//------------------------------// // Chapter Eighteen: Of Book Horses and Table Courses // Story: That One Time: Two Princesses Enjoyed Their Harem Honeymoon // by TheCrimsonDM //------------------------------// Chapter Eighteen:Of Book Horses and Table Courses Written by TheCrimsonDM Celestia was beyond excited to be taking Twilight out on the town like this. Sure their destination was known, they were going to the library to spend some quality time reading books together, but along the way she had many delights to share with Twilight. One thing she always loved about the Crystal Empire was the fact the citizens here were a lot more down to earth, very few worshiped her or Luna, their goddess of choice was long since dead, but they saw an avatar in her in the form of Cadance. What this really meant was that Celestia, Luna and Twilight could walk around the town unmolested. The first order of business of course was to stop by some of the local markets. She hadn't gone shopping with Twilight in more years than she could remember. Twilight was nearly skipping with joy beside Celestia as the two of them deviated from the normal course and entered the market square. Anything from exotic treats, to musical instruments could be found here presuming one found a seller for such things. Celestia was particularly keen on finding a few points of interest. Twilight hummed alongside her. "Hey, Celestia, you know that big festival where ponies trade items to each other and everything always works out because you’re only trading things you don't want for things you do want?" Celestia nodded. "Yes, I do. This place is a little familiar , isn't it. I remember taking you there as a filly, and you were trying to trade all those comic books you stole from your brother. It was adorable." "What if a pony trades a pony for some object?" Celestia's eyes widened. "Twilight, that's illegal, at best that's indentured servitude, at worst its slavery." "But the charter doesn't say anything about that specific trade." Celestia glanced down at her. "And it doesn't need to. Illegal services are still against the law. You can't, for example, trade illegal drugs for a giant dog." Twilight seemed to think about that for a moment. "Oh, okay. So drugs and slavery are not allowed there. Because it's already against the law, right?" "Yes." Celestia decided then and there, that she would never allow Twilight to be in charge of any festivals involving goods being traded or sold... Some days she really thought that making Twilight a full fledged princess was a mistake. As adorable and loving as Twilight was, she was not good material for a ruler as her own moral compass was sometimes completely broken. It must have been all the comic books she read growing up. They paused at a local seller who had a few shelves of books set up. Celestia perked up upon seeing them. "Oh, Twilight, look at this." Twilight trotted by her side. "Book!" "Yes, Twilight, books. You love books don't you?" Twilight beamed. "I love book." Celestia began to feel something was off. "Twilight, its books. You mean to say you love books." Twilight nodded. "I love book. Many book." Celestia noticed the curious gaze of the seller. She quickly lifted Twilight off the ground in her golden aura and examined Twilight's head. "Hmm... no, you’re not damaged." She set Twilight down. "Twilight, do you like your friends?" "I love my friends." "And do you like books?" "I love book." Okay, mildly broken it was then. She turned back to the books for sell. It was better to ignore Twilight's... odd moments. "Let's find some good books for us then." Together the pair of them looked through the books that were available for sale. Of course, Celestia already owned all the books here, but she wasn't sure that Twilight had the same. Watching her she waited for Twilight's response. Carefully watching that serious expression as Twilight read through the titles of the books. Once she saw Twilight's eyes rise slightly and her mouth part just a little. She knew something was found. Twilight's horn lit up and surrounded in a pink aura an old brown leather tome pulled free from the shelf. She examined it as if it was the most precious artifact in the world. Celestia followed her gaze and had to admit, she was onto something. Celestia read the title aloud, "The Dark Days of Starswirl the Bearded." Twilight glanced up at the merchant. "How much for this piece?" The merchant chuckled to himself. "That old thing? Why, it's only worth about fifty gold bits." Twilight seemed to instinctively reach for her purse, paused and then looked up at Celestia sheepishly. Celestia offered a warm smile, her horn lit up and the requested amount of gold bits appeared in the air. She left them on the table. "I believe that should be sufficient." The merchant quickly swept up the bits with a foreleg and put them into his safe. "You two enjoy the new book, you hear." The two of them walked away. Twilight was bouncing in place and reading her book. Celestia looked back once more to see if anypony else was going to stop by the merchant's shop. She saw the merchant watching her, for a brief moment his eyes seemed to glow yellow. She blinked and just like that the merchant and the stall both were gone, as if they’d never been there. Yet Twilight was still holding the book and reading it. Celestia frowned, she only knew one creature of chaos who might vanish that quickly after selling something, and a sour taste was left in her mouth upon thinking about if the book Twilight was reading now was actually safe or not. Well, they'd have to cross that bridge once they got to it. For now it was time to continue enjoying her date with Twilight. As the two of them walked through the merchant square there were many shops they stopped at. One where they got some sweet candies. One where a pony with an