Stone and Secrets

The day after her speech, Celestia woke up surprisingly early. It was her day off, so she and Luna had arranged in such a way that the sun would be raised without needing to wake her, and thus she could sleep in.

But she had woken up early and with a fair bit of energy that morning, for she had an idea.

She was going to surprise Shining Smiles by visiting his home!

Oh, and she would bring him some of the finest baking ingredients and party supplies, which he would be sure to love, and to top it all off, she would get to meet that neighbour of his.

He was a baker too, wasn't he?

Her mind drifted back to the day before. She remembered the confusion, the strange feelings... and she briefly held on to the vague hope that it had all been a dream.

It had not.

I was tired. That's all.  End of story.

She let the thought fade away for the moment, and started going over her checklist of items.

"Baking dishes, check. Sixteen different flours, check. Special imported milk..."

Oh, he is going to love this.

She had grown more and more excited as the chariot drew near to Shining's address, which she had had one of her servants find the day before.

The smile on her face faded as the chariot pulled up to the home.

"Swiftwing, are you certain this is the right address?"

"I am positive, your majesty. Would you like me to escort you in?"

"No, I'll be fine. I don't want to draw too much more attention, so if you could go, I'll summon you when I'm ready to leave."

"As you wish."

Swiftwing took off toward the skies, and Celestia turned to look at the home.

She took a good look at the building, and it was quite a sight to see.

It was livable, she supposed. She hoped.

The first thing she noticed was the grass, which was crowded with weeds, and ragged at best in the healthier patches.

The second was the roofing and the walls, which were tattered, to say the least.

The walls were stained, the roof leaned, and of two low windows, one was boarded up, and the other was just out of reach. Sections of wood seemed to be rotting, and others had small holes.

She turned the flimsy knob and pushed open the grimy door, with a good shove and a loud creak.

The cleanest item in the house was the oven, which sat next to a small fireplace. It was of medium size, and showed signs of long use. It had clearly seen better days.

Other than this, there was a bed, a single chair, and table. Celestia's eyes did not want to see more than the simple shapes of this furniture, but she forced them to.

She forced them to see the chips, the poor craftsmanship, the stains, the tears... and when she made them look beyond the furniture it only got worse.

She noticed the mould in the corner, the leaks in the roof, the carpet that had been so worn down that a once elaborate pattern could barely be distinguished.

Celestia noticed the room becoming blurry, and then heard the soft tapping of her own tears on the floor. Even then, she noticed a slight draft in the room. This home would be cold, come winter.

How...

How long has he been living like this?

And I had no idea...

If only I had asked.

And how many others are living this way?

She remembered the reforms Shining had helped her to plan. Suddenly his knowledge of the impoverished in Canterlot made a great deal of sense.

But reforms or none, she could hardly bear thinking of the implications.

Thankfully, she was taken away from these thoughts when she heard a knock at the entrance.

"Shining, buddy, are you in there? I know how things have been lately, so I brought some groceries for you."

An earth pony with a warm brown coat and a slightly darker brown mane opened the door with another loud tuk-THUNK. She realized that the wood must have been swollen from years of accumulated moisture.

"Shining? Where are- Princess Celestia!? What in Equestria- I mean, your majesty, what brings you this area?"

She looked up at him, trying to take in as much information as she could by his appearance. He was neatly dressed, meaning that he was not as poor as... as Shining was. He had a loaf of bread cutie mark. And as he had said, he did indeed have a bag of groceries in his hooves. "I am looking for someone. Would you mind telling me where you live?"

"I... a few houses over, and across the street, your majesty."

She nodded. So, he's a baker, he's a neighbour, and he seems to be helpful...

"Who did you come here to see?"

The brown stallion looked around slightly, and shifted in place, but spoke calmly.

"I came to see a friend of mine, named Shining Smiles. He's a good stallion, but he can be a bit annoying at times... anyways, he's been having some tough times lately, so I just thought I could help him out a bit..."

Celestia gave up the facade of excessive seriousness, and her expression softened. She gave a weak smile, which retained a touch of sadness. "Any friend of Shining Smiles is a friend of mine. May I ask your name?"

The stallion looked surprised and relieved. "I'm Cinnamon Toast, and you have no idea how relieved I am to hear that. I thought he had gotten into some serious trouble. He does get into a bit of trouble from time to time, but when I saw you in here..."

Celestia chuckled, but the happy expression on her face was quick to fade. "Well, he's not in any trouble with me, but he does seem to have a bit of a problem here. Do you know where he is right now?"

"Well, yesterday he said he might be going to visit this mare he's been seeing all the time. He talks about her a lot, but he refuses to say her name... or a lot of things about her. I suppose I just thought that was Shining being Shining, and he was always really happy when he came back from visiting her, so I decided not to ask. From what he says, she really is quite an amazing pony."

