//------------------------------// // 11 - Pat a cake // Story: Kulaas Ahrk Dovah // by SkarinOfAtmora //------------------------------// For a legendary warrior who is supposed to stay in the best physical shape as possible, Skarin has a really bad habit of skipping his meals. Once he followed Celestia into the castle, complaining about going to the Gala along the way, Celestia gave him the book that Twilight translated for him. Skarin took the book and went up to his room to leave it there so he doesn't lose it. He has a history of losing important items, like a certain staff of madness for example... Anyway, once in his room, Skarin took a peek at the first few pages and here we are 10 hours later. "I'm hungry..." it was like a sudden moment of clarity hit him as he finished his reading "Skipped lunch again. " to be fair, Storm Hammer came to inform him lunch and dinner is being served but Skarin didn't like the guy so he ignored him. Deciding it was time to get something to eat, Skarin followed the way his nose pointed him to and reached the kitchen in no time. Opening the fridge, a genius invention from his stand point, he found nothing that interested him. Sure, there was some meat but after thinking it over a little, Skarin decided he wanted a little taste of home "Sweet rolls it is. " Gathering all the ingredients, surprisingly easy, Skarin began kneading the dough while whistling. After that was done he had to let it sit for a while so Skarin opened the fridge once more and tried to find something to drink. He spotted a lone bottle of what looked like mead and stretched his hand towards it- "The Princess might hear you. " the voice had just a hint of a teasing tone to it and Skarin knew exactly who it was and smirked. "Then it's a good thing I'm not stealing cake. " he grabbed the bottle and closed the fridge, turning towards Celestia as he did so. "Otherwise I'd- " Skarin stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes fell on the most magnificent creature he had ever seen. Celestia stood there, leaning on the door frame in a silky white night robe that clung to her curves. Even in the dim light of the kitchen, Skarin could tell she was wearing nothing beneath and the gown gave him a generous look at her cleavage. What struck him the most though, something he foggily remembered from their last kitchen encounter, was her mane and eyes. Gone was the multi-colored mane and in it's place was a bright red, one that ended with an even brighter blonde at the tips. Her normally magenta eyes were now a bright red that matched her mane. "Is something the matter?" Celestia asked with a raised brow and slowly walked towards the dumbfounded Skarin. "You look... Different. " his answer made Celestia tilt her head to the side in confusion but it soon clicked. "Oh, yes, you were a little..." she tried to find the right words. "Under the weather the last time you saw me like this. " Skarin was still staring. "You look good. " his eyes never leaving hers. "I know. " she said cheekily and snatched the bottle from his hand. "Apple cider this late? One might say you have a problem, great Dragonborn. " "I ate the last cake. " he answered with a smirk and Celestia visibly stiffened. "That's why I'm making something in return. " he showed her the dough on the table covered with a cloth. "Pot and kettle, is it? " Celestia pouted her lip before playfully smacking him on the chest. "You can cook? " Celestia lifted the cloth to see what was underneath. "Sort of. " Skarin opened the bottle and tried this cider as Celestia called. He found it to be to his liking and drank some more. "I'm not just good at stabbing things, you know. " "That is good to hear. " Celestia pulled up a chair and sat down with Skarin doing the same. "Why are you here so late anyway? " "I got hungry. " he replied simply and went back to inspecting Celestia's mane. Suddenly she became very self-conscious about her looks and blushed slightly. "What? " "Why the illusion? This looks way better. " Skarin noticed she was twirling a lock of mane with her finger in a bashful manner. "Well, many years ago at the beginning of our rule, one of the advisors suggested it since ponies were a little skittish around us. " she looked at him with a small smile "Not many see me like this, you know. " "Then I consider it an honor. " Skarin nodded curtly, making Celestia giggle "I wish to say not many see me like this-" he looked down to his half-naked self. "-but I think Skyrim has seen more of me than it should have. " Celestia chuckled along with Skarin and could only imagine what sort of shenanigans he got himself into. No other way to know but ask, right? Or tease a little. "I assume most of those times were all in the good name of mead? " Skarin rolled his eyes but couldn't exactly deny it. "Can you tell me more? " Celestia rested her elbows on the counter, not realizing she was pushing up her chest and giving Skarin a good look. Skarin suddenly found the table to be very interesting. "The drunken adventures of the Dragonborn. Sounds like a fun book to read. " Skarin then quickly scooped up the dough and went to the oven, lest his eyes fall out. Celestia looked at him oddly but didn't think twice about what the cause was. "Now how do you operate this? " Celestia chuckled once again and joined Skarin in front of the oven. "Here, let me. " for some reason the dials and buttons were