Sleeping In My Carriage
I stood on stage in the spotlight, my pale pink and purple mane cascading around my neck and shoulders, with one lock halfway covering my left eye. Not to be conceded, but I had a gorgeous mane. The audience stared back at me with avid eyes, as I sang and older swing song, by one Filly Holliday.
“Am I blue?
Am I blue?
Ain’t these tears in my eyes telling you?
Am I blue? Oh you’d be too.
Now he’s gone and we’re through, am I bluuue?”
My sister was in the crowd, dabbing at her eyes with a napkin. Her magical glow illuminated her face slightly in the dark room. I gave her a wink. I was really glad she could make it. I was really nervous about coming on stage tonight, with this being my first big name gig since my last one in Manehattan. This was different, though. This was Canterlot; I had to do my best. And I was doing it too, in the interest that I not let my sister and my friends down. They sat on either side of her, one smiling like an idiot, and the other barely managing to keep her tears in. Respectively, they wore military formal, and a pale red dress. I decided to throw a little more soul into my voice, and really yank on those heart strings.
“Ooooh, was I gaaay till too-daaay?
Now he’s gone, mm we’re through, aaam I bluuue?”
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t sing it like zebra soul, I just drew my words out a bit and made them sound a bit more heartfelt. It worked, as I watched my country friend lose it in a quiet sob against her fetlock. She looked nice when she got cleaned up. My other friend didn’t do much, just grinned even wider.
I was drawing close to the end of the song, so I finished it with a somewhat sultry expression. I closed my eyes and barely tilted my head down and slightly to the right, then opened them halfway, and looked sidelong at the audience.
“Aaaaam III-III Bluuuuuueee…”
The went crazy for it. The sound of vigorous stomping filled the dimly lit restaurant, and the spotlight over me went out. As I walked away from the mic, a heard a few chairs scrub the floor and I knew my guests would be coming backstage to congratulate me. I looked over at the large stallion standing beside the stage. “Hey, Silk, I got some guests coming backstage. Let em’ through honey.”
“Will do ma’am.” Silky Sweet, he truly lived up to his name. His voice was soft and gentle, but still strong and firm. He was a charmer too, always bringing me flowers and chocolate before I went on. Make no mistake, he didn’t work at the restaurant, he worked for me. He was a bodyguard I hired after a performance in Manehattan ended… traumatically. After some therapy and a few self defense classes, I had put an ad in the papers, and he applied the next day.
As I trotted into my dressing room, I noticed a large bouquet of dark blue lilies on the vanity, next to the smaller one of tulips Silky had gotten me. The vase containing them had a small crescent moon on it, telling me immediately who they ere from.
“You know, Sweetie, they always reminded me of you,” Princess Luna said from behind me, “They’re so delicate and lovely, yet extremely resilient. Even before I met you, I loved lilies.”
“Luna, I’m so glad you could make it. Did Princess Celestia come too?” I asked, giving my royal friend an affectionate nuzzle. She always tried to make it to my shows, if her duties permitted.
“No, I’m afraid my sister is too busy negotiating with the Griffin King,” She said solemnly, closing her eyes. “I’m sorry. I wish-”
“Ssshh,” I whispered, putting a hoof to her lips. “I’m not that close to your sister, so no big deal. But you, I would have been really sad if you couldn’t make it.”
“Mmm,” she mumbled, and nudged my hoof aside to nuzzle it. “I would not stand for that. You deserve to be happy, and I want to make it so,” she whispered to me.
Hoof steps behind Luna made me wrap my forelegs around her in a bear hug that would have made Applejack proud. “We have company,” I whispered to her, knowing what my sister would say if she caught us.
“Do we not always?” she huffed, and begrudgingly backed away from me. Even Princess Celestia had intruded on them on a number of occasion. It was not surprising that it grated on her nerves, whereas I was a patient mare. Being one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders tends to teach you god-like amounts of patience.
The reason, you ask, for our secrecy? It was Luna’s idea. If it was discovered that one of the royal sisters was involved with another mare, the political backlash would be devastating. Or so she said. The world was becoming such a liberal place, and I personally thought coming out would be better in the end. But ultimately, we had agreed to do things her way.
“Oh! Princess! It always surprises me to find you backstage. I didn’t see you in the audience, where were you?” my sister asked anxiously, giving a low bow.
“I was under the guise of the shadows. I t would not due to upstage the star of the show,” she said simply.
“Quite so, Princess,” My sister answered quietly. “Sweetie Belle, I regret to tell you that Scootaloo was called away to work. Something about a rouge tornado in Fillydelphia. Apple Bloom went to see her off. Honestly, with those two, ponies might start to talk… But I digress.”
