Let the Silence Sing 3
Part 3: Lunch Hour
Solar Guards stepped aside in pairs as Big Macintosh strode through the palace. Over time he’d learned the quickest routes to find Celestia without bothering anypony. Around this time she would no doubt be on the throne conducting the royal court. He would just poke his head in. It was about lunch time, perhaps she’d take a break to eat with him.
Big Mac turned when he saw a guard or three staring at him. They quickly snapped back to attention and paid him no heed after that. Murmuring to himself, the stocky farmer leaned around a corner to find the massive double doors he wanted. Smiling to himself, he cantered forward until he was stopped by a trio of armored mares.
Big Mac tilted his head, gesturing to the room beyond. The highest ranking of the three looked down at her clipboard. He didn’t seem to have a summons or a royal invitation. She flipped through her pages as he wilted lower and lower. When she got to the back page she paused. The newspaper article from a couple of weeks ago had been laminated and put on the bottom of everything, along with a candid photograph of Big Mac’s face. Her pupils shrank and she looked up at him again. Big Mac offered a careful smile as she checked him against the image about six times.
The three armored mares practically leapt aside so the royal coltfriend could enter, bowing deeply. He bowed back, feeling rather awkward as the double doors were thrown open to announce his presence.
Celestia, seated behind the throne and buried behind a pile of scrolls and charts, was busy calculating a rainstorm schedule for three neighboring countries. As Big Mac approached she was weighing the pros and cons of sending extra crop-rain towards the griffon empire. If they sent too little it would be an insult, and if they sent too much it would be a sign of weakness and tribute in their eyes. She would need to check the— the white alicorn looked up when she heard large hooves upon the marble floor. A smile instantly flashed across her face.
Big Mac looked sheepishly to one side, then the other, as all the secretaries and clerks strewn around the room looked up from their work. Little portable desks were set in a large semi-circle to provide enough flat space for everypony to work. It made the normally clean throne room look busy and untidy. They were all craning their necks, some less subtly than others, to have a good look at him. That was the royal coltfriend? Huh!
Celestia stamped a gold-gilded hoof twice to call for the lunch hour. She stepped down off the throne’s purple pillow and walked daintily down the steps to where Big Mac stood. Suddenly remembering where he was, he bowed low. This seemed to please the onlookers. At least the strange, silent oaf had manners when it came to royalty! Celestia winced on the inside as she saw how many eyes were on him. She cleared her throat daintily, and everypony lurched. Sack lunches, coolers, and other such things started coming out and there was sufficient noise again to make it less awkward. Giving a warm growly-grr deep down in his barrel, Big Mac leaned up and into her. She returned the hug putting a long, slender leg around his midsection. Gesturing to one side, she led him to a little sitting area. Servants had set up a little circle of pillows, a nieghponese sitting table, and a humble little luncheon for her Majesty. Feeling very much like he’d invited himself, Big Mac had to be told to sit and share with her. He did so, siddling around the table until they were side-by-side.
The white alicorn winced a little, holding her shoulder a moment. When there was a lot of paperwork involved, she tended to hunch a little. When sitting on one’s haunches, this was bad posture. Especially if you held yourself that way for a few hours. It was no better than slouching. Scolding herself a little as she broke a cornbread muffin and shared with Big Mac, she gave her shoulder a roll.
He looked over at her in concern. Was she hurting? Ohhh, well that could be fixed. Leaving his half-eaten corn muffin on the table in front of him, he reared up behind her with his big hooves. She glanced over her shoulder and smiled. A back-rub, how romantic and ni--!?
CRACKLE-SNAP-CRUNCH-CR-CRK!
The Princess let out a shrill, crying yelp as Big Mac rearranged the slightly bent muscles and bone. Heads snapped their way, food sprayed out of mouths and guard hearts all around the room went icy cold. Sweet Faust and all the heaven’s he’d assassinated her!
There was a thundering, screaming stampede as every armored pony in the room dive-bombed right for Big Mac’s face. Princess Celestia lay limp over the table, her head twisted awkwardly to one side and her wings laying limp over the floor. Her massive span had rumpled only seconds before the red stallion was buried under so many shouting bodies. Wrestling him to the floor weapons flew out of sheaths as they made ready to use him like a pin cushion!
