The "Princess"

“Ms. O’Malley, we need to talk,” Celestia repeated once the magic around her fully faded. Even though the words were spoken in a loud whisper, their presences remained even after Celestia had fallen silent again. She might as well have shouted them.

I just sat there, my mouth hanging open in shock. My body was tense, my knuckles white as I gripped the bottle tightly in trembling hands, threatening to shatter it. I tried to process what I was seeing, but whether it was because of how tired I was or because of the alcohol, I was having trouble believing who was sitting before me.

The room was silent except for the gentle breathing of the others. Rainbow was snoring softly, her hind leg kicking in her sleep, tapping against the wooden wall.

Celestia continued to stare at me, her neutral expression slowly turning into a look of concern.

“Ms. O’Malley?” she asked softly. “Are… are you okay?”

Blinking, I finally managed to snap myself out of my daze and found my voice.

“C-C-Celestia? What are yer doin’ ‘ere?!” I cried loudly. Immediately I winced and covered my mouth, my eyes darting to the ponies sleeping around us. Celestia did likewise, her ears splaying back. Luckily, the noise didn’t seem to disturb any of them, and they all remained asleep.

“What are yer doin’ ‘ere?” I hissed, lowering my voice.

“I came to talk to you about last night, actually,” she said, wings ruffling by her sides. “About the date.”

My eyes widened and I inhaled sharply. Shite! Quickly lifting the bottle of cider to my lips, I threw my head back and drained it in a single gulp. Placing the bottle aside, I grabbed one that Twilight had failed to finish and proceeded to quaff it as well.

Celestia’s eyes widened in alarm and she grabbed my wrist in her magic. “Please, stop that!”

“No!” I growled, transferring the bottle to my free hand instead. “Thar's no way in 'ell oi'm dealin' wi' dis sober!”

“What?” Celestia muttered, scrunching up her muzzle.

I took advantage of her confusion and began to drain the bottle again, only to have Celestia pull it from my grasp with her magic.

“Stop that!” she cried, worry in her tone. “Please! I told you, I’m here to—”

“Oi know why yer ‘ere,” I grunted, interrupting her. With her having taken my cider, I grabbed the edges of my blanket and wrapped it around myself, pulling my knees up to my chest underneath it. “Oi already know oi fecked up. That’s why oi left. Yer didn’t need ter come all the way down ‘ere just ter tell me that!”

“Ms. O’Malley, please try and calm down,” Celestia pleaded. “I’m having trouble understanding you.”

“Oi don’t need yer to come down ‘ere just ter rub it in!” I growled.

“I didn’t come down here to ‘rub it in’,” Celestia said, her ears splaying backwards and a hurt look crossing her face.

“Why did yer come then?” I asked as I snuck a hand out from beneath the blanket and grabbed another bottle of cider. Pulling it inside, I brought it to my mouth and took a swig, only for her next words to cause me to choke.

“I came here to apologize.”

Coughing and sputtering, I pounded on my chest as I fought for air.

“W-what… what did yer say?” I wheezed, gaping at her.

“I came here to apologize about last night,” Celestia repeated. “After you left unexpectedly, I had a talk with Luna and she pointed out some… blunders I may have made.”

I stared up at her. “I… but… what?”

“If I explain, will you stop trying to drown yourself in cider?” she asked, giving a pointed look to the bottle still in my hand.

Glancing down at it, I swallowed thickly before setting it down on the floor.

“Thank you,” Celestia breathed, giving me a weak smile. The smile faded though, and her brow furrowed as she licked her lips. She was silent for several seconds, mulling over her words, before finally speaking again. “As I said before, I’m here to apologize. Last night, well… I…” She trailed off, rubbing her muzzle with a hoof as she ruffled her wings. “I… As I told you when you first asked me on the date, I don’t usually partake in these type of social interacts. As such, I have… very little experience when it comes to them. It seems that inexperience, as well as a few faux pas, came into play last night, as Luna not so subtly pointed out.”

