Sun of the Morning

        The Aeon waterfall.  North-Eastern tower of the royal Canterlot palace.  Forty-six steps up, curving slightly to the right, leading up to a single, wooden door.

 

        The pale blue skies.  An adobe half-circle platform protruding from the wall like a growth.  Just large enough to hold a very, very small cocktail party.  Maybe just even a romantic dinner for two.  What a night that was.

 

        Or it would have been, were it not for the vast amounts of water pouring out of from a hole in the wall, large enough for an alicorn to fly through without hindrance, about three etages higher.  Ah, what an afternoon that was.

 

        As the door falls shut, her composure remains all the same.  Few know of the existence of this waterfall, let alone its purpose.  Even fewer know how to get here.  Only one that knows she'd be here now.

 

        She raises her muzzle skywards, the skin pulling taut as she lets the first rays of morning sun strike against her closed eyes.  She hums a content sigh before lowering her muzzle again.

 

        Her tongue clacks against her palate.  “So callously standing there, watching a naked Princess bathe...”

 

        “You didn't ask me to leave.”

 

        Barely noticeable through the spray of water that surrounds her, you catch a glance of the first, scant signs of a smile flourishing on her features.

 

        “I did not.  Nor will I,” she speaks.  “Lather my wings for me, Anonymous.”  Eyes still closed, she absentmindedly lulls her head somewhere off to the side, close to where you were standing.

 

        A bucket, holding a foamy mixture and a thick, soft cloth is what you find.

 

        “You know,” you muse aloud as you soak the cloth in the soapy solution, “where I'm from, the castles of our governing superiors were often built right in the center of their dominion.  Like some sort of focal point.”

 

        Celestia remains quiet, stretching her wings out so that you can reach them without having to stand underneath the cascading water yourself.  As you walk up to her, you take your time letting your eyes wander over the truly magical sight in front of you.  The tower peaks well above the majority of the mountains that swarm the ground northwards from the castle's grounds, granting you the most solemn, peaceful sight of the raising morning sun as there was to be found.

       

        “I noticed that's different here.”  Another content sigh leaves her as you begin applying the suds to her thoroughly soaked wings.

 

        “That, my dearest human,” she softly says, “is because this is not the castle of governing superiors.  Leave the cloth.”  Just a peak of magenta is all you get to see before she closes her eyes again.  “Use your hands,” she orders.

 

        “Not even a please?”

 

        Though you couldn't hear what she was muttering over the splattering water, you deemed the gesture well enough.

 

        “You can't grasp what some would do to be in your position,” she speaks, much clearer.  The giggle she lets pass betrays herself.

 

        “You got soft wings, Tia.  Don't overdo it.”

 

        With a slight shake of her head, she clicks her tongue again.  “When will you ever let me have some fun with you, human?”

 

        “Riding you was fun.  On your back, I mean.  When we went flyi—”

 

        “Yes, yes.  I remember.  That was just a hint, a smidgen of the wondrous times we could share.”

 

        As the sun raises higher, the alicorn's bravado too seems to increase exponentially.  But through time, you've both learned how to work with it — one perhaps a tad better than the other.

 

        “I like you, Tia, but I just don't see it happening.  Us.  We don't have that... feeling, you know.”  She breathes a silent sigh in return.

 

        Moving to her other side, you begin to work your way through her feathers there as well.  Quietly, she hums her contentment as your fingers caress all the stress that's been building up over the past week.  Shivers traveling down her frame as your soap-soaked hands brush across the base of her wings — a rosy tinge hiding underneath her cheeks.

 

        “There'll come a day,” she muses.  “And thereafter, there'll come many more where we can share our happiness.”

 

        “Say, you never had anyone... you know, try to take a peak?”

 

        Another careless giggle leaves the balcony, drifting off somewhere into a stray breeze.  “Oh, the things your mind wanders to, Anon.”  Through the tiny slits with which she peaks at you, you find a certain tint of rose to be resting on your own face longer than you've grown used to.  “Would you enjoy it if somebody were to watch us?”

 

        In all honesty, you had to admit you were rather glad she closed her eyes again to soak her mane yet another time.  That burning sensation under your skin had little to do with the waking sun.  “Well, what if it was?”  How bad could it be to go along in just one of her attempts?  “Could they?”

