1000 Years Ago,
“Bless you.”
“Thank you,” he said out of sheer nature and habit.
The other around him clearly struggled not to gasp, and then Ash saw why.
It was Princess Celestia who had said it.
He also had to resist the urge to gasp too, and then remembering both his training and manners he suddenly lowered himself to the ground and bowed down very low. “My princess,” he said in a very deep gruff voice.
Celestia smiled, she resisted the urge to giggle, but failed to do so.
“At ease soldier, rest, there is no need for formality around me,”
“But princess,” Ash said.
“I order you to be at ease, relax, have fun, understand?”
Ash gulped very nervously, he did, but it went against everything that he had learned in the academy, having fun wasn't what you did, in fact, fun was where it went to die at the academy. But it was still an order, and from the princess herself no less, and he would do it. “Yes, princess,” he said getting up.
“There’s no need to call me that, just call me Celestia, please,”
“Yes Prince- I mean… Celestia,” Ash said very nervously.
She chuckled, “Old habits die hard, don't they?”
“Yes, yes they do,” Ash said.
“Well, have no fear, I am here with you, now come with me, I wish to talk to you,” she said getting up from her table as other ponies came in behind her and cleaned up the tea and cake that she had been having before. But if there was supposed to be a lunch or afternoon snack in one of her very own gardens in Canterlot then Ash was never informed about this, and he also hadn’t noticed her before, but then again, he was only instructed to wait outside of the entrance to the garden and not look in, he asked who it was of course, but was told to wait and then afterwards it would be made known to him who it was.
Well, it looked like he wouldn't have to wait that long anymore.
Ash gulped nervously, but followed her request, and although it wasn’t an order he would have to be a complete idiot with no intelligence to even try or dare disobeying, that or being completely stupid and brave also worked as well.
He wasn't stupid, or an idiot, and he also didn't know if he could be rave anymore in front of a princess, no, he was nervous and terrified of meeting her.
“Come on, my little pony,” she said in a very gentle, soft, kind voice… almost like a… well… it was almost like a mother… almost…
He followed her voice as she slowly walked through the gardens until they came upon a place where they were both completely alone. “What is your name?” she asked once they got to the very beautiful, wonderful, incredible, and amazing gazebo where they now sat.
“Uh, Ash Sparrow,” he replied back very hastily.
“Yes, I see, and are you happy with your current status and position?”
He looked at her very curiously, “What do you mean by that?”
She sighed, took another sip of tea, and then set her cup back down.
“What I mean is this, most ponies take a job only for the money, thinking that money will make them happy, this is false, there is only one thing that can ever make you truly happy, and that is to pursue a passion, nothing else will ever really work. Sadly, most ponies forget or don't know to pursue their passions, they think that it will be money that can and will solve all of their problems, but it won't, because money cannot buy happiness, it can only support it and life.
So, I must ask you this again, are you happy here or not?”
He glanced back at her very curiously before he responded. “Why are you even asking me this? Don't you have stuff that is much more important than me?”
She smiled at him, “Yes and no, you see a happy pony will work hardest at their job, especially if it is their passion, a pony that merely likes a job won't work as hard as the one who has a passion for it, and the ones that don't like it, or even worse, hate it, have a much higher chance to quit, or in this case, something much worse, do something to me and/or my sister too. So, by asking you this, by asking you to tell the truth I am only doing my royal duty which is to ensure the continual happiness of my citizens, and that includes you, Ash Sparrow.
So, I must ask you this again, are you happy, Ash Sparrow?”
He considered her question, he never really thought about it before, was there anything else that he wanted to do, but didn't? What did he like? What did he love? He pondered this, he thought about it, and then he replied back to her.
“Yes, I am. I wouldn't have finished training if I wasn't sure of this job, sure, I always did want to be a baker or artist, but right now I am happy where I am, the pay is nice, I’m not bullied or teased, and my boss is pretty cool, what more could I possibly ever want?” he said. Celestia giggled at this. “What?” he said.
“Well, there are plenty of things that a very young and handsome stallion like you could want, for example, a very young and beautiful mare…”
As she said this she took a very large bite of an apple after having licked it very seductively. “The other guards warned me about you, they told me that you were a tease, I didn't believe them,” he said.
“Well, perhaps you should believe them more in the future, because yes, I do like to have fun playing my silly little games with other ponies,” she said. He laughed at her comment before replying back to her again.
"Yes, I guess that you’re right, but thank you princess for taking time out of your day to talk to me, I mean I’m nopony special or important.”
She smiled at him again, “To me you are, everypony is unique in some sort of way, the trick is just finding in which ways, but you may go now,”
“Thank you, princess,” he said turning to go before she stopped him.
“Just Celestia,” she said.
He turned back to her, “Very well then, thank you, Celestia.”