//------------------------------// // NÂș 2: WARM RAIN // Story: My Only Sunshine // by CoffeeBean //------------------------------// Iris had been wrong. The shower was nothing like the rain. She dreaded rain; in the past she had enjoyed it, but her 700 years spent sat in the seemingly constant storms that plagued her prison and chilled her to the core had made her hate the feeling. The shower was hot, relaxing, soothing, and relieving. As she stood in the large, square tiled space with the gold-plated head above dousing her fur and hair with its wonderfully warm water, she didn't at all feel like she stood in the rain. It felt as if the softest blanket had been wrapped around every inch of her, and the patter of the stream on her head, neck, and back was more like a massage than the beating of a storm. She would wager it to be the most wonderful thing she had ever felt in her life; most certainly in the past 700 years. She turned to the side, shaking her head to fling her soaked mane from her face as she opened her eyes, the clear glass panes forming the walls of the regal shower totally opaque with steam. The spa beyond was her favorite part of the castle so far; it was dimly lit like the rest of it, true, but the lighting was not harshly dim, it was soft and inviting. The walls were not stone and cold, they were a shiny, lacquered hardwood, and the floor too was this same hardwood with soft carpets adorned with sewn-in designs of the night's sky placed in key areas. The ceiling of the relatively small room was convex, wood rafters running laterally and providing a nice way for two ornate chandeliers to be hung, and they provided a nice place for Philomena to perch herself. The top of Celestia's shower was open, the glass walls only going far enough to where one could jump and see over them, so on the rafter a fair distance above her she was able to see Philomena. The two nice mares who currently staffed the spa had given Philomena a bath, as well; her pristine feathers sat against her body perfectly and shined with the light they so properly should. The sound of the water hitting the tiles at her hooves combined with the scene around her and the warmth of the water to make a perfectly relaxing scenario. The ache in her body had gone away, and that empty cold in her chest almost felt non-existent. "Celestia, are you okay? You've been in there for 20 minutes now..." Called one of the spa staff, her gentle voice holding much concern. Celestia grumbled for a moment, her mind snapping to reality, "W-What?" "Are you okay?" "Aye... we art fine. Relaxed. Enjoying the water." "Alright... if you need anything, just say so." Celestia unfurled her wings, moving herself to where the stream perfectly pierced her feathers. She let out a long moan, her head falling back at the sensation; it was pure bliss. It felt as if her wings melted, warmth spreading through each of her long feathers to the somewhat sensitive flesh beneath. That warmth was cleansing, purging her mind of all her poor thoughts and making way for better ones, melting away the poisons in her blood like an elixir of joy. The flapping of Philomena's wings drew Celestia's eyes up as she watched the Phoenix spiral down and perch herself perfectly on the hinged glass door of the shower, looking at Celestia with her head cocked to one side. "Doth thee wish for us to retire from the bath?" Celestia inquired, her words spoken a little slower due to her relaxation. Philomena shuffled herself along the top of the door, coming to the small seam where it met with the stationary pane of glass and placed one talon on each pane, twisting her body to gently swing open the door, steam pouring into the spa. "We take that as an 'aye', young lady." Smiled Celestia, turning around to shut off the gold knobs mounted to the ornate tile wall of the shower to the 'off' position. The hot water ceased its embrace of her body, the almost droning sound of the water hitting her and the tile now nothing but a periodic drip. Turning back to the door, Celestia's eyes were met with those of the purple spa pony as she approached, her hoof holding a folded pale blue towel. Before she could finish her approach, a faintly yellow aura surrounded the towel and brought it to Celestia, who shook her entire body and flapped her wings to remove the excess water clinging to her fur. Now, she brought the towel fully into the shower, holding it by two corners and holding it high to unfold without getting wet. "I'm going to assume you had a good bath?" Asked the purple spa pony with a soft smile. Celestia groaned, nodding her head as she slowly stepped from the shower, the fluffy towel in her magic working on its own to dry her wings and back. Every muscle in her body was in a pure state of relaxation; her legs were wobbly, her wings could barely be held from her sides to be dried, and her head hung lazily from her neck. At this point, she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. She lowered to her haunches, closing her eyes and holding her head back as the towel dried her face and mane. After a while's work, the towel moved down her body to her rear, wrapping around her long tail to squeeze water from it. The feeling of being clean was wonderful; she hadn't had a proper bath in 