equals sign as a cutie mark was standing on a podium and talking about some new church of Equality. Celestia made a mental note to remember that as she could sense there was something wrong with the mare. Something had drained her normal magical energy, but the mare seemed happy enough, perhaps it was just some sickness she had. Though it was never good to completely overlook such oddities. Finally they picked up a few new hats and dresses. Of course they couldn't carry all of this stuff with them everywhere, so aside from a cute pair of matching sun hats for them she teleported the rest of the junk they bought back to the Bluebird manor. She briefly wondered if Rarity would enjoy looking at the dresses they got for some inspiration or something. While walking down the open streets with Twilight by her side the two of them enjoyed some vanilla ice cream. It was a nice, warm day, and so far everything had gone well. She was positive she could call this a successful date so far. Looking at Twilight it was clear the mare was entirely obsessed with this venture as well.  Well that was true until they got to the library and saw a sign saying it was closed for renovations. Celestia looked down at her lovely lavender wife and it was clear that her demeanor had sagged somewhat. Though she still smiled, it wasn't as full as it was before. Celestia's heart broke inside, she'd planned this for some time now, and to think she was stopped by some silly closed sign was just too hard to handle. Of course something had to go wrong. Celestia wasn't going to make a scene here though. She just lowered her head and apologized. "I'm sorry, my love." Twilight shook her head. "It's fine. My date isn't ruined or anything. I'm just happy to get to spend time with you." Celestia smiled down at her. Then Twilight's words hit her like a knife to the kidney. "Ruined." Twilight nuzzled into Celestia's side. "No, it's not. Come on, we can do something else together right?" Celestia raised her head. She couldn’t let Twilight see how much this revelation pained her. If she did, it would risk Twilight being hurt. No, she must stay strong for Twilight's sake. What would she do instead though? Well there was always one place she could go to read books, have an excellent choice of them, and relax at Twilight's side in privacy too boot. Celestia's horn lit up with a holy golden aura. "I will make this date amazing." They teleported to the Crystal Castle and straight into the library. There Celestia and Twilight were able to enjoy as many books as the solar princess demanded and in the privacy of only each other's company.  Few ponies had access to this place, fewer still would bother reading here. So it was with some joy that Celestia and Twilight went about looking for some books to read. Much to Celestia's surprise, Twilight's taste had evolved somewhat. They were going through the romance section now, specifically looking for any gay romances they could find. There weren't as many as Celestia would have thought at first. It took some time but they got a nice stack of them and retreated to find a nice table. Celestia had one particular spot in mind. Her own personal favorite spot to read in the castle was a corner alcove that had a curved circular couch that was just right for her to lounge on. A large table with a red cloth covering it and a heater underneath it was designed with the intent of sticking your legs under to stay warm on cold days. Considering how close they were to the frozen north, this was a device that would normally see use every day if not for the restrictions of being able to visit here.  What Celestia didn't expect was for somepony to already be here. Staring out the window with a flushed face was Shining Armor. He had his lower half completely covered by the table and was looking pleased with himself. She figured that sometimes those stallion parts might feel good with a heater directly on them. Celestia knew she particularly enjoyed that feeling... not that she'd ever do something like that in such a public place. The thought alone was... shameful. The two of them took a seat nearby Shining Armor and he nearly jumped seeing them. There was thud from under the table when he moved and he quickly spoke. "Celestia, Twilight, I didn't expect you two to come here. I thought you were going to the main library." Celestia stuck her legs under the table. "Mmm, yes, well that would have been nice but it was closed for renovations." Twilight stuck her legs under the table and her eyes widened. "WOW! It's so hot under there. It's like a secret little hot box." Celestia looked over at Twilight. "No more hot boxing for you, Twilight." Twilight groaned. "I didn't mean to get high, that was a mistake." Shining Armor laughed. "Well, it was, gaaahh." Celestia looked over at him. His face was oddly flushed even for this table. His hooves curled at the top of the table. It almost looked like he was in pain. Something touched Celestia's leg. She did her best not to react. Instead she lowered her head to the side, lifted up the tablecloth so she could look underneath it and frowned. "Oh, hello Cadance." Cadance did her best to reply with a... shall we say full mouth. "Mphm mmm." Celestia pulled her head back up and gave Shining Armor a devious look. "I see. Is it hot down there?" Twilight blinked. "Why is Cadance down there? Can I see?" She stopped Twilight from looking. Her previous interest in her brother might cause a problem. "No, you are not allowed to look." Celestia then allowed herself a devious laugh. "I have a better idea." She slipped under the table herself. "Twilight, be a dear and spread your legs open please." If Shining Armor and Cadance were going to try and ruin her spot, she was just going to have to take it back. By being just as bad as these two. Oh poor Twilight never stood a chance.