The Journals Of A Human

Well today's been a bit of a debacle…..okay no, I can’t sugarcoat this, it was a total clusterfuck. It all started in dream.

I woke up in my dream, not knowing it was a dream, and thus I carried on my usual morning routine. I woke up at about 6 am, just in time to see the sun start to rise. I slowly got up out of my bed and into the bathroom. I didn’t notice much of anything as I was basically running on autopilot. While I waited I was basically staring at myself in the mirror while I thought. I was still in Canterlot so last night wasn’t a dream, and as I thought of last night, Celestia’s words began to ring in my ears. But I shook my head and ran it under the now room temperature water from the shower. “What can I do? It’s not like I stood a chance with her anyway. I mean she’s a princess and I’m…me…...I guess those assholes were right…I never will find love…...I’m going to die alone…. fuck!” my rage and sadness had built up to a point where it needed to be released. I whipped around and punched the wall with all my force “AHHH!” I just kept hitting the wall for a minute until my hand started bleeding, and the pain started to get to much for me in my angered state. By that time, I had gotten my anger out of my system and the water in the shower was hot, however I had left a blood stain on the wall, something I’d have to clean up before I head out today. So, I got in the shower and I washed away the blood from my hand and cleaned myself up, letting the hot water run over me and drain me of my pain and my grief. Eventually, I turned off the water and dried myself off, my right hand had been cut up badly by my repeated assault on the wall, and for my troubles all I had done was add my blood to it. I sighed and used my wet towel to wash off the blood quickly and then went into my pack for some bandages. I pulled out some gauze and proceeded to wrap it around my hand and secured it with some tape. Since my injury was cared for, I walked over to my pack to get a fresh set of clothes and my gear. I may have been pissed and depressed, but I had a job to do, I walked back into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. “I’m the princesses personal guard, I need to be on my A-game. I need to act professionally. I’ll be ok. I’ll just do my job, stay here until my house is built or something, and maybe I can work up to asking Celestia out again…No. I won’t harm her by loving her and then putting her through the pain of my eventual death…...it will hurt me to not try to pursue a relationship, but it will keep her safe from pain. And maybe she’ll find a someone who deserves her friendship more than I do.” The self-talking helped only a little, but I didn’t have anything else to do for my pain in my heart, I guess I was just doomed to repeat the past. I sighed as I walked back out of the bathroom to my pack. It was then that I noticed the four black BDU’s (Battle Dress Uniforms) sitting on my pack next to four more pairs of socks and boxers, a couple of plain green T-shirts, and some black shorts with cargo pockets. I smiled as I went over to them and picked them up and opened up the note that was on top of them

Dear John,

Thank you for the challenge, please feel free to come back anytime you need anything else darling.

Yours, Rarity

“Well at least something good will have happened today” I set the note down and I put on one of the new uniforms. They fit me perfectly, and they felt comfortable, Rarity must have had them delivered while I was out at dinner. I looked at myself again In the mirror, and after some time, I walked to my pack and pulled out my knife and some shaving cream. 5 minutes later, my face was fresher and clean shaven, but it didn’t do much to hide my sorrow. I sighed as I grabbed a face shield and walked out onto my balcony. I sat down on one of the cushions and used the other one on my back so it would cushion the wall that it was on. The sun was just starting to come up over the horizon, the sky was painted a beautiful of orange and blue and the clouds looked almost like cotton candy, and standing on the balcony next to me, was Celestia. I tried to ignore her, but she must have seen me. She started to walk closer to me. Every single hoof step she took brought back those four words. Until eventually she was at the end of her balcony, a mere 10 feet from me.

She smiled as she called out to me “Good morning John.”

I turned slowly to look at her and got up to go to my edge of the balcony, and I did my best to hide my sorrow, but the pain in my heart began to grow more and more the closer I moved to her. I could have walked back inside, but then she would have known something was wrong. “Good morning Celestia, did you sleep well last night?”

“Why yes, I did, and you?” she smiled, I guess that she didn’t notice my pain, and that smile, my god that smile. It was like a kiss on my wounds and a knife to my heart at the same time.

“I was fine” I was lying

I think she picked up something there, but she didn’t press if she did, “So, are you ready to start your new job today?”

“Yeah, and I’d like to thank you again for allowing me to take up the job.” A half truth, I definitely wasn’t ready, but that didn’t matter

“Well it was the least I could do, especially after the wonderful evening we had last night.”

“Yeah, it was…..it feels good to finally have a friend”

Celestia smiled “Yes indeed…is everything alright John? You seem a little down”

“No I'm ok” I lied

“Are you sure?” she asked. She was legitimately concerned about me…she cared about me, and I cared about her….I think I'm in love with her…..but she deserves better than me, and I don’t want her hurt her with my own mortality

“Just still a little shocked that your immortal, I mean last night when you said you were similar, I know what you meant, I mean we both have some emotional baggage…and I want you to know that as long as I live, I’ll be here to help you.”

Celestia smiled “Your so sweet Johnathan, don’t be so harsh on yourself, and don’t worry about my immortality…but I thank you for your offer to help me…I’m happy to see that you care about me.”

“I always will Celestia……….Well I’m going to go finish getting ready and grab some breakfast before I head to the throne room.”

She smiled and walked back into her room, “Alright then, I shall see you soon then.”

And with that I walked back inside, and the more distance I put between us, the stabbing pain in my heart began to lessen, but the sadness in my eyes began to grow. I had to stop and lay face down in my bed as my sadness began to make me tear up. Eventually, once my emotions had run their course I got up, and began to halfheartedly put on my vest, and grab my rifle and put my pistol in its holster on my side and clip my rifle to its sling. With myself geared up, I walked to my door and made my way down to the kitchen, the place was more or less deserted (pun not intended). So, while I was alone, I took the opportunity to grab myself a donut and make some coffee. While I waited for the coffee to brew, I ate my donut and tried to mentally prepare myself for the day ahead. When it was finished, I took my coffee and walked to the throne room. The doors leading into the throne room were unmanned, signaling to me that Celestia still wasn’t in there. So, while I was by myself I started to walk around the throne room looking for a good place to set myself up…ok in all honesty I just went and sat in the throne. I may be depressed, but come on, if you had a chance to sit in the chair of a world ruler, you’d take it. I’ll be honest, it was actually kind of comfortable. If only I had a camera.

When I heard the door start to open about ten minutes later, I quickly jumped up out of the throne and I stepped to the side before the doors fully opened and any pony saw me. It was then that a group of about ten guards walked into the throne room, and in between them was a smiling Celestia. I immediately snapped to attention and saluted her as she walked up to her throne and sat down, again as she drew closer to me the pain of what I was going to have to tell her grew more and more.

