//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Love is in Bloom // Story: The Gift of Life // by hell00001 //------------------------------// The Gift of Life Chapter 13 Two months later… Celestia stared at the ceiling above her. It had been two o’clock in the morning since she had last checked the clock and she knew that perhaps only another five minutes have gone by. She had been lying awake in bed for over four hours now, Luna sleeping comfortably beside her. She looked down at the filly and nudged her head gently with her nose, making sure not to wake the younger princess up. Both fillies had been sleeping in the same bed together since the last time Luna had had a nightmare. They both quickly noticed that the frequency of Luna’s nightmares had gone down with her only having one minor dream over the course of two months. It was as if Celestia sleeping with her sister had somehow caused the nightmares to vanish. They decided to sleep more often together if only to give Luna more time to sleep comfortably. Luna has been more active and outgoing when she is around other ponies as she is getting more sleep. She at least says hi now and she is willing to have longer conversations with their mother and father. It’s as if these nightmares going away from Luna had turned her into a whole new filly. Celestia was both surprised and glad to see that her little sister wasn’t so skittish. However, there was another reason Celestia continued to sleep with Luna. She felt safer and warmer when she was with her sister. She felt as if Luna’s love and happiness was being directed at herself for just being there to comfort the little filly during the night. She felt like she could be loved by a pony. Yet, she knew she wasn’t loved by many ponies. That night back in the alleyway she remembered how much the ponies disregarded her status so that they may sate their personal needs. She had been cornered, beaten, and then nearly raped simply because she had been wandering through the wrong part of the city at the wrong time. Those ponies had no sincerity to offer towards her or her want to get home safely after a wonderful tour of the city. Never did she meet with Ledger the next day like she had said she would. Never did she leave the castle since that fateful day. She had not gone on any of the walks with her father nor had she gone on errands with her mother to visit the magic shops in Everfree. She did not want to leave the safety the castle provided her against the number of ponies out among the city. She felt afraid of the ponies who lie beyond these giant, protective walls. It was like her father had said. The ponies in Everfree did not truly love her as a princess. They did not truly accept her as somepony who would be ruling them in the years to come after her mother and father. They wanted nothing more than to simply take what they thought was theirs and if that included a princess’s dignity then they would take that too. She remembered the look on the grey pegasus’s face as he had slammed himself down on top of her chest. How sinister and contorted his face looked as he stared into her eyes with a malicious smile. He had thought he was going to rape a princess and there was nothing she could have done about it. He thought he could take her dignity, her innocence, and her virginity. She could not go back out into society knowing that something like that could happen again. Never did she want to see her future subjects again. Not after she knew she could not trust a single one. There was a knock on her and her sister’s door. Celestia peered over Luna’s shoulder and looked at the clock that was on the desk between their beds. The clock read two thirteen. She laid her head back down. Who could possibly be up at this time to see her? Most of the maids had gone to sleep and the guard that stayed outside of their room had never knocked on the door before. Celestia rose from the bed and started to drag herself over to the door at a slow pace. She didn’t feel like she wanted to walk and she felt very tired from not being able to fall asleep yet. Maybe she would just tell which ever pony was at the door to leave her alone and go back to bed so she could try to get some sleep. When Celestia opened the door her magenta colored eyes met with the dark orange ones of Captain Firemane. She stared at the pony for a little bit, noticing that the character armor he wore was entirely missing only to be replaced with a dark orange bowtie. He smiled gently and the princess in which she returned the greeting. She started to drift her eyes to the ground and prodded with one of her hooves lightly. She knew she had to say something first. “Um, h-hello Firemane. What brings you here at this time?” Celestia asked quietly, stepping out of the room and letting the door gently shut behind her. “Well, I thought you would be up at this hour. I couldn’t sleep myself.” Firemane said as he gestured for Celestia to follow him on a walk through the castle. “Why is that?” Celestia asked, drifting her head lower as they continued to walk towards the direction of the dining hall. “Well, I have been thinking about you and… Well, let’s just say that this isn’t the only night I have been kept awake.” “Oh, um, about that night… I’m really sor-“ “Stop, please. It’s not your fault for what happened to you back then.” “It is my fault, Fire. I should have listened to my parents and my sister. Did you not see the looks on their faces when we came bursting into the throne room? They were entirely devastated to see one of their daughters so beaten up.” “Celestia, you just wanted to get out and the city in which you live in. There is nothing wrong with that. You were entirely entitled to see your city.” “I-I… C-can we talk about something else, please.” Celestia said, gradually getting quieter and slowing her pace. Firemane frowned and slowed his pace to match hers. He lower his head and used it to raise Celestia’s head up so that they could look at each other in the eyes. “Well, I didn’t want to come here to talk about that. I’m sorry.” He said, bringing both he and Celestia to a stop in front of one of the doors to the dining hall. Celestia looked into Firemane’s eyes with a sadness that seemed to drain the color from his own eyes. She tried looking away