700 years. At least her large group if islands had been stone and not dirt or sand, the freezing rains and winds that struck at least didn't cake her in mud. "700 years..." droned Celestia more to herself than to the two spa ponies, now drying her belly. "Did you say something?" called the second spa pony, a pink mare with a curly red mane and tail. "Nay, conversing with ourself." "Oh, well; if you need anything, simply ask." Celestia groaned in acknowledgment, slowly standing from the carpet as her towel dried each of her legs. One by one, her limbs were dried, leaving her body pristine and somewhat damp; most of the moisture remaining in her mane and tail. "We are done with the towel." She informed, using her waning magic to neatly fold the towel. As the purple spa pony approached, Celestia noticed that her blue blanket was held in her hoof, "I put your blanket in the towel warmer, that way you can be toasty for a little while longer!" She chimed, holding up the blanket as Celestia's spell replaced it with the towel. "Towel warmer? Is it some sort of small furnace?" The purple spa pony nodded, watching as Celestia unfurled her blanket and draped it over her back, a look of ecstasy replacing her confused look. Celestia moaned as she slowly began towards the many arched windows lining the long front wall of the spa, Philomena taking off from her perch on the shower door to Celestia's warm back, her tail feathers ruffling and her legs lowering her bottom to the warmth. "We thank thee graciously for warming our sheet... tis a wonderful feeling," Celestia spoke in a seemingly tired tone as she dropped to the carpet before one of the many low-sitting windows, her eyes wandering over the nightly valley below, as her castle home stood high on the face of a mountain. "It's what we do." "Doth thee mind if we stay a time longer?" Both spa staff watched with a smile as Celestia lowered her head to the carpet, rolling to her side and letting her legs sprawl outwards as Philomena hopped from her back, hobbling with her adorable step to Celestia's front. "Of course, you can stay." The pink spa pony spoke as she walked across the room, her hooves on the hardwood currently being the only real sound in the room. "Would you like for me to put on music?" Celestia slowly brought her head up, looking to her as she stood before a strange device; it had a square wooden base and a large golden horn angled from its top. "That device... it, it makes music?" The spa pony's face lit up, "Oh! You don't know what a phonograph is! I apologize; it's hard to remember that you've been gone for so long," She turned to the 'phonograph' and turned a crank mounted to the side to prime the machine, her hoof reaching below to take a large black disc from a horizontal stack, placing it below the large golden horn and fiddling around for a moment, her actions resulting in a strange crackle to come from the machine. Moments later, notes of a grand piano began to fill the room, followed by a chorus of smoothly playing string and brass instruments, their melody soft and calming. Celestia stared in awe as her ears were filled with the sounds of 20 ponies all working in harmony at their instruments, yet it all came from a wooden box. "An entire band shrunk to a package we could carry on our back," Celestia's amazement calmed, turning her gaze back to the window as she focused on the sweet music, "what wonders." She let her head come back to the carpet, Philomena hopping over and lying on her back beside Celestia's face. With a bright smile, Celestia brought up a hoof to gently pet her feathered friend, her actions slow and almost to the tempo of the song. Her heavy eyelids finally fell shut, the slow pet of her hoof ceasing as her thoughts went blank, nothing more than notes of music bouncing around in her mind. The warm hug of sleep began taking hold, and she invited it with open hooves, her body almost disappearing from her senses as the music played on, fading ever so slowly into the distance. Celestia's limbs stretched across the carpet as she awoke from the world of sleep, her eyes coming open to find the room nearly pitch black if not for the little bit of blue light coming from the window before her, the hard patter of rain on the windows and wall filling the room with a low rumble. She looked around the spa, seeing the place was totally empty and that the candles of the chandeliers had been put out made her wonder how long she had slept. Looking to the black world beyond showed only the silhouette of the mountains beyond, the sky a pure, deep gray as rain fell in sheets. She groaned, rolling to her belly to find Philomena was not at her side. "Philomena?" Celestia croaked, tiredly looking up to the abyss that was the high ceiling to try and spot her friend. Moments after calling, a candle-sized flame ignited from the darkness, highlighting Philomena's body and outstretched wing. Celestia smiled, bringing her gaze back down as she heard the Phoenix's wings flapping above. She stood from the carpet, still groaning and stretching as she gained her bearings, looking around for her lantern. Her attention was drawn into the spa as Philomena's little light shined once more, this time highlighting the lantern that sat by the door of the room. Celestia