“Yes, that would be unfortunate,” Luna said sourly, and slightly cut her eyes at Rarity, enough that only I was able to notice it. Reading faces was something I had tried my hoof at whilst crusading. I was… decent at it. It was not unknown that my lovely marefriend disagreed with Rarity’s views on homosexuality. She tolerated, but did not approve of it. It didn’t matter to me if she approved or not, as long as she didn’t hate me when she found out I rolled that way. Yes, when, I did plan on telling her… one day.
“Hey sis, could I have a minute with L-Princess Luna? Alone?” I asked, giving her a look she knew well, that said, get out, or I will magic your plot through the curtains.
“Oh, of course, I know you don’t really see her much so… Ta-Ta,” she said, and quickly trotted away.
“Sometimes, the power of your gaze seems to rival that of Fluttershy,” Luna commented, and took a few steps closer to me.
“Mmm, who do you think taught me?” I asked, and brought my face close to hers. “You can make it so we don’t have to hide, love.”
“We must… for just a little longer. The Griffin King desires a war, and they share your sisters opinion of our kind… it would be a short fuse to a large explosive,” she explained, as a sad look crept into her eyes.
“Hmm… the intermission lasts ten minutes, and it takes two for me to re-apply my lipstick. We’ve spent three minutes chatting. Let’s not waste those last five,” I said seductively, and brought my face to hers, “Smile for me, Luna.”
“Oh, you… mmm… mm… Hmmm…” Any sentence she was about to produce was lost as my lips and hers melted together in bliss. And moans. Luna moaned a lot when we kissed. I didn’t mind, it was kind of hot.
We had five minutes, and we used every last bit of it, practicing our tongue wrestling skills. But, our time was up too soon, and I had to reapply my make up, and adjust me dress… and… redo my mane… “Luna, we have WAY too much fun,” I stated, running a brush through my mane, whilst simultaneously reapplying lipstick, blush, and mascara, and also adjusting my dress so it was as it was before the intermission. Yeah, I had magic skills, thanks to Princess Twilight.
“Ahem. Indeed, my love, indeed. I have always been an aggressive part… ner…” she said, trailing off as she looked to my left. “Um… hello… Rarity.”
“WHAT?!” I screeched, causing my voice, for the first time in years, to crack. I didn’t even realize that my lipstick had streaked across my cheek when I turned to face the pale unicorn standing in the doorway. Her eye was twitching. Her eye was twitching and that was never a good thing. That was never a good thing because somepony ALWAYS got hurt when her eye started twitching.
“I’m… I’m just going to go sit back down, and pretend I didn’t see… any of the past three minutes,” she choked out, before turning around to head back to her table.
“Buck!” I shouted, and slammed my hoof down on the vanity. “Why the buck does everything happen like this?!”
“Sweetie, please calm down. You said you were going to tell her, didn’t you?” Luna said, trying to coax me out of my fury. It almost worked.
“Yes, Luna,” I said, turning to my mare friend, “I was planning to tell her, but I’m sure you’re familiar with the term TACT! She needed to be eased into it, like a peace treaty, not have it thrust in her face like a BUCKING CONQUEST!!!”
“Please, my love, calm yourself. Remember what the doctor says about your heart.”
I froze. She played the doctor card. That always stopped my rants, because, she was right. I had problems with my blood pressure affecting my fragile heart, and getting that worked up could possibly kill me. I slowed my breathing, and closed my eyes, in an attempt to calm myself down. There was a reason I only sang jazz, soul, blues and swing… rock and metal would kill me, I couldn’t rap to save my life, I was not fond of pop, and I lacked any sort of skill when it came to opera. I eventually managed to calm myself down, just before Silky came trotting in.
“Miss Belle, you’re behind. You need to be on stage last month!” he scolded, noting the princess next to me. “Evening, Princess.”
“Hello, Silky. Sweetie, go bludgeon them to their graves,” my lover said, trying to be clever.
“You mean, ‘knock them dead,’ my love.” I corrected, causing her to blush.
“I should stop trying to use colloquialisms, shouldn’t I?” she asked sheepishly, as I wiped the stray lipstick from my coat. That was why I always bought cheap makeup, because my coat was easily stained.
I gave her a small peck on the cheek as I made my way to the stage. “Perhaps, dear, at least until you learn them properly.”
Back on stage, I saw a blue mist creep it’s way over head, and find rest in a corner shrouded in darkness. I smiled, knowing she would love this next song. It was one of the few pop songs I ever sang on stage, albeit with a considerable decrease in tempo.
