Disclaimer: I do not own "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic," or its characters. They are property of Hasbro Studios and DHX Media.

"Princess Luna Gets the Shingles"

By TwilightSparkle3562

Like she had done since being a filly, Princess Luna went through the routine of raising and lowering the moon for all of Equestria. However, little did she know that the stress and demand of her task would ultimately cause her to go through a painful period of her life.

…

It all started one morning in Canterlot after she had completed another night of dream duty. Celestia had invited Twilight Sparkle and her protégé, Starlight Glimmer, for breakfast.

"Thank you so much for inviting us over for breakfast, Princess Celestia," remarked Twilight Sparkle as she and Starlight were served fruit faced pancakes. "And who knew you could be artistic with your pancakes?"

"It's a small way to say I care, Twilight," chuckled Celestia, walking over to the head of the table. "I always enjoy doing it just as much as anypony. Of course, Starlight knows what I am talking about, right?"

"Yes, Princess. I know what you are talking about."

At that moment, the doors to the dining hall opened and Princess Luna came in, her eyes showing the exhaustion of her duties. Still, she was aware enough to be welcoming to the two important ponies in her life aside from Celestia.

"Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer," she said, about to sit at the table when she suddenly stopped and felt a twinge in her side. "Ow!"

"What's wrong, Luna?"

"It's this…ugh! Pain in the side of my stomach. It's been bothering me for a few fortnights."

Almost immediately, Celestia began to suspect that something was very much wrong with her sister, given the pain in her face.

"Sister," advised Celestia, looking intently at her. "I will say that you have been feeling very pained the past few days. Have you been having stomach pains?"

"Stomach pains, yes, sister," groaned Luna, trying to hold in her true feelings of pain. "But not on the inside. It's this rash near my cutie mark."

And Luna showed off the right side of her flank, displaying a large red spot near her cutie mark but mostly on the right side of her stomach.

"Where did this rash come from?" asked Twilight.

"I don't know, but it started a few days ago. I thought it was nothing, but then this morning, it started to flair up. I haven't felt this bad since I got the horsey hives as a filly."

Almost immediately, Celestia began to sense that something was truly wrong with her sister, almost as if a dark memory of her past was coming back to haunt her.

"Sister, you need to see our dermatologist at once," she said in a worried voice.

"Why should I see a doctor, sister?"

"Because it might be a case of the shingles virus."

"The what virus?" wondered Starlight.

"The shingles virus," explained Celestia, looking back at Twilight and Starlight. "It's the virus that causes horsey hives and while you eventually recover from horsey hives, the virus stays dormant until your immune system weakens and its reactivated."

"I'm sure it will just go away on it's own," said Luna, trying to shake it off. "If it's just…"

Then, she felt an even sharper pain rise up and let out a loud cry of pain as she crumpled to the floor. This caused Celestia, Twilight and Starlight to race over to her side with looks of concern on their faces.

"Get away from me!" she hissed, waving off her companions.

"Luna, please! At some point, you are going to have to have that looked at!"

"I agree with Celestia," added Twilight, firmly. "If it is shingles, then I think its important you get that looked at."

But, the princess of the night refused to listen and began to make her way out of the dining hall.

"In any case," said Starlight, as Luna walked to the doors. "I think the pain of the rash might be your body giving you a warning."

"What are you talking about, Starlight Glimmer? I never ignore warnings."

"Oh, really?" asked Twilight, raising an eyebrow in the manner of her sister-in-law, Princess Cadence. Nevertheless, Luna left the dining hall letting out light yelps of pain as she left. Once she was gone, Celestia realized that something had to be done.

"I can't believe Luna can be so stubborn about all of this," Celestia cried, stamping her hoof down on the floor hard. "For the past few days, she has been trying to hide this pain like it is nothing."

"Do you think that maybe the events of the Tantabus might have caused a reactivation?"

This made Celestia stop in shock and realize that those events had indeed caused a reactivation. But, the Tantabus wasn't the only event.

"It may not be just the Tantabus, Twilight," she answered. "It could have been when we were all captured by Chrysalis or when the Storm King attacked Canterlot. There have been a lot of events that might have stressed out Luna greatly. Either that, or perhaps she needs a break from doing her duties."

"Either way, I would schedule an appointment with the Dermatologist, Celestia," cautioned Twilight. "If it is the shingles virus, then perhaps Luna could be treated."

"It's a virus, Twilight," sighed Celestia. "Viruses don't just go away on their own, you know, not even by magic, let alone alicorn magic."

It was at this moment that Starlight realized that there may be a way to try and help the situation.

"Why don't I try and talk to her?" she suggested. "If Luna will listen to anypony other than you two, it's me."

"If that's what you want," sighed Celestia. "Her quarters are…"

"I know where they are," interrupted Starlight and she left Celestia and Twilight alone to look for Luna.

…

In her quarters, Luna struggled to try and get to sleep as the pain in her side continued to make her miserable.

"Ugh, damn this pain," she muttered as she threw off her bed's blanket in disgust. "Damn it all! Why must I suffer in this matter? Doesn't everypony think that I have suffered enough?"

At that moment, a knock was heard on her door.

"Go away, sister," she cried, as even more shots of pain from her side were felt. "I'm fine!"