“H-how was that?” I asked in a whisper.

“Well, my choice of restaurant was probably not the best all thing considering,” Celestia sighed.

“The Silver Mare?” I asked, brow furrowing. “What about it? It looked nice enough.”

“I originally heard of it from the nobles in court,” Celestia confessed. “I thought it would be a good place to take you, but I overlooked their clientele.” Upon seeing my confused look, she elaborated. “Nobles. Most of the ponies who enjoy the Silver Mare’s services are nobles and high class members of Canterlot’s society. And if I remember correctly, you and the nobles don’t exactly get along very well.”

“Not exactly a place to take the ‘freak of Ponyville’,” I muttered as understanding began to dawn. If I had actually been able to get into the restaurant, it would have been a very awkward dinner.

Celestia winced, but nodded all the same. “Exactly… and please stop calling yourself a freak.”

Huffing, I just pulled my blanket tighter around myself. “So you picked a ‘igh end restaurant. Oi ‘ighly doubt that was the reason the date went south. In case yer don’t remember, oi was fecking everything up even after we changed restaurants.”

“No, it wasn’t just the restaurant. There’s more to it than that,” Celestia sighed. “I… I also want to apologize for ignoring you for most of the date.”

“I-ignoring me?” I asked, scrunching up my face. “How the feck did you ignore me?”

“I could tell I was making you nervous,” she said. I opened my mouth to say something, but she held up a hoof. “Please, Ms. O’Malley, I hate to be blunt, but it was fairly obvious you were nervous around me. As such, I didn’t give you my full attention because I didn’t want to make you even more nervous, but it appears that I might have come off as uninterested instead. Something that I apologize for.”

“Of course oi was nervous,” I mumbled, pressing my chin against my legs. “Oi was on a date with my crush, and oi was making a right arse of meself. Anyone would be nervous.”

Celestia winced.

“That… might have been my fault as well,” she said, nibbling on her lip.

“Of course it was partially your fault,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. “Oi was on a date with you!”

“There’s more to it than just that,” Celestia murmured, avoiding my eye.

“What do you mean?”

Celestia sighed. “Luna… may have pointed out that I had my Mask on during the date. Something I had completely forgotten about.”

“Your mask?” I asked, giving her a confused look. “But, you weren’t wearing a mask during the date. Besides, ‘ow would a mask make me more nervous of you? If anything, wouldn’t it make it easier to talk to you—”

Celestia’s horn flashed once, so brief that I almost missed it. The effect was instantaneous. The words died on my lips as my breath suddenly caught in my throat, causing me to cough slightly as I lost the ability to speak. I could feel my heart pounding painfully in my chest, the sudden tightness causing me to feel ill. My arms began to shake, and I felt the sudden urge to bury myself in the blankets and hide from Celestia’s gaze. She didn’t appear to have changed visually in any way, but I was suddenly unnerved by the attention she was giving me.

“W-w-w-what…?” I tried to ask, but I was stuttering too much to finish the question.

“Oops,” Celestia winced. “Might have made it too strong.” Her horn flashed again, and some of the tension left my body.

“W-what’s going on?” I asked, my voice still quivering. At least I could talk again.

“It’s a magical technique that Luna originally invented back when we first started ruling over Equestria,” Celestia said, her voice still calm and soft. Even so, I found myself wincing as though she had yelled. “There were still plenty of extremists out there that believed that the three tribes shouldn’t mingle with one another. She wanted a way to keep the more… vocal ponies in line without having to resort to violence. It works by creating a type of perception field around the caster’s face and… well, I won’t bore you with the arcane details, but basically by using body language, speech, and a little forced perception magic, I can create a demeanor that best allows me to deal with the nobles of court. It makes me seem more intimidating than I really am, and keeps the nobles in line. However, there is no way to control who this Mask affects, so while it works on the nobles, it also works on you as well.”

