(Wolf’s P.O.V.)

Looking at the colorful array of flowers that Luna and I were passing, I inhaled deeply and reveled in the scents that were wafting from many of the blooming flora. The sun was setting, yet that didn’t seem to bother Luna in the slightest as we continued to walk through the gardens side by side. Occasionally she would stop and sniff lilies, and once she had asked even me to smell a certain one, but aside from those brief moments, we walked in peaceful silence. I wasn’t sure why she wanted me to walk with her aside from my suspicion that she wanted a brief companionship, but either way I saw it as better than staying in the room I was given. Her magic had done plenty to ease my pain from all my crashes and cuts, but I was still tired and sore; yet I still felt like I owed her since she had helped me by healing my wounds. She healed my injuries free of charge, and she would’ve done so before she knew I was even intelligent. She seems to be kind, but then again, her race has obviously been keeping humans as pets.

Shaking my head to get rid of the negative emotions I felt surging to my heart, I quickly began a new line of thought, But Humanity does the same to horses back home. And the human race here isn’t exactly intelligent...

Lowering my gaze as we continued to walk, I briefly glanced up as Luna let out a sigh. That however was when I noticed I had fallen behind, so I quickly made my way towards her side. Yet the closer I got, I found my eyes, along with my thoughts, drifting somewhere else, or more precisely; the princess’s flank.

I remember seeing different designs on every different pony. One of the guards had a flaming shield... and I think his name was actually something like that. Luna’s is of the moon... yet her name is Luna, as in the lunar planet. I wonder if those markings correspond with their names on purpose.

What would my mark look like?

I felt a smile cross my lips as I thought of a wolf howling up towards... the moon. Heh... such an unintentionally horrible joke, and all to myself nonetheless.

“Would you mind removing thy gaze from my flank?”

I felt myself blush horribly as I looked up and easily saw an embarrassed gaze on Luna’s muzzle. Her eyes were locked on my own, and I found myself oddly wanting to swallow, but unable to due to my suddenly dry throat. While she continued to look towards me with uncertainty, I only offered her a weak smile, one that seemed to make the mildly red hue on her cheeks light up.

“Come... walk by my side where thy gaze can’t wonder...”

(Princess Luna’s P.O.V.)

Once we were walking again, I couldn’t help but take occasional looks at the human beside me who was now avoiding even looking in my direction. It wasn’t hard to spy the blush that covered his cheeks, yet it also wasn’t hard to tell where he had been staring as I had walked. Turning my gaze back towards the flowers, I tried to shake the embarrassment that I had just been gawked at not by a pony, but a human...

(Wolf’s P.O.V.)

I wish I had my notebook more than ever now... hell, I wish there was something I can write a message on rather than continue this awkward walk. For all I know, and it is pretty feasible that it is true, she probably thinks I was checking her out more than anything else! Worst part is, the subject is right there on her flank!

Closing my eyes tightly as I remained facing the other way, I knew that I could possibly try to get my meaning across to her, but the more I thought about it; the crazier I felt. What? She would probably think me pointing at her flank and then the sky would mean something other than ‘your ass has a picture of the moon’. Hell... I can just see her mistaking that as me asking to hit the bed with her!

Opening my eyes as I tried to banish the now lewd images popping up at random, I focused on something a bit more... innocent. Well, instead of innocence popping into my mind, it was now something to fear. With a silent chuckle, I grinned as an image of my bike popped up into my mind’s eye.

Yet when I glanced at Luna from the corner of my eye, I saw her looking back at me, and all semblance of peace was crushed as I felt myself once more start to burn with embarrassment. Our eyes locked, and for a few brief seconds, I saw the redness on her own cheeks return in full force before we both forced our gazes away from each other’s...

(Princess Luna’s P.O.V.)

W-Was he... smiling!?

Forcing my eyes to look in the opposite direction, I looked towards the castle and saw that even if we hurried, it would still spend a decent amount of time with each other. Before I caught him looking at me, or more specifically, my flank, I had been enjoying his silent company as we walked. Now however, I felt only strange and awkward. I was flattered that I apparently caught his eye, but it was deemed rude and terrible mannerisms to stare at another’s flank... unless if the rules have changed in such a way since my banishment.