 

        For a moment, the sudden silence of nothing but water splattering against ancient stone brought a far more serious air with it.  Maybe—      

 

        She speaks, “Few would possess the audacity to watch their Princess partake in these personal rituals.  Those few, other than yourself, that'd dare to act on their curious desires would soon find themselves bereft the opportunity.”  At that, she flicks her head to the side, her mane sending droplets of water into the air where they soon shatter against what seems like nothing at first.  Small dimples ripple throughout the air, as if a stone dropped in a pond.  “No, Anon, none have ever tried to gaze at me from down below.”

 

        “Oh—”

 

        “My sister, on the other hoof, might not have been so lucky,” she finalizes.

 

        “Oh.”

 

        Celestia is happy enough to leave it at that and resume humming an unknown tune to herself as you begin to massage her left wing again.

       

        “Never seemed to make sense to me, though.  These rocks, mountains...  Why here?”

 

        “Where did you get the notion that I was a governing superior, Anon?  Is it because I live in this castle?”  She doesn't give you the opportunity to answer.  “Because it was given.  I have never asked for a castle, nor will I ever.  I would have been just as content to live in a simple house with a simple garden to tend to and a simple human to love.”

 

        “You're never going to give up, are you?”

 

        “If there is one thing my years have taught me, it's that perseverance is key to all things.”

 

        “So that's a no?”

 

        “That is, in fact, a no.”  A light giggle escapes her as you subtly try to mask your tickling as a way to massage her wings more thoroughly.  “But even if I were to live in a simple house, it would stand right here.”

 

        Though it's hard to see through the rushing water running over her body, you're determined you saw her horn shimmmer and as the water steadily begins to rise in temperature, you know you were not mistaken.

 

        “You see,” she continues, “these ponies are happy to live under my rule.  If they wanted to upstage me, all they'd have to do is ask.”  She slyly winks at you.  “Perhaps they would, if they knew the things we did together,” she all but moans, “How you touch me with those fingers of yours...”  

 

        “Showering's pretty intense for you, isn't it?”

 

        Unfazed, she continues her monologue, “What a statement it would make — my first consort in such a long time, not even one of this world.  They might try to usurp me.”  She purrs those last two words, slowly rolling of her tongue after they'd been lusciously smothered in honey.

 

        At your unimpressed expression, she simply lets out a short, carefree laugh.  “You won't give me anything, will you?”

 

        “I already called your wings soft today, Tia.  Take your earnings and call it a day.  Or better yet: finish answering my question.”

 

        “Always so serious...  Perhaps we should go flying again, sometime soon.”  With a quiet smile, she catches herself from spinning off onto another tangent.  “Regardless,” she says, “as you know — as you embody, rather, and might I add what a wonderful body it is...”

 

        Ponies weren't familiar with the term 'a deadpan stare' before you arrived here.  They are now.

 

        “Ahem, the point I was making, was that this world is home to many, many different beings.  There are my beloved ponies, of course.  Equestria houses few griffons, the odd, stray Diamond Dog here and there.  Lately, I've heard rumors of minotaurs being seen in several central cities, even.”  She shrugs her shoulder, motioning for you to once again switch sides.  “You've told me your own stories.  You know a settlement like this world has now does not come without dispute.  The past has been marked by the sacrifices we made then.”

 

        “What kind of sacrifices?”

 

        You feel her wings tense up underneath your slippery hands, her expression bearing just the tiniest hint of a glare.  Celestia reserved this expression for rare occasions.  Only one of those occasions would she not be met with utter silence.

 

        “...I just don't really see war happening here.  Ever.  At all.  This place seems too idyllic for it.”

 

        “It seems like that now,” Celestia dryly notes, stepping forward to stick her head out from underneath the cascading water.  “Just like this mountainside once seemed to be a valley where my ponies lived peacefully and happy.”  Her vision was drawn to some point far off on the horizon, beyond the mountains, on something Celestia looked at every morning when she got up and raised the sun for her beloved subjects.  “This land came with a price.  By the time the dragons were gone this was all that was left.  For fending them off, my sister and I were given this castle, built on this exact spot.  You think of my people as naive and juvenile.”

 

        “I never s—”

 

        “I don't need you to.  Because I do not think that you are wrong.  My people have not seen what happens when we let chaos overtake our lives.  They know the words 'suffering' and 'pain' only from books and theater plays.  And I do so hope, with my entire heart, that that will never change.”

 

        Entirely motionless, you stand there, still holding her bubble-covered wing.  “Okay, I might have been wrong.  Not so idyllic as I thought.  But...”  For a moment, you consider holding your tongue.  That moment is a short-lived one.  “Why would you want to look out on this every morning and be reminded of the people that used to live here?  Why put yourself through that?”

