Celestia lowered her head to Snickers as he trembled in his own urine, on the floor behind her foreleg. “Child, it is safe now. Please, come out so we can clean you and care for you.”
At a loss for what to say or do, the rest of the room was hesitant to do anything that may set off another panic. Small hooves tapped their way quickly under the table and to Snickers. Ignoring the mess he’d made, Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara lay facing him and nuzzled his head from both sides.
Snickers stopped trembling and peeked out to see Diamond Tiara’s ear flick, and her tail swish. But no dark monsters.
“Is… is the monster gone?” Snickers asked in a high pitched, trembling voice.
“There wasn’t any monster, Snickers. You went crazy when Luna walked in, and now she’s gone,” Diamond said quietly, nuzzling one more time before she backed up, and looked into his eyes. “Oh, no… you’re so scared. I’ve never seen you so scared before, Snickers.”
Diamond’s heart melted at the sight of the strong colt, little more than a shivering foal afraid for his life; the mask he wore was taken off, for once, and Diamond was the first to see what she perceived as the real Snickers. A scared colt, lost and friendless, desperate for safety and security.
Silver Spoon scooted back and moved to press her side to Diamond’s. “Oh, my, Celestia, Diamond. He looks so sad and scared; you’re right.”
Snickers sniffled, and got up on shaky legs, swaying before he flopped down in his mess. “Ugh, I think, yeah. I think I’m kinda drunk. Gotta good buzz starting.”
Celestia picked him up with her magic, and before maids and servants could rush in, the mess was cleaned with a flash of magic. Snickers was affected by the spell, so he was at least extra clean from his neck to his tail. Celestia raised him to her eye level, and looked him over. His eyes were losing focus, he let his legs sway, and his head tipped to the right slowly. Then, it moved upright, only to repeat the pattern.
Celestia smelled his breath and hummed knowingly. “Yes, he is, indeed, drunk. How is this possible? A glass of wine should not affect a colt of his age in such a manner.”
Her question was directed at the castle staff, but Kiwe answered. “Your Highness, Princess Celestia, he does not drink full wine yet. With meals or not, it is watered down; to build his tolerance. He is only two months old, you see…”
There were audible gasps and a few chuckles. Celestia rolled her eyes in good humor. “Kiwe, I understand you may want to play games, but this is not the time. This is a serious issue that must be resolved. One of many, it seems.”
Diamond and Silver stood up for Kiwe. “No, it’s true. Snickers has only been on Equus for a couple months. But, we don’t know why he looks like your son, honest.”
Celestia’s lips pursed and her eyes darted from side to side, taking in the shocked expressions of the room. “Blast it all,” Celestia whispered. Her horn lit and there was a flash of golden light that didn’t seem to have affected the foals, or Prince Blueblood; but the rest of the staff and guards seemed uneasy for a few seconds.A dome of silence surrounded Celestia and the others that were close to Snickers, allowing Celestia to speak freely.
“This has been a trying day already, and I apologize to you all. Especially you, my little Snickers. Prince Blueblood, Kiwe, and friends; would you be so kind as to take Aque… Snickers to his room while I speak to Luna?”
Blueblood nodded and took Snickers onto his back, noticing the slight tremor still coursing through the colt. “Come along, nephew, I’ll take you to your quarters and introduce you to the fine art of snobbery, as only one of my stature can.”
Snickers quietly giggled when Blueblood turned his snout up and pranced through the bubble Celestia had made, with the other three foals following behind.
Celestia, still in her sphere, sighed. “I just had to erase the last three seconds from the staff’s memories, for my son, Luna. You had better have a great explanation for this,” she said to herself, keeping the air and regality she was known for, while seething inside. She lowered the bubble and vanished without a sound, leaving behind some speckles of golden light.
Appearing in Luna’s chambers, Celestia looked through the shadowed room to find her sister; crying softly at her vanity. “Luna? What have you done?”
“Sister,” Luna said, weakly, “I do not know how, but he saw through the illusions. Nopony should have that power, but he has seen it. The beast within and without, that I hide with all I have… Celestia, how can we fix this?”
Luna’s dark blue cheeks were matted with tears as she looked at herself in the mirror, slit eyes and pitch black fur copying her every motion.