“You may stand at ease John, you have no need to salute me.”

“But I do your highness, you are my superior officer.”

“Please John, it’s Celestia, and in that case, I order you to not salute me from now on.”

“Yes, your high- Celestia.”

She got a little chuckle out of that. God, she’s beautiful, kind, and funny. And out of my league…and immortal…annnd I need to focus. I mentally slapped myself, focus on keeping her safe, think tactically, no more lies…. I needed to tell her “Celestia?”

She turned to look at me “Yes John?”

It was time. I was going to…wait… what’s with all the guards. She never had this many before. “Um Celestia, do you usually travel with such a large escort force?”

She looked out on her guards and frowned a bit “Not usually.” and it was then that green flame erupted around six of the guards as maniacal laughter filled the air. The flames died down and before us stood six bug like alicorns, all about the size of a normal pony, except for the one at the front of the group. She was the same size as Celestia, but her voice sounded deeper, more malicious and she was all black with green insect like wings like her minions. She had holes in all her legs so the damn things looked like fucking swiss cheese, and her horn was jagged and twisted.

“Oh Celestia, it’s so nice to see you again, I’ve waited a long time to get my revenge, now surrender yourself and your kingdom to me or I will have my minions drain every pony they see dry of love until they are nothing but husks.”

Celestia's guards stood up and took a defiant posture, but as the minions surrounded her and her guards, she motioned for them to yield…she backed off.

I slowly moved myself into a more advantageous position and so that way Tia want near my firing like as I spoke under my breath “Time to go to work.”

Celestia kneeled before the bug thing, “I yield to you Chrysalis, just leave my subjects unhar-”

But before she should finish her sentence I cut in. I walked out from behind her throne with my rifle raised “Chrysalis is it? look, I'm a nice guy, so I'm going to give you and your cronies one chance to surrender in piece, and I suggest you accept it, because failure to do so might result in some lead poisoning.”

Chrysalis grinned “I see your new pet thinks that it has some teeth” she began to sniff the air around me before laughing and looking to Celestia “Aww and its in love with you, perhaps i'll drain you of your love while he watches.”

I chuckled back, only mine was a bit more menacing “Touch her and you die.” I flicked the safety on my rifle off.

Chrysalises wings flapped as she approached me “Oh? And how is that so?”

I was going to respond, but Celestia cut in “Leave him alone Chrysalis, your fight is with me.”

Chrysalis looked to me and Celestia and then back a few times before breaking into full villain laugh before looking back to her minions “Oh this is just perfect! She has feelings for him to!”

I looked to Celestia with a mix of hope and shock

Chrysalis saw that look and spoke to me “Don’t get your hopes up, your love is much stronger…hmmm…perhaps I'll lock the two of you up together so your combined love can feed me…yes I rather like that idea”

I was getting tired of this real fast. I raised up my rifle and a loud shot rang out through the throne room, one shot to her leg, spattering her green blood on the ground and causing her to freeze and her minions laughter to stop. “That was a warning!” I shouted as I raised my rifle to face the bug queen in front of me “Now surrender or your head is gonna have about as many holes as your legs!”

“YOU INSOLENT LITTLE-!” another shot rang out as the head of the minion next to her exploded covering her side in brains and green blood. And the rest of her minions to back away from me

“Last warning!” I readied myself for Chrysalis’ next move

“DIE!” and with that her horn glowed and unleashed a green beam of sorts, which was countered by a gold beam from Celestia's horn. As the four unicorn guards attacked the other four bugs with swords, spears, or magic, but out of the corner of my eye there was another flash. A bug had appeared and launched a magic bolt at Celestia. I knew what I had to do.

Time froze as I plowed through Celestia, pushing her aside as I jumped into the path of the beam and I saw images flash in front of my face, my entire life…and it was pitiful…I deserved to die. The images stopped and pain erupted in my body as the beam me square in the chest, knocking the air out of me and I felt the ceramic plate in my vest absorb the impact, but then Chrysalises beam hit me. The now broken plate in my vest did little to stop her strike, it punched through and into my chest and it sent me flying into the throne. I tried to get up but the pain in my chest was too much, it felt like I had five or six broken ribs and a punctured lung. I raised my hand to my chest and it was covered in blood. “You fool, your puny weapons and armor are nothing against the changeling queen” she walked around me and she pointed to Celestia “Look at what your little pets love has done to him”

Celestia stood up and strained against the magic of the four changelings holding her “His name is Johnathan, and he is my friend, he is not a pet. He…he is the man who makes me feel like I deserve the love and adoration that all of my subjects give me…he is the man who makes me feel like I can finally forgive myself for my past sins.”

“And now he's going to be a DEAD man” Chrysalis replied “And the sad thing is, he's going to die regretting never telling you how he truly felt. And you get to watch.” she gloated as she walked closer to me “Any last words” she lowered her horn to my throat and it began to glow. I reached for my guns, but they were gone, probably knocked off me by the magic beams. I glanced down to my waist and saw that I still had my tanto knife on me

I kept thinking to myself as I slowly moved my hand down to my knife, that’s right, just a little closer “Yeah” I replied weakly as my hand slowly closed around my knife on my side “You talk too much” and with that I plunged the foot-long blade into the side of her neck causing it to move her aim just to the left as her horn fired a beam of magic that hit the side of my throat. I pulled my knife from her neck and she collapsed to the ground with blood squirting from the hole in her neck. Seeing their leader fall, the rest of the changelings ran. I had done my job, but it had come at I price, I too was fatally wounded.

Blood began to ooze from the wound on my neck as Celestia rushed up to me “JOHN!!” I heard her hoof steps running up to me as I opened my eyes and saw her standing above me trying to heal the wound on my neck, but my wounds were too much. I saw the tears in her eyes “Please, stay with me”

I slowly raised my hand to her face and gently brushed her mane out of the way “Don’t worry my beautiful princess…...its ok… I need…to confess………I…love…. you” and everything went to black. I had died…well I guessed that I had deserved it, not like I was going to do much good in the world anyway. And on the bright side, Celestia would be able to find a stallion who truly deserved her love. A small light appeared in front of me and I walked towards it, but before I could get to it a blue alicorn mare stepped through it with her horn glowing, and the darkness around me transformed into some kind of space like expanse. The blue alicorn was about 5 and a half feet tall and she had a crescent moon cutie mark.

“Is this heaven?” I asked but then I switched focus “Is Celestia ok?”

