• Published 31st Jan 2014
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How to Court Alicorns: A Human's Guide - little big pony



A cutsie little love story between a human and best princess

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Step Five: When in Doubt, Go All In and Ask Her Out


It was another fulfilling, yet tiring, night for Luna that was thankfully at its end. All she needed to do was lower her moon and have a nice little late dinner--breakfast for everypony else—with her family members, then she could take a nice long bubble bath and go to sleep.


“But we will have to get up early…again, for niece Cadence’s nonsense,” the Princess of the Night muttered as she made her way to her balcony. She looked up at her moon with a small smile, muttering the spell that sent the moon on its lower path, her horn glowing in

majestic power.


Not that she didn’t enjoy helping Cadence with her little ‘project’ between Anny and her sister. In fact, she took more than a little pleasure in spending time with her new human friend, helping him with his love quest.


Young Anny will have our dear sister in those appendages of his within a fortnight, Luna thought as she opened her bedroom door and started to make her way to the dining room. Though We do not understand why he cannot simply ask for her hoof and pay for the dowry as stallions did in our time.


The princess smiled at the memory some of her more feisty suitors. I wonder if there are still fights for mares’ hooves… We would enjoy seeing a hoof fight or duel for love again.


Luna was so lost in her thought that she almost knocked into a pair of maids, the mares all but shrieking apologies at her as she made her way around them, now carefully minding her surroundings.


“Oh, hello, Aunty Luna!” A chipper voice said behind the princess, Luna turning around to see a brightly smiling and fully dressed Cadence all but skipping toward her. The dark blue alicorn nodded her head in greeting.


“Good morning, dear Niece,” Luna said as the two made their way through the halls. “We hope thine dreams were well?”


The Princess of Love giggled, making Luna wonder how the pink alicorn was able to be so chipper in the mornings.


“They were great as always, Aunty!” Cadence replied. “I do have somepony watching over them and doing a great job at it after all!”


Not one to take a compliment without grace, Luna didn’t comment, though her chest did puff out slightly in pride as the two made their way into the dining room to see that Celestia was already there, also fully dressed and awake.


While this wasn’t odd in itself-- as the ruler of the sun it’s your job to be a morning pony after all—what made the two alicorns share a glance was that Celestia was looking through a stack of letters that were strikingly familiar to Luna and Cadence. They did help make them after all.


“Good morning, Sister,” Luna called, Celestia looking up at her and Cadence with a smile.


“How was thy night?”


Celestia carefully placed one of the letters that she was reading down and gave her fellow alicorns a smile as they sat down and ordered their respective breakfast/dinners. “Good morning, Cadence, Luna,” she said brightly before thanking a servant when he hoofed her a cup of coffee. “How are you two this fine morning? My night was lovely as always sister, thank you for asking.”


“Tired,” Luna said flatly, muttering thanks as she was hoofed her black coffee. “It truly has been an exhausting few days.”


Celestia looked at her sister with concern. “Maybe you should take a day or two off, Sister,” Celestia said kindly. “It wouldn’t do anypony any good for you to burn yourself out… Maybe you could spend a little less time with Antaeus and my student and more time sleeping.”


To her credit, Luna didn’t even blink as her sister’s look turned more questioning. “Young

Cadence, Sir Shining, and I are helping the young human and friend Twilight in settling Anny in for his stay in our fair city,” she lied as Celestia smiled slightly.


“And haven’t thou also been spending much time with the young human also?”


Luna already knew the answer, but it was better if she steered the conversation away so Cadence wouldn’t start yelling out anything.


The Princess of the Sun giggled quietly. “Yes, Anny and I have been getting to know each other well over the last few weeks,” she admitted. “He’s a rather good running buddy.”


To Cadence’s horror—she wasn’t a very good liar at best and her aunt could smell a liar from a mile away, usually—Celestia’s gaze turned toward her.


“Where is Shining Armor today, Cadence?” she asked the pink alicorn, who suddenly couldn’t help but take great interest in her cereal. “He’s usually at breakfast before me.”


Ignoring the warning glare from Luna, Cadence said, “Oh, um, he wasn’t feeling very well,” she lied. “I convinced the poor dear to get a little more sleep.”


“Oh, its not anything serious I hope?”


The Princess of Love shook her head, waving her Aunt’s concern away with a hoof. “It’s just a little head cold, nothing to worry about.”


With a faked look of interest at her letters, Cadence said, “What are those, Aunty? Some love letters?”


