Prologue: Did You Hear That?

“Be careful, Maria!” said my dad as he rushed to my mom’s side.

“Relax, Hector,” said Mom. “I’m just getting out of my chair. I may be pregnant, but I’m not handicapped. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I’m worried about the baby,” Dad corrected, unintentionally sounding cold.

“So you’re worried about your child, but not about the woman carrying him?” Mom asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You know I didn’t mean it like that,” said Dad.

In case you haven’t caught on yet, the baby that they were referring to was me. I was still in my mom’s womb at this point, and this was the day that their lives took a turn for the strange.

It started with a loud noise on the roof, followed by a tumbling sound, and finally a thud that came from just outside the window.

“What was that!?” Dad said in a panic.

“Quit being a bitch, Hector,” Mom said with her usual playful (albeit abrasive) attitude. “Let’s go see what it was.”

“No way, Maria!” Dad objected. “You can’t go!”

“You know what? How about we just go together?” Mom suggested. “Will that ease your nerves, Hector?”

My dad grunted and said “Fine, but stay behind me.”

My mother rolled her eyes and followed Dad to the door. “I can’t wait to get this baby out of me so you can stop doting on me,” she muttered.

When my parents got to the door, Dad slowly opened it and looked out to where the thudding noise came from. He saw what looked like a body lying on the ground. Mom looked out to see it herself, and then she looked up at the roof. “Whoever this is, they must’ve landed on the roof, then tumbled down to the ground.”

“You think we should call someone?” Dad asked.

Just then, the body on the ground started to groan in pain; its voice sounded female. She struggled to get up, but eventually stood up. Mom and Dad stared at this figure, which was still obscured by darkness. She had the form of a human, but there seemed to be something protruding from her forehead. If they didn’t know any better, Mom and Dad would’ve thought that it was a horn.

“Um… miss?” Dad asked. “Are you okay?”

The mysterious woman stretched her arms out and groaned again, and then she did something that shocked Mom and almost gave Dad a heart attack. As she stretched her arms, two large wings stretched out from behind her back.

“Oh, I’m just fine, sir. You need not worry about me,” the figure said. “I’ve been through worse.”

When she said that, the mysterious woman used the protrusion from her head as a light, and her appearance was revealed to my parents.

This woman, if you could call her that, was nothing like my parents had ever seen. She looked like a cross between an equine and a human. The protrusion from her head was indeed a horn, and those were indeed wings sprouting from her back. She had a horse-like face, only with much softer features than that of any actual horse. She had large, magenta-colored eyes and her body was coated with white fur that had a pinkish tint to it. She was wearing a white dress that went down to her feet- wait, those were hooves!

To top it off, this horse woman had a long flowing mane and tail that had multiple colors and flowed in an endless, nonexistent breeze, with a gold crown adorning her head.

For some odd reason, the horse woman had a look of shock on her face from the sight of my parents.

“Oh, my,” she said. “Looks like my spell did work after all.” Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her leg and fell to one knee. She looked down at her leg and saw that the tumble she had resulted in a bloody cut that ran down part of her leg.

“Oh my God,” my mother said worriedly. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” the horse woman said, dismissively waving her hand. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Don’t give me that,” said Mom. “Do you see your leg right now? Come inside and I’ll patch you up.”

“Honey, we don’t know who or what this woman is, and you’re inviting her into our house!?” Dad said exasperatedly.

“He’s right, Miss,” said the horse woman. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“Maria. Maria Cortez,” my mother corrected, “and it’s no imposition. My husband’s just being paranoid. Hector, help her into the house while I get something for that leg.”

“Yes, dear,” Dad said with a sigh, knowing that he couldn’t change Mom’s mind. My mother was a registered nurse, so it was her instinct to help people (or in this case, horse people) that were hurt.

After Dad helped the woman inside and Mom got a first aid kit, Mom patched up the woman’s wound.

“There we go,” said Mom. “How’s that feel?”

“Much better, thank you,” said the horse woman.

“No problem-NGH!” Mom said as she suddenly winced in pain.

“Goodness me! Are you alright?” the woman asked.

“Don’t start my husband up again,” Mom chuckled. “I’m fine; just felt a little kick, is all.”

I don’t remember why I kicked her, but I’m sure it was for a good reason.

“Oh, I just love kids!” the horse woman giddily said at her realization of my mother’s condition. “How far along are you?”

“Eight months,” said Mom. “Pretty soon, I’ll be able to go outside without Hector here fearing for my life.”

“So… Miss…” my Dad said, clearing his throat. “Could you tell us who you are?”

“Of course,” she said. “My name is Celestia, and I am a pony.”

“You sure don’t look like any pony we’ve ever seen,” said Mom.

“Well, you see, that’s because I come from a different world…” said Celestia.

Celestia explained to my parents that in her world, the civilization consisted of ponies like her, along with other kinds of magical creatures, but in her country, it was mostly ponies. She went on to say that she was a princess where she came from, and that she was developing a spell that could take her to different worlds and establish relations with other life forms.