The blue alicorn shook her head “No, this is not the afterlife, and I assure you, my sister, although a little shaken, is ok”

“That's good...if shes safe, then I did my job.” As I finished my sentence, I realized what she just said and I looked at her funny, “Not the afterlife?” It was at that moment that the realization of what had just happened had hit me. It was all a dream, a nightmare, and she’d probably used her magic to pull me out of it. “You must be Princess Luna.” I said as I quickly bowed as she walked up to me. Her mane had the same billowing effect like Celestia's, only hers was all blue. She spoke with a voice slightly deeper and more serious than that of her sister’s usual tone.

“Yes, I am, you may rise” so I stood up and Luna walked closer to me “So you are the warrior that appeared in our land three days ago.”

“Yes, but I’m not a warrior, and I would like to thank you and your sister for the hospitality that you all have shown me.”

“Well you are welcome, and my sister had not informed me that you weren’t a warrior, I will have to ask her about that…. but in any case, everything that has just transpired has been inside a dream.”

I felt my hopes rise for a brief moment, maybe Celestia wasn’t immortal and I could actually try to pursue a relationship with her. “Wait, the past three days have been a dream, or just the fight with Chrysalis and the changelings?”

“The latter.” She replied, and again my hopes were crushed…. But there was still the lingering question

“Ok, Why?”

She was honest in her reply, “Because we needed to test you, to make sure that you were not an enemy in disguise, or had any ulterior motives.I see now, that that is not the case, and I will be honest, the way you acted and fought I thought you were. But then you sacrificed your life to save that of my sister, a pony you barely knew, but from the looks of it, you care for her dearly.”

“Yes, I do, it’s just…” I supposed that I was going to have to tell them eventually

Luna spoke with a bit of a harsh tone “It’s just what?”

“She’s immortal, and she’s a princess, totally out of my league and I’m…I’m me. I don’t deserve her love, and even if I did I’m not immortal. I don’t want to go through a wonderful relationship with her only to have her hurt in the end by my eventual death…so I’m sorry, but I must decline the job she offered me yesterday. I’ll pick a secluded spot in the world so I can live out my life without disturbing your world, just send someone out every once in a while, to make sure I’m still alive and or bury me when my time comes, or if you want to banish me or lock me up, or lock me up, or lock me up in the place that you banish me to, I'll understand.”

“No.” she replied “I see, so you are willing to deny yourself the one thing you’ve always wanted to make sure my sister is safe and happy, and even go so far as to give your life for her…you have passed my test.” she gave a soft chuckle “ And as for you leaving or being locked away or banished …. You may come out now sister.”

There was another light behind me followed by hoof steps that approached me. I turned around to see Celestia herself, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. I walked up to her and set my gear down “Celestia, are you ok?” she just looked at me and then a second later she pulled me into her embrace and wrapped her wings around me

“No.” and with that she held me tighter as she began to sob into my shoulder.

I began to gently run my fingers through her mane to try and calm her down, and after a few minutes, she was calm enough for me to talk to her, “Its Ok Celestia, I’m here for you. Why are you crying?”

She spoke with a soft voice as she held me, “In your test… you so readily sacrificed yourself to keep me and my ponies safe from harm… You kept your feelings for me to yourself …because you wanted to keep me safe…. even if it meant… you never attaining true happiness….. But you never thought to ask me how I felt…to ask if I felt a connection too…I don’t want you to die…I don’t want you to go.”

“Well I…I was worried that id mess it up or that my Tourette’s would turn you away from me...I..I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry Celestia……and it's true, you do deserve better than me, Chrysalis was right, I am pathetic.”

“John, I don’t care about your disorder, you’re a kind, brave, and loving man. Those things that I told you last night are true, you and me are very much alike, and I am a little ashamed to admit this, but you are my only friend.”

And with that I started to tear up and hold her tightly as we both began to cry. what had I done? Why didn’t I tell her?

We just sat there for I don’t know how long, just holding each other, eventually I spoke up to Luna “Was it true all those things that Chrysalis said?”

Luna nodded “I was playing the part of the villain, I will admit, I did not expect you to have a blade concealed on you.”

Celestia continued “My sister has control over dreams and can understand ponies thoughts while inside them…I'm sorry that I did not admit my feelings to you”

“Don’t be” I replied, “I can understand why you hadn’t told me, we’d only known each other for 2 days. Ill mean yes I felt love, but I knew that I had to take it slow otherwise I’d lose you altogether, and right now, your one of my only friends. Was I hoping to eventually become more? Yes, but I knew that I had to take my time, but when I thought I was going to die…well I needed to tell you….You’re an amazing mare Celestia, you deserve any man or stallion that you want…..and I’ll understand if you no longer wish to see me now.”

Celestia frowned “No, I would never do that. Im happy that you admitted your feelings to me….and as for what you said earlier, I’m not going to lock up up for saving me, though I’m not happy that you think so low of yourself, I cannot fault you. …and I would love it if you would ask me out to dinner tonight.”

I smiled “I’ll be sure to do that.”

And then the world faded into white for a second “Sister, he is waking up, we can continue this shortly.”

“It was nice to finally meet you your Highness.”

“Please, call me Luna, and it was nice to meet you too.”

and with that everything faded away as I snapped awake in my bed. Immediately I jumped up and I ran to my balcony and threw open the double doors. And I ran onto my balcony as Celestia ran onto hers. I felt a little more relaxed to see that she was okay, but I didn’t have much time to do anything else because her horn glowed and I felt something engulf me, and sure enough she had me wrapped in her gold aurora as she levitated me over the ten-foot gap and into her hoofs. “Don’t ever do that again. Do you know how much it hurt to watch you die?”

I lowered my head, “Yeah, I do…which was why I wanted to leave, that way you wouldn’t, that way you would be safe from my mortality…you wouldn’t be hurt like I have”

She began to tear up “No, it would only hurt me more, I’d have to spend every day worrying about you, I will refuse to forget you. I felt a connection between us last night Johnathan, and I’ve seen what you hide from the rest of the world. I’ve seen your pain, it’s very similar to what I felt after the loss of my sister, so please, I beg of you, stay here in the castle, let me help you”

I looked her in her eyes, she was telling the truth, I needed help, and I had felt a connection between the two of us….and I loved her...I wanted this so badly “But what about my own mortality? I don’t want to have to put you through the pain of my death”

She put her wing around me “Do not worry about that, Equestria is a magical place, full of wonder and…well... magic.” she giggled “I’m sure I can find a way to remedy that problem, but for now we don’t have to worry about it ok? I want you to be happy, I want you to become the wonderful man that you truly are.” she smiled, and my heart began to pull itself back together.

“Thank you for everything. You have no idea how much you mean to me.”

