Celestia trotted down the halls of the castle with a clear destination in mind.
Adam’s room.
After yet another nasty remark from him, Celestia sent him back to his room to think about his actions. He may have suffered both physically and mentally, but that does not mean he can go around insulting everypony just for the heck of it.
As she strode through the bright halls, the conversation she had with her sister in the dining hall a few days prior came to the forefront of her mind.
"Tia, I wish to speak to you immediately!" said Luna as she entered the almost empty dining hall. Celestia was already there as she gestured with her head for Luna to take a seat next to her. Luna said nothing as she trotted to her seat at a brisk pace, further fueling the sense of urgency. Once seated, Luna looked up at her sister.
"What is it Lulu?" Celestia asked simply.
"It's about the colt, sister. Or more precisely, the events from yesterday."
"And to what part of the day are you referring Lulu? It was a very long and trying day, if I may say so myself," Celestia professed. Luna quirked an eyebrow at her sister's response.
'Isn't it obvious?' she thought to herself.
"You… do not know?" she asked, just to be sure.
Celestia dropped the smile that she wore from the moment Luna entered the dining hall, and adopted a more serious one. "What's the matter Luna? Where are you going with this?"
"I'm talking about you claiming him, sister!" Celestia's eyes shot open as Luna continued. "He was hurt and afraid and you took advantage of this to claim him. I trust you know what you did was wrong. He already has a family somewhere, not to mention they're probably worried sick."
Luna was furious. Her sister just claimed a colt by licking and leaving her scent on him, an act between a mother and a newborn foal. It was a bonding process to ensure the safety of the foal. It was also a very ancient act, a primal one, one from before ponies could even think, from a time far beyond the two sisters.
"I-I did what?" Celestia was shocked. "I don't remember any of that," she professed, looking mortified.
"What do you mean you don't remember? You claimed the colt. It's as simple as that," Luna said in a 'matter-of-fact' tone.
"N-No Luna, you don't understand. I really do not remember any of this. It's all kinda fuzzy. Last thing I remember was Adam's tears and I simply… acted. Beyond that…"
"So you really mean…"
"Yes Luna, I don't remember."
"This is troubling news. We can't have you too attached to the colt, we're goin-"
"His name is Adam!" Celestia snapped. "And you will do well to remember it!"
"Celestia? Are you alright?" asked Luna. The younger sister felt mildly intimidated by her older sister, her disapproving gaze burned like a thousand suns.
Celestia saw the fear in her sister's eyes and quickly calmed down, looking somewhat regretful.
"Please forgive me, dear sister. I do not know what came over me."
Luna placed a comforting hoof on her sister's shoulder and gave her an affectionate nuzzle.
"There there sister, I understand, I really do."
"No, you do not understand… I want a foal, Luna. I do not want to become lonely. It was too much to bear when I exiled you. I can't deal with more pain."
"Sister is this how you really feel?"
"It is, dear sister. With all my heart."
Celestia sighed but kept her emotionless mask intact. She tried to help Adam with his many problems, but each time she did, he'd get angry and start insulting her and everypony unfortunate enough to be near.
As for Adam's family. Lucid Dream came to Celestia yesterday and told her of her findings. The results were less than helpful. There wasn't a single piece of information on Adam. No medical records, no immigration papers, and not a single name that suggested he was existent. As far as Celestia knew, Adam was, for all intents and purposes, nopony.
And as for Adam himself, he became more bitter with each passing day, resulting in Celestia sending him to his room more times than she could have counted. She was actually going to his room. She wanted to personally talk to him.
Adam sat in the middle of the guest room, an annoyed look on his face. He was sent to 'his' room after yet another outburst of insults and stayed there ever since. Unfortunately for him, the window across the room was ajar and the wind drove him to near madness. He tried to close it, but he was too small to reach the window. He knew why the window was open. Before Celestia took him herself to his room and locked him there, she told him that he needed a shower and she will not close the window until he will. She also stationed two pegasi just outside the window should he try to do anything stupid.
