//------------------------------//
// Future Together? 
// Story: Celestial Gift 
// by Wolfsalvo 
//------------------------------//



(Steel's P.O.V.)


My armor was entirely off, my weapons spread across the top of the desk that sat far off to my side, and my jumpsuit was removed as well, and was undergoing a wash, which left me only in my slim military issue underwear. It kept me modest, but it was nowhere near as comforting as having a full set of combat armor on or outfits of casual dress wear. Though I was outside of my comfort zone, it was probably for the best as I was now finishing off the last of my injuries. My ankle had by far, taken the longest to take care of. It had been dislocated during my incident with the tree, yet when I had hit the ground, it must've self-reinserted, which was one of the reasons I had a stinging sensation in it. I had needed to dislocate it again just so that I could properly place it back into position, and that had caused a fair amount of pain. Now though, the main reason it was bothering me, and had been so hard to use during my time in the field, was it had been sprained from all the activity and strain.

Retracting the needle from my arm, I replaced the needle guard before I could dispose of it, and as I placed it to the side, I sighed as the pain I had been in slowly began to fade away. My headache began to lessen when it came to the forceful pounding, to a light pulse in the back of my head. Then there was an icy cool sensation that began to seep into every part of my body, along with a very slight feeling of vertigo that seemed to overtake most my senses. Ah Morphine... how I love the way you make most pains disappear...

The trip back to Canterlot had been uneventful, as Celestia had fallen asleep almost immediately after we took off, yet she tended to move in her sleep. So by the time we touched down in Canterlot outside the palace walls, I found her lying in my lap; which had been very interesting when Princess Luna had greeted our return. At first, she had seemed concerned, yet when her eyes had landed on Celestia, they had grown surprised, yet curious. It had taken a minor explanation and a rundown of the medication I had used to get her to believe me, and when I asked her to take her sister back to her chambers, she had done so with a teleportation spell, which had it not been for my recent endeavors; I wouldn't have believed was possible.

Closing my eyes, I felt the exhaustion slowly claiming my body, and even though I wasn't properly in the bed, I simply grabbed the end of the covers, and rolled my body over, and I buried my face into my covers. That simple act alone was all it took for my senses to dull, and I found myself starting to float away into the gentle abyss of dreamless slumber...


...


"Ah hell... what was that...?"

Taking a small peak towards the window, I noticed the sun was nearing the edge of the horizon, yet I also saw the moon rising up at the same time. It was actually a pretty neat sight to witness; it was surely more enjoyable than seeing twin suns, one rising and the other setting.

*knock knock knock*

Looking towards the door, I knew that had to be what had woken me up. I knew that I wasn't presentable even in the slightest, so I moved to get up while I called out, "Give me a minute!"

Looking around, I saw my armor resting in pieces around a desk along with my weapons, and turning my head, I noticed my jumpsuit was covering a chair near my medical bag. Getting to my feet, I winced as pain lanced up my ankle, and I looked down, and noticed that while the swelling wasn't as bad, it was still going to be painful walking. Even then, I forced the pain down the best I could, before I made my way over so that I could don my suit, and then my armor.

After my jumpsuit was on, I called back towards the door, "Come in!"

Moving over, I grabbed my armor, and began to assemble it onto my body, and I looked over as a maid walked in. Her eyes seemed to widen a bit, before they darted around the room, and I noted her nervous behavior from the way she was acting, along with when she spoke, "P-Princess C-Celestia req-quests your presence."

Turning my attention back to my armor, I finished placing my leg armor on, so I moved onto my abdomen, and asked, "Thank you, I will be ready soon."

She either was too nervous to respond, or didn't have anything to say, either way, it left me to finish putting my armor on, but when I finished, I looked at my helmet, and it was a quick internal debate. I would forego taking it with me this time, though I would still take my pistol, knife, and my assault rifle. The mare behind me made a nervous sound when the glint of my knife caught the light, but I had made sure to move fast so that it was concealed within its sheath, though I knew she would still be nervous around me now.

Once everything was secured, I reached over and grabbed my medical bag and placed it on my back. Turning towards the mare, I gestured towards her with my palm up and said, "Please lead the way."


...


Stopping in front of Celestia's bed chamber doors, I noted that all the guards were giving me varied looks from the corner of their eyes. It seems the news about what happened between the Princess and I had spread faster than I thought it would, though it was bound to happen indefinitely.

