The moment the four of us stepped through the gate and off the castle grounds it seemed like all eyes had shifted from whatever task they were previously focusing on to us. Granted a matching pair of humans and bat ponies wasn’t something you’d see everyday, but enough to cause two taxi cart collisions and the destruction of a cabbage stand? I think not.
“Well this is starting out better than I thought it would.” Night Wing remarked looking at the distraught pony literally weeping over his destroyed cabbages. “I honestly thought they’d call the guard by now.”
“Ever the optimist,” I grunted out, rolling my eyes for added effect.
“Hey, I just call it like it is. I still remember the last time we night guard tried to go out and have a good time.”
“Don’t remind me sir…” Star Rider shuttered at the not so fond memory, “I still think those stallions are going to pop out and get me from time to time.”
“Fear not young Star Rider,” Luna said with a warm smile as her hand gently slid through the mare’s mane, causing her to pause and look at Luna square in the eye for once, “for you are in the good company of a princess, her consort, and her most trusted guard.”
“I-I guess that makes me feel a bit better.” Star Rider smiled, lightly pressing her body against Luna’s leg as we continued to walk into the slowly parting crowd.
“That’s right,” I said smiling for a completely different reason, shooting my gaze between the two ponies that stood at Luna’s right, “Night Wing’s going to be right next to you all evening, right big man?”
Night did a double take in my direction before deciding to act upon what I had said. “That’s right Star,” he said confidently, wrapping a leathery wing around her, “I’ll keep the bad guys at bay.”
Star Rider’s body went from contently relaxed on Luna’s leg to stiff as a board the moment she self his wing touch her and if not for my usually high baring I would have begun to laugh my ass off the moment I saw her face. She hardly had pupils anymore and her muzzle was red enough to mistake her for Rudolph. Night Wing quickly brought his wing back to his side, looking more confused than I’d ever seen him as he examined his female counterpart,finally forcing me to let out a small chuckle.
“What was that for?” Luna asked between her shifting gazes.
“You’ll see,” I answered back in almost a whisper, watching silently and waiting for the event to unfold.
“You… okay there Star?” Night Wing asked awkwardly looking down to her. “Haven’t seen you this riled up since-”
“I’m fine!” she blurted out quickly, shooting her head up and setting her sights straight forward, before loosening up once more and ducking back into herself. “I’m fine… thank you for asking.”
“Yeah, no problem,” Night Wing replied with a nod and a slight shrug of his shoulder before turning his attention to Luna, “so what’s for dinner?”
“Only the finest for my love and my guards,” Luna said happily wrapping my arm up and pulling me in, “it was difficult to set up a reservation, even as a princess.”
“Couldn’t you just walk in and say ‘I raise the moon peasant, serve me’?” I asked cocking my brow, “I thought that was a perk of, oh I don’t know, coruling an entire nation as well as having enough magical prowess to raise and move a heavenly object on so much as a whim.”
“You get wordy when you wish to be overly sarcastic,” Luna said dryly as the slight brightness in her eyes from before faded, “you know that right?”
“Only when I feel the need to emphasize the point.” I half laughed, looking at her still stern expression, “But go on, I’m sure there’s a good reason for not doing what I suggested.”
“As a matter of fact there is.” Luna replied, actually sticking her nose in the air slightly, “Even with my status as a ruler and powers, I still think it fair to proceed with the common courtesies that those without my prowess have to go through as well.”
“So you don’t want to come off as a self entitled snob?” I asked with a rather proud smile now growing on my face.
“Of course not,” Luna said smiling back, resting her head on my shoulder, “what do I look like? A noble?”
A quick laugh followed by a small kiss was the only response I could manage. It was becoming painfully obvious that my excessive sarcasm starting to rub off on her. Granted we’d been pretty much one hundred feet or less away from one another for close to a year or so and the massive bulge in her gut was evidence that we’d been closer than a lot of couples had been in the given time we’d known one another, but that was neither here nor there. Heaven help the world if for some reason that temper of mine which Discord so dickishly pointed out a few weeks ago started to take hold as well.