“Needless to say, I could’ve put more thought into what I’d do once I got here,” she said. “Normally, I’m not this absent-minded, but I was just so eager to try the spell once I had completed it, you know?”

“Not really…” said Dad.

“In this world, magic is something that only exists in fantasy,” Mom explained.

“I see,” Celestia said as she looked around the room, particularly at items like the television and other electronic appliances. “Meanwhile, your species seems to be very technologically advanced,” she observed. “Our two societies have a lot to offer each other.”

“You think so?” asked Dad.

“Most definitely,” said Celestia. “It may take many months, but I think that we’ll be able to establish some kind of partnership between my world and yours.”

“Well, Hector happens to work for the mayor here,” said my mom. “We could start with him, and then work our way up to the President, and eventually to all the world leaders.”

“I thank you for your generosity,” said Celestia.

“It’s no trouble,” my mom said with the wave of a hand.

“No trouble?” Dad asked incredulously. “No one will believe this, Maria!”

“Like Celestia said, honey,” Mom retorted, “It’s going to take some time.”

And take some time it did. After reluctantly agreeing to help Celestia make contact with the world’s leaders, he and my mother let her stay the night while her leg healed. Over the course of the next year, not only was I born, but Celestia’s world had officially allied itself with ours. All the while, Celestia visited my parents as often as she could. They were her first friends in this world, and friendship was something that she held dear to her heart. She especially enjoyed seeing me, since she had a soft spot for babies, no matter what species they were. Sometimes, when she came over to visit, the first thing she did was ask where I was.

So, by the time I was old enough to go to school, pony families were living in the human world and vise-versa, so I had some very diverse classmates. Meanwhile, in the adult society, humans were benefiting from the uses of pony magic, and ponies were benefiting from the conveniences of human technology, but from what I had learned over the years, the pony world still didn’t forget its roots.

SIXTEEN YEARS LATER

“Welcome home, Marcus,” my mother said as I arrived home from school.

“Hi, Mom,” I said as I went up to my room, kicked my shoes off, and threw my backpack on the floor. I turned and looked at my work desk and I saw that my sketchbook was running out of pages.

“Damn, I’m running low already?” I asked myself. “I’ll have to buy a new book this weekend. Drawing comics is hell on my wallet.”

When I went back downstairs to get some snacks, my mom stopped me.

“How was school?” she asked.

“Same old, same old,” I answered, but then I remembered something. “Oh, a representative from an art school in Canterlot came to my class and gave a presentation. I think the name was… ‘Canterlot University for the Arts’. It’s a good thing they call it CUFTA for short because that’s a mouthful.”

“It sure is. So, what did you think of it?” asked Mom. “You’re near the end of eleventh grade, now, and you need to start picking colleges to apply to.”

“I know, I know,” I said. “I really liked it. They showed us pictures of the campus and everything. It’s like going to school in a museum. I’m definitely adding it to my list, Mom.”

“Good to see that you’re on top of things,” she said. “And I’m sure your Auntie Celeste will be excited if you end up going.”

I chuckled at the name that Celestia insisted I call her. “Yeah, I’m sure she will,” I said.

ONE YEAR LATER

It was my seventeenth birthday, and my graduation date was a month away. A few months earlier, I had gotten a letter from CUFTA saying that I was accepted, but when my parents saw how much the tuition cost, on top of the cost of books, housing, AND getting me to Canterlot, the told me that it wasn’t in the cards. You can imagine how frustrated I was. Since I had found out about the school, I looked more and more into it, and I made it my top choice. My parents tried to console me be reminding me that I had gotten accepted to all the other art schools that I applied to, and I eventually started to get over my disappointment.

My parents and Celestia just got through singing “Happy Birthday” to me, and my Mom told me to make a wish.

“Really, Mom?” I said. “I’m seventeen years old now.”

“You’re never too old to make a wish, sweetheart,” Auntie Celeste chimed in.

“You hear that?” said Mom. “Now make a wish.”

I rolled my eyes and humored my mother. “I wish I could go to CUFTA,” I thought as I blew out the candles.

“Oh, I wish Luna was here for this,” said Celestia.

“She’s filling in for you while you’re here, isn’t she?” Dad asked.

“Yes,” she answered. “While my former student, Twilight, is now a princess, she’s still new, so I don’t want to overwhelm her. Luna sends her best wishes, though. With that aside, I’d like to give Marcus my present.”

“Please tell me it’s a car,” I said. I felt a sense of entitlement since I didn’t get a car last year.

“Well, it’s not a car, but I know that you’ll like this gift anyway,” Auntie Celeste insisted. “I know that you wanted to go to Canterlot University for the Arts, but you didn’t have the money, so I pulled some strings, and-”

“You didn’t!” I said hopefully.

“I did!” she said with cheer. “I got you a full ride to CUFTA!”

I instantly jumped out of my seat in excitement.

“YES!” I yelled. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I ran up to Celestia and gave her a big hug. She smiled and hugged me back.