Tis unfair! He isn’t even a stallion...

Of all the books Tia and her student gave me to read to reintegrate with modern society, not a single one mentioned relations between stallions and mares, yet the only mare that could give me advice on intelligent humans was most likely asleep at this hour.

I suppose a few of my guards can help me in the library...

...

(Wolf’s P.O.V.)

Letting a sigh escape my lips as I sat down on the edge of the bed, I kicked my shoes off as I gazed at the closed door. Luna had more or less seemed relieved when she had bid me a good night’s rest, before she had opted to carol me into my room with her wing. Before I had even had a chance to get her to stay, she had shut my door and left without any warning. Then add insult to injury, when I had tried to open the door to get her, I found it was locked...

Her cheeks were still red. And if I was seeing that blush through that fur color, then I know exactly why she was blushing. I just wish she had at least given me the chance to explain myself rather than just leave like that.

Letting out a tired yawn, I let myself fall backwards onto the plush bed as I closed my eyes, but I knew sleep would be hard pressed at best. My only friend in this strange new land locked me in the room, and now she was somewhere else thinking I was checking her out... well, in the intimate fashion sense as I had been observing her mark.

I need to get up and see if there is a shower in this room... I can feel the grease from my bikes chain and gears in between my fingers and I know there will be dirt or something on me from my earlier crash...

...but I will need to put these clothes back on in the end.

Forcing myself into a sitting position, I looked around a bit before spotting a door at the other end of my room. That is either a closet, or a bathroom. Getting to my feet and making my way towards the door, I felt a bit of the tension in my shoulders disappear at the thought of a nice long hot shower.

I found the bathroom was indeed on the other side of the door, and the shower seemed sizeable enough that I would be able to easily fit into it. There were towels along the rack that was parallel with the sink, and I noticed that it also had a wider than usual basin for where the water would drain into. The mirror was even slightly lower. Everything in this bathroom was designed for intelligent ponies... it was an interesting sight to see the least when everything seemed like it was made specifically for a slightly smaller than average person. I wonder what the princesses bathrooms look like. Like would they have larger baths and sinks, or would they be just like this one?

I suppose I will just need to ask one of them the next time I get the chance.

Walking over to the bath, I pulled the shower curtain to the side and got a good look at the shower, and while it would serve my needs fine, I couldn’t help but groan as I looked at the tub. I could only hope this would be one of the tubs where slipping wouldn’t be an issue, as I would very much hate it if I would slip out and get hurt again.

Nodding to myself as I began to take off my clothes, I made sure to carefully fold them and place them on top of the bathrooms sink, but close enough that I would be able to grab them after I finished drying off. I didn’t need to worry about closing the bathroom door as Luna had obviously locked me in my room until morning, and I knew that would mean I would be stuck in this room until she or sun butt came to get me until then. Shrugging my shoulders, I got into the shower, and quickly turned it on. Of all the differences between them and humans, these ponies still seem to make showers the same way as back home... pretty freaky. But I am not one to complain when it works in my favor.

When the water warmed up a bit, I ducked my head under the spray of water and flinched at how hot it actually felt... that is until it cooled down to a welcoming heat instead of the scolding feeling it had felt like. I let out a relaxed groan as I fully entered the water, and as I stood there with my eyes closed, hot shower occupying my entire hearing, and tenseness leaving my shoulders, I began to truly relax as my earlier memories left me...

...

(Citrus Sheet’s P.O.V.)

Stepping up to the door, I pushed it open with both my fore hooves and only dropped back to all four once I could easily get into the room. The magic spells that alerted any and all staff that clothes or fabrics needed to be washed had indicated that this was the room, and as I made my way deeper into the room, I saw a strange yellow metal thing near the bed, but as I looked closer, I saw the sheets weren’t as messy as they could’ve been, so I knew that it was instead clothes that needed washing.

Making my way towards the bathroom door, I heard the shower running, and I knew that the stallion or mare inside was most likely using it. All nobles and guests tended to take incredibly long baths, and even longer showers, so I knew I would be able to get these clothes out, get them washed, and then return them all before they got out.

