"You were far, far too tense today." Ember's hooves worked against her client's back as she spoke, shiny charcoal chitin slicked with massage oil contrasting rather dramatically with pearlescent white hide.
"Mmm. I know." Celestia Sol Invictus, ruler of Equestria and Alicorn of the Sun vaguely twitched a hoof, as if she meant to gesture but was far too content to bother. "I wouldn't have thought that I'd look back fondly on the days when I went to war at Lulu's side, but... Ooo! That's really good, right there..." Ember chuckled and worked a bit harder at the muscles at the base of Celestia's wings. "But at least those problems were simple. Politics are simply maddening. This though... mmm. This is simply delightful."
"I do my best." Ember leaned down slightly and nibbled at one of Celestia's ears.
"Mmm. So you do."
Ember chuckled softly and bent lower over her new massage table—a wonderful acquisition that could be adjusted for larger ponies, even alicorns—and letting her weight settle onto Celestia's back. She savored the hint of spice—the flavor of lust—that came from her august client as she did so. There was always something delightfully transgressive about how much Celestia loved being dominated. She nipped Celestia's ear again, a little harder, and got a soft gasp in response. She chuckled again and shifted, running her muzzle along Celestia's long, elegant horn.
"Ooo. You can keep doing that." Celestia lifted her head a bit, shifting the angle of her horn for better access.
"If you insist." Ember grinned and licked along one spiraling groove slowly. Celestia shivered and moaned softly. Ember kept licking, running her tongue sensuously up and down Celestia's horn. She nuzzled against it, letting her smooth chitin slide along it, then wrapped her lips around it, squeezing and caressing it as best she could. One long fang scraped along it for a moment with a nails-on-chalkboard sound, and Celestia shuddered.
"Ah! Not-good pain there."
Ember giggled a little, but let go. "Sorry." She stood, climbing off of the massage table. "I think I'm finished here anyway. Shall we retire to the bedroom? Perhaps I can finish what I started there."
Celestia climbed off of the massage table. "Let us. Though without any more teeth, please. I do like your nibbles, but fangs on the horn are not fun."
Ember had a sudden idea. "Well, let me take preventative measures then." Green fire flashed over her, and when it cleared she had taken her default pony form—blue coat, blue hair, blue eyes, triskelion cutie mark—but with one difference. She'd been a pegasus before, and a unicorn, for clients that preferred them, but now she was both—an alicorn—and still as tall as Celestia herself.
Celestia looked her up and down with a somewhat amused smile. "Interesting."
Ember grinned, a bit less toothily now, but no less salaciously. "I hope you approve. But I do believe I was saying something about the bedroom?" Her horn glowed green and Celestia found herself picked up bodily in Ember's magic. "I think we should go there, now."
"Yeep! Well, if you insist..." Celestia didn't struggle at all, but let Ember carry her into the spacious bedroom and set her down on the bed. Ember put her belly down, sideways across the bed. She hummed to herself and adjusted Celestia a bit, arranging her hooves, posing her elegantly with her hair spread out around her, then finally turning her head just so, to put her horn at just the right level.
"There. No where was I? Doing something or other, but what was it?"
"Uhm..." Celestia blushed deeply. She was still a little shy talking about sexual acts, though her comfort had grown to the point where Ember hardly had to try to tempt her into doing them. A little mention of tension, an offer of a back rub, and the alicorn princess practically jumped at the chance to let Ember have her way with her. Ember knew that with time Celestia would no doubt be able to relax even more. She was delighted to have that time. She'd worried, after that second visit, that Celestia might not come back. But she'd turned up only a few weeks later, with a long stream of invective she'd obviously needed to express to somebody about arrogant ambassadors who obviously didn't realize that Celestia could vaporize them all and it would serve them right if they got a demonstration of it! Ember had laughed, insisted on giving Celestia a massage again, and set the pattern of their visits for months to come.
Now, though, it was time to push the boundaries just a little bit on the subject of discussing sex, and have a little fun while she was at it. "I am so absent-minded, what was it I was doing? Why if somepony doesn't remind me, I shall never be able to resume whatever it was." She winked at Celestia who blushed even harder.
"Uhm... you... ah..."
"Hmm? I know I was 'playing dolls' with a lovely little princess," she winked again, and Celestia turned nearly scarlet. "I suppose I could just keep arranging you in various poses, but I think there was something I was licking. Perhaps you could remind me? What was it?"
"You... my horn..."
"Ah, of course! And would you like me to resume?"
Celestia immediately nodded.
"Oh? What was that? I didn't hear anything."
Celestia blushed again. "Uhm. Yes?"
"Ask nicely."
Celestia licked her lips and stammered, "Y-yes please?"
"There it is! Good girl."
She grinned as Celestia gave a little shiver of excitement at those words. Then she nuzzled Celestia's horn again, this time her soft coat rubbing against it rather than firm chitin. Celestia made a soft sound of pleasure, and let her eyes half close as Ember continued. Ember began licking again, running her tongue up the grooves, humming softly to herself as she did. Celestia sighed deeply, relaxing, her eyes closing further. Ember finally took the tip into her mouth, carefully. It was sharper than a normal unicorn's horn. It was longer as well, so she couldn't go down the whole length of it, but she took what she could. She worked steadily, sensually up and down it, tracing lips and tongue over its every detail, and Celestia began to moan softly in response.
After a few minutes, though, Celestia pulled her head back, removing her horn from Ember's mouth. "Uhm. Better stop here."
"Hmm?" Ember tilted her head in wordless question.
Celestia gave an embarrassed little cough. "Alicorn of phenomenal power, etcetera. If I spark, I'll put a hole in the ceiling."
