Sin meditated to the sound of snowflakes landing on the balcony window of his new bedroom. A song of nature which he'd thought built by the harsh winds. He wondered how he could remain steady in the air and hear it when he was so deep beneath his own mind, under the memories of his lessons to better himself. He didn't want to move or open his eyes, for he would break his focus and lose grasp of levitating himself. He kept his palms together and in the first instant of hearing the door open, with the music of snow background by hooves and the warmth of the fireplace curling around his skin, the moment was almost perfect.
He inhaled the scent of vanilla from the pony who entered his room without permission, but nonetheless, that smooth aroma of the only mare he believed to still use such a shampoo was enlightening. Still, there was the problem of him being almost naked, and he recognized her magic as he never had before. His body was tensing around the smell, possessively, because, even with a troubling past between them, he loved her.
But something was strange about this mare. One voice was over hers and through his sensory he felt another pony beside the alicorn he had in mind to be the trespasser, a soft, sweet teenager that watched in awe of every object floating in circle around him at his control.
"This is my mother's coltfriend?" the voice asked.
"Well yes, but herding is allowed." He knew that voice. Celestia was in the room.
"Even if you're married?"
"Well Luna and I are married to him through our bond and the ritual that was performed." Luna answered. "Nevertheless, we are his wives and he may herd other mares so long as the alpha mare allows it."
"Who's the alpha mare?"
"Technically you're mother should be," Celestia replied with a smile. "But she doesn't know of the old laws, so Luna is since she was his first mare."
"Yeah, and the biggest pain in my ass." Sin said aloud as he turned mid-air to the alicorns and opened his eyes. To their surprise, he had color-changing eyes whilst staring down at them.
"That's not what you said when you shared a bed with her." Celestia rebuked smugly, receiving a groan of irritation from her human as she turned to see her niece was pretending to gag on the fact. "Oh don't act like that. It's what we did when we your age—well maybe not, seeing as how Sin would like to—"
"Can we just get on with it?" Flurry Heart interrupted, glaring at her aunt. "I want to meet this guy, not hear about the things you did as teenagers."
"I suppose putting your dad in a wall is not the best way to meet someone," Sin chuckled as he lowered the objects in his focus. He lowered himself afterward and landed in front of both mares.
He brushed his lips on Celestia to reassure the uncertainty in hers before making his acquaintance with the teen. "How's your mother doing?"
"She's doing fine," Flurry Heart answered with a hint of sarcasm. "Other than the fact that she can't stop talking about how it awesome that you knocked my father's lights out. Can't say I blame her for being that way, he was abusive to her for a long time."
She made her confession in her soft voice. Sin could feel the tension though, that hard battle of speaking clearly with having some emotional conflict.
"Sorry kid, I'm not your average man." He rubbed the top of her head gently. Her perfectly groomed mane got caught in his fingers, weaving and bunching together. Just to give her some grief. "I don't tip-toe around the bullshit, I face it head-on and give it hell."
"Huh?" Flurry Heart turned to her aunt for clarification.
"He means to say that he will protect anypony that is in trouble. It's in his nature."
"Yeah, anyway," Sin clapped his hands together, forgetting that his only piece of clothing were his shorts. "What brings you here so late? I was kind of busy with my meditation."
"I wanted to meet you, Mr. Firestorm." Flurry Heart admitted with a crucial eye on him. "I wanted to see if you're right for my mom."
He heard the seriousness n her voce, a small teasing note to him. He chuckled and turned away to take a seat with Celestia quick to follow in holding his hand, his ideas whispering over the current thoughts about his marefriend falling head over heels for his actions today. He sensed the teenager's sudden stillness though, the quick inhale of shock after he came into the light of the fireplace. He stopped dead in his pace and sighed, just loud enough for Celestia to hear.
"My scars are not what make me who I am."
"What the heck happened to you?" Flurry Heart was slow in her approach, and she was brave enough to touch one before Sin sat on the bed with Celestia clinging to him.
His focus shift to the alabaster princess, and his calm demeanor immediately morphed into bemusement when she would not stop moving her hooves.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" He asked in very frustrated tone, watching as the mare cleared her throat and levitated her crown to the side.
"May I rest on you?" Celestia asked quietly. The question certainly did take Sin by surprise, as he had expected her to inquire about what he had been doing, or that she wanted to sleep in the same bed tongue, but that was not going to happen. Not any time soon.
"Sure," he blushed whilst scooting back to cross his legs. Before he could even situate himself, he felt warm lips of his solar wife press on the side of his lips, which made him flinch.