“Thou art the pillar of sneakiness, Niece,” Luna muttered, which Cadence pointedly ignored, while Celestia looked down at her letters with a small smile.


“Oh yes, ‘love letters’,” Celestia said with a mirthful tone. “You could say that’s what they are.”


Once again, Cadence and Luna shared a look while Celestia picked up one of the letters. “It seems that some little ones decided to write me a few poems, in crayon no less!” Celestia didn’t notice her fellow princesses’ sour looks as she looked down at the letters.


“Twilight’s mom wouldn’t let us use pencil…” Cadence muttered, earning her a shove from Luna while Celestia’s smile dampened a little.


“Though some of these are a little too… adult for a colt or filly to write; at least for my taste.”


Clearing her throat she read aloud, “Roses are red, violets are black, I don’t know what you think, but your bum… I don’t believe that I need to go any further.”


The sun monarch shook her head. “Their spelling was atrocious to top it all off…”


Cadence and Luna looked at each other. “If We may ask, Sister, what did they misspell?”


Celestia rolled her eyes. “If you must know, they misspelled ‘fat.’”


Cadence cleared her throat awkwardly; she knew which poem her aunt was talking about.


“Um, Aunty, how did they spell it?


The white alicorn looked back down at the paper. “P-h-a-t.”


“If it’s fat with a ph then it means something else...” How didn’t she like that one? That was gold for crying out loud!


Shrugging, the white alicorn hoofed her empty cup to a servant before getting up. “Well,

Sister, Cadence, I’d love to spend more time to chat but my exercise regiment awaits.”


Trotting over to nuzzle the two, Celestia made her exit, leaving Cadence and Luna alone.


“…We may have dropped the ball on that one,” Cadence confessed.


Luna gave her a single nod. “Yes…But the poems were excellent, it was simply how we conveyed them; that was where we lacked.”


Both of the princesses nodded knowingly.


“What do you think we should do now?” Cadence quietly asked.


“We were about to ask you, aren’t thou the Princess of Love?”


Cadence quietly huffed at the jib before she hummed thoughtfully. “Well, it sounds like Anny and Aunty are getting along just fine.”


“Verily.”


“Maybe we should get everything ready for his confession.”


Luna gasped in shock. “So soon?”


Cadence gave her Aunty a confident smirk. “Sometimes initiative is needed in matters like this, Aunty.”


“…We should remember to tell Anny not to tell sister about the poems though.”


“…As you say…”




~~@@~~




Shining Armor was honestly never a real chick magnet whenever he was younger. His only real fillyfriend was Cadence all of those years ago-- so he really didn’t know about the many different ways to woo a mare like his wife did. Which was fine; he was a simple stallion and as a simple stallion, he married a beautiful mare so he didn't need to learn any of that silly stuff.


Now, that being said, the stallion honestly couldn’t see how almost killing yourself running and exercising everyday helped Anny woo Celestia, but Cadence said that it would do something and that was good enough for him. Not really good for Anny, who he was dumping buckets of ice on while the human laid groaning in his mother’s bathtub, but still good.


Somehow.


“At least I’m getting better,” Anny said weakly but brightly, trying not to wince when another bucket of cold, cold ice hit his bare stomach. “Remember the first time I ran with the princess and got home, huh, Shining?”


The stallion couldn’t help but grimace at the memory. “Yeah, I remember, Anny, you couldn’t get up for two days, even with the princess using healing magic on you.”


Not able to help himself, Shining leaned over the tub to poke the human in the stomach, earning him a pained groan.


“Don’t do that!” Anny whined, Shining snickering. “It’s tender…”


“At least the Princess’s work out regiment put a little bit of muscle on you.” He couldn’t help but frown at the human’s stomach. “Now, you’re sure that those muscles are supposed to look like that?”


With a stiff nod, Anny groaned again, muttering, “Yes. Hey, could you do me a favor and hand me that protein drink?”


Muttering his thanks when he was given his beverage, Anny took a big slurp while the stallion looked on in mild amazement, shaking his head.


“You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you were a living garbage disposal. You eat and drink all of this stuff and you look pretty much the same,” Shining muttered while Anny chortled.


“I think I get it from my mom,” he said, taking another big drink. “She could eat anything she wanted and still stay as thin as a board.” Anny smiled. “I remember this one time she ate three pizzas at this all-you-can-eat place and got us all kicked out because she wanted more.”


“It’s still weird…”


“Not as weird as anything that we’ve been doing lately,” Anny countered while he wiggled his toes. “I wonder if doing all of this exercise is bad for me. Whatcha think, Cappy?”