“You’re welcome, Marcus,” she said. “Unfortunately, there is one catch.”

“What’s that?” Mom asked.

“While I was able to get the school to give Marcus a full ride, they still want payment for housing should he choose to live on campus,” Celestia explained.

“We can’t afford that, though,” Dad said. “The housing fee alone is too expensive for us right now.”

“And we don’t have any family members in Canterlot,” Mom added. “On top of that, Marcus isn’t old enough to live on his own yet, so he can’t get an apartment off-campus.”

“I had anticipated this…” Celestia said somberly, “so I thought of a possible solution. Now, this may seem crazy, but bear with me here.”

My parents and I looked at her in anticipation and slight worry. How crazy was this solution of hers going to be?

“What if…” she said, “…I adopted Marcus as my nephew?”

“WHAT!?” my parents said in shock, while I simply stayed silent. I was shocked, too, mind you, but it was the kind of shock that rendered me speechless.

“Like I said, it’s a crazy idea, and you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Celestia explained.

My parents looked at each other worriedly. I didn’t blame them, either. Any caring parent would be worried about letting someone else take care of their child, even if it was a very close friend of theirs.

“What do you think, Maria?” Dad asked Mom.

“I don’t know,” she answered hesitantly. “I really don’t want Marcus to miss out on this opportunity, and I’m sure that Celestia will take good care of him, but… I just don’t want to let go of my son yet.”

My mom took a moment to shed a tear, something she’d rarely ever done, and said “What do you think, Hector?”

“Well, while I do agree with you…” Dad said before pausing for a moment. “I think that we should let Marcus make this decision. If he wants to go, I say we let him go.”

My eyes widened when I heard this. My dad was allowing me to make such a huge decision on my own. It was then that I realized how much he and Mom trusted me, and how far they were willing to go to help make my dreams a reality.

Still, though, I had to weigh my options. If I stayed home and went to college in this world, I would still be able to see my parents much more easily than if I went to Canterlot, but then I’d miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime. I mean, how many students get full rides to colleges like CUFTA? Then I realized that even if I went to college in the human world, I’d still be separated from my parents to some degree, so would there really be that much of a difference? Not only that but Auntie Celeste bent over backwards to get me into CUFTA, and it was an offer I couldn’t refuse.

With that in mind, I made my decision.

“I’ll go,” I said.

My parents wore expressions of joy mixed with sadness, but mostly joy. Celestia let me have a moment with them.

“I promise that I’ll make the best of the last few months we have together,” I said.

In between graduation and getting the adoption papers together, that’s exactly what I did. I spent as much of my free time as I could with my folks, up until the day I had to leave for Canterlot.

It was a month before my first day of school, and all the papers had been finalized. Celestia came to my house to get me, and we were about to leave.

“Call us every night, you hear?” said Mom.

“I will,” I said.

“Don’t party too hard,” said Dad.

“I won’t,” I said.

“And don’t give your new auntie a hard time,” said Mom.

I laughed and said “I’ll try.”

Celestia laughed as well. “Don’t worry. He won’t break me that easily,” she boasted.

I walked over to Celestia and told her that I was ready to go, and with that, she cast her transportation spell to take us to Canterlot.

Who knew that birthday wishes actually came true?

Chapter 1: Memories of the First Month

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It had been a month since I moved in with Princess Celestia, or rather, Auntie Celeste. I guess I have to call her that now that she's my legal aunt. I got my own room in Canterlot Castle, and it’s pretty spacious, too. Hell, I even have my own private bathroom. Auntie Celeste even had an interior decorator set up a mini studio in my room to work on my drawings.

I checked the calendar on my nightstand. My first day of school was tomorrow, and while I should be excited, it was seven AM on a Sunday morning, so my body was still in zombie mode. A nice shower would take care of that, though.

After my shower, I got dressed and left my room to head to the dining hall for breakfast. As I walked down the hall, I passed by a guard.

“Good morning, Sir Marcus,” he greeted.

“Good morning, Golden Shield,” I replied. I was still getting used to everyone calling me “Sir,” but they insisted on calling me by some kind of title. Believe it or not, they wanted to call me “Prince Marcus” at first.

It was my first day at the castle, and Auntie Celeste took me to her throne room after I had gotten my stuff unpacked.

“Now, Marcus,” she began, “since I’ve adopted you as my nephew, you’re part of the royal family now, and I’ve already informed the guards and maids that they will treat you as such.”

“Really?” I whimpered nervously. “That doesn’t make me a prince, does it?”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” she said.

“I’m not saying that… It’s just that I’d rather not draw that much attention to myself, Auntie,” I explained.

“Well, I have kept your adoption hush-hush so far,” she said. “I suppose if you don’t want to be a prince, I could give you another royal title…” Auntie Celeste pondered for a moment, and then she said “How about Duke?”

I smiled, happy that she was so cooperative. “Alright, I can work with that, but just don’t make it public; I don’t want anyone treating me differently.”

Auntie Celeste laughed. “You sound just like your mother. Okay, then. I’ll keep your status as a duke a secret from the public, but you’ll still be treated like one here in the castle.”

