The princesses and the beast

It's been a few days since you, your soldiers and Princess Twilight returned with several dozen captives hitherto held captive in the crack, having to serve the minotaurs on pain of being killed or abused. This is what you heard from Shining Armor, who was the one who was in charge of interrogating some of them, proving once again the unparalleled cruelty of this people and the deep hatred that rightly feeds you.

Once you had finished dealing with the victims ponies, griffins, dragons, centaurs and other creatures, all you could think about was launching a real offensive on this land, now knowing your enemy to know that you had to put him out of harm's way.

That's why tonight, in a tower of Celestia castle, you are thinking about a plan of attack, imagining all the possibilities. Your father always told you that prevention is better than cure, especially in times of war. It is with this in mind that you write and draw while hoof-steps arrive on the other side of the marble door.

"Leonidas, may I come in?" Asked you a voice outside, this one belonging to the greatest ruler of Equestria.

"Princess Celestia, you don't have to ask me that, you're free to enter any room in your castle!" You answer her by dropping your pen and waiting for her to enter, turning to the door.

The wait was short and the princess appeared as you greeted her as usual, kneeling on the ground. As you get up, you see her changing attire. Instead of her royal effects, a long dress with many shades of cyan, mauve and white as her mane wraps her body up to her chest.

"You look splendid in that dress, Princess Celestia!" Acknowledged as you stood up, Rarity having taught you to always compliment a pretty mare when she's carrying something you're seeing for the first time.

"Well, thank you, I didn't expect as much from you." The princess says, not looking directly at you for a few seconds, keeping her warm smile on her face.

"Is it too much?" Ask yourself in view of her answer.

"No no, it's very kind of you, I assure you, I just didn't expect you to be the kind of stud to compliment on it."

"Rarity told me to do it, Princess Celestia." You confess, there's no point in hiding it in your mind.

"I get it! Speaking of Twilight and her friends, they're downstairs with lots of guests. We've decided to celebrate your success on behalf of Equestria, you should come!" She insists as she gets a few steps closer.

"I don't know, wouldn't it be better if I concentrated on a plan of attack on the Minotaur people?" Ask yourself, still not understanding the concept of partying as much as the other ponies.

"Leonidas, wouldn't it be pointless to celebrate your victory without you, don't you think? Besides, you deserve to loosen up a bit, I know you take this role entirely to heart, but even commanders of the royal guard have the right, and I would even say the duty, to learn to enjoy themselves and live beyond their function. Shining Armor participates with Princess Cadence as well, there are even some wonderbolts and great Canterlot entrepreneurs, everyone would be happy to see you having a good time, me and my sister too!" She said in closing.

You quickly learned that in order to protect Equestria as effectively as possible, you had to get closer to its inhabitants. This is the only reason why you would participate in meetings such as parties and other events. In any case, a request from Princess Celestia will sound like an order for you.

"All right, Princess Celestia, I won't work on her plans until tomorrow!" You say, sounding like a dazzling victory in her mind.

"Thank you, Leonidas. I would also advise you to wear something other than your armor in public. I have brought you a suit that should fit you!" She declared as she magically made black and white clothes appear to cover most of your body.

Without even having to say anything else, her magic takes effect and the costume ends up directly on your coat, leaving only your torso exposed.

"All you have to do is button it up, and I'll show you." Said the princess before getting even closer.

She uses her front clogs to tie your garment, button it up like she said. One by one, she passes the little wooden circles through the holes on the other side, spanking your torso so that it is no longer visible. You wonder if you could do this on your own, given your larger than normal front hooves, it would be a mistake to remove one of her hoops without doing it on purpose. She finishes her practice by straightening the tie that was now hanging from your neck, being a typical accessory of high society given the number of ponies being carried in Canterlot.

Although it is quite tight around your neck, Princess Celestia's delicate touch prevents you from asking her to loosen it, letting her do so delicately.

"Thank you, Princess Celestia!"

"There's no need to thank me, it's only natural. Let's go, many guests must be wondering where we are." She says to you before she takes your hoof from hers.

In an instant you were teleported across the castle, to the front of the main courtyard. You can see that the courtyard was largely filled not by the simple plain of grass, but by flocks of ponies, unknown or not, with tables full of food and drink and a space dedicated to a platform with several instruments placed on it.

You then feel that your hoof leaves that of Princess Celestia's, who retires and tells you.

