The guards looked left and right as they waited outside the doors to Celestia's chambers for her. They were anxious: Celestia wanted to go out into Canterlot for a nice stroll. They were aware she had no obvious enemies, as the worst threats to her kingdom had almost all been reformed, but they were still not happy about letting her walk around a large city such as Canterlot. The guard to the left of the door, a younger, less experienced guard, looked over to his partner, a grizzled veteran who had been a guard since long before Nightmare Moon reappeared. "D-do you think this is a g-good idea?" he asked nervously.
The veteran looked to him and shrugged his shoulders. He twirled a small stick on his knuckles. "I don't know. I would think so, since Celestia herself knows how to fight, but if she gets shot by an arrow or... Well, worse CAN come to worse." He noticed that the younger guard was shaking. "Hey, don't worry. We were selected BY her. We are the best. We will make sure she's safe."
The younger guard gulped down his anxiousness. "I sure hope so." he said shakily.
Inside, Celestia was looking through her dressers rather methodically. Luna was lying on the bed in her pajamas watching her sister with interest. "What are you going out for, dear sister?" she asked.
Celestia smiled at her sister. "Oh, just going to take a walk, maybe buy a few new dresses, maybe get you a present... Like that Wind Shaker game or whatever it's called that you wanted so much."
"Wind Waker?! That'd be the most amazing thing you could ever get me!" Luna said, the excitement in her voice palpable.
"Yes, that game with the baton and the bird-people. Seriously, that's so odd, people with the parts of BIRDS!" She muttered the last part to herself.
Luna smiled and hopped up off the bed. She walked over to her sister's side and looked into the mirror above the dresser. Her hair was messy and going practically every direction possible, in stark contrast to the perfect, flowing beauty she saw in her sister's hair. "Sister?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you have anypony... Well... SPECIAL in your life?" Luna twirled a finger in her hair absent-mindedly.
Celestia raised an eyebrow and looked at her younger sibling. "I'm more than a thousand years old. I doubt anyone would fall in love with me." she said incredulously.
"But you're the most beautiful mare in the land, and I know hundreds of your subjects, male and female, dream about being with you." Celestia looked at her sister with shock. She raised her hands defensively. "I can't help it that I'm also the princess of dreams."
Celestia pondered this for a moment. "I've never dated anyone, though. I'm less experienced with romance than you, considering you did date that human who lived here for a year... What was his name? Francis?"
"Yes... Tis a shame he had to return to his world, even with his monthly letters he still sends." She sighed. "But yes, dear sister, you should find someone you can connect with on a romantic level."
Celestia shrugged and put on a yellow t-shirt with a drawing of a pig's head on it, the words Vote Napoleon in big letters underneath it. "Perhaps. I don't know how I'd meet anyone, though." she said, putting a pair of white jeans on.
Luna smiled. "Maybe you'll meet someone on this walkabout?"
Celestia smiled back. "Yes. Maybe so." She tossled her little sister's hair affectionately, gave her a quick hug and a sisterly kiss on the cheek, and walked to the door. She grabbed a handful of bits that were laying on the shelf by the door and put them in her pocket before walking out to the greetings of "Your Majesty" from the two guards.
Celestia walked down the hallway, the guards walking along on either side of her. The veteran raised an eyebrow. "Why the common clothes, Princess?"
She looked over to him. "You think I'm going to wear a dress in public? That's a good way to ruin a dress." She looked back down the hall and smirked. "You think that our head scientist finished that little project I suggested to him?"
"Maybe he did! " the younger one said happily.
Celestia took a left, towards the stairs. She whistled as she walked, causing the guards to look at each other in confusion. "You're in high spirits today, Miss." the veteran observed.
"I had a nice dream last night. I was floating on a raft made of stars, adrift on a celestial sea... No pun intended, of course. It was so peaceful, seeing the expanse of space drift past as I lay down and relax." She smiled. "I may just try and recreate that dream, or get Luna to help me." They walked down the stairs to the laboratory, which, though it was in the basement of the castle, was much more like a true scientistic lab than a dungeon lab most ponies would expect to be in the basement of a castle. About 25 scientists worked there, trying to find new innovations both in technology and in magic. More in the latter, due to many other labs in Canterlot working on the former.