Walking into the bathroom, I quickly collected the clothes and tossed them into the easily accessible clothes pamper located underneath the sink, and then grabbed the handle in my mouth and quietly left the bathroom...

...

(Wolf’s P.O.V.)

Reaching a hand out, I grabbed a towel and pulled it back into the shower with me, and then I proceeded to dry off as quickly as I could. I had no doubt that it was night-time now, and while I didn’t mind staying up, I felt utterly exhausted. All my troubles were forgotten in the shower, and while I now only cared about possibly crawling into the bed and falling asleep, I first needed to get dressed.

Sweeping aside the curtains and getting out of the shower, I froze when my eyes met the empty countertop instead of clothes I knew I had left there...

Who took my clothes...?

Wrapping the towel around my waist as I left the bathroom, I entered the main room and saw the main doors were slightly ajar, indicating someone had indeed entered and took my clothes. Yet I couldn’t just go chasing whoever it was with only my towel. Whether it be a pony or another human, I couldn’t just run around in the nude with nothing more solid for cover than a towel. It wasn’t only unsubstantial; it would possibly be more revealing than if I walked around in a flour sack.

I need something that can at least cover my entire body without being revealing... there has got to be something in here. Letting my eyes scan the room, I found my eyes getting dragged towards the bed, and while the blanket would easily be thick, it would be cumbersome to lug it around. The pillow cases were way too small... and I didn’t exactly want to make holes in them for my legs to fit in either; nothing was ruder than property damage.

The bed sheet... I will need to use that.

Quickly making my way over, I ripped the blanket back, before yanking the sheet out from its neatly tucked position, and then with a quick look towards the door, I dropped the towel and wrapped the bed sheet around me and covered as much of my waist and upper body as I could.

Time to go find my clothes!

~Library~

(Princess Luna’s P.O.V.)

Skimming through the books content as I absently noted things of interest, I found myself thinking back to how Max had been when we first discovered his intelligence. He had indeed been interesting, yet he had also tried to hide his intelligence for as long as he could, and then he had kept trying to hide it further along the road from every other pony he met. It may be no secret now, but it wasn’t something he went and gloated about either. Wolf however had showed me that he was intelligent after he seemed comfortable with me being near him.

Turning my gaze towards the open library door, I let out a tired sigh, but when my thoughts returned to him, I felt my cheeks warming up, before I merely forced my gaze back to the tome in my magic. Refocusing my attention solely on the knowledge in front of me, I noticed I was on a page that detailed what the typical date revolved around... nothing of which was new.

These issues... why must they plague my mind? Why must the knowledge be so simple, yet still so hard to obtain? Twilight has her own intelligent human companion, yet she won’t be available for questions until tomorrow morning at the best, and even then... do I really wish to ask such a peculiar question as, ‘has thy human ever looked at your flank while he was smiling’? Surely I could ask it in a more tactful way, but that would just prolong the awkwardness to the question I will ask in the end.

I’m sure she wouldn’t mind answering my questions, yet will she or Max remember any of the problems we ever had in the past... any previous issues that would give them the want to use this against me?

I am overthinking this... they will both be mature and leave foolishness out of their answers. All I need to do is ask and I know Twilight will answer honestly... though it is probably best if we leave Max out of this discussion for the sanctity of an honest answer.

Smiling as I nodded to myself, I returned to the book in my magic’s grasp with a bit more confidence and conviction. If I could find an answer in this book, then I wouldn’t need to bother with asking such an embarrassing question. I could always ask Wolf directly... but that would be even worse than asking Twilight.

Stallions... er, intelligent humans always are confusing...

(Citrus Sheet’s P.O.V.)

I can understand why some mares and stallions want to cover up their humans, but who would spend so much bits on human clothing only for it to go through such extensive damages?

Shaking my head as I carried the clothes back to the room I had visited recently with hamper bag handle in muzzle, I felt a brief smile cross my muzzle as I thought of the clothes in said hamper. From what the washer had said, these clothes were apparently made for a male human, and a large one at that. And that meant that the reason the clothes were in the bathroom was that the human was most likely getting a shower from his owner. And it was hard to see a stallion giving a human a shower... unless if it was Prince Blueblood.