Like jumping off from the 25th floor from his room. Apparently this castle is very tall. Who knew.
Adam sighed and looked up to the sky through the window.
"I'm not a believer but I guess I can use some answers. Here goes… God, if you're there I just want you to know…” Adam paused as he thought deeper into his inner self, looking for a sense of clarity. “You're as useful as tits on bull! Fucking wanker!"
Adam listened as the sound of ruffling feathers reached his ears and smiled. At least these ponies can learn a new word or two. After all, Adam was nothing if not creative.
There was a knock on the door followed by the last person Adam wanted to see.
Celestia, the embodiment of cruelty.
"Where have you been, I need you to close the window," Adam snarled.
"Oh, I thought a little fresh air would be nice," Celestia responded, trying to keep herself from going down to Adam's level.
"Nah, it isn't."
"Well, as the pony that has to share her living space with the pony who won't take a bath, I need some fresh air."
"I don't care, you can just leave if you want. Close it!" Adam persisted, looking directly into Celestia's eyes.
Celestia sighed and closed the gap between her and Adam. "Look Adam, I know that you are angry at the world right now. What happened to you is unimaginable and I'm going do whatever I can to help through this, and all I ask in return is that you treat me with a little bit of courtesy. That includes using the word: 'please'."
"Why the sudden interest in ethics, Princess? I don't recall you saying please when you practically kidnapped me!"
Celestia huffed in frustration. "This conversation is now over, the window stays open!"
"I want it closed!"
"No! You stink!"
"And you're a whore!" Adam yelled. "But here's the difference, I can get clean."
Celestia's eyes were wide in shock before suddenly changing expression into an unnerving smirk.
"Yes you can…"
With a tug of magic, Adam was lifted off the ground, as well as a bottle of soap from the bathroom, and floated in front of an angry looking Princess Celestia.
"What are you doing?! I don't like this, put me down!"
Celestia said nothing as she turned around and trotted at a brisk pace towards an unknown destination.
"What's going on, I'm not even dressed!"
Celestia ignored Adam's petty attempt to distract her and continued on her course towards the gardens.
Once outside, Celestia walked around the castle until she reached her desired spot, next to the gardens, in front of the hedge maze.
As for the gardeners, once they saw Celestia's determined expression, they decided it would be best to leave rather than stick around and potentially getting caught in the upcoming sentence.
Celestia let the magic that held Adam in place disappear as he fell, but before he could run away he was again caught in Celestia's magical hold that pinned him in place. She then stepped behind him and began pouring a generous amount of soap.
"What is that? Celestia what's going on?" Adam sounded almost nervous as he started to think that he might have pushed the sun princess over the edge. "Celestia, stop!"
But Celestia had only just began. She walked back into Adam's vision and stepped into a work shed next to where the two were. Adam's eyes widened when she stepped back out with a garden hose floated next to her. "You wouldn't."
Celestia only smirked as a burst of cold water erupted from the hose, soaking Adam in water and covering him in a thick layer of bubbles.
"Stop it! For the love of all that is holy, stop it!" Adam wailed and tried to move away from the blast, but Celestia's magic was still in effect as he could only squirm and shudder. "For fuck's sake stop the bloody water!"
"If only there was a word you could use to get me to stop, like 'please'."
"This is child abuse!"
"Say please!"
"Go to hell!"
"Why can't you just say it, it's easy. Please, please, please…"
Adam was just about had enough. He was cold, angry and humiliated.
"Please stop! Please stop it! Please stop!" Celestia finally stopped the stream but Adam was fuming with resentment. "Please help me up! Please pass me the salt! Please show me the way back to my room! Please! Please! Please!" He roared. "That's the life I'm facing now! Having to ask ponies for help, for everything. Do you know how degrading this is?!"
The silence that followed only spurred Adam further.