She giggled “I think I do, I was watching your test remember.”

I smiled at that, remembering my dream and what Celestia had asked me to do, “So, maybe we could go on an actual date tonight? I’d like to get a chance to see a bit more of your amazing world.”

“Yes, I would love to.” And with that she got up and walked into her room and began to put on her royal attire

Seeing her getting dressed reminded me that I have my own morning ritual that I needed to attend to, “Well I have to get dressed for work, unfortunately I can’t protect the Princesses in only my boxers.” And with that I turned to the balcony and she walked out behind me. And I noticed that she was…admiring me!? “Enjoying the view?”

She got a good laugh out of that as she replied “Well you are quite handsome.” and with that she levitated me back to my balcony. “I shall see you soon my sunshine.”

I smiled “And so, will I my beautiful princess.”

she smiled at that and blew me a kiss, and with that we both went back into our rooms. As I did, I could have sworn that I saw another hint of pint out of the corner of my eye, but I again let it slide. I looked to my watch, and I realized that I hadn't adjusted it, luckily, the time was correct and so was the date, June 19th. And upon seeing that date, I remembered something that I read, something important that I had to do for Celestia. The time itself was only 0730, so I figured that I’d get dressed and make run down to the blacksmith to set up my idea. Unfortunately, that didn’t leave me with time for a shower because I didn’t want to be late for my first day. So, I walked into my room, and to my delight, my stack of new clothes actually was on my bureau. So, I picked one of the black uniforms off of the top of the pile and went into the bathroom to freshen up and take a quick shower, only this time I didn’t beat the shit out of the wall. After my shower, I put on my new uniform, and then I started with my combat boots, then I strapped on my battle-belt, which held my dump-pouch, three of my M4 mags, three of my 1911 mags and my pistol, and its holster. Next was my tactical vest, or plate carrier. This held 9 1911 mags, my med kit, my camelback, two flashbangs, and two M67 Frag grenades. And inside the vest, on the front and back were two armored plates and a 1-point sling for my rifle to hook onto on the front. Then came my Shemagh. It’s basically a piece of Arabic cloth that can be wrapped around the neck or face for some minor protection and identity concealment. Once I had my gear on, I opened my door to see that the guard detail that was babysitting me was no longer there, so I decided that I should try to make my way down to the throne room by myself, I’d been down that way a few times now and luckily, I remembered my route…...ok I got lost once…or twice, but it’s not my fault, everything’s got double doors on it, and i did manage to talk to the blacksmith, so everything's set up. Eventually, I made my way down to the throne room and I stopped at the double doors, and much to my surprise, they were already guarded. “Wasn’t expecting the princesses to be in there already” I looked to one of the guards and asked “Hey, when did the Princesses get in?”

He said nothing, just stood there…like a statue, kind of reminiscent of the Buckingham palace guards

“Or you just stand there” so I looked to the guard across from him “Your turn, when did the princesses get in soldier?” this time I actually got a response

“Sir, only a few minutes ago.”

“You don’t have to call me Sir.” I replied

“On the contrary, Shining Armor has started to spread the word of you position and his respect for you, and any pony who has the Captains respect has mine.”

“What’s your name?” I asked as I held out my hand for him

He took in and we shook “Valliant Blade.”

“Mines John, it was nice to meet you.” and with that he opened the doors and I walked through. And to my surprise, sitting right next to each other, were Celestia and Luna.

Celestia and smiled at me as she spoke “Good morning John, are you ready to start your duties as the personal guard to the princesses?”

I snapped to attention and saluted her “Yes Ma’am.”

Luna got a small giggle out of that “Please John, there is no need for all of that formality, please, stand at ease.”

So, I relaxed and walked to the throne “So where would you like me to be?”

Celestia extended her wing and pointed to a spot on her left in between both thrones “Right next to me” so I waked up and sat down next to her “Have you had breakfast yet my sunshine?”

“Not yet, I’m not hungry and I have more important things to do anyway.”

“Like what?” Luna asked with a slight look of concern on her face

“My job, I have a duty to protect the princesses, just because I might get hungry doesn’t mean that that duty stops so I can eat.”

Celestia chimed in, “Well you haven’t been knighted yet, so officially your duty hasn’t started.”

Damn. She had me beat on that one. “Look, I don’t matter, but keeping you two safe does.”

Celestia looked a little surprised at my response, and it took her a second to regain her composure before she pulled me close with her magic and stared me in the eyes “What did I tell you earlier? You matter to me. I care about you.”

Luna stepped into the group as well “As do I. Your job and concerns may be our well-beings, but our concern is yours.”

Celestia replied “Indeed sister.” and then she set me down “Now please, go eat something.”

I sighed, there’s really no way I could fight it, and I guess I could use some coffee “Alright, alright, you win…do you think you could have a cup of coffee and a croissant or something brought here?”

Celestia smiled “I don’t see why not.” she looked to one of the guards and relayed my order and five minutes later I was sitting in between to two smiling alicorns as I ate my breakfast.

“So, any visiting delegates coming today?” I asked

“Well there is one, but she will be here later.”

“What’s her name?”

“She’s my niece, Princess Cadence of the Crystal Empire.”

“Well in that case I better get started on a protec-”

Celestia raised a hoof to cut me off “Relax my sunshine, you still haven’t been knighted yet.”

I sighed, “Well when am I set to be knighted?”

Luna replied “If all goes well, the ceremony is set for tomorrow afternoon.”

I smiled “I look forward to it then.”

The day passed without much happening, Celestia and Luna heard grievances from ponies, most of them being over simple disputes like land, with the more heated ones being from the nobles, most of them were about some honor bullshit, and I’ll be honest, I wish I had some popcorn with me. That shit was quality entertainment. Unfortunately, the most frequent event was ponies walking in, seeing me, pointing at me, and then asking about me like I was some sort of monster that the princesses had taken on as some sort of pet. And the more nobles that came and did that, the angrier I got. None of them did anything physical, I think having the princesses by my side kept them from working up the balls to do that, but I was still getting pissed. Celestia would place her hoof on my hand and look at me every once in a while, to try and relieve my stress and anger, but also to try and tell me to pay them no mind. Eventually, I just took my glove off my left hand and sat there holding her hoof. I know that I was probably the one who needed it to be calmed down more, but oddly enough, I felt Celestia relax as I held her hoof, my thumb moving gently in small circles on her soft fur just below the metal of her golden shoes….Honestly, I don’t know what I would have done without her.

