“So, why do you want me to do it?”
“Because I trust you, Lieia. I know you’d never hurt me.” Celestia explained.
“Why can’t you just wait until your neck gets better?”
“Because those old feathers itch terribly and it drives me insane. Please, Lieia. Will you do it?” The woman looked at the pleading alicorn, sighing. Celestia was just about the only pers-er, pony who could tug at her feelings like that.
“Fine. Just don’t blame me when something goes ajar.”
“I have complete faith in you, Lieia.” Celestia plopped down on the large bed, spreading out her large wings. Lieia estimated that Celestia’s wingspan was about five metres in total, if not more. Still, the fact that Celestia had sprained her neck irked her. She didn’t really believe the alabaster mare. But then again, she did say ‘please’. Taking Celestia’s left wing in her lap, she looked at the expectant alicorn.
“So, what do I have to do?”
“Simply look for any broken or old feathers and pluck them out.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it. I would do it myself, but my neck’s still rather sore and it’s too difficult to use magic to preen my wings. That’s why I’m asking you to do it.”
“Okay, okay. Just relax. I’m on it.” Lieia muttered quietly, folding the wing open, immediately finding a tacky-looking feather. She grasped it in her fingers, pulling it clear from the wing. Dragging her finger along the lines of neatly-arranged feathers, she found another one that looked clean and white, but its edges were torn and frayed. She plucked that one out, too. As she smoothed out the ruffled feathers, she felt the wing quiver under her fingers and Celestia bit back a gasp.
“Oop. Sorry.” Celestia’s cheeks were a bit flushed, but she smiled nonetheless.
“It’s quite alright. You don’t have to hurry, Lieia.” Celestia shook her wing lightly, unfurling it some more, letting Lieia continue.
“What do you mean? I’m just more or less feeling you up, right?” Distracted from the task at hand, she rubbed Celestia somewhat rougher and the alicorn moaned quietly.
“Shit. Sorry.” Lieia winced slightly, before carefully continuing her work. After a while, Celestia heard Lieia hum quietly.
Aaram na sil dero
More’tar rik bolei
Somori bel tawaul
Aladara’ne korried’vai
“Lieia? What is that you’re singing?”
“Don’t you remember? When Aerin fell off her chair and wouldn’t stop crying?”
“Ah, of course. You picked her up and sang her that lullaby. What does it translate to?”
“No idea. It’s Old Linv, of course, but a whole ‘nother dialect. An extinct language, to be fair.” Lieia explained to Celestia, resuming the somewhat haunting song, unhurriedly resuming her task.
“But I heard you say ‘Aladara’. That’s your second name, right?”
“It’s also the name of the goddess Aladara. The saint patron of those off their rocker, to put it bluntly.”
“An apt name, then.” Celestia chuckled slightly, feeling another old feather being plucked from her plumage.
“Thanks, Celly.” Lieia pulled the wing closer to her, turning her attention to the smaller feathers that lined Celestia’s wing, and she smelled oranges, as she always did. Celestia seemed to favour that particular brand of shower gel. Taking more care this time, she continued preening the large, feathery curtain that was Celestia’s left wing. A small pile of useless feathers was slowly accumulating at her side. Lieia continued her quiet humming, wholly absorbed with her task.
Lieia cracked her knuckles, sighing with each pop.
“Well, that’s one wing done and dusted, Cel.” She moved around, as Celestia inspected her recently-tidied wing and smiled.
“It’s a very thorough job you’ve done, Lieia.”
“You bring out my worst character flaws, Celly. Used to be a time when I’d use a ‘Blastmaster’ to rivet shit together. When it fell apart, I blamed the designers. And I left it at that. Simpler times. But now, I’ve got to be careful.” She slowly unfolded Celestia’s right wing, letting her eyes wander over it, seeking out any faulty feathers. Finding one, she resumed singing.
Solae'a, mu tarrael
Rokaida'la mirrianta, sor
Tirian se loerda, mar
Anyare lor carraahnel
More feathers followed, joining the by now rather large pile of useless feathers.
