The Familiar

Cheering Up The Master

Azrael POV

While I did expect some form of problem when I went to find Luna, getting lost was not one of them. I have been walking for twenty minutes now and I feel like I'm going in circles; I tried to ask the maids, only for them to run away. Sigh, at least I was able to calm myself from the incident in the dinning room. Ok, if I was Luna where would I be. Just as I thought that, a bright blue line of light appeared. That shit actually worked? I guess it's one of these new familiar abilities I have...wait...why didn't this work twenty minutes ago? I sighed in frustration and followed the line, hoping that it leads me to Luna.

Five Minutes Later

The line led me to a pair of big double doors, similar to the ones at the dinning room. I knocked on the door and was greeted by the loudest voice I've ever heard.

"GO AWAY!!!!" I think I found Luna.

"Luna? Is that you?" I asked.

"I SAID GO AWAY!!!!" I think my ears are bleeding now.

"Luna it's me, Azrael."

I braced myself for another wave of pain to assault my ears, only to hear her speak in a weak cracking voice. "Please...just leave me alone."

Houston we have a problem. Sighing, I sat down leaned my back against the door. "Fine I'll just sit here until you want to talk."

Oh...my...god...it's been two hours and she still hasn't done anything but stay quiet, hell, I even fell asleep. I was starting to think that this is a lost cause when I heard the door's lock open. Fucking finally! I opened the door to found out that the room was actually a music room, there were instruments everywhere ranging from guitars to flutes. All my attention however was pulled by someone sitting on the piano seat.

"Luna?" no response.

I sighed again and just settled for sitting on the seat next to her. After a few minutes of awkward silence, I decided to speak, "So...you play any instruments?" no response again.

Coming to the very obvious conclusion that she didn't want to talk, I looked at the piano and got an idea. Back on earth when I was still a kid in the orphanage, there weren't many things to do apart from running around like an idiot and attempt to play with the occasional donated toy that would break if any amount of pressure was applied to it. The only thing that was available was an old beat up piano that was given to us by a politician trying to get attention, the only problem was that no one knew how to play and no one wanted to spend time learning how; except for me. I was tutored by the robots maintaining the orphanage and after a year of learning I could play like a master. Whenever I would play, all the other kids would come and listen, sometimes they would beg me for more; it was tiring to play so much, but seeing the other kids happy for once made it always worth it. Readying myself, I decided to play a little slow first to get her attention.

The first few notes on the keys made her glance at me, at least it got a reaction. I then started to pick up speed, she was now fully facing the piano with interested eyes, it's working. I then started to really play and after a while she was smiling, her eyes were closed and she was nodding her head to the music. After the song she looked at me smiling with eyes that were still a little sad, but it was still much better than earlier; this made me feel glad. "Better?" I asked smiling making her nod happily.

"Thank you, you play great."

"Don't mention it." I said. I looked back at her and she looked like she wanted to say something. "Something wrong?"

She fidgeted for a moment before saying, "Could...could you play again?"

I smiled at the question, "Sure." my answer making her smile adorably. I readied myself again thought of what to play and after a moment of thinking decided.

When I finished I looked at Luna and she was now smiling brightly making me smile. "Another!" she said making me chuckle. I was about to play when I sensed people behind us, I turned around and saw that my music seems to have caught the servants' attention. I smiled as I turned to Luna, "Do you mind a few more listeners." she turned around, only now noticing the servants and after a moment of thought nodded, allowing the servants in. I cracked my neck and fingers, earning some pops in both actions and began to play.

Stella POV

It's been near three hours since Azrael and Luna left the dinning room and me and my nieces haven't seen neither of them. If some other stuck up noble tries to insult Azrael, or worse, he sees somepony insulting Luna; I shivered at the thought of what he might do. We were about to give up when we heard a piano playing, beautifully at that.

"Who could possibly be playing that marvelous music? It's simply magnificent!" Platinum commented as we followed the music.