--

Finally, the time came for me and Celestia to start getting ready for our date, Celestia and Luna dismissed me before both taking their leaves, and I walked up to my room to get ready for the coming night. I looked at my clock which read 1630 (That’s 4:30 PM) and I was supposed to pick up Tia at 1800 (That’s 6 PM) for our date. That left me with an hour for the blacksmith, and a half hour to clean up. So I quickly ran down to the forge, and put my plan into action. I managed to get what I wanted done, and the blacksmith said he said that he would set the gem, engrave it for me, and have it delivered to my room when it was finished, so that was definitely a big help.

When I returned to my room, I had exactly a half hour left to get dressed and clean myself up for my date. So, I looked through my new wardrobe for something a bit more formal. And to my surprise, not only did Rarity make me a Military Dress Uniform, which was most likely a commission from Celestia, but there was also a nice charcoal black suit with a maroon button up shirt and a tie of the same color. Below it was a pair of dress shoes. So, I set the suit aside and I grabbed a t-shirt for an undershirt, However as I passed by the bathroom, my hand went up to my facial hair. I remembered that I had only shaved in my dream, so I stopped and pulled on it for a few seconds before I made my decision. I walked into the bathroom, and turned on the shower. After a quick wash and rinse I again found myself staring at myself in the mirror, only now, I had a knife.

--

So, a half hour later, I was clean shaven and showered, I wasn’t going to go on a date with a princess smelling like my tac vest or looking like a Hobo. Next, I put on my suit, I’m not going to lie, Rarity did a pretty good job on it, and I did look pretty fucking dapper if I do say so myself. I decided that I would take my pistol with me, and keep it concealed. I know it’s a date, but I still have a job to do.

Anyway, 1800 rolled around, so I got up and I walked out of my room and over to Celestias and knocked on her door. This time I didn’t get lost, I mean how could I her room was right next to mine. I heard her voice in a bit of a melodic tone through the door “Come in!” I opened the door, and I saw the room was empty.

“Uhh tia?”

“I'm in the closet dear. I’m still trying to make my choice for what I want to wear. If you could wait for me on the balcony that would be appreciated.”

“Okay” I called out as I walked outside. The sun was still up in the sky, which is reasonable considering that Tia was getting ready for our date. So, I sat down in a chair chair and read one of the history books that was on the small table next to me. But I had the same problem with this book as I did with the others, why was there no mention of humans in any books I read? I mean I’ve only seen mentions of my kind in mythology books, and even then, it made humans sound like…monsters. I mean I’ll admit, humans don’t exactly have the same peaceful demeanor as ponies, and with my disorder I’ve never had a good view of my own race or world anyway, but still…you know, the sad thing is, the more I think about it, the more I think that pony mythology has a point about us...or me at least.

I was snapped out of my train of thought by Celestia's angelic voice “Im ready!” I got up to go inside, and as I did, I began to hear hoof steps approach the door. And when it opened…My god… it was the most beautiful thing that I had seen. Celestia stood before me with her mane in a braid off to her side and she was wearing a light red dress that crossed over her front and was held up with a star-like pin, and the part covering her flank was the same light red, but was adorned with the pink silhouette of her cutie mark, and the trail of the dress started from a light pink and then proceeded down to the same shade of red as the rest of the dress, and at her rear knee level, there was another gold pin of her cutie mark. “Good evening my handsome sunshine.”

I just stood there in awe “Y-y-y-you look absolutely amazing” I swear, if my eyes were screens, you’d be seeing “John.exe’ has stopped working” message, and there I was without a proverbial task manager, but luckily, Celestia was willing to do that for me

She smiled and giggled at my dumbstruckness as she spoke, snapping me out of my daze “And you look quite handsome, are you ready for our date?”

“YES!!...err I mean yes”

“I can see your enthusiastic about this.”

“Well I'm a little worried about it, but I have feelings for you. Luna showed you how I was when I thought that the past had repeated itself”

“Yes, she did. I saw the real you. I saw how much you cared for me. That you were willing to bear the pain of never knowing love just to keep me and my sister safe. But know this. You will no longer have to bear that pain.”

“And why is that?”

Celestia walked up to me and looked me in the eyes “Because I feel the same way, I know that you wanted to take things slowly, but I think that we can both agree that that’s not going to be plausible after what we both said in that test…...I want to love you too, I don’t care about your disorder. That doesn’t define you. it’s your actions and your heart that define you.”

I didn’t know what else to say or what I should do…So I hugged her. I just stood there and hugged her as she stroked her hoof down my back. After about a minute, we let each other go. “So, where would you like to go?”

“Oh well I was going to let you make that decision, my sunshine.”

“Well it is your date as well. Plus, I don’t exactly know my way around the city yet.”

“Ah I see, well then I know the perfect place, it’s not far from the castle, and me and my sister will eat there from time to time.”

“That sounds perfect then. Lead the way my beautiful princess.”

She blushed at bit at that as she wrapped her wing around me and we walked out of the castle together. As we walked through the streets, I noticed that Celestia's horn was glowing, and I looked around to see what she was doing, but then I saw how the sky was becoming its lovely shade of orange and pink and red. She was lowering the sun. I looked around again to see that the nobles were shooting me funny looks and some of them were giving me the death stare…or the “I have money and political power and I don’t like how the princess is with an ugly monster like you.” stare. I just smiled and put on my best “Go fuck yourself.” look and kept walking. I didn’t want to make the looks I was getting aware to Tia, so I decide to ask her the question from earlier. “So Celestia, I’ve spent some time looking in the books, but why is there no mentions of humans?” She looked at me with a look of slight concern and sadness, I just looked back and assured her “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but if you do, be assured. Whatever it is, I can take it.”

She sighed “Well I suppose that I was going to have to tell you eventually…Humans lived here many ages ago, in a land across the sea. They didn’t have magic or wings, but they had imagination. They could build many great things, but some saw them as week and inferior. So, they decided that they would take what they wanted from the humans. You see, the human land was very rich with resources like gems, coal, and wood. So, the Zebras and the griffin decided that they would go and take those resources and subjugate the humans. They were wrong. The humans, while lacking in magic or wings, were very adaptable. And in battle, they fought like crazed manticores. They drove back the zebras and the Griffin and returned to their land to rebuild and mourn their losses. The griffins became allies of theirs and aided with rebuilding, even establishing trade routes with them, but the zebra. They saw the humans as ‘Star touched’ and began to fear them and portray them as monsters. But as time went on, the griffins realized that all trade with humans was done through their lands, and they grew greedy. But the humans had no choice, and they continued trade with the griffins, and their products eventually came into equestria, and this created a large demand, but to get human products, you had to go through the griffins, and once they lost the idol, they became even more greedy. They placed high taxes on human imports and exports. The Humans had no choice but to accept them, but as the prices for exports grew so did their distrust and hatred for others. The humans began to amass an army and began to spout rhetoric to the griffins in hopes that it would convince them to come to the table to renegotiate trade prices, but eventually the zebras used this as an excuse to plead for help from my parents. My father Orbash, and my mother Sunflare took their plead into consideration and took a deeper look into the humans. Who at the time were building up their military technology as well to prevent any further attacks from the zebra, and to make sure they could withstand an assault from the minotaur’s. Eventually they believed that the humans had become too much of a danger, so they used the elements and sent them away to their own world.”

