Celestia drops in

The next day started the same, Celestia coming in from the barn for breakfast followed by me tending to the animals, whilst the Princess watched the sun rise from the living room. Once I was done I made her a bowl of tea and gently served her kneeling on the floor again. Once finished, she thanked me but she looked a little nervous.

“Princess, is there something on your mind?”

“Yes, but it’s a bit embarrassing as you have done so much for me already” she said shyly, almost hiding behind her mane.

“Okay Princess, but you should know nothing is too much trouble”

She sighed deeply. “Well, my landing got me a little dirty and my mane and tail need some work…” her voice trailed off a little as she spoke. I realised that what she was asking was obviously quite personal in nature.

I looked over the Alicorn who was looking a little messy “Princess, do you want…wait, lets call it need me, to clean you up a bit?”

“Yes, I wouldn’t ask but my mane and tail are getting very matted. And some of the dirty is getting a little…itchy. Normally I use my magic to clean myself but it hasn't returned yet.”

I looked at Celestias’s hair and it did look very sorry for itself even compared to the day before “Well, I don’t mind helping you but I am going have to touch you, are you okay with that?”

She turned to me and before I had a chance to realise what was happening she gently stroked her muzzle against my hand “I think you’ve done enough for me to trust you”. Her muzzle felt so warm and soft, unlike any horse I’ve ever touched, it was more like a rabbits coat.

“Good, because if not the only option was to spray you down with a hose, and I can’t imagine doing that to royalty!”

“Oh, like your horses outside? Yes, somehow if you did that to me you wouldn't want to know what I'd do to you once my magic returned” she laughed

I left the room and grabbed a bunch of stuff. It seemed a little cold outside, so I decided to give her a wash inside – the kitchen was stone tiles and despite not being waterproof would probably be okay. I put down lots of towels and asked Celestia to come into the kitchen. She hobbled through to the kitchen, looking around the strange room for the first time. I asked her to stand over the towels and filled a bucket with warm water. I poured some shampoo in the bucket and slowly started to sponge down Celestia’s front legs.

“This is a strange room” Celestia asked whilst seeming to enjoy the warm water.

“It’s a kitchen; if you cook don't you have them back home?”

Celestia had a puzzled look “I guess we do, but haven’t seen one for a long time. I guess I just because I don’t have to cook back at the Castle”

I gently undid the bandage holding the wing in place and we were both glad to see that she could hold it in place already. “I don’t think I could stretch it out yet, so just avoid the wings if you can” celestia asked. I gently started washing her body, surprised to see all the cuts were already healed. I slowly cleaned around her wings, avoiding moving them or getting soap over the feathers.

Once I reached the hind legs, I slowly took of the split. Celestia said she could sense that the split wasn't needed anymore, although she couldn’t put much weight on her broken leg. I continued to clean her body and after about twenty minutes her impossibly white coat looked even whiter. I rinsed off all the soap trying to use as little water as possible, the kitchen slowly starting to look like a small flood.

Once her body was done, I decided to clean up a little before tackling the very long mane and tail. “Perhaps we should have done this outside?” Celestia remarked as I used a mop to get rid of some of the water

“It’s a little cold out there, I didn’t think in your current condition you could do with getting a cold”

“I may be a Princess, but I’m not some sort of weak and pampered pony” she retorted a little defensively.

“No offense intended Celestia, but I don’t want to get myself wet and cold outside, it’s not good for me!”

“But it’s good enough for your horses?”

I laughed a little “Oh, Celestia. It’s kind that you’re looking out for them, but they have thick hair and are built to take the temperature better. Humans are not, and from the looks of your more slender frame, I doubt you are as well!”

“Tis true I suppose, the Earth ponies are much more rugged then we magic types”

Having finished getting rid of a lot of the water, I then started to wash down her mane. With her mane being about eight foot long, I knew it was going to take a long time. I gently kneeded shampoo into the very fine, soft but strong hair, gently teasing out the knots.

“My my my, those…what do you call them?”

“Hands?” I replied

“Yes, those hands are wonderful at this. Don’t get me wrong magic is nice, and the spa ponies do what they can with hooves, but these hands are simply sublime. I'm sure some of my subjects will do anything for such things!”

As I continued to wash her mane, she closed her eyes and let out a soft moan. I was nice to see her enjoying something so simple, and it made the long and laborious task worthwhile. It took over an hour to wash the mane, rinse it, dry it off and then half an hour just to comb it.

Once I had given myself a well deserved rest and we both had a cup of tea, I started on the tail, which was even longer than the mane, and much dirtier with more of it brushing on the ground.

Despite having washed down horses loads of times before, washing Celestia’s tail felt kind of…well…awkward. I suppose it was because she was a sentient, intelligent being. Celestia must have either picked up on my awkwardness, possibly from the strange silence, or felt the same herself as she suddenly blurted out

“It’s strange…bathing is such a personal activity, yet we do often share it with others. I mean, we wash our young and we go to spas etc”

I could sense she was trying to reassure me, and possibly herself “Very true, except I’m not too into spa’s myself” I replied.