positioned low and Celestia bent forward to turn the oven on. Now Skarin had a good view of her rump, and what a rump it was. "She's doing this on purpose, right?" Skarin thought to himself as his gaze lingered a little too long. Once the oven was on, Celestia rose up and took the dough, poured it in a mold and place it in the oven. "How long does it need to bake? " she asked innocently, Skarin's position once again giving him a good angle at her chest, making his eye twitch. "Seriously?" Skarin sat on the floor and leaned on the counter, hoping the tiles would cool him off "I'll know when it's done. " he then tapped his nose to clarify. Celestia soon joined him and together they watched the dough slowly bake inside the oven. "That nose of yours must come in handy. " Celestia was now intrigued and waned to know more. Luna said that all she had to do is ask, heck, even Skarin said so. As for her statement, Skarin scratched his cheek sheepishly. "Yeah, but it can also lead to some... Embarrassing situations. " now Celestia was really intrigued and turned to face him fully, an eager smile on her lips. "Oh? Please do tell. " when Skarin didn't respond she pouted. "Please? " and the puppy eyes finished him off. "Alright, fine. " Celestia immediately perked up and Skarin sighed in defeat. "So, I was in this village called Rorikstead, had myself a mead- " "Naturally. " Celestia interrupted with a cheeky smirk. Skarin narrowed his eyes but continued. "And I met this young couple who knew who I was. " Celestia nodded and clung to every word. "They were getting married the next day and wanted to have me as a guest of honor. " he took another sip of the cider. "We got to talking and I agreed to attend so all's fine, right? " Celestia nodded. "It's when I bid farewell I made my mistake. " "What did you do? " Celestia leaned closer. "I said Oh, and congratulations on the baby. " "Well that's nice. " Celestia didn't think it was that embarrassing. Perhaps he smelled the foal on them. Many ponies get married after the foal is born- "She didn't know she was pregnant. " Skarin said making Celestia blink in surprise. "Oh... " "He didn't know. " "Well still- " "They were saving themselves for marriage. " Skarin said with a raised brow and now Celestia understood. "Oh my... " she covered her muzzle, a slight chuckle escaping her. "As you can imagine, harsh words were spoken. " Celestia nodded, eager to hear the rest. "Her lover, sitting two tables away, didn't like that. Neither did her father and three brothers running the inn. " Celestia tried very hard to suppress her laughter. "And so a fight broke out and I'm just standing there in the middle of it wishing I hadn't opened my stupid mouth. " "W-what did y-you do then? " it was harder and harder to not laugh in Skarin's face. "I did the only thing I could. " Skarin took a longer sip of his cider. "Downed my mead and ran." the image of the mighty Dragonborn running caused Celestia to laugh whole-heartedly as Skarin played with the bottle in his hands. "I went back a year later " Celestia stopped dead in her tracks with wide eyes and another laugh tugging at her lips. "You didn't! " Skarin nodded and continued. "The girl and her lover got married instead. Folk say it was a beautiful ceremony. Even the kid was born. " Celestia saw him chuckle to himself. "Guess what they named him. " she blinked in confusion. "Isn't that a hard guess? The only Skyrim name I know is- " then realization dawned and new laughter was forming. "It can't be... " "Yep. There's a little Skarin running around Rorikstead. " at this point Celestia exploded into laughter, clutching her sides as Skarin got a little red in the cheeks. In hindsight, it is a pretty funny story if you're the one hearing it- *SNORT* Celestia suddenly stopped laughing and Skarin stared at her with wide eyes. She had her hands over her muzzle, ears flat down and a look of embarrassment overall. Skarin's wolfish grin began to spread. "What was that? " "You heard nothing! " Celestia threatened with the cutest pout Skarin had ever seen. "It was like a- " Celestia's hand was over his mouth in moments, causing him to chuckle. "Not. A. Word. " Skarin slowly nodded, the motion causing one of her fingers to go over the cold mark on his right cheek. Celestia slowly moved her hand away, but the finger remained on the mark. "I assume this has a much darker story behind it. " Skarin, on again, found himself enjoying her warm touch. "Would you... Mind telling me? " looking into her eyes, Skarin was greeted with a deep concern and genuine empathy from the princess. She wanted to know more about him and for some reason, Skarin felt he could tell her anything. He hadn't felt like that since Lydia. "It's not a pretty story. " he moved his head away but Celestia remained firm. "I'm a big filly. " she said with a warm smile and Skarin sighed, in defeat once again. "Far to the north of Skyrim lies Atmora, the land of men and thousands of years ago, a civil war broke out. " Celestia nodded slowly, not really sure where this was going. "Many of my ancestors boarded ships and sailed south in search of a new land, far away from the war. One of those ships crashed on a deserted island right in the middle and left the people stranded. The island was a frozen wasteland but they soon found out they were not alone. " Skarin took a deep breathand continued. "There was Wisp Mother, a monster