A door.

Sireen was standing in front of a door. This door was like any other. It was the common wood brown, and had a simple handle with no ornate symbols or carvings on it's surface.

She tried to look past the door, but it slid where ever her eyesight went. She would spin around, only to come face to face with it time and time again.

Why is it here? She wondered

She looked down, and was now standing on the door. She looked up, and the door was floating above her. She went cross eyed, but all it gave her was a headache.

Why am I here? Sireen hummed and sat down on her haunches, her wings flared out to their farthest span, then after a brief stretch, folded them back down against her. She sat there and pondered how she'd gotten here. She could be dreaming, or this could be an illusion. If it was a dream, it was very off kilter to the ones she normally had. Dreams about flying, or being surrounded by baskets of delicious bat-berry fruit. Dreams of home, Dreams of her family. Her mother, father, and her sky pack. Batpony groups that lived separate from the main branch family were called that. She used to find that so weird when she was a foal.

It could be an illusion too. Sireen hummed louder and nodded her approval. That had to be it. It couldn't be a dream because it wasn't like her to be random. The main question now, was how she got trapped in it. Was it a spell cast by an intruder to the barracks? She gasped.

Was it the mysterious FD? Had they done this?

Sireen shook her mane and sighed, noticing two things: the first that she had none of her armor on, and the second, that when she exhaled, no sound came out. She tried it a few times to be sure, and was rewarded with silence. That was very odd for an illusion. Illusions didn't block out sound unless they were specifically designed for that. Sireen stood, frowned at the door, and lifted a hoof. She knocked three times and then flicked her ears forward, hoping to hear something in return, but when nothing came back, she blinked in confusion and cocked her head.

How am I supposed to leave if I can't enter?

She took a few steps forward, watching as the door slid back the same distance. She'd figured this out a little while ago. She was close enough to open the door, but could come no closer than that. Any attempts to try made the door slide away at the same speed she advanced. This door was starting to irritate her. She couldn't look around and see any other forms of light or darkness. From this knowledge, she was unable to tell how much time had passed. If she tried looking in her peripherals, she would just see a blurry door instead of a clear one.

Again she knocked, this time in a different pattern. It was a guard code used for specific entry into areas deemed restricted even by equestrian soldiers. Withdrawing her hoof, she waited, but was once again given the silent treatment. After four different knocking codes, silence, and no other options left to her, Sireen looked to the handle.

She feared opening it the moment she saw it.

Something about the door and the fact that it was just sitting there so complacently made her uneasy. She had reached for the handle a few times prior to trying knocking, but ended up pulling back just before touching the handle. Now, without any other course of action to take, Sireen steeled herself and reached a hoof out. She was still hesitant, but she managed to touch the handle finally.

She gulped. Her throat was dry. All the fluids were now exiting through her pores for some reason, and she never was one to sweat so spontaneously. Her hoof moved down anyway. She had to open this door and see what was on the other side. With a flourish and a silent yell, she wrenched to door open and stared inside.

Her eyes widened.

"Y-you're......."

"Is she okay? Is the injury serious? I don't actually know her all that well, I mean we talked but from what I know she sleeps at the castle, is that normal? Maybe one of the other batponies knows her? If she needs a place to stay I can assure you she is safe with me and my son. Does she need a place to--"

"Mister Crest!"

Iron jolted into a sitting position and locked eyes with the doctor across from the desk he and his son were sitting at. Crisp was curled up in one of the comfortable couch like chairs, with a blanket draped over his body to keep him warm. The young colt had not been too happy about being improperly woken up during his nap and had been ready to fire off several unkind words at his father for such a rude action.

Until he'd Sireen and her injury.

The kid had gone full blown medical know-it-all in the three feet it took him from his father to the prone batpony mare's side. He'd even started crying until he'd been scooped up and placed on Iron's back. Iron thought it was very sweet of his son to be so worried about Sireen, and he'd made sure that no one had bothered the child since their arrival at the hospital. Iron had, to his equal parts chagrin and gratitude, had to borrow a nearby cart that the cafe owned to haul Sireen's limp form through the sky safely, and once he'd gotten her there, things had only gotten worse.

Initially the doctors thought Sireen had forcefully stayed out and had fallen asleep on the job. From there, they were about to fine him for removing an officer from their post without clearance, and then they were going to call the local guard to come pic Sireen up!

In the end, Iron had to use his professional diplomatic skills and with the poise and grace properly becoming of a member of the Diarchy’s court, got the doctors to listen to him.

A less charitable mind would have said he had screamed at the top of his lungs until they were all looking at him with slightly worried and/or irritated expressions.

He then calmly explained the situation as it had actually taken place. With a lot of heavy breathing, waving of forelegs, and hastily inserted apologies to his son for being so loud. Once the scenario had been declared an accident and not a military mishap, he'd been ushered into an office to do paperwork with the head doctor on the job at the time. An hour of running through legal red tape and four cups of coffee later; Iron was more than ready return back home and resign the whole situation to the dusty halls of memory.

Then the doctor had opened up a whole new can of worms and asked him where Sireen lived and where her nearest relatives were. He'd stupidly answered that he had no idea. That made things far harder and prolonged the conversation even longer. The doctor was currently rubbing his nose bridge with both hooves before he too took a hefty gulp of coffee. He looked down at his desk afterwards.

"I merely asked where Sireen lives. If you do not know the answer, that is fine. I'm sure when Sireen wakes up we can get her information personally. If not, I can contact her leading officer and get the information from him."

As Iron sighed and nodded, the doctor leaned back and sighed too.

"Still, It’s rare for a citizen to be so worried over a Thestral, and even rarer that you'd willingly house one. From what I've heard you babble about, you know her on a fairly intimate level. Do you mind me asking what you're relationship with her might be?"

Iron closed his eyes and nursed his cup in his hooves, and as he did he angled his eyes over to Crisp who was snoring cutely with his head burrowed into his hooves, his ears occasionally flicking in response to the two adult stallions voices.

