Midnight Hour [Fall of Equestria ANTIDOTE story]

Princess Luna made her choice.

"Very well ..." She gave her permission, essentially, to let these three ponies take care of her, or so they claimed. Satisfied, they lead her further down the tunnel and towards a door that softly slid open for them, revealing the enclave to the ILUNAnati.

The Princess wasn't sure what to expect from three ponies in cloaks who kidnapped her in a positive way, but a nice hideaway was probably not on the list. As they entered, she was greeted with a rather cosy set-up, one that reminded her of the personal reading rooms back in the Castle of the Two Sisters. Four stone walls were softened by large tapestries, depicting various moons and stars, as well as a symbol of an eye with a crescent moon as the eyeshine. The floor was padded by a lovely blue carpet, soft on her neglected hooves as the cloaked figures lead her down one of the two sweeping walkways that curved around a lowered area. She couldn't help notice the large pool in the middle of the floor, gently sparkling in the white-blue glow of orb torches along the walls. Moonlight, moonlight channelled from outside, and the pool looked so inviting ...

"We have prepared for your arrival, our Princess" The female voice spoke again, turning to face Luna, "We understand that this will be all very confusing. There is much you will want to know from us, and there is much we wish to know from you of this world. But first, we must insist that you rest. We offer to have you bathed, clothed, fed and rested at your leisure"

Luna would almost be amused at how that was phrased, making it sound as though she would refuse the offer, but she understood that they were being completely subservient to her. It was probably shocking to them to see her like this, standing nude with nothing but a fleece blanket wrapped around her, her horn removed and her wings bound. She nodded, and one of the other figures seemed to realise the breach in etiquette.

"I think the Princess should see our faces" Another female voice, possibly the one who removed Luna's shackles. The middle figure paused, then nodded.

Almost as one, they removed the hoods around their heads, showing themselves to, indeed, be three ponies. A Earth pony mare, with a short blue mane flopping over one side of her face, pale eyes half-lidded and calm. A Unicorn mare, with a long and wavy blonde mane and a pair of round spectacles perched on the end of her muzzle. She was the one with cream-coloured fur that aided with the chains. And finally, a grey Pegasus stallion, with a dark-grey mane perfectly coiffed despite his hood. They removed their cloaks, draping them over their left arm as they looked to the Princess for her approval. Luna was rather stunned to see the uniform of the Royal Archives on the blue mare, and blinked on seeing it.
"You ... work in the castle"
"I do in my world, but I can only assume I do not here" Whisper blue paused, waiting for Luna to prove or disprove that, but no verdict came either way, "My name is Whisper Blue, my Princess"
"Crystal Clear, my Princess" The Unicorn mare bowed her head a little, "Canterlot National Observatory"
"Silver Song, my Princess" The Pegasus stallion, "I ... ah, am an opera understudy. No productions in Canterlot as lead, I'm afraid"

"I'm ... afraid I don't know any of you" Luna wasn't sure if it was rude or not to say that, but it had to be the truth, "But I can't say that I'm not grateful"
"It's our honour, my Princess" Whisper Blue was quick to move on, "We will take care of you and keep you safe. No-one knows of this place, no-one will know of it. Under normal circumstances, it would never be revealed to you, but these are not normal circumstances"

"I see ..." Luna rubbed her forehead, taking all this in and the stress from running from Dainn was giving her a headache, "If you don't mind, I would like to ... clean up"

"At once, my Princess" Whisper Blue gestured to the pool, "This is our pool of moonlight, we usually use this to see into the night, into other places, in this world and others. But it is also a pool of healing, of magic ... It is fed by the waters outside, yes, but it passes under the moon at the highest point"

That sounded very good to Luna. She was eager to clean herself, but she looked warily to the three ponies before her. Crystal Clear looked between the pool and the Princess.
"Would ... would you prefer to be alone, Princess?"

