Can Celestia contest creative caring captivity conspiratorily crafted with caging cuddles?
Celestia has been working too hard, for far too long. Concerned for her well being, Luna sees no option but to have her sister kidnapped and carried off to a place where she will have no choice but to learn how to relax and take time for herself.
However, if Celestia can't learn that lesson she may find herself an eternal captive of the Cuddle Dungeon.
Cover art is from the amazing "Rarity's Secret" series by Longinius.
Much thanks to SandStorm and Coyotethetrickster for their editing and help Featured! 10/2/2017
Princess Celestia, Diarch of the Sun, was having a wonderful dream of swimming through a buoyant warm ocean. She crested wave after wave, pushing aside the occasional pieces of flotsam and jetsam without a care in the world. She paused for a moment, just floating on that endless ocean and taking in the endless horizon and thinking how nice it was to be able to not have to worry about any crises. No Discord, no Tirek, no yak diplomacy, no Twilight bothering her with endless friendship letters. Just her, the ocean and the waves.
Princess Luna walked into the intimate dining room she shared with her sister for their morning and evening meals. As she entered the room, she paused and looked at her sister in surprise. There was Celestia, face down in a bowl of mushroom soup with the occasional bubble blowing out from the side of her mouth. Luna noted with approval that somepony had made sure her sister’s nose was above the level of the soup so that Celestia could breathe.
With loving care and a gentle touch the Night Princess lifted her sister’s head out of the soup, and after a quick clean off with a cloth, placed it onto a small cushion to one side of the soup. Luna looked at her sister with a sad smile as she began to eat her own soup and Celestia’s gentle snores began to fill the room. Behind her, Luna heard the door to the small dining room open.
“Hello Kibitz,” Luna said, as she recognized the hoof falls behind her. “How long has she been out?”
“Since roughly ten minutes before you came in,” Celestia’s majordomo answered. “I made sure she could breathe, but I thought it best not to try to wake her.”
“Right now you couldn’t wake her with a full orchestra, a yak stampede or a changeling invasion,” Luna said, dryly. “You might remember how deeply I sleep when I am tired. Celestia is even worse.”
“In regards to that, your Highness,” Kibitz said in that insistent formal voice of his that Luna hated so much. “Is there anything you could possibly do to get her to take a break?”
“I’d love to, Kibitz,” Luna said in frustration as she crunched down on a toasted bagel, “but you know how she feels that she is ultimately responsible for everything that happens in Equestria. Between ruling, her court, the School for Gifted Unicorns, her diplomatic work, as well as helping out both Twilight and Cadance, I’m amazed all those things are done by her as well as they are.”
“The Princess was good about keeping things balanced while you were...away,” Kibitz said, diplomatically. “But the years since your return have been so active and she has been so busy...” He trailed off, shrugging his shoulders. Luna took in her sister’s sleeping form while she absorbed the majordomo’s words and did nothing but think for several minutes, testing even his supreme patience.
“Kibitz,” Luna said, startling the unicorn as she magically opened the door that lead out to her sister’s room. “I need you to do a research project for me, and I need it done within the next couple of days.”
“Certainly, Princess,” Kibitz said, motioning for one of the maids to come in and begin clearing away the dishes. “What is the project?”
“First, I need you to find out when was the last time my sister took any sort of extended break,” Luna said, as she began to gently lift Celestia in her magic and Kibitz made a note of the request. “Second, I need to you check on the laws of what happens if at any point Celestia is rendered incapable of governing.” Kibitz looked up from his notes in shock, stared at Luna for a few moments, and then nodded in understanding as he realized what the Lunar Diarch was considering.
Luna carried her somnolent sister to her room and tucked Celestia into bed, giving her a kiss on the forehead as she drew up the covers. Dimming the lights, a troubled princess left Celestia to her sleep, while she made plans of her own that she would rather not.
The next day passed much as the day before had, with the exception of the argument Luna and Celestia had over the breakfast table.
“Sister, you have to rest, take a few days off,” Luna had pleaded with her sister over waffles. “Just a couple of weeks, even a few days. You need to take a break.”
“Nonsense, Luna,” Celestia had replied over a cup of ginseng tea. “I’m perfectly fine. Yes, I had an unexpected nap yesterday, but it was at the end of the day and so no harm was done.”
“Celestia, you could have drowned in your soup!” Luna shouted. “If Kibitz hadn’t made sure you could breathe, I could have lost you only a short time after we found each other again.”
“Oh, Luna,” Celestia had said with a smile, as she patted her sister’s hoof. “There’s no need to be so dramatic. I’ll be fine. I just need to pace myself a bit better.” The solar alicorn looked at Luna for a few more moments then turned back to her waffles and Luna could see that her sister had dismissed her concerns. Sighing, she went back to her own meal, hoping Kibitz’s research would find a way out for them.
That evening Luna woke and walked into the dining room finding Celestia once again asleep at the table, her meal barely even touched. Luna’s heart fell as she realized nothing had changed, and nothing she had said to her sister that morning had changed a thing. Her sister was still running herself into the ground and seemed determined to work herself into the grave. Kibitz appeared at the side of the despondent lunar princess.
“I’ve carried out the research you requested, your Highness,” Kibitz said in a soft voice. “Celestia’s last recorded break of more than one day was 847 years ago, when she took a week off and came back to Manehatten declaring independence and an invasion by the Griffon Kingdom.”
“If I recall the histories I have read of what happened during my absence, Equestria did not return to peace for nearly five years afterwards,” Luna said, pensively.
“Indeed,” Kibitz replied, “and I suspect, much as I believe you do, that the Princess blames herself for that time.”
“It is worse than that, faithful Kibitz,” Luna said, ears drooping. “Ever since then, my sister has been convinced that her presence is vital to the safety and well-being of Equestria. Nothing in the years since has changed her mind of that determination. Not my return, not the ascensions Cadance or Twilight, not the birth of Flurry Heart, nor even the befriending of Discord.”
“She thinks she is indispensable and that without her, Equestria will fall to ruin and decay,” Kibitz said in conclusion, sighing.
“Exactly Kibitz,” Luna said, ”and my sister is working herself into the ground because of it, not only that, but she seems incapable of seeing it for herself. You have looked into the laws I asked about?” Luna darted a look at her sister who slumbered on, giving no sign she was aware of the conversation.
“I have, your Highness,” Kibitz said, looking disturbed. “Princess, could we discuss this somewhere else please? I feel very uncomfortable talking about this right here, right now.” He gestured toward the soundly sleeping and snoring Celestia.
“This is one of the most secure rooms in the palace,” Luna said, waving a hoof. “Nopony can overhear us here and once again my sister sleeps like the dead. Tell me what you have learned, out with it.” Kibitz sighed once and nodded, the ends of his small mustache quivering.
“Princess Celestia can be declared unable to rule due to inability, by a majority of the nobility, or a majority opinion of medical ponies--” Kibitz paused, “or by yourself, your Highness.”
“Me?” Luna asked, surprised. “How is that possible?”
“Your sister never took you off the list of ponies she intended to act as a safeguard against any abuses she might be tempted to,” Kibitz said, in explanation. “I should also mention that after six months, by law, Celestia is to be re-examined by a Council of Regents to determine if she is able to resume command of the kingdom.” Luna sighed and grimaced.
“If it must be done,” Luna said, resolve firming, “best it twere done quickly before things get worse. Draw up the paperwork Kibitz, and bring it to me in the our dining room tomorrow morning, along with a list of names for the Regent’s Council.”
“Yes, your Highness,” said the clearly troubled unicorn. “What shall you be doing in the meantime?”
“I’m going to put my sister to bed, right now,” Luna said, her face wistful as it remembered simpler times. “Later tonight I will make arrangements for Mistress Cuddles to pick up Celestia in the morning, after breakfast.”
Luna could hear Kibitz suck in a breath through clenched teeth and she gave the usually unflappable pony a few moments to regain his center. Kibitz had earned those moments a thousand times over with his service to the sisters, and Luna waited calmly for the question she knew he was about to ask.
“Princess, are you sure?” Kibitz asked, respectful but clearly worried about Luna’s decision. “Once Mistress Cuddles gets her hooves on your sister...” his voice trailed off.
“She may never be able to let my sister go,” Luna said, nodding as she replied. “But my sister refuses to relax on her own and she is burning herself out. She won’t listen to any of us asking her, nay begging her, to take a break. So, until she learns to let herself relax and shift some of her load to others, Celestia shall be a captive of the Cuddle Dungeon.”
Celestia sat at the breakfast table and stared in wonder at the array of food spread around its surface. All of her favorite foods were there, and the combined scents of half a hundred delicacies from across Equestria and beyond, set her to near drooling. Luna sat across from her, covering a plate of pancakes in caramelized mango slices before drenching it with real Caneighdian maple syrup on top, and sliding it in front of Celestia.