Bleh!

Just the thought of Prince Blueblood and his humans was enough for me to shudder in disgust. I could only hope this human’s owner was a mare, instead of a stallion like our local Prince.

Turning into the room where I was supposed to return the clothes, I saw the bathroom door was completely ajar, and the sound of the shower was no longer echoing from within. Looking towards the main part of the room, I noticed how everything seemed unmoved; all except the bed. The blanket was lying partly on the floor, yet the sheet seemed to be missing entirely.

Shaking my head a bit as I made my way to the bathroom, I intended on replacing the clothes and hamper, and then departing as if I was never here. My job was finished, and I knew better than to linger somewhere longer than I was asked to.

Setting the folded and neat clothes on the counter, I stored the hamper back under the sink after rinsing the handle until I knew it was sterile, and then I turned to leave.

...

(Wolf’s P.O.V.)

What time is it...?

This entire time I had been wandering through this castle and its many halls and just as countless amounts of doors, I had only happened upon five ponies and one other human. The ponies had consisted of four guards standing in front of a two separate doorways, and the fifth pony had been what I suppose was a mare maid. The guards had shown almost no indication of caring I had even passed them, yet the maid had been interested enough to talk to me as if I was no more than an infant. After an irritating session of playing a mime, I got bored and had left her to do whatever it was she was doing at this time of night.

The human however... that naked little bastard had literally growled at me as I walked past. The last time I tried to make contact with another of the local humans, she had understandably growled at me. It would seem all the humans here were nothing more than animals... though it was bothersome to think of my fellow species as nothing more than pets.

Naked, viscous, and stupid pets...

Since these humans are nothing but animals, I can understand why the female growled and tried to bite me. I had grabbed and tried to pull her away from a pony... most likely her owner. Yet that guy I passed... he may have been tethered to the door, but I made no more than a simple contact of the eyes with him and he was already pissed enough to growl. If all the humans here are just as mindless as those two examples... then this is going to be a long and pain staking stay.

Pulling the bed sheet tighter around my shoulders and securing the portion of the lower half as well, I walked around a corner and looked down the hall and saw what I had expected. More doors...

I'm starting to just wanting to go back to my room to sleep...

Taking a glance down the hallway I had just come from, I felt my shoulders sag as I knew my next problem. Yet I don’t even know how to get back to my room...

Coming around a corner, I saw only a single pony here, and from the looks of it, I was expecting this pony to be someone of importance. Yet due to my lack of proper writing materials, it would prove fruitless to attempt any kind of communication with it. Actually... from how the body was shaped, it looked like a male... a stallion more likely. Perhaps he will think I am a lost pet and will bring me to one of the princesses... that might actually work. If not, then I can always just choose to struggle to find my way back to my room.

Making my way towards the stallion that was looking down at his hoof, I found myself wondering how exactly I would get him to understand anything I would try to say. There wasn’t much I could communicate with. I had my body, my hands, and a bad sense of how to mime out something in charades. It wasn’t ideal, but it was all I had to work with.

None of this would be happening if whomever it was hadn’t stolen my clothes.

Stopping behind the stallion, I reached forward and lightly nudged his shoulder. His head snapped over, and there was a disgusted look on his face, but whatever he had been about to say was lost as his eyes instead widened while he looked up at me...

And then down...

“My my, what do we have here?” His eyes turned from disgust to interest, but the intensity was a bit... disturbing. “I must say, what a delicious looking human... where did you come from?” The way he said it while he continued to eye me was enough to put me off, and I felt myself gag in disgust as I took a step back to put a bit more distance between us. His eyes were locked onto my body, and as I took a step to the side to go around him, he preempted my motion to step closer.

Alright, it seems this was a mistake to try and get help from him. Just need to get around him and leave him to... whatever he had been doing beforehand...

(Princess Luna’s P.O.V.)