Despite the rather large groups of ponies that made it painfully obvious that they were both trying to avoid and gawking at us, we made it to the restaurant without so much as a few uncomfortably long stares in our general direction. The four of us paused briefly before looking to one another and with a light squeeze of my hand Luna’s smile grew almost childlike in happiness.
“We’re here~” she beamed, practically jumping with excitement, “Our first ever date!”
I was about to respond with a counter to what she had said, but upon thinking back over the year or so that we’d known each other the more and more I realized she was right. In all this time I hadn’t taken her out on the town anywhere, except for the times we weren’t technically a couple, and it doesn’t count if you’re not a couple, does it? As I thought about it I’d come to realize just how quickly the two of us were thrown into this situation. Three weeks was all it took for me to tell her that I loved her, granted those three weeks were spent pretty much attached at the hip, but damn it was quicker than any other relationship, or at least the ones I could call a relationship, that I had ever had.
The fact that she was now close to seven or so months pregnant with my child seemed to cement the fact that we’d taken this way too fast. I mean, I’m only twenty five. Luna, despite being one thousand nine hundred and fifty four years old she still acted like a twenty three year old and I’ve seen plenty of couples our age have kids and then watch their once loving relationships break down into nothing.
How the hell are we going to respond to some of the big issues that having a baby intal? Are we going to come through with flying colors and have our love be stronger than ever? Or is it going to rip us apart like so many other young couples that had a baby too fast? What would happen then? Where would I go? But most importantly, what would the woman I love, destroyed by a broken heart, do in quite possibly her darkest hours?
“A-Aedan?” Luna’s soft voice pulled me from the void my mind had drug me into and brought me back to the now. Her expression changed from excitement to concern, and rightfully so, I probably looked like I’d seen a ghost. “Aedan, is something wrong?”
“Y-yeah,” I managed to stutter out as I reached for the back of my head, trying to offer a reassuring smile to the concerned woman at my side. “Yeah I’m good, you don’t need to be worried about me.”
“You sure sir?” Night Wing asked tilting his head to the side, “you looked like-”
“I’m good,” I said quickly waving his concern off, “let’s just get in there and grab our table huh?”
“Yes!” Star Rider chimed in suddenly, “I heard the appetizers here are the best in Canterlot, I can’t personally wait to try them.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, thankful for the change of subject, “lets roll on in.”
I stepped off before either Luna or Night Wing could bring up my little episode again. I really didn’t feel like thinking back on it right now, even the bland as hell shit they try to pass off as food here was better than revisiting that subject as it was. The four of us stopped at the host which by the way he eyed the four of us I could tell that this experience wasn’t going to be all too enjoyable finally he picked up his reservation clipboard and looked to the scribbles he’d pinned down earlier.
“And you are?” he asked, not bothering to look at us.
“Princess Luna,” the woman beside me said in a cheery tone, “party of four.”
The host paused what he was doing and his eyes rose ever so slightly over his clipboard and took a quick glance at Luna and myself before shooting back to his list. “Ah yes, forgive me princess, I didn’t realize you were taking your pet for a walk.”
That sure as hell didn’t sit well with me, and I was about to let it be known before Luna grabbed my arm. I shot a quick glance over to her, but all she did was calmly shake her head and place her other hand on my shoulder. I never understood why, but seeing Luna act the way she was really seemed to calm me down after an insult that easily justified a broken nose, or muzzle, whatever ponies called their noses.
“I assure you Aedan is not my pet good sir,” she began looking at the host while still keeping hold of me, “he is my lover, my equal, and most importantly, the father of our unborn infant, so please show him the courtesy you would show me.” She paused for a moment as her grip on my shoulder tightened, “Least I show you the true meaning of pain…”
A tense silence fell upon everyone as our eyes turned to Luna, who just stood there, looking as sweet as she was before we walked out into the city. It took her a few seconds to notice that we’d all stopped and stared at her, causing her to blink a few times in confusion.
“What?” she asked looking between all of us, “did I mention something inappropriate?”
“F-forgive my previous choice of verbiage your highness,” the host said uneasily, slowly backing away from us, “Was that a table for four you said?”
“Yes?” Luna replied, tilting her head like a confused puppy.
