Gravewalker

by Feral Pony

On Ice

“Hello Ethan.”

Ethan had been sleeping, he was awoken by Celestia greeting him.

“How long have you been there?”

“Just a few minutes. I was considered leaving you be but, even though it might not seem like it, I want to talk to you. I like talking to you.”

Ethan didn`t bother answering. For him there was nothing to be said that hadn`t been said already. She knew what he wanted, and he knew what she wanted, yet none of them could really fulfill the others wish.

The silence Celestia received wasn`t lost on her, deep down she thought this was a battle she couldn’t win. Letting Ethan out would only leave her vulnerable to him trying to kill her again, yet keeping him locked up only made him more reluctant to really give in to her wish with every day that went by. She was planning on remedying that very soon. Or so she hoped.

“I brought you a new book.” She said, wanting to think of something else.

Ethan turned his head to look at Celestia. Under her left wing, sure enough was a book. He couldn`t make out the title. He nodded and sat up from his bed to get closer to the bars dividing the two from ever truly interacting with each other.

Celestia grabbed the book under her wing with her magic and levitated it to Ethan.

Ethan read out the title. “Put on Ice… what`s this book about?”

“It is about a pony who has a lot of projects she need to get done, but as a deadline closes in she needs to let go of some of her most treasured projects as she simply doesn’t have enough time to finish all of them. She needs to choose what’s most important to her.”

“And that resonated with you?” Ethan asked Celestia.

“If there is anything I have, it is time. It was an experience for me to put myself in the shoes of a pony who didn`t really have the time she wished for.” Celestia explained. “When you have all the time you could ask for, why bother with stressing over something that will be forgotten in a few hundred years.”

“That isn`t really a healthy train of thought Celly.” Ethan said.

“I know, but when you have to deal with an angry minotaur as a leader that you know you can`t really reason with, I`d rather just let him be, and wait for the next leader to come along whom I can potentially actually deal with in a socialized manner.”

“So you choose to ignore a potential problem so it can solve itself rather than actually try to fix it.”

“I`m trying to fix the problem between us am I not?”

“Not really.”

Celestia took a moment to think before coming with an answer. “Maybe not in the way you want, but I am, Truly trying to get to a solution that benefits us both. I know it doesn`t look like it from where you are sitting, but please just trust me on this.”

Ethan did a chuckle. “Such sweet whispers. If only they hadn’t lost meaning when they pass by iron bars keeping one locked in. Besides, what did we talk about yesterday Celly. Cause I remember I told you I wasn`t sure I could trust you again.”

The conversation always converged to this topic. Celestia really didn`t want to talk about this right now.

“Please, Ethan can we just talk about something else for a change. I don`t want to leave here feeling like I always feel.”

Ethan was now conflicted. One part of him wanted to hurt Celestia, to get some sort of petty revenge. Maybe antagonizing her would get her to try and fix his problem his way. But the part that still loved her, it wanted to do as she wanted. He was tired of always being in a sour mood whenever she left. Maybe just once they could end their conversations on a decent note. Just once.

Ethan decided to pretend like they never got into the topic in the first place and decided to get the conversation going again.

“So, what did the critics think of the book then?”

Celestia visually brightened by Ethans indirect agreement to her wish.

“Well, they thought it was a bit slow, but that it was a well written character study of a pony who wanted to achieve greatness, but had to make difficult choices along the way.”

“I remember I had to make a difficult choice once.” Ethan said. “Remember the day I for the first time came into the throne room.”

Celestia was smiling. The memory of when Ethan had asked her out.

“And I said -I wonder, with just a little determination do you think I could be capable of moving you sun-.”

“That was such a bad pickup line.” Celestia giggled to herself. “Why’d you have to do it during day court anyway?”

“I wasn`t sure how else I was supposed to reach you. In hindsight I could`ve asked Spike if he could send you a letter, but then again, that would`ve been a little to… impersonal I guess, and I wouldn’t have been able to see how you reacted to my pickup line.”

“If you could move my sun…” Celestia giggled, reciting what Ethan had said that day.

“Did you know what I meant at the time?” Ethan asked.

“Yes, you weren’t really subtle referencing my cutie mark, though I must say, you were quite bold with your approach in trying to woo me.”

“Yeah well, I figured it was all or nothing and I only had one shot, so why not go all in. The worst that could’ve happened was that you would have said no.”

“Psh… I didn`t have the heart to say no. The way you presented yourself, and the way you made my guards react. I would have accepted again just to see their reactions one more time.”

Ethan grinned along with Celestia. But at the mention of Spike just now made him wonder…

“How is Spike and Twilight by the by? Still traveling around, saving the world?”