“Here you are, Sister,” Luna said, as she placed a steaming cup of breakfast tea beside the plate of sinful sweetness. Luna was smiling as she sat back down, but Celestia knew her sister too well not to see the sadness in those teal eyes she loved so much.
“I’m sorry, sometimes I’m just reminded of how very much I love you,” Luna said, and Celestia could see her sister force herself to smile. “But enough melancholy, let us enjoy this wonderful repast together.” Celestia made as if to protest for a moment, but thought the better of it and dug into the plate before her, taking occasional sips of the excellent chamomile tea. The tea had a slight licorice aftertaste that lingered on her tongue, and Celestia was reminded of something, but could not place her hoof on it. A few minutes later, Kibitz came in.
“Good morning, Princess Luna,” Kibitz said, and again Celestia picked up the discordant note of false cheer in his voice. “Here is the paperwork you wanted.” He placed an official looking document in front of Luna.
“Thank you, Kibitz,” Luna said, looking at the document and nodding as her ears flattened themselves against her head. “Please ask them to come in.”
“Luna, answer me,” Celestia said, and she heard her teacup clatter to the tabletop as it slipped from her magical grasp. “What is going on?”
“I am putting a stop to the slow suffering of somepony I love,” Luna said, sliding the document in front of her sister. Celestia stared in shock as she read the words on the parchment declaring her unfit for duty due to illness, and felt a cool lethargy begin to spread over her limbs.
“You can’t do this, Luna” Celestia insisted, as she tried to push herself away from the breakfast table, but her limbs refused to support her weight and she collapsed back onto the table. Celestia looked from her treacherous hooves to her equally treacherous sister and the memory of licorice in tea came back to her. Licorice could mask the taste of ketamine, a powerful sedative and one more than capable of keeping her from drawing on her magic.
Celestia forced herself to keep her head steady as Luna came around the table carrying a bridle in her aura. The doors opened behind her and a group of guards came in, towing a box on wheels that was open at one end, revealing a padded interior more than large enough to hold an alicorn sized cargo.
“Kibith,” Celestia garbled out, looking at her majordomo, as she realized the intent of Luna and the guards, “Pleth hep.” Kibitz looked back at her, tears freely flowing from his eyes.
“I am sorry, my Princess,” the unicorn said, sorrow in his heart and on his face, “but this is for your own good. Please...just let your sister prepare you for your journey.”
The drug stole the last of Celestia’s strength and her head began to sink uncontrollably to the table. Luna caught her sister at the last moment and pulled Celestia’s limp body against her own, gently wedging the bridle’s bit between Celestia’s teeth and safely keeping her tongue in place. Celestia felt Luna fusing the straps of the bridle together around her head and she lifted pleading eyes to her sister, begging Luna to let her go.
“I know that one day you will forgive me for this, sister,” Luna said, looking into Celestia’s expressive eyes that were beginning to unfocus and close under the sedative’s power. “I can only hope that one day I will be able to forgive myself.” Celestia’s eyes closed, and the Princess of the Sun was rocked to sleep in the hooves of her sister.
Some unknowable length of time later, Celestia woke with a sudden gasp and jerked herself to a sitting position. Heart rate slowing, she looked around the room she found herself in. It was a square chamber, dimly lit, and she was on a large bed that took up a good portion of the room. There was a single, solid looking wooden door that was the exit to the room. The walls and floors both looked to be of worked stone, the floors covered in comfortable looking throw rugs while the walls were bare for the most part. The only exception being a few ominous appearing metal rings bolted to the wall and a single body length mirror.
There was a nightstand beside the bed and Celestia could make out a small lamp on it in the dim light. Celestia tapped the lamp with a hoof and the magically powered light immediately flared to life, highlighting the golden shackle wrapped around the fetlock of her outstretched limb. Celestia brought it up to her face to have a closer look and only then realized she was still bridled, the bridle now having an attached muzzle that was keeping her jaws closed on the bit that she could feel with her tongue.
Carefully, she felt around her head with her hooves, tracing the straps of the bridle. There were no buckles, locks or joins that she could feel, and the padded straps seemed to have been woven about her head giving no obvious method to remove them. Celestia tried to summon her magic to remove the bridle, but her horn may as well have been dead bone for all the good it did. Huffing out a breath in frustration the captive alicorn made to examine her shackles next.
The cuffs on her forehooves were both wrapped around her fetlocks and fit her with absolute perfection, being precisely shaped to the limb they curled around. Like the bridle, they were also seamless, with no hint of lock or hinge and also like the bridle they were barely even noticeable. Celestia felt a chill come over her as a terrible suspicion came to her mind and she flung the rest of the covers off of her.
As the length of Celestia’s snow white body was revealed, the alicorn’s suspicions were confirmed as she saw that her rear legs bore shackles identical to those on her forelegs. Worse, a harness had been wrapped around her body, and she hadn’t even felt its seamless straps and joins as they lay against her fur. Celestia recognized the harness as similar to those worn by cart ponies and other hard workers, and she knew that such harnesses were made so they would not slip off even during the most strenuous activities.
There was only one reason Celestia could think of for her bondage to fit so well, so comfortably, and to have no visible means of removal, namely that she was meant to be wearing them for a long time to come. Celestia couldn’t avoid making the small whine of despair that emerged through her muzzle as she took in all that had happened to her. Betrayed by her sister and those she trusted, only to wake up imprisoned and bound in some sort of dungeon.
At least it is a fairly comfortable dungeon, Celestia thought to herself, as she pushed despair at her situation away from her thoughts. She wiped the beginning of a tear away from her eyes and got out of bed as the demands of her body began to make themselves known. There was a small side alcove in the room behind the bed that held a garderobe, and as Celestia made use of it she saw there was a note fastened to the wall beside it.
Princess Celestia,
When you are up to it, please step out of your room. There will be an escort waiting to bring you to me for a meal and a chat. I’m sure you are full of questions right now and I will do my best to answer them for you. I’m also sure you would appreciate having your muzzle and the bit of your bridle removed.
Respectfully,
M.C.
Celestia read the message three times, trying to parse every nuance of meaning she could from the message. Whoever it was that was holding her, they obviously had resources, were competent and were confident that Celestia was fully in their power. Celestia’s enforced sleep had left her feeling energized and she longed to kick down the door, trample whoever was there and make a run for it.
If they’ve gone so far as to coerce my sister in working for them, Celestia thought, as she remembered the sorrow and regret both Luna and Kibitz had displayed as they had betrayed her. Then they will definitely be prepared for a panicked rush to escape. Celestia mustered all the dignity she could and pushed open the wooden door that led into her cell.
Beyond the doorway was a corridor of medium width and made of dressed stone, well lit by several magical torches that gave off light but little heat. As Celestia stepped into the corridor she was immediately greeted by a pair of pegasus stallions wearing form fitting purple uniforms with a lightning bolt motif and face covering hoods with goggles.
Shadowbolts! Celestia thought to herself, but she kept herself impassive as she nodded to the minions of evil.
“Hello, Princess,” the lead Shadowbolt said, and then he did something which shocked Celestia. He saluted her, with all the precision of a Canterlot parade ground. “I’m Damned Age, Ma’am, and if you will follow me, I will escort you to where the Mistress is waiting for you.” Celestia nodded again and made a sort of ‘after you’ gesture and Damned Age led off down the corridor, Celestia following in his wake and his partner taking up station behind Celestia, neatly boxing her in between the two of them.
For the next few minutes the trio walked through the stone corridor, their regular steps making a steady beat against the stone floor as the group passed several wooden doors similar to the one where Celestia had awoken and she wondered if other prisoners languished behind them. Despite the lack of obvious ventilation sources the air was fresh and clean with regularly spaced lights keeping things well lit, and enabling Celestia to easily see where she was going, which again spoke to the resources of her captor or captors.
Finally, the trio neared a stone archway and Celestia could feel a fresh breeze flow past her cheek and her ears twitched as she heard birdsong nearby. Damned Age peeled off to one side as he entered the room beyond the archway and he indicated that Celestia should sit by a table that occupied part of the brilliantly lit room. Doing as she was bid, the mare sat at the large mahogany table and took a moment to look around.
The table at which she sat was at the bottom of a wide, deep shaft of worked stone. The stone shaft itself was thirty or more feet wide at the base where she was and looking up she could not see the top as the walls disappeared into the bright glare of the sun overhead. A tree, ancient by the look of it, grew near the table and spread its branches into a natural canopy overhead and provided the roosting places of the songbirds that Celestia had heard as she entered. Cool air rushed past her in a steady breeze smelling of light and life in the little manufactured glade.
“Lovely, isn’t it?’ a voice asked Celestia, jerking her out of her reverie. Celestia looked across the table to see a bat pony seating herself at the table across from Celestia. The other mare was also dressed in the uniform of the infamous Shadowbolts, and even with that body covering costume Celestia could tell that the mare across from her was unusual indeed. Not only was she a bat pony, but her leathery bat wings were bright yellow in colour, which was very strange in a tribe that was nearly universal in its dark colouring.
