//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 The Past // Story: Gem Hunt // by keithsterling //------------------------------// ~It four years earlier~ In the blackout bedroom of the private living area of the Grand Royal Palace sitting on her bed was Princess Celestia. She was attired in a fuchsia-colored top of the knee-length dress. Her long legs were stretched out on the bed in front of her; on her, relatively large white bare feet were black raffia retro platform sandals. All the nails of both her feet and hands were painted with hot pink nail polish. After a very successful Royal Court Session in which she accomplished all the goals, she set for herself. Princess Celestia decided to let her mane down and have some fun to celebrate her success. The only pony she would allow to join in on her fun would be her Princess' Protector Justice Silverlight and her secret boyfriend. As the two left the Grand throne room of the Palace, Celestia took Justice aside and ask him to play their version of hide and seek with her. Justice kissed his girlfriend on her lips and said, 'sure.' Their version of hide and seek is very different from the version that the fillies and colts play throughout Equestria. In their version, Celestia would choose one room in the whole palace to hide as Justice would seek. The difference was that the room was completely dark, and she couldn't move from the place she picked to hide. He couldn't use any unicorn light spell to find her. He must feel around for was Celestia was hiding; this condition has led to some comedic situation between them as Justice would accidentally grope. Latch on to his girlfriend supple large breasts. After few awkward blinks of her light magenta eyes, she would kiss him and said 'you found me.' ~Back in Celestia's bedroom~ In the room, Princess Celestia's large white-feathered bird wings lightly fluttered on her back in anticipation of being found soon. She can hear the heavy footfalls of her Princess' Protector getting closer and closer to her position on her bed. The sudden jolt at the foot of her bed and few choice expletives from Justice went he bangs his shins on the bed frame of her bed, alerted Celestia that Justice was nearby. But in the pitch blackness of her bedroom, Celestia couldn't anticipate which direction Justice would appear from to end the game. Her heart pounded in her chest as her breath catches in her throat, waiting for Justice to appear. "Got you, Celestia," Justice exclaims as Celestia's spiral horn glowed in her very light gold magic aura opening all closed blackout curtains in the room bathing her grand sized beige-colored bedroom in the bright mid-day sun. Holding onto her perfectly shaped white arm was Justice. She playfully chuckled as Justice released her arm. "You got me and now your prize, Justice," Celestia said very lovingly as she placed her large hands on either side of Justice's face and planted a loving kiss on his lips. She sighs contently as she lay down on her bed, resting her head on one of her many soft pillows as Justice sat down on the edge of her bed. He started to caress her cheek with the back of his hand a few times before look down toward her black raffle retro platform sandals still on her perfectly shaped pristine white feet. She flushed a knowing smile toward Justice. "I am in such a good mood, Justice. My feet are fair game. Go ahead, take my platforms off, and release my feet. I will not mine, and after that, I have a favor to ask my Royal investigator." Celestia said with contentment as Justice moved down toward her feet. Justice knew his girlfriend Celestia was' so contented at that very moment as she politely lifted her foot up one at a time to allow him to easily slide the retro platform sandals off her feet and drop them on the floor at the foot of her bed. She smiled at Justice and gestured with her head telling him to go ahead. Justice gently set his girlfriend's foot on his lap; this was the first time Celestia allowed him to have free access to her sensitive foot. Sitting on his lap was a soft and supple perfectly shaped pristine fairly large bare white foot. Every inch of her reasonably large foot was perfect in shape, her heel was perfectly round. The deep set arches of her foot had a graceful and ideal curve that led into her perfectly shaped balls on her foot. Even the five toes of her foot were the perfect length for her size of her foot. With that, Justice set his girlfriend's foot back on her bed before moving back up to her head. Before he asks her about the favor, she wants him to do for her. He kisses her on her lips to thank her for allowing him to get a good look at her foot. "What is the favor you want me to do for you, Celestia?" Justice asks, brushing a strand of her blond mane hair out of her face with the back of his hand. "This favor must be done through unofficial channels, my dear Justice. This favor can't be traced back to me until it is concluded. My nobles shouldn't know about this favor at all." Celestia said concerned as Justice scratched his chin with his hand. "For an unofficial channel favor. You should be laughing hysterically, my dear Princess." Justice comment as Celestia recoil with horror with the price she must pay to keep this favor unofficial. "It only fair, Justice. So