"Oh. Right." Ember chuckled. "Well, guess I'd better find something else to lick then." She picked up Celestia in her magic and made a show of turning her every which way. Celestia put on an amused look and as much dignity as she could manage while being held in various ridiculous poses. "Let's see, here?" Ember licked one of Celestia's forelegs. "No? How about here?" She licked the end of Celestia's nose. Celestia started giggling. "How about here?" She licked Celestia's shoulder. "Is that not it?"
"Hee. You are being ridiculous." There was a little note of frustration behind Celestia's words, Ember could taste it as well as hear it. She grinned to herself. Need brought her to speak out where mere desire wouldn't. She was obviously quite wound up at this point.
And Ember was having a lot of fun teasing her. "Me? Never!," she said, still grinning. "How about this, is this it?" She licked Celestia's cutie mark.
"Closer," said Celestia, somewhat sarcastically.
"How about this then?" Ember suddenly pushed Celestia onto the bed, on her back, her legs spread out, and in one swift motion she leaned in and ran her tongue firmly between those legs, lapping up Celestia's labia and pressing between them near the top to lick at her clit as well.
"Ah!" Celestia twitched and kicked, caught off-guard, but her instinctive attempt to struggle went nowhere, Ember's magic still held her. She wasn't really trying to fight, but given the amount of emotional energy Ember took in, she had more than enough magic to easily pin the alicorn princess down even if she had been struggling in earnest. She started licking intensely, not bothering with any further teasing. Celestia shuddered and let out a low moan.
Ember made a little pleased sound, but didn't stop what she was doing. The taste of pleasure was strong in the air; Celestia's emotions were not necessarily stronger than those of other ponies, but her power meant that the flavors could sometimes be overpowering. Ember drank it in eagerly. She didn't need it, really, but it was delicious all the same. The literal taste of Celestia was also delicious, if in a very different way. Ember lapped at her insistently as she continued to hold Celestia in her magic, her tongue working in calculated strokes, seeking to increase the pleasure the captive princess felt.
Soon Celestia was moaning repeatedly, her shuddering body straining against Ember's restraints as she tensed with building pleasure. Ember could tell she was very close, the taste and feel of her passion almost overwhelming.
Ember let go of Celestia with her magic, letting the princess arch her back and lift her hips to the disguised changeling's insistent tongue, and a moment later she gave an intense shudder and came, the taste of her pleasure so strong now it was hardly a flavor, more a white-hot heat in the air. It wasn't as strong as some climaxes Ember had tasted from the alicorn, but it was still amazing, and Ember basked in it, pleased even more than usual to have satisfied a client.
After wiping her muzzle clean, Ember flopped down on the bed next to Celestia, who turned to her and cuddle up, putting one huge white wing over her. Ember smiled and nestled into the embrace. "That was delightful," she said.
"Mmm. Yes indeed. I confess I do not regret letting you once more lure me back to your bedroom."
Ember grinned. "I can never resist trying. You really are my favorite customer, for oh so many reasons."
Celestia blushed just a bit. "Thank you."
"You said you wanted to talk about something, though?"
Celestia opened her mouth, then closed it with a faint frown. "Yes. But not something I should bring up with only minutes left, and I really should be going. I have made certain promises—to myself and others—about not getting in the habit of skipping sleep. I need less than most ponies but I do need some. If I'm to get any before sunrise, I should be leaving here about now, really."
"Well, another time, then."
"If you ever let me talk, rather that molesting me." Celestia grinned.
Ember chuckled. "I'll try to give you at least a minute or two before having my way with you."
"I don't believe that for a moment. But I really do need to be going." Celestia sighed softly and started extracting herself from the bed and from Ember's embrace. Ember let her go with a little sigh of her own. She hadn't been joking about Celestia being her favorite client. She rather wished the alicorn princess could stay the night more often, but she hadn't since her second visit. Still, at least she was coming back regularly, and Ember was very glad of that.
"I'll see you again soon," said Celestia.
"I look forward to it."
Then, with a flash of golden light, Celestia was gone, and Ember was alone in the bedroom. She heaved a sigh and went to clean things up so all would be ready for her next client.
The next day Ember woke a little bit after noon, as she usually did. She lay for a while in the bed that she and Far Gaze shared. He was still asleep, and she watched him sleep for a little bit, smiling fondly at him. She was very glad that she'd ended up in the basement of his apartment building, all those years ago, and not somewhere else in Canterlot. If she'd been in some other basement, or sun forbid had been out in the streets to be flung out of the city with all the other changelings, her life would have been quite different.
She finally rose when Far did, and they went about their ordinary day in the apartment above her business. Far made breakfast, as Ember was still not much of a cook, while she took care of the cleaning. Messes always seemed to multiply far too quickly if she didn't stay on top of them, even though only two ponies lived there.
Eventually they both went down to set about getting the business ready to open for the evening. Ember never could quite bring herself to call it a "brothel", that seemed incorrect when there was only one person actually working there, but she didn't really have a better word for it. Once again she shrugged at the familiar little nagging thought. There was no sign out front in any case, just the little red lamp, so it didn't matter what she called it.
"Mail for you," said Far, hoofing over a rolled scroll. Ember took it with curiosity. Usually she got envelopes not scrolls. Her eyebrows rose when she saw the sealing wax was marked with a rather familiar teapot cutie mark. She swiftly broke it open and read the contents.
Dear Ember,
I would be honored if you would meet me for tea tomorrow. I will be at Brown's at noon, should that suit your schedule. Please inform me if another time and place would be better.
Cordially yours,
Darjeeling Cup
"Hah. She was serious about talking without getting distracted, apparently. Interesting."
"Who?"
"Darjeeling."
Far's eyebrows rose as well. "The princess, you mean?"
"Indeed. I wonder what she wants to talk about?"
"No idea. She is more of an enigma to me than most ponies."
Ember chuckled. "Still sore that her disguise fooled you?"