"My son and I met her one evening when we were heading home from work and school. Crisp wanted to go to the park, and I figured it'd be a nice change up from our usual route. Crisp has had a fascination with the Thestral tribe ever since hard times fell on us, and so when he saw Sireen at her post near the park center, he just about exploded with happiness. I...It has been a long time since I’ve seen him so happy."

The doctor smiled and slanted his gaze to the young foal.

"I was a father too once, had a beautiful daughter named Black Water, she was a medical soldier for the guard for about nine years." The doctor's voice trailed off before Iron spoke up, his curiosity betraying him as his ears perked up.

"I...I didn't know that, is she doing well?"

The doctor snorted, and set his cup down.

"I hope so, haven't spoken with her in about twenty years."

Iron's ears drooped quickly and he dropped his gaze to the remaining coffee in his mug. The doctor frowned, and then looked at Iron with a somewhat worried gaze.

"Please understand, the reason I ask is because of what you said earlier in our questions. When we asked about your status with her, you merely said 'single'. I was hoping you might be able to elaborate a little bit on that?" He flipped his ears forward and after a moment, Iron warily nodded.

"W-well I’m single, you see. I was married once, but well...when my wife passed away, Crisp and I ended up moving to the nighttime. Made things easier for him and I honestly. I work for the courts and Crisp was being bullied in the daytime classes, the transition made things run a lot smoother home wise."

"Ah, that's what I was afraid of."

Iorn blinked and looked up.

"W-what?"

The doctor rolled his chair until it was facing a sideways position to the father and foal.

"It would seem you and I have similar histories Mr. Crest. My daughter hasn't spoken to me for almost twenty years because I broke up with my wife during her childhood. Her mother, Green Waves, always felt like Black Water should become a gardener and not put herself in the line of fire. I felt like she was doing us proud by becoming a guard. In the end, we split up for more reasons than that and I won custody of our foal. I always felt like Black water could be better off with me, but in the end it molded her differently than I expected and she ended up moving out as soon as she was old enough. She used to say that I was so harsh, and I always told her it was tough love. As I once said, 'I’m just getting you ready for the guard.' Filly never even notified me when she'd been accepted. She just left a note saying she'd entered the guard and that she hoped I'd 'forgive mom' one day. Pah! She didn't understand what I was trying to do. Still...she was right in the end."

Iron flexed his wings and then re-positioned them.

"Oh?" He murmured.

"Yup, in the end I realized that what Black Water needed was a mother figure in her life, and I took that away from her. Don't get me wrong, you're a great father, anypony can see that, but a word of advice?"

The doctor leaned forward and smiled warmly.

"Don't let the past hold you back, else the past will hold him back too." The stallion pointed a hoof to Crisp before suddenly standing and walking around his desk and to the door. Opening it, he looked back at Iron with a cheery smile.

"Well, I think we should be on our way, you look like the last thing you need is a lecture and more paperwork right now. May I give Sireen your address so she can find you?"

Iron was silent for a moment, his eyes locked on Crisp, before he shook himself and stood, and after picking up Crisp by his nape and setting the foal on his back, made his way to the doctor. As he exited the office and began walking, he spoke.

"I don't think that will be necessary, but thank you. Sireen was at our house when she collapsed, so I think she knows where we live...However..." Iron paused as an idea came to mind. The pegasus went over to a nearby help desk and nabbed a pen and paper. Jotting down something quickly, he gave it to the doctor and then forced a smile.

"I'm sure she'll like that information just as much."

As the doctor left and Iron exited the hospital and into the mid-day sunlight, his smile vanished rather quickly, replaced with a sad frown.

He was suddenly quite lonely without anyone walking next to him.

"You're......" Sireen felt the words die on her lips as a regal blue alicorn smiled at her from behind the desk she sat at. The other side of the doorway led to an office of sorts. If Sireen remembered correctly, it was Princess Luna's study. She had only been there a few times while in the company of a higher officer. A large dark wood desk stacked with paperwork and two comfy chairs sat almost right up against the far wall where her Highness currently sat. Behind her was a large balcony doorway that was closed and covered in deep navy blue curtains. Around the room were bookshelves with eons of knowledge filling their spaces, and at one end Luna was sitting in her own hoof crafted business chair behind a desk and was resting her head on her fore hooves while reading over a scroll. She looked up at the mare and smiled.

"Ah, hello Sireen Wind, We were expecting thee. Please come in, have a seat." The Princess gestured with a hoof to one of the two chairs nearest Sireen's side of the desk. The batpony gulped, and took a few steps into the office, expecting the door to slam shut suddenly. When it did not, she looked back at it curiously. She looked from it to the Princess with a ample amount of confusion on her face.

"Is...Is this a dream?" Sireen asked as she cautiously crawled into one of the chairs and sat down. Luna's eyes sparkled with mirth as she shrugged.

"Yes, and no. Right now you and I are both asleep and I figured it'd be a perfect time to talk to you. I merely accessed your dream world and made myself known to you. So you know, this really is me and if you need to verify that simply seek me out once you wake and ask what my favorite flavor of ice cream is. We'll say its strawberry sherbet. "

Sireen nodded very slowly, her eyes open wide, her expression one of scrutiny.

"Oookay, y-you do know that sherbet ISN'T ice cream right, Princess?" She watched as Luna hummed a merry little tune and shuffled through some paperwork on her desk.

"Oh yes, we find it humorous to to do things like that. Ask me what my favorite sport is and I'll say hoofball, but I'll actually mean soccer. Ask my my favorite color and I'll say black, even though black isn't a color, so on and so forth. Mine sister has a habit of trying to correct this, but she will never succeed."

Luna giggled and slid a few sheets of paperwork over to Sireen.

"Now, on to business. Recently you met with Iron Crest and Crisp Words, is this correct?" She tapped a picture that was attached to the files, and Sireen noticed it was the first time she'd been with them in the park. That was rather...unnerving. She was unaware that anyone else had been around. When Sireen nodded, Luna continued.

"I see, and you were with him earlier this previous night yes?"

"Up until morning came, yes."

Luna nodded, and lifted another sheet of paper, also with a picture attached to it.