Celestia placed a forehoof on Luna’s shoulder, then pulled it back quickly when the enchanted gold sizzled against Luna’s fur. Thedark mare grimaced.
“By telling them the truth,” Celestia said, “and praying to Mother on High that we can salvage this. Aquelis won’t be lost to me again so easily.
“Whatever game the Sisters are playing at, I will not let them take him from me again.”
Luna’s eyes met Celestia’s and Luna’s reflection bared its predatory teeth. “I like how you think, dear sister. I would not mind taking the Sisters Eternal to task,” Luna wiped her eyes and turned to face Celestia, “but first, I must task myself with proving my honorable intentions to your son, the nephew I never knew.
“Dearest sister, you lay with a stallion and chose to not tell me after my return.” Luna pouted. “And to think, a lowly whitesmith planted his seed within your womb on the first night you lay as one. Should I be so lucky to have such a passionate affair when the stars align on my estrus.”
Celestia swatted Luna with her wing. “Hush, Sister. You will bear a foal within the decade, I’m certain of it. You have already had several consorts for fun. Just wait for the right time of the year, and you’ll find a foal within yourself to call my Aquelis her cousin.”
“Bah, swiving is less for foals than fun, as you know. When the time comes for my belly to bear fruit, I shall have the greatest harem in Equestria plow my fields and sew my royal oats, as only stallions in the throws of passion can do. Until then,” they shared a titter while Celestia blushed to Luna’s lustful grin, “I shall have a consort every night if I wish, to fill my womb in practice for the glorious moment time has prepared me for.
“Perhaps I will even name her after my last child. Dearest One, I pray your eternal slumber is as joyous as your life was.”
Celestia brought her horn to touch Luna’s and they shared a small spark of magic. “Luna, she lived the life she wanted, and didn’t end her journey alone. She was surrounded by love, kinship, and those she called family, from across the globe. She was an inspiration to all she knew, and even those she didn’t.
“You did the world proud and made it a better place by birthing her before your change. If there was any time to believe there was some good to come of your leaving us so suddenly, she was certainly the answer to that question.”
They shared a nuzzle, then Celestia stepped away. “I shall see you in Snickers’s quarters soon, and when you arrive, I shall introduce you both, properly, for the first time.”
…
Walking down the halls, Blueblood led the foals back to room 9 to let Snickers relax. The walk was a bit long, so Blueblood chose to fill the silence between padded hooffalls. “So, I understand you are the lost son of my dearest Auntie, yes?”
Snickers bit Blueblood’s mane and tugged. The stallion instinctively reared and landed, ready to shout at the colt, but decorum stopped him. “I’m not the son of Celestia. I’m just a guy who turned into a pony, that’s all.”
Blueblood’s blood pressure was still rising after the affront to his nature, but he stayed calm and took a deep breath before replying. “Well, Auntie seems to think so, at least. She’s been speaking of ‘her long lost Aquelis’ returning to her after two hundred years. I’ll be honest, Snickers is a much better name, in my opinion.
“And, was I correct in hearing you say you’re related to a Miss Rarity? The name doesn’t ring a bell, but I doubt I’d do anything to sully a Canterlot mare’s name, or clothing.”
Silver Spoon interjected herself to clarify. “Actually, it was at the Grand Galloping Gala last year. Miss Rarity’s a white pony that talks with a fakey accent and adopted Snickers a couple months ago.”
Blueblood winced and grimaced. “Oh, her? Dearest me, had I any idea who she was… well, I would have probably done the same. Children, you do not know how difficult it is being nobility, much less one of the last descendents of Princess Platinum herself. Everywhere I go, every event I attend, mares, and a stallion here and there, try to win my favor for their own needs.
“There are rarely ponies that try to attract me with false attention to better themselves. That’s what your Miss Rarity did. I was only enjoying a moment in the garden, to escape the crowds begging for my attention and time, wooing me with promises for favors, when she showed up. Her dress was exquisite and, at first sight, I did see something attractive in her.
“When she introduced herself to me I was expecting an offer for a line of clothing or an investment opportunity from a poor mare trying to get her hoof in the door, as it was. Instead, she began trying to win my affections with fluttering eyes and lustful smiles.”