Far made a harumphing sound and turned away from Ember, busying himself with the rest of the mail.
She grinned and went about her own afternoon tasks, but she found Darjeeling, aka. Princess Celestia, popping back into her mind frequently. She was very curious what the alicorn might have to discuss with her. Hopefully whatever it was would be pleasant news and not some kind of misguided "we can't do this anymore" declaration. She was fairly certain Celestia was past that point, but one never knew.
I hope not, Ember thought to herself. She hadn't been exaggerating when she called Celestia her favorite customer.
The first customer of the evening arrived, and Ember successfully pulled her thoughts away from the princess as last, but she found them drifting back between each session, and she truly did hope that whatever conversation they'd be having the next day, it wouldn't be the one that included Celestia no longer being among her clients.
She woke early the next morning, to be ready by noon. When she realized that she'd preened her wings three times a wry laugh escaped her. She'd be disguised, so it really wouldn't matter, but she couldn't help it. Knowing she'd be seeing Celestia made her want to put in a little extra effort. Of course she could go in her natural form if she wanted. Since the end of the hive war some years ago ponies and changelings had all sorts of treaties and truces between them. One could occasionally see changelings on the streets of Canterlot, though mostly only near the changeling embassy, but Ember still preferred to go out anonymously. If nothing else it lowered the odds of a former customer recognizing her and saying something embarrassing.
Her grooming finished, she set out for Brown's Hotel, whose famous teahouse had been serving tea for longer than Ember had been alive, though certainly not longer than Celestia had. She donned her usual pony form before leaving, an earth pony only remarkable for the fact that she was entirely blue—coat, mane, tail, and eyes—replacing the much more startling shape of a changeling queen. The hotel wasn't far from her home, only one tier higher on the sloping mountain side, so it didn't take her long to get there.
Darjeeling was already there, at a little table outside, beneath a striped umbrella. She waved at Ember, apparently recognizing her easily enough, despite her currently being an earth pony and not an alicorn nor a changeling. Ember waved back and trotted over to join her.
"Hello!" She pulled up a chair and seated herself across from the seemingly drab little mare.
Darjeeling smiled, and was instantly not drab at all. "Hello. I've taken the liberty of ordering a few tea cakes and a pot of my favorite jasmine blend. They should be arriving any minute now. I had the waiter leave the menu, if you want anything consider it my treat."
"Thanks." Ember pulled the menu over and perused it, turning the pages with by-now practiced ease using only her hooves. Sometimes she wondered why she stubbornly stuck to using an earth pony when she could easily be a unicorn instead, but something made her want to continue with the very first pony form she'd ever taken. "I think I will get something a bit more substantial of you don't mind. I haven't had breakfast yet."
"Oh dear. Is it too early for you? I know you keep late hours. I should have asked what time you preferred. I am probably far too used to simply dictating things to ponies, I didn't even think..."
"It's fine." Ember smiled and waved off Dar's protestations. "I'm usually up by now, I just managed to spend too much time grooming this morning is all."
Dar shifted a bit, her hooves shuffling uncomfortably. "I am very sorry all the same." Ember was surprised at the strength of the nervousness she tasted from her. Yes, alicorn magic made "Darjeeling's" emotions taste strongly, but the flavor was bitter enough to border on true fear. Dar was anxious to the point of near-terror, beneath the smiling exterior she presented.
"Nothing to be sorry for," said Ember, gently.
The waiter arrived with the tea and cakes just then, sparing Ember any further apologies. She ordered a fairly hearty sandwich and fries, and after he had left, Dar busied herself for a while pouring two cups of tea and setting tea cakes out for both of them. Ember noticed that she too was very deft with her hooves. She found it interesting that they had both settled on earth ponies.
"Why an earth pony?" she asked after taking a sip. "Wouldn't it be simpler to be a unicorn? Pouring tea with hooves isn't easy."
Darjeeling smiled, the taste of her nervousness fading at this innocuous topic. "There's something very solid about being an earth pony, I suppose. When I created this form I wanted to feel unremarkable, and I was looking for... reassurance, I suppose. Or comfort. It feels comfortable, and... safe, I guess? It's hard to put into words." She shrugged. "But what about you? You made the same choice."
"Only in that I continue to use this form. When I first took it I was panicked and just didn't think of trying to have wings or a horn. I thought 'pony' and pony happened. That's also why the blue." Ember grinned. "I couldn't think of any other colors. For a very long time I was a blank flank as well, because I also couldn't think of a cutie mark. And now it just seems like giving up something to stop being this version of me, so I stick to it when I don't have a reason to need wings or a horn."
"Ah. You'll have to tell me about that someday. I know you were part of the Chrysalis hive during the invasion, but I have no idea how you got from there to here."
"Someday, perhaps. It's a very long story, though, and I don't think I have time to relay it all today. Besides, you had something you wanted to discuss?"
Dar shuffled her feet again, her nervousness spiking. "In good time. You should eat first."
Ember took another sip of her tea. "That would require food for me to eat," she said with a smile. "But I suppose we can speak of other things while we wait. Tell me about the current palace gossip. I know a Saddle Arabian delegation has been visiting. I had a customer the other night who'd taken a liking to horses and had me become one. I will admit that was a new one for me, which doesn't happen often these days."
"Oh my. Was that difficult for you?"
"Well, the client seemed happy enough, so I suppose I did all right. How has the politicking been?"
"Too early to tell yet, they only just arrived, but so far it has gone quite pleasantly. Once the formalities are over and we get down to more serious business I'll find out for certain. For now I'm nearly enjoying it."
They chatted further until Ember's sandwich arrived, and then Ember mostly kept her mouth full while Dar rambled a bit about her past dealings with Saddle Arabia. They'd been allies of Equestria for centuries, so there was a long history there.
