The Gift of Life

by hell00001

Chapter 14: A Night to Remember

The Gift of Life Chapter 14

One month later…

“You know you’re going to have to tell them eventually.” Meadow Free said as she cleaned one of the large windows that looked out over the eastern district of Everfree. She had noticed that Celestia had walked in the door after being absent for a few abnormal hours of the day. The sun had already set, and all that could be seen outside were the lights emanating from the market beyond the castle walls.

“Don’t worry, Meadow Free, I’ll tell them soon. I’m just not sure how I should break it to them.” Celestia said, snatching a rag from the maid’s grasp and using it to clean the top of the windows.

“I hope you do. The longer you wait the more severe the repercussions can be,” Meadow Free said as she pulled out another rag and started cleaning the bottom of the windows as Celestia cleaned the top.

“And what repercussions might those be?” Celestia stopped cleaning and looked at Meadow Free.

“The relationship that you and Firemane have developed over the past month is entirely unprofessional. You are a princess. He is the Captain of the Royal Guard. Just imagine the sort of tension this will cause in the political system here in Everfree. Rumors will get out, lies will be spread, advances will be made towards you in order to gain the same appreciate that the pony delegates suspect you are giving Firemane.

Meadow Free stopped cleaning and turned to look at Celestia. She maintained a stoic face even when Celestia gave her a nasty side glance.

“Imagine how that would look for your parents. Princess Celestia, their own daughter and heir to their throne, is sneaking off in the later hours of the night to do who knows what with the commander of the guard that is protecting them. Now that I think of it, not only could this be detrimental to the political system, but it might also breed insecurities over the protection of the king and queen. Firemane could be bribed to be a spy or a saboteur.

She turned back to resume cleaning the window.

“But forget what I said about maintaining the stability of this increasingly fragile nation. You are young, Celestia. Only fourteen years of age. Firemane is twenty one. The relationship you two share could only be the passionate love that is commonly shared between two ponies as their hormones are going crazy. It might not be the true love that you think it is.”

Celestia had heard enough of Meadow Free’s speech. She dropped the rag from her magical hold and slightly unfurled her wings, exposing her ruffled feathers.

“You speak as if you know the love that Firemane and I feel coursing through us. What do you know of the relationship we have? Do you mean to say that you understand me? Or understand a pony you hardly know?”

Meadow Free turned to address Celestia’s sudden aggressive behavior by staring the princess directly in the eyes.

“I do not claim to understand you, Celestia, nor do I claim to understand Firemane. I simply know the feeling of finding a first love. There were a few stallions I met when I was your age. All were dashing, handsome, and chivalrous upon first impressions and much fun was had between us. However, as our relationships would drag on, I would soon find myself holding on to a waning emotion that had been eroded away by my former passionate desires.”

Celestia returned the stare.

“This is not the same love you had first experienced when you were my age, Meadow Free. This love I feel for Firemane, it was always there from when I first met him that night at the party. When he first introduced himself I could feel something like butterflies flapping around in my stomach. At first it might have been because he was such a handsome stallion, but when he took me for that first dance, and how the rhythm of our bodies seemed to flow together, my heart was melting for him.”

Celestia brought her wings back to her sides again and gently picked the rag back up.

“Ever since then I have always had this slight tingle in my heart to have him as my own. Each time I met him in the hallways of the castle, his sincere greetings would cause my head to feel lighter than it should have. When he would make his promises to me that I shall have my dance lessons I always felt as if he would stay true to his word. Finally, when the night came for him to make well on his promises, he did not disappoint.

“Yet again I felt as if I was back on that dance floor at the party. Our bodies flowed with such ease and our eyes were locked in what seemed like an eternal trance. It was then I finally began to understand that I truly wanted him to be mine. I gave myself to him and, in turn, he gave himself to me.”

Meadow Free watched on as Celestia finished. She had never heard the princess give a speech with such resolution in her voice. It was as if Celestia knew what she was feeling.

The door opened and Regality walked into the room with Luna riding on her back. The little filly was giggling and had her legs wrapped snuggly around the Night Guard’s neck.

“Hey, you were supposed to help me clean these windows.” Meadow Free smirked, throwing a side glance at Regality.

“Luna here was giving me a lot of trouble. She was supposed to have taken a bath two hours ago and it took an hour and a half of those two hours just to catch her and put her in the tub.” Regality grumbled as Luna slid happily from her back and went rushing over to her older sister.

