Kind Hands

“The crying is coming from the throne room.”

“What are you waiting for, then? Take me there.”

“And what would you be able to do once you got there?”

“Whatever I need to do.”

I was exposed to another flash of light as the space around me began to fade away. Once my vision recovered, I was treated to the sight of a large throne room. From what I could see from my place behind the princesses, the room that I found myself in was both vibrant and lacking in equal measure.

The ceiling had a strange colour scheme that consisted of alternating shades of pink, with connecting pillars of similar shades that led to the marble floor below. An impractically long, red carpet led its way through the entirety of the room itself, providing a dead-straight path that led to the throne at the far end of the room.

As for the throne itself, it was fairly average and slightly disappointing if I’m being honest. Of course, it was similarly monstrous in size and adorned with gold and velvet cushions for comfort, but it was lacking any defining element and was a tad modest, all things considered. The mini waterfall near its base was a nice touch though.

Numerous panes of stained-glass representing events that I had no idea about adorned the walls of the room. Suns and moons were frequent throughout the artwork, naturally; I expected as much. Pastel shades of pinks, reds and baby blues were present throughout much of the panes.

“I can tell that this is a girl’s room,” I murmured to myself.

Due to the room’s size and throne, it had every right to be outrageously decadent. Yet it seemed unusually barren; aside from the throne itself, there was little furniture and fewer artifacts or royal memorabilia. The room seemed devoid of life at all- apart from the two little girls who lay in a heap just in front of the throne.

“Eva!”

The auburn-haired girl was the only one awake, so I called out to her while darting to her location. Upon hearing my voice, she turned to face me, giving me a full view of the sorrow on her face. It was clear to see why: her sister had not yet awakened. Panicked, I rushed over to Eve and leaned in to listen to her breathing.

I was relieved to hear her breaths and was willing to wait a while to see if she awoke on her own. The princess’ inaction made me feel more confident in my assertion; it wouldn’t be difficult to believe that they would have at least said something if there were any concerns with the child’s state. Even so, I still had one more sister to worry about, so I kneeled in front of Eva and pulled her into a secure embrace, which she happily sank into.

“Why won’t she wake up?” was all the girl in my arms could muster, her voice muffled by my shirt. She pushed away just enough to look into my eyes, demanding an answer, tears flowing freely as she assumed the worst for her sister. I pulled the girl back in again until I could feel her tears soak into my sleeve.

I tried to think of the correct words to say but I faltered once I looked into the forlorn girl’s eyes. What could I say? I had no idea what was going to happen. Sure, Eve would likely wake up at some point, but I couldn’t remember ever feeling this powerless.

Why were these two even here considering that this had nothing to do with them? This must have been some form of mistake, but the princesses seemed incapable of making any errors. The pessimistic side of my mind suggested that the girls were here to keep my honest, and I sided with that motion far than I had wanted to.

Maybe I should have considered the ethics of using two vulnerable, young children as glorified bargaining chips- but I was far too busy embracing one of those distressed girls whilst preventing my own tears from carving two separate paths down my face. I pulled Eva in again, instinctively stroking at her hair, attempting to calm her down. It appeared to have worked somewhat, as her sobbing was reduced to sniffling interrupted by small hiccups.

“Shh. It’s okay,” I began, keeping a hand on the back of Eva’s head. “She’s always been hard to wake up. Don’t you remember when it took us ten minutes to wake her up after the trip to Pengrove Park?” I wasn’t expecting this comment to change much, nor did I expect much of a response from Eva. I was correct on both counts as the girl in my arms wordlessly leaned further into me, clearly physically and mentally exhausted.

We both sat in that position for what may have been several minutes but the timing didn’t really matter. I only let the girl go because we were interrupted by the pull of a tiny hand on my sleeve. I kept my arms locked around Eva, but I turned my head to see the face of Eve, confused and overcome with emotion.