"Every morning since I got here I wake up at three thirty, you wake up at five. For an hour and a half I lay there, staring at the locked bedroom doors, fantasizing about how lovely it would be, how excruciatingly lovely it would be to get up and make myself a cup of tea one last time… No please. Just hot water and tea."
Adam felt as the magic that held him in place disperse and he hung his head, feeling humiliated. His vision became blurry as a few tears mingled with his soaked pelt. A white hoof entered his line of sight and pulled him gently by the chin. He reluctantly looked up to see Celestia with a hurt expression on her face looking down at Adam, her own tears threatening to fall.
"Adam… I'm so sorry, forgive me." She wrapped her wings around the colt and pulled him into a hug. "Please…"
"Just… Leave me alone," he croaked.
Celestia felt her throat close and she closed her eyes shut before relaxing her hold on the colt and letting him face her. "I understand," she said. She then walked away, looking crestfallen and ashamed as Adam stayed behind to dry himself out.
"Fucking cunt, about time she learned her lesson," Adam hissed to himself but suddenly felt something squeeze his chest. "Great, now I feel like a dick..."
Adam was still outside, even as the sun settled and the moon rose. He dried himself off hours ago but couldn't bring himself to go inside. He needed some time alone.
During this time, Adam wondered a bit in the gardens and found a panoramic view of the valley below the mountain. The castle was built in a way that part of it was hanging off the side of the mountain, so Adam had the most amazing sight of the land.
It was beautiful.
A soft flap of wings alerted Adam of a visitor and soon enough, he heard said visitor land just behind him. He made no effort turning around. He knew whoever that was will reveal itself eventually.
"Quite a beautiful sight ain't it?" Adam said quietly, still gazing on the horizon.
"As the creator of said sight, I believe that disagreeing would be foolish," said Luna. Somehow, Adam was not surprised.
"I hate your sister," he said absent-mindedly. Luna shuffled uncomfortably behind him and finally moved to sit next to him, letting a wing drape across the young colt's back. Adam made no effort to swat the wing away. In fact, he welcomed the warm feeling and scooted closer to Luna, resting his head on her hoof.
"She's not that bad once you get to know her," Luna responded. The two shared a dry chuckle before Adam spoke up.
"She makes me angry. Every time we speak, she either tells me what to do, or tries to 'help' me. Well, I don't need help."
"You know Adam. She told me what happened between you two earlier today."
"I would be surprised if she didn't…"
"She was very distraught by this. She's feeling bad for what she did."
"Good, she deserves to feel bad!" Adam hissed. Hardening his gaze over the horizon as his breaths quickened and his nose flared.
“Then how come you feel just as bad?" asked Luna, causing Adam to finally snap his eyes from the sky and towards her, looking shocked.
"How did you-"
"It's written all over your face."
Adam sighed and looked down to the ground. He was silent for a bit, letting the crickets softly play their tunes. The air was crisp and carried a soft scent of pine trees, Adam's personal favorite.
"I don't know why I'm so angry. It wasn't like this back home. I guess that being constantly mad means I don't have to deal with everything around me."
"Your mind is like a pond, Adam. When it is agitated, it becomes difficult to see. But if you allow it to settle, the answer becomes clear.
"I guess…"
"You know Adam, Tia is not the only one to blame. Your actions and your actions alone brought this misfortune upon you."
"I guess I did act like a bit of jerk, haven't I?"
"Yes, yes you did, Adam. And you should apologize."
"I guess that would be the wise choice. You're very clever you know that, Luna?"
Luna smiled fondly and nuzzled Adam's head. Adam, for his part, could feel how this simple act sooth his muscle. Something that would probably be disturbing if humans did it, but felt completely normal to him now. "You are the first to ever say that to me, Adam. Ponies are usually afraid of me… And my night."
"Why?" Adam asked, surprised by Luna's statement.