A middle-aged Pegasus stallion with long, slightly wavy hair walked up to the princess. "We finished the adaptation potion, Cel. We finished some tests, it works perfectly."
"Cool. Bring it to me, let's do this." She sat down on a plastic bench and waited as he walked off to get it.
The guards were puzzled. "Adaptation potion?" the younger guard asked.
"Yes. It's basically a potion that transforms anypony into any other type of pony they want. In this case, I want to become an earth pony so you guys can put on plain-clothes and we won't look obvious."
"That's... Genius." the veteran said, in awe.
Celestia reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, starting to play some game and periodically groaning in frustration. "Damned flappy son of a..." She turned off her phone and put it back in her pocket. The stallion returned with a light yellow, carbonated liquid that he contained in a small glass. It looked quite like ginger ale. He handed it to her and she quickly downed it. "How long until the effects start and how long do they last?"
"Respectively, 60 seconds and 2 hours." the scientist replied. "We modified your drink so it would keep your hair from looking so glittery and shiny so you look extremely normal."
Celestia hopped up and high-fived the scientist. "Thanks, dude. See you later!" She turned to the guards. "Meet me outside in two minutes in t-shirts and jeans." She ran up the stairs and to the doors.
The guards looked at each other, confused. "I don't know what just happened." The rookie walked towards the stairs with the veteran behind him.
"Neither do I, man. I've been doing this for 9 years and she's never done anything like this." He shrugged. "Well, it will make our jobs easier. She WILL look normal and nobody will fuck with her."
"True."
One Minute and 23 Seconds Later
Celestia relaxed on a bench. Her wings and horn were gone and her hair was just normal straight light pink hair. She looked in a mirror across from her. "It works. Sweet." The two guards walked through the doors and up to her. The veteran was wearing a black t-shirt with the words "I'm Still Alive" on the back in white lettering, a pair of carpenter jeans, and a blue baseball cap, while the rookie was wearing a white t-shirt with the words "Do The Evolution" on the front in red lettering and skinny jeans. He didn't wear a hat, so his light red hair was strung about his face rather messily. Celestia smiled. "You guys look like everyday ponies. Sweet. Let's roll, guys!"
An hour later, Celestia had bought several dresses, Wind Waker, and a bag of candy for later. She and the guards walked down a busy street, filled with ponies getting shopping done and going to and fro. Celestia sighed happily and sat down on a bench on the side of the street. "It's a nice day," she said with a smile. "Very sunny." She relaxed and leaned her head back. Then she quickly sat up and turned around, as if she heard something.
"What's wrong?" the rookie asked.
"I... You guys go to the castle without me. Take the bags." Celestia said quickly.
"But-"
"Just do it." She stood up and ran in the direction she was looking. The guards picked up the bags and walked back to the castle.
Celestia dodged several ponies in the street as she sprinted towards a blue house with a white roof. She stopped at the door. "It stopped... Oh no." She quickly opened the door and looked to the ceiling. She gasped and put her hand to her mouth. A stallion was hanging from a rope running from a hook on the ceiling. She quickly ran to him and picked him up at the hips so he wouldn't be choked anymore and she quickly looked around for something to cut the rope with. She saw a pocket knife on a table directly behind the stallion, so she grabbed it and cut the rope in a swift motion. The stallion landed in her arms and she laid him on the floor. She checked for a pulse... Weak, but there. He was still breathing, even though it was somewhat ragged. She looked down at his face. His grey-blue hair was strewn around the floor like a frame. She sighed and sat on the floor next to him, occasionally checking his pulse, until a half an hour had passed, at which point he stirred.
He slowly opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling where the rope had once been. His breathing increased pace to normal levels and he looked around. "Wha... What happened..." His eyes stopped at Celestia. He gasped and sat up, scurrying back to the wall and pressing against it, seemingly scared. "Are you going to rob me?!"
"What? Why would I rob-"
He quickly noticed the pocketknife on the table and the cut rope. "You... You stopped me from killing myself... You cut me down..."
