The Interspecies Conundrum
Anon was holding Sunhorse's forehooves.
He was sitting there in his seat, attending their usual get-together in the castle. They were in the dining room where Sunhorse—er, Celestia, and her sister, Luna, usually shared breakfast. Celestia had used this time to meet with him for lunch, a get-together only brought about by… well, their friendship. Just thinking about how corny that sounded in his head made his heart nearly fall out of him, but during that moment, where he felt the warmth of Celestia’s forehooves rubbing against his hands, he realized his heart was already outside him. Either that, or it was diabetes.
How he got to this point of hand-to-hoof contact was due to the original situation being… off. See, Anon did not understand the seating arrangements that the two sisters had always shared. Celestia would be seated at one end of the table, while Luna would be seated on the opposite end of the table. It would be normal if the table wasn’t nearly as long as the length of the room. Also there were various displays situated at random intervals on said table. It was like, as if, they were preparing the table for so many more ponies, but there were only two chairs available to sit at.
This whole arrangement had bothered Anon. It was stupid. Why would Celestia want all this stuff piled up on the table and not be able to see her sister while communicating with her? Was she afraid of looking her sister in the eye, or were the roles reversed? And why were there random trinkets and display models there in the first place? And why was the table ridiculously long? Did they take what he said about humans living in Texas liking ‘everything bigger’ as a test to see if they would like it, or was this table this ridiculous before he arrived here months ago?
All these questions had plagued Anon’s mind. So, he had decided to make Celestia see reason. He had hoped Sunhorse wouldn’t melt him where he was sitting, but if that was what it took to instill change… then he’ll turn into ash. He hoped it wouldn’t go to that length, but if it did, maybe she would regret her decision and somehow bring him back from the ashes of her anger. Either that or the impromptu cremation would never happen, and she’ll just question his motives thinking he’s weird.
Anon had been banking on the latter.
"Hey, Celly?"
"Yeah?"
"Mind if I sit closer to you? Kind of can't see you with all these giant displays in the way—"
Sunhorse lit her horn, and all those displays were surrounded in a golden hue.
And then they disappeared in a flash of white light.
Down the avenue known as Celestia’s dining room table, Anon could see her pearly whites as she grinned rather sheepishly at him. "Does that help?"
He squinted. "Yeah, but you're really far down there now that I can see you. Do you mind if I get a bit closer?"
She blinked. "You know, now that you mention it. You are really far down there." She chuckled into her hoof. "Why haven’t I not noticed this before? Am I blind?"
"The sun blocked your view of—ack!"
"Do not blame this blunder on my sunshine, Anon," Celestia said sternly. She flicked her muzzle and then smiled. "But you can blame me for not questioning this at least once. I mean, this table is ridiculous! What am I waiting for, all my ponies to join me in our get-together? No wonder Luna doesn’t sit with me anymore!"
Anon laughed. "Don't have an existential crisis over there, Celly. It's not a good look."
"Oh quiet, you!" she said, before neighing while glaring at him. He responded in kind, giving her a smirk.
That smirk must have broken her as the two shared in a bout of laughter.
And after a few changes of seating... Anon was now closer to Celestia. Much closer. The change was simple: Anon had shuffled himself (and his chair) all the way down toward her at the end of her side of the table. He sat on her left, angling his seat toward her instead of directly under the table. This allowed for that closer feel, one that Celestia had taken the opportunity to utilize, much to Anon’s surprise. That’s why he was holding her hooves.
And that’s why she was rubbing his hands.
He looked up at Celestia. She was happily staring at him, her gaze half-lidded. The warmth that radiated from her eyes alone gave him signals that were more mixed than Twilight trying to run a lemonade stand in the middle of a scheduled thunderstorm. He would walk up to said lemonade stand and ask for grapes instead just to see her reaction, only for her to prattle on about how him buying the lemonade would fund Spike's latest endeavor that was brought to him by a bout of dragonfire mixed with whiskey. To put it in short, it wouldn’t make sense.
Much like Celestia’s gaze toward him. No one had ever looked at Anon like this. It was like she looked more than content in having him suddenly holding her hooves, if her smile she radiated towards him had anything to say about it.
Or was it? Anon couldn't tell. He was inept when Sunhorse threw curveballs like this. She usually threw flaming fastballs at his skull, but this one felt… strange. It was like all of her emotions were being filled in one pitch.
He sighed. He didn’t know what to feel about all this. He just knew that he was holding her forehooves. So, he opened his mouth.
"Uh... Celly?"
"Yes, Anon?"
Her voice peaked, her ears perked, and her head tilted. It made Anon worry what he was going to say next, but he cleared his throat anyway.
"Do you like… this?"
She let out a brief blow.. "This...?"
Sunhorse was being sunhorse. He paused and drew one of his hands back, pointing at their hooves-in-hands conundrum unfolding right before their very eyes. "This."
"Oh," she muttered. She raised a brow. "I thought my intentions were clear with this gesture. Were they not?"
She rubbed said hooves against his only hand. He brought his other to rejoin the crowd, which made Anon look up at her again to see her smile again.
He leaned forward. "I don't know, I'd hate to assume. You and I have these weekly get-togethers as friends, and we’ve never done this before. Is there something you're not telling me, Sunbutt?"
She rolled her eyes. "You and your nicknames, Anon." She shook her head and closed her eyes. Then, she let out a deep breath before continuing, "As for your question, you are a dear friend and I just wanted to show that I cherish you and—"
"Are you sure, Celly? Because, I’m pretty certain, and correct me if I’m wrong, but you have been smile-y and looking at me like I’m the best piece of hay you’ve ever seen. That’s not how someone would look at a dear friend," Anon said, pulling her forehooves slightly closer to him, albeit gently.