chuckled as she slowly walked into the abyss of the spa, her eyes trained on Philomena's guiding fire as her magic opened the little door of the lantern, allowing Philomena to light it with the tip of her wing. "Thou take care of us better than we do ourself..." Smiled Celestia, bringing her lantern to her side and lifting Philomena to her blanketed back. A happy chirp was Philomena's response as she fluttered her wings to get comfortable, Celestia opening the door to the pitch black hall of the castle beyond the spa. She looked into the darkness, her lantern barely casting a glow on the wall across the way. Already she wanted to retreat back into the familiar space of the spa; beyond lied a cold maze of stone she didn't at all wish to explore, it was a place that looked more like a dungeon than a home. How could these ponies operate happily in this place? Sighing, she stepped fully from the spa, carefully closing the door as she moved to the middle of the fairly wide hallway. Looking at the spa door for a moment, she realized how odd it was for those two spa ponies to have let her sleep on the floor; she was extremely grateful they had, as it had been the best sleep she'd gotten in quite some time, but at the same time she was curious. Celestia turned her attention back to the abyss before her, trying to remember the steps she had taken to follow Iris to the spa. With a sigh, and without being able to remember any details past simply arriving at the door, she turned right and began down the hall with her lantern leading the way, its light barely seeming to penetrate the murkiness before her. Eventually, outside light became visible through the castle's windows to her left as the hallway came to a bend, leading to more of the black corridors. The windows were facing the inside of the castle, their rain-distorted panes showing only the tall silhouette of walls and spires beyond, their black shapes barely appearing behind the deep gray clouds. She stood before one of the many windows, peering outside and listening to the rain hit the window; the rain looked a lot better when she wasn't trapped in it. She shivered a little, the cold of the hall starting to get past her blanket; she may not be soaked by the rain, but she could certainly still feel its chill. Cold. She was horribly tired of feeling that way; cold. Maybe she should turn back and revisit the spa. She could figure out how to work the music machine, and figure out how that blanket furnace the spa pony had used on her blanket works, then she could sit and watch the world beyond without having her teeth chatter, which they currently were. She wanted to find her room more than returning to the spa, as her bed was wonderfully cozy, and with the comforter pulled over and Philomena hugged tightly no amount of chilly air could make its way to her. Now wandering the halls further, she thought just how hard it would be to find her room in the black maze she had the displeasure of calling a home; winding corridors and darkness that seemed to push back at light rather than wane for it. Such a place was certainly not a home to her. The halls simply never ended. She had wandered aimlessly for what had felt like an entire hour, and she had still not found the hall where her little room was. The rain continued to pour, shrouding the castle in darkness as the moon's light wasn't able to force its way through the thick clouds. Other than her own hoofsteps the rain pounding against the large pane windows and occasional whistle from the wind was the only sounds she had heard. She had also taken notice of the lack of guards; how irregular for the home of Equestria's 'highness' to not have any guard posted during down hours whatsoever. It made no sense to her. So many things were abstract and foreign, it would either take her a long time to get used to things, or a long time for her to make things as they once were. As she wandered she had been practicing on making light with her magic and moving larger things; the problem was it had only made her weaker. Her body was not allowed to pull magic from the world around her, meaning the shattered remains of her once bright and strong internal force couldn't repair themselves. She had to focus every ounce of her thought into carrying her lantern, and even holding such a minuscule item was beginning to hurt her. She loathed the feeling; it was a weakness she had never known, and she barely cared about her lack of being able to move things (or her sun) she cared more about her lack of ability to defend herself in any capacity. Her muscles felt horribly feeble, she doubted being able to withstand a hard blow without having a bone snap, and her magic could barely hold a lantern. Vulnerability; another thing she hadn't ever felt. Since time's beginning her magic had been her one line of defense, and it had only failed her once, and it had failed her against the one pony she never thought she would have to use her magic against. As her eyes strained against the darkness, she could feel the presence of others; eyes peering at her as she carried her lantern and Phoenix through the halls. She could nearly pinpoint where the feeling came from; they seemed to be above her, but her waning magic couldn't hold her lantern high