“Hello Princess,” the newcomer said. “I’m known as Mistress Cuddles and I’m in charge of this facility. Before we go any further, I would like to remove your muzzle and bit, if you would allow it.” Celestia thought for a moment and then nodded her head. The bat pony smiled and came around the table. “I’m so glad you’ve decided to be reasonable, Princess,” Cuddles said, reaching up toward Celestia’s head. Celestia felt, rather than heard, a couple of snaps and a moment later she felt the bit being pulled out of her mouth. She worked her jaws for a few moments as Cuddles lay muzzle and bit on the table.
“Please don’t try to say anything yet, Princess,” Cuddles said, ringing a small bell she pulled from a pocket of her uniform.
Immediately a pair of earth ponies, dressed as maids, approached the table from behind the tree, pulling a pair of serving carts with them. Without a word, the pair began to lay out food that consisted of a tray of small sandwiches, a tureen of mushroom soup and a tall pitcher of juice. The servers finished their routine by pouring a pair of tall glasses of juice with straws, nodding respectfully to both Cuddles and Celestia, and then leaving.
“Choose either glass, your Highness,” Cuddles said. “I will drink from the other first, to show you that they are neither poisoned nor drugged, you need the liquids before you try to talk.” Celestia picked a glass and immediately started drinking from it, reasoning that if this “Mistress Cuddles” wanted her drugged or poisoned she would already have done it. Cuddles, for her part, just smiled and drank from the glass Celestia had left behind, calmly waiting until Celestia finished her drink.
“I have...” Celestia paused, clearing her throat before continuing, “I have several questions. Your note said you would be willing to answer them.”
“Indeed I am,” Mistress Cuddles said, ladling out soup from the tureen into a pair of wide shallow bowls. “Which bowl would you like?”
“For the duration of this conversation, Mistress Cuddles, I’m going to assume that you do not intend to kill me with poison or drug me unconscious again,” Celestia said, in the voice of a professional diplomat. It was a voice that sounded reasonable and open, but in reality revealed nothing about the speaker other than their words.
“That would be correct, your Highness,” Cuddles said, pleasure in her voice. “I have no intention of drugging you at this meeting, however in the interest of the truth I promised you, I will tell you that during your time here you will be drugged on a regular basis.” Celestia shot a glance at her now empty juice glass.
“And what will be the nature of these drugs that you intend to force on me,” Celestia asked, in that same professional voice even as a flame of anger kindled to life in her heart.
“You will be dosed regularly with a drug that makes it impossible for you to draw upon, or manipulate magic in any way,” Cuddles said. “We will do our best to keep it from being intrusive so long as you do not attempt to fight us.”
“What will happen if I resist your attempts to drug me?” Celestia asked, her voice becoming a bit heated as the growing fire inside her spread to her voice.
“You will be swarmed under, subdued, bound, and the drug forced into your system,” Cuddles sighed and she almost sounded regretful to Celestia. “Please do not force us to that, Princess Celestia. All of us would regret it.”
“I promise nothing, but I do appreciate you at least being open about your intentions,” Celestia said, fighting to reduce her anger to a low burn. “Next question: Do you intend to kill me?” To Celestia’s surprise, Cuddles laughed, and the motion caused the hairs of a pink mane to emerge from the top of the uniform she wore.
“Oh my, no,” Cuddles assured Celestia quickly. “We intend to do everything in our power to ensure that you have a long and healthy life.” Celestia’s heart froze as she realized that she knew, or at least had a good idea, what the true identity of “Mistress Cuddles” actually was, and she tried to cover her realization by bending down and taking a long slurp of the soup from her bowl. It was wonderful, thick and creamy, brimming with wild mushrooms of various sizes and delicately seasoned with just a hint of black pepper and thyme.
“This is an excellent soup,” Celestia said, somewhat surprised and letting it show in her voice. “And I think you can guess my next question, can’t you?”
“If we don’t intend to kill you, what are our plans for you?” Mistress Cuddles said, by way of answer. “I can imagine that several possibilities are going through your mind. That we are holding you for ransom, that we intend to sell you, that we are using you as leverage over your sister, that we have designs on your body, perhaps. The truth is none of these.”
“Go on,” Celestia prompted, managing to scoop up one of the small sandwiches on the table. She bit into it and her taste buds were greeted with the simplistic perfection of a watercress sandwich, done to a quality that would do any restaurant proud.
“Princess,” Mistress Cuddles said, pausing for a moment as she marshaled her thoughts, “you are suffering from a disease. One that has been slowly eating away at your strength, your power, and your ability to rule.”
“I am as strong as I ever was,” Celestia said, the anger in her rekindling at even the suggestion that she was somehow reduced in strength.
“With respect Princess,” Cuddles said, in the voice of a teacher speaking to a particularly dense pupil. “You are not, and many of your subjects have begun to notice it.”
“How dare you!” Celestia said, in an angry raised voice, shocked at the insolence she was hearing. “I am Celestia. I have guided the course of ponies and Equestria for centuries.”
“You are proving my point, your Highness,” the bat mare said in that same condescending voice as she looked at Celestia’s face intently. “Please, calm yourself before you do something you will regret.”
“Something I will regret?” Celestia asked with incredulous anger, fury in her eyes, ears pinned back. “You are the one who has done something to regret, and I am going to make you regret it, RIGHT NOW!” Celestia shouted the last as she leaped over the table toward Mistress Cuddles, body stretched out in a tremendous leap as Celestia focused her power and strength on smiting the insolent creature who dared cage the sun.
Time slowed for Celestia, every motion was perfect, every sinew just so, as she focused on her target. Who began to slip out of Celestia’s path with impossible speed, and Celestia suddenly realized that time had not slowed for her, rather it was she who was moving in slow motion. Celestia’s eyes flicked around as Cuddles simply stepped out of her chair and walked to one side. Celestia tried to break herself out of her leap and twist sideways, but it was if once she had begun her leap her body was locked on course through a thick jello that slowed her down to a crawl.
Cuddles moved into position beside Celestia, a sad smile on her face, and her leathery wings lashed out at Celestia’s body as it slowly passed, inches at a time. Celestia felt, rather than saw, a series of flashing blows that seemed to strike deep within her, as the hardened tips of the bat pony’s wings found their marks. Four times those butter coloured wings struck, and each time Celestia felt one of her limbs become numb and unresponsive.
What seemed like half a minute later, Celestia crashed back to earth as her body reached the chair Cuddles had been sitting in, and time sped back up to a normal pace for her and her body. Celestia crashed into and through the chair, shattering it to pieces even as she fell limply to the floor, unable to control any of her limbs.
“You traitorous trollop,” Celestia yelled from her supine position on the floor, her head the only part of her body she could move. “What have you done to me?”
“Damned Age,” Mistress Cuddles said, moving to stand over Celestia and ignoring the fallen monarch completely. “I think we will start off with immobilization therapy. Could you and Sand Storms grab the blanket and straps please?”
Celestia tried to move, to thrash, to do something, to stop the trio as they gently folded her limbs against her body, pinning them in place with padded straps and then rolling a thick blanket around her several times. By the time Celestia’s limbs began to tingle and respond to her again, it was far beyond too late, as her body was now fully cocooned in the thick blanket, a web of strapping on the outside ensuring that it would not slip or pull away.
“You will pay for this!” Celestia shouted, fully lost to helpless rage and using the only weapons she had left under her control, her mouth and horn. She swiveled her head around trying to sink her teeth into Cuddles, or to slash her with her horn, but Cuddles simply moved to above Celestia’s head and proceeded to pin it in place with her hooves.
“That will be quite enough of that, your Highness,” Cuddles said in a reproving tone as she jammed the bit back into Celestia’s mouth, relocked it to the bridle and added the muzzle, ensuring Celestia would be unable to bite anypony. Still Celestia tried to struggle against the enveloping bonds and slash somepony with her horn.
“Celestia,” Cuddles said, her eyes boring into the vanquished alicorn’s eyes and momentarily stilling her. “Don’t make me add a check rein to your restraints as well. You’ve been under too long for us to drug you back to sleep just now. Don’t force me to make this any more humiliating for you than it already is.”
The words seemed to sink into Celestia and she blinked, as it sunk into her just how truly helpless she was. Celestia huffed out a breath and nodded her understanding at Cuddles.
“Thank you, Princess,” Mistress Cuddles said, standing up and away from the fallen princess, who now more than anything else, looked like a large, soft burrito. “Damned Age, Sand Storms, if you would be so good as to carry Celestia back to her room, we will try this again tomorrow.” The two Shadowbolts slung poles through the straps securing the Celestia burrito, and using them as stretcher poles carried her off back to her room.
“Oh Princess,” Mistress Cuddles said aloud, once Celestia was gone, “please stop making this so hard for us.”
