Sleep did not come easily to Septimus that night. Even going straight home from the promenade, he found it difficult. He kept remembering the gentle kisses up his back and neck.
It won't mean anything... he told himself firmly, She's just getting in your head.
Still, he couldn't help but feel a little warm glow everytime he thought about it. About the feeling of her dry lips on his skin and coat as she gave him more affection than he'd seen in some time. She was gentle, and she was kind. Two things he hadn't seen from anypony in some time. He barely even knew her, but he knew he liked her. Not like like, of course. No, that's absurd. He just liked her. Like a friend... sort of. He didn't trust very easily, but this mare somehow had squirmed his way in there without even so much as a gift. Two days. Not even, two nights. Two nights, an hour or two per night. Only that, and already he found himself liking the mystery mare.
That's dangerous Sep. You and I both know it. You just start trusting ponies like you are, and you're going to get yourself in some serious trouble.
He stayed awake most of the night, only falling asleep in the wee hours of the morning. It didn't last long though, only a few hours. But either way, he did sleep a little, and had pleasant dreams. He didn't remember them however, and was a little melancholy because of it when he got up. It was a day off for him that day, so he tried to sleep a little more, rather successfully. He didn't come out of his room most of the day, in fact, only getting up a little after noon. Left with nothing better to do with his day, and after grabbing some toast, Septimus decided to take his friend's advice, and had a shower, taking extra time to wash his hair thoroughly. It wasn't often he had to clean his hair. That was actually something he did like about his hair. It didn't really hold oil or dirt very well. So when he washed it, it usually only needed one wash.
After a brisk wash, he left the bathroom in a pair of three quarter length denim pants, his hair disheveled and a toothbrush in his mouth as he finished toweling off his torso. This was a regular occurrence in his home. Septimus didn't much like shirts. He wore them, of course, but when he didn't have to, he didn't. Unfortunately, he hadn't been informed that his roommate would have his girlfriend over at the time. The stallion's mare was a stunningly pretty thing, with golden hair down to her waist and a sunset orange coat and the body of a model at her best. She froze, having just come out of her mate's room in her bra and panties, looking at Septimus. Septimus looked back at her for a moment, then shrugged and continued walking. She was cute, but he also knew she'd cheated on her boyfriend three times now at the very least, and wouldn't hesitate to try and seduce him as well, add him to the list.
He wasn't that stupid. And her curves weren't that provocative.
When he got back to his room, and he'd finished brushing his teeth, he put on a loose fitting shirt, replaced his pants with full length cargo pants, and left the house, nothing but his wallet in a button up pocket and his horrible, cheap phone in the other. Last and not least, his Music player and absurdly priced headphones along with his backpack. With his sneakers on, he walked the streets of Canterlot, ignoring the looks from the snobbier residents, and the strange looks he usually garnered for his coat colour.
To be honest, he never did like crowds. And the looks he got from them even less so. So he had a habit of putting in his headphones and drowning out the world. This was one such case. With his one hundred bit headphones over his ears, and his music blaring, he stalked through the streets, hands in his pockets, backpack on his back.
Canterlot was busy. For some reason, the theater was full, and more ponies were trying to stream in. The castle had its normal stream of visitors it seemed, probably to go pester Celestia with their petty problems again. Happened all the time, or so Sep had heard.
Just a bunch of ponies who think their time is worth more to the Princess than anyone else's. Arrogant pricks.
With a depressed sigh, he shrugged as he walked past the most common path to the castle, full of ponies as usual.
Still... they've got more right to be there than me.
He didn't have a destination as such in mind, but he wasn't surprised when he found himself upon the Promenade once more, headphones on and staring out at the horizon, leaning on the railing with both hands. The sun was warm, but bright. Very bright. It was late afternoon now, approaching evening. It was a nice time, but a sullen one as well. The light was slowly being extinguished by the horizon as the mighty sun perished behind the cover of the night, as it did each day.