Celestia's face took on a reddish tone. "I see. Anyways, I think I'd like to help him out, and you as well. Tell me, how would you like to come and join my staff at Canterlot? If your cooking is liking Shining's, I'd be glad to have you on staff, and I could give you an excellent kitchen, not to mention living quarters, and fair pay. Your family may join you, if you have any."

Cinnamon Toast passed out on the spot.

Celestia  had the better part of Shining's few possessions loaded into a second chariot by the time Cinnamon woke up.

She turned to him and spoke as if the conversation had gone uninterrupted. "So, will you be joining us?"

Cinnamon looked bewildered. "That wasn't a dream?"

"No, it was not a dream. I really did offer you a place in my kitchen staff. Will you accept?"

"Of course I will! That's... this is the best thing that's happened to me since... since forever!"

Celestia smiled. "Well, you've probably helped him out many times, so you may consider this the reward for your generosity."

He went to say something else, but she put up a hoof. "There is no need. I will come back the day after tomorrow to get you, so pack your things."

In truth, she just didn't want to hear much more of his verbose unnecessary details at the moment.

And when I come to get him, I can ask him what Shining said about me.

Should be interesting.

Even though she took everything in his home, since she did not know what of it he still might want, Shining's few items would likely have fit into a single chariot, if it had not already been occupied by the baking supplies she was going to bring him. She had two extra chariots brought anyhow, however, in case it proved to be too large or burdensome.

She got into the chariot, and waved Cinnamon goodbye before taking off toward the castle.

I think it was about twenty minutes talking to Luna before Celestia came into the room. Well, twenty minutes in this lounge space, but I'm not complaining about that, 'cause it's a pretty comfortable lounge. My hooves were still slightly sore from all the walking, though. It was the usual twenty minutes or so to get here, but then we spent another hour looking around for Celestia, and then another hour and half just touring the castle...

Anyways, it was a lot of walking. Not a big bother, though, since Luna also had some pretty good conversation to make. Not quite like Celestia, but still, it wasn't half bad.

But she's here, and I've been wondering where she went. I was also wondering about that odd expression on her face - it seemed to be happy, but there was concern underneath it. "Celestia, where were you? I've been here for almost three hours now!"

"I was just... talking  a trip around town, Shining. Oh, and I wanted to ask you something."

Ah, that should be it.

"Shining, how would you like to stay here, in the castle, with me and Luna?"

I'm not sure I heard correctly. The castle seemed like a pretty nice place to spend some time, though, if I did. I smiled at her, and didn't hide my slight confusion.

"For how long?"

"Permanently, Shining. I'm offering you a place to stay here, with us, as my friend and perhaps a sort of jester and baker, if you wish."

Okay, this time I know heard right. But.. that's a big change to make. A fun change to make.

No, I should take this more seriously. I have to think through this decision.

Oh, who the hay am I kidding. I'd love to live here. It's a great place, and I come here all the time anyways, and I'd get to see Celestia every day!

"Well Celestia, I don't see why I wouldn't like that."

Wait a minute. Why is she suddenly offering for me to come stay with her...

And she just got back from town.

Ah. I see.

"Celestia, where did you really go just now?"

She looked away and toward the ground for a moment, but turned back pretty quickly. I guess you learn to look most ponies in the eye when you're royalty.

She still does have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen.

"Shining, I went to visit you at home, but of course you weren't there, so I went in looking for you..."

Her expression suddenly became much more serious, and much more worried.

Annnnd here it comes. "Shining, you're one of my closest friends, I won't have you living in such conditions if I can help it. You deserve better, Shining. And I want to have you around whenever I want to see you, and not have to worry about you when you're gone."

Ah, pity. Yes, everyone loves that.

Her eyes looked almost ready to cry, and her voice lost a bit of its composure. It dug a little deeper into my heart when it did, and a large part of me wanted to comfort her.

"Shining, I can't stand to see a someone as important to me as you are forced to live in those conditions. I want to know that you're here, that you're safe, that... that you're going to be here when I need you, and not freezing or hungry or soaking wet somewhere I can't see you. I already brought all of your things, and your friend Cinnamon Toast is going to be coming to join the kitchen staff."

Ah, Cinnamon Toast. He's a good guy. Always been around when I needed him, and he's done more than his share of favors for me.

And she's right, there's no real reason for me to go back to that awful place. As mother always said, don't turn down pity out of pride.

I get a bit of my usual thoughts back together, and I manage to make my response a soft one, and a bit funny. I put a smile on. Frowns don't belong on this face, after all!

"Celestia, you had me at Jester, and you have me now. If Cinnamon is on board, well, that's just even better!"

I realize my manners in time not to spoil the moment. "Thank you, Celestia. I appreciate it. I really do."

I go up and give her a hug. It feels excellent, and I let it go on just a little bit longer than someone else might. And another little bit.

Oh dear, now I'm starting to cry a little.