Both of the mares had finished the last window that needed to be cleaned. Celestia turned to give her sister a hug while Meadow Free trotted over to her friend and gently punched her in the shoulder.

“Excuses, excuses,” Meadow Free said. “So, now that we are finished with our duties for the day, how would you like to hit the castle bar? I heard that they are having quite a few drink specials tonight.”

Celestia’s ears perked up. “Hey, Meadow Free. Is it okay if Luna and I accompany you and Regality?” she asked. “Talking to you again has really been enjoyable. Ever since you have become the head maid for the castle we have been spending less and less time together. Besides, any pony in Equestria, no matter the age, is allowed to drink anything that is alcoholic.”

“I am not sure if Luna should accompany us, Celestia. She is still young and too much alcohol could be hazardous for her at best.” Regality said, a look of concern showing on her face.

“Don’t worry, Regality. I’ll make sure she doesn’t have anything that is too strong for her. We drink hard apple cider all of the time at dinner, perhaps we can limit her to having those?”

“I don’t see why not. C’mon, let’s all go and have a drink.” she said, turning and bumping her flank against Regality’s. She jumped at the contact and then quickly returned the favor, earning a stuck-out tongue from the green mare.

The four ponies left the two princesses’ room and dismissed the guard that was standing at the door. They assumed that they were going to be out for a couple of hours, so they thought it best to allow the guard to go and get some rest instead of guarding an empty room. Once he had left, they all headed up to the top floor of the main castle where the bar was located.

When all four ponies entered, they were met with a huge uproar of laughter, idle chat, and even some singing from the more inebriated ponies of the bar. Celestia felt Luna hug up against her side, and she placed a wing around her little sister to comfort her in the sight of so many ponies. She noticed that the majority of the ponies were the royal guards of the castle or the maids.

As they continued to walk further into the bar the sounds that were so deafening before started to shrink to a small murmur. Celestia had noticed that all of the ponies were now staring at them, whispering amongst themselves at the oddity that lay before them. Never before had they seen their two princess walk into a bar, let alone at this time of night without their parent’s accompanying them. Luna had started to lower her head closer to the ground.

When they reached the bar, the bartender quickly cleared his throat and greeted them with a friendly smile.

“Good evening, my lovely ladies. What shall you all have tonight?” he asked. He was a tall, lavender unicorn with a silver mane and tail. His eyes were a deep grey and he flashed the mares a confident smile.

“Hey there, Martini. How about we all start off with some whiskey shots? What do you all think?” Meadow Free asked, turning to look behind her and noted that she was met with a bunch of nods. “Alright, shots it is. Oh, and could you get a cup of apple cider for Luna, please?”

The bartender levitated some shot glasses down onto the counter and pulled out a bottle of whiskey, filling each of the glasses with a the perfect amount of alcohol. He then put the bottle away and slid each of the glasses back to each mare, along with a mug of apple cider for Luna. Celestia had noticed that the noise of the bar had started to pick up again, putting her a bit at ease. She wouldn’t have been able to bear all the stares as she continued to have fun with Luna, Meadow Free, and Regality.

Celestia turned back and looked down at her shot. She had never tried whiskey before, although she had seen it a few times because of her father. He had always encouraged her not to drink it because of the shear strength behind the alcohol but tonight she was going to defy that suggestion. She held up her glass just as all the other three mares held up theirs’.

“To a wonderful night and two beautiful princesses!” Regality declared. She downed her shot.