Shining rolled his eyes. “Anny… First off, please don’t call me that,” he grumbled. “I’m not a guard anymore. Second, I honestly have no idea if you’re messing yourself up, I’m not a doctor.”


“Oh,” Anny muttered, humming in thought before shrugging. “Eh, I should be fine.”


“As long as we keep hitting you with healing spells, sure,“ Shining muttered while Anny tried to get out of the tub. “Do you need a litt—”


Young Antaeus! We have need of thee!


Anny and Shining flinched as a voice all but shook the little house, Shining sighing in resignation.


“Well, it looks like Princess Luna and Candy are back,” he muttered while he tried to shake the ringing out of his ears. “We should probably—”



It was only through years of training, that Shining was able to put a shielding spell up around him and Anny before his mother’s bathroom door all but exploded, revealing a very determined looking Luna.


There thou are!” she yelled, somehow yanking a confused and mildly scared Anny out of the bathtub right through the shield with her magic. “We have your—


A blue glow surrounded the Princess of the Night’s mouth, promptly shutting up the very loud-mouth princess before she could do anymore damage.


“Aunty, please watch the volume,” a voice said wearily out from the hallway, Cadence poking her head through the broken door. “And did you really have to do that? I’m sure this door wasn’t cheap….”


Her eyes widened when she saw Anny floating in the air in just his shorts. “Oh, hello, Anny, Shiny! How was your morning?”


Shining looked at the broken door while he let down his shield spell—which he made for his mother as a gift in his high school wood shop class by the way—then to his wife, and then to Luna before he just sat down and facehoofed.


“What is my life?” he muttered to himself desperately.


Luna, Cadence, and Anny ignored him, the human giving the pink alicorn an unsure but happy smile. “Oh, just a little sore from this morning’s workout,” he said cheerfully. “Hey, how did those letters go with the Princess?”


Anny’s mood dampened slightly when he saw Cadence and Luna’s looks before Cadence gave him a big, fake smile.


“Oh, um, she really liked them!”


“Nay, dear niece, she thought they were from fillies and colts,” Luna said bluntly.


“Aunty Luna! I thought we said that we weren’t going to tell him!”


The Princess of the Night just shrugged. “We will not lie to him, dear niece. But we now have to discuss more important matters!”


With a spell, Luna summoned the things that she was sure would help the human successfully woo her sister. “We believe that thou art ready for the beginning of this courtship, young Anny. Thee have softened her up with sweet words and actions, but it is time to, as they say, ‘step up thine game and get thine mare’.




---@@~~~@@---




“…And as you can see, Aunty, that is why you should look into sending more of the royal budget into the royal granary,” Blueblood finished, the stallion looking up at his aunt with a hint of a smirk while the alicorn looked down at him with a big, proud smile.


You’ve really grown up these two years, Blueblood, the Princess of the Sun thought as nobility and commoner alike applauded the lecture. I can see that sending you into government work was the right thing to do.


Clearing her throat and quickly looking over the stack of papers that she had collected today, Celestia rose from her throne. “Very well executed, nephew,” she said, Blueblood’s smiling growing. “I believe that a few bits can be spared for your little project.”


Blueblood bowed. “That is all I ask, Princess. Thank you for listening to my little proposition.”


With another bow, the prince slowly turned around and started to make his way out of the chamber, which meant it was the princess’s favorite time of the day: quitting time.


Thankfully for her, her usual shadow, the Sergeant, already knew what to do, the stallion slamming the butt of his spear on the marble ground. “And that concludes the day court for today!” he shouted, much to the grumbling of many of the ponies that were still waiting in line.


“If you have further business either wait for tomorrow or take up the night court. Now get out, the princess has other things to do!”


Celestia couldn’t help but snort in amusement, leaning toward the stallion and murmuring, “Why do you have to be so rough with my little ponies, Sergeant?”


“Because they wouldn’t listen to anything else, Your Highness,” the stallion calmly said back.


The princess was about to say more when one of her guards trotted toward her, the stallion looking like he could barely contain his laughter for some reason.


Raising an eyebrow, the alicorn kindly asked, “Do you need something, my little pony?”


The stallion nodded. “*snort* Y-Yes your highness. T-the human had requested a m-meeting with you.”


Celestia couldn’t help but smile. “Oh, Anny’s here? Could you please send him in?”


Not daring to open his mouth lest he risk laughing, the stallion just nodded, turning around and trotting toward the giant doorway.


