Chapter 21
The four of us stepped into Sugarcube Corner, the three fillies still being carried by me and laughing themselves silly. I found an open table and plopped each foal into a seat. Once settled, I went up to the counter where Mrs. Cake was smiling at our antics.
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Cake. I need a milkshake for each of my friends here and a strawberry shake for myself. Also, I would like to see those kids of yours again, if it’s no trouble that is.”
“The shakes will be no trouble, of course, but I think the twins are still down for their nap. I’m so sorry, dear.”
“Ah well, it was worth a shot. Oh, while I’m here, I’m going to be going home tomorrow and if I don’t bring one of our amazing cakes home for Mom, she may just put me back in the woods where she found me. I don’t suppose you can make a marble cake by then could you?”
“Oh, that’ll be no trouble, no trouble at all. Would you like it to say anything special in the frosting?”
“No, I don’t think that’ll be necessary, but some fruit on top might be nice.”
“Okay, we can have it ready by the morning if that’ll work for you.”
“Perfect, I’ll be by tomorrow to get it then. For now, though,” I pulled a small sack of bits from my pocket and laid it on the counter, “how much do I owe you?”
*****
After we were all filled with fruit-flavored, ice-cold, dairy product, we all headed back into the thoroughfare. I left Apple Bloom and Scootaloo with Applejack at her cart and Sweetie Belle at the Carousel Boutique. I strolled aimlessly and without purpose, waving at ponies as I went, until I came to a certain flower shop. I went inside.
“Hello and welcome to… oh, hey, Chris. How are you doing?”
“Hey there, Lily. I’m good, how about you?”
“I’m great! You want me to get Rose?”
“Please.” A few minutes later, and there she was. “Hello, Rose.”
“Hello, Chris, it’s good to see you again.”
“It’s good to see you too,” and it really was too. I don’t know if it was her eyes, her smile or even simply her fur and mane, but just seeing her face made me happy. “Hey, you got a minute?” She nodded and we stepped outside the store. “Listen, tomorrow, I’m heading home to Canterlot.”
“Oh, I see.” She looked absolutely crushed. “So, that’s it then?”
“What?! No! I still want to see you. You can visit the palace and I can visit Ponyville, it’s not that far of a trip and I can always use a chariot to get here even quicker. Please don’t just call it off.”
Rose looked up into my eyes and smiled a little. “You make it sound like we’ve been dating for months. It was only one night.”
“I know, but I still want to see you again.” I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment.
Rose giggled, “alright then, how about tonight?”
“Sounds great to me. So, can I swing by after you’re done with work?”
“Okay, I’ll see you then.”
We waved as I walked off and she returned to her store. Now I just had to figure out what to do until then. I decided that the best thing to do would be to simply browse a local store. In fact, there was one that I’ve been wanting to visit anyway, and after the other day, I needed to visit it.
The bell above the door jingled, letting the proprietor know I had entered. An earth pony mare with a curly pink and purple mane trotted out from behind the counter. “Hello and welcome to Bon-B… y-your highness!” Bon-Bon dropped to the floor in subjugation.
I knelt down in front of her and placed a hand on her shoulders, she was trembling. “No, no, none of that. Please, my little pony,” I was channeling Celestia quite heavily for this one, “no bowing to me. Especially inside your own establishment. Rise.” She did as she was told, but seemed unable to look me in the eye. “I came here for two reasons. The first, I wish to apologize for the other day. Twilight tends to get a little… overprotective. Please, forgive her and myself. I never wanted my visit here to bring misery to anypony.” Bon-Bon nodded, but still refused to look at me. “I suppose that’s as good as I can hope for.” I was still on one knee when the bell above the door jingled again.
“Hey, Bonnie! Got any new- *gasp* Prince Chris!?” Lyra dropped to the floor just like Bon-Bon had. “Please forgive me for calling you a monster.”
“Ah, not you too. Lyra, please get up. I’ve never been comfortable with all that bowing nonsense. Besides, I came here to ask for your forgiveness.”
Lyra lifted her head off the floor. “Really?”
“Yes, really. As I told your friend, what happened the other day was our fault, not yours. As far as you calling me the ‘Monster of Canterlot’, I’m not upset about that. Just make sure not to say it around anypony who owns a crown. It, uh, it doesn’t end well sometimes.”
“You’re really not mad?” Lyra asked.