"I..." She paused to collect herself, but all she could do was wrinkle her muzzle, which made Anon’s heart stutter. "I think you read me a bit too well. Tell me, have you been speaking with Twilight's friends as of late?"
"A little," Anon began. He gave Celestia a winning smirk (at least, that's what he hoped it would look like). “It’s what I get for hanging out with a walking southern lie detector and a pony obsessed with friendship.”
Celestia rolled her eyes. “Friendship is a great thing, isn’t it? You can meet new ponies with new perspectives… and then those perspectives can influence your own, and vice versa.”
“Exactly, which is why I’m trying to understand you here.” Anon gestured to their predicament again. “This is not normal, Celly. Do you, by chance, like me?”
“Like you as in how?”
“Romantically.”
She licked her lips before she replied, “Yes.”
“Since when?”
Her ears splayed back against her head, her eyes now looking elsewhere. “Recently. I discovered my feelings when I was thinking about you nonstop. I was worried about how you were treated in Day Court and—”
“Really? The noble that thought I was a ‘more proportional-looking diamond dog’ irked you that much?”
Sunny Side Up: The Horse laughed. “No, he was actually pretty funny. It was the stallion who wanted to get the animal out of court.”
“Ohhhh, him.” Anon knew who that was. “Sunbutt, you don’t need to worry about one stallion who wasn’t a fan of me. I mean, if everyone liked everyone, we wouldn’t have differences in opinions and—”
It was her turn to interrupt him. “Anon, it’s not just him. There were other mares and stallions giving you the stink eye, while others whispered to each other about you. I can handle one pony, but if the rest of them think so lowly of you, how am I supposed to keep you safe?”
“You want to keep me safe?” Anon asked with a raised brow.
A light pink hue graced her cheeks. “I… I do. And if I want to keep you safe, I need to find a way to make you more approachable to others. They don’t have to like you, like you said, but if all my ponies deserve to be safe…”
Anon sighed. “Celly, you don’t need to lump me in with your stable.”
Celestia’s cheeks turned red while her wings snapped open. “Anonymous. What?”
“I’m not sure why you’re acting surprised?”
“Guess you didn’t mean it like that,” she whispered as she tended to her wings.
Like that? What was she inferring…
Anon’s eyes widened, his brain currently conducting nuclear meltdown safety procedures after his disastrous attempt at humor had gone south. “Uh… sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable there.”
“It’s okay, Anon. I would be offended if anypony else said that, but you’re you, so.”
“Thanks, Sunbutt.”
“You’re welcome,” Celestia replied with a curt nod. She gave him that smile again. “Besides, I’m glad you’re you. Otherwise I wouldn’t like you as much.”
It was Anon’s turn to feel like a forest fire. “G-Good to know that you… uh, like me.”
“Do you not feel the same?”
This made him pause. What were his feelings for her? He did want to get some food with Celestia, that was for sure, but did he like her like she liked him? He didn’t know, but it wouldn’t hurt to explore it, right? After all, he was here for the foreseeable future and with no definitive way back home…
“I don’t know, Celly. To tell you the truth, I never thought about you like that. I thought you'd find a way for me to get back home before this would even happen.”
She frowned. “I know. All of the greatest spellcasters that we know could not identify a way to send you back.”
His heart reminded him that it was there, throbbing as his sadness festered there. He shook those feelings away and smiled at her. “Yeah… I’m glad they at least tried though. Seeing Twilight stress about it made me happy that someone cared. But still, now that I’m stuck here, I guess it would make sense to figure out my future. I just didn’t think someone wanted to be part of that future in that way.”
“Anon,” Celestia began, letting go of his hands. He looked at her as she scooted closer to him and she held his hands again in her hooves. “You don’t need to be alone in figuring all this out.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to burden others with my problems. I want to prove to others that I deserve to be on equal footing, so to speak.” He pulled Celestia close to him and hugged her against his shirt. “And, to be honest, I’m down to try this out.”
He could feel her warm up in his grasp. She was like a walking furnace. “I’m happy that you want to try this.” She pulled away from him for a moment, nuzzling his cheek as she continued, “This means that we’ll have to schedule another get-together here soon. Maybe we can have it down at the local winery by the station?”
Anon’s eyes widened and pulled back to get a look at her face. “Is that a date?”
“Yes,” Celestia confirmed, smiling at him. “We could hold hooves like we did earlier if you’d like.”
He brought her forehooves into the palms of his hands, and grabbed them firmly. “Deal.”
Her eyes were darting around his face as if she was looking for something, but then she sighed happily and nuzzled into his neck. “Then it’s a date. Would two days from now work for you?”
“I miiightttt have to clear my entirely busy schedule of a whole lot of nothing, but I’d be stupid if I didn’t clear my schedule to see this through!”
Celestia giggle-snorted. “Good. Now, I don't know about you, but I think we should check on the staff. They were supposed to bring our tea out a while ago and—”
“Princess, we’ve been standing here for a few minutes now.”
The pair of hooves and hands stared at the new pony, who had laid their tea on the table and were looking at them with a tilted head. Sunbutt’s eyes were as wide as can be, and Anon felt like his entire face was on fire, but still, despite the distraction, the two kept holding each other close.
After all, Anon wanted this to last for just a bit longer. Even if it meant having to play twenty questions with a maid who was most likely listening into their entire conversation.
That was the price he paid for ~~being friends~~ dating royalty.
Author's Note
Been in a funk lately. Thought it would be good to write something short while I sorted out my mental.
Anyway, here's the song as per usual that I provide with every fic:
Thank you to Arkadios for taking the time to edit some of my fic.
Feedback is appreciated!