Dropping the book down into yet another pile, I stood up and turned to my trio of helper guards and cleared my throat. They all looked up with bright stern gazes, almost as if reading the exhausting and irritating books was not as much of a bother to them as it was to myself. “You are free to return to your prior duties, I shall be foregoing this matter until a later date.”

Turning and making my way towards the entrance, I found my thoughts even more distracted than when I had entered. Yet there were tasks I could be partaking in that I knew would easily distract myself from such thoughts, and I knew without a doubt that a brief flight high above Canterlot would be more than enough to clear my mind. Smiling as I continued to walk down the hallway, I felt more than a bit of my previous tension already starting to dissipate while I thought more of flying under my night’s sky.

That is, until I heard the sound of shattering pottery...

Stopping and looking behind me towards the origin of the sound, I knew it could possibly just have been a maid accidently tripping and knocking something over, but something within me compelled me to go and locate the source of the disturbance. Even as I turned around and began to make my way down the hall, and towards the junction I would take, I felt deep inside me it would be odd for even a maid to be up and working at this hour.

Turning and making my way down the hallway, I heard somepony shout in agitation, and then I heard the sound of something shattering. Quickening my pace now, I felt a bit of caution steel its way into my mind now. Then I heard a familiar voice speak angrily from around the approaching corner, “How dare you attempt to assault me!”

Blueblood?

Trotting around the corner and stopping, I found myself observing an odd scene indeed. There was Prince Blueblood, glaring down at the culprit to my earlier... anxiety. At the sound of my hooves resounding off the marble floor, both stallion and human looked over and had varying expressions once they landed on me. Wolf let out a relieved sigh as he looked up at me from his position on the floor where an aura of magic held him. Blueblood looked curious and slightly annoyed however as he said, “Hello princess. I was just taking my human back to my room when it threw a few vases at me. My deepest apologies...”

I felt my eyes narrow as I looked upon the scene in front of me. When Blueblood attempted to start moving, I cleared my throat to stop him, and stop he did. He looked up at me, and that was when I spoke, “Blueblood, release this human at once. I know for certain that he is not under your ownership.”

His eyes flashed with brief worry, before he said, “Preposterous. He has no markings of his owner, so that makes him my human by right.”

“And by what right is that Blueblood?”

He smiled as he puffed his chest out and said, “The right of finders’ keepers, loser weepers.”

Confounded! His mind thinks more like a foal than it should. Shaking my head, I cleared my throat again when he attempted to walk past me, and I said, “That is not how we run things here in Canterlot if I am not mistaken Blueblood.”

“He still has no owner, so that makes me his owner.”

Frowning as a stomped a hoof against the marble, I saw his eyes widen as his ears partially laid flat, and I said more in a declaration than statement, “He is my human, and I order you to release him this instant!”

There was silence throughout the hallway as he store up at me with a frozen expression that displayed surprise, and when my gaze moved over to Wolf, I saw the same in his expression. He swallowed when my eyes landed on his own, before he offered me a weak smile.

Turning my eyes to Blueblood, I saw his eyes look down in dejection, and then Wolf was once again free to move. As soon as he was able to, he jumped to his feet and moved to my side. I watched him to make sure he wouldn’t go too far behind me, and once I was sure he was going to stay beside my shoulder, I looked back at Blueblood and said, “You may leave now Blueblood...”

Wolf and I watched Blueblood leave, and once he was gone, I looked to him and saw him look back. Yet as I was looking at him, I noticed he was lacking something I knew him and max shared in preference. So I voiced my question, “Where are your clothes?”

He looked down, and in a moment his arms snapped in front of him, and I noticed his hands blur a bit near the bottom of my vision. Glancing down, I noticed he was covering himself, and when I too moved my gaze back up, I saw him looking away while his face glowed a bright red coloration. He took a few steps down the hallway, and when he snatched up a discarded bed sheet, he wrapped it around himself starting below his waist to his shoulders. I felt my wings twitch as he stood there with his freshly covered body now hidden behind a thin bed sheet, I'm not sure if I'm going to be flying anytime soon...

After he approached me, he held his hands hour with one above the other, and moved the upper hand in a motion similar to what he had been doing earlier today when he had been writing in his notebook.