Celestia stood up and walked over to him. "I heard the sobbing before you did it. I felt like something was wrong so I ran over as fast as possible."
"Why'd you save me, though?"
"It's my duty as a-" She stopped and looked to his neck. There was a slight indentation from the rope.
"Your duty as a what? Good Samaritan?" He stood and looked her in the eyes. "You don't seem the type." he said in a harsh voice
She rubbed her shoulder, slightly embarrassed. "That's not exactly the thanks I was sorta expecting..."
He scoffed. "Thanks. Really. I attempted suicide, with the intent to die. You expect me to thank you now that I'm still alive?"
"Yes. I want to help."
"I don't need help, especially not from crazy mares who don't even know when someone wants to die." He sighed. "I'm sorry. Thanks for 'helping', even if it's not that helpful. What's your name?"
"It's Cele- I mean, Cel. It's Cel." She looked at his face. "You look like a Kai. Am I close?"
He raised an eyebrow. "It's actually Ki, but good guess. Are you a psychic or some bullshit like that?" he asked.
"No, I'm... I'll explain later. I don't really want to be here and I don't trust you to be alone, so come with me to my home."
"Huh. Mare saves me, invites me back to her place. Normally I'd be thrilled, but today's an exception." He shrugged. "I guess that makes sense to no trust me to be alone... I don't really trust myself to be alone either."
She put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on. I'll get the chefs to fix you a hot meal."
"Chefs? Are you rich?"
"Well... It's complicated. Come on." She walked over to the door and he followed close behind.
As they got closer to the castle he stopped and looked up at it. "You're fucking kidding."
"Nope." She kept walking as he stared at the castle, until he snapped out of it and caught back up.
"You live in the castle? Are you a maid?"
"No."
"Guard?"
"Negative."
"Student to Celestia?"
"Getting warmer." She smirked and did the hand signal that meant 'Open' to the doorman. He did so quickly.
Ki stared at her. "You're..."
She looked to him and walked in, sitting on a chair just inside. She checked her watch, counting down the seconds in her head. Ten... Nine... Eight...
"Fuck. You're lying. You're an earth pony." He stood directly in front of her and stared her in the eyes, somewhat judging her.
"I am?" Two... One... As the potion wore off, Celestia's hair regained it's supernatural shimmer and wave, glistening in the light shining through the windows. A horn materialized on her forehead, and she stood as two great wings erupted from the back of her shirt, showing their full wingspan. Ki's jaw dropped. "I told you 'it was in my duty as a' and never finished. I meant to say 'as a princess', if you were wondering."
Ki collapsed to his knees and stared up at her. "You... Saved my life... A lowly subject to you..." A tear slowly ran down his face.
She kneeled and hugged him. "I saved you as Cel and you didn't appreciate it, as Celestia it's the grandest gesture you could ever be presented with..."
He remained still for a second, shocked by the sudden hug, before he returned it. He quickly sobbed openly into her shoulder. "Thank you... Thank you..."
She smiled and stroked the back of his head. "Now, how about that hot meal, huh? I'm sure my sister will like to meet you."
He removed his face from her shoulder and looked into her kind eyes. He nodded and they stood up. She walked towards the dining room with him following slowly, dazed.
Author's Note
Well, I like it. Tell me what you guys think, though!
Ki stared at the plate of food, still somewhat dazed by the whole situation. Celestia bit into a piece of garlic bread and took a sip of her pomegranate juice. She looked over to him. "Eat something, Ki, you'll get hungry later and complain if you don't." she said softly.
He looked up at her. "I... Okay." He picked up the fork and stabbed it into the green beans, getting at least ten on the prongs, and shoved all of them into his mouth. He barely chewed before swallowing them whole. He smiled slightly. "Garlic. I love garlic." he said, taking a sip of water. He looked back at Celestia, who was sitting across from him. He looked to his left and right. None of the other chairs were filled on this long table. He felt... Somewhat alone. "Hey."
"Y-hh?" Celestia asked, her mouth full of eggs Benedict. She covered her mouth and swallowed. "I mean, yes?"
"Sit over here. I want to be next to you." he said, in a soft, bizarrely innocent way.