Finally the last hay fry was gone and the waiter cleared the plate away, bringing another pot of tea while he did so. Dar poured again, and there was a slightly uncomfortable silence. If Ember had liked the taste of fear, she could have made a second meal from the anxious emotions Dar was giving off. Finally Ember said, "So, what was it you wanted to discuss?"
"I... oh heavens this is going to sound ridiculous. I, ah, I need some advice. I thought I might ask you. I can't think of who else to ask. You have some experience helping ponies out, and I thought, well, maybe you could help me. I mean, you've helped me already but with something else-" Dar stopped abruptly, no doubt aware that she'd started to babble. She flushed. It was actually kind of adorable, and Ember gave her a hopefully reassuring smile.
"I'd be delighted to help you if I can. What sort of advice are you looking for?"
"About dating."
Ember blinked. "Dating?"
Dar nodded, still flushed. "I haven't... I mean I've never asked anyone out, as they say these days. It's been centuries since I last courted. I have no idea whatsoever what I'm doing."
A confused tangle of reactions flashed through Ember's mind. If Dar—if Celestia—wanted advice on dating, that meant she'd no doubt met somepony she wanted to date. Part of Ember was immediately delighted. Celestia had been so lonely for so long, she deserved a special somepony. But very few ponies continued to be customers while dating, she tended to mostly get single ponies. So if Celestia started dating, she would most likely stop visiting Ember, and Ember would lose her favorite client. If things went well she might lose Celestia forever. Yet if things went well Celestia would finally get the happiness she deserved. Loss and delight warred with each other in Ember's mind, and all she could manage to do was say, somewhat confusedly, "But I've never asked anyone out either. Why ask me?"
Dar frowned. "You haven't?"
"No. I've never dated conventionally at all."
"Oh."
"And if you want advice on romance, shouldn't you be asking Princess Cadance?"
Dar coughed and looked away. "I suppose. But her past reactions when somepony she likes is courting have been... a bit overbearing. And I would really prefer to avoid her doing her 'happy dance' any time she is in my presence for weeks on end."
Ember chuckled. She'd never met Cadance, but she had studied her to imitate her for clients, and she could quite imagine what that would be like. "I see. Well, I can try to give you some advice, but I'm really not sure I'm the best person for this. You want to know how to ask somepony out?"
"I... yes, I suppose that too. Mostly I want to know, how do you tell?" Her nervousness faded slightly, tempered with a healthy helping of sharp determination. "How do you know the difference between a friend and a lover? How do you tell someone you're simply attracted to from someone you actually love?"
"Heh. Getting right to the hard questions." Ember considered how best to answer.
"Hmm?"
"Well, there's no simple answer there. Friends can be lovers. Physical attraction can lead to love. The difference between somepony you've just seen and thought 'hey, he's cute' and the kind of love that Shining Armor and Cadance have—to give one example we both know—is mostly time."
"You can't possibly mean that any two people who think each other are 'cute' can have true love."
Ember laughed. "No, sorry, that came out a bit awkwardly. Not everyone compatible like that, no. I mean that if I'd been there, tasting the flavor of their emotions when those two first met I wouldn't have tasted love. I'd have tasted the same simple attraction I taste from any two ponies who find each other attractive. Love happens gradually, often over many years."
"Then how do you know who you can love? If there's nothing different between ponies—between people—who'll have true love and those who won't, how do you know who to date?"
"I gather that's kind of the point of dating, is to find out. It's why it's so difficult for so many, because it doesn't work out so many times, but then it does, and it's worth it. Or so I'm told. I did mention I've never dated, yes?"
Darjeeling sighed. "You did, yes. Neither have I. I see what you're saying, but it makes it so hard to want to risk asking someone..."
Ember nodded. "I'm sure it is hard. But you keep saying 'people' and not 'ponies'." She smiled, trying to turn the conversation a bit lighter. "Are you falling for some dashing Saddle Arabian stallion, then? I'm told half the palace mares have been swooning over the Ambassador's son! You really have to tell me who it is."
She expected blushes and laughter, but instead she got the taste of even stronger apprehension. "Who? Th-that's not exactly, uhm..."
"You don't have to confess if you don't want to." Ember smiled gently, trying to ease whatever anxiety was plaguing the princess. "I'm just pleased to see you thinking about romance finally."
"Y-you're pleased?"
"Well of course! I like the idea of seeing you happy with someone else." Never mind that I'd rather you stay with me, said a little voice somewhere inside Ember. She pushed that voice down. She needed to help Celestia, with whatever was causing her so much anxiety, not express her own selfish desires. She hunted for something else to add, and found herself saying, "You can't just keep seeing me forever."
But as she spoke, the anxious flavor coming from the princess changed sharply, from fear to something that was harder to name. It was still bitter, but contained a strong note of shock. "I... I..." Dar stood suddenly. "I can't do this. This was a bad idea. Asking your advice was a horrible, terrible idea. I'm so sorry."
And with that she vanished in a flash of golden magic, leaving a very startled Ember once again gaping after her.
Author's Note
This is a two-part story. The second part will go up next week.
Thank you all for reading!
Ember walked slowly back from Brown's, trying to figure out what the buck had just happened. She relayed what she could remember of the conversation to Far Gaze, hoping he would have further insight.
And then she teleported away. Again.
Poor Celestia. And poor Ember. You're being oblivious again and it's downright adorable. Reminds me of when we first met and you were one hundred percent clueless about ponies.
Huh?
She was trying to nerve herself up to ask you out. I will bet you anything.
Ember halted in place, one hoof raised, as everything suddenly snapped together. Celestia's nervousness. "Person" rather than "pony." Her fear at the idea of telling Ember who she liked. Her reaction to Ember saying Celestia couldn't keep seeing her. Oh no.