“I…I don’t know what to say…I mean that explains a good chunk of human myths, and even some of our history. It’s unfortunate to hear that my people were banished without given a chance to say their part, but the past is the past I guess, and it’s not like you had a chance, humans are very much a war-like species. Especially my country. A great author once said, ‘God created war so Americans would learn geography’. And that is still very much true to my people today. We try to keep to ourselves, but we are constantly dragged to different parts of the world to help protect our allies and fight whatever evil is attacking them.”

Tia stopped and held me tightly “That doesn’t matter now, like you said. The past is the past. You are a good man John, don’t let any pony tell you otherwise.”

“Thank you Celestia…and the past is in the past, i'm sure that I can work to repair whatever damage has been done.”

She smiled as she let me go and we kept walking to the restraint talking about our day and Celestia telling me more about the history of her world, even telling me about one unicorn named “Starswirl the Bearded” I mean the guy basically sounded like the pony version of Merlin the wizard. And it sounded like he and Celestia were close. She was his student, much like Twilight was hers.

Anyway, we got to the Restaurant and we walked up to the pony up front, when he saw Celestia he bowed, “Good evening your highness.”

Celestia smiled at him, “Good evening my little pony.”

he then grabbed a menu for her and motioned for her to follow, but when he saw me, he put his hoof up, “I’m sorry sir, but you’ll have to wait until I can check your reservation.”

Celestia walked up to me and pulled me close to her with her wing as she spoke, “He is with me, I would like a table for two please.”

The waiter looked to me in a look of shock and i just smiled back, “Y-yes your highness, follow me please.” and with that he led us to a booth

I looked to Celestia and smiled

“Thanks Celestia.”

She smiled back at me “Your welcome my sunshine.”

As we walked through the restaurant, I again saw the bit of pink, but this time, it was sitting across from the captain, that bit of pink as it turns out, was a mare. I was going to go over and talk to them, but we had gotten to our seat. The waiter set the menus down on the table with some very fancy looking silverware, and we sat down across from each other. The waiter then placed down some glasses before speaking again, “May I get you anything to drink?”

“I’ll have a bottle of wine, white please, and some water.” Celestia replied

The waiter looked to me “And you…sir?”

“I’ll just have some water.” I replied. He levitated out a pitcher and filled the glasses with water, and with that he gave us the menus and left. I distracted myself with the menu to avoid looking at the glares of the Aristo ponies around me, but I noticed that that pink mare was at a table not to far from our own. “Uhh, tia, I don’t mean to startle you, but I think that that pink Pegasus mare over there sitting with shining has been stalking me for the past few days.”

Celestia smiled “I see you have a keen eye.”

I took a sip of the water that the waiter left, before I spoke, “let me guess, it's another test?”

Celestia looked down again with her ears folded against her head as she spoke softly “Yes it is…Im so sorry my sunshine”

I….I was surprised, but I was still on a date with Celestia, I wasn’t going to let this ruin it. I gently reached out and placed my hand under her chin. She flinched at my soft touch, probably expecting a harsher reaction, but I slowly raised her head to look me in the eyes “Its ok Celestia, I understand. Your just making sure that your world is safe…..I love you, and I’m not going to let a few tests change that. You are now and always will be my beautiful princess.”

Celestia raised her head up from my hand and smiled, what happened next took me, and everypony in the restaurant except for the mare watching us, by surprise. As she lifted her head from my hand, she smiled, and as I smiled back at her, she placed a quick kiss on my lips.

The second I felt her lips on mine, I froze, along with most of the ponies in the restaurant, including the band. I didn’t know what to do, and the whole room was so silent, you could hear a pin drop. I just sat there, frozen in place, as my mind basically exploded. Again the mental, “John.exe has stopped working.” message flashed in my brain. Celestia waved her hoof in front of my face and tapped me a few times

“John, are you alright?” she tapped me again as the pink mare got up from her seat and smiled at me before sitting back down as Celestia tapped me again “Johnathan?”

The ponies in the restaurant seemed to have lost interest in me, and for the most part, went back to eating or working. I shook my head a few times, and my mind rebooted. “I…I…..you kissed me”

Celestia smiled “Yes I did. Your kind words required kind action.”

“Ill admit, I wasn’t expecting that.” I replied

“And I wasn’t expecting you to forgive me” Celestia countered

“I will always forgive you tia. I mean I could never stay mad at you. Or your beautiful eyes.” Celestia began to blush as I spoke “Or your loving smile, or your kind voice.”

Her face was almost full on red now “You’re such a flatterer.” she replied

I shook my head, “No, I speak the truth, you are a kind, loving, and absolutely gorgeous mare.”

Celestia smiled “And you are a kind, strong, handsome man.”

“I don’t kn-” I started to speak, but celestia put her hoof to my lips

“Shush, I know what your going to say, and I will no longer allow you to treat yourself so poorly.”

“But-”

“Nope, no buts. As your marefriend, I am going to make you see all the amazing qualities that I see in you, and there's nothing you can do to stop it.”

I sighed “Okay, you win.”

Celestia smiled “Of course I did, I'm the princess, your boss…..and now your marefriend”

all I could do was look at her and smile…It felt good to smile.

After a while we went back to the menus, “See anything you like my sunshine?” Celestia asked

“Yeah, the tofu scampi sounds pretty good, but the pesto risotto looks delicious as well.”

“Oh, I would suggest the Scampi, it’s one of the best dishes here, and a personal favorite of mine…. Maybe we could share it?” she purred.

Images of a popular scene from a Disney movie came to mind “Oh...uh…I... uh…yeah. let’s go with that.”

A few minutes later the waiter brought our drinks and took our orders. Celestia took the wine bottle in her magic and poured it into two glasses for myself and for her, then we both started to drink

I took a sip of it and smiled “The wine is great.”

Celestia smiled back “That’s good to hear.”

As we sat there I started to move my arm out to her when I heard what sounded like a snooty “Hmph” I looked up to see a white stallion with a gold mane standing in front of the booth glaring at me un-approvingly as I just rolled my eyes. He then looked to Celestia before talking in a stuck-up tone “Excuse me, Your highness.”

