Cookies for Heaven

[letteropener]

Who: Princess Celestia
When: October 14-21st
Where: All around the Far Shore
What: Princess Celestia brings cookies and, perhaps more importantly, wellness checks to the temples of the Far Shore.


Two things circled each other in Celestia's mind, forming a taijutu symbol in the way each completed the other: A lot of people in the Far Shore really needed some personal attention, friendship, and care; and she had, thanks to practice and effort, gotten quite good at baking cookies.

So each morning, Celestia cheerfully moved dough into her oven on sheet after sheet, the entire kitchen in Inti's temple animated in golden light like Merlin himself had set it all to baking-- and each afternoon, Celestia took wing above the Far Shore, traveling from temple to temple to seek out the inhabitants therein.

So at some point, an alicorn will come knocking at your door, with a bright smile on her face and a basket of cookies floating by her side.

Comments

[letteropener]

Oh, well. Having never attracted such a nemesis, I suppose I should worry about my own standing.

[Apparently gentle teasing is not considered torment enough to be forbidden.]

[priforprince]

No one would dare.

[ Don't examine the contradiction. She won't.

Perhaps it's the plu talking. ]

[letteropener]

[Celestia pauses as she magically reaches for the new cup of tea to pass it over -- then lets out a very unPrincessly snort. One hoof goes up to her mouth to cover her sudden gigglefit.]

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki cocks an eyebrow and just stares, waiting for her to be done. ]

.....You're a mysterious individual.

[letteropener]

Oh, not in the least. [Whether that's true or not, she's making the claim here and now.] I'm sorry. I was just imagining you meeting Discord, the Spirit of Disharmony, and informing him he shouldn't be mischievous towards me with just that sort of attitude.

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki sniffs. She means it to be belittling of this Spirit of Disharmony fellow - what an unpleasant title - but it turns into a full-out sniffle due to the current condition of her nose. ] I should be stricter with anyone who meant you serious harm.

[ And then she has to...blow said nose. It got tickly. ]

[letteropener]

[Poor Hibiki. Celestia hurriedly whisks over the new cup of tea, so the warm steam can help to ease her congested sinuses.] For some people, Discord being one of them, telling them not to do something is the surest way to get them to do it.

[priforprince]

Unpleasant as his name.

[ Hibiki takes full use of this steam, yes. ]

[letteropener]

Oh, you shouldn't be so hard on poor Discord. His threat to Equestria has been ended.

[priforprince]

I see.

[ Hibiki considers this. Like all monarchs, this Princess has left behind a precious kingdom.....

There are things she almost wants to ask, being rather maudlin from her cold.

No, she'd best not. Better instead to sniffle some more, and drink tea. ]

[letteropener]

[Celestia waits out this pregnant pause, then when nothing comes of it, begins tidying up the teapot. Leaving a mess simply wouldn't do.]

Honestly, I think Equestria is in excellent shape these days. I'm pretty sure all the thousand-year evils have been dealt with...

[priforprince]

If no one uses sentence enders, then it's a Paradise.

[ And if it's run by Celestia, Hibiki is totally down for vacances in talking pony land. ]

[letteropener]

I think you'd love Canterlot. [Hibiki would fit in well with the unicorn social set (Celestia cannot think of Hibiki as any other sort of pony), likely lapsing into games of status and power as if she were born to them.]

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki is a unicorn dating an alicorn and an earth pony, it's true. Ando is still a goat.

She pictures what a puniverse run by Celestia must be like. Where no sentence enders are uttered. Ever?

Ever, perhaps.... ]

The thought heals me.

[ It's true. She feels a little bit less congested. ]

[letteropener]

I'm glad for that, but I think some soup and a good night's sleep might go farther. [Celestia hasn't lost sight of the real goal here, no matter the banter.]

[priforprince]

Mm.

[ Hibiki closes her eyes, partially to assent and partially to relax into her fantasy of a world whose air a sentence ender has never tarnished.

If she stays here, she will feel better. ]

[letteropener]

...Actually, would you like some soup now? I can certainly get some for you. [One of the benefits of being both a god and herself: quick travel. And she isn't certain how well Hibiki has been eating while under the weather.]

[priforprince]

No, I think I might rest for a while.

[ She wants to keep thinking about this sentence-ender-less place. It will help her sleep more. ]

[letteropener]

I'll make sure you have some waiting, then. [Setting the cleaned teapot aside -- very cleaned, as it downright gleams -- Celestia turns back to properly regard Hibiki. With a gentle motion of her horn, Hibiki's pillow fluffs up beneath her, and then the blanket tucks around her all the more comfortably.]

[Her mothering is slightly aggressive because any less than that would simply bounce clean off Hibiki.]

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki is too far absorbed in her own concerns to protest again about a Princess doing such favors for her, though she may acknowledge a debt when she's feeling more herself. For now, however, she will take this new level of unbelievable comfort as it comes, and relax into her newly fluffy pillow beneath her perfectly-tucked-in blanket.

Under the circumstances, it will not take long for her to doze off. She looks very peaceful. ]

[letteropener]

[Celestia helps, as is her way, by humming a gentle lullaby as she tidies up the last few things around the room. Hibiki's teacup goes off into the sink where it obligingly washes himself. If it does Hibiki's soul good to have a magic pony princess filling the air with soft, warm music while she strolls around the temple to make sure all is in order, so much the better.]

[At last, with those minor chores done, Celestia comes back over to check on Hibiki with a fond smile. Then she creeps out, careful not to wake the girl. She needs her rest, and her dreams.]

[When Hibiki wakes, she'll find a pot of vegetable soup on the stove, just waiting to be heated again, and a rose in a vase on the table to bring a little color to her poor stuffy world.]

[priforprince]

[ And she just might carry the rose with her for the rest of her plu. You are what a goddess should aspire to be, Princess Celestia.

She looks forward to showing you her Paradise, as well. ]