"Aaand, is this why we got a letter this morning notifying me that you had collapsed?" Luna asked, raising a brow.

Sireen almost cursed as she remembered what had transpired that night.

"I...y-yes, I was at Iron Crest's house after my shift ended. I was chatting with him when I noticed what time it was. I was too late though....I sorta fell off the couch."

Luna nodded and pulled the documents back with a smile.

"Mm, that explains things much better than your captain did. He was notified by a Mrs. Fuzzdrought, that you'd disappeared from your post shortly before dawn, and did not come back."

Sireen winced, remembering she was supposed to meet back up with the mare before leaving.

"From there, we got word that you'd been hospitalized and was being brought in by a civilian....See where this is going?"

Sireen groaned and put her head in her hooves.

"Y-yes I do, Princess. Basically it looks like I ditched my post and went off on my own without telling anyone else in my squad what was going on. I was MIA."

"Correct. Now Judging by your track record, You've been spot on for most of your career with the guard, and this isn’t something to get in serious trouble for, so I'll be overriding the captain's decision and instead giving you a stern lecture when you wake up about the Thestral sleep disorder and how it's dangerous to stay up so late."

Sireen couldn't help but giggle as Luna smiled and waggled a hoof at her admonishingly.

"I promise I'll try to look guilty?"

At the Princess's approving nod she stood. The princess went back to her desk and started working on paperwork. A few minutes ticked by and then Sireen coughed, trying to get the Princess's attention. The alicorn didn't look up, but grunted.

"Mm?"

"U-um, Princess, how DO I wake up from this?" Sireen asked, cocking an ear back.

"Think of Iron Crest." Luna said whilst scribbling with a quill. She lifted the sheet of paper and squinted at it before grumbling and crumpling it up in her magic and tossing it into a waste bin by her desk side. Sireen blinked and flipped her ears forward as the sentence was spoken, unsure if she'd heard the Princess correctly.

"W-what?"

Luna started scribbling on the new parchment, and Sireen suddenly felt like this wasn't the Luna she'd been talking to moments ago. The whole room suddenly felt like it was't really there...Was she dreaming now?

"Uh...think of Iron Crest.......Think of--" She was abruptly tackled from behind and sent sprawling across the room by an unknown force. Instead of soft carpet meeting her cheek, she felt rough grass and dirt slam into her cheek. Clambering back up onto her feet she blinked and found she was suddenly on a training field with several ponies. All of them were wearing cadet gear and looked to be having a hard time trying to defeat their opponents.

"ON YOUR FEET CADET! I'll NOT HAVE ANY POSSIBLE SOLDIERS OF MY PLATOON SLEEPING ON THE JOB!"

Sireen looked across from her and found herself facing another batpony in royal night armor. He snorted and flared out his wings, hissing at her. Above them, the night sky was filled with white clouds that closely resembled foals playing together, and the castle was a rather ominously colored metal grey. Luna was sitting atop her balcony cheering them on with a box of popcorn in her hooves and a t-shirt that said "blame my sister" on its surface.

Ah....yeah. Sireen was dreaming again. She smiled wickedly and lunged at the guard, hissing back in glee.

She woke an unknown amount of time later, to the sound of quiet chatter and a throbbing pain in her left wing. The smell of cleaning materials and medicine washed over her nostrils as she blearily opened one eye, then immediately shut it as dark blue light above her pierced her vision. Grumbling, she tried to rollover, but the movement made her nauseous and she groaned.

"Oh hey she's waking up. Sireen?"

After a few seconds of allowing her eyes to adjust to the weird lighting, she found herself in a hospital bed. The lights in the room were turned down giving and enchanted with a blue glow that seemed rather pleasing if she didn't look directly at the bulb. She tilted her head to the left and found two other batponies standing near her bedside. One was female, the other male. They were two of the guards in her platoon. The mare was closest to Sireen and had her helmet off for the moment, Sireen found it sitting on the desk next to her bed.

Most batponies were of similar coloration. Grey pelts, bluish hair, and golden brown eyes that glowed faintly. However, their was a decidedly obvious dimorphism between the genders being that while mares had manes, stallions instead sported a blue or black dorsal fin that arched down their napes. These two weren't anything different from that, save that the mare's eyes were a light blue instead. It was due to a submissive gene if she remembered her sciences correctly.

They were probably the only two guards Sireen knew at more than a glance. The mare's name was Whisper Shot, her special talent being that she could fire projectiles with barely any sound. Very useful when one needed to fire a cannon and not be heard. No one was really sure how she did it either, but the proof was there when cannon fire rained down on the enemy without so much as a crackle or boom.

The male was named Crescent Mold. He was more or less really good with tactics and could make a bad situation into a really easy one rather quickly if given a moment to quietly think things out. Sireen had gone to basic training with them and had also been put in squads with them on several occasions. They had more or less bonded as a trio, save for the fact that they rarely ever hung out and barely talked to one another.

Which made it odd that these two would be at her bedside when she'd been injured. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the concern, she just hadn't exactly expected it. Whisper smiled toothily and shook her mane out before looking at Sireen.

"Sup, Siren? Sleep well?"

Sireen groaned and gnashed her teeth. She hated that nickname. Whisper nodded at the motion.

"Uh huh, I figured as much. You hear that Crescent, she says you’re an idiot too." Sireen couldn't help but smirk as Crescent furrowed his brow at the mare.

"I'm standing right here next to you, she didn't say a word and your still gonna rib me?" he growled gently and smiled to Sireen.

"Good afternoon, Sireen. We were told to keep watch over you while you slept. Creepy right?" At Sireen's shrug he leaned against the bed.

"So from what I heard, you had a little chat with Princess Luna?"

Sireen tilted her head at Crescent. "How did you know that?"

He chuckled.

"Strawberry sherbet. About an hour after the doctors left, you started mumbling it like a mantra in your sleep. Only guards who are talking to her in the dream realm do that, so what did she say?"

Sireen frowned.

"I was talking in my sleep?" When the other two nodded, Sireen grabbed her pillow and covered her face with it. Whisper leaned over to Crescent and whispered in his ear.

