Several hours later, Smolder found herself quietly waiting in a train roomette by herself, waiting for Celestia to finish checking in with her unicorn buckball team in the neighboring roomette. A cold heaviness weighing her mind as well as her body, Smolder thought about Ocellus’ reaction and everything she had said. The dragoness had expected the changeling to ignore her, yell at her, some kind of bitter reaction to getting so openly rejected in place of the Princess of the Sun. The last outcome that Smolder had expected was for Ocellus to try and seduce her. Smolder couldn’t even bring herself to put her foot down and yell at Ocellus in Celestia’s defense, shellshocked by the changeling’s actions to even speak. Smolder felt the cold heaviness give way to something far stronger, a lot less harder to ignore. The hot fire that raged throughout her body spurred her to clench her fists and grit her teeth. Ocellus had made the worst kind of mockery of her marefriend imaginable, and she just stared like a braindead fish? Smolder sharply inhaled, and then exhaled fire from her nostrils as she began seeing red. How could she let Ocellus do that? How did she believe that Ocellus actually loved her?

The door to the roomette opened, and Celestia’s eyes widened as she saw Smolder’s narrowed eyes and fuming nostrils. As she walked in and closed the door behind her with one wing, the sound caught Smolder’s attention as she slightly turned her head in Celestia’s direction.

“Hey,” Smolder huffed. “Everything good with them?”

“Yeah, I was hoping to introduce you to them,” Celestia admitted. “But they completely understand given the unique circumstances. I should be asking you how you are. You don’t seem to be okay, my sweet dragon.”

“I’m not,” Smolder sighed, her shoulders slumping as some of her anger burned away at the presence of her dear Celestia. “I should’ve stood up to her, should’ve demanded she turn back, or call for you. Something.”

“Smolder,” Celestia walked over and sat on the long seat Smolder was sitting on, sitting right next to her and opening her wing to rest on Smolder’s back as she looked at the dragoness. “Ocellus was one of your closest friends. You could never have expected her to pull something like that, and to be fair, I was just quicker to react when I saw her shapeshift from inside Sugarcube Corner.”

“I didn’t even get to say goodbye to the others,” Smolder shook her head before leaning her head against Celestia’s shoulder, feeling her heart warming up as Celestia fully wrapped the smaller dragoness in the feathery embrace of her wing.

“About that,” Celestia pressed her lips to Smolder’s forehead, causing a spark of warmth to flutter inside Smolder’s heart as she continued. “Once they saw me waiting at the door, they joined me to see what Ocellus was ‘showing’ you. They were…shocked to say the least. I told them that I was going to get you out of there, so I’m guessing they understood.”

“Oh thank…Celestia,” Smolder caught herself, looking up at her marefriend’s smirk. “Heh, guess that saying means more to me than most.”

“Well, most of the thanking should be going to you,” Celestia chuckled.

“Me?” Smolder’s eyes widened as she held a claw to her chest, the thought of mares wanting her crossed her mind. “What do you have me to thank for?”

“I didn’t have much to hope for outside of protecting my ponies,” Celestia began. “That responsibility, while heavy, does bring profound joy to me. But outside of my time with Luna and interactions with Twilight when she is available, I never really got to have a friend in such a long time. Let alone one so close that she would share the deepest parts of her soul to me. That she would give me intimacy beyond my wildest dreams.”

Celestia leaned her muzzle in and pressed it against Smolder’s muzzle, the hot breath of the alicorn stirring a fire inside Smolder’s heart. If it weren’t for the fact that Celestia was in the middle of a monologue, Smolder would’ve grabbed Celestia right then and there and liplocked the alicorn. But Celestia’s intense pink gaze demanded that Smolder sit there without a word and listen.

“And on top of that, dragons can live for hundreds of years,” Celestia added. “I won’t be losing you anytime soon, and the fact that you’ve considered spending those years with me…well, it’s brought me hope that I haven’t felt in a long time.”

Smolder’s jaw dropped, not even thinking about her own lifespan in the mix of everything that had happened. But even as she processed the realization, it wasn’t the least bit jarring for her. Rather, instead of pursuing those unknown mares or indulging in the shapeshifting of her former friend, Smolder saw nothing more fitting in her mind than being the proper ‘King’ to Celestia’s ‘Queen.’ A couple bonded by their mutual longevity, a constant when many other lives pass, and a rock for the other to rely on in the face of change.

“You’d want to spend all those years with me?” Smolder’s dropped jaw morphed into a wide smile. "Well, I don't know how a relationship goes that long without getting stale…but I'd certainly like to find out."

With their muzzles still close, Smolder sealed the distance and locked lips with the alicorn that was embracing her. With Ocellus being the last creature on her mind, Smolder allowed herself to sink into the fiery warmth that was Celestia’s lips against her own. They still had many obstacles and fun occasions on the horizon, and this was only just the beginning. But that's what made Smolder's passion soar all the more, her tail swinging from side to side as she pressed herself further into the kiss.

In just a few hours, the two would be in Canterlot to properly celebrate their cemented relationship…

Author's Note

Thank you all for reading!!! This was meant to be more of a story to properly bridge Smolder’s Wildest Dreams and the sequel coming out sometime in the next few months, while finding a way to integrate Smolder's cheerleading episode. I plan on commissioning a proper cover for it, and having it be a lot longer than this story. Hope y'all enjoyed, and look for the sequel when I have more of my commissions done! 🐲🌞