“Nice to see that you’ve decided to join us,” I beckoned her in with a smile. Unsurprisingly, the raven-haired girl followed Eva’s lead and wordlessly moved into my embrace, failing to keep herself from crying in front of her younger sister.

I had to repeat the process of comforting and consoling until I was satisfied that both of the little ones had calmed down. Having achieved this, I grabbed each girl by the shoulders and turned them towards the two princesses, who had finally begun to approach. Both Eve and Eva seemed just as concerned by their appearance as I was initially; a tight grip on a couple of fingers on each of my hands confirmed that to me.

“Do not be afraid, little ones,” Celestia implored in a slightly stilted way as she stepped towards us. Her voice had a definite calming effect on the two girls- or maybe they were too much in awe to really react. It was likely the latter, actually, as Eve looked as if she wanted to say something but was unable to speak.

She and her sister sat wordlessly as Celestia gave a similar explanation to them as she had given to me. I amusedly watched their faces change from confused to concerned and then back to confused, occasionally glancing towards me to gauge my reaction. If it was enough to melt my mind, I could only wonder what was going on in their little heads. To my surprise, Eva seemed fairly comfortable with the events that had transpired, as she scooted over towards me and leaned into my side again. Quite frankly, I was impressed with how well she was taking the news.

“So, wait.”

I was removed from my thoughts by the interruption of a disgruntled-looking Eve.

“What about school? And Mrs. Stuart? And…”

She trailed off, showing a similar confliction that I’d had before her.

“…We have show-and-tell tomorrow…”

Her face fell as she shuffled backwards, away from princesses. I wasn’t particularly happy with the idea of having to stop either of the girls from crying again, so I interjected before, I hoped, anyone got to that point.

“I know, Eve, but it’s okay. I need to do some little things and then we’ll go straight back,” I answered, doing my best to show her a small but strong smile. “It’ll be like a school trip- and we will be back in time for show-and-tell.”

The grin on my face felt hollow- unfortunately, some lies are necessary. Still, even if I didn’t believe a word of what I’d just said, I seemed to have partly satisfied Eve’s concerns. For now, at least.

“Let’s do it, Evie. It’ll be fun,” Eva contributed to the conversation, causing my heart to belt out a melancholy victory cry. I was caught off guard by her input, as did everyone, but this little speech seemed to have succeeded in igniting a fire in Eve’s eyes as she suddenly stood up, lending an arm for her sister to grab onto.

“Let’s go!” Eve shouted as she moved to pick up her and her sister’s bags, which were sat at the far side of the room. I also stood up in response to the girl’s call, crossing my arms in satisfaction.

“That’s more like the Eve I know.”

“But I’m hungry.”

There’s always something. Since Eve had brought her bag over towards me, I began rummaging through the girl’s bags in case she had any food left over from lunch.

“Hmm. Nothing here aside from some colouring books and an already-eaten lunch. Wait…!”

I pulled out a small box full of orange slices. “Eve, you told me you’d eaten your fruit!” I exclaimed, feeling several pangs of betrayal.

“I did. I ate a lot of it.”

Eve stood her ground and placed her hands on her hips in a mock display of annoyance. Her act failed as she looked at me and giggled, enjoying the novelty of the situation. I wasn’t planning on giving it up just yet, though.

“You didn’t: look at it. That’s barely even half!”

“That’s a lot.”

Her laughter increased in volume now, as did the muffled giggles from Eva behind me. I didn’t want to look at her directly, as I was worried that she would freeze up under the belief that she was doing something wrong, but I’d always be able to recognise that smile- even if she was only in the corner of my vision.

“What am I gonna do with you? You’re a menace, missy,” I laughed in response, poking Eve on the shoulder repeatedly as she also succumbed to a fit of giggles. Eva joined in as well and soon laughter echoed throughout the throne room. Even in a place as alien as this, I found solace in the fact that the three of us were able to hold on to some sense of normality. I had no idea what the princesses were thinking, but I’d like to believe that they were enjoying the jovial atmosphere.