"Thank you," Celestia whispered, and rested on her stomach with her head in his lap. She immediately closed her eyes, as the the last two days had drained her more than ever. She was mentally exhausted and without a shred of willpower to continue acting benevolent after Sin had returned. She merely wanted to relax and forget the day while she could.
Of course, behind the distrust and anger, there was still a kind-hearted lover in those hollow eyes of Sin's. He pet the back of her neck and gazed warmly at the teenager, laughing gently for the horror of his body, even in the absolute dark that touches the burgundy room. He'd told this story before, but that was too the mares now in his life and the family he had back in gryphonia. Now he just had to be as truthful with Flurry Heart.
He did not don any clothes right away but remained mostly nude with Celestia now wrapping her wings around his torso carefully. He remained still with just enough of his body showing every scar running from his feet to the back of his neck. He reached out and gently put Flurry's hoof to the first scar he earned.
"Nightmare Moon." He answered, then dragged said hoof in a circle over his chest. "Experimented on for over twenty years, tortured in ways that would make you insane." Then his limbs and neck. "And lastly, dismembered and put back together like a project, as if I were nothing more than building blocks. And the worst part was they used dark magic to keep me alive to see what they were doing."
Flurry Heart cringed at Sin, her soft, gentle eyes filled with disgust and horror as she traced the scars. It seemed to have an effect on the man as well. He lowered his hands, twiddling fingers together, and stared at her with a look of puzzlement and shame.
"How's that eye of yours? I doubt you've been taught healing magic or had someone take a look at it."
"It hurts alot," Flurry said quietly, "But everypony is preoccupied."
"I'd thought so," Sin glared at the swollen bruise. "You gonna be alright."
"I'm actually better now that I'm with my mother."
Sin raised an eyebrow at her. She's trying to play tough. Sin didn't even try to hide his concern. It was nothing at all like the ferocious, belligerent, wild hint of worry he had most of the time. He was actually soft and sweet to Flurry Heart whilst petting his lunar wife.
"You know you don't have to hide it," he said. "Playing the tough guy isn't going to get you anywhere."
"But you're doing it all the time." Flurry pointed out. "Mom said you have a hard time expressing yourself."
"Yes, but I'm pretty fucked up in the head." His grin widened as he watched the teenager grow less interested in him. "There's enough messed up stuff to make the most sane of ponies turn on a dime."
Flurry sent him a quelling glare. She forced his undivided attention back to the matter at hoof, determined to get some idea of what this man might be. "You do realize I'm here to see if you're good for my mom, right?"
"It's not hard to figure that out," Sin admitted. "All teenagers confront the stranger that is dating their mother or father. I just didn't expect you to be so sudden about it. To be honest, I was kind of hoping that you would confront me much later down the road."
"Well, I can say you're not impressing me," Flurry said, with an answering smile that faded quickly. "You're supposed to be some kind of gentlecolt, but right now you're being the opposite."
Sin managed a smile and replied clearly:
"I am a gentlecolt, but I don't have to be right now. Besides, I'm not going to be this perfect stallion you believe your mother deserves. I have flaws and weaknesses, and I'm not the kind of person to fool others into thinking I'm this great guy. I prefer to be honest, even if it means pissing off everyone around me."
"Well at least you have honesty," she snorted. "But I don't see in you what my mom sees."
"It's going to take some time for you to understand the kind of person I am." Sin told her, but there was a hint annoyance in his voice as he looked down to Luna, fast asleep already and hugging his torso tightly. "But if you're worried about your mother, then you should go ask her what she sees in me."
Flurry Heart did not like that answer, but she was not going to push the matter to this man's limit. Her expression shifted to bemusement before she turned away and made a solemn retreat to her mother and sister. The door closed gently, but Sin was no fool to the emotions of a raging teenager. He had heard the door handle shaking violently in Flurry Heart's grasp before he was left alone with his exhausted mare on the brink of sleep.
"So, you gave out finally?" Sin's voice permeated the room after he looked down to the alicorn, frustration and annoyance laced in every word that carelessly slipped his tongue. "You spend your entire life without me, but two days after finding I'm alive and breathing you decide to crash?"
"Can't you sit here and love your wife by petting her? There is no need for hostility." Celestia inferred, but Sin's gaze shifted to incredulity.
"I suppose I could, but what would be the fun in that? I have to pay you and Luna back for the hell you two put me through." The man rebutted with a hint of sarcasm. He did not have a valid point there, but as odd and strange as he was, Celestia was not inclined to accepting the punishment she deserved.