“Well, that was odd,” the Sergeant grumbled. “I think I’ll be having a little talk with that private about how to act properly when in the presence of—” the stallion’s mildly angry muttering died in his throat as the smiling human entered into the throne room, with an equally smiling Luna in tow.


Even with her incredible willpower and her thousands of years of diplomatic experience, Celestia couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight before her.


There was Anny, dressed up in appeared to be bright green spandex stockings, pants, and shirt with a lute held in one arm.


“…I take back what I said, Princess,” the Sergeant muttered to the princess. “Even I can see that this is funny, and I’m a heartless old fart.”


Now Celestia had to stick a hoof into her mouth to keep from laughing as Anny bowed. “Hello, Princess!” he said brightly, adding a wave for no particular reason.


Still smiling, Celestia returned with a smile of her own. “Why hello, Anny, Sister. It’s good to see you again.” Deciding not be beat around the bush, she asked, “May I inquire as to why you’re here and in that…colorful outfit?”


Anny blinked for a few seconds before a look of recognition crossed his face. “Oh, you mean the outfit? I almost forgot it was on…”


Luna nodded sagely. “Verily, Anny, We would almost say that this is thy color.”


“The green is a nice color, and it fits really well…”


Anny and Luna nodded in synch before the two cleared their throat, Luna levitating a pair of spoons toward her person and sitting down on her rump while Anny started to fiddle with his lute.


To Celestia’s confused amusement the two then coughed once before Anny started strumming his lute—not well—and Luna started clapping the two spoons against her hoof, the twin sounds forcing Celestia and her guard to fold their ears.


~OOOOOOHHHHHHH!

There was once a Princess, wise and fair,

She really had a great head of hair!

But she was lonely and that’s not right,

So someone’s gotta set that right!

So here to see if it’s not too late,

If I can ask you, Princess, out on a date!~


Thankfully, Anny’s voice was a lot nicer than his playing, so it almost made the rather silly song okay…. Almost.


When it ended, it left Anny all but gasping for breath, Luna with such a huge smile that Celestia feared that it was going to reach past her face, and Celestia and her guard thoroughly confused, though for politeness sake she clapped.


“Well, that was…nice.” Celestia said with a confused smile while Anny and Luna beamed up at her. “But, if I may be so bold as so ask, what is all of this for?”


“I think that the human is trying to woo you, Your Highness,” the Sergeant muttered, trying not to roll his eyes.


Celestia, the ruler of the sun and diarch of Equestria, couldn’t help but look down at her sister and her friend and utter the only thing that she could think of at that moment. “What?”


Anny and Luna almost seemed to deflate, the two groaning in exhaustion and irritation.“I knew we should have made the song longer!” Anny whined disheartedly.


Luna patted him on the back. “Nay, Anny, we believe that our sister’s confusion is our fault.” She looked at her spoons with disgust. “It was due to our neglect that We couldn’t figure what instrument would go well with the song, so we had to resort to these…”


Celestia cleared her throat, getting the two’s attention before she had to watch any more of what was going on.


“I’d hate to interrupt, but is what my guard says true, Anny?” she asked the human, who, summoning up his courage, took a step toward the Sun Princess.


“Weeeeeell, yeah, Princess,” Anny couldn’t help but look at his feet. “So I was wondering… wouldyouliketogooutsometime?”


Celestia’s confused looked transformed into a sad smile, the alicorn slowly getting off her throne and walking down the steps until she was face-to-face with the nervous man.


Putting a hoof in the human’s shoulder, the princess said, “Anny, I really don’t know what to say.” She looked him in the eyes. “How long have you had these feelings for me?”


“I kinda had them for a couple of months before I came up to Canterlot,” Anny replied nervously. “But I knew when I started running with you.”


Celestia nodded, turning toward her sister. “And how long has Luna been a part of this?”


The Princess of the Night shifted around in excitement, her giant, proud smile still on her face.


“Cadence, young Twilight, and I have been helping Anny for weeks, dear sister,” she said. “I personally find the human’s feelings for thee adorable; so we have decided to help ‘ship’ thee as it were.”


He’s been a sweetheart since you’ve met him, Celestia, the alicorn thought to herself, her gaze going back to the nervous but hopeful-looking human. You need to make sure that you let him down gently.


“Anny,” she said after some thought. “You are a wonderful, bright young colt that will make somepony very happy someday.”


Celestia sat down, a gentle smile on her face. “But unfortunately, I have to turn you down. You want to grow old with somepony, and I don’t think I could bear the thought of watching a lover grow old and die in my hooves. So, unfortunately, I must decline. It’s not you, it’s me.”