“Thanks, Auntie,” I said gratefully.

I continued down the hall and found the staircase I was looking for. At this point, I had figured out the quickest way to get to the dining hall from my room. There were still parts of the castle that I still hadn’t gotten familiar with, believe it or not. When I got to the bottom of the staircase, I saw Princess Luna walking in the same direction I was walking in.

“Hey, Luna!” I called out.

The blue-coated princess turned around and smiled. “Oh! Hello, Marcus. On your way to the dining hall, I presume?”

“Nothing gets past you, does it?” I asked.

“Nothing at all,” Luna boasted.

I rolled my eyes at the princess. It’s hard to believe how much we’ve gotten used to each other.

After Auntie Celeste and I sorted out the issue regarding my “royal” status, she wanted to re-introduce me to her little sister, Luna. My parents and I were invited to the celebration that was held upon her return two years ago, and it was the first and only time I had ever been to the pony world before moving into the castle. We didn’t talk. We merely looked at each other as my parents and her sister shot the breeze. My train of thought was derailed when Celeste and I stopped in front of the castle library. When she opened the doors and I saw Luna for the first time in two years, I was thoroughly surprised.

"Hello, little sister," my aunt said to her.

She looked much different from when I last saw her. For one, her coat was a darker shade of blue. Not only that, but her mane and tail had grown considerably, and it flowed in a manner similar to Celeste’s There were even little stars that twinkled in it, resembling a night sky. She also looked like she had grown taller, but I couldn’t tell since she was sitting down reading a book. When Celeste and I approached her, though, she stood up, and I found out for sure.

She got taller, alright.

Just two years before, she was half-a-head shorter than me, but now I was half-a-head shorter than her. On top of that, she appeared to look more like a grown mare rather than a fourteen-year-old filly. Her chest had grown considerably, and her body had a perfect hourglass figure, which begged the ultimate question.

What the fuck happened over the past two years?

“I’m sure you two remember each other,” said Auntie Celeste.

“Barely,” Luna and I uttered simultaneously.

“I guess you two wouldn’t remember each other that well,” said Celeste, and then she looked at me. “Anywho, since I’m your aunt now, I guess that makes Luna here your aunt, too!”

“Uhhh…” Luna uttered nervously.

“She’ll need a nickname like mine that you can call her by… How about Auntie Lulu?”

Luna furrowed her brow at her older sister. “How about no.” She then looked at me. “Just call me Luna, okay?” she told me.

“Sure,” I accepted.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m famished!” Luna groaned, rubbing her tummy for emphasis.

“Just remember that chocolate chip cookies don’t count as breakfast,” I remarked.

“I can’t help myself,” she admitted. “Just like my sister and cake, cookies are my sour tooth.”

“Sweet tooth,” I corrected. Another habit of Luna’s was constantly getting modern figures of speech wrong.

“Oh, that makes sense,” she said.

As Luna and I rounded the corner, we spotted somepony that was just leaving the dining hall, and it was somepony that I hoped not to see.

Prince Blueblood.

Now, any other guy in my position would’ve hidden behind their friend standing next to them (Luna, in my case), but my mom always said that that showed cowardice, something that she felt was an abysmal quality for a young man to have.

I wouldn’t want to disappoint my mother.

I kept a stiff upper lip and continued on, waiting for the moment where I’d inevitably cross paths with the winner of the coveted “Spoiled Brat of the Year” award.

Blueblood made the first remark. “I was hoping not to see you around today,” he muttered coldly, yet calmly.

“Likewise,” I returned with a tone that mirrored his.

Thankfully, those were the only words we said to each other before parting ways. Once we got to the dining hall, Luna chuckled.

“I had to hold in my admiration until he was out of earshot,” she disclaimed. “That was quite impressive, though. Most others can’t stand to even be in the same room as Blueblood.”

“Well, it took me a while, but I think I’ve mastered the art of bullshit toleration,” I smirked as my mind flashed back to when I first met the spoiled Prince.

It was after I was re-introduced to Luna, and Auntie Celeste was giving me a tour of the castle. We made a stop at one of the castle’s balconies. I think it was the fourth one, or maybe the third…I had lost count by then.

“Just how many balconies are there on this palace?” I asked.

Celeste giggled. “I don’t know. Maybe you can make a game of it and try to find out,” she answered. Why did she have to be so damn cryptic?

“I’m seventeen, not seven,” I said with a roll of my eyes. Just then I heard a loud, annoying call.

“Aunt Celestiaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

Celeste and I turned around to see a stallion standing before us. Judging from the way he was dressed, he didn’t look like a guard. In fact, he looked like he was somepony important. He had on a white suit that matched his just-as-white coat, and he had ice-blue eyes, eyes that had a high-and-mighty look to them. His light amber mane looked like WAY too much gel was used on it, he was taller than me by just an inch, and he had an expression of frustration on his face.

Something told me that I wasn’t gonna like this guy.