Blueblood’s nostrils flared and he nickered. “So uncouth, and rude. I did everything I could, acted as pompous as one would see a royal. I even acted as a spoiled colt would on Hearth’s Warming Eve to try to get her away from me, so the normal moochers and leeches could hound me again.
“She even went so far as to have her friend buy me one of the most delectable treats I have ever tasted in my life; that I had to spit out, and complain to the mare’s saddened face. It wasn’t until that same mare arrived with a half dozen cakes on three carts, one pushed by her, the others tied to her tail, that I was able to rid myself of that selfish mare.
“A little spell and the first, largest, cake flew at me! I used Rarity as a shield. I hated ruining such fine clothing, but it was wasted on the mare. Ow!” Blueblood rubbed the back of his ear, where Snickers had hit him. “I apologize, Snickers, but she was simply dreadful to me. Not a moment of honesty, until she was angered and flung cake at me.
“Not that the following events were expected. A century old statue gifted from the Gryphon Kingdom of New Heights was destroyed, the party was run afoul by creatures not suited to be indoors; chased by a crazed mare demanding the room’s ponies love her!
“It was a true disaster; created by those we relied upon to defend our very world from the forces that meant to destroy us at every turn. Nightmare Moon, Discord, the national parasprite infestation, the Royal Wedding of - now Prince-Consort - Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, and the return of the Crystal Empire’s capital city; what will happen next?
“I hope it’s something Auntie can handle with Luna. Ever since the Gala, I’ve had little to no expectations from four of those mares.”
“Only four?” Diamond asked. “There are six, right?”
Silver nudged Diamond. “Hey, they’re cool, Diamond. They’re just eccentric.”
Blueblood harrumphed. “Indeed. The blue one is making herself known as a braggart across the city, the yellow one isn’t allowed near the gardens until future notice, the white one isn’t allowed to any further balls or parties without guard escort, and the orange one has a special requirement that I shouldn’t divulge.”
Snickers prepared his forehoof to slap Blueblood’s ear harder. A guard trailing them prepared a spell to hold the colt’s foreleg in place. “And what is that? Applejack is the orange one, and she’s the only honest one, the only one I trust, anyway,” Snickers said.
Blueblood chuckled, unknowing of the danger his sensitive ear was in. “She is bound by edict to provide the castle with ten apple fritters each day, at a cost ten times their worth, for the foreseeable future; by myself, of course. I won’t lose any weight at this rate, but I can’t say no when they’re delivered to my quarters in the morning, still steaming hot and fresh.”
Blueblood salivated. Snickers lowered his forehoof, and raised an eyebrow. “You liked them that much?”
Blueblood’s voice sounded jovial to Snickers. “Son, if I had any notion, every meal across the nation would end with one for each and every creature.”
Snickers let the word ‘son’ bounce around in his mind, and realized it was something a stallion or human had never called him. The word brought a faster beat to his little heart and he had to shake his head to return from a place of wonder.
A day guard stood at attention when the prince approached. “Prince Blueblood, it is an honor to see you here. Will you be visiting for a while?”
“Yes. I will be delivering Snickers and his friends to his room, then staying to entertain them while we await their bedtime. I am tasked with showing these little ruffians around the city,” Blueblood joked and ruffled Kiwe’s mane, “and bonding is a great way to build trust, as you know, corporal.”
“Sir, yes, sir,” the guard stated and moved to open the door to Snickers and Kiwe’s room. “Have a nice evening, and if you need anything, the servants are prepared for you.”
Blueblood shook his head ever so slightly. “No, I don’t think I’ll need any of their cervixes, thank you, though.”
Snickers barked a laugh and shoved his forehoof into Blueblood’s mane. “I heard that, you sly fox. I used the same line to pick up mares back when I was younger.”
Blueblood stumbled, but caught himself and shared a surprised look with the guard. “Yes, well, perhaps we can discuss that in private?”
Snickers chuckled. “Hey, anything that gets you balls deep into a mare is more than okay with me. I’ve- mmpo.”