with powerful ice magic and my people stood no chance against her. Normally, they would all have been killed but this Mother was a cut above the rest. You see, she decided to enslave them, and this- "he pointed to the mark. "-is how she does it. A curse that let her command us with only a touch. " Celestia was about to speak up but Skarin continued. "You might ask, why didn't you fight back? In the beginning, she managed to form a small army to protect her so all resistance was cut down swiftly. " "But you escaped. " "Aye. " "How? " "A last stand lead by my father. Live or die. " Skarin closed his eyes "He delivered the final blow but upon her dying breath, the Mother summoned an ice spell so powerful it froze everyone who was on the island. " his eyes opened and Celestia saw something new in the Dragonborn. Pain. "My mother and older sister protected me from the blast with their bodies as a shield. At that time, seeing the spell, I didn't think it would do much but it seemed fate had other plans for me. " "Skarin... " Celestia had no words to say. She couldn't even imagine what it must've felt like to see one's entire race shrouded in ice. "I found the Mother dead, my father's makeshift blade still impaled into her. She may have been dead but I wasn't taking any chances. " he then looked at his hands "For two days I tried to make a fire by rubbing sticks. I ground my hands to the bone until a fire finally sprung up and I burned her frozen corpse. In that moment I held hope that maybe I could thaw my people but to no avail. There was nothing for me there anymore so I made a raft and hoped for the best. I don't know how long I was out on sea until I landed in Skyrim and Kodlak found me. " "You spoke of him before. Who was he? " Celestia placed her hand onto Skarin's in comfort and the latter smiled softly. "He was one of us. I saw the mark on his cheek and was surprised someone managed to even escape the cursed island. He recognized mine as well and took me in, raised me as his own son. " Skarin smiled fondly "Guess I started to see him as a father after that. " no words were spoken when Celestia pulled Skarin into a hug which he returned. "I am so sorry. " she said softly, a small tear escaping her. This vulnerable side to Skarin was a surprise to Celestia but not an unpleasant one. It takes a lot to be this open about something so tragic. Skarin has been through a lot and everypony deserves happiness in their life. She heard Skarin sniffle. "The sweet roll is done. " he pulled back and Celestia saw his cheeks were tinted much like her own. She smiled warmly and booped his nose. "Then let us see what the great Dragonborn cooked up. " Celestia wanted to get the pastry herself but Skarin beat her to it. "Oh no. No more. " Skarin even patted himself on the back mentally for being a gentleman. He sat the mold on the counter and flipped it over, the shape not like the one he'd prefer but the smell spoke for itself. He cut a piece and handed it to Celestia. "Careful, it's hot. " "Thank you. " Celestia took a piece with her fork and blew on it a little. Taking the bite into her mouth she found it tasted good. Not as sweet as she would like but good nontheless. "You know what this needs? " she asked with a raised finger. "Whipped cream! " "What now? " Skarin asked in confusion as Celestia ran to the fridge and bent down. "Of course it had to be on the lowest shelf." Celestia took the container, shook it and went back to Skarin. Pouring a good a amount of cream onto the pastry she took another bite. "Try it now. " she sprayed a little onto Skarin's piece and the nord shrugged before eating it. "Not bad. " Celestia beamed at him before taking another bite of the sweet roll. Skarin had to smile at the princesses antics and had to admit he was enjoying himself. If only not for his big stupid mouth. "So, about that laugh- " he never got to finish as Celestia sprayed whipped cream all over his face. She tried to remain stoic but the scene just got to her and she started laughing again. "This means war. " Skarin snatched the container from her hand and promptly sprayed a hefty dose on her head. "You have assaulted a princess of Equestria! " Celestia proclaimed while giggling. "Thine punishment shall be- " another dose of cream was now sprayed on her face. "You talk too much, Tia. " Skarin grinned victoriously and Celestia smiled inwardly when he called her Tia. She liked that. However, she will not go down without a fight. Her horn glowed and the fridge door sprung open. From inside a dozen whipped cream containers levitated out and pointed themselves at Skarin. "It. Is. On. " Celestia said with a menacing grin and Skarin gulped. "Crap. " Unknown to Celestia and Skarin, two figures also in search of a midnight snack were listening in on their conversation and occasionaly peeked inside. Now that a war was fought inside the kitchen, they even dared to speak up. "Well? What dost thou think, dear niece? " Luna asked with a hint of pride. "There is deffinitely something there. " Cadance said with a critical eye directed at probably the two most powerful beings in Equestria, now acting like foals. "Are you trying to take my position from me, auntie Luna? " Cadance asked with mirth. "Nay, dear Cadance. " Luna shook her head. "For we are now officially, the Princes of the Hunch! " Cadance tilted her head in confusion. "And our coronation shall be grand!"