Then a bell rang in my head. He had referred to Celeste as her aunt. Was this guy supposed to be my cousin!?

“What is it, Blueblood?” Celeste answered pleasantly, but I could tell that her tone was forced.

“I need money,” he whined, his tone drilling holes into my eardrums.

“Whatever for?” Celeste continued with her forced tone of concern.

“I’m going out to dinner with a mare tonight, and I need a new suit,” he with a half-demanding, half-requesting tone.

“What’s wrong with the ones you already have?” asked Celeste.

Blueblood groaned in frustration. “Aunt Celestia, I simply can’t wear a suit twice in three months. You know tha- Hang on, who is this?”

“Oh, so you noticed,” Celeste said, a little of her annoyance seeping out as she did so. “Blueblood, this is Marcus.”

“Are you doing one of those charity things for inner-city kids?” he asked.

I was going to say something, but somepony else beat me to it.

“No, I adopted him as my nephew, and he will be living here,” Celeste corrected.

“Seems like they’ll make anyone a prince these days,” Blueblood grunted.

“My thoughts exactly,” I retorted. “And I’m not a prince.”

“Oh, thank goodness!” Blueblood sighed with relief.

“He is still a duke, though,” Celeste chimed in.

“And?” the bratty prince asked.

“It means that the only thing that makes you different from him status-wise is that you’re part of this family by blood,” she explained.

Blueblood winced in disgust. “Are you serious!?” he asked incredulously. “This peasant is supposed to be my near-equal!?”

“This peasant is about to throw you over this balcony!” I threatened.

“Just try it, human!” Blueblood snapped back. “I’ll have guards all over you before you can even lay one of those filthy fingers on me!”

Auntie Celeste cleared her throat loudly, and we ceased our bickering.

“I expect you two to get along,” she said sternly. “Do I make myself clear?”

Blueblood and I shot each other one last nasty glare. “Yes, ma’am,” we conceded.

It was then that I realized that living in Canterlot Castle wasn’t gonna be all sunshine and rainbows.

“The art of bullshit toleration?” Luna chuckled. “I don’t think my sister will take kindly to you using that kind of language around her.”

“It’s a good thing I’m not around her, then,” I retorted.

“Just watch yourself, okay?” she giggled as we got our breakfast. I got waffles and hashbrowns while Luna got pancakes with syrup and some butter, a little too much butter if you ask me.

“That stuff’s gonna go right to your thighs,” I commented.

Luna merely smirked. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” she asked. “It’ll give you more to ogle at, am I right?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“I saw the way you were looking at me when my sister reintroduced us a month ago,” she teased.

“I wasn’t looking at you like that,” I said defensively. “I was just surprised at how different you looked since I last saw you.”

“I didn’t look that different,” Luna denied.

“Are you kidding!?” I exclaimed. “You look COMPLETELY different than you looked two years ago!”

“Calm down, Marcus,” Luna said with a chuckle. “I’m merely teasing.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. Auntie Celeste was rubbing off on her little sister.

“So, I’m sure you’re excited for tomorrow,” Luna said as we sat down to her eat. “You must be really hopped for your first day at CUFTA.”

“It’s hyped, Luna. Not hopped,” I corrected.

“You know what I mean,” she said. “So, are you nervous?”

“Of course,” I answered. “It’s the good kind of nervous, though. I mean, even though I’m going to the top art school in Equestria, I think my work can hold a candle to those other kids.”

“You seem confident,” Luna remarked. “I’m sure you have the prowess to live up to that confidence.”

“Well, I’m going to be in my room all day working on my skills to make sure of that,” I said. “I’m going at this full-throttle!”

Luna merely laughed at my bravado. It was an encouraging laugh, mind you. She liked the fact that I pursued art as a career. She even insisted that she was somewhat of an artist because of how she arranged the stars in the night.

“Well, I give you my best,” she said.

I thanked Luna as I finished my breakfast, and I headed to my room to start my drawing binge.

Chapter 2: The First Day

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This was it. It was the day I had been waiting for since junior year of high school. My first day at Canterlot University for the Arts. I had planned on going there by myself, but Auntie Celeste insisted on seeing me off on my first day of college. She even said that she’d have me dropped off in her best carriage (which had some modern modifications thanks to the integration of human technology), but I convinced her to just use a normal carriage, reminding her that I didn’t want to attract attention to myself. I was even lucky enough to get her to agree to disguise herself should anypony see her.

I prefer not to make a scene.

We were in the carriage, Celeste was disguised as a regular unicorn thanks to a transformation spell, and when we finally pulled up to the university’s main entrance, I was taken aback by how the place looked.

It was WAY better than the ads.

First off, the outdoor areas of the campus were pristine, with artistically cut hedges that lined the concrete pathway from the main entrance. There were small outdoor lounge areas scattered across the lawn, and they looked like they were pulled off the set of a fantasy movie. The buildings were tall and shined in the sunlight, and they gave of a welcoming vibe.

To put it short and simple, it was like going to school in a museum.