"Sin, I wish not to beg of you for reassurance that you do still love and want me," Celestia released him but rolled onto her side to eye the man with great need, a loving hoof touching his free hand as she expressed genuine tears for the first time. "Please, let me rest in your lap, and express our bond."
Sin did not agree to the request, but behind the crucial glare was a warmth for comforting the teary-eyed mare waiting for him to show something other than distrust and spite. Begrudgingly, he sighed before arching to the alicorn and planting a firm kiss to her cheek. The giggling from her was beyond annoying, but he could not find it in his heart to be the cruel man he usually was.
"Love you too, you furry pain in my ass." He whispered, and she laughed in his stomach whilst giving him a victorious grin.
"That's all I need, you furless pain in my ass." She said contently.
"So when is court?"
"I am taking the day off," she replied, but that was not the case and Sin wasn't buying it. He knew better than to think that Celestia would suddenly find it in herself to ignore the demands of the nobles. Better than that, his words elicited a sneeze and deep sniffling from the princess.
"Spending a good hour in the snow at your doorstep has forced me to come down with something, okay!" Celestia had lost all restraint, though ashamed of this predicament, and clung to Sin as he went about checking her forehead with his hand.
"Surprising, an alicorn that can get a cold." He told her sarcastically, before removing his hand. "Yup, you caught a damn cold while doing your hopeless romantic crap at my doorstep. Should have stayed at home."
"Well it does not help that I spared my reserves to you," she rebuked, coughing into her hoof.
"So much for immortality."
"We may be immortal, but we are not invincible." She reminded him in a suddenly raspy voice. Sin then realized she had been using an illusion, and it began to wore off, starting with her face. Her eyes were actually bloodshot and watery, as was her snout turning three shades of red.
"Sin," Celestia whined, rolling onto her back with her head still in his lap. "Nurse me back to health."
"As if I had a choice." Sin sarcastically remarked, a response Celestia chose ignore. Unfortunately, that meant cutting his meditation and connection with Setsuna too soon. He had plans for a few of the monsters sealed inside, plans that involved his revenge against the council for thinking of executing him.
Sadly, he removed himself from the solar princess and did what came to him as a natural instinct from the generations he'd spent taking care of individuals, mostly of the children he raised. He stood up and levitated the alicorn so she was resting properly under the covers he enchanted to adjust to the temperature that suits whoever lies under them. In this case, Celestia was burning up and the covers had turned blue as the enchantment went to work in cooling her off.
He was gentle though, with removing her crown and slippers, but carefree of them when they were off. He tossed the objects into a nearby chair and listened to the clank of gold whilst digging into his enchanted bag for the materials needed in curing the princess.
"So how would you like to go about this?" He asked the alicorn as the depth of the bag went to his shoulders. Celestia was mildly afraid to find out how deep the bag went, as Sin had already given and went head first, searching for whatever he needed with nothing stopping him from being engulfed and possibly lost forever.
"Do you want medicine that will cure you or just curtain the symptoms?" His voice could be heard echoing inside the bag, background by the sounds of glass breaking and loud banging from metal.
"Where is that damn thing?" He asked aloud, before hitting his head on something and screaming:
"SHIT. FUCKING CHEMISTRY TABLE!"
The rest of Sin's search in his enchanted bag—which was an entire twenty minutes—could not have gone worse, but was more than expected since Celestia was more curious about him than resting in bed. Wonders of what could possibly be in there starting to grind in her mind, though a few moments of the man poking his head out to make sure she was still in bed made it so she kept a distance.
"Do you need help?" She asked, watching her husband stand on his toes as the bag swallowed him down to his ankles.
"Get out of that bed again. I fucking dare you." Sin screamed from inside, breaking the small bout of worry inside the mare. Being reminded how much of an asshole he could be did it for the alicorn, and she remained under the covers with her hooves crossed and cheeks puffed.
"I found it. Finally, the little bastard was biding in the dragon cauldron, underneath the behemoth skull."
"Ah. You have what you need?" Celestia asked redundantly, apparently familiar with her mate's intention taking place just as the bag flew off of him to reveal his clean attire now soaked in potions and herbs. Sin shook the broken glass in his hair and held up to large medicine bottles in each hand.
"Pick your poison," he said with a grin. "this one hides the symptoms and hastens your body to recover but it gives you exploding shits, literally. I recommend a steel toilet."
Celestia cringed as he approached and turned to the second bottle.
"And the other remedy will?"