You said exactly the wrong thing, unfortunately.
Oh... oh... bucking buck! Ember couldn't think of anything else to say. She had just made a complete disaster of things. And Celestia thought she didn't want her! What was she supposed to do now?
I don't think I have any solutions for you here, said Far. It is quite a tangle.
Ember started walking again. Yes it is. I have no idea what to do.
Well, come home and hopefully between the two of us we can think of something.
"Okay. Council of war time." Ember sat on the couch in her lounge, but today the lights were all turned up rather than dimmed to provide the proper ambiance and it was Far Gaze, her partner both in work and in life, who sat across from her rather than a customer. "We need to figure out what to do about this mess."
"Well, option one is do nothing. Celestia came back to you once before, after all. She may well do so again, and give you a chance to talk things out properly."
"Maybe. Maybe not, though." Ember rubbed her face with one hoof. "I want her to. I would be delighted if she thought things through, or got some good advice from somepony, and realized that nothing I said was conclusively rejecting her. It would be amazing if she came to me to talk things over. But..."
"But?"
"Last time, she only came back because she had the bridle, and couldn't bring herself to keep it. What's going to bring her back this time? And before that she had spent centuries alone. It would be so easy to just go back to that habit, to withdraw, to hide even. Maybe she won't. Maybe she would eventually come to me, but I can't count on it. And the longer I leave it, the more she may get it fixed in her head that I don't want her."
"You're really worried about this."
Ember nodded. "I care about her, Far. I care about her a lot."
"Then we have to find a way to get you to her so you two can talk." Ember could sense Far's determination. She wanted to agree with him, but she wasn't sure it would be possible.
"How can I get to her, though? I can hardly just schedule an appointment. If she decides to try to avoid me, which she may well do, I'll never get into the palace. I could try just turning up as a day court petitioner, I suppose. Legally she couldn't turn me away so long as I came openly and not in disguise. But that would make the whole affair public, and I wouldn't do that to her. But to get into the palace under cover... They have changeling disguise breaking spells over every entrance to the palace, ever since the hive war. There's no way I can just sneak in."
"There must be some way to get you into the palace. No defense is foolproof."
"A disguise breaking spell is pretty close to. I could probably break the spell itself, I have plenty of love energy for magic, but whoever cast it would know, so that would probably be worse than getting revealed."
Far frowned. "Still... There has to be something. Maybe not a way around the spell itself, but I wonder..."
"What?"
Far suddenly grinned. "I just had an idea. A fantastic idea. I think I know how we can get you into the palace."
Ember's heart raced as she walked slowly towards the palace. If she'd been capable of it in this form she would probably have been sweating buckets. She was headed for the servant's entrance. Most of the time there was actually more traffic here than at the front of the castle. It was not exactly crowded, but another pony was walking a few meters ahead of her and she could hear the hoofsteps of at least two more behind her. She wondered what they thought of her. They had to be staring. It wasn't every day one saw a changeling queen approach the palace via the servant's entrance, not even now that changelings were often willing to go about openly.
Still, this should work. It had to work. She hoped desperately that it would work. Of course it would work, it was the simplest of simple plans, after all. She was about to walk in through the servant's gate. Ahead she could see the two guards that flanked it. They checked each entry against a list of those permitted inside. Entry should be simplicity itself, if, if, if...
"You swear your only purpose is to meet a customer?"
"I swear, Captain. Just to talk, even."
"And you can't tell me who?"
"I would like to. But many of my customers prefer their privacy. As do you, no doubt. If I were visiting you at the palace, you would hardly thank me for telling some other pony about it."
"Hah. If I didn't know you, I might suspect that was a threat."
Ember flattened her ears just a little. "I would never out you, even if you do refuse to help me out." She smiled a little and added, "Nor will I bribe you. But you are certainly welcome to continue to be a repeat customer. I think my Shining Armor impression is getting to be pretty good at this point."
"Ahem. Well. Yes." Captain Argent actually blushed. "Since you swear you're not up to anything underhooved, and since you're willing to go through the gate in your own form, and have your own real name on the list, I'll go ahead and approve it. It's just for the one day, though, they won't let you through again."
"That's fine. One visit is all I need."
"Name?" asked the guard on the left, while the one on the right regarded with Ember wide-eyed amazement.
"Ember," she said simply.
The guard consulted his list, nodded, and waved her through. The good Captain had kept his word and it seemed that, as Ember had hoped, Celestia didn't have anything to do with vetting the list of ponies who were permitted in through the palace's back door. She trotted casually across the small inner courtyard, passing a pair of delivery wagons and numerous ponies bustling about their daily business. A few of them did look up at her, she was hardly unremarkable, but most were too busy with their work to even notice.
She walked through the first open door she came across, still trotting with casual confidence. She had no idea whatsoever where she was going, but right now that didn't matter. Now she just needed a few seconds alone to implement phase two of the plan. Fortunately the hallway she found herself in didn't seem to be crowded. Shortly she rounded a corner and found herself alone for a few seconds. That was all the time she needed. Green fire flickered, and moments later an unremarkable unicorn with a gray coat and a pale pink mane that Ember had invented just for this occasion was moving through the halls of the palace.
Her cutie mark was a feather duster, which Ember knew was unimaginative, but it would hopefully give the impression that she was a maid. Now she had just one major problem remaining. She had absolutely no idea where Celestia was.
Asking directions to the Princess' personal quarters would just make it obvious to whoever she asked that she didn't belong there; no pony who had any business in them would need directions to them. She could probably find some of the more public rooms that way, but approaching Celestia while she was holding court was out of the question. Ideally Ember would stumble across her private rooms and manage to slip inside to wait for her there.
