Chapters To say that the streets of Canterlot were crowded was an understatement. As the late springtime sun beamed down on the cliffside city, everypony was out and about for the annual suitor ceremony. Or, as most ponies preferred to call it, "Watch the nobles get shot down day". A long line of ponies from all walks of life lined up in their best outfits, many carrying extravagant gifts, all for the hope of getting romantically involved with princess Celestia. It was kind of sad, in a way, but also a popular spectator sport for everypony to watch the the Alicorn brutally shut down their advances while still remaining as kind and loving as ever. Very few tried more than once.
Adam let out a sigh of exhaustion. Stuck between two snooty nobles, Equestria's only human had been standing in line for ten hours on what he considered to be a gamble, but a worthwhile one. He had managed to get all the way to the throne room this time, as this year he had arrived early. He'd been living in the castle as a guest for the past year and a half since his arrival via one of Twilight's experiments gone awry.
Adam watched as a stallion came walking out of the throne room trying to look brave, but obviously holding back tears. From the looks of his dress, he was a rich noblepony aiming for the crown using his wealth as leverage, and just got reminded that Celestia was FAR wealthier than him. "NEXT!" Cried the guards at the door, and ushered the stallion in front of Adam into the doors. They then glanced at the taller human, eyes widening.
"Sir Adam? You're in line, too?"
"Yup! I figured now would be a perfect time to drop in and surprise my best friend. I know I don't have a chance, but we can laugh about it later. Plus, I've seen enough of these last year to know the drill. The suitor comes in, gets five minutes to explain why Celestia should marry them, Celly lets them down gently while also reminding them how out of their league she is, next guy comes in, repeat until sundown. She usually picks ten or so to take on a test date, and they get shot down too."
"So… you're here… why?"
"I'm giving her a break. Just watch me when that other guy comes back." As if on cue, the other stallion came back out of the throne room, sulking. Probably reminded of some political blunder from his past to knock him down a peg. Celestia could certainly be brutal when she felt like it. Steeling his nerves and taking a deep breath, Adam strode into the throne room before the guards even had a chance to call for the next suitor.
"HI, CELLY! MISS ME?" Adam felt the hundred or so eyes on him from the various castle staff and guards present, and struggled to keep from fleeing. He wasn't wearing anything special, just his custom-made day-to-day clothes Rarity had made for him, and he didn't seem to be carrying a gift.
Celestia, sitting atop her throne, blushed and recoiled in surprise. "Adam? You're one of the suitors?"
"Yup! And I got a special present, just for you, Celestia! Behold!" Adam plopped down and sat cross-legged on the floor, grinning as he closed his eyes in a meditative state. "Five whole minutes of silence." Adam kept his eyes closed, and while he personally didn't enjoy sitting still for long, he knew Celestia needed a break after all the time today she had spent listening to nobles prattle on about their achievements, or bloodlines, or wealth, and even that one guy who showed off his Celestia body pillow collection. He just sat there, listening to nothing, looking at nothing, and feeling the warm rays of the evening sun on his back as it reflected through one of the many stained glass windows.
After a while, Adam sighed. "I feel like that was longer than five minutes. Oh well, I'll take my leave now. Have a nice day, Celes-MPH?!" Adam's eyes shot open as a pair of pony lips connected to his, kissing him with passion and love the likes of which he was not expecting. As his eyes refocused, he saw that it was Celestia who was giving him such a powerful smooch, and she seemed to be savoring every moment of it. After what felt like an eternity to Adam's addled brain, Celestia pulled back for air, her eyes fluttering open with an expression of pure love.
"Yes."
"Celly, what do you mean, yes?"
"Yes, I will marry you."
Adam scooted backwards, looking frightened. "But I… What I mean to say is… Um…"
Celestia's giggling brought his thoughts back to reality. "Let me guess, Adam. You were just trying to do something nice for me, right? Because you're smart enough to come to the conclusion based on everypony I turn down to think that you didn't have a chance. And you STILL did this to make me smile."
Adam's jaw dropped. She had figured out his plan faster than he expected! And judging by how fast she was on him after he opened his eyes, she had to have been standing in front of him in preparation. He managed to stammer out a question. "...Why?"
"Adam, look at me." That got the young man to flinch. He knew what she meant by that, and it wasn't usually good. "Please? For me?" She pleaded, and watched as Adam seemed to wrestle with his inner thoughts before slowly removing his glasses. Ever since he arrived in Equestria, the natural magic boosted his 'talent' of empathy. And with that came the 'Soul Gaze', a powerful magical ability that let him see into another's heart by making eye contact. His glasses normally acted as a barrier and allowed for normal eye contact until he learned to control his new power, but he kept the cosmetic lenses just in case. Adam folded his glasses and tucked them into his shirt collar, and looked Celestia in the eyes.
It seemed to take an unknown amount of time, but in truth it took less than a second. Images and emotions flashed across Adam's mind as he magically pierced Celestia's mind to find the cause of her emotions. Scenes of all the fun times they had together, from picnics to stargazing, played out in chronological order across his brain. And with each, he felt her emotions. Happiness. Joy. Relief from a long day. But with each new scene, he felt the emotion of love growing stronger and stronger, each memory raising the intensity until they all blended together like a collage of pictures into the magenta eyes he had first gazed at, overflowing with love.