“No, I’m really not mad. In fact, to prove it, you can ask me any question you want, and I’ll answer.”
“Awesome!” Lyra sat back on her haunches with a hoof to her chin and gave it some serious thought. “Okay, I got it. I know you’re a human and I heard about you being an omnivore…”
“Uh-huh…”
“…but the one thing nopony knows is, how did you come to Equestria?”
“Ah, that one. Well, to put it simply, it was a magical mishap.”
“What? That’s it? ‘A magical mishap’!?” Lyra was clearly disappointed by my answer.
“Lyra… calm down…, this is the prince of Equestria you’re talking to,” Bon-Bon warned.
“I know, but, it just doesn’t answer the question. ‘A magical mishap’.” She practically spat the last sentence.
“Lyra, drop it!” Bon-Bon commanded.
“Aww… but I want to know.”
“Listen,” I spoke up, “I know I’m leaving it vague, but please just accept my answer. It was pretty much the worst day of my life and it involved somepony close to me and it still upsets them to this day. So please, just leave it at that.”
“Oh, o-okay. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.” Now Lyra was looking at the floor again and picking at a spot with her hoof. Bon-Bon was just sitting there with her hoof draped over her snout.
I simply placed a hand on her head and tussled her mane a little. “Hey now, it’s alright, you couldn’t have known. Let’s just forget about it, okay? I’ll even give you another question if you want.”
Lyra nodded, “okay.” She smiled, then asked, “why do you wear clothes all the time?”
*****
Late that afternoon, I had donned my nicer outfit again (it was fine, Spike washed it) and headed back to Rose’s place. I had my bits, a bouquet of wildflowers, and a bunch of candy that Bon-Bon had given me as a way of apologizing for Lyra. This time, though, I had planned a picnic in the meadow, the bits were just in case.
I was practically skipping as I walked down the street. The anticipation was building as her shop came into view. It had closed almost an hour ago, but I thought it prudent, and less desperate, to wait a while to give her a chance to unwind from the day. I just couldn’t wait to see her smiling face again. Look, I know it’s pathetic, but I spent all my life cooped up in a palace, cut me some slack.
I knocked on her door, and this time, it was Rose who answered. Not that I didn’t want to talk to her friends again, I just had other things on my mind. Things like, would Rose like the dinner I packed? Would I say something stupid? Would I get another kiss? Is Luna breaking some laws of nature by keeping the moon full for this long?
“So, what’s the plan for tonight?” Rose asked as we walked through town.
“Well, I thought we could watch the sun set, eat something, then just sit under the stars and talk.”
“Hmm, sounds good to me. Your family does always put on a good show.” We both chuckled and continued on to our destination.
I set out a blanket under a tree on the top of a small hill near a creek that fed a nearby lake. I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect scene, short of the royal gardens. We sat there, hardly saying a word as the sun sank behind the mountains. Afterward, I pulled out some sandwiches, a salad and some tea.
Once our hunger was sated, we started talking about our days. Now, you probably don’t think the daily life of a florist is all that exciting, but you’d be right. In fact, if it weren’t Rose telling me all this, I might have lost interest. However, there was just something about the way she told me about selecting just the right flowers from the garden behind the store to bring in the most customers. It even made me a little sad when she talked about having to dispose of wilting flowers, she seemed to honestly care about them.
Then came my turn to talk about my day. I told her all about my trip to the school and talking to the students. I even told her all about what happened between me, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and those two fillies.
“Oh, I know those two. The pink one is Diamond Tiara and the grey one is Silver Spoon. Nasty pieces of work. As spoiled rotten as their names suggest.” Rose smirked, “I’m glad you put them in their place.” Rose leaned against my side, I could only hope she couldn’t feel my pounding heart or quivering muscles. I may have been a little nervous. “So what happened after that?”
“Ah, well, I took Apple Bloom and her friends to Sugarcube Corner and bought them all some milkshakes. Nothing major to talk about there. After that, I stopped over at Bon-Bon’s Bonbons. The other day, Twilight and I had a little run in with Lyra and Bon-Bon. It didn’t go well. I figured I’d go and apologize to them.”
“And how’d that go?”
“Pretty good actually. I offered to answer any question she asked as a sign of my intended friendship.”
“Really? What did she ask you about?” Rose looked up at me with those big green eyes of hers. I really like those eyes.
