//------------------------------// // Epilogue - Two/Four // Story: Cinnamon // by Zamairiac //------------------------------// And here's part two of four for ya! I've had a little think on it and…well, I think you'll like where it's heading. Hopefully! Begin! Home It was weird you know…walking through the long corridors of a castle I'd long swore never to return to. Well, when I say walking, what I really mean is that I was being suspended in a golden aura by a rather chipper, if not determined Princess Celestia. …I should probably explain this one. After Luna had quickly demolished her cinnamon bun, and I my bakewell tart, we promptly left the small café and began to walk, what I thought was aimlessly, among the busy streets of Manehattan. Neither of us spoke, not really. Luna merely placed her right wing around my back, while my hand rested comfortably upon her withers. She was taller than I remembered; her coat was a touch darker too. Little details that I'd missed having been focused solely upon her face…voice… As we traversed the dank streets with nought but a smile, the both of us found ourselves once again drawn to the other. I couldn't help myself, nor could she apparently. For our lips attached before the thought of doing so had even crossed my mind. It was fantastic…and I wanted it to last forever. … Unfortunately we both found ourselves suddenly suspended in mid-air by an all too familiar golden glow. "Well, well. What do we have here," chuckled a soothing, maternal voice. "Here I believed that little Lulu had merely vanished to devour the local bakery, not Equis's only resident human. For shame Luna, for shame…" The two of us were moved to face a rather smug looking alabaster mare, a winged, horned, and did I already mention SMUG looking alabaster mare. A wicked grin overcame Luna's recently shocked features, her eyes flashing with mirth and nigh sadistic pleasure. "Us, devour a bakery?" she asked, that grin only widening as she continued. "Dear sister, the hypocrisy of thy statement blots out even thy most vast sun…and not the bright one." "Ooh," Celestia gasped, clutching a hoof to her barrel in mock agony. "Low blow little Lulu, low blow…" Before Luna could get another word in, Celestia gave a rather sharp whistle. This to my absolute astonishment caused her all too familiar carriage to appear…out of thin air. Guards and all. "Show off," Luna mumbled, shaking off her sister's aura easily and lighting up her horn so as, I presumed, to do the same to me. That is before I shook it off myself, albeit nowhere near as gracefully or easily as she did. "How did you do that?" she asked, surprise etched on her face. Smiling somewhat cheekily, I shrugged and walked ahead of her to the carriage. What? We all have our secrets, and I figured it fair for her to discover it herself. Saying 'I practised because a phantom you keep appearing and touching me' didn't seem like it was worth doing so at the time. As I neared the carriage door, a white wing pressed against my chest, causing me to look right into a pair of rose coloured orbs. Narrowed rose coloured orbs. "Steven, a word if you please?" she asked, if not all but ordered then and there. "Sister, what are you-" Luna began…only to be promptly levitated up and into the carriage, which then chose to lock itself against her pounding hooves. Somewhat nervous now, I focused back on her stern looking features and sighed silently at what was coming. What I knew was coming. "Is this the part where you break me?" I asked nervously. "I remember you saying something of the sort a while back." She remained silent for a few more moments, her eyes regarding me with emotion I couldn't decipher…only to suddenly break out into a huge smile and all but suffocate me with a hug. "Oh pish posh little one," she dismissed, moving back a slight without letting me go, her eyes now clearly filled with concern. "I love my sister more than anything in the world, but she broke her own heart with her own decisions. Nay, in this moment I'm more concerned about you. You've been gone a year Steven, are you okay?" Smiling at the evident worry upon her face, I nodded and embraced her myself, enjoying the slight tightness of her own hug. "I wasn't for a long time," I admitted, a frown on her face as I did so. "I was…angry and hurt, scared even. But I'm okay now…" "You're also very poor at lying, Steven," Celestia chided, a very 'Mom' expression gracing her features. Deflating slightly, I looked at the carriage door and sighed quietly. There was no banging anymore, Luna had either knackered herself into