“You know it has to be this way,” a voice said, coming from the tree in the chamber. “You offered to do this and take the form you have to save our Princess.”
“I know, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Cuddles said, stomping a hoof in frustration.
“None of us do, but we are all doing what we have to,” the tree said. “I’ll check in with you tomorrow.” A cloud of purple sparkles flew up from the tree with a rush of wind and silence descended on the tiny glade at the bottom of the shaft.
The two shadowbolts carried Celestia, wrapped in blankets and straps, back into her room and gently laid her on the bed. It had been more than adequately demonstrated to her that any physical resistance on her part was little more than a futile gesture, so she lay quietly, refusing to give in to the temptation to squirm. Now was not the time to fight, it was the time to watch, listen and learn.
“Would you like a pillow for your head, your Highness?” the shadowbolt Celestia had come to know as Damned Age asked. He appeared to be the senior of the two guards assigned to Celestia, and so far he had shown her nothing but the utmost respect. Bitted and muzzled, Celestia could make no verbal reply so she settled for nodding her head. Damned’s partner, Sand Storms, slid a small cushion underneath Celestia’s head in response, giving it a needed lift.
“We will try this again tomorrow,” Mistress Cuddles had said, which told Celestia that they intended to keep her wrapped up like she was for a full day.
I just hope my bladder can hold out, Celestia thought, regretting the juice she had drunk during her brief meeting with the ruler of this place. She sighed, mentally removing the two stallions in the room from her thoughts and relaxed as much as she could in her bonds, staring at a spot in the ceiling and beginning the slow, easy breaths of a meditative breathing session. She had used the calm and relaxation of this several times in the past, to push back her need to sleep. She was just settling into the needed rhythm of breathing when the bed flexed as Damned Age climbed in beside her.
No, not that. By the light, please, not that, Celestia thought frantically, her eyes widening and her ears going back in sudden fear. Damned Age saw the mounting terror in Celestia’s eyes and he held up a hoof over Celestia’s body, stopping his partner who was beginning to climb in the other side.
“You have nothing to fear from us, Princess,” the shadowbolt said. “You are not going to be touched like that. Not unless you specifically request it. Do you understand me?” Celestia gave a jerky nod, not entirely sure if she should believe the stallion.
“And while it would be a joy to provide that service for you, Princess,” Damned Age said with a rueful smile. “Mistress Cuddles would have my hide if I didn’t clear it with her first, and I happen to like my skin where it is, thank you very much. No, Princess, what’s going on is that part of your immobilization therapy includes enforced cuddling.” Both of Celestia’s eyebrows shot up to their fullest extent.
“Mrdlng?” she garbled out past her muzzle in surprise. Damned laughed, an easy, carefree sound and one completely at odds with the situation.
“Yes Princess...cuddling,” he said, as he finished climbing into the bed to lay beside the bound alicorn and he pressed his body against the blanket that was wrapped around her. “Nothing sexual, just the comfort and warmth of another body against yours.”
Celestia felt Sand Storms climb in the opposite side of the bed and mirror his partner. Celestia’s wrapped body now lay between both stallions and despite Damned’s assurances, Celestia felt very vulnerable indeed. Right up until the moment that Sand took one of his red wings and wrapped it over Celestia. It was an oddly comforting gesture which doubled as Damned did the same from his side with one of his black wings.
Celestia flicked her eyes from one stallion to the other, trying to see which one of them was going to make the next move, and to her surprise the pair closed their eyes in near unison and bent their heads so that their muzzles touched Celestia on either shoulder. Celestia just lay there for a full minute, incredulous that her jailers appeared to be falling asleep beside her.
Celestia could feel the warm breath of the two ponies on her shoulder and neck. She could smell the subtle male odor of their wings and fur. Slowly, the heat of the two bodies around her began to penetrate the blanket, warming her, and despite her intentions otherwise Celestia found herself relaxing and sinking into that warmth. The stallions beside her no longer guards in a prison, but intimate companions in a journey toward sleep and together the three ponies entered the Land of Nod.
Sometime later, Celestia awoke. She realized that she had managed to somehow roll onto her side in her sleep, and her two sleeping companions were now spooning her. Damned Age was being the “big spoon” to her, curled against her back, while Sand Storms lay curled inside the arc of her larger body, facing her. Sand had kept his wing over Celestia as she rolled and it had pulled him in close, so close in fact that the solar alicorn realized that her horn lay against the side of his throat.
All Celestia needed to do was a quick “twist and flick” motion and she could rip open the shadowbolt’s throat all the way down to his spine. He would never see it coming and Cuddles would have never threatened her with a check rein, if her head and horn weren’t a danger to her minions. Even as Celestia weighed the pros and cons of killing the shadowbolt, Sand’s eyes opened. His eyes flicked to the horn by his neck and then to Celestia, meeting her eyes but saying nothing a moment. Then, with slow care and deliberation he lifted his chin so that his jugular lay directly beneath the point of Celestia’s horn.
“Will I see the next sunrise, Princess?” Sand Storms asked in a whisper, his wide brown eyes looking directly into Celestia’s. “I’m engaged to be married in a few months. Will you at least tell her I died bravely?” Celestia’s eyes widened as she realized that not only did the pegasus before her know he could die by her horn, but that he was prepared for it and accepted it. Celestia felt herself fill with shame at the knowledge that she had actually been considering killing him.
To murder one of her ponies in cold blood would have been horrible enough but even worse, it would have been a useless death. She was still wrapped up like a piece of sushi on a plate, and Damned Age would surely notice the death of his partner. Celestia had a sudden flash of insight. Sand and Damned weren’t really shadowbolts. They might be wearing the costumes, but they were loyal Equestrians doing what they thought was right, and she had been thinking about killing one of them. Celestia’s eyes filmed with tears as bitter regret filled her and very carefully she lifted her horn away from Sand’s throat.
“Thank you,” Sand Storms said, and then he noticed the tears beginning to leak from the alicorn’s eyes. “Shh, it’s okay. You didn’t do it. You’re still a good pony.” He began to stroke Celestia’s head in a comforting motion with his wing as muffled sobs began to wrack Celestia as she continued to pummel herself in the privacy of her own thoughts.
Celestia spent the next while trying to bring herself back under control, while both of her cuddle partners now fully awake, made comforting, soothing noises in an effort to calm their charge. It took some time but eventually Celestia pulled in a deep breath to restore her shattered calm, while Damned Age carefully blotted away the remnants of her tears with a clean cloth. Her shame at considering stark murder being replaced by a cold anger.
How dare whoever was behind this enmesh two such good ponies in their coils! Ponies who were prepared to lay down their lives for their Princess! It certainly wasn’t their fault that they had been deceived by the same power that had managed to force her own sister and majordomo to act against her.
“Princess,” Damned Age said, looking at her carefully, “would you like to get up and use the facilities?” Celestia recognized that she was being offered a chance to start fresh, and this time Celestia vowed to herself, she would do it right. She nodded her thanks and bit by bit, Celestia was unstrapped and unwrapped from her bonds, but when Sand and Damned rolled her to the edge of the bed she discovered her legs simply would not support her. After so many hours of enforced inactivity all they could do was quiver and shake uselessly, and she looked up at the duo in wordless appeal.
“It’s okay, Princess,” Damned said, reassuringly. “We’ve got this. Give me a wing here, Sand.” Together Damned and his partner rolled Celestia back to the middle of the bed with her legs underneath her. Once Celestia was there, Sand darted to the door and opening it, said something to somepony outside before returning with a classic hospital bedpan clutched under his wing.
Oh, you have got to be kidding me, Celestia thought, just before she felt the cool metal pushed up against her nethers. She let out a tiny gasp at the chill and she cocked an eloquent eyebrow at Damned, who chuckled a bit.
“Again, Princess,” he said, a wide smile on his face, “you have nothing to fear from us. We’re professionals here. Seeing as you can’t get to the latrine, the latrine has come to you. Go ahead and void, Ma’am, and we’ll clean you up afterwards, just like I used to do for my foals.” Again, Celestia’s eyes spoke volumes, their expression humorous now rather than angered or fearful, as she huffed out a sigh and let fly into the bedpan. A couple of minutes later, Sand pulled away the now filled bedpan as Damned gave their charge a wipe with a soft cloth, lingering no longer than was absolutely necessary and Celestia nodded her thanks and lay her head down onto her forelegs.
“Just stay like that please, Princess,” Sand Storms said, from the garderobe as he emptied the bedpan. Celestia snorted in amusement as she contemplated the shackles on her fetlocks. Where would she go? She could barely move as it was and whatever the spells her cuffs were enchanted with, they were obviously up to the task of keeping her in check. A few moments later Celestia felt a new pair of hooves touch her, as somepony began to massage her rear legs.
Celestia didn’t bother trying to look behind her as the pony working on her legs began to restore function to them with skill, technique and more than a little brute strength. The masseuse worked their way up to Celestia’s hips and then her spine and all Celestia could do was bow her head, moaning appreciatively at the wonderful warm sensations the deep massage was giving her.