Swallowing thickly, I bite my lip before slowly reaching a trembling hand out. I tentatively lifted my hand towards her face, but paused halfway. A soft smile touched Celestia’s muzzle, and she leaned her head down to close the distance. I flinched as my fingers brushed against the fur of her cheek, and I jerked my hand away. Celestia’s horn glowed, and she gently pulled my hand back to her face.

As I ran my hand over her fur, a small static shock ran across my skin, causing it to tingle.

“Wha…?” I breathed.

“Magic,” Celestia said with a warm smile. Her horn flashed. As if a switch had been flipped, I suddenly found myself able to breath normally again. The tension fled my body, and my heart rate returned to normal. I blinked in surprise, my mouth opening in a small ‘o’. I didn’t understand it. Physically, Celestia looked no different than she had a few seconds ago, but now I felt more at ease around her.

Still staring up at her, I absentmindedly stroked her cheek with my thumb. She leaned into my hand, her eyelids lowering. A soft murmur escaped her lips as one of her ears flapped weakly against her head.

A small smile touched my face as I watched her, but it quickly faded to be replaced by a frown. I pulled my hand away, and Celestia blinked before giving her head a small shake. She gave me a confused look.

“Why are you telling me this?” I asked. “Why come all this way just to tell me this?”

“Because you had the right to know,” she answered, “and because… well, I would like to extend an offer for another date.”

“What?!” I cried, covering my mouth to muffle the shout. “You want to go on another date?!” Upon Celestia nodding, my heart rate began to increase again. “B-but, why? Oi… oi mean, after what ‘appened, oi thought... Why?”

She cocked her head to the side.

“To make up for the first date?” she said with some uncertainty. “I… I thought you would be happy.”

“Happy?” I asked shrilly. “Happy?! Happy for another chance ter make an eejit out av meself in front av yer?”

“Ms. O’Malley, please, it won’t be like that,” Celestia said.

I glared at her. “Why do yer want ter go on another date? You’ve already made your view on this whole thing clear.”

“I did?” she asked, blinking. “When?”

“Last night,” I growled. “After you teleported us back to your room. You were very clear about it. ‘I don’t think this is going to work out’. That’s pretty damn specific, no?”

Celestia stared at me with wide eyes for several seconds before her ears flopped limply against her head. “O-oh… oh, no. I wasn’t talking about you, Ms. O’Malley.”

“Then what were you talking about, hmmm?”

“I was talking about my attempt to lift you in my magic,” she said weakly. “I was trying to transport you somewhere more comfort, but you ended up just being sick again. That wasn’t in regards to us.”

“So you decided that the next best thing to do was just leave me on the floor and leave?” I asked, giving her an incredulous look.

“I went to go get one of my personal doctors so that they could help you with your motion sickness,” Celestia said, her ears splaying back again. “I… I was worried about your health. However, when we got back, you were gone.”

“Oh…” I deflated, my face heating up in embarrassment. Suddenly, I felt like an arse for believe Celestia had just abandoned me.

“I’ve been looking for you since then,” Celestia continued. “I assumed you left Canterlot after the events of last night, so I went to your house earlier this morning. You weren’t home though, so I started looking around town for you. A nice mailmare pointed me towards the local candy shop where you work, but when I arrived, I was informed by the owner that I had just missed you. I went back to your home and knocked, but you didn’t appear to be there at the time, so I went back to wandering around town. That’s when Pinkie found me and… well, you know the rest.”

“Oh…” I repeated, my face heating up again, although for a different reason. I was sure I had been home when she had visited my gaff for the second time, but I couldn’t remember hearing any knocking. Was it when I was… distracted with Ebony or when I had passed out on the floor afterwards? Either way, she had been outside my front door when I had been naked, aroused, and covered in sweat and… other substances. She had been within a dozen or so meters of me when I was…

My blush deepened and my face felt like it was on fire. Oh feck me…

“Ms. O’Malley, are you alright?” Celestia asked, giving me a concerned look.

“Oi’m fine!” I said, a bit too quickly.

Celestia’s look of concern grew. “Ms. O’Malley, what’s wrong? Please don’t be afraid to tell me the truth.”