“We’re having fun most every night,
When that ol’ moon gets big and bright,
It’s a supernatural delight…”
I could see her practically luminescent smile from the corner as I sang about her wonderful ward.
*C*
The show was over, and I was patiently sitting backstage, waiting for the inevitable crap storm that I knew was coming. Rarity would be furious, after the shock subsided, over my ‘choice’ in sexuality. Choice my plot. Love doesn’t choose, and neither does lust. It pissed me off whenever she called it a choice, and it always took everything I had not to butcher her with a vivisection spell. And yes, honey, I do know one. I… I wanted to make sure that… Manehattan…. never happened again.
“Sweetie? Sweetie Belle?” There she was, ready to scold me. I was nineteen now, and she still treated me like a foal.
“I‘m here, so get it over with,” I deadpanned, and turned my little swivel chair towards the back stage entry.
She visibly flinched at my tone, which made me feel just a little bad. She sighed, and trotted over to me. “I want to apologize for the way I reacted earlier. I was merely surprised.” I smiled as she pawed at the floor nervously, but that smile vanished in a moment. “Sweetie, you and I have our fair share of… differences. I’ve always tried my best to be supportive, and while I know I’m not the greatest sister in the world, I want you to know that I will always love you.” My eyes were wide with shock. I had maybe expected an apology, but nothing like this. “I understand it, now that I’ve had some education on the matter, thanks to Fluttershy. Awfully persistent when she wants to be. I know that you can choose to deny the attraction, and choose to ignore your feelings, but you can’t choose who you love. So, I have only one question, do you love the Princess?”
“Yes,” I answered a little too quickly. “I’ve loved her for the past three years.”
“And she returns the sentiment?”
“I do.” Rarity turned to see Luna standing proudly behind her, with her head held back a bit. “I have loved Sweetie Belle for somewhat longer than she I.”
“Then I support my sister, and wish you both the best of luck,” she said with a smile, before trotting out of the dressing room.
“That… went very well,” I stated obviously, as Luna came to stand before me.
“Indeed. I regret that I must return to the caste. Shall I come see you in the morning?”
“I’d like that. Give your sister my best.” I gave her a quick kiss, and then she vanished, leaving a faint taste in my mouth of cherries, and I smiled. Cherries were my favorite.
My love knew me well.
*C*
I sat in my magically drawn carriage, which I enchanted myself, gazing out over the cityscape. The sky was just beginning to lighten, sending shades of violet streaking across the land. It was beautiful, like the mare that lay beside me.
“It was to your liking?” she asked, lifting her head lazily.
“Always, my love. You never disappoint in the act,” I said in a hushed tone, smiling as Luna’s forelegs pulled tighter around me. “Of course, the sex could have been awful, and I still would have loved it.”
“You always know just what to say, don’t you?” she whispered, and nibbled on my ear, causing me to moan a bit.
“Oh, but you know just… mmmm… how to work me over…” I muttered, pushing back into my lover’s embrace, feeling every inch of her slender body against my own. “but you know, I’m only good for one round.”
Luna chuckled, causing her chest to vibrate against me. Felt nice. “Mmm, I suppose you’ll need some energy to get home, won’t you?”
“Not really, but right now, I think I just want to lie in your forelegs for a while. It’s nice.” I felt a gust of air behind me as Luna sighed into my mane..
“I would like that as well… but may I have a favor first?” she asked quietly, pushing muzzle deeper into my mane. I gave a mumbled affirmation, and she whispered softly to me, “Sing, just for me, my love, like you did when we first came together… it has been so long.”
“Of course, my lovely Moon Princess…” I said, just as quietly, and took in a deep breath. What followed was a song that fit perfectly, originally performed long before my time, by a group called Trotxette… and I loved it, mostly because it made carriage sex sound romantic instead of raunchy.