Adam stepped back. "I… I see it. I see… you."
"You don't treat me like royalty, Adam. You treat me like a friend, and do so much to make me and my sister smile without asking for anything in return. How could I not fall in love with you?"
"But… me?"
"I would accept nothing less than the best and most compassionate being for a potential husband. But, I can tell you're anxious. So how about we start slow, with a date? Would you like that?"
Adam put his glasses back on and looked at his friend once more. "You know what, Celly? Sure. I'll try."
"That's all I ask of you."
Author's Note
Surprise! New story!
I felt like I needed a change from my current universe to keep myself invested in writing. My other stories will update, too. Although this place is in a different AU, I was half expecting Arca to barge in chasing The Duck... with dynamite... you know he would.
Adam left the throne room with confusion dominating his mind. How long had Celestia felt like that? What was he going to do now? It seemed like he'd stumbled upon a set of feelings his friend had that he wasn't prepared for. Of course, he was rarely prepared to face the feelings of others.
"Hey, watch where you're going!"
Adam hadn't been looking, and stumbled over one of the ponies waiting in line to see Celestia. In that moment, as he hit the floor, Adam's glasses fell off his face and he noticed everypony looking at him. He may not have known them, so he couldn't scan their true thoughts like he could with Celestia and his other close friends, but he could still see their emotions radiating off them.
Anger from the pony he tripped over. Anticipation from the few about to enter the throne room. Joy from those laughing at his misfortune. Sadness from the recently rejected suitors. Curiosity. Envy. Determination. Pride. Hatred. Serenity. Fear. Panic. And many more. Each emotion radiating like an aura off each pony, each emotion a different color. In such a crowded place, with so many wild emotions, the colors flooded his vision and formed a kaleidoscope of hues as he lost his senses. Sound faded. Smells faded. Touch and taste went the way of the wind. Adam was so overwhelmed with the sheer amount of emotion without his protective glasses that he didn't even hear himself scream, nor feel pain as he collapsed to the floor.
The darkness of sleep welcomed his abrupt return to unconsciousness.
"Oh, hey. You're finally awake."
"Huh?"
Adam woke up to a somber-looking pony staring him in the face, not three inches from him. He recognized the teal-colored, gray maned pegasus stallion as Sir Sky Trimmer, one of Celestia's high-ranking guards. "You don't remember? You walked straight into Imperial Ambush, one of the guards on duty as you exited the throne room. You 'saw' everypony and I had to bring you back to your room."
Adam stared back at Sky, groaning. "I swear that sounds familiar. But more importantly, where are my glasses? I need those so I can block my stupid soul gaze power. I swear, if I didn't need them, I wouldn't need glasses at all…" he paused for a second. "Luckily you're around. I don't think I could get by without an assigned guard to help me when I have an episode."
Sky smiled. It looked like a genuine, caring smile, but he and Adam both knew it wasn't real. "I genuinely don't care, Adam. You know that."
Adam grinned. "I know. You only 'care' because you want to see what I'll do. But you're good at hiding it."
Sky shrugged. "Good point, I don't care. How about this then?" He hopped up on Adam's bed, glaring at the human angrily. "How dare you oversleep, private! Roll call was half an hour ago! Drop and give me twenty! No, thirty push-ups!"
Adam furrowed his brow, his patience wavering. "Cut it out, Sky. Now, glasses, please, and then I'm going for a walk."
"Alone? At this hour?" The door of the room opened, and Adam saw the warm-colored aura of kind emotions before Celestia even entered the room. He pulled his enchanted glasses back on amd breathed a sigh of relief to see normally again.
"Celestia!"
"Adam. I heard what happened, but I couldn't leave until the last of the suitors left for the evening. Are you alright?"
"He just woke up, your majesty. But…" Sky began to have tears well in his eyes. "...He doesn't remember a thing! The impact must have damaged his brain! It's so sa-a-a-d!" He fell to the floor, openly sobbing.
Celestia glared at her guard. "Sky Trimmer, cut it out."
The pegasus instantly hopped back to his hooves, any signs of sadness gone. "Aww… 'kay. Yeah, he's fine, just a little out of sorts." Sky stood still for a moment, then walked over to the balcony, grinning. "Anyway, I'm gonna go pester Luna and see what kind of faces she makes this time. Toodles!"
As he flew off, Adam glanced at Celestia. "Remind me again why you hired him?"
"It would have been far worse to let a different group recruit him first. I don't think anyone besides us realizes he can't feel emotions."
"That's not true, he feels a bit of joy at seeing new reactions from ponies. He all but assigned himself as my personal guard because human reactions are so different. But enough about that crazy pegasus. You wanted to go for a walk?"
Celestia smiled, and levitated some fresh clothes to her friend. "Yes. A romantic, nighttime walk, where we can discuss our intentions freely. Shall we?"
"Of course!"