She was soon followed by the other three ponies, each one gulping down the shot and setting down the glasses. The alcohol burned Celestia’s throat, but she didn’t care. She enjoyed the taste of the whiskey and she wanted more. Meadow Free ordered another round of shots for all four of them. Celestia could tell this was going to be a long and fun night.

~~~

A cheer roar up through the whole bar as everypony stood around in a large circle that encompassed a single table. All eyes were fixated on two ponies who sat staring at each other. Empty rows of shot glasses lined both sides of the table.

“Yah aren’t gonna beat meh, yah large hoofed bat!” yelled Meadow Free over the roar of the cheering ponies. She clumsily grabbed another shot glass with her mouth and gulped down the straight whiskey inside it.

“We’ll shee about thhat, toofpashte.” Regality yelled back, grabbing another shot glass herself and taking a gulp, shivering from the after taste and then letting it drop onto the table.

Celestia quickly grabbed a rag and stumbled over to Meadow Free, slapping the rag against the maid’s forehead and wiping the beads of sweat from her brow. She glanced over at Luna who had been doing the same to Regality. Both maids were swaying back in forth in their seats almost like they were going to black out. Celetia looked back at Meadow Free.

“Meadow, you hash thish in the bag. Come on, jusht a few more.” she slurred. Celestia felt pretty tipsy herself even though she had only drank a tiny percentage of what both maids had drank.

Celestia’s ears perked up as she heard the crowd of ponies around them start to chant for the two mares to have one more shot. She looked back at Meadow Free and levitated a filled shot glass of whiskey directly in front of her. When she looked over at Luna, she saw her sister had done the same. They both backed away and looked on as both ponies were about to go for another shot. Meadow Free turned to look at the crowd and everypony went silent.

“Gish us a count down! On three!” she shouted.

The crowd took a deep breath and counted.

“One...

“Two...

“Three!”

The two mares each picked up their respective shot glasses and took a huge gulp, letting the glasses clang back onto the table once they were done. They both stared at each other has the seconds dragged on. The crowd’s cheering fell to a whisper as they awaited to see if either mare would come out on top of the other.

Finally Meadow Free’s eyes shut and she went face first against the table, passing out from the amount of alcohol she consumed. Regality hopped up from her seat and together with Luna they both started hopping up and down as cheering rose from the crowd. Some ponies groaned or facehoofed, and then exchanged money or valuables to their glee-filled compartiots. Celestia went up next to Meadow Free and nudged her to see if she was awake. When she was met with a rather loud snore she huffed and lugged the sleeping mare onto her back.

“Hey, Luna! Can I get shome help!?” Celestia yelled over the chatter of the crowd.

The younger princess looked over and rushed to aid her sister. Regality had already been swept up by two handsome looking stallions and was being carried away to another part of the bar. Luna lifted the back end of Meadow Free while Celestia lifted Meadow Free’s shoulders, and together both fillies carried her out of the bar and started to head back to where Meadow Free usually slept.

After making their trek through the castle all the way to the maid quarters, which happened to also be on the top floor of the main castle, the two fillies knocked on the door and politely waited for one of the maids to answer. A pale yellow filly with a curly pink mane and tail answered the door and cringed at the sight of Meadow Free.

“Oh, not again.” she grumbled before she remembered her manners and greeted the two princesses.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it, Mish... Uh, maid pony. She ish fine.” Celestia said, wobbling in place a little and then leading Luna in so they could find the green mare’s cot. Luckily her cot was on the bottom bed of one of the bunks and both fillies were able to lift her into bed.

“Are you two...?” the maid asked, a little surprised at the conditions of both of the princesses.

“SHHHH, don’t tell no pony. We’re fine.” Luna slurred out, raising her two front hooves to her lips. Unfortunately, she forgot to account for the fact that since she had no front hooves to keep her up, and there was nothing to stop her from landing flat on her face. Celestia giggled at her little sister’s misfortune.

“Uh, you two should probably get to bed, your highnesses.” the maid said, holding the door open so the two fillies could step outside.

Celestia turned and gave the maid a salute that resulted in slapping herself right in the forehead. The maid tried to stifle a giggle and quickly wished both princesses a good night before shutting the door. Celestia and Luna looked at each other.

“Sho... What should we do now, Luna?” Celestia asked.

“Should we go to bed like the maid pony asked?” Luna asked in return.

“Nahh, we have plenty of time before we need to sleep. It is... What time is it?”

Celestia started to spin around in a circle to look at a clock only to find none were in the vicinity. She gave a shrug and then headed off in the opposite direction of where their room was. When she looked back to see if her sister was following her, she stopped.

“Luna, aren’t you coming?” Celestia asked.

“Um... Well. We’re going somewhere?” Luna asked in return.

“Yeah, let’sh go explore and see what we can find.”

“Okay. Wait, hold on. Why aren’t we going to bed?”

“I’m... not tired. Are you not tired?”

Luna paused.

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go. Hurry up, slow poke.” Celestia smirked.

Celestia resumed stumbling down the hall. She wasn’t exactly sure where she was going, she just wanted to find something to do in the later hours of the evening. She could hear her sister’s rather loud hoofsteps behind her and she was glad that Luna had decided to follow her afterall. The two princesses wandered the castle halls for a little while longer until they came face to face with the doors to the Royal Kitchen.

“And so we meet again, my arch nemesis,” Celestia muttered to herself, walking up to the doors and giving them a push. They didn’t open. She turned to her sister.

“Luna, we... we need to get passhed that door.”

“How are we gonna do that, ‘Tia?”

“I don’t know, I was hoping you would have an idea.”

“What? You usually have all of the ideas.”

Celestia raised a hoof to protest but stopped before any words had escaped her mouth. Her sister was right; she usually did have all of the ideas. She turned back to look at the set of double doors in front of her. An idea suddenly popped into her head and she quickly turned back around to face Luna.

“Okay, I got something. We’re going to need bedsheets, a big and heavy block of wood, and a metal cap. Go!”