The maid and I had arrived later than I would have expected, and I blamed that on my limp; which I hoped wasn't too noticeable among those we had crossed paths with. The maid however, had asked me if I was alright occasionally during our walk. Shaking my head lightly, I raised my hand up, and knocked my knuckles along the door. The echo sounded off loudly into the hallway behind me, but even with that, I felt like it was too quiet.

The door was engulfed in a light golden light, and it wasn't more than a few seconds before it opened up, and Princess Celestia was standing there in front of me. She smiled happily towards me, before she said, "Ah, good to see you Steel, please come in."

Smiling a bit, I felt my heart actually jump into my throat from how casually she was conversing with me. She seemed to not even remember anything that happened during her time under the effects of the morphine, or she was masking it to save herself embarrassment.

Stepping into her room, I looked her over, and saw many of the smaller cuts and scratches appeared to have been healed, yet her wing was still wrapped up. Raising my eyes a bit as the mighty doors closed behind us, I looked into her gaze, which I saw held curiosity, before I asked, "How is your wing feeling Celestia?"

Once I asked that question, she flexed her wing lightly towards me, but winced once it was half way extended. "It is feeling better than it was earlier... thank you for your concern Steel."

Nodding a bit, I only stopped walking once Celestia did, but once we were stopped, I asked, "What is it you wanted to talk about tonight Celestia?" Looking towards the window, I noted the steady climbing of the moon, before I added, "Even though it is a short time, you never seemed to stay awake during the night hours."

The reddening of her cheeks, along with her eyes seeming to take on a nervous yet curious glint was a slight hinting to what the reason was. She looked over towards something, and I looked as well, just too basically watch her move with my eyes and sit on her bed. When she did, she spoke in a quiet tone that showed that she was apparently embarrassed about something, though I had a good idea about what it was. "Yes, well, it appears that my guards have a rumor going about the ranks, and it concerns my actions towards you during our time in the library. Though I remember a small amount from our time in the library, I don't remember all of it, and others are foggy. Would you mind filling me in...?"

Feeling my own cheeks beginning to burn, I could only hope it wasn't as visible as hers was now, but I needed to know what this rumor was first. "Um, first, can you tell me what is said in the rumor?"

Princess Celestia looked to the side a bit while she let out a light cough into her hoof, before she said, "They say that I was, affectionate... others say I was much more intimate, and I... that I kissed you."

Nodding my head lightly as I looked down, I placed my hands in my lap, before I said, "Yeah... that is pretty much what happened... but I also have an explanation for the behavior, as well as my own question." Turning my head a bit, I looked towards what looked like a podium that had an open scroll on it. I was tempted to try and read it from this distance just so that I could distract myself, but I needed to make sure I said this right.

"Morphine alleviates pain, and on some occasions, can affect a person's attitudes and personalities. Though, with marines and ODST's, it doesn't change them much; cussing, threatening, and the such..." Chuckling a bit at a few memories that surfaced, I brought a hand up, before I looked towards Celestia, and said, "And sometimes, it can reveal how someone... or somepony feels for another. Whether it be hateful, happy, sad, regretful... or other means, it can do that." Turning my eyes down again, I felt a feeling of lightness in my gut, before I added, "In your case, you kept coming closer to me, and you seemed to be showing affection towards me. During that time, you did indeed kiss me..."

Celestia seemed to lean in closer, but when I looked over out of the corner of my eye, she didn't appear any closer. I did see her nod as the blush over her muzzle intensified, before she asked, "D-Did I s-say anything before or a-after that?"

Swallowing thickly, I knew exactly what she was talking about, so when I coughed, lightly, she did as well, along with seeming to lean in closer. "You uh... you said something along the lines that you... that... that you l... love me..."

It felt like my cheeks were going to combust as soon as I said that, yet I wanted... no, needed to ask my question before I lost the confidence to ask it, "B-By the way P-Princess... um... do you? Like, actually, l-love me?"

Feeling something pull me closer, I looked towards her, but I felt my heart stop when I felt her lips brush over my own. It was brief, but when she pulled away, she was blushing immensely, but her eyes didn't waver away from my own as she spoke. "I c-can't say I do... b-but maybe in time, we will k-know..."

A nervous but weary smirk found its way onto my face, but as soon as it did, it fell, before I asked, "Princess C-"

"I told you before, call me Celestia when we are alone."

Feeling a bit more of a smirk come to my face, I looked back into her eyes, before I wrapped an arm behind her back, and said, "As you wish, your majesty... heh..." Feeling a bit better than before, I asked, "But in all honesty Celestia... If we were in a relationship... don't you need to rule over Equestria?"

She smiled, before she said, "We will think of that when we get there..."