Eva suddenly spoke up, saying, “Mr. Bayard? I’m hungry too.” She wasn’t usually one to complain, so it must have been serious.

“I’m not sure where we can get food right now. What would you want anyway?”

“Sausages!” the girls shouted in unison with a small jump.

“…I don’t think they serve sausages here, girls,” I replied, painfully aware of the common equine’s lack of need for sausage satiation. Celestia, however, had other ideas, preparing to blow my mind yet again.

“We do, as a matter of fact.”

“You what?”

Forgive me for the double take.

“We occasionally receive visitors who happen to be carnivorous, so we keep meat substitutes in the kitchen for that occasion. I will inform my chefs of your choice shortly.”

And with that, she had the gall to just walk off, leaving me absolutely stunned and the girls beside themselves with joy.

“Just don’t make it too much of a big deal!” I called out after her, hoping that she was still listening. “…Well, I wasn’t expecting that. I just want to go to bed.” I sat down on the floor with the intention of lying down and collecting my thoughts. I should’ve known that this would’ve been too convenient, as Eve soon turned to pester me.

“You can’t sleep now- let’s go explore!”

As tempted as I was to have a nap while waiting for dinner, I was certain to be outvoted two-to-one, with Eva looking just as excited to have a look around.

“I would be happy to give you a tour of our magnificent castle,” Luna added from her position near the door. If I would’ve squinted, I’m sure I would’ve made out the grin of someone who was enjoying my reluctance. But there was no use fighting it, so I relented quickly.

“Okay, fine. Let’s go have a butcher’s.”

Canterlot castle was much larger than I expected, as Luna’s painfully extensive tour confirmed. Our little bout of sightseeing was long enough for me to have had numerous encounters with ponies who were similar to the princesses, although much shorter in terms of height. To say that the ponies were surprised by mine and the girls’ presence would perhaps be an understatement. I think that they were laying it on a bit thick, the drama queens. I’m sure that the fainting was for show.

But, considering the situation, I wasn’t too surprised by the stares and nervous glances of the staff and nobles milling about the entrance to the castle. Luckily for me, Luna’s presence seemed to be enough to calm most of the ponies around us as we continued our trip through the castle grounds.

Speaking of the moon princess, she spoke with the pride and enthusiasm of a mother overestimating her child. And as those speeches tend to go, it served only to make me uncomfortable and make the girls wish that they were somewhere else. Needless to say, dinnertime couldn’t have come sooner.

And what an underwhelming looking meal it was, too. My request for a simpler meal was more than fulfilled; a smattering of admittedly delicious sausages were haphazardly piled amidst several mountains of vegetables that Eve refused to eat. The meal itself almost looked like…

“Even in a fantasy world I can’t escape school dinners,” I lamented as I cut up Eva’s food. Either the chefs here didn’t have a positive opinion of preparing meat or my desire for simplicity was taken a little bit too seriously. Either way, the girls had no complaints as they chewed away contentedly. I was similarly quite content, presentation aside. I made a mental note to ask Luna about how other species were treated in Equestria; I might as well know what I’m getting to.

Eve spoke up in between bites.

“This is nice! What’s for pudding?”

“Eve,” I reprimanded. “This isn’t your personal restaurant- don’t be rude.” She answered my scolding by showing me a large grin, the enjoyment clear on her face. Having checked on one sister, I then glanced over Eva, who seemed to be similarly content. I was glad that they both were handling the situation well, but I knew that serious discussions would need to be had once the novelty of all this wore off.

For the time being, however, it seemed that Eve’s bluntness was to be rewarded again, as Celestia- who had been waiting for some time now- announced of plans for dessert. As she left, she asked me to follow her, which I reluctantly agreed to.

Celestia didn’t appear to have a destination in mind, instead deciding to merely roam the hallways. Assuming this to be true, I broke the silence, stating, “I do appreciate you letting us stay here, even if this is your fault.” The princess seemed to ignore the last part of my comment as she nodded in acknowledgement before speaking.