sleep or, and more likely, was listening to what we were discussing. "I…I am okay," I repeated quietly. "It's just been a very rough year…and I'm a bit tired." "That's an understatement isn't it?" she asked just as quietly, a small, concerned smile upon her muzzle. "You look exhausted Steven, gaunt almost…" She shook her head and opened the carriage door, exposing a worried looking Luna who quickly 'picked' me up and placed me on the booth-like seat beside her. Celestia climbed in gracefully and knocked on the surprisingly high ceiling thrice, a sudden movement almost knocking me out of the seat if not for Luna's quick and steady wing. "Thanks." It was only then that I noticed the both of them trading identical expressions and glances with each other, looking from me then to the other, then to me, then to the other, over and over for the better part of the entire journey. The power of the female continues to elude the general male population, I mused, my thought 'voice' taking on a rather good impersonation of David Attenborough. A sudden rumbling later and the carriage came to an apparent stop, the door opening not a split second later by a Solar Pegasus. Celestia nodded to the guard and gave him a motherly smile, said smile widening as he moved out of the way, his legs giving a little wobble when she placed a kiss upon his helmet. Bet he relives that moment every day for the rest of his life, I chuckled silently. Bet he never washes that helmet again either. "Must you tease the guard so, sister?" Luna deadpanned a few minutes later, the three of us approaching the castle's entrance. "Oh it's just a little fun, Luna," she replied, smiling somewhat impishly. "Besides, it's not as though he's taken." "Very well then." "Yet!" "Tia…" Luna groaned, thought not without a tiny smile upon her muzzle. "Oh hush now, Lulu." Celestia quieted, smiling herself somewhat cheekily. "There's something else we need to take care of anyway, no? Something of the utmost importance?" … I didn't like the way they were BOTH staring at me. Eyes so warm, so caring, so…so…devious. "Why are you two looking at me like that?" I asked uncertainly. "Oh, no reason at all Steven," Celestia answered, that smile now almost wickedly scary. "Although…you are a bit thin for my comfort, wouldn't you say so Luna?" "Verily," said sister agreed, her eyes narrowed in a mix of playfulness and genuine mirth. "Tired too, no?" "Oh indeed so, I must agree," Celestia continued, the banter between the two causing my eyes to bat from one to the other, as though they were playing a game of verbal tennis. "Although I must defer to your judgement on the solution, you are the mistress of dreams after all." "Mistress of dreams?" "I thought it fitting, do you disagree?" "No, no. I find it quaint if nothing else." "Good, good. Now, shall we endeavour onward and, with all respect and politeness that we can possibly include, proceed to stuff our dear human until he is fit to blow?" "Hmm," Luna pondered, a hoof tapping beneath her muzzle in contemplation. "Aye, I agree with this course of action. Perhaps afterwards we shall ensue to strip and bathe him?" "Burn the clothes?" "Indeed, magic can only help so much." "Are you saying I smell?" I asked, utterly thrown off by…whatever the hell this was. "Oh no, my dear Steven, of course not," Celestia soothed, waving a hoof dismissively as we entered the majestic building. "Your clothing on the other matter…" "Produces an odour most rancid is what she means to say, mine sweetheart," Luna concluded, smiling merrily all the while. "Worry no more on the subject, we shall take care of it." "And you," Celestia intervened, her horn alight as its golden aura effortlessly lifted me into the air. "Starting right now-" "With food and drink enough to bloat thee into submission," Luna announced joyfully, startling a maid as we turned a corner and neared the…dining room, I believe. "You're slipping dear, language." "Apologies big sister." "None are needed, let us focus on our poor, malnourished human." With a light push of navy blue magic, the door was pushed open to reveal a long table with many, many chairs. And just as many platters of food, vegetarian and not so much. I could see steak, sausages, breadsticks and…was that BACON? There was drink too, even…was that coke? "How did you get this sorted so quickl-Mphh!" Luna placed a hoof over my mouth and shook her head, smirking slight as she nodded towards her sister, said sister levitating me over and into a rather luxurious looking seat. "Now then my dear human," Celestia began suddenly, a smirk of her