Snickers frowned at having his muzzle closed while talking, but moved past that and understood he was saying too much when he noticed the guards flanking the door looking at him with saddened surprise. Snickers rode Blueblood into the foyer and heard one guard whisper, “So, it’s true about him being raped as a yearling?”
Snickers felt his happy mood fly away with the door slamming closed. He dismounted Blueblood and was met by Rosemary, while Sage was standing by the stairs, with poise and elegance, looking at Kiwe with her full attention. Kiwe nodded to Sage, she nodded back, then lowered her eyes, to not seem to be staring at him, while still awaiting a command.
“Greetings, Your Highness, Prince Blueblood,” Rosemary bowed her head.
Blueblood sniffed and spoke, “Rise, my darling. As you know, this small stallion beside me is Snickers, and he has had a fright, most severe. I’d appreciate it if you would draw him, and his friends, a bath; and tend to their needs, as you’re told to do.”
Snickers didn’t say anything. Kiwe walked beside him, and the fillies whispered a short conversation at the back as they all followed Rosemary and Sage to Snickers’s bathroom. The water in the tub filled in four seconds from being completely empty and steam wisped lightly from the surface.
Snickers pulled his shirt off and tossed it aside, not noticing that Sage caught it and directed it to a small hamper.
“What about bubbles?” Silver Spoon asked as she took her glasses off and set them on a bench by Diamond’s tiara.
“You need only ask the water,” Rosemary said with a smile.
Looking between one another, the foals all shouted ‘bubbles’ at once. Bubbles, foamy and light, rose to the surface and covered at least two inches of the entire surface. Snickers and Kiwe backed up and screamed as they jumped in, flailing their forelegs as they parted the bubbles and sank into the relaxing, hot water.
Diamond Tiara walked into the water using the steps. “Boys, always have to show o-wah!” Diamond didn’t estimate the length of the steps properly and tumbled under the water, sinking out of sight quickly.
Silver Spoon moved to where the steps began and hesitated. “Um, like, how do you know if we’re all okay? I mean, what if, like, something happens and we can’t come up or something?”
Rosemary hummed a chuckle. “This is a magic pool, if anything happens that scares or puts the lives of those within in danger, a gong rings, the water expunges the injured, and, if needed, a medical crew is teleported here within ten seconds to care for whomever it may be. Also, the staff are all trained medics, Miss Silver. You don’t have to worry. Everything is safe.”
Silver Spoon blinked and looked at the water, then stepped in and leapt into the pool. Underwater, she could see as clearly as though she were wearing swimming goggles and her glasses. She saw Kiwe swimming away from Snickers while Diamond floated in place, watching the colts.
Silver had never noticed how their manes and tails moved while submerged and watched for several seconds before she let her legs try to carry her to the surface. She stopped before she crested the water and waved to Diamond, motioning for her to surface.
Diamond nodded. Her cheeks puffed as air bubbles started to escape her mouth, and Diamond quickly surfaced with a loud exhale and gasp. Silver Spoon followed a second later, only more relaxed about breathing again.
“Wow, that is the best water I’ve ever been in. It’s like spring water, but way better,” Diamond gushed and swam to the edge where the tub had a recess for their knees to rest in while their forehooves lay on the floor.
“Diamond, this is the best bath I’ve ever had, too. I mean, look under water! Did you see that?! It was like I didn’t need glasses, and I never saw tails move like that. It was just-
“-Amazing.” Both fillies said together and giggled. They moved closer and sighed. “This is just what I needed, and I didn’t even know it,” Diamond said.
Silver agreed. “I know! I feel my hooves tingling like they’re tired, but I’ve only walked a little today. I think the water’s cleaning them with magic, or something.”
“Mine, too. Wait,” Diamond giggled and started thrashing in the water. Snickers appeared for a couple seconds as he breached the surface to take a breath, then went back under.
“What are you doing, Dia--” Silver’s hooves started tickling her and she was thrashing before she knew it, too. “Stop it! I can’t have my hooves tickled! I give up! Auntie, auntie!”
Diamond tried climbing out, but something grabbed her pastern and tugged her back, then resumed tickling her. “They can’t hear us! I’m going under, no~!” Diamond overdramatized her sinking and Silver chortled before submerging again.