~~~

Sprinkles and Bluebell were returning to the Royal Kitchens to make a few last minute rounds to check and see if everything was in stock for making breakfast in the morning. They had been at the castle bar all night to have a couple drinks and unwind after another long day of catering for the many ponies who occupied the castle, both residents and visitors alike. Both equines had been amused upon seeing not only a drinking competition that night but also two royal, very inebriated princesses.

They were walking down a hall that would lead them closer to the kitchens when they suddenly saw both Celestia and Luna. They were running towards them with what looked like a makeshift battering ram made from bedsheets and a block of wood. The two princess turned down a corridor, completely ignoring both the pony and the antelope.

“Was that Celestia and Luna carrying a battering ram?” Bluebell asked aloud.

“Yep!” Sprinkles confirmed in his usual cheery and boisterous voice.

“And did they just turn down the hallway that leads to the kitchens?”

“You betcha!”

They continued to walk for a few seconds more before they came to a complete stop. Sprinkles and Bluebell turned to look at each other with their eyes wide. They looked back ahead of them.

“Oh ponyfeathers,” they exlaimed in unison, “we must protect the Royal Cookie Jar!”

~~~

“Alright, Luna, we’re going to need to build up enough momentum so that we can smash through door to the Royal Kitchens in one push. Just keep running and don’t stop picking up speed. I saw Sprinkles and Bluebell back there!” Celestia shouted over their hoofsteps.

The two fillies continued to pick up speed, now using the weight of the battering ram to propel themselves forward faster than what they could do by themselves. The gap between them and the door was closing fast and Celestia started to brace herself for impact. She helped aim the ram to hit directly between both doors so that when the ram hit, it would effectively push open both doors.

“Hey! Celestia and Luna! Stop!” came a shout from behind them.

The princesses continued on, smashing the ram against the two doors and successfully blasting them open. The impact of the hit caused both Celestia and Luna to trip and tumble to the ground, both fillies rolling across the floor and smashing into two boxes of silverware with a mighty crash. Stars spun in front of Celestia’s eyes and she could hear Luna groan next to her while the incoming hoofsteps from the two cooks grew louder.

“Ugh, Luna, come on. We have to get up and get that cookie jar,” Celestia said, rolling onto her side and shakily getting to her hooves.

Luna had started to do the same thing and so the elder sister made a dash over to the giant freezer box to where the cookie jar was. She hopped into the air and spread her wings, allowing her to reach the top of the freezer box and grab onto the cookie jar. Luna had already reached the bottom of the freezer and had her hooves outstretched to catch the jar. There was a clatter of silverware from the far side of the kitchen. Celestia knew that both of the cooks had now entered the kitchen and were heading towards them.

Celestia dropped the cookie jar and then hopped from the freezer onto a counter next to a window. She quickly fumbled with the window latch and managed to get it open, allowing for the cool night air to rush into the kitchen. She turned back and extended her hooves so that Luna could toss the cookie jar up to her older sister. Once Celestia had hold of the cookie jar she turned and jumped out of the window with the jar securely held in her mouth. She heard a thud, some goans, and then a flap of wings and she knew that her sister had successfully escaped from the clutches of the two cooks.

Both Sprinkles and Bluebell looked on out the open window and watched as both princesses and the cookie jar flew away and banked left to head off towards their own room. Bluebell gave a sigh.

“Sometimes this job is more stressful than it should be,” she said.

“Stressful? I find this fun!” Sprinkles exclaimed, smiling at the smaller pony and then shutting the window.