Celestia however, had been an ardent multi-tasker for years. So even as part of her mind was basking in the sensations of the massage, a second part was trying to figure out who was behind all this. Who had the resources to capture and hold her against her will? Who had the ability to force the most trusted ponies in her life to act against her? As she contemplated these questions her hearing just managed to catch the conversation her two escorts were having at the edge of the room.
“Are you out of your feather-brained mind?” Damned Aged hissed to his partner. “She could have killed you.”
“No, she wouldn’t have. She is Celestia,” Sand Storms replied, in a voice of absolute conviction. “Even if she had killed me, it would have been an honour to die by her horn.”
“You idiot,” Damned Aged said, and Celestia heard the sound of a wing thumping against a body. “Can you imagine the crippling guilt she would have gone through after she killed you? It would have eaten her up and all of this would have been for nothing...nothing.”
“Um...” Sand Storms said, sounding a little sheepish, “I guess I didn’t really think it through. Sorry.” Celestia heard Damned Age’s sigh clearly.
“Just think a bit next time,” Damned Age whispered. “Now, go wake the Mistress and tell her Celestia is awake and should be mobile in a bit.” Sand Storms left the room as the masseuse continued to work on Celestia’s back and joints, the languid warmth of renewed circulation turning her into a puddle of goo and even without the muzzle she would have been incapable of speech. Some long while later, the massage ended as the pony at her back rubbed down her fur with cool cloths, wiping away sweat and restoring energy to her body.
“Feeling better?” Damned Age asked, and Celestia nodded in response as the large masseuse pony left the room. She carefully and slowly got herself off the bed and onto her hooves. Sand Storms appeared at her side from almost literally out of nowhere.
“Lean on me Princess,” he said, but Celestia shook her head in the negative, determined to rely on her own strength and she slowly walked around her bed in a wide circle, reacquainting her legs with movement. When she felt ready, Celestia stopped in front of the door leading out to the hallway and leaned her head toward it in unspoken question.
“You would like to see Mistress Cuddles again?” Damned Age asked. Celestia nodded and tapped her fore shackles together, trying to indicate she now understood that her good behaviour would be compelled.
“It’s almost morning again, so you both may as well have breakfast,” Damned said, in a wary voice. “Give me your word Princess that there won’t be a repeat of last time.” She nodded.
“All right then. Let’s go,” the stallion said and again he led off through the door with Celestia following and Sand Storms behind her. The trio emerged back into the little glade at the bottom of the shaft, where Mistress Cuddles was waiting for them. The predawn gloom was broken by a set of glow lamps that illuminated stacks of pancakes, bottles of syrup and an array of fruity toppings.
Mistress Cuddles sat at the table, only this time she wasn’t wearing the form fitting outfit of the shadowbolts, revealing the pink maned, yellow fur and bat wings of Fluttershy, only in her Flutterbat incarnation as Celestia had guessed. She walked up to Flutterbat, knelt and held out her head in mute request to have her muzzle removed again.
“Just like that, you expect me to let you out again?” Flutterbat asked, cruel amusement on her face. Celestia let out an intentionally pitiful whine of request. “Oh alright, I guess you’ve learned your lesson.”
Again, Celestia felt rather than heard the snaps of the muzzle and bit being undone and a moment later the bonds around her mouth were pulled away. Flutterbat indicated Celestia should have a seat where a plate of pancakes sat awaiting her and as Celestia took her seat a steaming cup of tea was placed by the pancakes. Celestia picked up the teacup carefully in her hooves and inhaled the steaming scent of the fragrant breakfast tea. Her sensitive nose picked up a hint of licorice and Celestia looked sharply over at her host.
“Yes, you are quite right Princess,” Flutterbat said, holding a forkful of pancake and mango in the air. “Your dose of drug is in the tea. Now, will you cooperate and drink it without fuss, or...” Celestia drained the tea in a single, long swallow, then held the cup upside down to show she had drunk it all.
“First off, Flutter--” Celestia began, only to be interrupted.
“Stop,” Mistress Cuddles interrupted imperiously. “I am not Flutters, neither the ‘Shy’ nor the ‘Bat’, which is why I chose a name that combines the strength of one with the softness of the other.”
“Could you explain it to me, please?” Celestia asked, trying to corral a pancake physically instead of with her removed magic.
“You need help Princess,” Mistress Cuddles said, pulling out a folded newspaper from under her wing and putting it on the table beside her meal. “Fluttershy had the knowledge and the skill needed, but not the will to use it. Flutterbat had the determination and aggression to do what must be done, but none of the compassion to use it at the right times.”
“From what I understood, you have to be one or the other,” Celestia said, finally pinning a pancake to the plate, but for some reason her eyes were drawn to the folded newspaper on Cuddles side of the table, rather than to her elusive food.
“For a natural change, you would be correct Princess,” Cuddles said, and a sly smile graced her lips as she noticed what Celestia’s eyes were tracking. “But my change into ‘Mistress Cuddles’ is not a natural one. It’s an arranged blending of my two sides, so that I can be what you need.” Cuddles opened up the paper and lay it flat on the table, scanning it, or at least appearing to scan the paper. Instead, she watched Celestia staring hungrily at the newspaper.
“Um, yes,” Celestia said, noticing that Mistress Cuddles was studying her and snapping her attention back to the conversation. “Wait. What I need? What is it that you think I need?”
“Why an adversary, of course,” Mistress Cuddles said, brightening, as she refolded the newspaper and used it to gesture toward Celestia. “Somepony who can keep you pinned in place and force you to realize the truth of your situation and your problem. Somepony who can both whip you into shape and care for you with loving affection.” Mistress Cuddles watched Celestia’s head bob back and forth as she waved the newspaper around, punctuating her words. “You want this, don’t you Princess?” Mistress Cuddles asked, as she slid the paper below the level of the table.
Celestia blushed slightly as she realized just how obvious her attempts to read something, anything off the front of the newspaper had been. “Yes, please let me read that newspaper,” Celestia asked, hooves quivering slightly with the need to snatch up the broadsheet, her unimportant pancake forgotten.
“Why do you want it, Princess?” Mistress Cuddles asked, cool superiority in her tone and she motioned to Sand Storms and Damned Age to take up positions in case Celestia decided to be foalish again.
“My ponies,” Celestia began, stilling her hooves, as the glint of the golden shackles on her fetlocks reminded her that she was still a bound captive. “Please, I need to know how they are doing, what is going on with them and Equestria. How my sister is doing. Please, let me read the newspaper.”
“Very well, Princess,” Mistress Cuddles said, as she lifted the paper back up onto the table to sit beside her plate. “I will allow you to read the newspaper, but I want something in return.” Celestia looked up and Mistress Cuddles speared her with an amethyst gaze, boring deep into her, forcing her to reply honestly and in earnest.
“W-What do you want?” Celestia asked, trying to push back the force of will flooding in through her eyes.
Celestia’s gaze was locked onto that of the bat pony mare in front of her. Unable to blink or move, she felt that lavender stare pouring into her mind, seeking to overwhelm and subdue her will. Celestia felt herself being pushed to her limits, but she rallied, her will snapping back like a released rubber band and throwing Mistress Cuddles back.
“I’m sorry Mistress Cuddles,” Celestia said, pleased at having taken this much control back. “But I’m afraid I won’t be submitting to you today.”
“Excellent,” Cuddles said, clapping her hooves together in glee. “Not worn all the way down to a nub yet, are you?”
“Excuse me?” Celestia asked, somewhat puzzled by her captor’s pleased reaction at her resistance.
“Your will is still strong, Princess,” Mistress Cuddles said, smiling as the light level in the glade began to rise as the sun came up. “So, let me offer you a different bargain, Princess. I will let you read this newspaper, and the morning papers for the next two days. On condition that you obey my commands during those days.”
“That is not a promise I can give,” Celestia said, shaking her head, “not without knowing what the nature of your commands are going to be.”
“They will be nothing onerous,” Cuddles said, holding the paper up. “Nothing immoral, nor illegal, and I know you really do want to read the paper. Give me your word that you will obey me for the next three days and you will get what you want.” Celestia thought about it for a few moments then nodded.
“Very well, you have a deal. I will obey your commands,” Celestia said, before going on to add, “providing that they are, as you say, not illegal, immoral or onerous.”
“Wonderful,” Mistress Cuddles replied. “First, a few general commands. For the next three days you will not attempt escape, you will not try to hurt yourself or others, and you will eat, drink and sleep as much as you are able.” One of Celestia’s eyebrows rose, along with her ears.
“Those are…surprisingly reasonable commands,” Celestia said, wolfing down her pancake with a few bites. “I will have no problem following them. Now, the newspaper please.”
“Not quite yet, Princess,” Cuddles said with a smile. “Come over here and sit by me.” Celestia blinked, there were only two chairs at the table, where did Mistress Cuddles want...