“Excellent, right this-” The host paused the moment he stepped away from his podium, eyes glued to the two bat ponies at Luna’s side. “I, didn’t know that they were a part of your party.”
“You mean my guards?” Luna asked looking down to Night Wing and Star Rider, each doing their best to hide their frustration towards the host. “What’s wrong with them?”
“Well there was an incident not long ago that involved several of… them, it costed several thousand bits.”
“Well maybe if you mule-faced supremacists didn’t treat Midnight so poorly Blackhawk wouldn’t have had to step in and show those bouncers how to be polite to a mare.” Night Wing growled through his teeth.
“As much as I would love to argue with you about who incited the quarrel I have to inform you that it is this restaurant's, as well as the other purveyors of the culinary arts on this block, no longer serve the ponies of the night guard.”
It took a few moments for me to register what he had said, but once the wires in my brain connected, once again my body tensed up. I could let them calling me a pet slide, hell I could even let them say that I wasn’t allowed in, but Night Wing and Star Rider were ponies, not some creature from an entirely different reality that decided to tag along with the rescue party because they’d fallen for the girl.
I stepped forward, Luna once again reached for my arm, but I managed to twist out of her grasp and kept going. Until the only thing between myself and the host was his oh so fragile looking podium.
“The Princess has put a lot of effort into making this night happen,” I explained, pointing to the three behind me, “and I’ll be damned if I let some punk in a bowtie will stop her from having a good night.”
“Sir, I’m sure I can accommodate the Princess and you, but because of the policy I-”
“I don’t give a shit about the policy.” I interrupted, “normally I would, but these two here are about the closest things to friends since I showed up here and not letting them sit down and have dinner with us is up there with the stupid things that this high and mighty Canterlot crowd has done, and I’ve seen some pretty dumb shit.”
“Sir, if you have an issue I suggest you bring it up to my manager,” he said cocking his brow back, “Or do you simply wish for me to notify security of your behavior?”
“Aedan is not the one acting out of line you supercilious oaf.” Luna blurted out, breaking from the line and making her way towards me, “and if you-”
A slight raise of my hand was enough to tell her that I had this handled and she stood still once again, only this time just a step behind me. Probably eager to listen in if I so chose to threaten him by whispering, but this guy, he wasn’t worthy of a private tongue lashing, he deserved something far more public.
“You know what,” I began standing tall, “I really don’t feel like getting into a dick measuring contest with you, especially since I know I’d already win, so I’ll just take my patronage, my money and a very colorful review of this establishment to someone I know that makes a living selling papers.”
“Only if you know Fancy Pants,” the host said confidently, “he dines here thrice a week, and I doubt someone like you has such access to such an important stallion.”
“Funny you should mention that, we actually spoke a few weeks back, he even said if I had any trouble that I should come talk to him.” I paused, shooting a devious grin to the woman behind me. “I wonder what a negative review, from a princess no less, would do to an establishment such as this.”
“Y-you wouldn’t…”
“Watch us.” Luna hummed from behind me, wrapping her arms gently around my neck, “come love, I’m sure there are other places that would be far more accepting of us.”
“N-no! Wait!” The host cried throwing his hoof into the air, “We can clear the entire restaurant, just for the four of you! Offer you wine over eight hundred years old as you dine on our finest meals! Please let’s just-”
The door slammed loudly on his plea as the four of us stepped out into the streets once more. The gawking was still going on, but once again we were numb to it, what got us more was that the night seemed to have been ruined by a single, self-important unicorn. Something that was happening more often than not it seemed by now.
“Well… that was a bust.” I said shaking my head, “Guess we’re going back home to have castle cooking again.”
“Maybe not.” Night Wing said looking to the others, “There’s still one place here that might be a bit more open to us.”
Luna and Star Rider eyes made contact as the two winced simultaneously. No normally that would have been a red flag, but Night Wing was the one who was about to make the suggestion, so I chose to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“And that would be?”
“The Diplomat.” He replied, causing the two ladies with us to shutter.
“Sounds fancy,” I said rubbing my chin, “what’s it like? And why are they acting like it’s some sort of horror show?”