"It's a beautiful sight, isn't it?"
The voice was sudden and unmistakable, and Septimus, shocked, spun around, and instantly fell to one knee. Or tried to, ending up hitting his snout on the pavement instead with a pained yelp.
"P-P-Princess Celestia!"
The princess giggled softly, holding a hand over her mouth politely. Celestia was tall, head and shoulders taller than Septimus at least, very well endowed in the chest area, and had long, flowing hair in multi colours, a lot like a rainbow, but with softer colours. Her white coat almost shone in the faint daylight. She was wrapped in a purple robe tied around her midsection with a golden sash. She was stunning.
"It's alright," Celestia said with a giggle, "You don't need to bow. I won't tell anybody if you don't."
Septimus tentatively lifted his head, rubbing his nose.
"I... Um... okay?" he said cautiously, looking around a bit fearfully. Celestia giggled again softly.
"It's alright. What's your name?"
"S-septimus, your Majesty..." he stammered. He never thought he'd meet one of the princesses, but now that he had... She had such a powerful aura, it was stifling. Around her neck was a golden choker set with a gemstone he missed previously. Her crown, it seems, was nowhere to be seen.
"Septimus," She said, rolling the name around in her mouth before smiling. gently and walking past him, to stand at the railings, as he was before, to look out at the sunset.
"Septimus. Seventh born. Do you have siblings Septimus?"
Septimus hesitated before standing up slowly. She wasn't nearly as scary as he'd thought she'd be. In fact, she reminded him of what a mother should be like. He picked up his headphones from the ground as he stood up.
"I... no, No I don't," He answered hesitantly, "But if it helps, my dad's name is Sextus?"
"Sixth born," She said with a thoughtful frown. The way her nose scrunched up a little was almost adorable, but somehow made her look ever more regal, beautiful. He found himself blushing as he stood beside her cautiously, "Ah, I see. The next step up for each son," She continued with a smile, "Clever. If not recent. Only Seven generations?"
"So far, yeah, I guess," He said nervously. He could still feel the suffocating presence of the sun Princess, and now he understood why so many thought of her as a Goddess, even ignoring the idea of her apparent immortality, "I mean, Dad reckons our family goes back a fair ways, but I think the whole name thing is recent."
"Most likely," Celestia said, before looking down at him beside her, her purple eyes twinkling slightly, "What are you doing out here so late young one?"
"Looking," He said carefully, "Waiting."
"Waiting?" She asked, "What are you waiting for then?" She continued, "Waiting for somebody? Perhaps your other half?"
"O-other half?" he said with a flush before shaking his head, "No, I... I don't have... No, just waiting."
Celestia raised a brow in reply.
"Is that so?" She asked, sounding a little amused, "Then why wait here?"
"I just..." He stammered before sighing sadly, "Yeah, alright. I like this place, okay?"
The little smile Celestia had vanished and she started to look a little more concerned.
"It's got a great view," He continued, "The sunset is spectacular here, and when the moon comes out," He smiled a melancholy smile, hanging his headphones over his neck so they were out of the way, "The moonlight spills over this place like a cool, calm wave of beauty. I don't sleep much, so this place is nice to get away from home."
"You prefer to be out here than at home?" She asked, sounding a little surprised. Septimus felt a muscle under his eye twitch as she asked "why?"
"That's personal," He shot back, "And not something I'm prepared to share with someone I just met."
Celestia's brows both raised as she looked at him in quiet surprise. Normally, a pony wouldn't dream of talking to her like that. No, they'd be too terrified of potential repercussions to even begin to talk to her like that. Nobody except...
"You remind me of my sister when she's annoyed," She said, "She's very personal about her problems as well."
Septimus frowned, suddenly remembering who he was talking to and his face paled and he stayed silent, swallowing hard as nerves hit his spine and his heart as his heart rate increased.
