Part VIII. Process
[Luna’s Chambers | Time: Seven Months Prior]
Ever since the first incident where he almost got shanked by two Lunar Guards at the same time, Fredrick had been still somewhat on edge every time he made the trek to Luna’s room after the typical workday. Of course, it was somewhat irrational, as Princess Luna and Celestia both issued stern statements after the fact about Fredrick’s future treatment and the consequences should he come to unnecessary or maliciously intended harm. Naturally, the Guards, both Solar and Lunar complied and treatment of him was much more amicable from then on; Fredrick even found a couple of friends among the Guard Force as a result. Nevertheless, getting two pieces pointed at your stomach and dick simultaneously tend to leave a few mental marks that would heal a little slower than ideally.
The left knob on Luna's door turned with a 'click' and the massive piece of highly furnished wood opened, revealing Equestria's token Human, clad in a blue dress-shirt and black slacks. His hair was a tad longer than he would have liked at the time but he was being what (to him) was considered 'adventurous.' He knocked a couple of times behind the now-ajar door.
"Yes, do come in, Fredrick," Luna announced without looking, still finishing the last bits of paperwork for the day at her desk. She already knew it was him, because Luna only explicitly granted him permission to open her door without waiting for her to do it herself. Celestia also had the ability to just walk right in but she never knocked, even at the most inappropriate times, so she knew for a fact that it was her friend. Fredrick entered completely and he closed the behemoth doors behind him.
"S-Sorry, am I interrupting anything?" he asked cautiously, moving to her work station as Luna was scribbling some last notes as well as applying her signature on an official document. She stopped what she was doing and looked back to him, the half of her face that he was able to see expressing a look of incredulity.
"We have been friends for nearly three months and yet you still feel that you bother me in any way, shape, or form... I shall repeat, you do not interrupt nor bother me. In fact, I welcome any distraction you may bring me," Luna finished, applying her signature in one more place before placing the document in her 'out' box. That's when she fully turned her chair around to meet his gaze above, opting to rest her head on one of her hands as she looked up to him with a grin and a raised eyebrow.
Fredrick stared down at his friend and one of two Heads of State, her admittedly gorgeous teal eyes gazing straight into his own. The majority of his tenseness around her was the act of actually being so casual and 'close' to one so powerful, but he was slowly but surely working on that. He knew there was nothing to be afraid of ever since meeting her that fateful night, and the two were as close as they could be right now. The other portion of his tenseness and awkwardness revolved around the fact that she, undeniably, was hot as hell; especially since she was wearing the same dress that she wore when they first met. The height he had on her due to her sitting allowed him to sneak a glance at her veiled cleavage, if only partially.
"Heh, sorry. Old habits and thoughts die hard," Fred conceded. Luna rolled her eyes and stood up, them being essentially equal in height, though her horn gave her an inch or two on him.
"Well, hi there!" Luna decided to actually greet him, holding her arms out expectantly.
"Hello to you too!" Fredrick replied, reciprocating the gesture and pulling the alicorn into a hug. Luna closed her eyes and smiled gleefully at the gesture, wrapping her arms tightly around his upper back and neck. Once they separated after a few seconds and glanced at each other for about another two, Luna moved to her liquor cabinet.
"Would you care for a drink?" she called over her shoulder, opening the vast armoire and scouring over what she had available. Fredrick looked on from her desk where she had left him.
"Uhhh... sure!"
"Any preference?"
"Surprise me."
Luna nodded and continued scouring, having to bend over sometimes and Fredrick eyeing up her backside, though he clearly knew he shouldn't be doing so.
But that ass is just so... god!
His mind mentally cupped those glorious cheeks and hips as it thought what he knew he should not say. What he did not know, however, was that Luna knew perfectly well that he was staring, but of course, she would never let him know that she knew that. That is precisely why she took just a tad longer in 'searching' for a glass, even though they were staring her in the face.
"Oh, do make yourself comfortable. I shall have surprise alcohol ready shortly," she commented, startling Fredrick out of his quite lovely space-out session involving his hands and her succulent rear. He righted himself and adjusted to ensure that there was no 'evidence' of his perverse thought process.
"You got it," he affirmed, loosening his belt a bit and placing an unknown object on Luna's dresser with an audible 'tap' of what sounded like metal hitting wood. Luna curiously looked over as she finally cradled two glasses and a bottle of rum, spying what looked like a slab of metal and some wires adorning it. Fredrick had turned around towards her bed and was stretching his back, this time letting Luna catch a glimpse at his own backside.