“Thank you, I suppose. Again, I am sorry about the way things transpired but I promise only the finest comfort for you and your little friends. Believe me- you aren’t a bother. As a matter of fact, I find it quite refreshing; I haven’t seen this place so lively since Twilight was a young filly.”

“Who’s that?”

“She is the student I mentioned earlier. The one you promised to meet, remember?”

“Is she as mental as everything else here?”

Celestia said nothing, likely with the knowledge that the silence said far more than she ever could. I gulped harshly before continuing with my questions. “So… you two have a bit of history then?”

“She worked very closely under my wing, showing great magical prowess. But she was lacking socially. It was only after she opened herself up to others that she showed real progress in her studies. She was always a gifted young unicorn who was destined for big things. I am not surprised that she has accomplished everything she has.”

I didn’t really know what to say about that, so I pondered over what the princess had said. Studious and anti-social. Unable to get very far without seeking out others. Probably autistic. I didn’t have much else to go off of, and I wasn’t that bothered to be honest, so I quickly changed the subject.

“Well, Luna showed me where I’d be sleeping. I presume I’ll be sharing a room with those two because that room was the only bedroom that she showed us.”

“I am sure that my sister considered the need for you three to stay in the same room whilst she was showing you around the castle. With that said, you are free to have any of the other bedrooms as your own- you need only to ask.”

“How considerate.”

Despite the sarcasm in my reply, truth be told, I was quite touched at the consideration. I already knew that Luna would be proved correct in her assumption of the three of us needing to stay together, if the clingy attitude the girls had with me at school was anything to go by. With everything that had happened so far, I was slightly worried about how the night was going to pan out.

Dessert passed by quickly with great enthusiasm as the light of day was quickly replaced by the gentle shine of the moon. The stars were already well acquainted with the night sky by the time I realised that I’d need to put the girls to bed. They both knew it too, as Eve fought to keep her eyes open, and Eva had dropped the idea of staying awake altogether. And so, with many yawns and complaints, I was led back to the room where the three of us could rest our weary heads.

I had a hard time identifying the room from the outside as the door followed the same ‘plain white with gold borders’ colour scheme of the rest of the hall. The inside continued this simple theme as it consisted of two double beds on either side of the room with a desk sandwiched in between. I quite liked its simplicity: it was small, well-maintained and made me feel at ease as I moved to place Eve on her and her sister’s new bed.

“…No…I don’t wanna go to bed yet…I’m not tired,” came the tired voice of Eve, defiant to the end. No matter how hard her mind resisted, her body had given up on her and she was now at the mercy of the soft mattress beneath her. Eva gave no such resistance and welcomed her place of rest next to her sister.

With that done, and with Celestia out the way, I stood out on the large balcony of my shared room, taking in the landscape. The night air was cool and refreshing; a slightly higher temperature than the winter air that I’d experienced the day before. It reminded me of a night in March, when the air had the capacity to either carry a cold snap or a post-winter thaw. I loosened my shirt slightly, popping open a couple of buttons as I took in the view of the night sky and the city below.

It wasn’t too late in the night, so there were still some small groups of ponies milling around. I was too far up to see if the ponies had horns or wings, but I was certain the majority of them would be unicorns, provided the ponies that I’d seen during my look around the castle were any indication. Interestingly, many of them seemed to be wearing formal wear despite the princesses wearing no clothing at all. I was willing to shrug it off under the belief that clothing was more of a commodity than a necessity. That, or the princesses were the leaders of a nudist colony.

Nice.

There was a notable lack of stallions in my vision- I could tell all the way from up here- with mares outnumbering them about five-to-one. Both why this was the case and the logistics of this assumption baffled me somewhat. There were surely things that I would need to just accept and get used to, but it would never hurt to ask the next time I got the opportunity.