“But I guess having somepony…”

“Some person” I corrected with a laugh

“…somePONY” she laughed back “who isn’t a family member or professional touch you does feel a little different.”

“There has been a lot of study into this. It is a very intimate thing to let anyperson…”

“Anypony” Celestia corrected me this time

“…anyBEING touch you for more than a few seconds. I mean, we kind to do it a lot when we are young, or when we are sick, and of course with our lovers…”

Our eyes met for a second, and I quickly thought I better change the subject

“Er…Do you have any children?” I asked, instantly regretting the subject Way to make yourself sound like a perve.

However, Celestia didn’t seem to make any connection “No, neither myself, my sister or my niece who is also an Alicorn, have brought foals into the world. We aren't sure if it’s a good idea or not”

“Oh, why's that…if it’s not too personal”

“Well, you see, we’re practically immortal unlike other ponies, and we don't know what genes our foals would have…there are no stallion immortals. It would be heartbreaking to bring a mortal child into the world, as well as fall in love with a pony, who will die as we live on” a little tear started to form in Celestia’s eye.

I pondered on this “Immortal…I can see why that would be a problem. I guess until one of you tried you have no idea what would happen, and it’s not the sort of thing to experiment lightly!”

“I suspect that we may find out soon though as my niece is recently married”

“Oh, congratulations” I instinctively responded

The subject seemed to perk Celestia up again “He is a wonderful colt! He is the leader of my royal guards and also my personal student’s brother”

“Why that’s quiet a coincidence” I remarked

“Yes, coincidence” Celestia remarked a little cryptically. I suspected there was more to it than that, but thought it best not to pry. Afterall, what business was it of mine to wonder about the delicacies and possibly politics of a royal magical Alicorn pony family lineage. And I bet no-one else has had to have that thought before I thought to myself with a smile.

After more than an hour of cleaning and drying, Celestia tail was also finished. It had taken in total half a day to clean her, but she looked even more radiant than she had before. She said that even if it wasn't really healing her, to feel and look clean again at least made her feel better, especially as it then wasn't a constant reminder of her lack of magic. Celestia limped back into the living room to rest whilst I started to clean up the kitchen again.

Once I was done I realised that we had missed lunch, so I made us an afternoon tea with a few sandwiches and cakes. We ate whilst watching a game of rugby on the TV, and I explained the rules as we went along, Celestia on the floor and me lying on a sofa. At first the Princess didn't really get the point of the game, explaining pony sports tended to be more straightforward and basically what humans called athletics. However, it wasn't long into the game before she was hooked and joined in with me cheering as my country scored another try.

After the game had finished, we both started stifling some yawns. The bathing in the morning had been tiring on my arms, and I guess standing around for a long time had taken it out of Celestia whilst she was still injured. I had wondered if she could almost sleep standing up like a normal horse, but her physiology looked different enough I guess that wasn’t possible. So no doubt the standing around was tiring.

“Well Tony, time for another nap I think” the Princess yawned, and shuffled around a bit to get comfortable. I turned off the TV and she lay down in a kneeling position again, but seemed to want to shift her weight a little

“Everything okay?” I asked, looking over from my comfortable prone position on the couch “You don’t look very comfortable today”

“Well, I am getting a little sore from this position”

“Well, ponies and horses here can lie on their sides, although normally only when they feel safe…” I paused for a moment “Do you still not trust me?”

Celestia turned her head towards me “No, that’s not the issue” she smiled “Actually, usually my ponies do lay on their sides, and mostly on their backs like your species did seem to in the film last night. Even the peagsi and alicorn wings are designed to fold away. However, being a Princess I can’t been seen lying around in what the ‘Society Ponies’…” she done little air quotes with her front hooves “…call an undignified manner so I’m used to this more regal pose”

“So what about when you’re in your private quarters?”

“Well, I never know when the royal guards, my sister or my faithful student will come bursting in, so I never really feel like I can let my hair down”

I paused again before answering “Well, you don’t have to be all fancy around me. If you want to lay on your side or back, please do so, Hey, if you want to wallow in mud I wouldn’t think less of you…but just so you know I’m not washing all that mane and tail again!”

Celestia gave out a small laugh and I watched as she shifted to lay on her uninjured wing side, letting out a very contented sounding sigh “Thank you very much Tony, you are too kind”

*****

Evening meal was approaching, and I had a bit of an internal dilemma. I had a delicious steak in the fridge I was looking forwards to, but I wasn't sure how Celestia would react to me eating such a thing. So far I had stuck to the vegetarian meals with her, not wanting to approach the subject given to how she reacted when I thought she wanted to eat the chicken on the first morning.

A big part of me wanted to just throw away the steak and not bring the subject up – it wasn’t really worth upsetting her. But then, I wondered that she might be here for a while, maybe for a long time or forever, and if so she would eventually find out about such things. So I decided to bring the matter up on my terms now. Celestia was just watching some more TV, so it was a good time.