Hmmmmm...
She turned her attention back to the original object of her curiosity as Fredrick turned on his feet towards her.
"What is that?" she asked, adding ice to the glasses.
"Huh?" he then looked to where she pointed. "Oh this?" he confirmed, picking up his phone and earphones.
"Indeed. What is that and where did you get that contraption?"
"This is one of the things that survived from my world. It's my phone... well, 'smartphone' technically," he answered, looking over the device himself.
"While I have no idea what it is, it begs the question: does it work here in Equestria?" she asked curiously, pouring identical amounts of rum into each of the two glasses before setting it aside and grabbing a bottle of cola.
"Not to its full potential in the slightest. It would not work normally either, but Celestia was able to give it a magical charge to power it and prevent against degradation," he answered as Luna moved to him with two drinks in her hands. She set them aside and looked at the device he cradled in his hands: it was rounded-rectangular in shape with a length about as long as his extended hand, a width of about half that, and an extraordinarily slim girth.
"May I?" she asked, holding out her right hand, eager to see such technology from a world beyond her own.
"Of course!" He placed the device in her hands screen-side up and Luna felt the cool metal touch her palm. She instinctively curled her fingers around its width and used her other hand to drag her fingers across the certainly-glass screen. Fredrick could not help but smile at the impossibly adorable spectacle of Luna overly-intrigued at something. She looked murderously-cute.
"Hmmm..." she hummed, turning over the 'smartphone' and running her thumb up and down the brushed aluminum back, her appendage instantly gravitating to the engraved letters.
"H-T-C... is this a firm from your world?" she asked, her fingers now tracing the embossing of the buttons but careful not to press them. She also took careful note to not touch the circular lenses to which she was not entirely sure the purpose.
"Yup! One of many that manufacture such devices, actually," he affirmed with a nod, still enjoying watching her examine the object.
"Most interesting... but what in Tartarus does it do?" Luna inquired, holding the phone carefully in her grasp as she grabbed her drink with the other hand, Fredrick doing the same. She motioned them outside onto her balcony where two chairs waited in the warm evening-air. Fredrick answered as they began moving to their intended destination:
"The question probably should be 'what can't it do?' However, the main function is communication, often instantaneous."
"Between individuals?" Luna continued asking questions, the two taking a seat overlooking the side of the mountain and Ponyville below, with Canterlot proper below and to the right.
"Naturally! And by many methods as well, but the primary communication function is voice communication," Fredrick explained, taking a sip of the expertly crafted 'Rum and Cola' though he opted to refer to it as the standard 'Rum and Coke.'
"So you mean to tell me that I can speak into this device, that is not bound by any tether or wire, and instantaneously transmit my voice to another pony whom may respond in kind? We can actually hold normal conversations?" she asked disbelievingly. "Like radio?"
"Certainly! And in a sense... but somewhat different. As well there are other ways to communicate, often less instantaneous but equally as convenient: text based communication is an option as well." The two continued to drink, and Luna was beginning to feel that she needed more alcohol to really take in what was being told to her. Adjusting to a new modernity after a thousand years of being away was certainly challenging, but this device, little larger than the size of her hand, was throwing all realities (even with the existence of magic) that she thought possible for a loop.
"Astounding... It is safe to assume then, that since there exists no such device here, it is unusable in that regard?"
"Unfortunately so. However, that's the beauty of smartphones: they can perform other functions awesomely even if their primary function is shut down. For example, the cameras still work," Fredrick stated. Luna perked up disbelievingly.
"This device contains a camera?!" Fredrick could not help but chuckle at her reaction.
"It contains two actually. There are three lenses, but two work in tandem for the main camera and there's a front facing camera for personal pictures." Fred then took back the phone and pressed the lock button, navigating his way to the camera application. "Observe," he gestured and showed Luna the camera feed of Canterlot below. With one tap of the screen, the image was saved and displayed as a review shot, to which he handed the phone back to Luna so she could observe the picture he took.
"Unbelievable..." she commented, holding the phone horizontally and noticing the orientation of the photo changing. She did this a couple of times and figured out that orientation of display could be controlled. As well, prodding around with her finger, Fredrick was impressed to see her figure out the 'pinch to zoom' function. He always knew Luna was impressively intelligent... more so than him, but even so, this was unheard of technology and she was taking to it decently well. The two continued to drink, Luna bringing out the bottles of coveted liquids to them magically.