“Well the place was established a few years back by a griffon so the delegates that would come met with Celestia for whatever could get a little taste of home.” Night Wing explained, “They really only get business during the summer, since that’s when most diplomacy is done so-”
“Okay, that still doesn’t explain the looks of disgust on their faces…” I interjected, trying to make him get to the point, “What is it about that place that sets them off?”
Night Wing looked to the two for a few seconds before turning back to me with a rather hesitant sigh. “Well, most delegates hail from nations that don’t quite have the same culinary tastes as ponies so and a lot of them can hardly stomach what we normally eat so…”
“For christ’s sake I really don’t want to be in one of those stupid movie conversations where it takes forever for you to tell me what you’re talking about because of vague descriptions or the pronoun game so get on with it!”
“They serve meat.” Night Wing finally said as bluntly as he could.
I could feel my heart skip a beat. After close to a year without seeing anything that looked remotely like a hamburger, other than Applejack’s cows that one time Luna and I went to Ponyville. I couldn’t stop staring at them, they thought I had the hots for them, but in reality I was thinking they’d taste great if they were served rare with corn and mashed potatoes. I was finally being told that there is infact a restaurant that served the one thing I thought I’d never eat again. My eyes slowly shifted towards Luna, who was uneasily standing there looking to the sky, trying as hard as she could, and failing miserably mind you, to act casual.
“Why?” I asked with the sting of betrayal evident in my voice. “Why didn’t you tell me about this almost a year ago?”
Luna froze knowing full well that I expected an answer damn quick. After what was a few seconds but seemed like forever she finally looked me in the eye. “I didn’t think it was that important to you.” she answered as her body relaxed once more.
“Not important?!” I repeated distraughtly, “babe, I have literally had wet dreams about hamburgers…” I grabbed Luna by the arms and pulled her in close, to where her face was only inches away from mine. “HAMBURGERS!”
“Don’t remind me,” Luna said shaking her head in defeat, “I remember the one time I actually checked to see what was on your mind…” she paused, shuttering at the memory, “I will never get the image of that king out of my mind.”
“I told you not to go where the devil dare not tread.” I reminded her before letting her go. “Now come on, I’ve been dying to get some real food in my stomach ever since day two here.”
I didn’t give them a chance to argue, because I was off like a rocket to wherever the diplomat may be. After close to an hour of running around the city I was finally standing in front of a nice looking building with a rather nice sign resting over the the door. The Diplomat.
“Finally…” I said to myself with a smile, “Come on guys, all three of you are slow as hell.”
“Well maybe if you asked me for directions we wouldn’t have had to chase you halfway across the city.” Night Wing huffed, slowly making his way to my side.
“And maybe you should work out as much as I do.” I shot back as Luna and Star Rider finally staggered to our sides, “but anyway, all that running’s made me hungry, let’s get a table shall we?”
“Must we make so much haste to our destination?” Luna whined through heavy breaths, grabbing onto her expanded stomach with one hand and leaning onto a wall with the other, “please, I beseech thee, allow us but a moment’s rest.”
I really should have taken the fact that she was pregnant into account as I ran up and down the streets of Canterlot like a mad man, but I was too excited to realize that fact until now. The relapse into a more refined speech pattern making it all the more evident that I should have at least gone at a slower pace. Without much thought put into it I walked up to her and scooped her up into my arm, prompting a squeak to exit her lungs.
“What are you-mmph?!” I really didn’t feel like letting her finish that sentence, she’d already lost enough air trying to keep up with my ass, and I was more than willing to help replace it with some of my own.
“Wouldn’t be right if I let you walk in here after all that shuffling you did,” I said with a smile as I broke from her lips, “might as well let you rest while I do all the legwork.”
Luna’s brow rose to her hairline, but a smile grew shortly after. “Very well then,” she said shaking her head while wrapping an arm around my neck, “bring me to our table.”
“With pleasure~” I said with a cheeky grin as I pressed my back to the closed door behind me.
Within moments we were surrounded in a very posh atmosphere, full of fancy drapes and candlelight, a few steps more and I stood in front of the griffon hostess, who was looking at myself and Luna with disbelief.