Blueblood poked his head into the bathroom and noticed the maids grinning and giggling to themselves. “Ah, I see they’re playing properly. Carry on, then. I’ll be reading this fascinating magazine of Snickers’; FoalFun, indeed.”
Silver Spoon saw Kiwe holding Diamond’s leg in his forelegs while using his magic to tickle her, then she looked down as her humor turned to shock. Snickers was holding her legs with his. His tail swayed and brushed across her face while his forehooves attacked her ticklish hooves.
There was a gong and the water reverberated the sound as all four foals were essentially spat out of the tub, coughing water and laughing. “Ha, colts rule; fillies drool!” Snickers exclaimed, then got up and leapt back into the water.
“What he said,” Kiwe shouted, following Snickers back into the water. Kiwe pulled bubbles across his head and spoke in a wary and haggard voice. “Hey, I’m an old stallion with hair of gray. Young colt, listen to what I say.”
“I won’t do what you say, because I’m old too; want some hay?”
The fillies coughed and got up. They looked at the colts messing around, then shared a glance. “Cannon-ball!” Diamond shouted and shrieked as she leapt and splashed between the colts. Silver Spoon followed with a swan dive and nearly reached the bottom before her ears popped and forced her to surface.
Before Silver did surface, though, she grabbed Snickers’s tail and tied the end with Kiwe’s. “Hey, you can’t get us, nyah nyah,” Silver taunted and Diamond joined in.
“Nyah nyah, fillies rule and colts drool!”
“Diamond,” Silver whispered and giggled, “split up, you’ll see why.”
Diamond nodded. When the colts made to chase and dunk them, the fillies split and the colts’ tails tugged them back to one another. “Hey, get your tail off mine,” Snickers said.
Kiwe snorted. “You should remove your tail from mine, as it would be better than to hear you whine.”
Both colts shared a smirk and started to grapple one another. Their tails untied from the loose knot, but they didn’t notice through their thrashing. Taking opposite sides, Diamond and Silver Spoon unleashed a torrent of splashes that forced the colts underwater.
Claiming their victory for fillies everywhere, Diamond and Silver Spoon climbed out of the water and shook the excess from their bodies. Diamond sniffed her foreleg and her ears perked. “Wow, lavender-rose, that’s my favorite shampoo and conditioner. I didn’t even… wow, I’m so clean,” she noticed.
Silver Spoon looked along her own body and gasped at the shine she carried. She sniffed her foreleg and giggled, then pranced in place. “I love this bath! Honeysuckle and wildflowers, how does it even know?”
Diamond held up a hoof and snickered. “What if the boys come out smelling like dirt and chalk, or something?”
Silver giggled into her forehooves. “Like worms or something?”
Diamond raised a hoof. “Bump it, that’s a good one.”
Together they waited as the colts played for another minute, then got out. “Hey, are you done already?” Snickers asked, noticing how clean he was. “Holy shit, it’s like I just got groomed at the spa!” He sniffed the air and it led him to his foreleg. Snickers’s eyes rolled back and he stumbled to the side with a goofy grin.
“Pure vanilla and hops,” Rosemary said, looking at something on her foreleg. “It seems to be his favorite smell. Oh, my,” she blushed and looked at Sage, who was looking at Snickers with growing eyes. “Sage, if you can’t handle what you’re seeing, avert your eyes, filly.”
Sage eeped and looked at the ceiling, but the image of Snickers’s growing arousal would stay with her for many moons. “I apologize, Rosemary. I’ll have the see-not spell cast on me as soon as I get time tonight.”
The fillies glared at Sage. “Are you checking out our herd stallion ? Because if you are, you’re fired!” Diamond shouted. Sage looked down to meet Diamond’s eyes.
Rosemary stepped between them. “You have no authority to do anything of the sort. In fact, I’ve received an edict that says we can separate you from these colts at any time, if you become a bother. Should we exercise our rights as guardians?”
Diamond and Rosemary stared one another down, then Silver stepped beside Diamond. “Diamond, it’s fine. Just let her do what she wants; I don’t want to leave Snickers. We just got here and had so much fun, right?”
