her tea without a complaint. ‘’The doctor says that you should be able to get out of those bandages in a few days, isn’t that great?’’ ‘’Yeah, that’s great.’’ Luna sees him reply and tries to hold the cup in a really awkward way, oh he spilled it, that’s fine they got a whole kettle full of tea. Celestia wipes the spill with a napkin quickly and pours another one. ‘’Thanks.’’ Laika replies but this time he sounds a little frustrated? Huh, well Luna would be a little frustrated if she spilled her tea too. Luna looks at Laika and sees him struggling to hold the cup and before Luna can offer help Celestia already asks. ‘’Would you like some help with that dear?’’ ‘’NO!...I mean no thank you.’’ His quick rejection surprises both sisters, and he drops the cup on the plate this time. Luna looks toward her sister and Celestia looks towards her too. What should she do? She should help him, right? That is what a friend does. Celestia subtlety gestures towards Laika without him noticing and Luna understands. She knows him more than Celestia so maybe he would react more positively to her help? ‘’Laika let us help you.’’ She uses her magic to slowly lift the cup away from him. ‘’Luna, let it down.’’ He says in a tone similar to the one she used when her sister tried to help make the eggs this morning when she failed. But her sister explained that it was okay to get some help sometimes, nopony is perfect not even if that pony was a princess. So she uses the same sentence that her sister used earlier. ‘’Laika, please, everypony needs some help sometimes…’’ Luna says in the same voice Celestia used and shows him the softest smile she can, this would make him understand it made even a stubborn pony like her understand so why not him too? Laika pauses for a moment and Luna thinks that he is slowly understanding but then… ‘’I can hold a teacup on my own! I’M NOT AN ANIMAL!’’ He screams. His voice was the loudest she ever heard him, not even when they were fighting or him falling down from the balcony was it ever this loud. It was like thunder had struck, and Luna and Celestia were like little kittens hearing for the first time. Luna can’t do anything but comply silently and places the cup in front of him slowly. He doesn’t say anything and tries to hold it again with his hoof. Luna can see the cup cracking but before she can say anything. *shatter* The porcelain cup explodes in his hoof. Luna rushes to his side seeing that he is once again injured. ‘’Laika!’’ Luna takes his hoof and looks over it, small bits of porcelain was stuck in his hoof causing him to bleed. ‘’Oh dear.’’ Her sister comes beside them too. ‘’...’’ He doesn’t say anything. Luna uses her magic to lift his entire body into the air, she waits for him to resist or even say something but he is completely silent, she doesn’t know if that is a good sign or not. At the infirmary, the doctor removes the porcelain pieces stuck in slowly and carefully, after removing all the pieces, he starts applying the gauze and after that is done he bandages it. ‘’You are one unlucky pony aren’t you?’’ The doctor says while in the process of bandaging Laika’s hand. ‘’...’’ He doesn’t say anything but a brief shiver passes through him, which makes Luna even more worried. Celestia makes her way over to Laika and puts a hoof on his shoulder ‘’Please excuse me but I must leave now, Laika please if you need anything even just to talk be sure to tell me or Luna.’’ Celestia says. ‘’...’’ Laika doesn’t say anything but only avoids her gaze. Celestia after waiting for an answer that won’t come, removes her hoof and leaves. Luna and Laika leave the infirmary but no words pass between them, he is floating beside her, it wouldn’t be a good idea to let him walk with that. Arriving at his front door she enters and sets him down on the bed. ‘’...’’ He doesn’t say anything but close his eyes. He probably wants to be alone right now. She turns to leave but just before going through the door, she looks back. ‘’Laika…just, remember that we are your… friend, We will do our best to help you… I don't want to see my friend hurt themselves more.’’ She says in a tone barely above a whisper. She leaves and closes the door. She doesn’t leave right away though, no, she stays in front of his door for a few minutes. A few tears dare to make their way to her eyes but she quickly wipes them away. She won’t cry, not here…at least not in the hallway. Why would Laika do that? What reason did he have to act this way? He was angry that much is true, but was he angry at her? She didn’t know, maybe at himself? But why would he be angry at himself, no one was going to laugh or belittle him just because he couldn’t hold a teacup, she knew a lot of ponies who couldn’t. Even one of those elements of harmony couldn’t do it, was her name Applejack? No matter, the point is most earth ponies usually could only hold delicate teacups like that received some training, most likely nobles. So an earth pony not being able to use their hooves to hold a teacup was normal. Did something happen to him last night to act this way? Hmmm but what could that eve-...that maid. She… she did something, didn’t she? Luna took off running. Moonlight was sweeping the floors while humming a happy tune. She was really happy right now, even if she couldn’t have breakfast with Laika, she probably had one of the most amazing waffles in her life…even if she wanted to share them with Laika. That pesky princess. Shaking her head she continued sweeping, a bit harder than earlier though, these floors were definitely getting cleaned! It was fine, they could still spend some time today, it was only breakfast, wait, but what if the princess had breakfast with him every day?! She doesn’t want that! ‘’Thy end is nigh you wench!’’ Moonlight doesn’t have any time to turn her head to the bellowing scream as she gets pushed to the wall. ‘’Agh!’’ Barely able to open her eyes she is face to face with a face full of fury from the princess herself.