She raised an eyebrow. "An hour ago you wanted me to be as far away from you as-" He looked up at her with pleading eyes. She looked deep into them. "Oh. Okay." She put her utensils and cup on the plate and picked it up carefully before walking around the table and sitting to Ki's right.
"Thanks." He ate another bite of green beans. As soon as he swallowed he looked over to her. "I'm sorry."
She looked at him. "I beg your pardon?"
"I'm sorry for how I treated you when you first saved me." He looked at her face and saw all the kindness and warmth he had heard about. "I just... Didn't know I was that important."
Celestia smiled. "That's okay. You didn't know and were not acting like yourself. Perfectly normal behavior." She ate another bite of garlic bread.
He turned himself around to her. "Why did you save me?" he asked sincerely.
"I heard your crying and decided to help. Simple." She looked at his clothing. Neat black shirt, pressed blue pants, and a pair of gloves hanging out of his front pants pocket. Who was this stallion?
He sighed and ate his eggs Benedict quickly. When he finished, he muttered. "I'm happy someone decided to stop me, at least. But there has to be more to this. You probably hear crying any time you go outside. I could've just been someone getting over a bad break-up. So tell me," he leaned forward and put his hands on her shoulders. "How did you know what I was doing?"
She put her hands on his arms. "I didn't. I just knew someone needed my help." She gave him a slight pat on the shoulder. He withdrew his arms and they returned to eating.
"Sister?" a voice from the hallway leading to the dining room said.
"Yes, Luna?"
"Did you enjoy your walk?" the princess of the night asked, stepping into the room. She was still wearing her pajamas and her hair was a mess. She looked at the stallion sitting next to Celestia and smiled. "Apparently, you did."
Celestia groaned. "Luna, just because I have a stallion eating dinner with me does not mean I've found love. This is neither the time nor the place to speak of such things."
Ki looked at Luna. "I like your pajamas. Very cool designs." The pajamas in question had stars and swirling constellations on them.
"Oh, why thank you, kind sir! And what, pray tell, is your name?" Luna walked over and sat in the chair to his left.
"Ki. Your sister, uh... Saved me from a bad situation. She'll probably explain later. I'd rather not talk about it." He continued eating the green beans as Luna looked over to Celestia with a look of slight confusion. She shrugged and continued eating.
"So, Ki, you seem a bit... Well, unperturbed by the fact that you've met two princesses." Luna says.
He shrugged and looked up at her. "I think the shock value decreased after Celestia hugged me after the whole saving me from a bad situation. One hug from a princess and a free dinner and I think I won't be shocked by anything again." He finished off his drink and sighed. "Is there a place for me to sleep? I think I've had a full day and need some rest."
Celestia nodded. "Down the hall and to the left is an empty room. We usually reserve that for our students, but as neither of us have any at the moment, it's yours."
Ki smiled at Celestia. "Thank you very much, your highness." He got up, bowed, and walked to the room, entering it and closing the door.
Luna looked back to make sure he was out of earshot. "He's nice. What happened to him and what did you do?"
Celestia sighed and began to explain.
Ki looked around the room. Light blue painted walls, a plush blanket covering the King sized bed, drawers, dressers, all the things a student of the princesses would need, and a large window looking out over the city. Ki walked over to the bed and laid on it. He looked around the room again, noticing a small purple bottle of perfume on one of the dressers and a lavender skirt hanging out of one of the drawers. "Looks like someone left some stuff here..." he muttered. He stared up at the ceiling for a bit before hopping out of bed and opening the drawer with the skirt hanging out, putting it back in. The drawer was filled with similarly colored skirts, pants, dresses, and a bizarrely out of place blue sports bra. He closed the drawer and looked at the bottle of perfume. 'Property of T.S.'was inscribed on the side. "Hm... Maybe this is Twilight Sparkle's. Well, if that's the case, she'll probably be back soon to get these. Maybe I shouldn't sleep in here..." He walked over to one of the other drawers and opened it. The first thing on top was a pair of somewhat lacy panties with 'Pipsqueak' embroidered across the front. Ki raised an eyebrow and closed the drawer. "I won't even question that." he says to himself before walking to the large window and looking out. The city was bustling with life as the late-night ponies started to flood the streets, going to the clubs and bars to relax and unwind after hard days. From the castle, the city was a sparkling gem inset into the landscape. It glowed with a magnificent quality that Ki found... Calming. He smiled for the first time that day and walked over to the bed, laying down in it again and pulling the blanket over him. He thought about Celestia saving him and felt... Well, glad. Glad that he had a second chance. He rolled onto his side and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Luna sipped her water. "So you stopped a random stranger from committing suicide and now he's to be staying with us?" she asked.
