The Mysterious Masseuse

I remember this whole debacle, as if it was yesterday. Why what a night that was for sure. I made a new filly friend. Her name was Cinnamon Swirl. Why I was just camping out in the Everfree forest, all by myself, and like magic, she had just suddenly appeared in front of me.

"I really don't know what to do. I'm just all alone out here, while everyone is in Cloudsdale doing God knows what."

While in the forest, relaxing without any purpose, a filly had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She was a mere Earth pony, so it could not have been magic that had brought her here.

"Oh? Who are you, young filly? How did you get here?"

"Oh, my name is Cinnamon Swirl, and, I don't really know how I got here..."

"Well little filly, my name is Noctis, and it's awfully cold out there, would you like to come inside my tent with me?"

"I'd really like that, Mr. Noctis. Thank you."

The young Pink filly with big blonde hair had then rose and entered Noctis' tent

"So, Ms. Cinnamon, care to tell me more about yourself? What's a little filly like you doing by yourself in this dangerous forest anyways?" She had a scared, and hurt look in her eyes, like a little frightened puppy. Whenever she spoke, she stuttered and appeared nervous.

"Well... Mr. Noctis... I told you... I'm not sure how I ended up here... but I am from Cloudsdale... I worked at the bath house... and I remember something going horribly wrong with the last person I had serviced..."

"Oh? Cloudsdale is a very nice place, and I heard the spa was excellent as well, but I never went, for obvious reasons. What could have possibly gone wrong, if I may ask?"

"Well... I don't remember it very well... it hurts to remember... but... things got really messed up... and... and... I ended up being responsible for the death of two ponies... as well as others... before I worked at the spa..."

"What do you mean? I can't imagine such a cute, sweet, and innocent filly like you ever being responsible for such things."

"You know, Cinnamon Swirl, I think I remember you from my last visit to Cloudsdale, I was among the ponies on the roof. I remember meeting you once, I'm sorry I forgot you. I guess being inside the forest for so long made me forget some things. It's been forever since I've seen you."

"Mr. Noctis... two ponies died today because of me... when will I finally stop being the source of so much misery?"

"Cinnamon, you did nothing wrong today. I know you, and you wouldn't dare cause anyone any harm. You know what you need Cinnamon? You need a friend, and I'd gladly be your friend. I'd trust you with my life, Cinnamon. I know that if I go to sleep tonight, I will wake up and see tomorrow, because I trust you would never hurt me or anyone else."

"Mr. Noctis... you're so kind to me... but I don't know if we can be friends... I'd hate to drag you into my troubles..."

"What kind of troubles could you possibly have, Cinnamon?"

"I was fired from my job and exiled from Cloudsdale... I can never go back... I also owe a lot of money... trust me Mr. Noctis... I'm not a friend you would want to have"

"Well if its debt you need to get rid of, you're more than welcome to take all my bits. You don't even have to repay me. It's what friends do, Cinnamon. And if it isn't enough to pay back your debt, I could see if I could arrange an agreement where I could work it off for you in any way your Boss seems fit."

"But Mr. Noctis, I told you, you don't want to be friends with someone like me. And another thing, I don't think you would be our customers' type."

"I don't care if it's unwise to be friends with you, I want to be your friend, and that is final, even if you don't want to be mine, I'm yours."

"You know Mr. Noctis... you're a really nice guy..."

The sleepy Cinnamon Swirl finally succumbs to the demands of her body and falls asleep next to Noctis in the tent

"She looks so peaceful... she's such a nice filly."

I grew tired, so I decided to nap with my new friend, Cinnamon. Nothing but the sounds of the creatures of the forest could be heard, as I drifted off to sleep. We laid there peacefully within the warm and cozy tent as more ponies start to arrive at the campsite. The ponies all knew each other, but did not know of Cinnamon. She was a stranger to them, and they were strangers to her. After a few hours long of a nap, Cinnamon Swirl gets out of the sleeping bag and exits the tent. Doing so, had awoken me.

"Oh... you're getting out of the tent... I guess you'll be leaving me now... I see how it is... and I understand..."

"Oh don't worry Mr. Noctis, I'm just stretching my legs. Being cramped up in that tent with a big stallion like yourself gave me the urge to get up and move around. Don't worry, I won't be leaving you any time soon." She said with a cute and innocent smile on her face.

"Heh, alright then, I guess I'll stretch my legs along with you. Also, hey everyone nice to see you all here at the campsite. I thought I was the only one who would come, but I'm glad I was wrong."

South Lights: "Happy to be here, Noctis. You picked the best place to have a campsite."

"Thanks South, I tried my best to find a good place."

I then joined Cinnamon Swirl in running around the campsite, stretching my legs with her. Soon enough, a refreshed Cinnamon sat down by the campfire, and I joined her.

"So Cinnamon, I've been wanting to ask, out of all the Princesses in Equestria, who is your favorite?"

"Princess Celestia of course! She's so beautiful, wise, and powerful! She even got rid of that evil, and mean old pony who wanted to make the night last forever."

"Princess Celestia is a really nice pony, I admit. What do you think of Cadance, if I may ask? She is one of the more controversial princesses, I just want to know what you think."

