Warming One's Soul and Mind
It started out rather sweetly, if I can be honest. Celestia and I were just casually conversating, when she wasn't busy with Royal Duties, although she surely would have to leave to continue attending them sooner or later. But for now, we'd gotten into a little nice conversation of how impressions could change one's life...somewhat.
“It's nice when others portray you in the sweetest way. Makes you sweeter than your well-known pancakes, which is saying something.”
"Well I appreciate greatly the honesty, dear pony...." The princess leans a little lower, her voice hushing conspiratorially. "Though to be fair, a little fib for a nice compliment doesn't irk this princess in the slightest~"
"Psh, I never lie about compliments. What I say comes from the heart, that's just how I am." Loyal stands up proudly and confidently.
The sun princess seems to give a smile that seems somewhat more amused than anything else, raising her brow at the prideful display and eventually giving a wider, more proper smile. "Well, then I'm pleased to know I can trust your opinions when you decide to be admiring, dear pony. But what, pray tell, brings you to chat with me, hm?"
"Well, I'm close with Luna (close enough I'm able to let her mane put me to sleep almost without her consent, she doesn't mind), so I figured I'd be close with you. I do appreciate the sun and moon, so I figured, 'Why not befriend their respective rulers?' Surely you don't mind."
"Well, I have a tendency to more often than not appreciate the ponies that my dear sis tends to associate with. I suppose I don't mind chatting for a time with a dear pony of mine; after all, what sort of princess would I be if I not make time for my ponies, hm?"
“Well, for doing the opposite of not making time, you’d be a rather appreciated Princess. But you already knew that, I’m sure. Believe me, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve actually grown close to Luna – and how many times I haven’t learned hugging her ends in a tight winghug every time. But still, it’s nice being friends with someone well-respected and known, the one who watches over us...as you might say, *day and night*?’
The solar princess closes her eyes a moment, restraining a quiet giggle, though after a moment peeks out of one eye at the shorter pony next to her. "Oh I suppose. But hopefully you will bear in mind that the two of us are... nm... what's the best phrasing... a bit strapped for time, nm? My dear nocturnal sibling has a great deal more time free to be a socialite, even if she is perhaps not as inherently social. But we can see, now can't we?"
“Oh, I understand if you’re busy. After all, watching over everyone is tough...believe me, I know. I devote my *life* to that sort of thing, you know?” *Loyal sits down as he says this, rubbing the back of hishead, recalling how difficult his job can be at times*.
The tall mare watches with a half-lidded eye as the colt sheepishly rubs at his head, seating himself in front of her, and she remains quiet for a while. Drawing out that somewhat awkward silence purposefully, before she averts her gaze and murmurs out of the side of her muzzle with a tone of amusement: "Well, dear... if you're aiming to receive a royal hug, you'd best act quickly before I head off once more, hmm?"
*Loyal blushes. How had she figured it out so fast? He hadn't even hinted at HER doing it.* “That is….what I was going for….if you don’t mind.”
Tia has been doing this sort of thing for a rather long while. She's been approached by many ponies with all sorts of reasons. She knows a thing or two about ponies that want to seek out certain sorts of 'royal attention'. She has a nose for it, one might say. Said princess restrains a quiet chuckle, and for a moment she looks slowly around as though conspiratorially making sure nopony else was watching. After a moment she parts open her wings. "Well come on, little one... "
*Loyal didn’t hesitate to approach her, not too fast, not too slow. He steps into her cozy ‘chamber’ of sorts, and hugs close. So this is what it feels like...her fur felt soft, but warm, as if she’d been sunbathing for hours on end...it was like a heated pillow. One that was covered in fur.
Princess Celestia, as might be expected for one with her name and title and description, was indeed very warm. Her fur was dense and fluffy, soft to the touch, starting to transition into feathers near her wings. Her chest presses gently, carefully to the smaller pony, not at all seeming to mind as he nestled himself right in against her and allowed her tremendous wings to swing them, curling and drawing him in towards her like arms. She was warm, heat that was like sunshine soaking into the coat, into the skin. Her scent was warm and wonderful vanilla, tinged somewhere with the distant spiciness of cinnamon, and as he pressed to her he could feel her heart beating in her chest.
“So this is what it’s like….one of the smallest….yet most wonderful moments of my life...” He mutters, sounding pleased with the moment.He nestles slightly deeper, seeming comfortable with the situation.
The sun princess doesn't seem at all to mind the proximity, her wings encircling the other pony to draw him in close to herself in an embrace that could best be described as almost motherly. Her head leans downwards, nosing beneath her own tremendous wing, and she brushes her royal snout gently to the top of the pony's mane, a quiet coo escaping her muzzle. "Mmh. There's my dear little pony. You seem comfortable~"
“I am…..it’s like my bed at home….but ten times better...”
The Princess couldn't help but to give a gentle little smile. She might not be her sibling, the princess of the night and as such an expert at lulling ponies to gentle rest.... but she was a regal alicorn princess all the same, and as the princess of the sun her touch was the touch of reassuring warmth. Her wings close more tightly, pulling the smaller pony to herself in a gentle tug, a firmer embrace, and her muzzle nestles against his mane to nuzzle with affection. "Let it never be said that I have no time to take good care of my dear subjects," she murmurs. "Nmmm... rest easy, my little one. Your Princess doesn't mind."
The small pony doesn’t respond. Rather, he seems to murmur, his eyes closed but with a gentle smile spread across his muzzle, a gentle sign of breathing visible from his chest. That fast? Most likely. It’s possible he was overwhelmed by the warmth and comfort of the royal hug, and fell asleep. Not surprisingly, if he was used to Luna’s mane doing the same thing, being in a warm hug would have the same effect.
The royal mare only smiles, quiet, when she feels the stallion in her embrace relax and drift into sleep, surrounded by her warmth and by her delicate wings. Leaving them be for a moment longer, eventually the princess' horn flickers to light, pale golden yellow that was itself warm and gentle as her physical touch sliding under and around the colt to scoop him up in her wings and magic alike. It wouldn't do, after all, to have him simply sleeping on his hooves even while pressed against her. This was, after all, one of the reasons she had comissioned so many guest beds.…
His only response is another murmur, possibly dreaming….though it’s unclear what about, though presumably, it’s a good dream.
The Princess certainly didn't want to place the colt into a mere cot. She was, after all, a princess. And this was her home. She'd be a poor host were she to leave one of her own subjects to possible discomfort. Instead her magic and her embracing, warmly-feathered wings cradle the stallion to her chest as she carries them to instead a guest chamber. One of several, but this one more homely. Dense green carpet, wooden furnishings done in a style that made them look more rough and natural, and a bed fit to hold three ponies if so many were to lay across it. Or at least an alicorn. It was a room meant to show the green of spring and summer, kept warm by an oil radiator near to the bed.
"Mmmh.... sleep well, my little one," the princess murmurs, her magic drawing back the sheets and the heavy quilt on the top, reluctantly leaving the pony to be deposited into the caress of the plush matress instead of her wings, and drawing the sheets over him one more. The thin wisps of her magic trailed across him, briefly and lightly sliding like digits through his mane. And with that done, she leaves him to his rest.
Author's Note
Just a sweet little story that was stopped due to my partner having to work a lot. But it's still touching to me.