~~~

Celetia flew downwards and landed as gracefully as she could onto the balcony of her room. As a result, she stumbled a little and smacked her face into the window. She groaned and heard her sister land behind her and snatch the cookie jar off of her back. She slid her face from the window and followed Luna into their room and plopped down on one of the bean bag chairs, which were at the foot of her and her sister’s beds. Luna pulled the other bean bag chair up next to the one her sister had occupied and set the cookie jar between them.

“We were successful, ‘Tia! Let us reap the rewards!” Luna exclaimed as she used her magic to unscrew the top of the jar.

When the top came off both ponies stared in awe at the contents of the jar. Inside were cookies of all different sizes and flavors. There were gingerbread cookies, snickerdoodles, chocolate chip, pumpkin, peanut butter, as well as other cookies that had a variety of nuts and dried fruits in them. The two fillies salivated and used their magic to take one of each of their respective favorite cookie out of the jar, Celestia’s being a snickerdoodle while Luna’s was a pumpkin cookie.

Just as Celestia and Luna had started to eat their third cookie, the door to their room suddenly slammed open. They both froze, turning their heads towards the direction of the door. Underneath the doorway stood their mother. Upon sensing that both of her daughter’s gazes were now on her, she snapped her head to look at them and made to walk over towards them.

Both fillies shrieked, and tried to flee out the door they had come in minutes before. Despite their best efforts, the door would not budge, for magic was wrapped around it. Celestia twisted around and came face to face with her obviously vexed mother. She smiled sheepishly.

“Um, hi, Mother.” she squeaked.

“And what do you two think you are doing?”

“Uh... eating?” Celestia’s smile was faltering.

“I can see that. Where did you two get that cookie jar? You got it from the kitchens which now has two severely damaged doors, didn’t you?”

Celestia was at a loss for words, and her face immediately dropped. Her shoulders slumped. She could hear Luna give a quiet whimper behind her.

“Mother... We... I...” she tried to say as her mother gently set both fillies back onto the floor.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with you two fillies.” Galactica sighed. The two princesses looked up at their mother.

“We’re sorry, Mommy.” Luna said quietly.

“No, Luna, I’m sorry.” Galactica paused and sat down closer to Celestia and Luna. “Things are becoming increasingly stressful around here at the castle and both your father and I are caught right in the middle of it. As both of you know, eastern Equestria has been hit hard with a horrible food shortage because of massive droughts throughout the entire country side. They are our biggest suppliers for our food so we have had to resort to increasing the prices on food.

“This, of course, didn’t go over well with our citizens and it is obvious that unrest is rising in the much larger cities, even here in Everfree. We are trying to find alternative sources of cheap food but there are no options for us to use. The Eternal Valley has been met with similar shortages and the griffons just don’t have enough food to support three nations without having to impose rations on their own citizens.

“In the midst of all of this I just became angry that my two daughters, who are princess, couldn’t behave like how I wanted them to. I was blind to see that all you two were looking to do was to have a little fun, and in doing so, you both have improved the moods of both the ponies in the bar tonight and then Bluebell and Sprinkles who are laughing over their adventure with you two tonight.”

Luna was the first to walk up to their mother and sit next to her, rubbing her cheek upon the large alicorn’s beautifully hued leg. Celestia soon followed, doing the same to her other leg. Galactica extended her wings to cover her daughters with them in a warming hug.

“Tell you what, I’ll forget this whole thing ever happened and allow you two to keep the cookie jar if you tell me how you managed to cause so much damage to two heavy, wooden doors. Deal?”

The two fillies looked at each other and squeed in excitement. Celestia levitated the cookie jar over from where it had been left and placed it between all three of them. Together they shared the cookies as both fillies started to recount their adventure to their mother.

~~~

Here you guys go, Chapter 14. I hope you all enjoyed it as this chapter was intended more for a recap of the previous chapter and comedy. Tell me what you all think!

I'd like to extend a big thank you to Naes1114 for being my editor for this chapter. Without him this thing would have been a real mess.

Get ready for a pick up in the action of the story! Chapter 15: Unrest Shall Follow is next.

Comments

[hell00001]

1690480 The style of writing I am using there is correct. You do not leave quotation marks at the end of paragraphs if the character is going to continue talking onto another paragraph, unless there is a break like you are describing an action.

[BBkat]

Both equines...

Antelope are not equines and the sentence seems to be referring to Sprinkles and Bluebell.