As I was admiring the campus, Auntie Celeste started to get teary-eyed “This is it, your first day of college. I’m so proud of you, Marcus,” she blubbered.

“Thanks, Auntie,” I said as I got ready to leave the carriage.

*Ahem!*

“What?”

“You’re not going to give Auntie a goodbye kiss?”

Was she serious? Was she really serious?

I sighed and turned around, but the moment I did that, I heard our driver snickering a little. Then, something outside caught my eye. I looked out the window and saw two pegasi near a carriage of their own. They appeared to be a mother and son from what I was seeing.

“Come on, mom!” the son complained. “Quit it!”

“But I just want to give my handsome son a goodbye kiss!” the mother insisted. “Is that so wrong?”

“It is when we’re in public!” the son argued. “It’s embarrassing.”

I looked back at Celeste, who seemed to be oblivious to what was going on outside, still waiting on her goodbye kiss, but I started to have second thoughts. It’d be embarrassing to be giving goodbye kisses when I’m going to college. What if somepony saw me? Then I’d be known as that human kid that kisses his auntie! I didn’t want to be labeled on my first day!

“Uh, you know what, Auntie… I need to hurry on out. I’m gonna be late for my first class.” I lied.

Celeste looked surprised and disappointed at the same time. “Oh, well don’t let me keep you here, then,” she conceded. “I’ll expect you to make up the deficit later, though!”

“Yeah, sure,” I muttered, hoping that she’d forget by the time I got home.

I know what you’re all thinking. “Damn, Marcus. That’s cold. Why did you just leave your aunt like that?”

Well, I just didn’t want to be embarrassed on my first day, okay? Auntie Celeste always tended to baby me, and I couldn’t have her doing that now of all times.

With that rationalization in mind, I headed into the main campus. In contrast to what I said to Auntie Celeste earlier, I wasn’t going to be late for my first class at all. In fact, my first class wasn’t for another forty-five minutes, and I planned on using that time to explore the campus a little. As I walked, though. I noticed something, or rather, somepony, that was not too far from me.

It was a unicorn mare that was carrying a ton of bags. She was probably a new student heading to her dorm room. She was wearing a white buttoned blouse with black skinny jeans. The massive amount of luggage she had seemed to be a heavy load, even with the assistance of unicorn magic, so I decided to go help her.

When I got to the mare, I was able to get a good look at her appearance beyond just what she was wearing. She had a coat of white with a greyish tint to it; her mane and tail were a moderate indigo color and were styled in elegant curls, and her eyes were a pleasant azure color.

As for her body, she definitely had a nice figure. Her breasts were pretty big, not as big as Luna’s but-

Wait… why am I comparing her to Luna!?

Anyway, back to what I was saying. It wasn’t the mare’s top half that stood out to me, it was her lower half, particularly her hips. They definitely didn’t tell any lies. I mean, those were childbearing hips, for God’s sake!

“Can I help you?” the mare asked politely, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Oh, actually, I was going to ask you that,” I answered. “You seem to be carrying a lot of bags there.”

The mare sighed with relief and smiled. “Why, thank you, darling,” she said gratefully. “I was worried that I would have to carry all these bags by myself.”

“It’s a good thing I came along, then,” I chuckled.

“I suppose chivalry isn’t dead, then,” she said as she offered her hand. “My name is Rarity. And you?”

“Marcus,” I answered. “Marcus Cortez. So, where are you headed?”

“Acrylic Hall, Room 116,” said Rarity.

With that, we started on our way to Rarity’s room, shooting the breeze along the way.

“So, Cortez, huh?” she pondered. “That’s a Spanish name if I’m not mistaken.”

I was taken aback by her knowledge of human name origins. Had she been to the human world before? “You’re right,” I tell her. “My grandparents are originally from Spain.”

Rarity’s face brightened the moment she heard that. “Really?” she asked excitedly. “Oh, I’ve always wanted to go to Spain! It’s such a beautiful country, and it’s one of the fashion capitals of the human world! Have you ever been there?”

“Only once,” I recollected. “My parents took me there to see my grandparents, but I was a little kid at the time, so I don’t really remember it.”

“Oh, I’d love to get the chance to go there,” Rarity swooned. “The locales and the culture could give me inspiration for my fashion line.”

“You’re a fashion major?”

“Why, yes,” the mare said proudly. “I’ve been designing clothes since I was a filly. However, while I am a professional at my craft, I think that a formal education will take me to the next level.”

This mare was a professional? But she looked no older than me!

“Wow,” I uttered in admiration. “I guess this school really is for the best of the best.”

“That’s what it says on the brochure at least,” Rarity joked, “but enough about me, darling. What’s your major?”

“I’m majoring in cartooning, or ‘Sequential Art’ if you want to use formal terms,” I told her. “I plan on being a comic book artist. Compared to your major, though, mine seems a little silly, huh?”

“Not at all. I think that all forms of art serve a purpose. While I may not be a comic book aficionado, I appreciate it as a form of media.”