“You want me sitting at your feet, is that it?” Celestia asked, deliberately not moving from her chair. “I said I would obey you. I did not say I would submit to you.”
“I’m not asking you to,” Mistress Cuddles said, matter of factly. “I intend to brush out your mane while you read the paper.”
“You...wait, what?” Celestia asked, not quite sure of what she had just heard.
“Please still your mane Princess,” Cuddles said, the corner of her mouth tipping up in a smirk to reveal a single, delicately pointed fang. “Then come here, sit down and let me brush it out for you, while you read the paper.”
“Very well,” Celestia said, completely confused at how reasonable her captor was being. She let her mane become natural and solid again through an effort of will, and came around the table to sit with her back to Mistress Cuddles.
“Here you are, Princess,” Cuddles said, hoofing the newspaper over Celestia’s shoulder as she began to go through the princess’s mane. Celestia eagerly began to read the front page of the paper, the words on the page flowing into her like water into a pony dying of thirst.
“IS CELESTIA DEAD?” screamed the headline on the page. Beneath that incendiary headline was a picture of Luna, her sister, looking despondent as she sat on the Lunar throne and wearing a bridle, of all things. Celestia touched a hoof to the bridle attached to her own head. Could they be linked in some way? Was Luna being forced to cooperate somehow? Celestia read the article below for clues.
Since the mysterious disappearance of the Solar Diarch a week ago, Princess Luna has been suspiciously closed mouthed regarding where her sister may be. The only clues to date have been the appointment of a mysterious Council of Regents and the wearing of a bridle by the Princess Luna. When asked for comment by this reporter, Princess Luna had the following to say:
“My sister has been felled by a grievous illness and is currently being cared for by the best possible team of ponies. It is my hope that my sister will soon be restored to health and to her throne, but until then I shall wear this bridle to demonstrate that I serve the ponies of Equestria. When my sister returns I shall hand the reins of power over to her and gladly allow her to sit in judgement of my actions.
Celestia spun her head toward Cuddles, wincing as her mane caught in the brush just being worked into her mane, saying, “You have to let me go. They think I’m dead, Equestria’s enemies will flock to attack, the kingdom is vulnerable.” Mistress Cuddles, however, was undeterred.
“You gave me your word, Celestia,” Cuddles said in a firm voice, then she softened her tone slightly. “Besides, you haven’t read the byline yet.”
“The byline?” Celestia asked, whipping her head back around and searching for the name of the pony who had written the article. She found it, seconds later. The article had been written by Sharp Quill, a notorious “yellow journalist” who usually worked the gossip columns and had been nearly fired more than once from the Canterlot Chronicle. “Oh,” Celestia said, chastened, as she realized that the reporter pony’s sensationalism was on full display in the article they had written.
“Princess, this is part of your illness,” Mistress Cuddles said, pausing as she pulled the broken halves of her brush free of Celestia’s mane. “You are convinced that only you can protect Equestria, that only you have the power, the knowledge, and ultimately, the responsibility to protect the kingdom. Are you really that vain?” The words cut deeply into Celestia, deeper than they should have.
“I am not vain,” Celestia said, a little hotly, staring straight ahead and refusing to look back at Cuddles.
“Well, physically I can believe it,” Mistress Cuddles said, in a tone that blended condescension and pity in equal amounts. “When was the last time you let somepony brush out your mane for you? This is...Rarity would already be on her fainting couch if she saw this.”
Celestia wound back her memory, trying to pin down when the last time had been that she had allowed somepony to brush her mane, instead of either doing a quick surface brush or hiding the mess with the etherealness her mane took on normally. It had been…could it really be that long? To hide her surprise at the memory Celestia decided to ask a question.
“Seeing as I am being obedient to your commands,” Celestia began, turning her head slightly back towards Cuddles, “would it be possible for you to remove this bridle you’ve attached to me.”
“No,” Cuddles said bluntly and then spoke to one of the guards as she tossed down her brush in disgust. “Sand Storms, could you please find Dark Passage and ask her to bring me my ‘Discord’ case.”
“Could you at least tell me why I have to wear it?” Celestia asked. “It doesn’t have anything to do with the one Luna is wearing, does it?” Celestia laid the newspaper on the floor in front of her and began avidly scanning the headlines and articles, saving an in-depth reading for later.
“I will tell you, Princess, if you are willing to make another bargain with me?” Mistress Cuddles asked. Celestia paused at the hoofball scores.
“What do you want from me this time?” Celestia asked, a sarcastic edge to her voice. “My crown? My throne?” Cuddles let out a silvery laugh that tinkled amidst the branches of the tree. In the growing light Celestia saw a blue earth pony, with a night black mane come around the trunk of that tree with a large case in her mouth. She deposited the case beside the yellow bat pony without a word, departing as silently as she had come.
“Let’s see, Princess,” Mistress Cuddles said, as she opened the case and began pulling out numerous brushing implements. “In exchange for telling you the nature of your bridle, you will let me brush out and braid your mane for you each morning that you are here.” Putting words into action, Cuddles began to work out the knots in Celestia’s mane, the gentle tugging acting as a nice head massage.
Celestia thought about the consequences but mentally shrugged. Having her mane brushed felt good, it felt relaxing. She knew there had to be a catch in this somewhere, but for the life of her she couldn’t parse one out.
“Deal,” Celestia said, finally. “Other than chaining me here, I can’t say that you’ve done me any harm.” Cuddles managed to clear a section of mane of knots and moved on to the next.
“Of course we haven’t,” Mistress Cuddles said. “Now then, as to your bridle. It has several enchanted gems attached to it, most of which are there to show your moods and feelings. It is, for example, how I knew you were going to attack yesterday. The gem for anger lit up like a flare just before you launched yourself at me. But the main gem we are concerned with is the black one you will find in the center of the headband. When it becomes clear, then we will know you are cured and we can release you.” Cuddles had over half of Celestia’s mane clear of knots and snarls now.
“Wait, you actually do intend to release me?” Celestia said, putting the paper aside and laying her head down on her forelegs. The constant scalp massage the brushing was providing her was threatening to put her back to sleep and it felt good to lay her head down. Unseen, Mistress Cuddles smiled as she saw Celestia begin to surrender to the contentment of the care being given to her mane. She had the entire mass untangled now, as the enchanted brushes Fluttershy used on Discord proved their worth, yet again.
“Of course we do, Princess,” Cuddles said, beginning a series of long slow strokes through Celestia’s mane, making sure the nubs of her brush massaged Celestia’s head as she did so. The solar diarch’s eyes began to close a little more with each stroke, and as Mistress Cuddles reached the one hundredth stroke, a soft purring snore began to emanate from the princess.
“Let her sleep, gentlestallions,” Cuddles said to Sand Storms and Damned Age as she drew a comforter over the sleeping alicorn. “But stay with her and alert me as she wakes.” The two shadowbolts nodded in quiet unison and as Mistress Cuddles left on soft steps, quiet birdsong began to replace the sounds of conversation.
A few hours later, Celestia felt herself drifting back up through the layers of full sleep toward consciousness. She was enveloped in a soft comforting warmth and as she began to become aware of her surroundings the happy chirps of birds reached her ears. Celestia cracked open her eyes and she took in the sight of several small songbirds flitting back and forth over the nearby table. Realizing she was laying on her side, Celestia rolled upright, hearing a slight tinkling sound as she did so.
“Hello Princess, “ Sand Storms said, his head popping up from behind the far side of the table. “Did you have a good nap?” He placed a bowl filled with birdseed on the table, and it was swarmed by small birds who showed no fear of the darkly clad pegasus.
“Yes, I did,” Celestia said, yawning slightly, and she heard the tinkling sound again as her head moved. “Why did I sleep again? Is the anti-magic drug you’re feeding me supposed to do that?” She swung her head back and forth a bit, renewed soft metal tinkling confirming the sounds were definitely coming from her head or head motions.
“We asked the Mistress about that,” Damned Age said, carrying in a tray of steaming cups as he did. “It’s the after-effects of your initial sedation, so you may find yourself falling asleep very easily for the next few days. Also, you are a very tired pony. By the way, do you like what we did with your mane?” Understanding of the source of the tinkling sound filled Celestia’s mind, and she pulled her mane around to have a look at it.
It had been fully brushed out, the mane's long straight hairs having been woven into a series of complex braids that showed off their colours. Also, a series of long, thin gold chains had been intertwined with the braids and a series of tiny gems, charms and bells hung from the chains, accenting the colours of her mane and filling her movements with gentle sound. Celestia flicked her tail to curl around her, and noted that it too had been braided and had similar accents woven into it.
“So, I’m a chained mare, am I?” Celestia said, cocking a wry eyebrow at Damned. Celestia smiled a bit as the “evil” pegasus blushed slightly and she saw him take a deep breath to control himself.