"You will be in bed for an entire week." He answered, though not as enthusiastic since he wanted to see her suffer by choosing the first medicine. "Much more natural for your immune system to have this, but you will not leave the room, ever."
"I'd rather remain in bed," Celestia commented, acknowledging that now was not the time to be picky or thinking about her subjects. "Besides, if you are my caretaker during my recovery, then I will not have to worry about you stirring trouble with the nobles."
"I may be an asshole," Sin affirmed whilst pouring the remedy of Celestia's choice into a spoon. He held it out for her and smiled warmly as she sniffed it. It was clearly bitter, but she did not expect herself gagging at the foul aroma. "But I'm not a dick. I still love you, and I have obligations now."
"Must I suffer this foul concoction you have?" the solar princess asked, fighting the urge to cry. "What is this made of anyway?"
Sin shrugged his shoulders and replied with a casual tone in his voice:
"My memory is a little foggy, but I do recall cherry blossoms, mountain flowers, grounded dragon scales and some of my blood."
"Your blood?" Celestia questioned, furrowing her brow. Sin nodded and grinned like a child while she had second thoughts.
"Apparently the magic in my blood has a powerful healing effect. It's fast for me—if I was ever sick or injured—but it takes a little longer for a pony. Still, it's effective."
"And you are certain of this because—"
"Had it tested ten years ago. A doctor from Prance wanted to test my blood, so I let him." Sin answered as she sat up to meet at eye level. As always, she was quietly mesmerizing in her own little world with him as the second being to reside with her during the fantasy, but her ideas were nothing of a teenager with desires, not anymore. Deep down—as the medicine slipped down her throat— something in Celestia had her worried about the human who was unusually critical with her all of a sudden.
"So. . . when were you going to tell me that the purple alicorn is our granddaughter?" Sin broke the silence and his curiosity, breaking that longing gaze Celestia had about her. She gasped, and her eyes widened at how quickly he figured out that Twilight was no mere alicorn. She was almost afraid to admit it, but she could see behind those broken eyes a man that cannot be fooled.
"I'd thought you would not discover that our family tree has grown so much, but I suppose I am a fool for believing that nopony would find out. Please, don't tell anypony," Celestia beckoned, a powerful sense of seriousness laced in her words, absent of the warm and gentle nature that is her. Sin chuckled at the mare before sitting next to her with a gentle kiss to ease her anxiety. The two sat comfortably for a moment with the same thought in mind.
"So Cinder had kids before Solaris corrupted him," Sin said nonchalantly. "Can't say I'm surprised. He had his dad's sex drive."
"How did you even know? She has no similarities to you or I." Celestia pointed out crucially.
"Come on, Tia;" Sin chastised, nudging the sniffling mare as she lied back down but with her wings around him. "Did you really think I would not sense how strong she is, or the similarity of our magic? I could feel that part of us is in her and I saw it in her eyes, I saw that burning determination and knew right then and there she was my descendant."
"She's not aware of this, just so you know." Celestia told him, though a little weaker than she'd wanted. The cold, however, was starting to best her mind and body as Sin sighed at her with disappointment.
"I won't tell her," He promised. "Not yet at least."
"Twilight has her own life to live and the last thing I want is for her to be mixed in our troubles right now." Celestia admitted. Sin had to resist the urge to chew her out for bringing up that subject, but she had a good point. He sighed and rested his chin in his hands.
"Yeah, I suppose it would be a big shit-storm to bring it up. She's probably foaming from her mouth after seeing me attack Discord."
"No, she's probably foaming from her mouth after I told her that you are Luna's and I's husband." Celestia clarified. Sin took that pause to get a few words in while she was still awake.
"Talk about some Jerry Springer bullshit. Still, we probably should worry about the press first; at least until the council pays a visit to see that I'm still breathing." Sin pointed, and then smiled down at the mare as she moaned to the tender love of his hand rubbing her cheek. "Which reminds me; those fuckers are going to be removed from power when I see them."
"And how do you plan to do that?"
"Simple, the authority falls to the eldest male, which is me," Sin pointed out, though with as little enthusiasm as possible. "And the council was made by Era and Solaris, but they made sure to document that only a new council may be formed should there be more capable candidates, which I do have."
Now things became undoubtedly interesting to the princess. While it was common knowledge that protocols needed to be followed before removing the council, Celestia had the distinct feeling of Sin having his idea already planned to have a flawless outcome. Perhaps she was overlooking him too much and wanted to ignore the political troubles coming their way, but he felt so comfortable and warm that it was impossible to focus on the matter at hoof.