Whisper Blue seemed to grasp what she was nervous about. She knew that the Princesses were attended to in their world, and she had no reason to believe it wasn't the same here. Ponies liked privacy, but it was nice to be pampered after a long, hard day. She turned to Silver Song.
"Brother Silver, could you take our cloaks and make sure that the entrance is guarded. Ensure that no-one disturbs our Princess"

Silver Song nodded, taking the cloaks of the other two and making his way back up the curved walkway to stand guard, his back to the enclave and in the shadows.

"... Sorry" Luna whispered, feeling terrible that she couldn't say she simply didn't want yet another stallion staring at her nude form. Whisper Blue shook her head.

"Apologies are not needed, my Princess" She offered a hand and lead Luna towards the pool, "Your comfort and safety is our only objective"

The fleece blanket fell softly to the floor as Whisper Blue and Crystal Clear took the Princesses hands and helped lower her into the water, Immediately, Luna sighed in bliss as the cool, lunar-infused water lapped across her neglected fur and battered skin. Old bruises twitched, then relaxed and started to heal, the brand on her rump smoothed and finally gave her relief from the scarring, stains of her humiliation washed away. She sank in to her waist, as the two mares frowned at the butterfly wing-like casings on her actual wings.

"What are these, my Princess?" Crystal Clear examined the leather casings without touching them, trying to find a seam or zip for them.

"They are ... caps, for our wings" Luna looked down at the water, remembering that she was still wearing them and her collar, "All ponies with wings have them put on, to stop them flying"

"May we remove them?"

"Please"

Instantly, the two mares almost attacked the casings, feeling along the edges for any clasps or fastenings to undo the torturous-looking things. Finally, the hidden pocket containing the zip pull was located, and almost in a synchronised fashion, they opened up the casings and threw them aside.
Crystal Clear almost wanted to vomit. Nothing remained of Luna's wings, merely the bones and skin of the basic structure. However, the feathers had still tried to come through, no matter how cramped and contorted the casing, and most were withered, stunted things that simply fell away when exposed to the air, or else had started to turn and grow inward.

"Oh, Princess ..." She was almost in tears, touching the bones as Luna bowed her head and let the tears fall ...

Whisper Blue frowned, betraying her seething anger at those who would abuse her like this. Without warning, she took the collar that was around the Princess' neck, ignoring the barbs on the inside that bit her fingers, braced it between her hands and snapped it off, throwing it aside like the repugnant trash it was.
Luna gasped at the sudden movement, reaching up to the ring of worn, furless flesh around her throat. Freedom, finally, after so many moons ...

"No Princess of Equestria is to be chained like property" Whisper Blue's voice hissed with disgust, "No guardian of the moon and stars is to be captured like a trophy hunt. No more"

"You're free, Princess ..." Crystal Clear's voice was soft, touching the bones of Luna's wings, encouraging her to spread them out from their cramped, default position that they were forced into whilst in the sleeves, "We'll take care of you ..."

Luna said nothing, merely keeping her head down. The two mares waited to see what she would do, or say, but then decided that it was best that they get on with their duties so the poor mare didn't feel under the spotlight.

Water lily and white lotus soap massaged into the Princesses skin washed away the dirt, blood, oil and punishments from her fur and skin, the creamy bubbles floating away in the cool moonlight-infused water and disappearing away through the edge drains as water continuously flowed in from outside and away out the waterfalls that littered the cliffs of Canterlot. Black pearl and camomile shampoo was carefully teased into Luna's mane, the formally eternally moving locks had grown still and dull with the lack of care and being able to practise her magic. Crystal Clear had always wondered what the Princess' hair was like, and the answer in this state seemed to be something akin to the exceptionally soft fur found underneath the ear of a kitten, so soft it was almost unable to be detected by touch. Whisper Blue, for her part, couldn't help notice a few bumps and scars as her fingertips massaged Luna's scalp. Luna appreciated the gentle attention, closing her eyes and relaxing, letting what remained of her wings settle into the water as she sank up to her neck in it, letting the water work its magic as the mares attended to her.