“Well, we thought seeing as you probably won’t be doing anything strenuous today, that you might appreciate something a little pretty,” Sand Storms said, putting the bird feed away into a small cart. “We can take them out if you would prefer, it’s not a problem.” Celestia thought a bit on that. If they were offering to take the accents out, then they likely were not part of the shackles and harness that kept her prisoner, even if they did match aesthetically.
Besides, Celestia thought, It’s been awhile since I wore something just to feel pretty and these make me feel young, and a little giddy. I’d better be careful about that. Aloud she said, “No, you can leave them in. So, what is actually planned for me now? Back to my cell?” Damned and Sand both laughed at that.
“You gave your word not to try to escape or to try to hurt anypony,” Damned said, his ears perking up. “If you want to go back to your room, we can. But we were planning on taking you to the library, then lunch, and then maybe some cards.”
“So, let me get this straight,” Celestia said, her light mood making her feel a little reckless. “I’m wearing a bridle. I’m harnessed, shackled and without magic. I likely know more about what a mare can do with a pair of stallions then you’ve probably ever dreamed of in your wildest fantasies, and all you want to do is take me to a library and play some cards later?” Celestia lifted an eyebrow and smirked a bit at Sand Storms as she spoke. The younger pegasus blushed, but his older partner just snickered.
“Like I said earlier, Ma’am,” Damned Age said, with an answering smirk. “It would be an absolute joy to provide that service for you, or anything else along those lines. Can you imagine what it would be like, with you on the bed and your wings stretched out and lying flat, Sand and I on either side of you, with our muzzles busily preening those glorious ivory expanses of yours?”
Celestia's wings didn’t quite explode into an upraised display position as her mind painted the picture for her, but it was near enough that Damned Age was able to give a hearty chuckle at her reaction. His partner, Sand, just muttered darkly while turning away and both Celestia and Damned saw the younger pony trying to fight down his reaction.
“Why Sand,” Damned said, teasingly. “I thought Luna was the pony for you. Something about ‘that glorious lunar plot,’ or some such.” The teasing did the job and Sand was able to lock his wings down into the furled position.
“Luna is, I swear!” Sand said in his own defense, then gulped when he remembered who he had just admitted that in front of. Taking in a deep breath through his nose, he turned back to face Celestia with a sheepish look on his face, knowing he was going to hear about that later.
“C’mon, Princess, let us show you around,” Sand Storms said, stilling his face, once again calm and professional. Celestia smiled and nodded, feeling lighter than she had in some time, as her escort began to show her around.
That evening Celestia and Cuddles sat down to a sumptuous dinner together, accompanied by a pair of mares in shadowbolt uniforms who gave their names as Disunity and Moons Cheek, unicorns both. Cream of leek soup, mushroom risotto, and eggplant parmesan highlighted the meal, which was capped with a dessert of vanilla ice cream topped with a mango flambe. A crisp chardonneigh complimented the meal perfectly, and Celestia leaned back in her chair with a contented sigh.
“Was the food to your liking, your Highness?” Mistress Cuddles asked. The batpony mare wore black flowing robes along with a black lace choker holding a faceted topaz. Combined with her colouring and fangs, the jewelry and outfit lent her an exotic, mysterious appearance combining equal parts allure and danger.
“To be honest, Mistress Cuddles,” Celestia said, swirling the last of her wine around in the glass, “I really can’t remember the last time I was able to sit down and simply enjoy a meal like this, just for the flavours of the food.”
“Thank you, we have a wonderful chef here,” Cuddles said, pausing to sip on some applejack, her drink of choice. “Princess, may I ask you a question?” Celestia gave a small, rueful laugh and held up a foreleg so that the golden shackle fastened there could glint in the candlelight.
“Lest we forget, I am your prisoner,” Celestia said, less humour in her voice now. “The bars may be padded and the cage gilded, but I am a captive, so by all means, ask your question.”
“You seem to have benefited overall from the bargains we have struck today,” Mistress Cuddles said, with that slightly superior smile that Celestia had come to know. “Would you like to strike one more bargain, before the day is out?’
“Your bargains have been very reasonable up until now,” Celestia replied, leaning forward. “What’s your offer?
“I will tell you the nature of your shackles and the harness,” Cuddles said, slamming back the last of her drink. “In return, for the rest of your time under my care, you will use our gym and running track to have a supervised workout every day. Followed by a soak in the hotsprings we have down in the lower levels, after which you will allow me to curry you.” Celestia blinked.
“You are asking me… no, you are forcing me, to have a daily workout followed by a grooming session?” Celestia asked, surprise in her voice. Things were beginning to add up in her mind, but Celestia refused to believe the conclusion she was seeing.
“Princess,” Cuddles said, reading the alicorn’s turmoil via the enchanted bridle, “you have some of the worst muscle tone Fluttershy has seen in a long time. As long as you are mine, I’m going to change that. And if you wind up keeling over from exhaustion, that is a sacrifice I am prepared to make.” The pseudo threat put Celestia back on balance again.
“Very well, I agree,” Celestia replied. “But with one extra condition. I want you to tell me what exactly is going on here. None of this adds up, at least not in a way I’m willing to believe. Tell me why you are doing all this and I’ll… I’ll do whatever you ask from here on out.”
“As you said, Princess,” Mistress Cuddles said, “You aren’t willing to believe it...yet. I will tell you at dinner, day after tomorrow, if you haven’t figured it out by then.” Celestia frowned but nodded.
“All right,” the solar princess said, frowning a bit as she looked down at the harness locked to her body. “What exactly have you put on me that is capable of holding an alicorn?”
“They are called ‘inertial shackles’,” Mistress Cuddles began.
Two days later Celestia was getting ready for dinner again with Mistress Cuddles. Sand Storms and Damned Age waited nearby, patiently watching her, and Celestia could feel their approving looks on her. She had been an exemplary captive over the past couple of days, obeying without question any requests put to her and Celestia tried to fit everything together. For the past three days, she had been fed, groomed and pampered more than she had been in the past three centuries. In fact, if it wasn’t for the fact that she was a prisoner and all of this was being forced on her, this would be one of the most pleasant periods of her life in recent memory. That thought made Celestia pause and she ran it through her mind again.
If this wasn’t being forced on me..., Celestia thought, and then paused as her rejuvenated mind began to race. By the light, that’s it. I’m being forced to rest, being forced into pampering, and be taken care of. Images flashed through from Celestia’s memories. Kibitz nudging her, asking her if he could help her in any way. Luna begging her to take a few days off. Friends and companions over the last hundred years or so, asking her to take a break, to rest. Celestia realized what Mistress Cuddles had meant when she had said that she had become what Celestia needed.
That realization led to another, and then another. Celestia kept following the train of logic until she reached its end and her eyes went wide as she reached the ultimate conclusion. A conclusion she could no longer ignore or deny. Sand and Damned had been watching her the whole time, watching the play of emotions across her face and over her bridle. The two stallions were standing at attention as Celestia looked up at them urgently and Sand already had her room’s door open as Celestia pivoted and ran out the door.
It took the alicorn barely a minute to make the run to the glade and dinner was just being set up. Mistress Cuddles looked up from her work, saw Celestia, and for the first time gave a smile that truly made her look like Fluttershy. Celestia skidded to a stop, just inside the glade, with Sand and Damned hot on her hooves.
“Hello, Mistress Cuddles. For the past few days, you’ve been saying I’m sick and I think I’ve finally figured out what the disease is...”
“I think I’ve finally figured out what the disease is...” said Celestia, as she came to a halt in the glade where her and Cuddles took their meals. Cuddles looked back at Celestia with a smile that reminded the ancient pony of Fluttershy, filled with hope and happiness.
“What do you think is wrong, Princess?” Mistress Cuddles asked, leaning forward slightly.
“I… I think I might be a workaholic,” Celestia said, her face a roil of emotions, the coloured gems on her bridle flashing in every combination of colours imaginable as they revealed her inner turmoil.
“Go ahead, Princess,” Cuddles said, putting a wing against the alicorn. “Say it all. What do you mean you think you’re a workaholic?”
“Everything you’ve been doing,” Celestia began, going to her knees so she could look Mistress Cuddles in the eyes. “The meals, the grooming, the workouts, even braiding my mane. This hasn’t been a kidnapping at all. You’re forcing me to take a break from my work as Princess.”
“Why would we do that?” Mistress Cuddles said, raising an eyebrow. Her gesture and tone of voice said that she knew the answer already, but that she needed to hear Celestia say it.
“Because,” Celestia said, pausing to take a breath. “Because I wouldn’t listen to anypony who tried to tell me. Not you, not my advisors, not Kibitz, not… not even Luna. I wouldn’t even listen to my own sister." Celestia felt the beginnings of tears begin to sting her eyes and Mistress Cuddles lived up to her name, wrapping her wing around Celestia’s broad neck and cuddling her close.