I will pay that price to keep it unofficial." Celestia said, agreeing to the terms that Justice has for this favor for her and shakes his hand. "With the payment terms agreed on, my gorgeous equine goddess. Now fill me in, Celestia." Justice said as Celestia's spiral horn glow once again in the very light gold magic aura. Floating through the air in a very light gold magic bubble from off her dresser was a large, expensive square jewelry box. She carefully lands the jewelry box on her bed and opens it by touch the lock with her finger. Inside the box were individual compartments containing custom made pieces of jewelry. With Justice's expert appraising eyes, he can tell that every piece of jewelry inside Celestia's jewelry box is the real McCoy. They were no costume jewelry anywhere in the box. She pulls out four custom made pieces of jewelry and sets them down on the bed. Before closing the box and float it back onto her dresser. "As you know, Justice I collect custom made pieces of jewelry from around Equestria, as you can testify to because you are normally my companion, that goes shopping with me for the pieces," Celestia explains sitting on her feet as she smiles at Justice know he the only stallion that would travel all over place with her to search for the right pieces for her collection. "Actually, I enjoy going custom shoes shopping with you, Celestia. It was so very entertaining to watch the shoemaker try to take your shoes off. Know you have very sensitive large tootsies contained in those shoes." Justice said jokingly as Celestia's sticks her tongue out at him. "Of course you would find that so entertaining, Justice. To me, it the most traumatic shopping experience ever. But it well worth it went we get back to palace you cuddle up with me for a good long time, to soothe my frayed nerves over the experience." Celestia said attentive as she kisses him on his lips once again. Before she hands him a custom made gold brooch with pear cut diamond in the center. He carefully takes hold of the gold pin in his hand. He begins examining it closely; from his expert appraising eye, the gold that the pear cut diamond is set in is 100% pure gold. As for the pear cut diamond, he judges it superfine and would assign it a five-star rating (highest grade). He flips the brooch over and carefully looks for the jeweler's maker mark of the creator of this finely made piece of jewelry. Stamped toward the bottom of the piece was a diamond mark with the initials GC. "This Gem Cutter design, one of the high-end Canterlot jewelry designers. One of her pieces commands a huge price in the Public Gem Market. Because she only uses the highest quality materials and limits the run of her unique designs, I would say a handful a year." Justice explains as he examines the other three pieces of jewelry lying on Celestia's bed. His eyebrow shoots up in surprise every single piece of jewelry is a Gem Cutter design. "To have these many pieces of Gem Cutter designed Jewelry, you must be on the Very Special Elite Customer List and willing to pay up for the first crack at her new designs." Justice comment as Celestia's wraps her arms around her legs and her face become etched with sorrow. "The Royal Reeve has cut my Royal allowance in half. I can no longer afford to pay up like before." Celestia said somberly as she buried her face into her knees and begin to weep. "Do you know, Celestia? I get my salary from the Royal Treasury. If you squander away the Royal Treasury, I will be fired from my position." Justice explains as Celestia's facial muscles twitch nervously. "No Justice, please don't joke like that, if they fire you. I'll be all alone again." Celestia said her voice quavering as Justice plants a kiss on her lips. "Shall we get back on task what is this unofficial channel favor, you want me to do?" Justice asks as he begins playing with Celestia's toes. The sensation sends electrical pulses from her perfect length toes through her leg to her head, causing a smile to form on her snout. "I know you don't keep up on the Canterlot rumor mill. So here what I need you to do some dreadful rumors and gossip has started to spread like wildfire in the elite of the elite in Canterlot. These rumors and gossip state that Miss Gem Cutter Night Company Exquisite Jeweler are using low-quality materials and charging exquisite prices for the junk." Celestia said harshly as Justice give her a dubious expression. He slowly moves towards her till he traps her against her headboard. "Are you sure this not a personal favor, my Princess? I have feeling that this is a personal favor. If this is not so, would you stake your feet on it." Justice said as Celestia could not get away from him. "Oh, I forgot how aggravating you are gone to be when you are doing a favor, Justice. Yes, this personal favor for me. I am not going to be told by the Royal Reeve that I wasted my bits on junk. My pride is at stake with this." Celestia said hotly as Justice stood up and walk toward her bedroom door to leave. "Those large white feet of your better be super smooth went I come back to collect. I will not stop till you reach the insanity level, my dear Princess." Justice comments as Celestia gives a startled gasp as he reaches for her bedroom knob. "I love you!" Celestia call as Justice