"It's been a long time since a pony spoke to me that way that wasn't my sister, Septimus. It's rather refreshing, actually."
Septimus breathed out a sigh of relief, but froze again when he felt her breath on his ear.
"But don't speak like that in front of anyone. They just might arrest you."
Septimus gulped and nodded stiffly.
"Got it," He replied nervously. Celestia smiled.
"Good. Now, I really must depart, before Gild sends out a search party to find me. Do be careful yes? And I hope whatever you're waiting for comes soon."
"Thanks.. your Majesty," He said quietly, breathing another sigh of relief as she finally left. Not that he didn't respect her, but she was stifling to be around, and that he didn't like. She was too overbearing. A lot like the sun's heat, but minus the sweat. Not that he didn't think that, given enough time...
Ugh, nevermind.
He discarded the thought with another sigh, replacing his headphones over his ears. Pony headphones are interesting, going around the back of the head and onto the ears. A loud, blasting song hit his ears and he rolled his eyes, sneaking down to change the song, changing it to Monster, a new song brought out by some group of dragons. A good song. He even considered once or twice actually finding out the name of the band, but always procrastinated and ended up not finding out.
It was nightfall, and he was still listening to music, but now he was seated upon the railing, one foot on the railing with his knee up supporting an arm he let hang over the abyss that made up the gap between the railing and the ground far below. For once, his shirt was on, a black shirt with some sort of band logo on it, faded to the point of almost complete non recognition. But it was a comfortable shirt, and he wasn't worried about the lack of logo. He wasn't worried about not being able to hear anything but his music either.
Until they were taken away from him.
He yelped as the 'phones were pulled from his ears with a girly giggle.
"Hey! Whatcha listening to?"
He spun around, almost falling from the railing as he lunged after his headphones. The mare squealed as he hit her and they both fell back to hit the concrete, his arm coming around to protect her head even as his other hand grabbed for his headphones. He grunted as he hit the ground arm first, feeling something wrench in his wrist, and then as the mare's head hit his arm hard, his eyes snapped shut and he yelped in pain, but didn't retract his arm.
The mare breathing under him, Septimus groaned as his arm throbbed with pain, his hand having definitely grabbed his headphones, but resting on something soft. He opened his eyes after some of the pain passed, panting, and frowned. On the ground under him was his roommate's girlfriend.
"Sun?" he asked painfully, "The hell are you doing here?"
"Well, I was going for a walk," She pouted, looking down at his hand resting, after clutching the headphones tightly, on her chest, "But then you, like, totally freaked out when I was playing around."
He looked at her incredulously and groaned, helping her up and brushing himself off, grimacing as his arm reminded him very loudly that it still hurt.
"You shouldn't take a stallion's headphones away from him when he's not aware," He grumbled to her irritably, "These things cost me a lot of bits, I'd rather not think someone was trying to steal them."
He sat back up on the railing, scowling at her this time. She humphed.
"Well, sorr-ry!" She said, annoyed, "I totally thought you'd be cool with it! Like, we totally stay in the same house!"
"You visit three times a week," He pointed out bluntly. She shrugged.
"Whatever, that's like, half the week right?," She replied obnoxiously, "But, that doesn't matter. I was looking for you."
A wave of suspicion fell over him like a thick blanket and he narrowed his eyes, defenses going up.
"Why are you looking for me?" He asked guardedly. She giggled and ran a hand through her hair, fixing her clothes which, now that he noticed, were rather... provocative. Her top was low cut, and ended at her midriff, and she was wearing short short denim shorts. He was willing to bet everything he owned that, had she turned around, he'd have seen at least ninety percent of her rear, and thigh high socks and little dainty slip on shoes. He had no doubts what she'd set out to do, but wasn't sure if he was actually her target.
"Like, You're really cute," She said without shame, "Waaaay cuter than Glimpse," Glimpse was her boyfriend, and this was not looking like it was going anywhere good fast, "And I totally thought we should, you know~"
She walked forward whilst she spoke, ending up just in front of him, and she lifted one arm up to his chest and stroked his sternum with a seductive smile on her face.
