“That was an impressive thing you did today,” Celestia offered to Bean, and he blushed slightly as they stopped outside his door.
“No, not really,” he replied. “It’s what I wanted to do. One of the greatest lessons my Dad ever taught me was a little axiom: ‘how would you want to be treated?’”
“That would more accurately be a proverb.” She giggled.
“I really need to have you give me some equish lessons,” he said with a groan and a smile. “But the point of the saying is true. If I was in the wrong, I would want to be forgiven. Besides, what good would it have done to stay mad at them? Was it really worth it to reject them? How would I feel about myself in the morning, or five days from now, or even five years from now? Grudges are horrible things. I’d much rather have things the way they are now.”
Celestia then moved in close to his ear, and he shuddered in joy as her warm breath tickled his ear. “All you say is true, and I am proud that you have chosen this path. It helps me to love you all the more.”
She then gave him a soft peck on the cheek. She did not mean to giggle when she pulled back and watched his reaction, but the way he blushed and stared at the ground made little bubbles of joy filter up in her chest.
“Oh, well…gee…” he stammered in embarrassed happiness. “I, uh…”
“You know, my room does tend to get cold and lonely at night as of late,” she lowered her voice to a husky whisper. “Has your room been having the same issue?”
This made his whole face go red. He knew exactly where she was going with this.
“Perhaps?” he squeaked.
She then moved in close again. “When you’re ready, dear Bean. First and foremost, I want you to be comfortable and happy with our relationship. Since we are married, there really isn’t any reason why we can’t be together, but if you are not comfortable with the idea just yet then I can wait until you are.”
“I, uh…” he stalled. “I think there’s something wrong with me.”
Celestia looked him over quickly, and then she gave him a curious look. “Really? What is troubling you?”
“Oh, it’s not a physical thing, I hope. I just…” He grunted. “I don’t know why, but it seems like taking that step would be taking advantage of you, somehow.”
Celestia smiled. “That’s because you’re still overcoming my Princess side.”
“Partly, but we’ve also only known each other for a week. I’m worried it’s too much too fast, even if you are my wife.”
“And that is fine. That tells me that you have a great deal of respect for me, and I am happy you do.”
“I do.” He nodded, and then he exhaled slowly. “I think the other small part is that I worry you don’t see me as your husband yet. I know you’ve introduced me as such, but I can’t help but think that you’re just saying that because we’re married.”
“What do you think I think about you, then?”
“Mostly that I’m just some foal who needs self-worth lessons. I know it’s dumb, but I worry that you look at me like I’m just a child who needs some mothering. You’re not really romantically interested, you’re just thinking ‘what a cute little colt, he needs my help.’”
“Have I given you a reason to think this? Something I have said, or that I have done perhaps?”
“No, no. In fact, you made me really question it with that little hip-sway stunt this morning.”
“You liked it,” she said with a giggle. “Don’t even deny it.”
“I did like it, so I know my line of thought is wrong.”
“Would you like to hear what I really think of you?” Celestia offered.
“Please?” he eagerly asked.
“I think you are a charming and delightful stallion who is thoughtful, kind, and concerned about others. You show a great deal of empathy and concern, and you’re cute when you scrunch up your muzzle when you’re thinking, just like you’re doing now.”
“I am?” he asked as he touched his nose.
“Yes. But I also realize you’re still adjusting to everything that has happened. Let me offer you this, so that you may set your mind at ease.”
She moved in close to his ear again, and he found himself wanting her that close.
“I love you, Baked Bean.”
Bean just about melted into a puddle of pure joy right then.
“When we came back from Salt Lick, I had some personal thoughts about how things had turned out and how we had ended up together. One of my musings was that, perhaps, it was destiny that had denied me a mate over these many years. The mystic chords that bind all of ponykind to one another and from past to present have a way of shaping and directing events, and maybe I hadn’t found my special somepony due to the simple fact that he—that you—weren’t due on the scene for a thousand years.”
She then drew even closer and she smiled deeply as she heard his breath catch. “I then thought that if that really was the case then the wait had made our relationship even sweeter.”
She then whispered a secret into his ear, one that made him blush harder than he ever had before. There were a few more whispered words, and then a quick nip of his ear.
“I don’t think I’m going to be ready for that anytime soon,” he whispered with some shame.