Celestia responded with the tiniest hint of annoyance in her voice “Yes Blueblood?”

He immediately pointed to me “What is that…THING…doing here, I know you are the ruler of the land, but the rules do forbid pets on the premises.”

Ok, the looks are one thing, but this. Time to step in. Celestia started to reply, but I cut her off “Excuse me mate, but I’m currently on a date with a very beautiful mare, now if you could please do us the courtesy and FUCK. OFF. That’d be great.” I threw on a fake smile before turning back to Celestia “Now where were we my beautiful princess?”

That only made him more pissed “YOU IGNORANT PEASANT DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM! I AM PRINCE BLUEBLOOD!”

I looked back at him and slowly moved my right hand down to my concealed pistol and gave him the middle finger with my left “yeah yeah, whatever mate, you see, its folks like you that I really hate, if I had been a pony and looked like this, you all would not care about me, I’d just be another gentleman. But because I look different and don't sound like a fucking snob, you decide to come over here and try to shove your elitist shit onto me, in hope that it might get me to cave to your whim, but here's a newsflash. Not all of us were born with a silver spoon shoved up our ass!” I stood up from the booth to look down on him “Now go run along back to wherever you came from”

And that sent him off the edge “THAT’S IT! IT'S TIME TO TEACH YOU SOME MANNERS!” and with that he levitated out a bread knife.

“KNIFE!!” and within a half second Blueblood was staring down the barrel of my pistol “Drop it, or I drop you!”

“EN GARDE PESANT!” and with that he stabbed the knife at me, I moved to my left, but it still caught my arm, tearing my suit and cutting my skin. Which was a very VERY dumb move for him. My cut arm lashed out with a left hook to his jaw which dropped him to the floor, I then put my knee on his neck and my pistol to his head

“You don’t bring a knife to a gunfight.”

But before I could do anything, two of Celestia's guards had shown up and were pointing spears at us both the one on the left yelled out “HALT! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!”

Before I could say anything, Blueblood started to bullshit “Oh thank goodness, you’re here, this THING started to attack me, its violent. Take it away!” I looked up to the guards to say something, but with a snarl on my face and anger in my eyes, the guards bought his story. The guards levitated me up and hand-err-hoof cuffed me.

At this moment, Celestia stepped in to my rescue, “ENOUGH OF THIS! GUARDS!” they snapped to attention and looked to her “You will release that man at once, and place Prince Blueblood under arrest for assault and lying to law enforcement.”

“But your majesty, this…whatever it is has assaulted the prince.”

“No, he acted in self-defense, and he is a human, and he will be regarded as such. Am I clear?”

The guards bowed and took off my cuffs and put them on blueblood “Yes your highness.”

“And you.” she looked to Blueblood “Its actions like this that give the nobles such a poor image. You and those like you need to learn to respect others who have been less fortunate.” She looked back to the guards “Get him out of my sigh.” and with that they took Blueblood away.

“Well that probably could have gone better” I remarked as I holstered my pistol and looked back to Celestia who was looking right back at me “I’m in trouble aren’t I?”

She smiled as I sat down “Quite the opposite actually, though yes I am a bit discouraged that you have brought a weapon on our date, I also must realize that you job is to protect me and my sister. Plus, you did act in self-defense.” I began to tear up as she said that, causing her to wrap her wing around me and pull me close to her “Is everything alright my sunshine?”

“No, it’s not.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I’m too violent. I don’t deserve your love, and I don’t deserve to be in this world.”

I felt her wing slap my face “I don’t ever want to hear those words out of your mouth again. You deserve love. Your kind, honest, brave, and you put others before yourself no matter what. You deserve me. You deserve to be happy. Am I clear?”

I wiped the tears from my eyes “Yes.” I had ruined the date

Celestia stood up and looked at my left arm where my suit was torn “Are you sure you are all right Johnathan?”

I looked to my arm and i saw that my where the knife had slashed me, my arm was bleeding. Not too heavily, but it was enough that i would need to patch it up. I was luck that i had worn a red suit shirt and that the fabric was helping in a way that it was stopping some of the blood and clotting it in a way, but i still needed my medkit. “Im fine, its nothing serious”

She looked at my arm, then to me. “If you say so...Come with me my sunshine, I think that it would be best for us to go home, we have a meeting with Princess Cadence tomorrow.” she left some money for the drinks and our meals. Then we got up and walked back to the castle, all the while I was trying to avoid clutching my arm. The night sky on the way home looked amazing, but It didn’t make up for what I had done.

“I see Luna put up her best work for us tonight.” I remarked “It looks beautiful…almost as beautiful as you my princess.”

Celestia blushed and giggled “Luna only has control over the moon, however my father did say he was able to control the stars.”

“Your father?” I asked freezing in my place. If Luna and her were powerful enough to move the sun and moon, and their father was strong enough to move other celestial bodies...I was fucked.

“Yes, King Orbash, and its night skies like these that help reaffirm the belief that our parents are still watching us”

“Oh…should I start fearing for my life?” I asked

Celestia laughed out loud “Oh Johnathan, you are funny at times…no you need not fear, I actually think my father would like you, however it’s my mother who you should be wary of.”

Great...just great. “I’ll keep that in mind if I ever meet them.” I replied as we drew closer to the castle.

We got back to the castle and we walked back up to the tower, and I stopped at my door as she went to hers. As she walked by me I clutched my arm where I got cut, and my hand came back bloody, I took a look at my cut and from the looks of it, the movement of my arm and suit had aggravated the wound. But before I could open my door, I felt something tugging on my right arm. I looked over to Celestia to see her horn glowing. “Come with me my sunshine, I saw that blood on your hand and i can see that you tried to play your injury off as a minor one to keep me calm. Now come along, as punishment for lying to me, you are going let me heal you.”

“It’s ok Celestia, I’ll be fine, I can patch myself up.” Her gold aurora spread from my arm to my whole body as I was levitated off the ground. “Tia, I’ll be fine, plus you’re a princess, I’m just me, I don’t matter…...plus I’m not the type that gets invited into rooms, usually I'm just told to leave and never return.”

She levitated me over to her as she opened her door and took me inside “Well I don’t care, and I’m the Princess here, I make the rules, and your hurt. Im going to fix your wound, and if you keep this up, I may start nagging you about it too.”

I sighed, she had magic, and it’s not like I could run so. “Okay. You win.”

She smiled as she walked over to me and magically took off my shoes, socks, suit coat, shirt, and undershirt, leaving me bare-chested as blood now began to run down my arm, no longer being stopped by my shirt fabric. “Now stand still.” her horn glowed and she touched it to my arm and the wound slowly started to close. “There, all better.” she smiled and laid me down on her bed.