own upon her muzzle as a napkin shrouded in blue tucked itself into my shirt, another landing and gluing itself to my lap. "I want you to take in all of what you see before you, because-" "You are going to stay within that comfy seat until you have sampled all of it," Luna finished cheerily. I remained stunned and silent as my plate found itself filled until it could be no more, my goblet beside it filling to the brim with a clear, familiar liquid. "Eat up little human," Celestia sung, smiling so widely I thought it'd break her face. "Yes, do!" Luna chimed in. "We eagerly await washing you all over!" "Wait, what?" I began…only to find my mouth filled with golden steak. "Food first Steven," Celestia chastised playfully, a suspiciously blue coloured hash brown lining up behind it, followed by a sausage, a slice of bacon, two sweet potatoes and a single bout of broccoli. Sweet mother of mercy… Needless to say, I was very, VERY full by the time I finished the last platter. I was also unable to move…or think about moving. Just the thought of such made me groan. "I believe our dear Steven has eaten his fill, don't you think so Luna?" Celestia asked, chuckling evilly lightly at my unfortunately immobile form. "Undoubtedly so, Tia," Luna approved, smiling ever widely. "Do you disagree beloved? Are you not full?" She prodded my stomach lightly, causing me to groan and try to bat the offending appendage away. "Yes, he is most certainly full," she concluded. "Perhaps onto the bathing?" "Or the burning?" Celestia added. "Or the burning and then the bathing?" Luna replied, before the both of them smirked at the same time and looked down at my weakened self. "Shall we?" "Indeed we shall," Celestia agreed, both their horns alight for a few moments… A few moments in which I suddenly found myself up in the air with my clothing floating by the malicious mares. "Wait…what are…you…" I couldn't finish my question, not without feeling unbearably uncomfortable. Besides my clothes were on fire…oh. Well shit. Once my clothing became a pile of ash upon the floor and –"Shit, am I naked?!"- the two mares gave each other satisfied grins, I once again found myself being carried along by, this time, a navy blue aura. Naturally we just so happened across every servant, maid and butler along the way. We finally stopped moving as Celestia opened a door, before taking over Luna's aura with her own and depositing me into a very large bucket of perfect temperature water. No really, it looked for all intents and purposes like a large bucket. "Time for a nice long spruce of bathing then, my little human," Celestia informed me, smiling all the while. "Have you a sponge dear sister?" "Indeed I do," Luna confirmed, a rather big, circular sponge in her magical grip. "Have you one too?" "I do," she replied, lifting a similar sponge into the air. "Shall we then?" "We shall," Luna nodded, before smiling down at me and kissing my cheek lovingly. "Be soothed now Steven. We shall take care of you." As a sponge dipped into the water, Celestia nuzzled my left ear and whispered- "Close your eyes Steven, sleep if you want. It's okay…relax…" Relax… … … … "He's waking up Tia." "Shall we remedy that?" I opened my eyes blearily and squinted at a blurry shape not a short distance from my face. Blue… Suddenly, a soft, warm bout of air hit the back of my neck. As it did so, the blue blur neared, yet another bout of warm air wafting over my neck, the front this time. "Sleep my love," soothed a voice…a familiar voice, ethereal as it always seemed to be. "You're home now, you're safe." Home…I was home… What felt like two blankets cover my naked body, combined with the warm air soothing my already lull form, it was with little effort I found my eyes closing…sound dimming…I could barely hear… "Thank you Tia." "It's quite alright, the poor thing was wasting away. If not for your divinity then…I fear he wouldn't have survived a couple of months, let alone year. "I know…It's my fault isn't it?" "You should put it behind you, he's safe now, he's home." … "I don't want him to go again, the very thought of it terrifies me." "Then don't give him a reason to. Give him space, don't cling to him and above all…just love him. If you want him to stay than simply love him." "…Thank you Tia, you've…thank you." "You've nothing to thank me for Luna, now hush or he'll wake up again." The darkness came…and I… "I love you sister." "I love you too, both of you." And I fell under its shroud. End Of Part Two I hope you enjoyed this, it took me a little while to get back into the writing mood. Cya, stay snuggly!