She had hours yet before Celestia would retire, so she thought her odds were fairly good. Feeling confident and pleased with how things were going so far, Ember began walking through the palace halls. She took every upward stair she came across, the Princess was more likely to live high than low, but otherwise chose her turnings more or less at random.
After several hours had passed, Ember felt like she'd walked over the entire palace twice, but she had yet to find anything that could possibly be what she was looking for. The palace had obviously not been built and designed as one coherent entity. It had grown slowly over centuries, and the result was a tangled maze that even included some corridors and doorways that went literally nowhere. Ember had known that, but she hadn't really been prepared for the sheer size of the place, and how hard it would be to discover one particular room within it. She'd even taken to checking behind doors, at least when nobody was around to see her do it, though she was fairly certain Celestia's rooms would have guards flanking them. She was also fairly certain she'd gone in circles several times, and eventually changed to a mint green pegasus, just so some alert guard wouldn't notice the same pony going by his post repeatedly and start to get suspicious.
Fortunately she had located a high balcony she was fairly certain Celestia used to raise and set the sun. That was plan B, assuming she could find it again. If she didn't turn up Celestia's rooms, she could always wait near the balcony for sunset. As the day progressed towards evening, she was more and more certain she'd need the plan B. The palace was starting to fill up with bustling activity. There was a farewell reception for the Saddle Arabian delegation, it seemed, and the palace servants were busily preparing for it. She'd had to alter her route several times to avoid the huge ballroom where the reception would take place.
She was contemplating taking a third form, since she'd definitely made at least a few circles in this one, when she nearly ran into a stout unicorn mare with gray streaks through her lavender hair.
"Sorry!"
The mare shook her head and started to walk by, then stopped. "Wait. Who are you, and what are you doing back here?"
"Uhm." Ember had never been good at this kind of deception. She was not an infiltrator, and she had a feeling that her changeling invasion of one was suddenly about to go pretty much as badly as Chrysalis' invasion had. "I'm, uhm, just going..."
"You're not one of my maids. Who are you?"
"I'm... Melody. I'm, uhm, I'm just going to the kitchen."
"You're headed away from the kitchen," said the mare, her eyes narrowing.
Oh buck.
"Sorry, gotta run!" said Ember, and took off away from the mare at a gallop.
"Hey!" Ember heard hooves clattering behind her, and looked back to find the mare chasing her at a surprising speed. "Hey! Guards! Stop that pony!"
Oh buck, oh buck, oh buck oh buck...
Ember skidded around a corner. If she could get out of sight for just a moment she could change shapes and shout "She went that way!" or something, but around the corner was another pony, who had apparently heard the shouting and who moved to block Ember's escape. She spread her wings and went over his head, suddenly glad that even the servant's areas of the palace had high ceilings. Unfortunately she was not an acrobatic flier, she almost never took pegasus form—and when she did it tended to involve things other than flying—so her attempt to round the next corner on the wing resulted in a crash.
It wasn't a bad crash, so she swiftly got herself together, but now there were two ponies chasing her, and both were right on her heels. She'd never get ahead of them.
She made another turn at random, panting, trying desperately to think of some way to shake off the pursuit. Ember rounded one more corner, sprinted down a broad straight hall, and found herself unexpectedly out in the open.
Specifically, she was on a high balcony, from which a spectacular set of curved marble stairs swept down to a ballroom below. The whole place was crowded with ponies and horses. If she went down the stairs she'd never get away. But there was another balcony on the far side. Her pursuers were still close behind, so she didn't have time to think, only to act. She leaped into the air again. All she had to do was cross the room and land on the opposite balcony and she'd be away. Both the ponies after her were unicorns, they'd have to go down through the crowd. She might actually make it!
"Stop that pony!"
Oh buck again.
Her flight suddenly halted as a golden glow of magic surrounded her. A very familiar glow. She was drawn down out of the air and deposited at the feet of Princess Celestia, who was flanked by two stern unicorn guards. Ember swallowed. Celestia frowned faintly at her. "Who are you, my little pony, and what have you been doing to cause such a commotion?"
"I'm uhm..." Ember scrambled to remember the name she'd just used. Song? Harmony? She'd chosen a cutie mark with musical notes, but what was the name?
Celestia's eyebrows went up. One of the guards started scowling and his horn lit. Before Ember could even register what he was doing a changeling reveal spell hit her. Celestia took a step back, her eyes going wide. "Ember?" she whispered, and for that instant Ember could see the vulnerable, hurt, terribly fragile pony she'd wanted to help. Then the mask of authority slammed back down. "Guards, escort this... person to the palace holding cells. When the reception is over I will deal with her personally."
Ember meekly followed the guards out of the ballroom, feeling like a complete idiot. She'd messed things up pretty badly, and now not only did Celestia think Ember didn't like her, she'd probably caused a diplomatic incident, and no doubt Celestia was royally pissed off at her. At least she'd hopefully get a chance to explain herself eventually. Still, it was with visions of exile from Equestria running through her head that she sat down in the little cell and slumped against one wall.
That didn't go according to plan, did it? Far's silent voice was rueful.
Ember sighed. No, it didn't. I just hope I haven't ruined everything.
It'll work out. I can't picture Celestia just up and banishing people willy-nilly. She'll give you a chance to talk, you'll explain everything, and it'll all work out.
What if she doesn't? What if she tries me in court? I can hardly confess I want to ask her out in public, can I?
Somehow I doubt she'll risk that either.
Ember just sighed again.
She sat and waited for what seemed like an eternity before she heard a low murmur of voices in the guardroom and then hoofsteps approaching. Ember looked up to find Princess Celestia staring down at her.
Ember sat up.
Celestia just stared at her for a long time. Ember found herself wilting more than a little under that look. She could taste Celestia's emotions, but that wasn't helping a lot, for the flavors were a confused jumble. Fear, worry, frustration, desire, hope, anger... it was almost impossible to sort them out.