Once it was time to help with her wings, their gentleness couldn't be overstated. With a touch so tentative Luna thought they had stopped several times, they carefully examined the delicate bones and skin, working out the best way to clean them without hurting her. They settled on cleaning as best they could, brushing away the stunted feathers and massaging the ingrowing ones into coming back out the right way. They knew from Silver Song that some feathers were 'blood feathers', and pulling those was not only extremely painful, but likely to cause a lot of bleeding, but they weren't sure which ones were connected to a blood supply. Instead of risking injury and damaging the follicle, they simply opted to persuading the ingrown feathers out and hoping that they would continue in the right direction.

Leaving the Princess to relax, they made her nightwear ready, and made sure that her bed was also in order. Once Luna decided that she had had enough quality bathing time, she was surprised when the two mares immediately brought over towels that bore her insignia on it, ones she recognised from her private bathroom.
"Would you care for something to eat, my Princess?" Crystal Clear dried off Luna's hair as Whisper Blue attended to Luna's wings. Given the state that they were in, and how likely it was that Luna had had her wings encased ever since her enslavement, it had been decided to not wrap them up again in bandages or some other protection, instead they would be allowed to heal and air themselves. However, the skin would need a little help, and she applied some lavender healing balm with the same delicate care and attention that she normally gave to frail documents in the Archives.

"I think I would rather rest, for now" Luna wasn't sure if that was rude, but with everything that had happened in just a few short hours, she didn't know if she could keep a meal down, "But thank you ..."

"Of course; we have your bed all ready" Crystal Clear didn't mind, instead bringing the Princess' pyjamas to her, much to her quiet delight.

"How did you manage to get these?"

"Brother Silver went to see if you were being held captive in your bedroom. Once he saw you weren't there and the room hadn't been disturbed for a long time, he took precaution to relieve the room of some of your personal items, to give you as much comfort as possible" Whisper Blue said, finishing her work on the wings, "Pyjamas are not normally held in the ILUNAnati, for obvious reasons"

"No, I suppose not" Luna was somewhat amused, and her smile only grew when Crystal Clear handed her something else.

"... Tiberius?" Luna's eyes welled with tears on seeing it. It was a plush toy, an opossum one, one she had had since she was a very small filly. Worn, battered, it had seen better days, but it made it look even more like an opossum to her, and she could scarcely believe they had got it for her"

"Brother Silver saw it sitting on your pillow. He thought it might be important, so he brought it to you"

"... Thank you" She hugged the plush tight. Being in her own pyjamas, with her beloved plushie, it was almost a callback to the days before this nightmare. If this was a dream, she didn't want to wake up. Just let her be at peace, clean and safe, here with these strangers ...

"If you want to rest, my Princess, we have a bed for you" Crystal Clear gestured towards a curtained off area underneath the upper platform that the two sweeping walkways encircled. Moving the curtain back, Luna could see there was a large futon bed, and so many plush cushions scattered around it that pretty much half the area was a bed or resting area. It looked so cosy and inviting, especially with the soft fleece blankets thrown around for good measure ...

"We use this area if we are unable to leave the enclave for any reason, such as an important meeting in the Castle, or some sort of issue with the Elements of Harmony" A delicate way to say 'just in case Equestria is in peril again', "There is a bathroom just there" Pointing to a door to the right, "If you need it. Sister Crystal, Brother Silver and myself will be here if you need anything at all, we will not leave nor sleep so long as you need us"

"I ... " Luna stood there, hugging Tiberius and looking completely lost, a Princess with plucked wings, an amputated horn and in her pyjamas, "I don't know how to thank you ..."

"Thanks is not needed, my Princess" Whisper Blue shook her head, her chin held up and proud, "We are the ILUNAnati; you safety and health is our priority. Rest well, my Princess ..."

The privacy curtain fell back in place, leaving Luna in a soothing darkness within this cosy sleeping area. She fell onto the futon, burrowing under blankets and surrounding herself with cushions in a little nest of comfort, and fell into a deep, peaceful, pleasant sleep ...