"I told you it wasn't good news, she's probably on standby now."

"I doubt it, she was smiling while saying sherbet."

"And she was frowning and growling right after, that can't be good."

"Whisper, you growl in your sleep all the time."

"What? I do not! How the heck do you know that?!"

Sireen mumbled into the pillow before lifting it off and slowly sitting up. Whisper and Crescent stopped their chatter and looked to her.

"So......?" Crescent asked, leaning his head slightly past Whisper's chest, the mare decided to put her head on top of his, right between his ears. He frowned flatly up at her. Whisper purred and closed her eyes. Sireen looked out the window at the night sky. It was so odd. She wasn't in trouble, that much she knew, but she didn't know WHAT to say either.

"I was told I would be getting lectured for misplacing my time, and....that's it."

Both ponies looked at one other before blinking owlishly at her in tandem.

"That’s it?" They said together. Sireen nodded, looking back at her wing. It was in a cast and was wrapped against her barrel rather snugly too. She looked around and found what she was looking for. A clipboard was on the desk next to her and she started reading through the doctor's notes. While she did, the other two ponies present chatted between each other.

"Well I don't think the captain is aware that Luna changed his ruling, should we tell him?"

Sireen read over the paper, finding that she had a fractured wing bone did not sound pleasant, but it could have been worse.

"Well yeah! I mean what if Sireen thinks she's supposed to just go back to barracks and Captain yells at her for disobeying an order she didn't know about, wouldn't that be embarrassing?"

She flipped a page over and continued reading.

"Hmm, you're right. Which one of us should go tell him?"

Sireen frowned deeper when she saw that she would not be allowed to fly for a week at least, and she was going to be put on injury leave until her doctor allowed her back onto active duty.

"I say we decide this like soldiers, with hoof wrestling."

Sireen flipped to the last page where she found a prescription for some pain medications and a small note left by the doctor. She read it over and then looked up to her companions to find they had commandeered the other bed and were currently hoof wrestling over who would go tell the captain. She sighed and slowly crawled off the bed, wincing as her wing was jostled by the movement. Whisper appeared to be winning the fight so far but Crescent was stubborn and the two wouldn't end it until one had completely admitted defeat. Shaking her head, she walked to the door, looking back as she opened it with her good wing.

"I have to go see the doctor, and then I’m going back to the barracks. Will I see you two back there as well?"

Whisper grunted and stamped a back hoof, her snout crinkled as she concentrated.

"Nah, I got a patrol to go on, Crescent here has a captain to go chat with, and won’t that be fun, Moldy?" Crescent grunted back and flexed his foreleg muscles and grinning back at her.

"Oh no, y-you're going to chat with the captain, I'm going on that patrol hooves down!"

Sireen rolled her eyes and left the room with the door open. The hallway had a few pony nurses and doctors moving about. A single, middle aged unicorn was sitting up in a bed off to the side of the hall. In his magic was a long red string that he was moving and reshaping into different structures. His lower right hind leg was in a hastily made splint and he looked like he had fallen into a trash compactor. Pieces of rock and weeds were stuck in his hair and she could smell his stench from where she currently was. When Sireen passed by him he grinned with a grimy set of teeth that was missing several of its compatriots. He blushed and closed his eyes half way dreamily.

"H-hey thar... I-I must have died'n gone off ter heaven, cause yer'n angel b'fore ma eyes, erm I right pretty lady?"

Sireen paused in her stride and bared her her fangs with a snarling, making the older pony yelp and scoot back up against the wall.

"Perverted old geezer..." She mumbled as she went around the corner. The old pony waited till she was out of sight before putting a hoof to his chest and sighing. His ears pinned back and he looked down at his string with a furrowed brow.

"Huh, tha' weren't no angel....just' 'nother she demon."

Sireen heard him speak the words even from ten feet down the hall and she closed her eyes and sighed. She wanted to go back and show that old codger how much of a demon she could really be, but in the end her mother's words came rebounding back into her mind.

"Never let their words get to you, if you do, they really will be telling the truth and you won't win that fight, my little bat. You'll become the monster they fear you could be."

Sireen stopped short of the door to her specified doctor and was about to knock when she heard voices on the other side. Realizing she wasn't the only patient present, she stood by the door and stood attention, as if on duty. The voices were low and slightly off because of the door but Sireen could still hear the worried inflections of a female, and the assuring male doctor's voice from within. Whatever they were talking about, Sireen's mind went elsewhere.

Was she just that, a monster? No, but it still hurt that she was viewed as such. She watched as a nurse carted an empty bed passed, the mare forcing a smile at her, and disappeared around a corner. The mare was not adept at hiding her actions and the batpony noted how she rolled her eyes and frowned as she'd gone out of sight. Sireen grit her teeth, and flicked her tail in frustration. This was just like Iron Crest's situation with his wife's family. They judged him without knowing the positive side of him. They judged Sireen without knowing what she was capable of...

The door clicked and Sireen stood perfectly still as it opened.

"T-thank you doctor, I really do appreciate your concern for my daughter. She's going through so much--oh!" Sireen felt the air current next to her as the mare jumped.

"I-I was unaware you had guards!"

Sireen tilted her head to the mare, and found she was not alone. Hidden just behind the mare's front legs was a young filly that, upon first look, appeared to be pink in color, but when Sireen took a second look, she realized suddenly that the foal had no fur on her entire body. She was looking at the actual skin of the filly. The little foal was wearing a pink sweater over her barrel, a beanie over her head, and booties to help keep her feet warm. Sireen's heart skipped a beat when she noticed that the sweater said 'world’s best daughter' across its front.

The filly was looking up at Sireen with silent curiosity and awe. Sireen flipped her ears back and smiled gently down at her, causing the foal's eyes to widen and a small smile to creep across her face.

"What do you mean? I don't have guards stationed at my--oh! Sireen, good heavens you can scare ponies when you do that." The doctor was another middle aged unicorn with light brown fur and green eyes. His cutie mark was a heart resting against a pillow and wrapped in a blanket. Sireen frowned and looked to him.