"And how could you possibly possess candidates for the council?" She yawned into the grinning man's torso and followed his gaze to the floating Setsuna, which was flashing a deep magenta and approaching.
"I forgot to mention something," Sin paused nervously, knowing he was about to be in deep trouble. "The candidates I have in mind, I need to have a talk with them in the sword."
Celestia's eyes widened, and she rose from the brink of slumber as the sword fell into Sin's hand. Immediately, she refused to be left in the dark about these candidates, but she was forced off the matter by a knock at the door and a familiar voice that was screaming and belittling the unfortunate guards that were walking by.
"Okay, who the fuck is making so much noise?" Sin asked with a great measure of anger, urging Celestia to remain in bed while he went out and took care of the stupid bastard making a ruckus.
Unfortunately, the doors flew open with the locks shattering and Sin was greeted by a belligerent unicorn with blond mane standing in front of two guards that had already been stripped of their solar status. Both of them bowed out of cowardice to the unicorn screaming at them, but when Sin's shadow loomed over them and the source of the commotion, they spun around and immediately bowed to the enraged prince who was cracking his knuckles.
"Prince Sin," one of the guards said, which took the man by surprise as he stared at this very well-dressed stallion. He could hear Celestia standing up to butt in, but he turned to her and scowled before ordering in a deep tone:
"Keep your ass in bed. You're sick and you need rest."
Celestia was quick to hop back in bed and hide under the covers, especially when his eyes turned black. She hated that, almost as much as somepony giving her coconut cake. With that said and done, Sin turned his attention back to the pair of guards still bowing to him. They did not speak, but began to sweat profusely as the blond unicorn expressed disgust of the human.
"What is this vile creature doing in the castle?" The stallion asked, looking past Sin to his ill auntie who had grown a nasty cough now. "Auntie, you have a hideous creature here. Is this a new pet or another one of your acts of kindness by housing it?"
"Auntie?" Sin cocked an eyebrow at the pony, then turned to his sick wife.
"I adopted him. Meet your nephew in law." Celestia said before rolling away to ignore the grin that suddenly flashed on Sin's face. He focused on the clearly spoiled unicorn and stepped forward to greet him. It was obvious that Blueblood did not hear a single thing she said, for he was in his own little world at the moment.
"Oh, it has the ability to speak some words." Blueblood said humorously, infuriating the immortal to the point of releasing large amounts of magic throughout his body. "Well be a good pet and return to my auntie. I need to speak with her about Cadance bringing a common filly into the castle and Admiral Spitfire attempting courtship with me."
"Was it a filly by the name of Rose Spark?" Sin towered over the stallion with incredulity. "Because if so, then you're treading on thin ice."
"I don't have time for this," Blueblood looked down to the guards to have Sin arrested, but he was beaten to the punch in the blink of an eye—or by the zipper in this case.
Out of nowhere and possibly the most heinous thing to have ever been done by Blueblood, Sin immediately silenced the pony by unzipping his pants, whipping it out, and by his own moral standards of punishing those who put their noses where they should not be, proceeded to pee on the prince.
Screams of horror filled the entire castle as Sin watched with delight his new nephew backing into a wall, sputtering for him to stop while the guards between watched in shock. Nobody had ever done that to the pampered and were downright bewildered by the man that Sin is, but who said they did not want a little revenge for taking his crap over the years. Even Celestia—the benevolent princess that has not a single bad bone in her body—gawked at her husband before guffawing. She wasn't sure if Sin was insane or actually man-enough to commit such a vile act, but one thing was certain, it was good to have her other half back home.
"Sorry," Sin screamed at the soaked stallion as he zipped his pants, grinning maliciously. "This pet hasn't been house-trained."
Blueblood finally quit sputtering, but the nightmare was far from over, as it had been assumed by the alabaster alicorn, Sin squat to the stallion's level and glared whilst listening to the guards snicker and a few familiar ponies round the corner.
"By the way, I'm your auntie's husband. So welcome to hell, nephew, because I'm going to teach you manners." Sin told him casually, before turning to the next pony he had his mind on. Of course, she stood there with that sarcastic grin on her.
He took a deep breath though, and told her in a serious tone:
"So you tried a few minutes ago to court this fucker, Spitfire. Well, you can have him for all I care, but you have ten seconds to get the fuck of this castle."
Immediately, Cadance glared down at the pegasus, who had the gall to smile up at her.
"Hope we're still friends." Spitfire chuckled nervously.