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// 29. Celestia and Daniel go to the Beach 
// Story: Short Shorts 
// by Coranth 
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"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Daniel asked again as he and Princess Celestia made their way onto the beach. Warmed by the sun, the fine-grained sand gave way 'neath the hooves of the white Alicorn, causing her to stumble; though whenever she did, Daniel would always be there to support her. "Bah," said she, "who cares! Besides, after that Faust-damned fiasco with the Gryphons, we deserve a break! Just look around you, Daniel. Sun, sand, surf, moi... What more could you ask for?" Chuckling quietly - eying her glorious equinoid form - Daniel grinned and then, roguishly winking at her, he responded, "What more indeed...?" He made as if to grope the pony princess, then, but it was all play; neighing with laughter, the pony princess danced away from him, then gasped as if scandalized, "You... you lecherous swine! Keep thy hands off of me!" In jest, his own laughter rumbling forth, the human replied teasingly, "Oh, yeah? Well, if I'm a lecherous swine then you're a randy old horse! Come 'ere...!" That said, he then made as if to grope her again.

Sticking her tongue out at him - "Blyeaaah!" - Celestia turned tail and bolted, kicking up sand that went everywhere! Daniel wasn't going to put up with this - his very pride as a human being was on the line - and so, the chase was on! Up and down the sandy beach they ran, Daniel giving a good effort despite the fact that he was only two-legged and not as strong as his beloved. Time and time again he would catch up to Celestia only for her to put on a burst of speed and dart away, pink mane flying in the wind. At the end of the chase - when they were near the end of the beach - Celestia stopped a few feet away from Daniel. "Hah!" crowed she, with a flick of her pink mane as she breathed heavily from the effort of all that running. "I won, I won, I..." The gentlest of tugs on her pink tail brought her unto silence and - frowning - she turned to see what hindered her, only to see a grinning Daniel, with a hand firmly wrapped about its tip. "No..." chortled he as he released her, "I win!"

'Oh, drat...' thought Celestia, 'I really need to get that thing shortened... Still, it has its uses.' With that thought in mind, gently, the Princess of the Sun curled her tail about her beloved's form and pulled him toward her until he was against her side; then, together she and Daniel began to walk leisurely back to where their day at the beach had begun. When they arrived at the shady tree where they'd placed their belongings, the Princess pony settled down upon the beach towel that Daniel had laid out for them both; then Daniel settled by her side and they proceeded to enjoy some of the food that Celestia had 'liberated' from the chefs of the Royal Kitchens. This included simple things that might be eaten by finger-and-hoof as well as various sandwiches, a delicious looking fresh fruit salad, and even some cold cooked fish! "Damn..." said Daniel, eying said fish with no small amount of appreciation, "where'd you get that from, love?"

"Humph..." grumbled Celestia, snorting softly through her nose, "it was supposed to be a gift for the Gryphon Ambassador. After that stunt he tried to pull during the summit, however, he's not getting it any more; it's yours to enjoy now, Daniel." Stroking her mane soothingly as she resumed eating, the human murmured, "Aww, thank you sweetie..." He and Celestia lapsed into comfortable silence as they continued eating the provided food--all of which was accompanied by various soft drinks from the Solar Diarch's secret stash of junk food that she kept inside a heavily warded ice box 'neath a powerful invisibility wreath inside their shared quarters. 'And what a stash it is!' thought Daniel as he sipped a sparkling lemonade. 'There's all-manner of sweets and other foods in there that I've never even heard of! I know for a fact that if she knew even half of what was in that stash, Pinkie would kill to get at it; not to mention that Aesculapius would tear strips off of my love's coat...' Upon noticing the grin adorning Daniel's face, the Solar Princess couldn't help but ask, "What are you thinking about, my Daniel?" Chuckling, Daniel told her, and his words soon brought about her own laughter as she replied, "Yes, indeed they would...!"

"What..." Daniel guffawed, "what about Discord? Would he steal the stash, d'you reckon?" At first, Celestia didn't answer; instead, for a moment she near-laughed her sun-stamped flank off, before she finally managed to choke out, "N-No! Not when he was the one who put the ever-filling box together for me in the first place!" At this, Daniel - his eyes wide and jaw dropped open - blinked and then exclaimed, "You're kidding...?" Shaking her head, Celestia replied, "No I'm not; he put it together for me as a gesture of apology for... events that happened a long time ago. It's history." Sensing that she didn't want to talk further about said events, Daniel nodded and then, "Come on" said he, "let's finish up here; then we'll go and explore the beach, eh?" At his words, the Solar Princess smiled gratefully; then together she and Daniel proceeded to finish their delicious picnic meal before packing away the remnants into the basket they'd brought with them so as not to litter the beach. Shortly thereafter, Celestia and her human napped in the sun for a few hours to allow the food they'd eaten to digest. 

When they awakened it was mid-afternoon and - after a gentle stretch - Daniel and Celestia explored the beach as explorers are wont to do, the Great Mare Celestia cutting loose in her happiness as she and her beloved rolled and played in the sand; built a replica sand castle of Canterlot Palace then proceeded to stomp it to dust; and explored the many cliffside caves and rock pools scattered about, Celestia fascinated by all the teeming life within. Finally - their bodies absolutely covered with sand - Daniel and his beloved Solar Mare entered the water and therein they swam, frolicked and played... When at last, afternoon turned to eve... Daniel and Celestia made sweet, sweet love in the frothy shallows, alicorn and human crying out in bliss as they brought each other unto the heights of pleasure again, and again, and again, until... "AHEM!" the sharp sound of the Royal Canterlot Voice cracked through the night like a whip, shattering the silence. Startled, Daniel and Celestia sprang away from each other, the Princess of the Sun moving to stand over her beloved mate as she turned to face the direction from whence the sound had come. 'Who disturbs our Union?' thought she, savagely, whinnying in challenge. 'I would know for they will die...!' She was prepared to kill to defend her beloved mate... however, when she saw whom it was that had disturbed Daniel and herself, those thoughts vanished. Luna, a squad of Royal Guard, and an aide stood before her... and they did not look happy.