Let the Silence Sing
Part 6: Ambience
Princess Luna, Ambassador Doppleganger, Celestia, and a few choice other ponies sat around the royal dinner table. There was chit chat all around about the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration. It was the day in which the sun was to shine the brightest for the entire year, and it was the one day of the year in which ponies were allowed to watch Princess Celestia raise the sun before their eyes. Where was the festival being held this year? Ponyville, of course. Why? Er… er… location of convenience! Yeah! Straying too far from Canterlot could put a hiccup in the due process of the governmental yadda-yadda-yadda. Don’t you know it? Celestia made sure they did.
Of course, this was also the perfect time to poke fun at Luna for her ‘romping’ with the Changeling Ambassador. While his voice was low and a little raspy, it did have a certain purr to it. Changelings didn’t speak the pony tongue very effectively, but the droning little sounds he used to form words were very charming. Luna stared very carefully into her fruit salad while Celestia giggled playfully. The older of the two alicorns wanted to hear alllll about how the, ahem, ‘negotiations’, were going. Very well, according to the Ambassador. Reparations and exchanges between their two cultures would surely be swift, deep and thoroughhh-ho-ho-hohhhhh! Celestia lifted her goblet right away, for she could not keep a straight face and had to hide behind it. Luna was red in the face. Clearing her throat a bit and agreeing, Celestia continued her meal in relative silence to save face with her little sister.
=-----=-----=-----=-----=
Featherweight and the crusaders had turned the clubhouse into a verifiable crime lab. I mean yeah, Featherweight was a COLT and all, but he didn’t seem to have much in the way of cooties, so it was safe. Their recent run-in with ghost-loch-ness-monster in the barn had yielded some amazing new photographs. Who knew that a camera could see through invisibility, huh?
Taped to the wall, all four foals stared in wonder. While defending the ladder Featherweight had taken three or four pictures at random around the loft. All of them had yielded the same result. There was a tall, winged figure in the frame. It was very, very blurry and hard to make out, but it definitely had four long legs and very large hooves. Comparing the hooves with tracings of the hoofprints they’d found… yeah, that looked like they might match. The whispy, smoky-looking shape was definitely much taller than the average pony as well. Featherweight pointed to the beams and rafters in the background so they could judge the height correctly. If they were right, this mysterious figure was taller than even an adult pony! Almost twice as tall! Whoa… there was hush between them. Who did they tell about this? What would they tell them? Camera’s didn’t lie, after all. It couldn’t photograph something that wasn’t there. While Big Macintosh had clearly scared the ghost off, there was no telling when it might return to haunt them again. What if it decided to move into the house? Or worse, followed them to the clubhouse? That was scary.
Featherweight knew it was a little too convenient that his camera kept catching things in and around the barn area. Maybe, just maybe, there was more to see around Sweet Apple Acres that needed explaining.
=-----=-----=-----=-----=
The night after the Summer Sun Celebration, Celestia was expected to have the evening off. After all, performing god-like magic in front of a crowd of hundreds was sure to be exhausting on her poor slender body, right? Well, no. Not really. She did it every day. Twice, actually. Just up, then back down again. Sure, she did it with flair for the crowds of ponies that came to the festival, but really it was a nice excuse to relax that night. It was tradition to have lots and lots of fireworks in her honor that night every year, but she always spent it in solitude for ‘meditation and reconnection with the sun.’ Which, yes, she talked with the sun all the time. But, the ancient spirit of the sun rarely had anything fascinating to say. Much in the same way that you could talk to an ant, or a sandwich. You could force it with magic, sure, but the results wouldn’t be mind-blowing.
But, this night she had a date. Sort of. She’d playfully called it that before, then quickly didn’t after that. Sweet Apple Acres had a little fireworks show every year, hosted by the locals. Swooping back and forth, she found that the loft of the barn was already wide open and there was somepony waiting for her inside. She knew the shape of his sillouette after so many visits, and landing daintily inside she saw him smile. The Princess stopped a moment to peer around.
The hay had been changed, the floor swept, and some of the cob-webs knocked down. Big Macintosh was waiting in the nest, smiling broadly and sitting on his haunches. To one side of him, a picnic basket. They greeted each other with the usual silent wave and nod, and she sat next to him. The red stallion gestured to the sky for a bit. Luna’s stars were meek that night, knowing that this particular day was meant for the sun. A burst of light--- Krck-boom! A flower of molten light exploded into the sky. There were loud and awed cries from below. Fireworks, neato!