“I’ll tell you what I’ve got,
I’ll tell you what I’ll do,
Been riding all night, just to get close to you,
Babe, oh babe, I’m moving so fast,
So please, come on…
The moon is so right,
The wind is blowing south,
My heart is beating so hard,
There’s a sweet taste in my mouth,
Babe, oh babe, I moving so fast,
Please hold on,
Oh please hold on…
Sleeping in my carriage, I will embrace you,
Sleeping in my carriage, I will caress you,
Staying in the back, here in my carriage, making love…
So come out tonight,
I’ll take you for a ride,
This cheap old wagon,
Our fun is getting wild,
Babe, oh-ho babe, we’re moving so fast,
I try to hang on,
But your love’s so strong…
Sleeping in my carriage, I will embrace you,
Sleeping in my carriage, I will caress you,
Staying in the back, here in my carriage, making looove, yeah…
Sleeping in my carriage, I will possess you,
Sleeping in my carriage, lovingly bless you,
Laying in the back, here in my carriage, making love, to you…”
Then came my favorite part…
“The niight is so prettyyy, and soo yoooung…
The night is soooo pretty and soooo yoooung, sooo very yoooung…
Sleeping in my carriage, I will embrace you,
Sleeping in my carriage, I will caress you,
Laying in the back, here in my carriage, making looove…
Sleeping in my carriage, I will possess you,
Sleeping in my carriage, lovingly bless you,,
Staying in the back, here in my carriage, making loooove… yeeeah…
I will caress you…
Lovingly bless you…
Your night is so pretty and sooo yooooung…”
I felt a bit of moisture in my mane, so I put a hoof over Luna’s as her grip tightened even more around my barrel.
“Sweetie Belle… I love you so much… I don’t ever want you leave me…” she half whispered, half sobbed into my neck. “I… I hate being an Alicorn so much… everypony dies before me…”
Sighing, I squirmed around so I could face her. My forelegs promptly wrapped around her neck, and pulled her tight, so her face was buried in my barrel. “Luna, my sweet Luna, I know you will miss me, but we all will have our time to go. When yours comes, then we will be together again.”
“But… I- I know a stallion, a vampire, he co-” she was cut off as my lips came crashing into hers, and her tears only intensified, sending a thousand daggers through my heart. “Sweeetieee…”
“Luna, I have no desire to be immortal. We’ve had this discussion before.”
She pulled her face away from my barrel and looked me in the eye, while her bottom lip quivered in her despair. “Why… why must you leave me?”
“Because that is the natural way of things. I know it will hurt, but you will heal in time,” I said to her gently, and stroked her cheek with my hoof. “For now my love, let us lie here, and sleep in my carriage, until the night comes to greet us.”
“…Alright…”
*C*
57 years later:
She stood solemnly over the heart-shaped tombstone that marked her fallen lover’s tomb, her black cloak waving in the wind that battered her face, which was veiled behind her equally black hood. She had carved the large block of granite herself, in her nightmarish despair. It was the final of fifteen attempts to craft a perfect replica of her dear Sweetie Belle’s cutie mark, and it had turned out as perfect as perfect could be, being made from an image of her and Luna’s betrothal portrait.
“Hello, Luna.”
She turned to see a gracefully aged mare with a white coat and a violet mane, with streaks of grey running through it. Behind her stood a tall drake, and a creature that could only be described as a cross between pony and dragon.
“Rarity, Spike, Tinder… it’s good to see you all again. It’s been far too long,” she said, smiling at the elderly tailor.
“Indeed, My Sister. You never come visit us in Prance anymore.”
“I’m sorry, I’ve been busy dealing with the New Equestrian Union.” She paused to give an exasperated sigh. “It has been… tiresome.”
“I believe it,” Rarity said with a warm smile, “Even us civilians have had it hard after the Griffon War. I have to say though, I’m glad you managed to settle things with their King.”
“As am I. I do not think I could deal with more loss…” Luna replied, as her eyes were cast to the ground.
“I’m sorry about Celestia, she was such a wonderful sister… even to myself and Sweetie, despite being faithful to her duties…” Rarity said quietly, before stepping forward to nuzzle Luna affectionately. “I will miss them both.”
Luna returned the nuzzle, before looking over to the mares husband ad daughter. As she disengaged from her sister in law, she grinned and shouted, “Is my favorite niece ever going to come say hello, or am I going to have to pull her over to get my hug?”
The hybrid gave a big, pointy-toothed grin, then bound down the hill, towards Equestria’s sole remaining celestial Princess. “Aunt Luna!!!” she hollered, and leapt up into Luna’s magical grip, before being pulled into a one-legged hug. “I missed you!”
“And I you, Tinder Heart.”
*C*
Time passed, as minutes quickly became hours, and many stories were swapped between in-laws. Before long, Rarity and Spike had to leave, leaving Luna alone at the cemetery.
She watched as a single songbird landed on the upturned part of Sweetie’s Cutie Mark that was it’s ribbon, before she too turned to leave.
How appropriate.
Author's Note
Songs used: Billy Holiday, Am I Blue? King Harvest, Dancing In The Moonlight(Though I drew more from the Allyson Stoner cover) and Roxette, Sleeping In My Car.