enough to cast light into the abyss that was the ceiling. Now, all she wished for was to find a single pony; anypony, even Nightmare Moon, so they might be able to show her back to her room. She no longer wished to wander the horrible halls while rain poured and thunder clapped; she wanted to go back to sleep, a place that has thus far proven to be her only mote of refuge besides the spa. She suspected Nightmare Moon to be behind it, but so far most of her dreams had been more like the reliving of memories than actual dreams. She talked with her supervisors, commanders, secretaries, students, and friends. She walked through the bright, lively halls of her old home. She would stand on the balcony of her tower beside her telescope, star gazing at an old night sky she loved rather than hated. Maybe Nightmare Moon was creating the dreams for her, just to make her happy; if that were true, Celestia could barely bring herself to care. True, they served as constant reminders of the ponies she's lost, and the world she failed to protect, but she would rather have those memories live on within her mind than die and be confined to simple scripts in some old tome. A sound caught Celestia's ear. She paused, holding totally still while trying to tune out the rumbling rain. A voice; female and deep. Nightmare Moon's. Celestia continued forward, her voice became clearer; she was speaking with somepony. Nightmare paused her words as a second familiar voice too began; it was Iris. "...you need to speak with her. Letting her be alone is only going to worsen things." Iris spoke with concern, Celestia quickly opening the door of her lantern and blowing out the flame. "What would be the point? You and I both know she's still extremely angry with me. Talking with her wouldn't be talking; it would be getting yelled at." Celestia pinpointed their voices; they came from a room with a tall, double door. "You're afraid of being yelled at, then? Listen to what she has to say; let her yell." Oh, Celestia could yell... "I already know what she has to say. I want her to come to me, not me to come to her. I've said this a few times now; she needs to spend time with herself and work out what life will be like." "You need to do more than that, Moon. You need to show her that you care about how she feels." "How do I do that? I've given her a nice room, she has mostly unlimited permissions around the castle, she has Philomena..." "She doesn't have her magic." Nightmare remained quiet for some time. Celestia listened, hearing her sigh. "I can't do that. You know I can't." "Why not?" "If I do, she'll try raising the sun." Celestia felt an unbridled rage build within her. She now saw why Nightmare Moon had brought her back; it wasn't to make her feel happy, it was to make herself feel happy. "Maybe she won't. Maybe if you show her that the night isn't a bad thing, and you show her that you truly do care about her, then she won't try going after you." "Her mind is set on one thing; I know for certain. She wants her old life back, and I know she'll do whatever it takes to make that reality more than just a dream..." Celestia's thoughts blurred, her sight almost turning red. 'Dreams'. Nightmare Moon was creating her dreams not to make her happy, but to taunt her. "...she would throw away everything I've built just to have it back." Everything she's built. Everything she's taken and violated was much closer to the truth. "Then give her a portion of her magic back! I see her constantly cursing at herself for being weak and not being able to do simple things; it's killing her that she doesn't have the powers she once had." Nightmare sighed, "Iris, I can't simply 'give her a portion'. It's all or nothing." "Then make it all! Moon, she isn't ever going to see you as somepony that really cares for her if you keep her without magic. You know that her powers are more than just an ability; it's who she is, and was." That blinding rage died down at Iris' words. Celestia felt her heart sinking. This stranger understood more about her and cared more about her than her own blood and flesh did. Silence reigned supreme for a moment, nothing but the rain's beating filling the air. "I want her to be happy. I see that giving her magic back would undoubtedly help... but I can't do that without her wanting my destruction. You have to understand this from my side." "Moon, there is no side to this. There is right and wrong, and if you do the right thing, your sister won't hate you. If she is still the happy, caring pony you say she once was, she won't turn on you." "You can't turn on somepony you were never with, Iris." That sentence hung on the air. It echoed in Celestia's mind as silence once more took the hall. Nightmare said more with that single sentence than she had said in her entire life. Celestia pondered hard; either she felt Celestia never loved her, or she was simply reflecting her own feelings on what had happened 700 years ago. Celestia turned back in the direction she had come from, not caring to re-light her lantern. What was left of her heart had been torn from her chest. She realized just how selfish Nightmare Moon was; she cared not for making her happy, she only cared to keep her around so she herself could be happy. Ignorance truly was bliss.