"My apologies, but I saw you left me a note and I felt it pertinent to come see you about it. Besides, I don't think I scared this brave mother and her courageous daughter, now did I?" Sireen leaned down and winked at the foal, causing her to giggle and scamper behind her mother's rear legs. Sireen lifted her head back up to the mother and found her eyeing her foal curiously.

"Odd...she's not smiled like that in a long time...I...um, thank you for the compliment...miss?"

"Sireen Wind ma'am, and it's my pleasure. I have a bit of a soft spot for foals." Both females shared a smile before the mom ushered her child down the hall. Before they disappeared, Sireen caught the filly waving to her and she blushed as she waved back.

"Well, that was rather kind of you, Mrs. Downtrack has been having a lot of trouble with that filly. She has Hypotrichosis, and a rare form of it too. Please, come inside and we can talk more." Sireen flicked an ear sideways in confusion as the doctor closed the door behind her.

"Hypo...what?"

"Hypotrichosis, miss Wind. It is a disease that affects the hair follicles of ponies and other mammalian species, causing their hair to either fall out over time or never grow at birth. That filly has the rarest form of it where it affects the entire body. I'm afraid she'd going to be getting a lot of sweaters, scarfs, and blankets for her birthdays and holidays. Now, I do believe you came to see me about this. Mr. Crest left it here for me to give to you when you woke."

The stallion stood behind his desk and slid a small slip of paper to her. On it was an address for a business and an office number. Next to that was a small note that read:

"Meet me at work when you are healthy enough to do so, and we can talk more--Crest."

Sireen smirked and gripped the paper in her good wing claw. She watched as the doctor sat in his chair and pulled himself up to the desk. He put his hoof on the desk and smiled generously.

"Now, for treatment purposes. You have a wing fracture along your left radius bone, that's this one here." he used his magic to gently grip the proper area of her wing, using her good wing as an example. Sireen nodded and he continued.

"Apparently, you fell off a couch while going into post hibernation state, and landing on it with most of your body weight. Add to the fact that you were losing control of your motor functions, Mr Crest informed us that you didn't try to stop yourself from falling and he was too slow to catch you, such a pity, that. It would've been quite romantic."

Sireen blushed and went to interject but the doctor steamrolled right over her attempt at a comment and continued.

"As per the usual treatment, we have put a healing spell on the affected area and have put it in a hardened cast. You are not allowed to fly for at least a week, after which you are to come in and let us remove the cast and inspect the healing thus far at that time. Your captain said something about wanting to talk with you about some kind of misconduct but he has yet to return any invoices on that end of the ladder, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Still, it's best that you check in with any superiors before going on medical leave, as they will probably want to fill you in with military stuff and what not. Other than that, you are free to go."

Sireen nodded and stood. She was about halfway to the door when she paused, and looked back.

"Doctor, I noticed that there wasn't a regular fill out form in my paperwork, why was that?"

The doctor looked up at Sireen from his desk and smiled, a glint in his eye.

"I was under the impression from Mr. Crest that we would not need to fill that form out, ma'am. That being because your only close relatives are Mr. Crest and Crisp words."

Sireen's mouth dropped open and she stared at him incredulously for several seconds before she quickly left. She found out from Whisper and Crescent that her armor had been shipped back to her bunk at the castle and that Mrs. Fuzzdrought was being notified about the current situation. That left only her talk with the captain and then she was going to find Iron Crest and they were going to have a chat.

Sireen growled and grinned wickedly as she exited the hospital and into the night.

"A nice little chat about how falsely filling out hospice paperwork is AGAINST THE LAW!"
She loathed that she had to walk to the castle.

Iron sighed and flipped another sheet of paperwork over. His eyes scanning the page for the targeted information. To his dismay, it was not on the back form either and he groaned. Flipping it back over to the front, he scribbled 'missing route number, section six-B' before slipping it into a rather large stack of papers with similar red markings.

"Third time is the charm Mrs. Andlewood, third time..." He mumbled.

His desk was cluttered with papers from all different sections of the castle departments. His main job? Check for errors in paperwork that was meant for higher courts to deal with at later dates. His job saved everyone else from falling apart, or at least that's how he saw it. The most recent form was one he'd seen repeatedly in the last few days, and it kept coming back with missing parts that were necessary to be filled out. The mare in question was wanting to have a court hearing with Princess Celestia over a land dispute between her and her neighbor, but the mare kept missing sections of the form in her frustration.

She practically glared a hole through my chest today when I spoke her. If looks could kill, I’d be a dead stallion. he thought.

If you were dead, who would take care of Crisp?

Iron paused and sighed, rubbing the side of his temple with a hoof before sliding the next sheet in front of him. This one was a new one at least.

"I need to lay off the fifth cup of coffee in the morning, starting to argue with myself." He chuckled nervously and looked over the form. All was well with this piece and he slipped it into a smaller stack on the right side of his desk. He took a moment to glance at each pile with a smirk.

"If these ponies would just slow down and go over their work first, my job would be a lot easier."

"Correct me if I'm wrong Iron, but you wouldn't have a job, if they did that."

A younger stallion's voice broke out from his open doorway. Iron looked up and looked the arrival over. He was a soot coated earth pony with darker socked forelegs and lighter back hind legs. A brick red and gold mane and tail covered his nape and rear, and Iron's eyes met with shimmering acid green ones as he locked gazes with the other male.

"Fissure Quill, I assure you, these nobles can't seem to spell their names right without my skills. If they suddenly started doing paperwork correctly, Celestia would wonder if a dark magic cult had arisen in the name of grammar."

Fissure laughed lightly and trotted in, hopping over the back of a chair and into it before slouching and sighing.

"Well, need any help? I got my stack done about ten minutes ago and there isn't anything better to do." Without waiting for an answer, the stallion grabbed the nearest stack and started leafing through it. Iron smiled, and nodded regardless.

Fissure had certainly been a better part of Iron's job, and the two were practically friends while at work. Off work was something else entirely, as Fissure had his family just over his shoulder. When Iron had asked if they could hang out one night, Fissure had informed him that he wouldn't want to because his family knew about Iron's....familial issues with some of Fissure's neighbors.