"I'm going to say hello to some friends of mine, go and see whoever you like." She says to you as she spanks you with a hoof sign before she moves away to a random group of mares you don't know. You have time to give her back the hoof sign that means goodbye if you remember well and then go about your business.

Since the holidays are still a world of their own in your mind, it occurs to you to ask the only self-proclaimed connoisseur you know for advice. So you start looking for Pinkie Pie as the crowd disperses, giving you a little more room to move around.

As you walk past groups of ponies, ranging from ornate stallions with costumes such as yours to mares in various dresses, you see that many eyes are inclined towards you. It must be, as the princess told you, that this party is being held in your honour, so to speak. You must have gained further notoriety throughout Equestria, but your current problem is this tight tie.

Without paying more attention to the various looks, you try to loosen it by yourself, wanting to do it slowly with your gruff clogs. Your attempt ends with the accessory finally coming out of the suit and into your hoof, the well-dressed ponies taking their eyes off you distinctly, a sign of disinterest. Too bad, you'd like a little help with this, the tie of the other stallions seeming perfectly attached.

"Friends, there he is!" You can hear beyond a few chatter by the lavishly decorated table.

You don't have time for Rainbow Dash to twirl to your face. She's wearing a dress with her mane in it, evenly colored.

"Hey, Leonidas, why are you holding your tie in your hoof?" She asks you, pointing at the object.

"I was trying to loosen it, but all I did was take it off." She says to you shamelessly, but knowing that the pegasus could start laughing.

"Sounds like you need my help!" A new voice intervened as Rainbow, as guessed, muffled a sneer to your unprecedented distress.

You see your other friends arrive, all dressed in various shades of dress, greeting you. The one who gives you her expertise is Rarity, asking you to bend down so she can pull up your tie. As she does, you remember the polite greeting again.

"You look wonderful in her dresses!" You tell the group what you are to be thankful for, and Princess Twilight and Fluttershy look away, one out of shyness and the other for some reason.

"Thank you my dear Leonidas, I made her dresses, so your compliment means even more to me." Said Rarity, ending your request and giving you a kiss on the cheek in return. You might have found it inappropriate, only a couple would normally kiss, but it's common among some mares who have easy kisses like the white unicorn.

"Thank you for the tie." Send you away by standing up, not liking to stay in a crouched position any longer. You see Rarity seems disappointed that she didn't thank you with your lips as she did you, but you've already explained to her that you'd only do that to your wife the day you can worry about finding one.

"Leonidas, I wanted to thank you again for saving Discord, you put yourself in danger and I'd like to do something for you." Fluttershy told you once she remembered she had no reason to be shy of you.

"This is the twenty-fifth time you've thanked me, Fluttershy, and I'm telling you, I only did my duty." Tell you one more time.

"So, this party's especially for you, you must be having the time of your life, I bet." Then the pink mare reacts by jumping as usual between you and the other mares.

Then you remember you were looking for her for that.

"Well, since you know about parties, I wanted to know what I'm supposed to do, should I act differently because she's in my name?" Ask yourself, really envious to know the answer.

"Well, you should introduce yourself to everyone, so the ponies will know you and you'll become friends with them. Then you have fun dancing on the dance floor." She says to you, pointing her hoof at an open space.

In front of the stage there is a place with a strange floor, with grey patches covering the grass underneath. So it would be called a dance floor and would be used to mark out the ponies dancing from the others.

"Speaking of dancing, it's about to start, the musicians are coming!" Says Rainbow Dash, this time showing a few ponies coming forward.

You recognize them, they're the ones Princess Celestia went to see after bringing you here. Three mares and four stallions come up the steps and begin to want to stand on the various instruments present.

"Excuse me but I've got to find Thunderlane and get him to the track as soon as possible." Says the cyan mare then disappears in a multiple shade of colour through the crowd.

"Oh, Octavia's going to play, I should probably look for a stallion to enjoy it with!" Nodded after Rarity, pointing to the mare with the greyish coat and mane as neat as hers.

At the same time, you just watch the musicians getting into place, the one called Octavia sitting behind a bass that's much bigger than she is. You wonder how a normal sized pony can play an instrument that seems to be made in your image. The floor plates then begin to glow in a variety of colours, from purple to green to cyan, almost making it hard for you to look at them by irritating your eyesight.

You scratch your eye for just a few seconds and open it again to see a silhouette in front of you, less than a metre away. By the time you can see it clearly, she greets your friends and Princess Twilight.