Then a long, rather sensual purr rolled over the air and the mess of bodies. A few heads turned, and there was some pointing. Celestia lifted herself again, looking rather pleased and dreamy-eyed. Why, that had felt wonderful! Lighting her horn, she plucked Big Mac from the murderous crowd. She set him next to herself and turned, shooing the others away as she went. The red stallion looked around rather sheepishly. Perhaps he should’ve warned them or something. Now he felt like he’d caused a national incident. Leaning gingerly, he bade her to exhale as hard as she could. While she was doing so, he worked down her spine quickly. Crk-crk-CRK-CRK-crk-crk. Celestia shivered a bit, feeling rather limp and satiated with life at the moment. More than a few cheeks were red at the purring, yelping little sounds she’d made. Invigorated, she shook out her wings and refolded them properly. This sent a few white feathers into the air. One landed perfectly behind Big Mac’s ear as he sat next to her again.
Celestia smiled, embarrassedly plucking it from his mane while he kept eating. The guard’s backed off a bit. W-well at least they’d been quick to grab him, right? Mumbling to one another, they returned to their posts around the room. Slowly, the din of eating and chatting returned to the massive room.
=-=-=-=
Sitting out on Celestia’s royal balcony to watch the sunset, Big Mac and Princess Celestia smiled to one another. What an eventful day! The princess lit her horn as the time came to lower the sun.
Big Mac watched in wonder. He’d never been to a Summer Sun Celebration or anything of the sort. He’d only ever seen the sun move of its own accord across the sky. But to see Celestia move it herself was awe-inspiring. She reared up on her back legs, wings spanning to their full reach. Wispy hair bannering behind her, she lifted her forelegs high as golden magicks enveloped her. Before his very eyes, Big Mac watched Celestia slowly lower the sun. It took almost twenty minutes, of course, as just jolting the sun down would have been jarring for everypony. The slow and graceful motion was predicated with the rising moon on the other side of the sky. Though he could not see Princess Luna, he knew she was on another tower somewhere, starting her duties for the evening.
Celestia gave a start when she saw him staring. She usually closed her eyes while lowering the sun, to feel the magicks more fluidly. The spirit of the sun was an ancient and complex thing, so moving him about with any distraction was dangerous. Big Mac’s eyes shone in the growing moonlight, looking up at his Princess in all her majesty. She pinkened in the cheeks, looking to one side. She only raised and lowered the sun in front of a crowd once a year. To have someone watching right now felt… intimate.
He smiled up at her. They slowly drew close. The cool of the night air sang between them with a mane-rustling breeze. They shared a deeper kiss, long and loving, right there on the balcony. Her feminine little whimper drew his hoof to her cheek to cup her face. Her foreleg rose up and over his shoulder, pulling him near. The warm, milky glow of love flowed back and forth between them and by the time the kiss broke she was trembling.
Gazing into one another’s eyes, they wandered into her chambers to sit by a small hearthfire. Summer wasn’t freezing, but it did get chilly at night so Celestia often had a single log to see her through the night. Dimming the lights, they lay on their bellies before it—kissed once more—then silently enjoyed one another’s company until it was time for Big Mac to return home.
He rose to make his way out, but her large wing stopped him. Perhaps… just this evening… he might stay? He looked at her face, the quiet feminine want for male company. He smiled kindly, settling back down next to her. They didn’t bother to make for the bed. A blanket magicked across the room wrapped about them both. Celestia lay her head down, and he lay his chin across her withers.
While no, they didn’t make love, they certainly lay together that cool summer night. Celestia was in charge of all things in Equestria. She made all the decisions and told who to go where and do what. All day. Every day. It was a small and secret pleasure to be the submissive now and then. With a stallion’s caring head and weight upon her, it made her feel… smaller, somehow. She liked that. The ache of responsibility and the weight of her crown carried her tired eyes closed. At one point she felt herself being undressed of her vestments, and it was a strong back that bore her massive alicorn body to bed… but it was certainly Big Mac who nuzzled her and whispered her name before settling next to her, atop the covers, to sleep at her side.
End of Part 3