Celestia nodded. "He's... I think he's going to be okay, but I'm not sure. I'm not a doctor and I don't know how he works, but hopefully he'll be okay." She got up and walked over to the fireplace on the far side of the dining room. She stared into it. "I think we should check on him."
Luna raised an eyebrow and sipped her water again. "Motherly instinct, dear sister? Or... Something else?" she asked.
Celestia shrugged and walked over to her. "I don't know. I think I just want him to be okay. Sounds stupid, I know, but I can't help that."
"Fair enough." Luna finished her water and stood up. She and her sister walked over to the room and opened the door. Ki was sound asleep in the bed.
Celestia sighed. "He's so young and he nearly ended his life... I don't want that to happen." She looked at her sister. "Check his dreams tonight to make sure he doesn't have any nightmares, okay?"
Luna nodded. "Of course, sister." She looked at Ki. "I think you're right. He'll definitely be fine." Celestia smiled wearily and walked back down the hall, retiring to her bedchambers for the night.
Luna pulled a wooden chair into the hall and sat in front of the door. She exhaled deeply and closed her eyes. She hummed an ancient lullaby to herself, slowly drifting into the state she called "seeing". In this state, a projection of her exited her body and could see into dreams and nightmares, influencing them or simply observing. The projection drifted into the room and looked at the sleeping Ki. He was still sound asleep, but a transparent cloud hung over him. Luna's projection floated across the room and looked into the cloud, seeing the current dream Ki was having. Ki, in a black robe, was laying on a slab. He stared upwards at nothing. All of a sudden, a rope coiled around his neck and dragged him off, roughly pulling him off of the slab. He didn't react, and he still stared upwards as the rope looped itself around a beam on the ceiling and pulled him up. His vision drifted to directly ahead of him, towards a massive wooden wall. He wasn't breathing, Luna noticed. He hadn't been breathing the entire time, since he was on the slab or being dragged. Suddenly, a crack in the wall split it in two, and blinding light entered the room. The light grabbed Ki and dissolved the rope, laid him on the floor, and he suddenly began breathing again. The light disappeared and Ki was laying in the same bed he was in now... And then he woke up. The projection, though invisible to his eyes, still quickly returned to Luna as if it was afraid of being seen. She snapped out of her "seeing" state and put the chair back. She walked up to the door and knocked.
Ki was in a cold sweat, breathing heavily as he sat up violently. The dream he had just had... What was that blinding light? Was that supposed to be Celestia? He heard a knocking at the door. He caught his breath. "Come in."
Luna opened the door and poked her head in. "I wanted to check on you, Ki. Are you alright? You don't look well..."
Ki sighed and shook his head. "I'm fine. Just a nightm-" he stopped himself. "Bad dream. Well, not really bad, just... Strange."
"I see." She stepped in and sat in the chair next to the window. "Any idea what happened or what it meant?"
"I think..." He moved so that his back was against the wall. "I think it was supposed to represent Princess Celestia stopping me from killing myself. What's weird is, I was dead in the dream until I was saved, so..."
Luna stood up and walked over to him. She put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it too much, Ki. You need rest." She smiled and leaned closer. "I'll make SURE that you have a better dream this time."
He raised an eyebrow, but finally nodded. "Thank you, Princess." She did a quick courteous bow and stepped out of the room. Ki laid back down and drifted to sleep again.
He dreamt of a field of light and roses.
He slept like a stone.
Author's Note
Finally done with this. Hallelujah.
A little shorter than I expected but hey fuck it, I'm happy with it being out.