“You’re a pretty open-minded mare,” I complimented. I meant it, too. Rarity seemed to be a pretty interesting pony. If I had to compare her to a well-known human, the first one that would come to mind would be Audrey Hepburn. After several minutes of walking, we finally got to Rarity’s room.

“Thanks again for helping me with my things darling,” she thanked. “I’m sure you’ll want to head to your room and unpack your things before your first class starts.”

“Actually, I live off-campus, so I wasn’t in any rush,” I explained.

“Really?” Rarity asked. “Lucky you. If I had family in Canterlot, I’d live with them instead of having to pay for housing. The only drawback is that there’s that nagging feeling that you’re being a burden.”

“I get what you mean,” I agreed, “but I don’t worry about it much. I live with my aunt, and she practically insisted on me crashing at her place.”

“That’s quite generous of her. Your aunt must be a nice lady.”

“You have no idea,” I thought.

“Well, I’d better get settled in,” Rarity said as she used her key to open the door to the room. To our surprise we found that somepony was already occupying it. She was an earth mare, and she looked like she was in the middle of a book when we opened the door. Her gaze immediately shifted towards Rarity and me, and she sighed softly. She put her tome aside and stood up to greet us.

“Hello,” she said.

“Hello,” Rarity and I replied in unison.

I took a good look at this mare as she approached us. She was taller than me by just a little, and she had a grey coat with a mane and tail of a darker grey. She was wearing white short-sleeved buttoned shirt with a black tie; the shirt hugged tightly against her body, highlighting her ample bust.

What size were they? Fuck if I know. I don’t know about bra sizes.

If I had to make a guess, though, I would have to say… D? Sure, let’s go with D. Moving on!

The mare was also wearing a pair of black slacks to round out her ensemble. She looked at us with her greyish-purple eyes and smiled. She then looked at Rarity’s things, then back at Rarity.

“You must be my new roommate,” she said. “My name is Octavia Melody.”

“My name is Rarity,” the unicorn said, and then she gestured towards me. “This is my friend, Marcus.” I nodded my head as I was introduced.

“It’s a pleasure to meet the both of you. Come in, won’t you?”

Octavia led us inside the room, which was surprisingly spacious. There was enough room for two twin-size beds, a dresser for each occupant, a decent sized TV, a coffee table, and a work desk.

“Damn,” I uttered in awe. “You guys have it good.”

“I suppose it is quite cozy,” Octavia chuckled modestly. “I’ve lived in this room for two years, and it hasn’t lost its charm.”

“Hang on; you’re a third-year?” Rarity asked in surprise.

The earth mare nodded her head. “CUFTA likes to put students in different years in the same room sometimes. They say it’s a great way to learn from an upperclassman without having to awkwardly approach them outside of the dorm setting.”

“Clever,” I commented.

“I was wondering who would be my new roommate since my last one is taking part in the Study Abroad program in Saddle Arabia. She wanted to be exposed to different styles of music.”

“So you’re both music majors,” I surmised.

“What made you guess that I was one?”

I pointed towards the large cello that was resting on Octavia’s bed.

“Ah, yes. I see how that would be an obvious sign,” the mare chuckled. “So what are your majors?”

“Fashion,” Rarity answered proudly.

“Sequential Art,” I answered almost as proudly.

“I see,” said Octavia. “In that case, you two will probably have some classes together.”

“How do you figure that?” I asked.

“At CUFTA, much like a lot of other art schools, you spend your first year taking basic foundation courses based on your selected major, and then you take more concentrated courses from your second year onward. Your majors share several foundation courses with each other. For example, Rarity, what’s your first class?”

The unicorn took a folded piece of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it. After scanning it for a bit, she said “Drawing 101.”

“That’s my first class, too,” I said.

“See what I mean?” Octavia asked. “Both of your majors have to do with drawing and design, which means that you have the same foundation courses.”

“Interesting,” said Rarity. “You seem to know this school inside and out, Octavia. I’m glad I have you as my roommate.”

“The pleasure is mine,” the earth mare said.

Since Rarity and I still had about a half hour until our first class, we stayed in her and Octavia’s room for a while and started chatting. One of the things we discussed was where we currently stood in our career paths.

Rarity was already establishing herself as a fashion designer, having her creations featured in Canterlot fashion shows and worn by celebrities.

Octavia was already playing concerts across central Equestria, having performed with her ensemble at the Grand Galloping Gala two years ago.

As for me… I didn’t have much professional experience under my belt. Hell, the only accomplishment I had that was worth mentioning was that I won an award for my artwork once.

“Really?” Octavia asked, intrigued. “What award was it?”

“Nothing major,” I answered modestly. “It was the San Diego Young Artist Award for Best Comic.”

“Don’t feel so embarrassed, darling,” Rarity assured. “We all start somewhere.”

Could you blame me, though? I mean, here I was talking to two semi-famous ponies about accomplishments when I barely had any. Is it any wonder why I started to have an inferiority complex?

Putting my lack of experience aside, it was almost scary how much we all had in common, despite the fact that our careers were going in different directions. Inevitably, though, our conversation had to come to an end; Rarity and I had a class in fifteen minutes.