“Oh yes... let us return you to your room...”

...

(Wolf’s P.O.V.)

It had seemed that I had wandered quite the distance from my room in search of my missing clothes, but it did come with a bonus; I now had the opportunity to explain myself to Luna... though I more rather than less had to force her into the room before snatching up my backpack. She had seemed embarrassed and more than a little nervous when she left me last time, and this time was none the different... except I was still wearing the bed sheet I had taken from my bed.

I need to make sure she will stay before I dress... I won’t sleep well until she knows I wasn’t checking her out...

Grabbing and turning my notebook around, I saw her look down from my eyes into the notebook, they began to skim it before she nodded. Smiling as I jumped to my feet, I hurried to the bathroom and as quickly as I could threw my clothes on.

Coming out of the bathroom in clothes was more satisfactory than I thought it would originally be, but while I was looking to my bike, I approached Luna and sat down on the end of the bed near her. Grabbing my notebook, I pulled it up and began to write out a message.

‘Thanks for waiting. Now, the reason I was walking around the halls was when I left my shower, I saw my clothes were missing, and I thought I could by chance catch whoever had taken them. That however didn’t go so well.’

She nodded once she had finished reading, and I looked towards her as she said, “That explains why you were walking around without your clothes...”

Nodding my head as well, I turned my notebook around and decided to get right to the point instead of beating around the bush. After several moments, I turned the notebook around for her.

‘Before you had left earlier, I had wanted to explain to you about the situation in the gardens, but before I had even gotten to get my notebook, you had left... along with locking the door, so I couldn’t even get to you. But earlier, I hadn’t been looking at you butt, I was looking at the moon you have painted on it. It was actually interesting to me as your name is Luna, there is a guard with a shield and his name was something like that, and your sister has a sun on her butt and her name is Celestia... I hadn’t been looking at you in that way, but you had left before I had been able to tell you that.’

It took her a few moments to read what I had just written, but over the course of the reading, I saw her cheeks starting to deepen in color, and I now understood that was her version of a blush without a doubt in mind. She looked to the side and let out a brief cough, before she nodded and said, “Understood... I believe now is better than later for you to have informed me of such. Our cutie marks often relate with our names and what our professions are. And they aren’t painted... they are part of us.”

Ah... a tattoo then.

She looked away from me and towards the window and towards the visible moon, and while she did, I looked back down and began to write away again at my notebook. It was just a brief message, but it was a message that I needed to convey to her more than anything else. Looking back over, I saw she was still looking towards the moon, so I reached a hand up and scratched the base of her ear. She first leaned into my fingers, but that was for a brief fraction of a second before her ear flicked and she jerked her head away and looked towards me with wide eyes. Lifting the notebook with a warm smile, I saw her read what I had written. ‘Thanks for the help earlier.’

She smiled weakly as she nodded slowly, and her eyes looked back into my own, before she said, “Yes, well, you seemed to require the help...”

She stood to leave, but when she did, I tapped her side to get her attention, and when she looked back to me, I was already writing again.

‘I wouldn’t mind another walk through the gardens. It was a good experience until the misunderstanding.’

When she smiled, she nodded before she started to leave the room. Watching her leave, I knew I had made the proper amends I needed to keep her as a friend, but as I turned to look at my bed, I found myself thinking back to that confused stallion I had run into earlier. I hope there aren’t many more like him... it's one thing to be hit on by a guy, but by someone that is a different species? And then to have them literally start dragging you away with magic? I may need an anti-magic arm band or something...

Shaking my head, I placed my notebook into my backpack, and then I proceeded to get ready to attempt to sleep. If anything, I was expecting some disturbing nightmares tonight...

Author's Note

Hot damn... I backed out of the tab into a prior one, and I was scared I was going to need to do all this editing over again... I'm so happy that isn't the case.

Sorry about the extended wait on everyone that wanted to see this chapter, and I would normally offer an excuse, but there really isn't a reason for this story. Now, for Rainboom Anomaly and Luna's Week Off, I have proper and legitimate excuses for them...