Celestia quickly caught up to where Ethan wanted the conversation to go.

“I can`t really say, after I let her unfold her wing so to say I haven`t really been keeping as much in contact as I probably should.” Celestia said, her mood still quite happy, but with a hint of regret for not keeping as much contact with her other friend as much as she wanted.

“That so. So who keeps you company besides me then?” Ethen queried.

Celestias good mood was in the process of dropping. She hadn`t really been talking to anypony besides Ethan. Not truly sat down and talked in the way he was implying anyway. Luna was there, but she wasn`t really a good conversation partner as of late for the same reason Ethan had been troublesome. Luna had her opinions on the feud Ethan and Celestia was having, though she was on Celestias side on the matter. Celestia figured being in an echo chamber wouldn`t really do anypony any good. And seeing as Ethan was all Celestia could think about as of late, they would always end up on the topic where they would discuss how to approach Ethan in the end.

“Nopony honestly. But that doesn’t bother me.” Celestia said, getting back to the conversation.

“So, you just do your daily chores, come see me, then go to bed?” Ethan questioned, wondering if that truly was the life Celestia was leading at the moment.

“Close, but I tend to do some studies before I go to sleep.”

“Studies? What kind?”

“Psychology. I consider myself a master at reading ponies, I am not quite as sure of myself on the other species however I.e Minotaurs, Griffons and so on.”

Ethan already knew that her studies weren’t a coincidence. She clearly is looking into the subject because of him. He figured he would just play it cool and see what he could extract of information.

“So you are trying to learn how to read others essentially.”

“Yes, that amongst other things.”

“Those other things wouldn`t happen to involve a certain human would it?”

“That is up for debate whether the information I acquired would be useful for said human.”

“So it is about me!” Ethan exclaimed.

“I never said that.” Celestia stated in a playful manner.

“But you didn`t say it wasn`t!”

“I’ll let you interpret what I said. What you do with said interpretation has nothing to do with me, and I don`t want to know anything about it” She finished with a satisfied grin.

“I… you… Oh my god.” Ethan let out an exasperated groan. She won that one. He could have pushed harder, but like they agreed on, he wanted this little meeting to end on a happy note, so he couldn`t be bothered to sour the mood by digging deeper. He got what he wanted though. Celestia is clearly trying to look for methods to win over the human in their ongoing argument that was currently put on ice.

Celestia wasn`t sure whether Ethans exasperation came from that he knew what she was doing, or if it was that he lost their little playful banter. Regardless, she figured they could talk more tomorrow. It was yet another short session with Ethan. She didn`t really want to end it now, now that they finally got to have a somewhat normal conversation. She had for once completely forgotten the metal bars dividing them.

But she needed to prepare some things for Ethans surprise, and she would rather have it done now instead of later. So she needed to end it here no matter how much she`d rather it go on.

“Ethan?”

Ethan lifted his face off of his hands to look at Celestia.

“I have to go. I need to prepare some things.”

“Prepare what?”

Celestia grew a caring smile. “A surprise. For you.”

Ethan knew that he meant the world to her, but he couldn`t really trust her. Or he didn`t want to. He wasn`t quite sure of the answer himself, but he would rather the thing Celestia was talking about not be a surprise.

“I don`t really like surprises Celly.”

Celestias smile still lingered, she wasn`t fazed by Ethans reluctance as she figured this wasn`t really anything that he would get mad about.

“Well, you`re just going to have to deal with it being a surprise, because I’m not spoiling it. Regardless, I have to go. I`ll see you tomorrow Ethan.”

“Yup. I`ll be here. Like always.”

As Celestia left Ethan had just one question he wanted to ask before she left.

“Hey! When can I expect this surprise!?” He shouted after Celestia who was now further down the hallway leading out form the dungeons.

“When it`s ready!” Celestias voice echoed back.

That was semi successful conversation. Ethan mused to himself. But what is that bloody surprise she is planning. What are you up to Celly?

Bah! Doesn’t matter. Well, it does, but it wasn`t like Ethan had any say in what was going on anymore. Not after he tried to kill Celestia.

Ethan found it strange how she was the one wanting forgiveness. He`d think Celestia would at least hold some grudge against him for even thinking of doing what he tried to do regarding his murder attempt. But it doesn`t seem like she even want to acknowledge it ever happened. I guess in when it comes down to it Celestia is just a better person than Ethan is. Though that doesn’t excuse what she did to him.

Ethan felt himself displeased that he managed to worsen the mood when he just talked and had a good time with Celestia. He figured doing something else would make him forget the foul mood he was in. So he started reading the new book he just got. Put on ice…