"Let's just say that I had some personal issues that affected my overall reputation with my subjects. And as for my night… Ponies shunned it since the very beginning. They always preferred Tia's days and slept through my night," Luna said sadly. Looking down at Adam and seeing his bright green eyes sparkle with defiance.
"I think you're wrong," he stated.
"Oh? And what do you mean by that?"
"I don't think ponies shun the night. I don't think they sleep through it because they hate it. They're doing it because they trust you."
Luna looked surprised. "Trust… Me?"
"Yeah," Adam continued. "They sleep through the night because they trust you to keep them safe. Because they know that no harm can reach them under your watchful eye. As for myself, I always admired the night rather than the day. The sun is blinding, you can't look directly at it, yet it takes from the beauty of the sky as well, covering it all with a bland hue of blue. As for the moon, it glows softly. You can look directly at it, yet it does not hog all the attention as it lets the night to show its splendor and radiance." Adam took a deep breath and then released it. "There's nothing truly captivating than staring at the moon."
Luna felt herself choking from sheer emotion. When she first met Adam, he didn't leave a good impression on her. But that single statement of his caused Luna's heart to flutter and leave her at a loss for words. Her lack of speech forced her to act instead as she pulled Adam into her embraced and hugged him fiercely to her barrel, nuzzling the top of his head, as well.
Celestia lay splayed on her bed, looking downtrodden. Her regalia were cast aside and her mane was unkempt.
She looked very different than the princess of the sun.
Ever since the incident earlier, Celestia found herself locked inside her room, trying to figure what went wrong and where she failed. All those thoughts left her head in a terrible mess until she couldn't think coherently, so she just decided to lay on her bed and feel sorry for herself.
There was a knock on the door.
"Go away," commanded the princess. Her voice, surprisingly, was firm and regal as always. She wasn't in the mood for conversations with the maids or butlers that sought her guidance. The only thing she wanted was to be alone right now.
"Can you open the door Celestia…Please?"
It was…
"Adam?" Celestia called.
"Yeah it's me, can you please open the door?"
For a brief moment, Celestia contemplated to just ignore Adam, to send him away. But these feelings died quickly as she rose from her bed and opened the doors. There, looking rather miserable, stood Adam, his head held low as he avoided eye contact.
"May I come in?" he asked quietly.
"Of course dear, is everything alright?"
Adam didn't say anything. Instead, he walked into the room and searched for a place to sit. It didn't take long for Celestia to realize that she didn't have any proper seats in her room, and gestured Adam to sit on the bed.
Adam nodded and made his way to the huge bed, trying numerous times to hop on the mattress but ultimately failing each time.
"Can you please help me up?" he said shamefully, not meeting Celestia's gaze even as she lifted him to her bed and sitting next to him. He looked away and tried to bring himself to speak.
It was hard for him, Celestia deduced but decided to remain silent. It was Adam who came to her, so there was no need to urge the colt further.
"Look, what I did today… wasn't my proudest moment. I acted like a twonk and I lashed out on you. You didn't deserve that, you were only trying to help. I guess what I'm saying is… I'm sorry."
For the first time this evening, Adam looked up to Celestia. His eyes shone with hope.
Celestia didn't say anything. For the entire day, Celestia believed the she was to blame for what happened. And yet, it was Adam that came to apologize.
Adam's hope slowly diminished with each passing second until he hung his head in defeat. He hopped from the bed and made his way out.
Imagine his surprise when he was caught in a magical aura and was lifted off the ground, only to meet two white and warm hooves as they wrapped around his barrel and brought him closer to Celestia's warm chest.
"Apology accepted," Celestia said softly, letting a few happy tears to fall. Adam took this opportunity to hug Celestia back. He squirmed in her grasp until he faced Celestia, and brought his own hooves around the princess.
"Can you promise me something, Adam?"
"What?"
"No more insults, please."
"I swear that I will never insult you or Luna."
"That's not what I meant."
"Take it or leave it, Tia."
Celestia sighed. "I suppose that's better than nothing…"