As the two left the room together, Celestia hopeful for a potential romance and Adam curious to see where this would lead, a certain pegasus poked his head back into the room. Making sure nobody was around, he grinned wildly. "...but I can bother Luna any time I want. I wonder what kind of faces those two will make when their 'date' goes haywire, courtesy of yours truly? Oh, it's high time I had some FUN!"
Author's Note
What, you expected a story woth no antagonist? Meet Sky Trimmer, a pony with Alexithymia, the inability to feel most emotions! All he cares about is seeing how ponies react to things... and a princess in love is an opportunity he can't afford to ignore.
The sun was low in the sky as Adam and Celestia wandered out into the castle garden. They sky was alight with a mix of oranges and fading blue hues, clouds drifting in the light breeze. A few woodland critters darted amidst the flowers and bushes as the pair meandered past, with no particular destination in mind.
Adam absentmindedly rubbed the base to Celestia's neck, between her withers as they walked. "So… how long have you…?"
"A while." Neither needed to hear the rest of the question, nor anymore of the answer. They had been close friends for long enough that it wasn't necessary to give long explanations or reasoning. They seemed to reach the collective decision to simply walk in silence, enjoying each other's company. That was, at least, until Celestia's more playful side manifested. She leaned to the side and bumped into Adam, knocking him a little off balance.
"Oh, is that how it's gonna be?" Adam laughed, and proceeded to hip check the solar princess. Or he would have, had she not flapped her wings and removed herself from the human's range, giggling. "Whoa!" Barely stopping himself from falling over, he leapt up and hit her hoof with his outstretched hand. "Tag! You're it!"
What proceeded was a childish chase through the garden as man and pony dashed about in the gardens. Celestia deliberately held herself back, making sure that Adam was able to keep up. For most games of tag, it is not about winning or losing, but the fun of the chase. In the end, as the sun finally dipped below the horizon and the garden torches flickered to life, Celestia tackled Adam to the ground, leaving him lying face-up on the ground.
"Ah, that was fun. Now then…" Celestia landed, laying down directly on top of Adam. "It seems I win. I wonder what my prize should be," she teased.
Adam blushed red in the face, stammering for an answer. "I-I-I… Celestia, I…"
"Shush." She placed a hoof to his mouth, silencing him. "Just close your eyes, and let me finally kiss you."
Shivering in a nervous excitement, Adam slammed his eyes shut, unsure of what to do. Shy as he was, he decided to roll with it. Celestia gingerly removed her hoof from Adam's face and closed her eyes as well, leaning in for the first kiss she'd have in what was hopefully a fruitful relationship.
Adam felt as a soft pair of pony lips met his own. It was not an invasive kiss, but not without its passion. He tasted the slightest hint of vanilla from his partner, probably lipstick, and smelled a hint of what he assumed was expensive perfume. His partner let out a soft "mmm…" from the kiss, and Adam at last opened his eyes to look into his princess's eyes…
"Wow! You are a good kisser, compared to the rest of the guard!" Sky exclaimed as he broke the kiss, grinning madly.
"Wha-" Adam let his vision refocus. Somehow, Sky Trimmer had zipped in between the pair and stole a kiss. Celestia sat there stunned, her face splattered with a fresh blueberry pie. He hadn't even heard the pie hit Celestia! "Sky?! What the hell?" He tried to get up, but was still pinned under Celestia's body.
"GYAHAHAHAHA! That is JUST the reaction I was hoping for! And stunned silence from sunbutt! Beautiful! Bravo! Encore!" He clapped his hooves in glee. Taking a bow in midair, he kept vibrating from his barely contained laughter. "But I must take my leave. Au revoir, mis amigos!" Giving his wings a single, hard flap, he shot into the sky just as Celestia angrily shot at where he had been a moment prior.
Celestia glared at the sky with a twitching eye for a moment longer before a hand brushing the crumbs out of her mane brought her back to reality. "Hey, Tia. Think fast!" The hand gripped her neck and Adam pulled himself up, pressing his lips to hers.
For Celestia, time seemed to freeze. The mix of Sky's residual vanilla mixed with the blueberry pie that was probably going to take ages to wash out created a unique flavor that she desperately tried to commit to memory. Adam was much more forceful than she expected, holding fast as though she'd disappear if he let go. After a few moments that felt like an eternity, he let go, flopping back to the ground.
"Haaah… stupid Sky… that ought to show him." Then, Adam seemed to lose his sudden standoffish nature being replaced by a deep red blush as he realized what he had just done. "I mean, uh-"
Celestia simply stood up, shaking the remaining crumbs out of her fur. She stared down at the human with loving eyes. "I expect more of those in the future, my little human." She winked at him, trotting off toward the castle. "I should go clean up before this pie stains my coat. Why don't you go talk with Luna? I'm sure she's curious how your day went." With an added sway in her step, Celestia wanded out of sight. Adam turned his gaze towards the towers if the castle's Lunar wing.
"Luna, huh? After such a crazy day, I could go for some time just chilling out with her…"
Author's Note
Sorry I kept you guys waiting for so long! Life got in the way. I try and update when I can, ut I'm not a machine!