“I’d like a table for four please,” I said with a big smile.
She blinked a few times, obviously still processing what had just happened until she finally grabbed a small pile of menus from her podium. “O-of course, right this way please.”
“Already to a great start~” Luna hummed in my ear as I followed the hostess with her still in my arms.
Within a minute the four of us were seated in a surprisingly empty dining room, save for a few griffons and a dragon shrunk down to a manageable size and us. After the hostess made sure the four of us were comfortable she opened one of the menus and started thumbing through it with her talon.
“We don’t normally get ponies like you two in here, but our herbivorous selection can match any place in town, if I may, I’d recommend the the spinach puffs with a side of ranch dressing as an appetizer, the way our chef prepares the spinach really seems to-”
“And what about your carnivorous menu?” I asked politely as possible, “what kind of meat do you serve?”
My counterparts flenched, but the hostess went along with it as if it were nothing. “Well, we have the finest beef, pork, poultry and fish in the entire nation, all certified non-sentient and cooked to however you’d like it. The chef’s choice is a platter that allows you to get a small taste of everything we-”
“I’ll take that.” I answered, practically salivating over the thought as I opened my menu to see quite possibly the single greatest thing on the planet other than Luna. “And the forty-eight ounce steak… rare. With a side of fries.”
“Ooookay, and the rest of you?” she asked turning to the other three.
“T-the spinach puffs sound good.” Star Rider said quickly looking back to her menu, “along with the salad.”
“Same.” Luna and Night Wing said simultaneously handing over their menus.
“Alright then,” the hostess nodded organizing the menus before tucking them under her wing, “Your appetizers should be ready within ten minutes.”
Within a few moments our hostess was off to the kitchens, leaving us to do the only thing that we could at the moment; Small talk.
“Did you really have to make such a large order?” Luna asked shrugging her shoulders as she fiddled with her napkin.
“I haven’t eaten the stuff I love in close to a year Luna,” I replied, still daydreaming about the mountains of meat headed my way, “I’m not going to pass up this opportunity.”
“I suppose, but perhaps you should have not made such an exuberant decision.” she continued, “they say that if you haven’t had something in a long enough.”
“Yeah I understand that,” I nodded, “but come on, it’s been a year, what’s the longest you’ve ever gone without eating your favorite meals?” Fuck…
The room fell even quieter as than it was before as Luna’s expression turned cold. “One thousand,” she said with a complete lack of emotion while she brought her hands to her lap.
It was then that my euphoric cloud nine elation was brought back to earth so hard that it could have wiped out the dinosaurs. Luna didn’t even bother looking at me, she just sat there staring into space, at least if she showed an emotion I would’ve known just how bad I’d messed up, but this rare void was killing me like no other.
“Luna… I’m-”
“It’s no matter,” she sighed looking to her stomach, giving it a gentle rub as she finally looked back to me. “You let your emotions get the better of you, something the both of us know all too well.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, casting my gaze to our guests, “so what about you two?”
Star Rider began to open her mouth to reply, but Night Wing’s tongue was just a bit quicker to the punch.
“Nothing much,” he began, extending his wings outward, “we ran a few drills with the pegasi earlier this afternoon, they might be the stronger flyers in general, but they can’t maneuver to save their lives.”
“I managed to beat three stallions in the obstacle course.” Star Rider chimed in, a small bit of pride gleaming in her voice.
“That you did Star.” Night Wing smiled, sticking his chest out, “You did us night guard proud.”
Star Rider smiled just wide enough to show a bat pony’s trademarked fang before turning a slight shade of red in her cheeks. Upon seeing her reaction I was reminded of my little side quest I’d decided to take upon myself when it came to Night Wing and Star Rider’s love lives. It was more than a welcome relief from the stupid statement that I’d made earlier about eating, so I decided to at least give it a try, for their sakes, of course.
“So Night Wing,” I began, “how’s your personal life?”
“Huh?” He retorted looking up from his uniform.
“Personal life,” I explained, “you know messing around with your friends, hobbies, that sort of deal.”