Apparently some of Noble's remaining relatives lived right across the street from Fissure. Fissure swore up and down that they had given up looking for Iron and Crisp, choosing instead to remove them from the lineage records and forget the whole ordeal, but Iron chose to remain on the defensive about it. He had to make sure Crisp was safe, and instead the two would hang out on their breaks or for a little while in the court cafeteria after their shifts were over.

Iron smirked and slipped the sheet of paper he was working on into the left pile.

"Oh come on, what happened to Iro? Isn’t he supposed to be here tonight?" Iron grabbed another sheet, while Fissure shook his head and gripped a nearby extra quill in his mouth. He mumbled past it.

"Nah, Iro is up west with the other dragons. Finally took some time off."

That made Iron stop, and the pegasus looked up in surprise.

"Really? That old lizard finally took some vacation time?"

When Fissure nodded, Iron leaned back in his chair and tossed his quill onto the desk with a wing tip. He chuckled and then looked down at his desk.

"Finally, that old codger has been working his tail off for the past what? Thirty years? Hell, I was just starting when he'd hit his twenty fifth year, right?"

Fissure slipped another sheet aside and flipped an ear sideways as he thought, before nodding as well and returning his ear to its standing position.

"I think so, I was so happy to see his desk empty this evening. When I contacted him, it said he'd gone tail hunting."

Both stallions laughed at that. Iro was a red dragon that had been in Celestia's court for several decades. He liked helping others, giving wholesome and deep advice to those who needed it, and he could make some damn good tea. Sometimes he'd get called to the kitchens when Celestia ordered a specific cup, because he was the only one who could brew it just right.

"Making good tea is always about patience and care, you must never rush through a brew. Otherwise it burns the mouth and leaves a horrible aftertaste only Discord would love." Fissure said, mocking the dragon's old voice rather closely.

The two quieted down for a bit, doing more paperwork and chatting here and there about their night to night lives.

"So how is Crisp doing lately? I heard he passed all his exams except one....quite shocking that."

Iron had beaned him over the head with a wing when he'd started poking fun at Iron for his floofy appearance.

"Ha ha, laugh it up colt-cuddler." Iron quipped back, watching as Fissure gripped his chest and gasped, laying over the side of the chair in mock drama.

"Oh egads! You’ve figured out my horrible secret, yes, it is true. I dream of you every day Iron, truly I do." Fissure held the pose a second or to longer before springing back to his sitting position. Iron sat there and glared at Fissure until the male waved his hooves defensively in front of him.

"Oh come it was a joke, Iron! Seriously, I don't really think of you like that, ever. No offense meant, but you aren't really my type, and I know you know that, so you can stop it with the glaring. No....No not that look either, stop it... Stop... STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!" Fissure's voice raised as Iron's expression grew happier and happier until it was borderline creepy. After Fissure had pushed himself into the recesses of the chair he was in and started making hissing noises, Iron relented and chuckled, going back to his work.

"Ha, too easy. You shouldn't freak out so loudly, someone might think we are up to something."

Fissure grumbled and grabbed another piece of paper.

"Yeah, very funny old colt. I'll have you know that Spring Board and I are gong rather strongly as of late, and I don't feel that he's going to let go of me, just for a sky high rocket ride."

Iron frowned.

"Whoa...tone it down there bud."

Fissure blushed and nodded.

"Still, thank you for not telling the others about my... interests, Iron. It means a lot to me." Fissure said quietly as he finished another sheet. Iron paused and looked over the colt for a second, before shrugging and standing up.

"Why wouldn't I? You've been kind enough not to blab to those stuck up unicorns across your street about my situation, it's the least I could do."

Fissure rolled his eyes and stamped a hoof against the table.

"I told you they aren't interested in you any more, Iron. I personally asked about you and they literally raised their brows and went 'who ever are you yammering about?' I didn't tell them where you lived or anything just that I knew you were related to them and at that they asked me to leave and that they didn't want to hear my 'lies and slander' about their family. I hardly consider it fair that you would be helping me when I haven't helped you in the slightest!"

Iron was walking around the side of his desk and to the door when Fissure reached out and grasped his hoof, looking up at him with saddened eyes.

"I am thankful for what you've done though, Iron, and I wanted to make it up to you. A few nights from now, Springboard and I are going out for some fun in town. Clean fun, don't raise your brows at me, buster! Anyway, I wanted to know if you and Crisp wanted to come along."

Iron paused, letting Fissure lose his grip on Iron's leg before he sighed.

"Ah, I'd love to, but Crisp has school, and a friend of mine recently got stuck in the hospital this evening, in fact I should probably go check on her, I haven't--"

"Wait, a mare!?"

Iron felt Fissure yank him around, wrap his hooves around the stallions neck, and pulled him forward until they were almost touching foreheads, the colt's eyes were wide and filled with merriment. He knew that look too well.

"Soooo, Iron's found himself a girl eh?"

"No, NOOOO! Fissure, it's not like that, and she is not my mare friend, we are just friends and--"

A rather firm knock on the office door made both males snap their heads to the entrance with glares. Said glares turned into heated blushes as the two pulled apart and coughed in embarrassment. Standing in the doorway was Sireen. She was looking at the two with confusion and embarrassment, but it was masked by the armored helm she wore.

"Ah...Am I interrupting anything?" Before Fissure could retort, Iron shoved the colt out of the chair and quickly walked past Sireen into the hall. As Fissure got up, Iron closed the door on him. He looked up at Sireen and felt his cheeks heat up.

"I...ah...no, no you were not, my colleague was just being an ass." Iron mumbled.

"I heard that, Iron, and mine looks better than yours ever will!"

Iron blushed even more and briskly walked past Sireen.

"Ah shall we take this somewhere LESS obtrusive? Greeeeaat, I knew you'd understand, Sireen, right this way!" Sireen was suddenly set about face and marching the opposite direction with Iron at her side. The stallion was obviously flustered by the current events and Sireen felt it best to merely stay quiet until they were wherever it was Iron had planned on taking her.