"Hook up~"
Septimus looked down blankly at the hand on his chest. She was pretty cute, but seriously? She had a boyfriend, and she was trying to hook up with him? He lived with the guy she was meant to be dating, and she wanted to get in Sep's pants of all places? He sighed and rolled his eyes to himself, before gently removing her hand from his chest and looking at her.
"Go home, Sun," He said bluntly, "Put a pair of pants on, and go to bed. Maybe tomorrow you'll be in the right mind to actually remember to wear clothing outside of the house rather than trying to pass as a desperate mare looking for a quick lay."
He probably shouldn't have been so short with her, and he did feel a little bad for saying it, but he wasn't about to take it back. He refused to feel regret concerning his opinions or words. He'd always been told that to regret what you say is to regret who you are. So he didn't regret saying it, but he did feel a little bad. It took her a moment to process his words, and when she finally did, she scowled and snatched her hand away from him.
"You... You..." She spluttered before huffing and slapping him.
Hard.
He hadn't expected the slap and he lost his balance and, for a terrifying moment, he thought he was going to fall. Luckily he didn't, just managing to catch himself as he heard her walking away. But as he went to right himself, he turned to face her to see her back, and a flying shoe. One of his shoes?
It smacked him in the face before he had a chance to actually recognize it and this one unbalanced him as well. Unfortunately, this time, he didn't manage to right himself in time, and he fell, his arms grabbing for the railing. Things went in slow motion as he watched in horror as the railings fell away from his fingers. He could almost hear the universe laughing as air slipped past his fingers and he watched through the slices of white hair that flew over his eyes as he fell.
So this is how I die...
The thought floated idly through his mind as he felt the air flow past his hair and through his fingers. It was a surprising pleasant feeling. There was no way, without preparation, he was going to survive this fall, even with his experience in free running. He knew this, but for some reason, he didn't care. The only thing he could think of that made him sad, made his chest hurt, was the thought that he'd never hear the voice, nor feel the caress of his nightly visitor.
I'm sorry Lulu... I won't be meeting you tonight.
He couldn't feel the wind anymore. He could feel the adrenaline fading from his system. The world around him had darkened. He seemed to be reliving the fall in reverse.
They say that your life flashes before your eyes when you're going to die... came the thought, Perhaps this is what they're talking about...
He hit the railing, and floated over it, and then...
Hold up... what's going on?
He dropped to the floor, and a pair of deep blue wings consumed him, a pair of arms swept around his neck, and a sweet, sweet scent filled his muzzle.
I don't..?'
"Oh Goddess, Septimus, are you okay?"
"Lulu?" He said softly, letting his head fall, and his vision was filled with a light blue. It was soft and smelled nice.
"Yes, yes, it's me," She said quickly with a relieved sigh, "You had me scared there, I didn't know if I caught you on time."
"R'you an angel?" he mumbled into her hair groggily. He heard her giggle and he was clutched tighter.
"Well, thank you~" She replied.
"So..." He said quietly, "I'm not dead?"
"Shhh... no, you're not dead, but you might be in shock," Lulu said back softly, "So you might not be thinking straight right now."
"Oh..." He said quietly, "Just as well," he continued, bemused, "For a moment there, I thought you were using magic... I guess that's just my head huh?"
Lulu froze and her hands left his neck and she scratched her head nervously.
"Um..." She said with a nervous laugh, "Yeah... about that..."
"What?" Septimus asked, "What is it?"
"I'm... Kinda the Princess of the Night," She said nervously. Septimus froze, and looked at her slowly. With another nervous smile, she clicked her fingers and they lit up momentarily with a swirl of deep blue light.
"Um... so...?" She asked slowly.
Septimus looked at her, dumbfounded, his vision darkened and he lost consciousness.