//------------------------------// // 9- Wash the pain away // Story: Something worth fighting for // by Mr Andrews Pupil //------------------------------// The song did wonders for luna. She felt calm inside for the first time in a long time. She then did something that surprised Alec and her both. She turned and hugged him. It was brief, but the emotion expressed by how hard she wrapped her forehoove's around Alec's neck made up by far. She buried her head into his chest and exhaled all of the fear and anxiety that had been consuming her ever since she had gotten to Halifax. Perhaps even before that. Alec (Shockingly) did not have a "Fanboy- gasm" and instead sat there and felt her body shake as the emotions passed from her to him. It was strange though because Alec then felt something he had never felt before. The urge to protect. The urge to defend this alicorn to his last breath. Alec had never felt this way before. Not about Raymond. Not about his Chevelle. Not even about his..... parents. The intensity was almost supernatural. Every fibre of his being wanted to make sure that nopony/no one would ever bring her harm. This and the mark on his chest had to mean something. It had to. Luna pulled away and blushed ashamedly. "I'm so sorry" she blurted. Alec wasn't hearing any of it. "It's ok. You're under a huge amount of stress and sometimes we need to let it out" Luna smiled. "You're a good friend Alec" "Thanks" He reached out and put his hand under her chin. Alec then noticed something. The mud. Dried mud. All over her (once) clean coat. Luna then noticed it too. She had landed in a swamp and hadn't bathed since. They both then blushed as they realized how much they had been blinded by each other. Alec looked himself over as well. He was still in the same getup and just as equally filthy. "Um, Luna" "Yes" ..... "I think you need a shower" "You mean a bath?" "Nope, all i have is a shower stall" Luna had a stall as well as a tub back in Equestria. She rarely used the stall however. Bathtubs were there first after all. "Oh, that will do just fine then" Alec led Luna to the bathroom. It was mostly white with some tan trim on the sink and mirror. The shower stall sat in a corner with blurred glass doors. Alec approached and opened the door. Luna couldn't help but notice the wide variety of Shampoo's and conditioner's there were. After all Alec was only one person. Alec turned a handle and pulled his arm out as water bagan to emerge from the head. Luna wasn't unfamiliar with the process and couldn't help but interrupt. "I can take it from here" "Ok" Alec acknowledged. Luna then stepped inside the shower. The water around her hooves turned brown for a second but then turned back to clear. Her mane flattened out around her shoulders as she stuck her head under the stream of steamy water. "Use the blue bottle ok?" Alec said leaving the bathroom. "Where are you going?" "I'm gonna put my car in the garage" "Is that's whats behind that big door i saw last night?" "Ya" Alec confirmed closing the door behind him. Luna then went back to soaking herself in the hot water. Her muscles were aching, ( wether because of the inter - galactic voyage or the crash landing she did not know) but the shower was washing the pain along with the mud and grime away. Alec went downstairs and opened the front door. The weather was strange. Sunny. The rays were blinding at first but there were plenty of clouds that gave the eyes a break every few minutes. He got into the Chevelle and flipped the driver's side visor down. He wasn't facing the sun but that wasn't why he had lowered it. There was a button clipped to the inside of it. Alec pushed it and the garage door in front of him began to retract. He then slowly pulled inside and hit the button again to close it behind him. Alec got out just in time to hear Luna's panicked voice from upstairs. "ALEC, COME QUICK!!!!! SOMETHING'S TERRIBLY WRONG!!!!!" Alec scaled the stairs back upstairs two at a time. He didm't know what to expect until he burst through the door to find Luna standing in the shower stall with a look of confusion on her face. "Luna" Alec panted. "Are- are you ok? "No, Theres something wrong with my magic" She replied sorrowfully. "What do you mean?" "Look" Luna looked at the bottle of shampoo that Alec had shown her. She closed her eyes and her horn began to glow. The aura of magic slithered up towards the bottle only to fade as it began to float hardly an inch off the shelf. Luna's eyes reopened and saw a stunned Alec trying to process what just happened. "What do you think caused that?" He asked cluelessly. "I don't know. All i can think of is that because of my distance from equestria, I am suffering in terms of my magical strength - wise" Alec nodded as he kneeled in front of the open stall. He put a hand on Luna's shoulder, despite soaking his arm in the still running shower. "Don't worry. We'll find out how to solve this" Luna looked deep into his eyes for the second time since they met. "Promise?" "Promise" Luna felt better at this reassurance. She was still muddy however. "Alec?" "Yes?" "Could you help me finish up please?" There was a small detonation in Alec's heart. "Of course"