Home Away From Home

  I shot up when there was a loud knocking at my the front door. I looked at Lyra who nudged me to answer it. I slid my pants up and threw a shirt on before walking to the front door. When I opened it, there was a white stallion wearing royal armor. He didn't even say anything before I nodded. He bowed his head respectfully and I did the same. He turned around and flew off. I shut the door and went back to the bedroom.

"Lyra, Princess Celestia is calling." I said groggily.

She let out a sigh before rolling over to look at me.

"Alright Adam, see you then." She replied.

  I sighed and walked over to the bed. Lyra sat up and looked at me. I gave her a reassuring smile and wrapped my arms around her.

"Come on Lyra, it's only a week." I said.

"A week, Adam. A week. You act like that's not a long time." She said.

"Just try not to think about it. The more you think about it, the longer it takes. It's what I always do." I replied.

"So, you don't think about me?" Lyra asked.

"No, I don't think about time. The more I think about it the longer it gets." I answered.

Lyra let out another sigh.

"Okay. I'll miss you." Lyra said as she nuzzled my chest.

"I'll miss you too hon." I replied as I kissed her on the head.

  I stood there at the station with my Achievement Hunter jacket on and luggage in my hand. There was a commotion to my left and I looked over to see the six mares coming along. They saw me and waved and I waved back. As they walked up the train pulled up. The speed of the train blew wind in my face. Finally the train came to a stop and the doors opened. We boarded and took our seats.  After a few minutes the train doors closed and it parted for Canterlot.

"Welp, settle in I guess. We all know how long this ride's gonna be." I sighed.

"Got your smokes Adam?" Twilight asked.

"Ah, yes. Thanks for reminding me though." I replied.

  Yes. I smoke. But not as much as I used to. I only smoke when I go to Canterlot. Back on Earth, life was pretty stressful, and that stress worsened when I ended up in Equestria. The reason why I don't smoke as much is because, with Lyra here, she's a pack-a-day. Just, better for you. A lot better for you. But without Lyra, the stress comes back. Plus when Princess Celestia asks for me to come to Canterlot, it usually means she has work for me to do. Celestia allowed me to smoke because  of my stress. I let out a sigh and leaned my head back against the seat. The rumbling of the train massaged me to sleep.

"Adam!" Twilight shouted in my ear.

"Gah! What?!" I panicked.

"We're here 10 seconds." Rainbow said.

"Oi!" I shouted.

"Right, sorry." Rainbow snickered as she walked off the train.

  The rest of us joined her quickly. The feeling of snobbery and, "I'm higher-up than you" came back to me. I walked ahead of the girls and kept my eyes forward. The guards standing at the entrance moved aside and I nodded respectfully, and they did as well. As I walked through the doors, I was greeted by the two maids who always serviced me; Shooting Star and Coffee Pot.

  They were like sisters to me (and don't worry Lyra knows about them and she's okay with it), and with how long I've been here, they've always seen me as their big brother. Yes, eventually we confessed about those feelings. They're both undeniably cute, bot attitude wise, facially, and... bodily wise. Believe me, Lyra is the only one for me, but damn...

  Shooting Star was the cheery, loving one. She had a bright blue coat and a blue mane that was a few shades darker than her coat with a white stripe running through it. Coffee Pot had a light brown coat and dark brown mane. And like I said, both really fucking adorable.

"Welcome back Master Hunter!" They said gleefully.

"Please, Adam is fine." I replied.

"Well, shall we take you to your room then, Adam?" Star said with a bright smile on her face.

"Sure." I replied.

  They both bowed slightly and walked ahead of me. As they walked in front of me, being only 22 years old, I couldn't help but stare... Lyra was good looking, but they were a couple years younger, so their bodies were as well. It wasn't long before I looked up and saw them both glancing back at me with smiles. I averted my eyes and blushed. I heard them giggling silently in front of me.

I can't help myself people.

  They both stopped by a pair of double doors and waited for me. I stood in front of them. Their smiles grew and they opened the doors for me. I smiled and walked past them and set my stuff down. I heard them walking up behind me and I turned around.

Close... really fuckin' close...

"Please enjoy your stay Master." They said in unison.

  I smiled and nodded and they bowed and walked away, giggling. They shut the doors behind them and I let out a sigh. I snapped my fingers in disappointment.

"Egh, fuck." I said before flopping down onto my bed.

Knocking was the reason for me waking up again. I slid off the bed and shuffled over to the door. I opened it to see Princess Luna.

Bow down you fucknut!

  I did what my mind told me and I knelt down.

"Hello, P-Princess Luna!" I panicked.