"I think Cadance is a great Princess to! Though personally, she's on the bottom of my list compared to the two other ponies. I mean she hasn't done much herself. Princess Twilight helped her defeat Chrysalis and that mean king from the Crystal Empire who was obsessed with saying the word Crystals. Though, I still have a lot of respect for her because she made a huge and generous donation to the circus I used to be a part of, and she even complimented me on my acrobatic skills."

"Oh my gosh, hahaha, oh gosh, what you said about King Sombra is just hilarious."

"That was his name? I just knew him as the Crystals king."

"Wait, so you were serious with that? That wasn't some kind of joke?"

"I was being completely serious Mr. Noctis, why, is that supposed to be funny?"

"Well he was actually a powerful dark king, but if thats all you knew about him, I do not even have the slightest clue on what you heard about the other legendary happenings in this Kingdom. Anyways, I'm glad you like Princess Cadance, I like her to, and I don't know why so many people give her ridicule."

"I can't say I know either Mr. Noctis, she seems nice enough to me."

When talking to Cinnamon, I noticed she had completely left out Luna from her list of princesses, which made me a bit more curious, but I kept quiet on it. I wanted to speak, but I didn't want to just blurt it out, so I kept my qualms within me until I could appropriately insert such a topic into our conversation.

Cinnamon Swirl began to draw what seemed to be a star in the dirt with her hooves, but she seemed suspicious. I noticed it started to look like a pentagram, and I became concerned so I asked her what exactly she was drawing.

"Hey Cinnamon, what's that you're drawing in the dirt?"

Cinnamon was too focused on her drawing to reply to me, so I repeated the question, this time with more volume. That time, she heard me, and was startled. She was starting to look more guilty to me with every action. I began to think that befriending her wasn't exactly the smartest thing.

"Oh, what's that Mr. Noctis? What am I drawing? Why I'm drawing Princess Twilight's cutie mark, because I really like how nice it looks."

She was playing the innocent act. I started to sense something rotten with her. I did not buy her Princess Twilight story at all, and the expression on my face made that quite clear, but I went along with it anyways. I wanted to see what kind of half assed thing she would say next, so I started playing stupid with her to.

"Oh really? Well I guess Princess Twilight's star is a pretty cutie mark. Do you know of the story that even made Princess Twilight who she is today?"

"You mean that time she banished that mean pony back to the moon when she came back? Of course I do!"

At this point, I had to do my best to keep in my laughter. Her knowledge was so inaccurate, it was both pitiful and downright hilarious. I have no clue where she had heard any of this information from, but good lord was it off.

"Wow, Cinnamon, just wow. That is so wrong. Do you even know the name of the pony she "Banished back to the moon"?"

"Why of course I do, it was Nightmare Moon, and she was a mean old witch! She wanted to kill all the other princesses so she could rule and then destroy the world, but Twilight by herself had stopped her and sent her back to the moon, where she belongs!"

"Cinnamon, I don't know where you heard that from, but that is just a bunch of lies. Twilight wasn't alone, and Nightmare Moon wasn't banished to the moon, she was turned back into a good pony. But let's just forget about that."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that that wasn't the truth, it was what I was taught."

"So anyways Cinnamon, what do you think of Princess Luna? I'm sure you love her just as much as Celestia."

"Who is Princess Luna? I have no idea who you're talking about. Why are you asking me this now?"

"No reason, and Princess Luna is the beautiful Princess of the Night, and flesh and blood sister of Princess Celestia. You know, you and her have a whole lot in common with each other. I would think the two of you could really become the best of friends. You're more similar to her than you may know."

"How am I so similar to Princess Luna? She sounds like a really really great pony though. If she's the sister of Celestia, then she must be just as great as her!"

"Well..."

I had wanted to tell her about the true tale of Nightmare Moon, but the others urge me not to, sending gestures my way. The expressions on their faces had convinced me not to. So instead, I decided to go vague.

"Ahem. You know Cinnamon, I can't really say how you two are so similar, I guess you'd just have to figure it out yourself."

"But there are like no chances of that happening! I don't even know how she looks like!"

"Trust me, you'll know her if and when you see her. Now let's do something other than just sit around. Maybe a game of tag?"

"How about flying tag! Check it out!"

Cinnamon had sprouted her wings and took off for flight. It was probably her first time flying, as she couldn't really keep her altitude and came crashing down eventually. I decided to be one of those generic and oblivious "adult" ponies when I told her some compliments.

"Wow Cinnamon! With those wings, you're like an angel! One of my friends is an angel! There's no other way an earth pony could grow wings like that!"

And an angel she was, but not an angel of light, but an angel of darkness. God I cringed so many times when I talked to that filly. I never was a huge fan of those younger than me, they always came off as annoying. Cinnamon was different though. She really was. In all honesty, she was a rotten filly from the inside and out, with or without that whole darkness thing.

She had continued to fly around in her excitement, crashing down everytime, and getting right back up. I can only imagine the joy an Earth Pony must feel when they gain the ability to fly. Either way, not too long after all of this, things got serious. Princess Luna herself had actually came to visit Equestria that day. What were the odds?