and then took a step back from him and peeked towards him. “What d-did you come here to talk to me for?” “Do you remember that promise I made to you a few years ago? “I… I’m not sure if I remember.” Celestia said as she slowly lowered her head in embarrassment. Firemane followed her head down and then used his nose to gently lift hers back up so that they were looking into each other’s eyes again. He then motioned for Celestia to follow him to inside the dining room, shutting the door behind them and then walking to the foot of the massive table where there was a rather large, open area that can be used for dancing or playing games. He walked to the center floor and stopped, turning to look at Celestia. “I promised that I would teach you some more dance moves. I figured that, since both you and I are unable to sleep at this time of night, it would be the perfect time to get our lessons in. What do you think?” he asked. Celestia looked down at her hooves for a moment, pawing at the ground and trying to hide the blush that had started to form on her cheeks. What exactly was she feeling that was compelling her to act so bashfully around Firemane? He was just any other young stallion she had met through her life. She didn’t understand why she could suddenly become so shy and open to him. She looked back up and stared into his orange eyes. She felt as if she was getting pulled into the beauty of them as lights danced off of their lenses from the candles that filled the room. What was it about this pony that caused her to become so drawn to his being? What was it about him that caused her to say whatever she wanted whenever she wanted? She almost didn’t notice that he had taken her hoof at brought them both closer together. She finally brought herself back to reality and looked more steadily at the captain. “Yes, I think having a dance with a pony such as yourself would be the best thing for me right now.” she said, gently flipping her hair out of one of her eyes. Firemane pulled Celestia to one side, leading her in a walk all the way to the edge of the dance square. He took one step at a time at a slow space so the princess could keep up, never going too slow for her to grow bored and never going too fast for her to stumble over herself. Never did he take his eyes from her. From the edge of the dance square, the captain led the two in a sweeping arc to the bottom corner of the floor, pausing halfway and twirling Celestia around so that she may lead them to their destination. Celestia became enthralled in the graceful movements of the captain, entertained by the fact that he could lead her through dance moves that she had only seen her parents do at the many parties she had attended. She enjoyed being guided across the floor in a fluid movement that she had trouble understanding how she was able to follow. Her legs side stepped as gracefully as the captain’s did in front of her. She soon had lost herself in the midst of the dance, forgetting all that was around her and letting her legs separate themselves from her mind. As she was lead in a graceful dance across the floor of the dining hall she was all the while looking into the captains eyes. When she was twirled her eyes turned to stay with his. When she was brought into a sweeping bow she continued to look up at his. And at the same time he had never lost sight at hers. When Celestia felt as though she was going to be pulled into his embrace the two ponies tripped. Celestia’s hoof had gotten snagged on the carpet, sending both ponies into a tumble across the floor. When the two stopped their brief roll Celestia was lying on her back with her wings completely spread out and her front hooves tucked to her chest. On top of her was Firemane with his hooves planted on either side of her head and he was gently lying on the princess. When the captain caught onto the predicament the two were in, Celestia noticed that his cheeks turned an adorable shade of red and she blushed herself. She could feel the warmness of her face and she quickly turned her head away to hide the redness that must have been obvious in her cheeks. She felt Firemane quickly rush off of her, coughing gently. She wished he had stayed on top of her at that moment. “I-I’m sorry, princess. I didn’t mean to… um…” he started but trailed off when he wasn’t sure what to say. Celestia suddenly became self-conscious of the position she was in and quickly folded her wings back to her body tightly and got to her hooves. She could tell that Firemane had been so embarrassed by their tumble because of the way that his princess had looked after the fall. She was completely spread out in a very intimate position, symbolized by her fully unfolded wings that allowed for their under feathers to be seen closely. “No, no. I-it is my fault. I, uh, tripped and I took us both down. I didn't mean to… well, have my wings…” Celestia tried to say, hiding her face behind her mane and blushing immensely from how ridiculous she must have looked. “It’s… uh. I-it’s alright. Um, shall we take a break?” the captain said, quickly changing the subject. It was still obvious that he was embarrassed over seeing his princess sprawled out in such a manner. Both ponies walked over to the table and sat down on one side if it, taking seats that were separated by a pillow. The two sat together in silence, looking forward out of the window into the darkened sky over Equestia. Celestia slightly fidgeted in her seat over the awkward silence that had suddenly fallen between them. She could feel the uneasiness that had suddenly began to form between them. That feeling that had formed from the two of them dancing across the floor. The way that Firemane had stared into Celestia’s eyes. The way that he had held her hooves and her back as they glided across the floor at an unnatural ease. She wanted to feel all of that again. She wanted to feel the compassion and love that Firemane had expressed to her from even before they started the dance. Celestia turned her head to get a glance of Firemane. She had never noticed how handsome the stallion was before. His jaw line was firm and strong, his nose was powerful, his eyes were large and commanding, and his mane had been neatly combed out and pushed to one side. She felt attracted to him like no