"As well, the front-facing camera has its wonderful uses," Fred mentioned, taking control of the phone again, switching to portrait orientation, and activating the front camera. Luna was shocked to be greeted with a real-time feed of her and Fredrick.
"What?? How is..."
"Smile for the camera, Luna!" Fredrick exclaimed, moving closer to her. Luna reacted with a shrug and leaned into him as well, their cheeks touching and both smiling genuinely at the phone. Fredrick pressed the action button on-screen and snapped the picture before handing the phone to Luna to review it. Staring back at her was a perfect picture of her and her best friend smiling gleefully. Luna said nothing as she continued to look at the picture but that's when she realized something:
How happy she was.
If there was any proof of Fredrick's doing in the overall improvement in her life, it was literally staring at her. Celestia had even commented on numerous occasions that Luna had seemed much more elated these past months, and now she could see it for herself.
"Perfect..." she thought out loud, though in a completely different context of the picture.
"Yeah, that came out really well," he added, looking over the photo himself, responding to the exclamation that he thought was standard conversation.
"There is no way to get a physical copy of that photograph, is there?" Luna asked, though she was certain she knew the answer.
"Unfortunately not now or in the foreseeable future." Luna huffed in disappointment, as she would absolutely adore having a physical copy to frame and place on her dresser or her nightstand. She could probably commission an artist to paint the photo, given the original.
"But, I won't be deleting this ever; and also..." Fredrick did some manipulation and opened another application, applying the photo as his lockscreen. "Now I can see it everytime I power it on. You can too, if you like."
"Well, what else can it do?" Luna asked, finishing off her drink and definitely not hating the fact that they were physically closer due to the picture they just took.
"My favorite thing: it contains and plays my entire music collection," he proudly said, opening up the music application and moving to the 'artists' page. Luna refilled their drinks and perked up yet again.
"Human music, hmmm? Now this I shall thoroughly enjoy," Luna replied, she and Fred taking another swig as he began going through the genres he had on his extensive collection. The two then just listened to music together on the balcony for a great portion of the evening, neither stopping talking nor listening as different yet equally awesome tunes permeated their night air.
They did not even notice that they started leaning their bodies into each other.
[Canterlot Castle | Present Time]
Repressed memories were flooding through Fred’s head like a river as he wasn’t necessarily running for his life as much as he was running for the bone-integrity of his pelvis. He had lived a moment like this the very month he arrived in Equestria and that was the day he learned the difference between the fantasy of being forced to the ground by a sexually needy girl, and having it actually happen. Were it not for the intervention of a female Guard, he would have been another statistic in heat-related assaults.
“GET OUTTA THE WAY!!!” Fredrick yelled out frantically as some administrative staff were crossing the hallway he was barreling down. At this point, he cared not for anypony else’s life other than his own and he would have gladly run them down if they did not move at the last second. He used a fragile-looking mare as a figurative springboard to push off of and get farther ahead of Crystal, who just crashed right through the group.
“Freeeeedrick! I promise I don’t bite… hard!” Crystal called out from the heap of writhing bodies, starting her chase anew. Fred glanced back and fearfully gasped as she was gaining on him yet again.
Okay, okay… ummm Celestia’s office is in Solar Quadrant… SHIT that’s the other side of the castle!
Fredrick slid on his shoes as he made a sudden left turn, to which she knew Crystal would not be more than a few seconds behind him. He came face-to-face with a Guard casually strolling in his direction. There was the answer! He could protect him!
“Guard! Please, help me!!” he came up to him, panting hard and a pleading tone in his words.
“What’s the trouble??”
“There’s a mare in—”
“THERE you are, Fredrick....” Crystal said seductively, having found him and leaning against the wall. The Guard knew the situation immediately.
“Oh fuck that!” the soldier exclaimed and turned on his hooves, sprinting down the hall and making a right, abandoning Fredrick to his fate.
... Seriously? Couldn’t even leave me his sword?
Fred faced Crystal, who slowly advanced on him while he tread backwards, getting ready to sprint for his life again.
“Go ahead and run, Freddie… your resistance only makes me wetter,” the busty mare lustfully pointed out, licking her lips hungrily. That was the cue for him to run the hell away once more, which he did, putting all of his power and energy into his legs.