"Luna, it's Starlight Glimmer. Can I come in?"

Begrudgingly, Luna allowed Starlight to enter. Starlight could see the pain in Luna's face and couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

"Luna," sighed Starlight. "Why don't you want to see a doctor about your rash? If it is shingles…"

"It's nothing," snapped Luna. "It's nothing, Starlight! It's just a rash and it will go away on its own."

"Listen," said Starlight as she sat on the edge of Luna's bed, trying to sound gentle, but firm . "If you think that this is just going to go away on its own, then you're wrong. If you're afraid of going to doctors, then why don't you tell me?"

"All right," sighed Luna. "I am a little afraid of going to doctors, Starlight Glimmer. I will admit that. Ever since I got my wisdom teeth removed a while back, I feel as if every time I go to the doctors, they are going to hurt me."

"Luna, if you think that, then you're wrong," replied Starlight, trying to sound gentle. "You may think that they are going to hurt you, but they really aren't. Doctors want you to be well, Luna and so do your subjects, not to mention those who are closest to you."

Luna listened to Starlight, and with each word spoken, she realized that there was no use in hiding or beating about the bush.

"If it is shingles, Luna, then you can get help for it. Will you go get checked out, not just for me, Twilight or your sister, but for yourself?"

Sighing heavily, Luna climbed out of bed and felt another sharp pain as she did.

"And remember," continued Starlight. "The more you hesitate on getting treatment, the worse your pain is going to get. If we all go in with you, will you allow yourself to get checked out?"

At that moment, a knock was heard at the door and the door opened to reveal one of Celestia's guardsponies.

"The dermatologist is waiting to see you, Princess Luna," he said. "Shall I let him in?"

Knowing that there was no other options left, Luna allowed the dermatologist to come into her room. Just then, a yellow middle aged stallion walked into the bedroom followed by Celestia and Twilight.

"Dr. Mohs," gasped Luna.

"Princess Luna," he said. "I came as soon as your sister told me what was going on. So, you have a painful rash on your side, don't you?"

With a nod from Starlight, Luna confessed her feelings to the dermatologist.

"I do."

"Well, let's have a look, shall we?"

Rolling on her side, Luna allowed Dr. Mohs to examine the painful rash on the right side of her stomach. Using a dermascope, Dr. Mohs carefully studied the rash, looking at it from all of its directions. After a few moments, he looked back up at Luna.

"It's just as I thought, Princess Luna," he sighed. "It is indeed the shingles virus. I know that you have been dealing with getting over your self harm for quite some time along with a few other events, but have you felt your immune system go down in any way?"

"Not that I am aware of," Luna said nervously. "What should I do?"

"Well, most ponies who have the horsey hives when they are younger will be at risk for shingles mostly from stress related events. The only solution is to rest and apply some prescribed medication cream that I am going to prescribe to you."

"You're not going to do anything?"

"No, because you can't remove the shingles virus. Questionable and irregular moles, I remove, yes. But, not the shingles virus. If I were you, Princess Luna, I'd just focus on taking some down time from your duties. Let your sister raise and lower the moon for you for a few weeks."

"But…"

"Not another word," interrupted Celestia, firmly interrupting her sister. "You need to focus on getting rid of the Shingles before you can raise or lower the moon again, Luna."

Luna watched as Twilight and Starlight nodded in agreement with Celestia. She had no choice, she had to step back from her duties to focus on her health.

"Thank you, Dr. Mohs," said Celestia as the dermatologist left Luna's room. "When will the prescription be ready?"

"In about an hour," he replied. "Luna, you must apply this cream to your rash twice a day and the pain will go down slightly."

"How long will it last?" she wondered.

This caused Dr. Mohs to stop and return to Luna's side.

"Well, it depends," he explained. "Sometimes, it takes a few days. Sometimes, it will take a few weeks, but it will go away. But, I can assure you that you won't have to deal with this forever. However, I do want to advice you to not be around fillies and colts for a few days."

"Including Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle?"

"Especially them," cautioned Twilight. "They haven't caught the virus yet and…"

"Remember, Twilight," advised Starlight. "You did bring your niece to Ponyville Hospital where there were ponies with horsey hives."

This caused Twilight to get a bit of embarrassment over bringing her niece to the hospital.

"Either way," spluttered Twilight, trying to focus herself on the situation at hand. "Perhaps a few weeks rest might do you some good, Luna. We all need to take a break from life sometimes, especially royal life. Cadence taught me that on Iron Will's scam zeppelin cruise and now, we are teaching you the same thing here."

With each word spoken, Luna continued to accept each and every word that was being spoken to her. Her fears of the doctor and the fact that she was trying to hide her symptoms was keeping her from learning this cold hard truth. She needed to step back.

"So, what do you say?" asked Celestia. "Will you focus on your well-being for a few weeks?"

"Yes," sighed Luna, feeling a sense of defeat. "I will focus on my well-being, sister. It's going to take a bit of time to adjust, but I will step back if it will help me get over this pain in my side."

Sensing the upset in her sister, Celestia bent over and lightly hugged her sister as Twilight, Starlight and Dr. Mohs looked on, satisfied that Luna was finally going to focus on her well-being and get over the Shingles Virus that was inside of her.

….

THE END