“Why?” Mistress Cuddles asked, her voice as soft and gentle as a summer breeze. “Why wouldn’t you listen to all those ponies, who love and care for you?”
“I don’t know,” Celestia said. “You called me vain a couple of days ago. Perhaps that was it?”
“Considering the state your mane and coat were in,” Cuddles said, with a wry smile. “I very much doubt it was vanity that pushed you into your course of action. Try again.” Celestia paused in thought, looking inward and her introspection restored her emotional balance.
“Trust,” Celestia said, after a minutes long pause. “I don’t trust anypony else with Equestria. Not even my sister. Oh, you must think I’m a terrible pony if I can’t even put faith in my own sister.” Celestia’s calm began to fall apart again and she began to sniffle a bit. Cuddles made soothing noises while she stroked Celestia’s head with her wing.
“There, there. It’s okay,” Cuddles said, keeping her voice gentle and soft. “It’s just that for so very long the burden was all on you. You were the only pony for the job and just like somepony with a hurt leg, you got used to the pain and having to bear up under the weight. You got so you couldn’t even imagine not having that load, that strain.” Celestia sniffed, then nodded.
“That’s why you and the others arranged all of this,” Celestia said, a little wonder coming into her voice, “because the only way to get me to rest was to literally force me to. It’s why you all made me a prisoner and created this place, because each and everypony of you care about me.”
“Not entirely,” Cuddles said, with a small chuckle. “This place has been here for some time. The Cuddle Dungeon has played host to many powerful ponies over the years, including your sister, Twilight Sparkle and a few of her friends.”
“Wait,” Celestia said, surprised at the revelation. “Luna and Twilight have both been here as well. Why?”
“For reasons similar to those that brought you here,” Mistress Cuddles said. “Both of them needed to step away for a time, to find their balance again. Much as I did shortly after Flutterbat first manifested. Fluttershy needed to find a way to live with the wild creature inside her, and the Cuddle Dungeon did that for her.”
“Why isn’t this place more widely known, if so many ponies have been here?” Celestia asked, a little puzzled.
“Any pony who comes here is invited to become part of it’s staff afterward,” Cuddles said. “Those that agree become valuable assets in keeping Equestria and it’s most powerful ponies safe from themselves. Twilight, for example, is the pony that designed your shackles. As for those that don’t want to become part of our staff or advisory group, they have their memories altered, so that they only remember a restful beach vacation where they learned valuable lessons.”
“Incredible,” Celestia said, looking anew at the golden band around her fetlock and wondering if they would work just as well on other alicorns. “What happens now?”
“Well, you’ve made the biggest step, accepting that you have a problem,” Mistress Cuddles said. “What we need to do now is help you to learn how to accept the help of all those you have around you now. The Elements, Cadance, Twilight, and your sister, among others. You are no longer alone, and you can share the load now with those who are willing and able to help.”
“So, I get to go home now, right?” Celestia asked, a hopeful tone in her voice. Cuddles laughed her silvery laugh and shook her head.
“Not yet, Princess,” Cuddles said, and Celestia pouted slightly. “Perhaps I like having a princess as my prisoner, or maybe I have evil designs on your body.” Mistress Cuddles laughed again as Celestia rolled her eyes at her. “Or maybe it’s because you really do need at least another month of downtime, resting, eating health foods and doing healthy things, while you and I put together some long term strategies for the future.” Celestia looked back over her shoulder where Sand Storms and Damned Age looked at her, slightly sad expressions on their faces.
“Don’t look so sad, fellows. It’s looks like the two of you are stuck with me for a little while longer at least,” Celestia said, smiling at the pair she come to view as close friends. Which is why what happened next was such a surprise.
“I’m sorry, Princess Celestia,” Damned Age said, a sad little smile on his face, “but with you definitively on the mend, it’s time for me and Sand to go.”
“What do you mean?” Celestia asked, then turned to Cuddles. “What does he mean?”
“Thank you for your service in this matter,” Mistress Cuddles said, formally to the two pegasi. “I acknowledge that the obligation of the Shadowbolts has been discharged.”
“Wait,” Celestia said, standing up. “You two really are Shadowbolts?”
“Yes, we are, Ma’am,” Sand Storms said, walking up to within a step of Celestia. “We owned a debt to this place and a shadow is always sharpest when the light is at it’s brightest. We need you shining bright over Equestria.”
“I’ll miss you,” Celestia said, and she found that she meant it. “If you ever want to return to being proper ponies, you have only to ask.”
“And if you ever want a taste of Darkness, Princess,” Damned Age said, walking up to stand before Celestia on the other side, “you have only to say aloud our names and Sand and I will be there for you.” Then moving with the speed of his breed, he darted his head forward and playfully nibbled Celestia’s neck where it joined her shoulder.
“Maybe one day,” Celestia giggled, as she batted Damned Age away. “Until then, gentlecolts, you have my thanks.” Damned just smiled like a foal caught with his hoof in the cookie jar.
“Until then,” Sand Storms said, nodding to both Celestia and Mistress Cuddles. Then the pair of pegasi pumped their wings and ascended the shaft in a sheer vertical climb until they disappeared from view.
It had been two full months since Princess Celestia had gone away and the strain was beginning to show on Princess Luna. Even with Twilight helping her out as much as she could Luna was barely managing to get everything taken care of that needed to be done. What couldn’t be helped was the near panic most of the nobles were still in. What nobles weren’t panicking were scheming, jockeying for position and getting in Luna’s face at every opportunity. So it was something of a relief when Princess Celestia appeared in glory in the middle of the throne room.
“Get out of my chair, Usurper,” Celestia said, with a growl, and ponies around the room shrank back. Not only from the sheer crackling power the solar Diarch was holding in her horn, but from the brilliant glow coming off of Celestia’s body. Every inch of her shone with power and vitality, her ethereal mane flowing with an ever changing rainbow of colours, her body toned and trim, defined muscles that adding to her lithe beauty rather than making her look bulky or over large.
Luna began to slowly get off of the thrones but that wasn’t fast enough for Celestia, who grasped the reins attached to the bridle Luna wore and pulled her to the center of the throne room with her magic. Luna made no attempt to resist, keeping her head down and looking toward the floor. Thus, she missed the wink her sister tried to give her in passing. Luna didn’t even look up when Celestia wrapped the end of a long golden chain around her neck.
“Any other pony that was involved in this...conspiracy to steal me away,” Celestia said, every inch the ruler of Equestria. “Attach yourself to the chain I’ve fixed to your Mistress and I may show some mercy to you. I may even offer a cuddle or two.” Luna’s head shot up at that remark and she looked into her sister’s eyes reading the intent she saw there.
“Come, my ponies,” Luna said, her twitching ears being all that she allowed to show of her relief and amusement. “We are undone and Celestia knows all. Come to me and share my fate, lest she hunt you down individually.” Several ponies emerged from the crowd and looped their chain around themselves. Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Kibitz all stepped forward with about a dozen others in the throne room and the room crackled with anticipation at what was about to happen.
“You lot stand accused of kidnapping, assault and lèse-majesté on an almost unprecedented scale,” Celestia said, and she formed regalia for herself out of living fire as she stood in judgement. “You all freely admit your guilt, do you have anything to say before I pass sentence?” Nopony dared to say anything, nopony dared to move or even breathe overly loud.
“Very well,” Celestia said, fire wreathing about her in a blazing corona. “I grant you all the mercy of a quick execution.” The fire gathered around Celestia washed out in an unstoppable torrent and every pony watching had to look away from the brilliant fire that enveloped the guilty. When they could look back, all anypony could see was the long chain on the floor, lying amidst piles of ash.
“I must contemplate the meaning of these events,” Celestia said into the echoing silence as the remaining ponies, mainly nobles and their retainers, looked on in stunned shock. “Court is adjourned until tomorrow. Any case brought before me had best be of importance, as I shall not be pleased if I have to deal with petty issues. Good day.” Celestia teleported from the room and the nobles in the room stampeded the Day Court’s clerk, offering anything they could think of to the beleaguered pony, if only they would take their case off tomorrow’s list.
Celestia emerged from her teleport onto a beach of white sand. Happy music filled the air and the smells of all manner of tasty foods decided to make their presence known to her nose. She looked around the beach and noted with pleasure that several large beach umbrellas were still in place along with a cooler of cold drinks and piles of beach gear. All of those Celestia had “executed” were there, along with a great many others. Snacks and drinks were being distributed, and Pinkie Pie was already organizing some sort of game. Luna trotted up, a pair of drinks held in her magic, and Celestia wrapped her sister in a hug with forelegs and wings both.
“Luna, can you ever forgive me for being so blind?” Celestia asked in her sister’s ear and Luna’s eyes became filled with happy tears.
“I’m just thankful you came back,” Luna said, returning the hug, just as fiercely.
“We will always come back for each other,” Celestia vowed, releasing her sister. “However, I did want to ask you about a pair of pegasi I met...”