They sat together, watching the occasional bottle rocket soar into the sky with a crack of thunder. Blues and yellows and reds lit up the night in brief flashes of merriment. Now and then Big Mac would hunch forward to see the ponies below. There was a hooffull of ponies down there, plus his family, plus the ponies coordinating the show as they did every year. It was a small community event, so it was always a joy each year.
When the show was well under way, the red stallion leaned over into his picnic basket for snacks. Producing celery, peanut butter, juice boxes, a pair of apples and a bunch of grapes he set them out nice and neat. Celestia marveled, smiling at the little feast. He offered her whatever she might like, and they crunched quietly on the celery for a bit. Big Mac was a big fan of dipping his own in peanut butter, since the plain green taste was no good to him. The cool summer night made them sit close together, and their eyes lit up with every fiery explosion as it went off. Ohhh, that one had changed color! Wow, that one had made a star shape! Oh gosh, that one sounded like a cannon shot!
Big Mac suddenly realized that he and Celestia were leaning into each other. Not romantically, but supporting each other’s weight as they craned their necks to look skyward and stay hidden. He looked over at her, blinking a little. He could see the fireworks in the light of her eyes, and delighted at the little flinches she made when each explosion went off. The multicolored lights doused her white coat in lots of brilliant little colors. Then he looked at her “that” way. His eyes bulged and he quickly looked back up at the sky. He could feel the heat in his face. Nope. Nope that weren’t right. She was a Princess and maybe an ageless goddess and nope nope nope. He swallowed.
Celestia turned to look at him, eyes lidding when she smiled. Shuddering a little at the cool summer night, she sidled to be closer to him and extended a wing about his shoulders. Oh horseapples. She levitated and then crunched her celery. Ooooh, that one had made an apple shape! Neat! Fireworks never ceased to amaze her. It was like magic, made by earth ponies. Their endless inventions were awe-inspiring, sometimes even greater than magic. Her hoof pawed around after a while, searching for an apple. She just couldn’t take her eyes off the sky, it was enchanting.
Big Mac glanced at her again, unsure what to do. Their friendship had been innocent and graceful thus far. He couldn’t just… y’know, ‘make a move’ all of a sudden. And if he did, suppose she suddenly left and never returned? She was an alicorn after all. And he was just an apple farmer. Those weren’t things that went together, nope. But it was too late. He’d already looked at her that way, and now he couldn’t turn it off. It was chewing at his mind like a mean ol’ apple worm.
Princess Celestia’s hoof found the apple at last and she brought it to her lips, watching the fireworks as she took the first bite. The spritz of juice went right down her chin, how embarrassing! Tilting her head back and biting into something juicy was something a foal would do. Giggling at herself a bit, she reached to wipe her chin. The drip of juice went down the slender curve of her neck like a glistening golden bead.
Big Mac kissed the droplet of juice away, suddenly and without warning.
The stallion left his lips there, trembling a bit. The warmth and sudden closeness made panic rise in his heart. Why in tarnation had he done that?! It was so quick, so instinctive, rushing right to the softest part of the alicorn’s neck. The sweetness of the juice on his tongue was replaced by the smooth warmth of the touch of her skin and fur. His pupils turned into pinpricks and he waited for her to slap him away or something.
Celestia’s pale face was twinged with pink. The velvety warmth of his lips on the underside of her jawline had been unexpected, but not unpleasant. She could feel him shaking. His face was hidden from her, she couldn’t read his expression. Smiling with some affection, she leaned and pressed a piece of celery up his nose to break the tension. Big Mac sneezed, snorted, sneezed again. She chuckled behind her hoof, watching his mane flap back and forth.
The fireworks made Big Mac a blue, then green, then purple stallion. He took a long time to meet her eyes. He expected disappointment, maybe revulsion or shock. How dare he do such a thing to a Princess?! Redder than red in the cheeks, their eyes finally met. Celestia was smiling quietly, eyes soft. So… so she wasn’t gonna buck him to the moon or somethin’? Chuckling softly, she opened a massive wing and laid it over his shoulder. Being much taller than he, she pulled him over in front of herself. Leaning forward some with her stature fitting overtop his, she set her chin atop his head. There, perfect! Then she simply went back to watching the fireworks. Big Mac smiled bashfully, not daring to move. He was a big stallion, rare be it that he be the little spoon!
End of Part 6