“There are…*pant*...much better looking… *pant*... stallions than me, Crystal!!!” Fredrick yelled behind him between his labored breaths, attempting to reason with her as his legs ran as fast as they could carry him. He made another left into one of the main arteries of the castle. Taking this straight down and then a right all the way down lead to the Solar Quadrant. A few passing staff and other ponies looked on at the spectacle as the duo sprinted by.
“But you’re… *pant*... the ONLY human! And… *pant*... that makes you… *pant* hotter than you may… *pant* already be!” she replied through her own breaths, enjoying the chase both literally and figuratively.
“So you want to… *pant* essentially rape me… *pant*... because… *pant*... you think I’m cute and… *pant*... human?! That’s… *pant*... and odd form of… *pant*... speciesism!” Fredrick yelled back, continuing the odd conversation as he was still being chased down. He noticed that any male Guard that moved to investigate the situation immediately knew of Crystal’s ‘condition’ and ‘NOPE’d’ out of there. There appeared to be no female guards to save him from his fate this time.
“It’s not… *pant*... rape if… *pant*... you like it!” Crystal retorted, to which Fred found that utterly ridiculous.
“Get fucked!” he yelled over his shoulder, coming up on the right turn he had to make. She was ever gaining on him despite his attempts to evade her through natural obstacles and handing her off to other potentially unfortunate stallions.
“That’s the plan!”
“Oh SHUT UP!” he continued to reply to her witty yet potentially-true-in-the-future remarks. He did not know why he was continuing to egg her on.
“Fredieeee! *pant*... I do anal!”
“Go to hell!”
Fredrick made the right turn just in time as Crystal was about to snatch him in her arms and drag him off to her underground sex dungeon or wherever mares in heat took their unfortunate victims. The dress shoes he was wearing were not conducive to the activity of continued sprints and he could feel the soles coming loose. He could spy the exact arch of where he would enter the office, but with Crystal not even a few feet behind him, he could only hope his legs would carry him to his destination before she tackled him. Either way, Fredrick awaited his unknown fate.
[Princess Celestia’s Office]
“Everything considered, I have to say that I’m pleased with the decision that was made today,” Celestia voiced, reclining in her chair and running her right hand through her multi-colored mane. Princess Luna nodded in agreement.
“Indeed. Based on the data that I personally reviewed I also feel the correct call was made, at least in terms of the next year or so but we can examine that a bit closer at a later date,” Luna replied, tapping her quill passively against a small stack of papers she held in her grasp. “Though I must say, the ministers that are currently up for reelection are behaving much rowdier in financial matters than before, Jesus Christ,” she added, not noticing her own use of Fredrick’s phrase of irritability. Celestia raised her eyebrow in inquiry.
“What does that mean?”
“What does what mean?”
“You just exclaimed ‘Jesus Christ.’ Fredrick says that all the time. What does that mean?” Celestia asked with a smug grin, knowing full well that Luna was subtly taking on Fredrick’s own vocabulary merely by being around him so much. The Lunar Princess rolled her eyes but as she was about to respond, she blinked a few times and looked towards the door, a serious demeanor crossing her features.
“Lu, are you alright?” Celestia asked concernedly.
“There’s trouble,” Luna stated resolutely, getting up from the chair across from Celestia’s desk and moving to the door. Upon exiting out into the Solar Quadrant hall, she was fairly surprised, to say the least, to spy Fredrick sprinting towards her with an unidentifiable maid-mare right behind him with the intention of snatching him. A quick gaze at the mare in question confirmed to Luna what was happening and she moved to action.
Charging her horn, Luna would attempt to erect a barrier between Fredrick and Crystal. She would impact the magical barrier and it would snap her out of her state. Then, Luna could properly reprimand her. The problem, was that Crystal was so close to him that she would have to be extraordinarily precise in her placement. Nevertheless, judging their speed and the distance between each other, Luna cast the spell and made her strategic decision on where to place the force field:
Fredrick’s body was halted as he slammed with all of his might into an unseen force, crumpling like a rag-doll against an invisible wall.
K.O.
Crystal also ran into it right behind Fredrick and crumpled on top of him. Luna visibly recoiled at her error in placement and erroneously making the shield much too dense.
SHIT!
Celestia came out right after Luna to assess what was going on, as well as a few guards and other staff to observe the spectacle, and they found Fredrick unconscious and a writhing, moaning Crystal. The latter sat up and placed a palm painfully on her forehead, her eyes having returned to normal and holding confusion instead of lust.