"Calm down Adam. You don't need to be so formal with me." Luna sighed.

"O-oh. Right." I said.

  I stood up and looked Luna in the eyes. We both smiled and hugged. Luna and I go pretty far back, back to when I first ended up in Equestria. When I was brought to Celestia and she allowed me to stay, I always went out at night to smoke. And on one of those nights, I encountered a certain mare of the moon...

Flashback time.

I looked up at the starry night with a sigh. Smoke blew from my mouth and dissipated with the cool midnight breeze. I coughed slightly and took another puff. As I continued smoking I heard the beating of wing flaps. I looked to my left and saw a dark blue mare with a flowing blue starry mane sitting next to me, looking out the sky. I huffed before I continued smoking.

"What do you think of the night?" The mare asked.

I glanced over at the mare again before back to the sky.

"Well," I began, "I certainly prefer the night over the day. It's when everything calms down, gets all the flustered thoughts out of your head. Plus the sky. The day is either cloudy or clear, while the night is filled with gorgeous sparkling stars, along with the moon. And the darker the night, the brighter the stars."

A few seconds past and I didn't hear the mare say anything. I looked over and saw her staring at me. She looked, pretty happy with my answer.

"Is that all?" I asked.

She nodded and I looked back to the sky.

"So, why are you out here?" I asked.

"Because I am Princess Luna." She replied.

My first instinct was to chuck the cigarette off the balcony and kneel immediately. The Princess simply laughed and walked over to me. She placed a hoof on my shoulder and I looked up.

"Please, don't act so formal. I am not my sister." She said.

"O-oh, sorry." I said standing up.

"I understand how you feel. We're both treated differently." She said.

"And, I'm guessing you're trying to say we can treat each other equally?" I asked.

"Good guess." Luna smiled.

"Well, I don't see a problem with that." I chuckled. "Adam. Adam Hunter." I said.

"Nice to meet you Adam." Luna replied.

"And you as well." I said.

Afterwards, I pulled out another cigarette and Luna began telling me about her past. Quite bizarre, and makes me glad that I didn't show up sooner. Once she finished I told her about my not-so-great past on Earth. Then I told her about how I wished to go to a place where people could be more understanding and where I didn't have to worry about life all that much.

Then Luna took her attention to my cigarette...

"Why do you... smoke?" She asked.

"Stress. Life was, *really** stressful back on Earth. And smoking seems to get rid of that stress." I answered.*

"Well, there's not much stress here in Equestria, why do you still do it?"

"Well, other than the fact that I've just been teleported to a different world and nobody knows how I got here or how to get me back, I have no idea." I replied.

"I apologize." Luna said.

"Nah it's fine." I sighed.

"Well... can I try."

Damn near choked on my cigarette.

"Can I ask why?" I asked.

"Hey, life could be stressful for me to." She said.

I chuckled and nodded. I held it out and she used magic to levitate it over to her. She took a small puff before coughing lightly. Smoke puffed from her mouth as she coughed.

"You don't inhale it, just, lightly breath in." I chuckled.

She sighed and tried again. This time, no coughing. I saw the tip of the cigarette burn as she puffed. A sigh left her mouth along with all the smoke. A small smile spread across her face as she gave my cigarette back.

"That is, kind of slightly stress relieving." She said.

"Yeah well, that's your last time." I replied.

"Why?" Luna asked.

"Well for one, I don't feel like being sent to prison by your sister, and two, this stuff could be bad for your lungs." I answered.

"Then why do you do it?"

"I dunno. Hasn't effected me yet. But I don't wanna take any chances with you."

We continued talking for some time and eventually I finished my cigarette. Afterwards I went back inside with Luna. We kept talking until the night became day. Luna said she was going to leave and we said our goodbyes. After that night, Luna and I kept meeting up and talking, and eventually came to like each other quite well.

Present time.

  Luna and I sat on the bed talking. We always talked about what's been going on, or about random subjects. Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Enter!" Luna shouted.

The door opened and Coffee Pot poked her head through.

"Master Hunter, Princess Celestia would like to speak with you now." She said.

  I nodded and Coffee Pot bowed with a sweet smile before leaving, closing the door behind her. I let out a sigh and stood up from the bed and Luna joined me as I walked out the door. She told me she had to go take care of a few things and we said goodbyes. Before we parted ways we hugged once more. We walked away and I turned the corner to see Shooting Star and Coffee Pot standing there.

"Hello Master!" They said gleefully in unison.

"Geh! Christ alive, please, don't do that girls." I sighed.

They both giggled and apologized.

"Would you like us to lead you to the meeting room?" They asked.

Yus...