The princess couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction. Her explanation was sound, caring, gently and firmly told him that she wasn’t interested, so all in all it was a good way to turn someone—even her most insistent courtiers—down.


But, as luck would have it, the princess wasn’t turning down a reasonable person.

Instead of having to give a tear-stricken but understand suitor a hug and a few more comforting words, she got a snort and a dismissive wave from Anny.


“Princess, you’re an immortal and powerful being that probably has about a thousand life-lengthening spells that you can think up right on the spot, so you don’t need to give me that. Even if you don't, why couldn't you at least try?... It looks like someone's in denial... ”


The human smiled brightly down at the now flabbergasted princess before gently patting her on the cheek and looking over at Luna. “Hey, Luna, Cadence was right! I thought she was going to say yes the first time…. Eh, we’ll get her next time!”


Looking back at Celestia, Anny gave her a grin before he turned around and started to make

his way out of the throne room. “Well, see ya in the morning, Celestia! Bye, Luna!”


Luna gave her friend a little wave before she trotted over toward her sister, giving her a warm nuzzle and waiting for her to come to grips with everything that just happened.


“…It’s not what he said,” Celestia finally said. “It’s how he was so nonchalant about it…”


Luna shrugged, throwing her spoons over her shoulder. “He is not wrong, sister,” she said, looking down at her mostly naked body. “Would thou have been seduced if We would have also worn the outfit? Maybe if we wore hats?”


For the first time in a long, long time, Celestia facehoofed. “No, Luna, that wouldn’t have seduced me,” she grumbled, looking at her sister with a hint of anger. “And I can’t believe that you helped bring Anny’s hopes up like that! There’s a reason that I don’t take suitors!”


Luna snorted. “Aye, sister, thou art a lonely nag and thee want to keep it that way.”


The Sergeant had to use all of his guard’s training to keep from snorting in amusement as Celestia squeaked in anger. “But we will wear thee down and our shipping will happen eventually!”


A befuddled Celestia could only watch in amazement as her sister’s mane started to whip around dramatically while the midnight blue alicorn rose up on her hind legs and struck a

dramatic pose.


Foal! Anny has Twilight, the Princess of Love, and Us on his side! You will be under his spell soon!” Luna roared, her horn glowing and thunder striking off in the distance.


Boom!


With a smoke screen spell that really didn’t work, Luna fled the room, laughing like a mad mare, leaving Celestia and her guard alone in the room.


With another tired sigh and a headache coming on, Celestia turned toward her guard, who calmly raised an eyebrow. “I could arrest them if you want, My Lady,” Gleaming Shield said helpfully, earning a snort from the princess.


“I don’t think that will be necessary, Sergeant,” she said, rising to her hooves and slowly making her way out of the room with the guard in tow. “But if you have any thoughts on this, I’d happily hear them. I honestly don’t know what to think…”


The guard just shrugged. “It just looks like a little crush to me, you highness,” he said calmly.


“If you just ignore it he’ll get the idea and stop.”


The alicorn looked worryingly at him. “But Anny’s such a nice young—”


“Highness, are you seeking a relationship with him?”


“…No.”


“Antaeus is a big colt, he can take getting his feelings hurt once in a while,” Gleaming said dismissively. “Enjoy your time running around with him and ignore his advances—maybe set him up with some nice mare—everything will work out.”


The princess hummed in thought. “I believe I will take your advice, Gleaming Shield,” she said with a bright smile. “But, forgive me if I’m wrong - aren’t you married?”


The stallion nodded. “Yes ma’am, been married to the missus for nearly twenty years.”


“Just for curiosity’s sake, how do you think young Anny will go about this?”


The Sergeant tapped a hoof to his chin in mock thought.; he already knew what he was going to do but the guard had to keep up appearances. “Well, Highness, he’ll probably try to pound you into submission with a lot of lovely-dovey tactics. That’s what I did to the missus.” He shrugged. “Course, he does have the princess of love on his side, so they might do something else entirely.”


Celestia nodded grimly. “So this just might be the calm before the storm then?”


“There’s a good chance that you’re correct, Your Highness.”


Celestia squared her shoulders and set her jaw. “Then I will be ready...”


"...But first you have to go and finish that paperwork."


"*sigh* Yes, but first I have to finish this paperwork..."

Author's Note:

You f@#!'s know who you are that mess with sore, worn out people by poking their stomachs.... F!@# you....



Point out errors, comment, etc..., you know the drill.