Diamond blinked and looked away from the mare in defeat. “Fine, but I don’t want her checking out Snickers or Kiwe.”
Rosemary looked back to Sage. “And she won’t be doing that again, will you, Sage Brush?”
Sage shook her head. “N-no, ma’am. Never again. I’m not interested in a colt, anyway; he’s just as big as a stallion and--”
“Sage,” Rosemary said in a curt tone, “please leave the room and wait outside the door. We’ll call you if we need you.”
Sage lowered her head and turned to leave, knowing she had messed up. “Yes, ma’am. I apologize again.”
Blueblood peeked in the room as Sage was leaving, waving her past before she could bow. “I heard some shouting and… oh, my… well, he’s going to be quite the lady’s colt, isn’t he?” Blueblood joked and looked between the females in the room. An awkward silence began, broken when Kiwe breached the water’s surface and landed by Diamond Tiara.
“What happened to the fun, is there a reason you are on the run?” Kiwe asked. He noticed Snickers rolling to his belly and crawled beside him. “Snickers, are you already done? We were having so much fun. I… is that vanilla and hopps I smell on you?”
Snickers nodded and shook his head. “Wow, that’s like getting a snout full of mare. Just knocked me out for a minute.” Snickers felt beneath him and groaned. “Damn it, it’s all the way out… Kiwe, cover me while I get dried and put this thing away.”
Kiwe sided Snickers, every female averted their eyes, even the fillies who couldn’t see anything. Warm air crashed onto Snickers, drying him and causing his mane to frizz. Kiwe was next, followed by Diamond, and lastly Silver.
Silver hummed. “Hey, what do you smell like, Kiwe? You didn’t tell us.”
“I was not aware it was something to share, but since you ask,” he held out his foreleg and both fillies took a smell, humming contentedly.
“Why am I not surprised?” Diamond asked.
Silver smiled. “Muffins and bread? I thought you’d smell more, robust; like your cooking.”
Kiwe nodded once. “Thanks, but I do love kneading bread. It gives me time to clear my head.”
“Forget about that,” Snickers shouted as he looked in a mirror, “what about my mane?! It’s awful and frizzy, and is that a knot? Oh, fuck me; I think I’m going to faint.”
Snickers took several steps to the side and walked into his room before falling to his side on the floor.
Diamond giggled. “All you need to say is ‘the horror’ a couple times, and you’re ready to start selling flowers in Ponyville.”
Snickers twitched his hind leg.
“Almost there,” Silver Spoon said, squinting her eyes. “Where are my glasses? I can hardly see.”
Her glasses aligned onto her head, and with a little adjustment herself, she nodded thanks to Rosemary.
Her tiara levitated in front of Diamond, and the filly didn’t waste any time slipping it into her mane. “I really need to have my mane taken care of, though. Seriously, I look and smell amazing, but my mane isn’t what it should be.”
“Your request is our pleasure,” Sage said, clapping her forehooves together. With a spark of her horn at the same time, several sets of hooves began to hurriedly approach. Snickers sat up and watched his open room door.
“Ah, you are going to love this,” Blueblood said, startling Snickers.
Snickers looked from the stallion to the doorway. “Love what?”
Just then, a half dozen mares rushed into the room and galloped to the foals. Two were unicorns that lined Snickers and Kiwe side by side. Two began using hooves and pinions to take care of manes, the unicorns began filing the colts hooves, and the last two were earth ponies that began brushing Snickers and Kiwe’s coats.
All the while, the group of adults talked over one another on what to do and where they’d be going later; working in a wondrous dance that ended after several minutes. As they were finishing, one noticed a wooden pony on the bed and brought attention to it.
“Wow, that is the most life-like doll I’ve seen in months. It’s like it’s really watching us.”
“Apa!” Laxxie chirped, bringing a round of ‘aww’s from the manestylist.
“I want one, but first I need my orange-mocha-latte-skinny-frapaccino! C’mon, girls; Startled-Bucks awaits our orders!”
The mares left in as much of a rush as they’d arrived in, leaving two very pleased colts and two somewhat irate fillies behind. “Hey,” Diamond shouted, chasing the mares, “what about me and my friend?!”
…