"Good evening to you, it's so nice to see you here." Let her know.

"Hello, Celestia, I'm glad I'm here too." Answer the Princess Twilight to your left, you didn't even see her come closer.

"Well, that's good. Leonidas, you've never danced before, have you?" Ask her as she looks at you as you barely regain your sight.

"No, Princess Celestia." Answer cordially.

"Well, I can show you some basics if you wish." Does she offer.

"What? Would you like to dance with Leonidas?" The other princess reacts with surprise, raising her voice almost too much and making up for it immediately afterwards. "Uh, I mean, I didn't know you liked to dance." Then she says with a laugh that seems out of place, or embarrassed as they say here.

"I rarely give it a chance, it's true, but it's still nice. So, Leonidas, what do you say?" She says, stretching her hoof, which you know to be gentle, in your direction...

You didn't think dancing with two was possible, the few ponies you've seen move often uncoordinated with themselves, being more dangerous than elegant. Without wanting to leave her in this position indefinitely, you don't know what he is waiting for you and place your hoof on his.

Princess Celestia wastes no time and takes you with her on the shiny dance floor, leaving your friends behind, thinking only of what dancing together meant. You soon notice it, but this time there are even more eyes on you, surely because it is the dominant royalty of Equestria who proposes to be a kind of teacher for you at this moment. Most of them seem euphoric to see the two of you, perhaps Princess Celestia is dancing so well that it's a sight not to be missed, you think. You hope you don't spoil it.

When she stops in the middle of the track, and while a few other ponies are moving forward, Princess Celestia gives you the first piece of advice.

"First, posture. I have to be on my hind hooves like you, you're going to put your left hoof on my waist and your right one stays with mine." She always says it in a way that's pleasant to listen to and perform. Having no desire to see her fall because of you, you keep her hoof with yours and carry out her advice. She puts her right hoof on your shoulder and you're now close enough to feel her breath reach your snout.

"That's good. The music's about to start, just follow my footsteps with your hoof naturally, it's not complicated." She says when she hears the first notes of violin.

You keep eye contact with her by working on your hooves as she indicated, following her steps sparingly, going sideways, diagonally or backwards. You pay no attention to the many ponies staring at you, some you knew as wonderbolts or your friends who cannot leave this view that you and Princess Celestia offer. Many even end up taking your picture, but the princess doesn't react, so you stay focused only on your performance. You find yourself doing several tricks and a few dozen steps correctly copied before she speaks again between the instrumental notes that are pleasant to the ears.

"You're doing very well, Leonidas. Do you understand why you should take time for yourself? The ponies won't fear danger outside Equestria if they know who's protecting them." Does she inform you of her smile like all the other times.

"I understand Princess Celestia, I'll pay more attention to that in the future." You nod deftly, as if responding to a superior officer.

You can see her smile has changed slightly, as if your answer satisfied her in a way she hadn't thought of. At the end of the fourth orchestral music resonating in your eardrums, she gently places her head against your free shoulder, closing her eyes.

This alerts you and makes you stop all movement.

"Princess Celestia, are you all right?!" Ask if you're prepared to intervene in the event of a health problem.

"I'm fine Leonidas, can we continue dancing a little longer?" She says in the sweetest voice she can give you. She seemed to enjoy the moment more than you might think.

"All right, Princess Celestia." Did you simply respond by resuming your guided steps, and your heart beating normally again.

You can hear the cameras flashing again as the shots were taken.

You didn't want to take your eyes off her long, sparkling mane, but a certain couple of dancers destroyed that possibility. Not far away from you, Rainbow Dash had brought Thunderlane back on the dance floor, but their movements faster than anyone else made you look away to watch them.

And it was while staring at them that you saw between their two faces, in a slightly blurred way, the face of a princess in the audience, who was no longer smiling. The Twilight Princess is not looking at the scene, nor at another pony, she is actually staring at the ground, a face resembling the one you made when you first saw yourself in a mirror. You were waking up from a short night.

This sight sends you as a distress signal, as soon as a princess is not well, and especially the Princess Twilight who is entrusted to you, you must help her smile again, this is your mission. It is unthinkable to want to relax and have fun if the Princess Twilight needs you. Unfortunately, you're in the middle of a dance with another princess almost drowsy on your shoulder... and you end up seeing her drifting further away, out of your sight.

You hope you can catch up with her once she's finished!