“Oh, well I really don’t have much of that, I’m kept pretty busy making sure my knuckleheads stay out of trouble,” he laughed, pointing a hoof over to Star Rider, “and as you saw earlier, it’s bad enough as it is.”
“Eh, I guess you’re right,” I shrugged, “Back in the Marines I had to keep an eye on all my buddies, granted I usually ended up getting the most hammered but-”
“Hammered?” Star Rider and Night Wing asked at the same time.
“Nevermind…” I really miss booze. “So…” I began, “what’s your opinion on dating your peers?
I may have been a bit too blunt as to what I was implying, because Star Rider nearly hid herself behind her wings, but Night Wing was completely oblivious to her reaction and answered anyway.
“I think that starting a relationship with someone you work with is a bit unprofessional, especially if it’s with one of your underlings,” he answered, much to the disappointment of Star Rider, “but if they are willing to work at it, and keep their personal lives outside of the job, then I really have no issue with it.”
“Huh, good to know.” I nodded shooting a glance at Star Rider as a small smile appeared on her face again.
“Your food is ready,” the hostess said suddenly from behind myself as she laid what was possibly the most beautiful thing I had seen all day before me.
A literal pile of meat, complete with their entire selection just as the hostess said it would be. I could feel myself welling up a bit as I poked the small slab of steak with my fork and watched the juicy goodness of it’s insides slowly squeezed out. Before anyone could say bon appetit I was head first into my platter, stuffing and savoring every last bit of flesh I could before finally and unfortunately it was gone, leaving me with a somewhat depressed feeling in the pit of my stomach.
I looked up from my now empty platter to see Luna, Night Wing and Star Rider were staring at me in a bizarre mix of shock, disgust and fear. It didn’t take long for me to notice that they hadn’t even touched their spinach puffs because they were so drawn to my animalistic eating habits to realize there was food in front of them. It felt a lot like a car crash, with me being the proverbial car.
“What?”
“Uh… nothing.” Luna finally said while poking her food, “I-I just think we all just lost our appetites…”
“Really?” I said looking to my empty plate, “I was that bad?”
“You weren’t that bad Aedan…” Night Wing answered fighting back a gag, “We just aren’t that used to seeing, that kind of thing.”
“Oh, well sorry for going a bit primal.”
“It’s not your fault,” Luna said comfortingly, placing her hand on my shoulder, “well… maybe a little. If you didn’t eat like a starved timberwolf then-”
“Okay I get it.” I grunted, shaking my head. “I suppose you guys just want to head back now?”
“Well, we should at least wait for our main course.” Luna said, looking to the kitchen, “take it back to the castle, so we can eat in a more private setting.”
“Sounds good,” I agreed, pushing my empty plate away, “and you know I’m not apologizing for what I just did.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way~” Luna replied, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.
We waited another ten minutes for or main courses to arrive and as much as I wanted to see how fast I could make forty eight ounces of meat disappear I kept to my word with Luna and put the thing in a bag. We left on a high note and one hell of a positive review for Fancy Pants in the mourning.
By the time we arrived back at the castle we all agreed that despite the night’s earlier events it was a good time and we found ourselves back in our room, leaving Night Wing and Star Rider alone in the dining room with a single candlelit table by pure coincidence. It was just Luna and I and I really felt like I had to make amends for being an idiot once again.
“I’m sorry…” I said as I took off my shirt, “for what I said at the restaurant.”
“I know you are,” Luna said softly sliding her arms around my shoulders from behind. “It was a slip of the tongue.”
“Still doesn’t make me look like any less of an ass though,” I replied taking hold of the hand that rested on my chest.
“You’re not perfect Aedan, your human.” Luna continued, nuzzling my neck, “you make your mistakes, you learn from them and you move on, one foot in front of the other, remember?”
That was one hell of a throwback for me, all the way to the day we met and she was stumbling over every step she took as I tried to help her keep balance, neither of us knowing that we would be standing right here at this moment. I stood up, and spun around, wrapping her up as best I could with one arm as the other slowly caressed her face.
“One foot in front of the other,” I repeated with a smile, leaning in for what was bound to be the best part of the night, “One foot in front of the other.”