Filas'ter mo gaerrit
Ara'lei tor narrinder
Serriat nur palyaen
Amda'rel yi telaerax
Celestia closed her eyes, relaxed by the feeling of Lieia’s hands sift through her wings, plucking out her old feathers. She wasn’t rubbing her the wrong way, either. This was why she’d asked Lieia to do this. Her fingers were more adept at such tasks. She sort of understood why that Heartstrings pony had such an affinity for the aforementioned human extremities. Pretty soon, she was humming wordlessly along with Lieia.
“Well, I guess that’s it, Cel.” Lieia sighed, scooping up the old feathers, dumping them in the trash bin.
“Thanks for helping me out with this, Lieia.” Celestia smiled as Lieia sat down at her side, rubbing her neck gently. Lieia’s smile faded after a moment.
“Your neck is fine, Celestia. I'm no doctor, but I can tell the difference. You lied.” Celestia’s smile shattered, too, as Lieia looked at her expressionlessly. Then, her hand trailed downwards, past her withers, coming to a rest at the small spot between her wings, rubbing the location.
“What should I do, hmm?” Celestia made to respond, but was assaulted by a wave of pleasure as Lieia kept rubbing the sensitive spot.
“Nnnnnnh! Ah!” Celestia cried out, her wings flaring. Lieia moved her fingers onto the mare’s wings, ruffling the until-now tidy plumage. Celestia had to admit there’d been a lack of intimacy between them recently. And now Lieia had taken the matter in her own hands. Literally.
“You’ve been bad. Very bad.” Celestia found no words to counter her argument as Lieia rolled her on her back, planting slow, passionate kisses on her neck, biting gently occasionally.
“L-Lieiaaaah… Say the word. Just one word and I am yours. Whatever you want to do.”
“Whatever?”
“Anything.” Celestia responded, flustered and breathless.
So Lieia tied her up and went to have a nice dinner with her family.
Kidding. Read on.
“Well, in that case-“ Lieia leaned closer, but then she heard someone run up the stairs to their room and she barely had any time to roll off Celestia before the door slammed open and a dusky brown pegasus filly bounded inside, leaping in Lieia’s lap.
“MOOOOOOOM! Eri’s not letting me on the swing again!” Moments later, a black-haired girl entered the room.
“I told her I was only going to be on for five more minutes! It’s not my fault Dusklight’s always so impatient.” Lieia turned to Aerin.
“What did I tell you about being nice to your sister, Eri?”
“I have to be nice to her. Always.”
“Don’t be too sad, kiddo. I had my own spats and disagreements with Cara when I was your age. It's only natural.” The small girl smiled, her eyes the same lustrous magenta as Celestia’s. Right then, Dusklight interrupted, bouncing up and down on the bed.
“Ooh ooh ooh! Can we go and visit aunties Luna and Cadance?” Aerin grinned widely, too.
“Aww, sounds like you like them better than me and Celestia.” Lieia made an effort to sound as downcast as possible. A second later, Dusklight latched onto her in a tight hug, staring up at her with those big, green eyes of hers.
“Noooo! Never! You are best mommy ever!” Aerin was performing a similar act with Celestia, assuring the alabaster mare she was best mother.
“To answer your first question, yes. We’ll be visiting Luna, Cadance, and everyone else on Equestria we know. Get your things ready, girls. We’re going tomorrow.”
“Awesome!” Aerin and Dusklight chorused, running away, their excited voices echoing in the doorway. Lieia chuckled, looking to Celestia.
“We sure got lucky, eh?”
“Well, it depends on your definition of luck.”
“Don’t worry, Celly. We can still have some fun later. Meet me in the living room when the girls are asleep.”
Later that evening, Celestia snuck downstairs, having put her daughters to bed. Slowly, she closed the doors as she went, heading towards the flickering light in the downstairs’ living room. As she entered the large room, she saw Lieia, reclining in a chair. She smiled at Celestia as the excited mare entered.
“Hey there.”
And then they made mad, passionate love for several hours. As a result, they missed their flight to Equestria and Lieia had to call in some favours. They arrived to Equestria in style. A Ragnarov Titan, that is.