other pony she had met before. She felt like his presence as one that she wanted to feel as close as possible. However, there was one trait of Firemane that stood out most to Celestia. He seemed to deeply care about her. Ever since they first met at the party for General Forza, Firemane had treated Celestia with the utmost amount of courtesy and chivalry. She remembered one day only a few months ago where it had been raining. She had been outside taking a walk through the cherry blossom orchards when the first drops started to splash against her nose. Before she even had a chance to turn back around and head home the rain had started to come down in huge droves. Firemane had spotted Celestia as he was making one of his rounds around the castle and landed next to her. He saw that her mane had been absolutely soaked so, disregarding his own mane, he removed his helmet and placed it on top of Celestia’s head. The helmet may have wobbled as she walked along next to the captain but at least she had been able to stay drier. “Hey, you’re smiling.” Celestia started and looked over at Firemane. She noticed that her lips had been curled into a smile. “Oh, I was just thinking of the time when you placed your helmet on my head to keep my head dry from the rain that one day. I never properly thanked you for that.” she said. “Hey, it is a guard’s duty to look after a princess and make sure that she is safe and happy.” “That’s the thing. You go beyond the call of duty when it comes to caring for me. There are some things you do for me that you wouldn’t even do for my father.” Celestia noticed that his cheeks started to turn red again and she giggle a little. She didn’t know why but just being around Firemane she had started to feel happier. She was smiling, giggling, dancing. She even felt a little warm inside compared to the cold she was feeling as she was lying in her bed only an hour before. “Fire, there is something I want to tell you.” Celestia said, scooting over to the next pillow that was beside the captain. She turned and looked at him, both of their eyes meeting once again. “When you saved me back in the city two months ago, there was this unexplainable feeling of relief that had rushed over my body. I felt like I had fallen into the right hooves at the right moment, like I was safe. I felt safe from the mobs of people in the city, from the three colts who were harassing me. I felt like I had been placed into the hooves of a colt who knew how to protect me no matter the circumstance. “And then when you looked down at me with those eyes full of genuine worry I felt broken. I knew you had been sent to look for me by my parents but to see you in the state of worry that you were I just knew that, given the opportunity and the knowledge, you would have left the castle immediately to go in search of me. “But it took me to put myself in harm’s way to realize that. I never noticed the hints you had been dropping me all of these years since we first met at that party. You do errands for me, you happily greet me every time we see each other in the halls of the castle, you take time from your day to have a brief conversation with me when I am feeling lonely or bored. You treat me like I am somepony who is uniquely special to you.” “Princess, I am sorry. I never intended…” Firemane started to say before he was cut off by Celestia bringing a hoof up to his lips. “Please don’t apologize, Fire. What I am to you is what I should be. If I were to ask you to stop not only would I be doing a disservice to you but I would also not being speaking the truth.” she said, slowly looking away as her cheeks started to flush. “What are you saying?” he asked, slightly leaning his head in closer towards Celestia’s. The mare met him with her eyes as their noses were only a centimeter apart. They stared at each other for the longest time, searching each other’s eyes for the feelings and the emotions that were being expressed all around them. The air around them felt hot and heavy and their breathing increased. They could feel each other’s breaths as the moment dragged on. When Celestia opened her mouth to respond nothing escaped her lips. Instead the lips of Firemane’s pressed down upon hers, locking them both in a romantic embrace among the candles of the dining hall. They kissed for a long while, closing their eyes and enjoying the feeling of love that seemed to pass between their tongues every time they touched. When they broke from their deep display of affection it didn’t last long. The two soon returned to kiss each other again and again, building up a sweat from the heat that surrounded them. Soon they were in a more intimate dance of intense affection from each other. Firemane dragged Celestia along the floor in a less graceful step than before. Both ponies were more interested in feeling the love course through them as they continued to kiss each other in deeper and deeper displays of love. Before long, Firemane had pushed Celestia up against one of the windows of the dining hall, forcing her onto her hind legs and matching her height. The princess’s wings extended fully out on either side of her exactly like before. She felt herself gasping for air as Firemane finally broke their romantic embrace of their lips to continue his conquest down the length of his neck. This feeling of intense love that was coursing through her body with each of his kisses was nothing like she had ever felt before. She wanted more. She wanted to feel the full intensity of the love that could be had between them. Moonlight shown down upon the two lovers as they continued their romantic dance against the window of the dining hall. No sound could be heard from the two ponies as the time progressed everywhere around them. Nopony would think to look for them up in one of the windows of their precious castle. The two were safe from any distractions. They were free to show each other how far love would take them. ~~~ Alright a short and straight forward chapter for everyone. Never have I written a romantic story before and I'd like to get some feed back on how I did. I felt the need to put this in because, well, who doesn't like a little side love story? Let's see how this plays out, hmm? Get ready for Chapter 14: A Night to Remember Halfway through part one!