“Oi think oi was masturbating when you knocked on my door,” I said suddenly. “Oi think that’s the reason why oi didn’t ‘ear you.” My eyes widened as I finished speaking, and I slapped a hand over my mouth, mortified. Oh shite! Why the feck did I just say that?!

Celestia’s eyes widened as well, and a pink blush exploded across her face. Her wings unfurled with a soft ‘pomf’, the appendages spread wide at attention.

“I-I… I see,” she coughed, holding a hoof to her muzzle.

I lowered my hand, intent on salvaging what little remained of my dignity. “It was either that, or yer came over when oi was passed out afterwards.” I squeaked loudly before covering my mouth with both hands.

Celestia stared at me wide-eyed, her wings flaring even wider, a ripple running through the feathers.

“Oi didn’t mean ter say that!” I cried, hands still covering my mouth. Tears were beginning to form in the corners of my eyes. “Oi didn’t mean ter say that, oi swear!”

Celestia opened her mouth only to pause, her ears perking up. Turning, she glanced over her shoulder, and I realized that I could just barely see a faint glow of something behind her.

“Ah, that would explain it,” she said softly, her horn lighting up. A glowing bottle floated into view.

“It must have activated when I told you to be truthful,” Celestia hummed, eyeing the bottle. Her horn glowed softly again and the bottle stopped glowing. “There, that should do it. I’m sure Twilight will be able to enchant another one. If she did it once, she can do it again.” Placing the bottle back down on the floor, she glanced back up at me. “As I was saying before that… informative interruption, I’ve been looking for you to see if you’d be interested in another date. A makeup date, as it were.”

“A-another date?” I asked, a small glimmer of hope beginning to flutter to life in my chest.

“Yes,” Celestia nodded, “but this time, you’re in charge. We can go wherever you want to, and do whatever you want.”

I stared at her for several seconds, hardly believing what I was hearing. Was Celestia really giving me a second chance? After what had happened? I never thought that… well, I had thought she would try to avoid me after last night, but no. Here she was, offering to go on another date with me. Only…

Chewing on my lip for a few seconds, I then sighed and lowered my head. “Thanks, but no.”

Celestia’s smile vanished, replaced instead by a look of bewilderment.

“B-but… why?!” she gasped, gaping at me. “I-I thought you would want to…”

“I would love to go on another date with you,” I groaned, “but I don’t want it to be out of pity. Never out of pity. So, if you aren’t interested in me, that’s fine. Thank you for the apology, but I’m not going to force you to go out with me if you don’t want to.”

Silence fell and I continued to stare down at my knees, cocooned within my blanket. After a few seconds, I heard Celestia shifting around and my curiosity got the better of me. Glancing up, I saw that she was fidgeting, a weird look on her face.

I licked my lips, giving her a confused look. “Um…?”

She winced before muttering something under her breath.

“What?” I asked, perking up.

“I said, I’m not not interested,” Celestia murmured gently, a small blush gracing her face. “I’ve just… haven’t had somepony interested in me in a long, long time. Well, there are ponies interested in Princess Celestia, but never just Celestia. I guess I’m just… I don’t know what to… um…”

I sat there, watching Celestia become more and more flustered with a blush clear against her white fur, with my mouth hanging open slightly. I had never seen this side of her before, but I had to admit, it was pretty adorable.

I chewed on my lip as I mulled over everything in my head. Slowly, a tired smile spread across my face.

“The new Power Ponies movie is playing at the cinema tomorrow at eleven,” I said softly.

Celestia stopped stuttering and glanced at me.

“I… I’m going to see it, whether you come with me or not,” I murmurred. At my words, her ears began to droop, as did her wings. “However,” I continued, causing her to perk up, “I… I wouldn’t mind if you came along. I-in fact, I… I would like it very much if you did. Even if it’s just for the movie.”

Celestia stared at me blankly for several long seconds before, with a soft laugh, she gave me a timid smile.

“I’ll be there.”