Weirdest moment yet with him, that is for sure, she thought as they rounded a corner and promptly dodged a maid and her cart of cleaning supplies. After a few more feet was between them and his apparent office, Iron sighed and chuckled.

"Sorry about that back there, my colleague likes to ah....well he's good at making awkward moments." Iron's chuckled faded and he frowned at her.

"But, seriously, I do not like him like that, and no I am not a colt cuddler, Please do not think that about me!" Iron said, clicking his hooves together in a prayer pose. Sireen was silent for a moment before she smiled mischievously and nodded.

"I didn't think that for even the slightest moment."

Iron visibly relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief, lowering his head.

"Oh thank Celestia for--"

"Because I've seen how you look at my rear plating."

Iron gasped loudly and snapped his eyes up to her, a heavy blush radiating off his cheeks, and his mouth open like a fish. His wings snapped open at his sides and he immediately fought to push them down with his hooves while stuttering.

"I--I don't...I wasn't looking at..." a hoof poked his chest as she grinned.

"Believe me, colt cuddlers don't look at a mare like that." Sireen held her grin a moment longer before the expression Iron was giving her made her crack up laughing. Iron sat there looking like a puppy that had been drenched in water and put on display.

"Wow. I think I felt the breeze from how cold you're being right now...are you really the injured one here? I think I broke something...oh yeah, my pride." Iron mumbled as he kept walking. Sireen giggled and then winced as her wing twitched. She had been having it happen every time she shook her body too much. Iron noticed, and his eyes failed to hide the worry that danced across his face.

"You ah, doing alright?" He asked while closing his wings. Sireen felt her cheeks warm up as his head tilted and angled past her to spot her bandaged wing. She abruptly leaned her body to the side, forcing him to see her good wing.

"I'm fine, Iron, really. It's just a fracture, I'll be good as new in no time!" She grinned broadly and watched as Iron's brow lowered and he frowned at her. He continued to frown at her until the smile wilted and the silence became awkward. Sireen turned and parallel him, walking down the hall more.

"Aaanyway, how is Crisp? I heard you brought him with you but I didn't see him in your office."

"Does it hurt?" Iron asked, standing. He held his expression, even as Sireen faltered in her step and flipped her ears back slightly. From where he was standing, he could just make out the corner of her eyes, and she seemed...nervous.

"N-no, of course not. I'm a guard, Iron Crest, fractures don't even come across as painful to us. We are a lot tougher then--"

"How badly?" Sireen wasn't sure why, but when he spoke those next words, his voice had changed. It wasn't cruel or hurtful...just firm, father like, almost. He was cutting through the bullshit and diving right at the truth. Sireen felt like she was a batling in a corner and she'd been caught with her hoof in the fruit jar. She slowly lowered her ears as Iron came up next to her. Each clack of his hooves managed to make her lower them more, until they were pinned against her head.

Iron stood on her left, his eyes staring down at the mare who now held her head lower than his own. She dared a glance up at him. She found a frown, but it was glazed with concern. Iron spoke again, softly this time.

"How badly, Sireen?"

"It...It twinges when I walk too strongly, or if I laugh....shakes my shoulders...It's not bad, really! I'm a night guard, I’m---mmmm?!" Sireen felt her mouth close tight suddenly as Iron draped his head over her neck. His left fore hoof rose and wrapped around her chest plate as his cheek rubbed against the back of her ear near the base of her skull. Iron sighed, softer then a midnight breeze, and quieter than a floating cloud.

"...I'm sorry." Iron held the pose for a moment, and she felt him sit his weight as he went to nuzzle her cheek, but then he stopped. The leg lowered, and he stepped back from her. His eyes were on the distance hallway's end when she looked at him. She mumbled.

"W-whatever for?"

Iron looked from the hallway to his feet, before standing and walked again. This time Sireen made sure to follow along. Her ears perked forward and her blush fading. An apology wasn't what she had expected at all from that scenario!

Iron and Sireen went around the corner and entered a main lobby. There was no receptionist present and so Sireen watched silently as Iron checked himself out and they left. She contemplated telling him that he was still on shift, but with the way things had gone so far, she wasn’t even sure she'd reprimand him for the hospital stunt he'd pulled.

They walked for a spell, maneuvering out a pair of double doors and into a cultured garden entrance, and then through a fancy stone archway that had the words 'Canterlot Court House' engraved into its curve. It was here Iron took a right and started heading in the direction of home, or at least that was where Sireen assumed he was now headed. After a moment longer he spoke without making eye contact.

"I apologized because unlike a soldier, my reflexes are not the best, and I failed to catch you in time. You sustained an injury in my home, and now you are hurt and unable to work." He turned his head away. "So...I'm sorry."

Sireen frowned, lifted a hoof and punched iron right in his wing bicep. The stallion flinched, hissed, and wobbled a few steps away from her.

"...O-Oooooow.....W-what the hay was that for?!" Iron grit his teeth and paused for a moment while Sireen kept walking with her eyes closed. She stopped a few steps ahead and smiled back at him.

"What? Did you expect a simple 'I forgive you'?"

Iron rubbed his shoulder and looked confused.

"Y-yes? I mean, that is what ordinarily happens with these kinds of scenarios, right?"

Sireen frowned and flared her good wing open, sitting in front of him with her ears perked up and her eyes wide. With a street lamp just behind and above her, the mare was basking in a golden glow that shone through her wing's membrane. She almost smiled as Iron appeared captivated by her picturesque form. He certainly wasn't making eye contact.

"Do I look ordinary to you?" She asked, cocking her brow. Iron almost, almost nodded, his mind still staring at her form, and he blushed and shook his head quickly. Sireen pouted suddenly, her lower lip puckering and her eyes glistening in the stark lighting. She drooped her wing and pinned her ears back while her front legs lifted to her chest. She lowered her voice to a pitiful whimper.

"W-what!? Y-you m-m-m-mean I’m n-not normal enough f-f-for you?" She started to sniffle and whimper just enough for the sound to reach his ears.