“That is perfectly fine, Bean. If I can wait one thousand two hundred twenty-four years I think I can wait a little while longer. As I said, I will go at your pace. But I don’t think of you as a foal, just as you don’t think of me as an impossibly old mare. We see each other as we are, and as what I think we were meant to be: husband and wife.”
Bean didn’t reply for a moment, but when he did, he looked very confused. “You’re really that old? You don’t look a day over five hundred sixty-eight.”
“I use an anti-aging cream at night.”
“That’s some cream.” He chuckled with her.
“That it is. Goodnight, Bean.”
She then turned to leave, but she felt something quickly working its way up and under her right wing. Bean’s adorable nose soon poked out, and Celestia smiled warmly while the rest of his charming face followed right behind.
“So this doesn’t look like I am acting like a little foal?” he asked gently.
“No,” she replied, with a quick kiss for his nose. “This looks perfect.”
“My room has been pretty cold and lonely lately, now that you mention it. Perhaps I can stay with you tonight? Then maybe I won’t be cold anymore.”
“And neither will I,” she replied, as they began walking. “You are most welcome to spend the night with me.”
“And the night after that?”
“And for many more.” She giggled, and she then shrieked out a laugh as Bean nipped under her wing.
“This is nice,” Bean remarked with a glance around her chambers while Celestia shut her door.
“Oh, you approve?” she giggled.
“Oh, yeah. I like the curtains, and the fireplace, and...”
He stopped as he turned around and found Celestia in the middle of removing her tiara and peytral. She glanced at him as her magic placed the gilded accessories on a nearby velvet cushion, and she blushed a little.
“What is it?” she asked.
He shook his head slightly and blinked. “I’m sorry. I just… It’s interesting to see you like this.”
“Is that a good interesting or a bad interesting?”
“Good. Definitely good,” he quickly said as she walked back over to him. “Seeing you like this helps me see the non princess side of you. You’re still the same mare, of course, but now you’re a bit more… well, more approachable, if that makes sense. The tiara and everything puts you on a pedestal, but this is just Celly right here.”
Bean felt Celestia’s magic gently lift his crystal off his neck, and they both smiled as she gently placed it next to her tiara.
“Shining and Cadence agonized over that.” Celestia motioned for him to follow her to a bed of cushions near the fireplace. “As soon as they got the word we were married, they had it commissioned. They were concerned that you would not like your gift since it had been rushed.”
“I’m really beginning to believe that princesses do their best work under pressure.” Bean laughed. “You and your ironclad law, Cadence and that crystal. It’s amazing, and probably one of the finest gifts I’ve ever received.”
“One of?”
“The gift of your love is better.”
That caused snowy-white cheeks to blush, and Celestia smiled deeply while she laid down on the cushions. She then lifted her right wing for him, and he happily moved under it with a contented hum.
“Do you use some kind of feather softener too?” he asked. “It feels so wonderful under here.”
“No, no softener,” she replied warmly. “But they might have some of my spit on them from when I preen and straighten them.”
“Ew!” He laughed with her. “I guess I’ll just have to live with it. Though that does make me wonder…”
“What are you doing?” she asked as he rolled onto his back, but then she let out a long sigh of enjoyment as Bean began to softly stroke the feathers on the underside of her wing.
“Ah! So you do like this. One for the notebook.”
“Write that one down two or three times,” she said with a delighted hum. A little more stretching left the full set of long primaries available to Bean’s long, slow strokes, and he continued his gentle ministrations until Celestia murmured, “That is incredibly... nice. So nice.”
“I’m not rubbing them the wrong way, am I?”
There was no answer forthcoming, so after stroking her feathers for a little while longer, Bean rolled back over and regarded Celestia... no, his happy wife in the low glow of the bedroom lighting.
She wrinkles up her nose when she’s sleeping. That is so adorable.
He was afraid that laughing would wake her up, so he suppressed it to a quiet giggle, snuggled into her side, stretched out his own shorter legs next to hers, and relaxed.
“Goodnight, my princess. I don’t know where this journey is going, but it’s going to be a fun trip.”
Her wing drew in a bit closer around him, and he sighed happily while he joined her in slumber. This is what he had expected married life to be like, and he was pretty extra sure that, despite the unknowns that loomed before him like Luna’s moon, he could get used to this life.
With a little help.