“W-What happened?” she asked, pain evident in her voice. She locked eyes with Princess Luna, who held her stoic gaze and demanded an explanation. Celestia, however, intervened on the situation before Luna could get more irritated than she was.
“Crystal, dear, are you in heat?” she asked calmly. The mare in question’s eyes wandered to the ground and she sighed.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Why did you come to work, then?”
“I made an error on my calendar and I discovered it about twenty minutes ago. At the time, I hoped to get through the day without an issue since it was only the first of my actual cycle, but Fredrick found me and asked me for a quick favor… I didn’t want to turn him away because I didn’t want to seem rude and…” She sighed again. “Apparently I’m much more susceptible than I thought,” Crystal finished, looking downtrodden and downright remorseful. Fredrick remained blissfully knocked out. Celestia nodded understandingly, moving to help Crystal off the floor.
“So it would seem. Very well, it was an honest mistake and you did not want to lose out on a day’s work, I understand. However, with your current state you can’t be out as per the rules.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Crystal agreed, silently thanking the sun and stars that she was not fired on the spot.
“Now, go on home. Thank you for your honesty, and you’ll be paid for the remainder of the day,” Celestia announced. Crystal immediately perked up.
“Really? Are you sure, Princess?”
“I am. It shan’t be deducted from your heat-leave. Now go on home and take a really cold shower.” At that moment, a few Guard reinforcements arrived just in case they had to contain a fight or whatever was causing the previously unknown pandamonium. Among them were two mares. Celestia turned to Crystal once more and whispered.
“Are you bisexual?” Crystal looked a bit weirded out at the sudden question but answered regardless.
“Ummm… well there was this one time in high school…”
“Are. You. Bisexual?”
“No! Heh… no, Your Majesty.”
Assured of no more potential problems, Celestia then pointed to the two female Guards.
“You two, escort her to the Staff Quadrant to collect anything she might need. Ensure she gets home safely and without incident,” she decreed, and the two Guards moved immediately with her command. Luna knelt over the downed Fredrick, passively listening to her sister’s handling of the situation while tending to her best friend. Preliminary scans with magic showed that he suffered no internal damage, though he was *this* close to having a mild concussion. Two in such a relatively short span of time would not be healthy in the slightest, and Luna applied a residual sleeping spell on him to ensure he got proper rest. She then hefted him into her arms bridal style.
“Sister, I am going to take Fredrick to my chambers so he may rest undisturbed. I’ll have one of the doctors look at him as well but as of right now, he is alright,” Luna commented. Celestia nodded.
“Very well. Do give him my well wishes and apologies for what happened... and to come see me when he’s able.”
Luna nodded back and with a brief lighting of her horn, she and the unconscious human disappeared in a teleportation spell.
[Prince Blueblood’s Chambers | Time: Nine o’clock in the Evening]
Due to some Parliamentary meetings, Blueblood, much to his chagrin, was retiring to his chambers much later than he would have liked, but t’is the season with elections coming up at the local levels. He was not concerned about his political position possibly being shaken up; as a Prince he held clout no matter what. What he was watching with a keen eye was how potential shakeups in electees could impact his business ventures. As a result, the normally arrogantly outspoken stallion kept his mouth shut and just listened to those around him; how they viewed the world would be important.
Indeed, contrary to what the public might believe, Blueblood did not just exaggerate his title and merely exist (though he certainly did the former), for he was also the executive officer of his family company: Bloodline Corporation. While it is true that he did inherit the title there as well, under his leadership the company had expanded into other markets and were taking in profits unheard of since long, long ago. As iterated before, he was uncertain how new legislators could impact the process of solidifying his hold in new and current markets, but he knew that if he got into the good graces of the Princesses, especially Princess Luna (who largely oversaw business affairs), history demonstrated that companies that got the royal blessings for any particular project were nigh invulnerable, competitively speaking.
So, when the Prince stepped into his chambers and found a scribbled note on the ground, he only had to read the “All set,” and the signature “F” to know that the first step in his larger scheme was solidified. Once he cleared any potential legal and ‘moral’ hurdles with the Princesses, then he could truly commence operations. Even so, Blueblood felt that would be of little concern, since he liked to think that there was best intentions and mutually beneficial outcomes for both parties, though the true endgame for him would not be revealed to the Princesses until necessary.
With that, he nodded to himself, tossed the note away, and began sifting through a list of names as he drew up plans for a sort of ‘political upheaval,’ where the country’s resident human could gain support to publicly court one of the Princesses.
And the process begins…