Iron went from gibbering fish mouth to a locked jaw in a heartbeat. His wings didn't open from his sides so much as they exploded into a flight pose. His eyes bulged out for a second, then they rolled up into his head and he slumped backwards against the cobblestone with a very unhealthy

THUD.

Silence took over.

Sireen was now the confused one....was he playing with her? She couldn't tell. She held the cuteness for several second longer before she stopped and silently stood up. Tip toeing over to the male's prone form, she peered down at him, her snout coming within a few inches of his. Iron's face was scrunched up in mock pain, and his left brow was twitching something fierce.

Sireen growled. "What the heck was that?"

Iron groaned and doubled over onto his side, a hoof wiggling weakly.

"Can't....can't go on, nope. I just....died...too adorable...snrk!"

Iron started to giggle. He lifted a hoof to his mouth and tried to block the laughter out but failed. His ears caught the distinct sound of teeth gnashing, and he paused.

"I'm going to punch you now." Sireen said through gritted teeth. Her cheeks were red, her ears were pinned back and she was grinning down at him angrily. "I'm going to punch you until all the laughter comes out of that stupid belly of yours!"

Iron yelped as a hoof came down on his back, prompting him to roll away just as another landed where he had been. Iron leaped to his feet and took off down the road, with Sireen hot on his hooves. He laughed back at her.

"You'll have to catch me first, Wind!

Sireen growled and then winced, her wing twinging in protest as the stallion brazenly stayed just out range of her strikes.

"You are not being helpful to a mare that is injured you twit!" She snarled playfully. Iron sighed and leaned against a lamp pole dramatically, merely ten feet from her.

"Oh, woe is me, a poor, pitiful, defenseless, bat pony guard, I should just let a strong stallion protect me instead!" Iron jumped away from the pole excitedly as Sireen dove and swiped at him with her good wing. she missed and began chasing him again. The pain in her wing hardly noticeable as the two adult ponies played like foals. Iron suddenly took off into the air and flew farther ahead of her, and Sireen had to pause and watch. She furrowed her brow and slouched as he shot down the street.

Okay, now he's just playing unfairly. He knows I can’t fly.

Iron landed well within her view and stopped at a familiar building, he then pulled something out in front of him. Sireen watched as he fumbled with it while glancing at her nervously. he was grinning. It was here that she realized what he was trying to accomplish, and she took off running. He had his keys out and was trying to get into the apartments before she could reach him. When Iron saw she was moving again, he yelped and flung the door open as she neared the half way mark between them. He managed to grab his keys and bolt up the stairwell just as Sireen reached the now open doorway. She huffed but smiled viciously.

"Oohhoho.....someone is gonna get pummeled!" She growled.

Above her laughter came slipping down the stairwell to her ears, and she barely caught Iron's hushed words.

"Not if I lock you out...heh heheh..."

Sireen cursed and employed a night guard tactic for scaling stairs. Titled 'barkour' by the diamond dogs to the east of Equestria, it was a new tactic that the soldiers of Canterlot had been teaching new recruits. The goal was to get from point A to point B as fast as possible with the most direct route. With this in mind, Sireen jumped from one side of the stair's railing, to the next one above it, completely circumventing the stairs themselves. She did this all the way up to the floor where Iron Crest lived and then lunged down the hall.

Iron yelled in shock as he found the mare barreling at him down the hallway with a look of retribution on her fangs. she cackled as he flung the door open and dove in. Using the wall itself as a makeshift spring board, she dove through the doorway and into Iron Crest's chest, sending both ponies flying into the couch that was conveniently placed in range. Sireen landed atop Iron's chest and ended up straddling his hips. Her good wing had one of his pinned against the couch cushion, and her hooves were pushing his into the fabric above his head. She grinned as they panted heavily, her muzzle an inch from his, Iron chuckled and blushed, grinning up at her sheepishly.

"*pant*....G-guess you don't need me to catch you...heheh.....s-sorry..." He went to turn his head away but was suddenly blocked by Sireen's hoof catching his cheek. She pushed against his head until it was facing her again and then she locked lips with him.

It was the most blissful five seconds they had ever felt. Just by that touch alone, Sireen and Iron felt one another's hearts hammering in their respective chests. She could feel the shivers that ran down Iron's back, and he practically tasted the deep purr from Sireen's throat as it nuzzled its way into his throat. Hooves slid forward to lock around both necks, damp with sweat and warm from the chase. Iron's eyes fluttered shut and Sireen's glowed with passion as the two slowly flipped onto their sides. Sireen's bad wing on top of the impromptu cuddle.

Finally, they broke apart, a trail of saliva keeping them linked for but a second longer. Both ponies now were panting for entirely new reasons. Sireen opened her eyes and found Iron was already gazing at her, a mingling of emotions dazzling her view as he finally picked one among the batch.

Nervousness, but so much approval were shining in his orbs. He brushed his hoof into her chest fluff and Sireen let a gasp escape her lips.

"I...I'm so sorry...I..I don't know what--mmmph......mmmmm."

Sireen shut him up with another speech shattering kiss, this one only lasting a second, before she broke away and simply burrowed her neck under his chin for comfort.

He gladly allowed the contact, even wrapping his wing over hers and letting her nudge a knee between his thighs. As a final act of agreement, Sireen nibbled his shoulder and then firmly bit it, pinning her ears back and purring as she listened to Iron's hiss from his clenched teeth.

Just as the sun began to crest over the Canterlot mountains and into the living room the two bodies shared, Sireen nuzzled his chest and whispered....

"Apology accepted..."

Author's Note

*smiles while sniffling* I um...I-I totally didn't cry while writing this ending.... it's 4:04 in the morning here and I couldn't sleep...I HAD to write this out. It just came to me....I had about three fourths of it written for almost two weeks, and I knew I wanted it to end the way it did, but my muse was out. This hasn't been edited yet but I will get to that in the morning, along with the picture that goes with it. heh...*sniffs*....N-Now, it's four in the morning and I'm crying over a fanfiction, while cradling a cup of hot cocoa...it's even got those cute little marshmallows floating in it....

.....I'm...I'm happy.