“She, uh… she asked why I always wear clothes.”
“Huh? You know, I’m kinda curious about that myself. Why do you always wear clothes?”
I blushed and broke eye contact while I scratched my chin. I answered with, “if things go well between us, you may just find out some day.” I pulled out the bag of candy. “For now, how about we just enjoy this candy Bon-Bon gave me?”
“But, you didn’t answer my… oh.” Rose blushed a little when she realized what I meant. “You know what, I think I will have some of that candy.” I chuckled and began to rub her shoulders without even realizing it. “Ooh, ooh you’re good at that. I bet you had lots of practice on all those mares just chomping at the bit to date a royal.”
“Sorry, but yesterday was my very first date,” I told her as she continued to coo and slowly stretched out on the blanket, thus allowing me better access to her shoulders.
“Seriously? I-ooh… I’m honored. To think, I got to-aah… break you in. Ooh~ right there.”
By this point, I had gotten up on my knees to increase the pressure. “Honest. The only ponies I’ve ever done this for are the four princesses, and even then, usually only Mother.”
“Mmm… you do know how weird it is that you can say that soOOooOo~ casually. Still, your fingers are awesome for- hey! Keep those paws of yours up north there, Buster.”
“Oops, sorry about that.”
“Hmm… I guess it’s okay, just give it a couple more dates first, alright?”
“Of course. I don’t want to do anything to offend you.”
We were quiet for a while. I continued to massages her back, shoulders and neck and she would chew on a candy that I would proffer every so often. I couldn’t help but think about how firm her muscles were and how very soft her fur was. The whole situation was fantastic.
“Ahh… it really is a beautiful night out tonight, isn’t it?” Rose asked after she finally managed to open her eyes once more. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the moon so… big before. It’s almost like Luna drew it closer or something.”
“Yeah, or something,” I muttered as I glared at the celestial orb glowing in the night sky. “Did you know Aunt Luna chose the position of each and every star up there thousands of years ago?”
“Really?”
“Yep. She once told me that creating something that could be seen by each and every pony was an experience unparalleled in this world. The sun and moon existed before they were born, but the stars were all her doing. It was just one more thing that drove her ‘round the bend a thousand years ago.”
“How so?”
“Huh?” We looked eyes again. Man, those eyes are beautiful.
“How could her creating the stars drive her crazy?”
“Ah, well, imagine you spent months planting a garden. You would have to tend to each and every plant one at a time, making sure they each had proper fertilizer, water and sunlight while keeping the weeds from ruining the pattern.” Rose nodded to show she was following along. “Now, imagine all the ponies in town simply ignored it. They weren’t mean about it and they never did anything to damage it, they simply acted like it wasn’t there. Wouldn’t you feel unappreciated?”
“Wow, I never thought of it that way. We were all only told that Luna was possessed by Nightmare Moon and tried to take out Celestia. I can’t imagine how frustrated she must have been.”
“Right? After Mom banished Aunt Luna, she would spend hours every night to make certain that not a single star slid out of place. She couldn’t bear the thought of something her sister worked so hard to create being neglected and falling apart.”
“Incredible. I can’t imagine how taxing that must have been on the princess.” Rose looked back up to the moon, only this time with compassion and consideration. After a few moments, she turned back to me. “Listen, as much as I’m digging this massage, I do have to open the store in the morning and need to be getting back.”
I nodded and stood up. “I guess I do too. Too bad, I was enjoying myself quite a bit.”
“What a coincidence, so was I.” We both chuckled and packed up the picnic basket.
The walk back was quiet, not because we were at odds with each other, but rather because we were enjoying to night sky. All too soon, we reached her place and had to separate.
“So, you’re going back to Canterlot tomorrow?” Rose asked with a slightly sad expression.
“Yeah, but like I said, I won’t be so far away that I can’t visit often.” I was trying to reassure us both.
“I know, and I’ll be there to see you off tomorrow morning, too. For now though,” Rose stood up on her hindlegs and surprised me with a full kiss on the lips, nearly causing my knees to buckle right then and there, “this will have to do.”
She walked back inside, sashaying her hips a little bit. Again, I was frozen in shock. I could definitely get used to it. Finally, I managed to get my legs to work. A few moments later, I got my legs to work together and agree on a single direction. It took some time to get to the library. Even then, I didn’t get much sleep that night.
And that was my first kiss.