 

        She tilts her head a bit to the side, squinting her eyes.  When you follow her gaze, you can just barely see a bird sailing through the air far away, almost out of sight.  “Because when I'm reminded of them, I'm reminded of what happens when we let things spin out of control.  We are at peace now and I hope we will remain to be as such for as long as possible.”  She shivers, a chill breeze reminding her of her damp body.  “But there will come a day when we will not.  And when the day comes that dragons deem it necessary to come here again, the first thing they will see when they leave and come from their mountainous caves is this castle.  The first thing they will see, will be me, waiting for them.  I will not let those abhorrent creatures ever set so much as a single claw again in my kingdom.  Not until my last breath has passed.”

 

        “Never knew they had... such a stigma against them.”

 

        Her expressions is as enigmatic as it always is, though the anger in her tone speaks for more than just itself.  “They were once considered creatures of infinite wisdom.  After what passed here I can only see them as monsters.  Many are too young now, too young to remember.  I hope none other than me and Luna will have to hold on to those memories for much longer.”

 

        “And what about your prodigy's convenient mailing system then?”

 

        “We were not the only ones to have suffered our losses, Anonymous.  Spike's mother died a very long time ago.  We found his egg near her body when they went back to the lands they came from.”  After a while of silence, she adds, “He has a new family here now.”  

 

        The flow of water slowly, but surely begins to taper down.  Celestia turns her head so she can meet you with a smile, asking, “Would you mind rinsing them as well?”

 

        “Are you going to behave today?”

 

        The edges of her lips tug upwards, an orange hue reflecting of her shapely figure.  “I might try...”

 

        With a faux sigh, you set to your task of aiding the water rinse off the bubbly residue.  Though no longer voicing her approval through humming, the smile she wears instead proves to be an adequate replacement.

 

        After a few drawn-out minutes — you're sure she kept using her magic to keep her wings soapy — she muses aloud, “I've been wondering about him.”  At your confused glance, she quickly clarifies, “Spike, that is.  When he is older, I'd like to send him home for a while, so he can meet his father.”  

 

        Her tone, again, shifts to a darker one as she continues, “So that his father can see what has become of his son under my care.  I want to send him there as a warning.  His life is the only mercy I'll ever show them.”

 

        The temperature of the water rises even further as Celestia stands there motionless, staring off beyond the mountains as the sun has nearly risen above the horizon.  With a subtle squeeze in the tip of her wing you draw her attention back to the little balcony, hidden from sight.

 

        “You shouldn't taunt them.  It might invoke the very thing you're trying to avoid.”

 

        “Do you not wonder, human?” she asks.

 

        The fact that she chose to address you by your species, rather than your name, doesn't go by unnoticed.  “Wonder about what?”

 

        “What your kin would think of you if they knew what you've become.”

 

        “I haven't changed.”

 

        At that, the flow of water fades into nothing, leaving a water-logged alicorn to smile and look at you.  “The onset of change is subtle, human.  It creeps up on you.”  

 

        You can't help but let out something that combines a shriek and a gasp, jumping up as you feel her wet tail wrap itself around your leg.  After kicking it off you stare at her with something that ought to pass for an annoyed glare.  “I haven't changed, Tia.”

 

        “That just means I'll have to try a bit harder from here on out then,” she says with a wink.  “There'll come a day.”  

 

        In the soft calidity the now fully risen sun provided, she enjoyed her last few moments that were her own, shaking herself dry like a dog.  That, of course, went paired with you becoming sprayed by the mare.  

 

        Completely oblivious to your situation, she finishes shaking herself off, turning to you to ask, “Shall we get some breakfast together, my dear?”

 

        Whether it was your deadpan stare, the steadfast drip-drop sound paired with the pool of foamy water underneath you or simply the smell of wet horse that now covered just about every part of your body that caused her to blush and bite back a giggle will forever remain to be a mystery to you.  

 

        “Yeah, no, I think I'm going to change first.”

 

        “Perhaps I should join you...” she offers slyly.  

 

        A gleeful squee, most unlike her, sounds through the hall as you hold the door open for her.  “Yeah, you look like you could skip a meal or two.”

 

        With an undignified huff from her and a barely restrained chuckle from you, the door to the Aeon waterfall falls shut for yet another day.  Side by side, you and her begin to take forty-six steps down, curving slightly to the left, leading into a new day.

 

        All the way down, your mind keeps turning itself over and over again, but as you finally finish your descend, you're almost sure of it.  You didn't change.