“Princess, can I ask you something?”

“Sure Tony”

“Erm, I want to be honest with you. So far I have been eating the same food as you…although not as much as you of course”

“You calling me fat?” the princess teased in response. We both laughed, and it was amazing to think that we had become such good friends in a short space of time. I guessed that from her side she didn't have much more to do, and she probably felt safer trying to be friends than enemies.

“Well, the thing is, us humans don’t just eat fruit and vegetables…we eat other animals”

She looked at me with only a little shock “Thank you for being honest. I sort of guessed that when you offered me a chicken on the first day. There are creatures in our world who eat other animals, although they are considered wild creatures who hunt for prey in the darker areas of our kingdom”

“Well, we don’t hunt anymore, we farm. But we make sure the animals are treated well” Of course this was a lie, as not all animals are well looked after, but I only brought good quality ethically raised meat so it was only a small lie.

“I guess if you have to eat meat, then that’s not really your fault, is it?” The Princess did look a little repulsed at the idea, but for a vegetarian creature who could blame her.

“Well, to be honest, that’s a cause of great debate for humans. But much like some of these animals in your kingdom, we are designed to eat meat and we can get sick if we don’t have a balanced diet…”

“Wait!” she interrupted “Do you eat ponies…and horses?” She looked at me aggressively for the first time since the first night,

“Me, no no no.” I tried to calm her down “I have never eaten horse, and it’s not part of the culture of my country…”

“But what about other intelligent animals?” she interrupted again

I sighed deeply “I’d admit, we are a little confusing in this regards. We don’t eat dogs, cats and horses, but do eat birds, pigs, cows and other animals which do have intelligence. There is no real reason except for that’s how we developed. ”

Celestia eyed me up again, and I wondered if I should have mentioned it at all.

“I’m sorry to bring it up, and I promise not to eat any meat whilst you are a guest in my house” I added

She looked at me with her big round eyes, which then softened a little “No, I’m sorry. I have no right to tell you what to eat. If as you say you care for animals then I guess you’re not evil.”

“That’s okay, I’m sorry to bring it up. I don’t need to eat meat every day, I’m sure I can cope until you are well enough to leave”

“No, I insist that you don’t change. In fact, I’d now be angry if you don’t eat some meat tonight!”

“You Princesses always have to get your own way” I half laughed trying to lighten the mood

“Nothing to do with being a Princess, just a mare…” she joked back

This then led to a very interesting debate about the natural Matriarchy that her kingdom has. Being that the rulers are all female and immortal, and four out of five ponies were female, it wasn't surprising that most of the main figures of authority outside the royal guards were female. It seemed that it wasn't considered a problem in her society, probably due to the simple fact everypony gets a cutie mark telling them what their fate is, and so didn't worry about who was in charge.

The whole democracy thing that we have intrigued her, on the basis that as we don't get given a calling in life, we get to choose everything. She wondered if she should set up a royal court based on such 'elections', but then wondered if that would just confuse everypony and make them fear Cutie Marks were losing their power or something. Of course sensible ponies would be okay, but given her subjects can panic over a baby rabbit stampede, she wasn't sure they could all handle it.

*****

I started preparing dinner for the both of us, nervous at Celestia’s real reaction. To my surprise she had followed me into the kitchen, and watched as I started preparing my dinner. I decided to cook some chips, and the pony decided she would try some guessing they were similar to the hay fries she ate back home.

I started warming up a pan to cook the steak, and turned to Celestia “I’m about to start cooking the meat, okay?”

“Don’t mind me” she replied

I went to the fridge and took out the steak which was wrapped in paper. I unwrapped the steak, and brushed on a little bit of oil. When I went over to the grill to check if it had warmed up, she came over and had a look at it “Strange, it doesn’t look like an animal I’ve seen”

“Well, most of us only buy the food after it’s been prepared by an expert called a butcher” Again, a little white lie, but I wanted to try to make it sound as grand as possible.

“I guess that is a little more civilised then eating a whole animal” she retorted

I put the meat on the pan, and slowly cooked it whilst preparing the large salad for us to share, and also finishing up the chips. I took our food to the dining room table again, and we started eating.

“These chip things are excellent” Celestia remarked having eating and clapped her front hooves gently but noticeably on the floor.

“Glad you like them, try them with some tomato sauce, or mayonnaise…it’s eggs and diary” I put some of the edge of her plate, dipped one in and fed it to her. She seemed to enjoy it, so I spread the sauces across her chips, and she tucked in getting it all over her muzzle. I had to laugh as she made a bit of a mess, but I think she felt that she didn't have to act fancy round me anymore.

Having finished up, I gave her muzzle yet another wipe down and we spent the evening watching some more TV and chatting. It started raining heavily outside, and Celestia decided that she would rather stay indoors in the dry and warm than the barn. I explained she was more than welcome to stay, and we wished each other goodnight.