gestures before closing her bedroom door on his way out. ~Return to the present~ "I investigated those rumors and gossip f-f-for," Justice exclaims as their thud on the other side of the table. "Justice!" Cadence exclaims as she runs around the table to the other side and finds Justice lying on the ground as he lost his balance on the two back legs of the chair he was sitting on. "You know your highness; you're very elegant and slender looking light pink bare feet with brilliant gold nail polish look even better up close." Justice complement, as Cadence knew he was perfectly fine. "I thank you, Lord Silverlight," Cadence said politely as she touches his snout with balls of her foot before helping him up. "Thank you, Cadence (She smiles at him). Anyway, I investigated those rumor and gossip for a solid two months; I turn over my finding to Celestia." Justice explains as the two ponies reconvene in the rental house living room to be more comfortable and have Cadence's stellar pedicure on full display. "What did your finding say, Justice?" Cadence inquiry as she sat down on the sofa in a way that allowed her stellar pedicure to outshine the pedicure that her adoptive aunt Celestia has regularly. ~Return to the past~ It the day that Justice turns his finding over to Princess Celestia in her private office in Grand Royal Palace. Standing with her back toward Justice, look through a large bay window wearing a green below knee-length dress with gold sporty looking stacked cork sandals on her relatively large white bare feet was Celestia. Her large white feathery wings unfolded and folded on her back periodically as she breathe. Floating in a light gold magic bubble nearby was a comprehensive report filed by Royal Investigator Justice Silverlight for her. She floats the report into her hand and sets it on her desk. Before slowly turning around to face Justice, who was standing in the office with her. "All right, Justice, you kept this investigation through unofficial channels as I asked. You may take payment from me this afternoon. I have no meeting scheduled for this day. I'll be working in my bedroom at that time on some paperwork. And as you wish, my feet are super smooth." Celestia said her voice quavering. "Plus, the sandals I am wearing right now have elastic bands, making them easier to remove. Also went I complete my business with you, Justice, I'll head to my bedroom and use my magic to soundproof it from the outside. You many privately push me to what every insanity level you like." Celestia said her voice a lifeless monotone as she problematically walked toward her office door on her way to set-up for full payment to Justice. "Celestia, stop!" Justice called concerned as Celestia stops he walked up to his depressed Alicorn girlfriend and caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. "Taking payment for you right now, Celestia. It would be no fun if you didn't enjoy it as well. I want to push my beautiful Sun Princess to her highest insanity level she would enjoy. But right now, it would be excruciating for both of us. I never want to hurt my beautiful Sun Princess." Justice said genuinely as tears come to Celestia's pale magenta eyes. "Thank you, Justice," Celestia said thankfully as Justice took hold of her hand and walk her over to the sofa. The two ponies sat down on the sofa. A moment later, Justice gestured toward her fairly large white feet. She slowly shook her head as he lifts her feet and places them on his lap. He gentle slip Celestia's white feet out of her sandals as she says the elastic bands make it easier to remove her shoes. Before he started to massage her feet for her. Slowly Celestia started to relax; he is quite skilled at making her feet feel wonderful and causes her to relax. Celestia begins to softly neigh as each of Justice's precise movements across the soles of both her feet reinforced her relax state of mind. "Did my report displease you, my beautiful Sun Princess?" Justice asked worried as it caused Celestia to react to his question. "Huh? Of course not, your reports are always the truth, be it bad, or be it good. You write the most accurate accounts." Celestia said reassuring as she felt the hesitation of his precise movements across her feet begin to waver, her chest becomes heavy. "Justice listen to me, It not you or your whole report. It's just your conclusion that you came to that is upsetting me (floating the report off her desk into her hand and open it to the last page). You wrote after an exhausting investigation you couldn't trace back the origin of these rumors or gossip to any pony. Most like reason, Miss Gem Cutter Night started the rumor mill herself. But you couldn't find any conclusive evidence to disprove or prove this theory. That what I am upset about, Justice and not you." Celestia said honestly as her airing her concerns to Justice broke her funk, and she smiled at him. "Now come on, Justice. I promised you that you can make a payment for me this afternoon. Let get started. Because love, I want you to push me to my utmost insanity level and to help that I'll walk back to my bedroom barefooted. That should help make my feet more sensitive." Celestia playful as they headed to Celestia's bedroom so it could be more private for them, and she can soundproof her room.