"I'm sorry if I caused a diplomatic incident. I swear I didn't meant to run into you in public. I wasn't trying to cause you any trouble."
Celestia heaved a deep sigh. "The incident was not that severe, generally the Saddle Arabians seem to feel my swift, personal handling of your 'changeling invasion' was impressive. But why are you here? I asked Captain Argent, and he said he'd approved you on the day list because you were here 'on business' but wouldn't say anything else."
"It wasn't exactly business..." Ember hunted for exactly the right words, and couldn't find them. She wanted to explain everything, to let Celestia know how much Ember cared for her, to apologize for saying the wrong thing over tea at Brown's, to reassure Celestia that she deserved love and to argue with her that it wasn't right for her to close herself off from it. But she couldn't even find somewhere to begin. There was too much. Finally she blurted out, "I came here to ask you on a date."
Celestia's jaw dropped open. "...what?"
"A date. I came to ask you out. I, ah, I was thinking maybe the theater, and dinner. I know a couple of romantic places if you like Prench food...?" She blushed, feeling like a complete idiot.
"You broke into the palace, interrupted the reception, and made half the court think that Chrysalis was invading again, so that you could ask me on a date?" Celestia gave Ember an incredulous look. Her emotions were still rather chaotic, but the fear and worry had vanished, to be replaced by surprise and... delight?
"Well... yes. I don't think you would have seen me if I'd just turned up at the front gate and asked for you."
Celestia suddenly laughed, the sound like the ringing of bells. "You want to take me on a date? You really mean that?"
"Absolutely. I like you a lot, Celestia. I know I probably managed to give you the wrong impression earlier, but nothing would make me happier than to court you, or be your marefriend, or however you want to put it."
"I love Prench food," said Celestia with a warm smile. Her magic glowed, and the cell door flung itself open. A moment later Celestia was in the cell itself, her forelegs and wings both wrapping around Ember. "And nothing would make me happier either."
"...so since I actually own the building I don't have to pay rent on my business. And I live above it, so I don't have any personal rent to pay either. In fact the other side of the building faces a major street, and there are two stores, a clothing boutique and a very nice chocolatier, that both pay rent to me. That more than covers my bills and day-to-day expenses. All the money I make from ponies gets to go to lovely luxuries like this." Ember paused to gesture at the very classy Prench restaurant where she and Celestia currently sat. "So don't worry about splitting the bill, I can afford it. And I'm told it's traditional for the pony who did the asking to pay for the date."
"I suppose it is." Celestia, once again wearing Darjeeling Cup's nondescript form, smiled at Ember over her appetizer. "Although if I hadn't been such a fool, I would have managed to ask you out first. I am sorry about that. I'm especially sorry for running off like that. I let my fears get the best of me. I realize now that you weren't trying to reject me. It's just that at the time..."
"At the time I was being incredibly dense. I should have realized what you were trying to do. It was entirely my fault for saying such stupid things."
"They weren't stupid. Given the context you thought you were working in, they made perfect sense."
"I suppose. I care about you enough to want you to be happy, and I thought if you could be happier with another pony than with me, that I should encourage that. It really was unbelievably dense of me to not notice that you were actually trying to ask me out, though!"
"No, really, I was being the fool. Ordinary ponies manage to ask other ponies out all the time. Teenage colts who can barely function manage it. I should have just come out and asked you, not tried to work the conversation around through some elaborate series of connected thoughts."
"You, the mare notorious for always having a dozen nested plans in some kind of cosmic chess game, coming up with elaborate schemes? Shocking." Ember smiled. "I just can't believe I actually told you I wanted you to be with somepony else. I suppose I'm kind of used to being able to just sense what ponies were feeling. Your emotions were a little unclear, and I misread them rather badly. I should never have said that you couldn't keep seeing me, though. Nothing could possibly be further from the truth." Ember reached out and touched her hoof to Celestia's. "As far as I'm concerned, you can keep seeing me until the end of time."
Celestia blushed. "That sounds wonderful to me." Her smile turned wry as she added, "That need to have an elaborate series of plans is really what got me in trouble, you know. I always have a final plan B. Well, it's usually more like plan Z, but it's always there. But with love... with love it just doesn't apply."
The waiter interrupted with their entrees, but when he had gone again Ember asked, "What do you mean?"
"When I deal with most situations there's always a trump card I have in reserve. It's probably foolish, but knowing it's there is wonderfully reassuring. 'If the very worst happens,' I tell myself, 'Equestria will not fall, the world will not end, ponykind will not be enslaved, or destroyed, or conquered.' The world can never end, because if all negotiations, and all conventional military, and all attempts to get Twilight and primordial Harmony to fix things fail utterly, in the end, when my back is to the wall, I can call down pure sunfire and burn any problem to a smoking crisp. That's my secret."
Ember blinked at her, then laughed. "Really? I can hardly imagine you actually doing that!"
"That's the other secret. I never have. Well. Not on any grand scale. I have employed pure sunfire in small instances a few times in the distant past. Mostly just the threat of it suffices, and at this point I almost never even need that. I've gotten rather good at all this over the years. But 'all this' never included matters of the heart. And sunfire can hardly apply there. Burning you to a crisp if you break my heart would hardly help anything, and if I was fool enough to break yours it would be even worse. So... so..." She stopped and gave a little shiver, all over, and Ember could taste just a hint of fear in the air suddenly as she thought about what she was actually saying. "So if I give my heart into your hooves I have no protection. If I take your heart into mine, I have no assurance that I will not ruin everything and break it. There is no plan B, no safety net, no backup solution."
"I can't promise I'll never break your heart. Neither of us can know what the future will bring. But I'll do my best not to. However this works out, I care about you deeply." Ember smiled warmly. "I'll handle your heart with care. Just do the same with mine."
