Loneliness

You make a left after leaving your room. While walking down the corridor you take a couple of glances outside. The moon was beginning its journey. You return your attention to where you need to be going, Princess Celestia's tower. You take another left and walk for a lengthy 2 minutes and make another left. Before you turn right for the first time, you overhear two guards talking to each other. One of them mentions Princess Celestia. This snares your attention like a bug and a bright light. You walk up to the guards and politely interrupt their little chat and ask one of them about the Princess.

"Yes of course. There've been rumors that the Princess is in heat." The guard emphasized the word 'heat.' You didn't understand what the guard was talking about, naturally you asked him about said heat.

"I believe the fancy word for her condition is estrus. Do humans experience estrus or things similar to it?"

You assume that it's Celestia's time of the month but you quickly rethink that last thought. Ponies don't have PMS. Right? Your curiosity caves.

"I feel stupid for asking but," you pause, thinking your next move, trying not to offend anypony here. "What exactly is estrus?"

One of the guard's faces show a hint of surprise, the other shows a mix of fear, disappointment and a small drop of envy.

"Estrus, in a nutshell, is when a mare becomes a sex craving lunatic. It usually lasts for awhile and it's usually the 'make or break' part of stallion's life if they come into contact with a mare in heat."

You take a step back in anxiety. Part of you was hypothetically interested in this 'estrus' condition, another part wanted you to stay away from Princess Celestia. A small part thought that the guards were joking around with you and the last part of you wanted to go to the royal kitchen and ask for another cinnamon bun. You quiver as you thank the guards for their time and you proceed towards Celestia's tower in paranoia now.

You come out to the castle garden, Celestia's tower is in view. You hear the humming of a familiar song. It's name eludes you. Luna is sitting by near a stream lost in thought and she doesn't notice you. You hesitate and consider asking Luna about her sister. You slowly walk up to Luna, her eyes dart from the stream to you. She stops humming.

Luna slightly tilts her head and greets you with a tender smile, that smile. Luna always gave you that smile whenever you two crossed paths and you absolutely adored it. It's such a warn and welcoming smile and always hits you deep. The feeling of being accepted by something that is completely different than you never failed to cheer you up. You give her a quick bow and sit next to her on the grass.

"Good morning!" She chimes. "I hear that one of the new chefs made breakfast today, how was it?"

You take a deep breath in, then out.

"Absolutely phenomenal, Luna. I'm going to assume that your breakfast met the same standards?"

"Indubitably!"

Your heart jumped. The way Luna spoke that single word tugged at your heart strings. You had feelings for Luna, along with Celestia but, you weren't sure how'd they react if you told them how you feel. Not to mention who you would choose. You weren't a fan of polygamy.

"May I ask you something, Luna?" Luna turns her head and meets your gaze, she tilts her head and cocks an eyebrow at you, open for your question.

"There have been rumors among the guards saying that your sister is..." You search for a proper way to bring it up. "She is in heat. Is this true?" You brace yourself for any kind of backlash from Luna. She gives you a quick and surprised 'hmph.'

"I haven't seen my sister in a while. I'm sorry." Luna tries to ease your disappointment by gently ending with your name. You feel your heart leap again.

"Would you like me to check on her?" Luna's question nearly slips your ears as you catch the last bit of her question.

"Oh, no! You don't have to. I'm on my way to see her now."

Luna folds her wings and lays back down on the grass. You stand up and stretch, you hear several bones in your back crack from being hunched over while talking with Luna. You both say your good byes and Luna asks you to tell her if her sister is in such a condition. You nod to her and leave the garden. You saunter past a couple guards standing at their posts. Another brisk wind passes by, ignoring your pajamas. You quicken your pace to get inside somewhere warm. The closest structure is surprisingly Celestia's tower. Tall, majestic and a total pain in the ass to walk up and down its spiraling staircase.

You walk through the tower's door, oddly left open, and look up. A wave of vertigo washes over you. You take a couple steps back and reorientate yourself.

"I hate stairs." You grumble to your self.

You begin your ascent.