I touched the spot where I was cut, and it actually had healed, unfortunately there was no scar, so I guess I wouldn’t be getting a trophy from that encounter. So, I picked up my clothes and moved to the door. I just wanted to leave before I fucked up even more. She was the most beautiful thing that I’ve ever seen in my life...I was in love with her….but I was naive...how could she ever love someone like me?

“Well thank you for tonight Celestia, I’m sorry my actions put an early end to it and ruined the evening… Well it's late, I’ll be heading back to my room now I guess.” And I went to the door, but she stepped up behind me and put her hoof on me

“Please, stay for a bit. I was worried when you got hurt, and I want to keep an eye on you. I want to make sure you are safe, as much as you want me to be safe”

Of course, she’d want that, over the past three days, I’ve found that Celestia can be quite the sweetheart. But the funny thing is, I found myself moving closer to her as she spoke, eventually I was only a few inches away from her, staring deeply into her eyes. Which caused some confusion in her.

“John? Is everything alright?”

“Well…. you know how I feel about you…and I had fun tonight…well fun up until I was stabbed…...and I was wondering...maybe...we could…Kiss?”

I was expecting her to slap me again and tell me to get out, but instead she smiled at me and wrapped her wings around me, “That sounds lovely” and with that we locked our lips together. I held her tight and closed my eyes as we both finally felt real love for the first time. And with that kiss, so many years of loneliness and depression and worry disappeared as our lips met each other’s. When it was all said and done, and we broke the kiss, both of us were smiling, and for the first time in a long time, I no longer felt pain in my heart. Of course, her smile was bigger than mine, and it only increased her radiant beauty, but it left me wondering

“Celestia, why are you smiling?”

She moved closer to me and put her hooves around me “Well isn’t it obvious? I’m in love…and also because I was planning on doing this.” I felt her grip on me tighten, and we fell onto her bed holding each other and smiling.

The 30 minutes where we laid like that were some of the best in my life, I had found love, but I also had to remember my sense of professionalism “Uhh Celestia, it's getting late, maybe I should go back to my room and hit the sack. I still do have work tomorrow.”

“Awww. Do you have to?” she sounded a little sad

“Well what would you have me do? I mean we've only known each other for three days.” I countered

“I know, but, even you admitted that Lunas test has changed some things about us. Our relationship has a had a bit of a romantic boost, and as I said, I feel a connection to you…please, stay the night with me.”

I looked at her dumbstruck “I mean yes our relationship has had a boost, but it still needs some work…...but you want me? ....to stay in this room?... And sleep here?”

She smiled “Yes, yes, and yes. I can't think of a better way to work on our relationship, and your depression then a little cuddling.”

“I…I…...” I stopped and let myself think, if I wanted a relationship, I had to put in the work as well, she invited me to stay and I needed to stop being such a damn coward, and if i kept going the way I usually do, it wouldn't be long until I put a gun to my head “I accept.”

She smiled again “Good, now I’m going to get washed up, I’ll let you get comfortable…just don’t do anything crazy.” And with that she walked off into the bathroom. I walked out to her balcony and set up the cushions in a way similar to what I had previously done, and I just sat there and stared at the stars. I heard the water start and I also heard her starting to hum. It sounded like an angel. I forget how long she was in the shower, honest, I was just getting lost in her angelic humming.

I don’t know what song she was humming, but I do know that after sitting there for some time with my eyes closed, I think I began to sing myself. I wasn’t paying to much attention as I was only singing to myself, but at the end of a somewhat shitty rendition of Ben E King’s “Stand by Me” I heard hoof claps to my left. I opened my eyes, and just as luck would have it, Celestia walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her mane and her body and was now sitting laying down on the cushion across from me. “That’s was a lovely song Johnathan.”

I shook my head, “Well I can't take the credit for it, and with my singing, it probably sounded like nails on a chalkboard.”

Celestia smiled “Nonsense, with love songs, it's more about the lyrics than anything…and I will always stand by you.” I saw her horn glow and I was pulled onto her cushion, which was the size of a king size bed, and into her embrace. She smiled at me, but this smile was a little mischievous, and let the towels go to reveal her wet mane. God and I thought she looked hot in that dress. She giggled as she asked “Enjoying the view?”

“Oh, now that’s not fair” I countered as I started to blush, which only egged her on more

Celestia smiled as she spoke, “So, the big strong warrior does blush”

I covered my face a bit as I replied, “Because I'm not used to all this...or to your affection...I don't deserve it”

“Why?” she asked

“Well…...because your hot…...and I’m ugly as shit”

“Oh, stop it, your handsome to me, now go wash up. I do love you, but you do need to shower.”

“Yes dear” I replied sarcastically. She smiled as I set my clothes down and I walked to my room where i grabbed my sleeping shorts before walking back to Celestia's room and into the bathroom, where I took my clothes off, and stepped into the shower. this time the hot water didn’t have as much of an effect on me, perhaps it was already because I was calm and happy. I mean my date with Celestia went well…. or sort of well. She invited me to stay the night with her, and she’s says she loved me…I think I found the one…I think I can do this without fucking it up.

After some time, I got out of the shower, dried off, and put my sleeping shorts back on, walked out of the bathroom, and laid my clothes and gun down under the seat in front of the fire where I assumed I would be sleeping before walking to the balcony. Celestia was out on her balcony reading through a book, so I decided that it was best to not disturb her. So, I walked to the bed that was next to the fire and laid down. I had just made myself comfortable and closed my eyes when Celestia came back in and walked over to me. I heard her hoofsteps, and when I opened my eyes, Celestia was standing over me with her face inches from mine “That’s not where your sleeping John.”

I got up and looked at her, I figured that she didn’t want me near the fireplace for my own safety. “Well where should I go? I mean I can take the floor, or the balcony is fine with me.”

“Nope, you will sleep with me”

I froze in my tracks at her reply “Why? I mean I love you, but you’re a princess and I’m…me”

Celestia walked up to me and put her wing around me. It felt so soft on my bare chest and back “And I don’t care, I want to lay with you tonight and cuddle. I want to remind you that I love you, and besides the floor and the balcony are uncomfortable, and I can’t keep you safe when you’re not next to me.” and with that she picked me up and floated me into her bed and she laid down next to me. She then wrapped her hooves around me and draped her wing over me before pulling the covers over us, effectively securing me in a cocoon of her soft fur, feathers, and love. “Goodnight my handsome sunshine”

I smiled, finally giving into her love. “Goodnight my beautiful princess.”