"I'll try." She gave a wry little smile in return. "Truly, I have at least had some experience with friendship, and sunfire is hardly a solution to friendship problems either. Even there, though, I've had a plan B. This feels so terrifying." She paused for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry, I should be talking about pleasant things, not dumping my fears all over you."
"What else is a special somepony for?" said Ember with a smile. "Dump away, really. I don't mind at all. I want to help you feel better. I want to help you be happy."
Celestia nodded. "It's just... my friends have never been my peers. Even now that there are two new alicorns, they are both former students of mine. I do my best to treat them as equals, and encourage them to think of me as such, but I know that if I truly need to, they still have such respect for me that I can overawe them. I... it doesn't speak well of me that I would even think of doing so, I know. But the one true peer I have..." She trailed off, and sighed deeply.
"Your sister?"
"Yes. She did break my heart. For a thousand years. That wound still hasn't healed fully. I think that's part of why it was so easy for me to withdraw from love, to simply live without it. I merely had to look up at the night sky to see what pain comes from loving."
"Oh Celestia. I'm so sorry."
Celestia shook her head. "It's all right. My sister is back, and all is well. Yet it's true that you're the closest thing other than Luna I've had to a peer in many, many centuries. You're not truly my subject, your magic can potentially match mine if you had a source of pure enough love, and you will live long, if not necessarily forever. It's uniquely terrifying, yet it's also kind of amazing."
"You are kind of amazing." Ember smiled at Celestia. "You've been through such terrible things, you've been so wounded by life, and yet you're still you, still the loving leader of all your ponies, still the amazing, sexy mare I fell for even when you were just a client."
Celestia blushed. "Flatterer."
"It doesn't mean it's not true."
"You're amazing as well, you know. You do so much, for so many ponies. And you are also more than a little sexy."
Ember smiled. "I think that two such amazing, sexy people can definitely work whatever the future might throw at them out, together." Then she winked and added, "I also think that I don't have any clients booked for tonight, and that whatever the distant future holds, I would love it if the immediate future held you and I, together in bed."
Celestia's blush deepened, but she smiled. "I think that sounds like a future I can believe in."
Ember leaned over the table and gave Celestia a tiny little kiss on the end of her muzzle. "I believe in that future. And I believe in you. It's not love yet, but give it time."
Celestia kissed her back, brief and sweet, and didn't mind that the waiter gave them a stare. "It's hard to trust, but I do trust you. I'll give it, and you, all the time I can."
It was a little over a month later when a vivid pink alicorn strode into Ember's. She wore no disguise whatsoever, and Far Gaze caught himself gaping at her. He gave a little cough and said, "Can I help you?"
"I am not here on business, I am here on a personal matter. I need to speak to Ember."
Unable to help himself, Far said, "Our business does tend to be personal as well."
Princess Cadance gave him a rather stern look, but he could see the corner of her mouth twitch as if she were holding back a smile. "Nevertheless, I am not here to hire Ember. I merely need to speak with her for a few minutes."
Far nodded. "She's finishing up with a customer now, but if you wait a moment she'll be with you."
Cadance looked around the reception room as if seeing it for the first time. She met the gaze of the stallion who was already waiting. He flushed and looked away. She smiled faintly and took a seat on the far side of the room from him.
Ten minutes or so later a stallion emerged from the door into Ember's parlor. He had a rather dazed smile on his face and utterly failed to notice the tall, bright pink alicorn sitting mere yards away as he exited.
Said alicorn smiled in amusement and rose. She glanced at the other waiting customer and said, "I won't keep her long." He gave her a wide-eyed look and a somewhat flustered nod. She nodded back, and nodded at Far as well, who simply gestured towards the door.
Inside the parlor Ember was waiting, sitting on her usual chaise longue. She smiled at Cadance. "Welcome. I'm delighted to have a visit from the Alicorn of Love."
Cadance smiled back and settled herself on the couch opposite the changeling queen. "Thank you. I approve of what you're doing here, you know. Sexual intimacy without actual love falls rather on the borders of my domain, but healthy sexual attitudes are so important to a loving relationship, and everything reputable that I've heard about you suggests that you do your best to foster such. My aunt Celestia certainly speaks highly of you."
"I do what I can. Mostly I simply provide a service, but sometimes I have the opportunity to do a little something extra."
"Like you did for my aunt."
Ember nodded. "Somewhat. She is... a bit of a special case."
"Because it's not just business?"
"She told you that, I assume?"
"Yes. She also told me she was very happy, and I believe her. I know love when I see it. Her love for you is still developing, of course, it's early yet. But she does seem happy. What about you, are you happy with her?"
"Absolutely. She is amazing in more ways than I could possibly count. I consider meeting her to be one of the best things that's ever happened to me."
"I see. Well, I'm glad. You do seem to love her as well."
Ember simply nodded.
"In that case I'll go. I just wanted to be sure that it wasn't one-sided. When she talked about your work, I'll admit I worried a bit."
"That's understandable. I know our relationship is a bit unconventional in several ways."
"Indeed." Cadance paused with her hoof on the door latch. "One last thing. Ponies think that because I'm the Pink Pony of Love I'm some sort of fluffy cherub. They forget that I am an alicorn, and an Empress, that my husband is a warrior, and that Love has driven ponies not only to poetry, but to madness and even to murder. So know this, changeling, if you break my Aunt Tia's heart there will be no hole deep enough for you to hide from my wrath. Do you understand me?"
Ember’s eyes widened slightly, but she simply nodded. "I understand."
"Good. Then that said I wish you both well. May your love together ever grow."
And with that she was gone, leaving a faint taste of scorched air and deadly sincerity behind her.
"Wow. Celestia was right, she's kind of terrifying when she's angry."
Author's Note
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