I found the inhabitants of this city more interesting than the city itself- but that didn’t mean that Canterlot wasn’t a sight to behold in its own right. Although it looked like a city should, with several large buildings resembling cafés, theatres and libraries, the overall presentation of the city felt archaic yet new at the same time. Simple roads created rivers of stone that modestly flowed past buildings that consisted of bright colours and harsh edges. I could just about make them out, with the dim city lights illuminating the roads like fireflies.

Although clearly not the work of nature, the city seemed to have been crafted with its consent, as the plant life synthesised with the city boundaries in relative harmony. There were numerous areas where the flowers could grow in peace, far more so than the natural parks of the cities that I was familiar with.

I was enjoying my inspection, learning more about the place that I found myself in, but I was soon interrupted by a weak pull on my right hand. I already knew what that meant and, sure enough, I turned around to find the despondent pairing of the two sisters.

“You alright?” I asked, more out of courtesy than anything else; it was clear that they were in a great deal of discomfort. The girls answered me with gentle shakes of their heads. And then, in one swift motion, they pulled me inside.

“I can’t sleep, Mr. Bayard,” Eve complained as she pointed at her bed. “Doesn’t feel right.”

“You don’t really need to call me Mr. Bayard right now,” I remarked offhandedly as the thought popped into my head.

“Why?”

“There’s just no point right now. Just call me ‘David’ because that’s my name. Or Mr. Bayard- whichever you prefer. As for you lot having trouble sleeping… I don’t know what to say about that, really. Do you want me to stay with you until you fall asleep?”

I managed to get the girls settled down again, waiting beside them until I heard them begin to snore, so I moved to resume my inspection of the city. I should’ve known that it was never going to be that easy, as I was quickly interrupted again with the same tug on my arm. The events of the day had thoroughly worn me down as I wheeled around in frustration, but my concerns evaporated as I looked into a pair of tearful, brown eyes. There Eva stood, in a pathetic display of powerlessness.

“Can’t you sleep?” I asked her softly. Eva shook her head in response, rubbing at one of her eyes with her free hand.

“No,” she whispered in between sniffles. I readied myself to being pulled inside again, but Eva simply stood beside me, holding onto my arm and sucking on her thumb.

“Stay with me,” she implored me once she’d removed her thumb from her mouth, grabbing my arm and pressing it against the side of her head.

“I’ll take you back to bed but then I need to-”

“No!” came what could be considered a shout by Eva’s standards. She fought back tears as she glanced up at me with a determined look. “Stay with me. Please, David.”

Maybe it was me hearing my name being said in such a manner. Maybe it was the tranquillity of the space around me. Or maybe I subconsciously wanted this to be done with. Either way, I crumbled immediately.

“Fine, okay. If it’ll help you fall asleep.”

My reply was earnest and perhaps hinted at too much emotion, no doubt due to my voice cracking halfway through for whatever reason. I worked to keep any concerns at bay as I was led back to the side of Eva’s bed. I sat down next to it as I looked at the teary-eyed girl, our faces now level.

“Is this okay, cherub?” I asked, gently removing my hand from hers. She replied with a fragile smile and a nod before climbing back into bed. Once she was tucked in, she locked eyes with me and offered me her hand. Rather than sit there all night with my hand stretched out, I slumped down and rested my head between Eva’s hand and the bed. Once I’d stopped moving, Eva retracted her hand slightly until it slumped over the top of my head.

“I told you Eve was a heavy sleeper,” I whispered, unsure if Eva was awake anymore. I couldn’t see her face from where I sat, but the softening of her breathing made me confident that her eyes were beginning to close.

“Try and get some sleep, though, okay? There’ll be a lot to do tomorrow.”

I didn’t expect to receive a response, but I kept going, regardless.

“Well done for doing so well today. I know it was a lot for you- for all of us, even- but you did it and you should be proud. At least know that I’m proud- even if you’re not proud of yourself.”

I’m not sure how long I sat there for, with Eva’s hand resting on top of my head in a sort of haphazard hug. It couldn’t have been too long, as my idle thoughts were quickly replaced by the cold embrace of a night’s sleep.