The music led us to the music room where we were met with half of the castle staff all gathered up. When they finally noticed us, they were all about to kneel however I waved my hand stopping them. "Who is playing?" I asked in a whispered voice to not attract the attention of the mystery pianist. They parted in the middle, allowing us to see that it was, to our surprise, Azrael who was playing with Luna sitting next to him.
I looked to my daughter and was even more surprised to see her so happy, it's been a while since I've seen her like this. When he finished, all the those in the audience, including us, applauded loudly as he turned around and took a bow. When he didn't even raise his head before he spoke.

"Enjoy the performance Stella?" I was shocked by the question.

"You knew I was here?" I asked. he raised his head and gave a smirk.

"Of course. Forget who I am already?" he asked making me blush.

"Oh, my apologies. By the way, how did you learn to play like that?" my question made him smile.

"Back on Earth, when I was still a kid in the orphanage-" the gasps of some of the staff and my nieces stopped his sentence from finishing.

"Your an orphan?!" Platinum asked shocked.

"Yea, there were a lot of orphans back on earth. Why? What's with the shock?" He asked confused while a little sad.

"Well...it's just...abandoning a child is something that is almost unheard of in Equestria. Family is something very important to us ponies, regardless of race" Platinum answered.

"Oh...that's...that's not the case. I wasn't abandoned by my parents." He clarified with a grim tone. I was about to tell her not to press the matter, however I was too late

"If that's the case, why were you-" Azrael however interrupted her mid-sentence.

"I was there because my parents were murdered after I was born." everypony minus me and Luna gasped, us already knowing his back story. "I don't know how they died, but the report was that they were killed by a mugger while they were leaving the hospital just after I was born. I was then sent to the orphanage afterwards and was taken care of by the robot caretakers there." nopony said a word after that. After a few minutes, all of the servants have left the room leaving only the six of us left.

Azrael POV

Wow. That got depressing fast. I then suddenly felt some pressure and something wet press against me, I turned and saw Luna hugging and crying into my side. Almost instantly, I put my arm around her to comfort her; blame it on these new Familiar instincts. "Shhh, it's ok. Don't cry. Everything's alright." damn these instincts, their making me act like her mother or something. After a few more minutes of me comforting Luna, I lowered my head so that I was eye level with her. "Hey, would you feel better if I played some more?" she didn't respond for a moment before nodding her head. I smiled and turned to the other four in the room, "If you want to stay and listen then go ahead." they smiled and sat on some seats around the room. I took a deep breath and readied myself to play.

A Few Hours Later (Around 6:00pm)

It's been hours since I've started, whenever I finished playing one song Luna would ask for another; she wouldn't even go out to eat lunch; well at least she's not crying anymore. Now normally I would have stopped hours ago, but seeing Luna so happy, somehow made me feel feel happy. I just finished the latest song and turned to Luna, I could see that her eyes were drooping and she was starting to lean on me. "Luna, do you want to go to bed?"

Luna shook her head tiredly, "No I'm...yawn...fine."

"Now Luna look at yourself, you need to get some rest." a soft voice said behind us. We turned around to see only Stella still in the room, I guess the others left a while ago.

"But mom." Luna whined.

"No buts, time for bed." she walked towards us then her horn lit up. Suddenly, Luna's cloths started to change until they were pajamas...well that's convenient. She then turned to me, "Azrael could you please bring her to her room.

Nodding, I stood up and picked her up in my arms bridal style before looking at Stella again, "Good night Stella.". Just as I was about to leave the room, she spoke up. "Thank you for taking care of her so well, It's been some time since she was that happy." we looked at Luna sleeping in my arms as she snuggled closer to my chest. I smiled and looked back to Stella, "Don't worry about it, it's my job after all." I said making her smile; we then wished each other a good night again and left. As I made my way to Luna's room I got some stares again, however this time they were mostly smiles and some nods with greetings. I did still get some of the same looks I was given earlier, but I can't really argue with the improvement. After reaching her room and going in, I walked towards Luna's bed, put her under the blanket then tucked her in. I smiled at my new sleeping master as I made my way to an arm chair and quickly fell asleep myself.