As Rarity and I figured out earlier, our first class was Drawing 101. I was surprised at how small the class was; there were only about fifteen students including Rarity and me. On top of that, I was the only human in the class, too, but the fact that I had a friend like Rarity with me helped to ease my nerves. Since it was the first class, all we did was introduce ourselves and share some of our work.

How did I compare to the rest of the class? Well, I can’t really answer that. Since we were all in varying majors, our styles were all so different that you couldn’t really compare them.

I don’t mean to sound clichéd, but it was like apples and oranges.

My next class, which was at one in the afternoon, was History of Cartooning. My gut reaction when I first heard of this class was “Really? There’s a class for that?” My teacher seemed cool enough. He had plush dolls of various fictional characters from different time periods on his desk. Some were even from the human world. Again, I was the only human in the class, but it didn’t bother me too much.

After that, I was done with my classes for the day, and when I went to the student lounge to get a soda, I ran into Rarity and Octavia again.

“Marcus!” the unicorn called out. “Good to see you again! Say, I forgot to ask you this earlier, but would you like to exchange numbers with me and Octavia so we can keep in touch?”

“Sure, why not?” I accepted as I took my phone out of my pocket. The two mares and I exchanged our numbers, and I said my goodbyes as I headed back to Canterlot Castle. I opted to take a taxi carriage instead of calling for the Royal Guard to pick me up.

Like I said, I prefer not to make a scene.

By the time I got home, it was half past four, and I felt like going straight to my room and relaxing.

Of course, things don’t always turn out the way you plan them to.

“Marcus!” Auntie Celeste cheered as she appeared out of nowhere and gave me a bear hug. “You’re home! How was your first day?”

“It was great, Auntie,” I answered, struggling against her stallion-like grip.

Seriously, did she work out, or something?

Celeste walked with me to my room, and I told her about my day as we did so. “So you got your lay of the land around campus and you met two nice mares,” she said, and then her ear twitched, which usually happened when she remembered something important. She leaned into my ear and spoke quietly. “Speaking of nice mares, one of the guards told me that one of the maids fancies humans. I could put in a good word for you if you want. Maybe make her your private attendant?”

“Uhh… thanks, but no thanks,” I nervously declined. “The maids are cute, and all, but they’re all at least eight years older than me.”

“Oh come now, Marcus,” Celeste insisted. “Age is nothing but a number.”

“Easy for you to say,” I retorted. “You’re over a thousand years old.”

We finally reached my room, and just as I was about to open my door, I was grabbed from behind and pulled back to Auntie Celeste, trapped in yet another hug. She then planted a kiss on my cheek and said “That’s for this morning!” before releasing me and walking off.

I raised my sleeve to my cheek while her back was turned, but before I could do anything she said “Don’t you dare wipe it off!”

I gave an exasperated sigh and went into my room to call my parents and tell them about my first day.

Chapter 3: Helicopter

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Saturday morning.

Probably the only morning where I didn’t wake up like a zombie. I still had some sleepiness left in me, though, so I decided to take a shower so the warm water would fully wake me up. I ended up feeling refreshed by the end of it.

As I dried myself off, I heard a curious sound coming from my room.

“What the hell is that?” I thought, but then something clicked in my head. “Oh, shit! That’s my cell phone!”

I need to remember when I change ringtones.

I scrambled out of my bathroom to get to my phone, which was lying on my bed. In my rush, I forgot to dry my feet, and I ended up slipping on one of the bathroom tiles just as I was about to exit the room. Despite taking a nasty fall, I crawled to my bed and was able to pick up my phone before I missed the call.

“Hello?” I answered without looking at the caller ID.

“Hello, Marcus! How are you?” said the caller, whose voice I immediately recognized.

“I’m good, Rarity,” I lied as I got up off the floor.

“I hope I didn’t wake you up, darling.”

“Nah, I’ve been up for a while.”

“Oh, okay. Well, Octavia and I were headed to the Canterlot Museum of Art today, and we were wondering if you would like to join us.”

“Sure, just let me check to see if I have anything going on.”

I walked over to my work desk and checked the to-do list that I had posted on the wall above it. I only had one thing to do: a research paper on the origins of Equestrian cartooning. I already finished five of the ten pages that I needed, and the paper wasn’t due until Wednesday, so I could afford to enjoy myself on a Saturday.

“Yeah, I’m free,” I told Rarity. “What time are you guys heading out?”

“We were thinking about going at around noon,” she answered.

I looked at the clock. Nine-thirty. I had more than enough time to get ready.

“Sounds good. I’ll meet you guys at the school’s main entrance.”

“Fabulous! Oh, and the museum has a café, as well, so we can all grab a bite to eat while we’re there!”

“Perfect. I’ll see you at noon, then.”

“Of course, Marcus. Bye!”

“Bye.”

Once I hung up the phone, I started towards the door so I could get some breakfast, but then I realized that I hadn’t put any clothes on yet. I don’t think it’d be good for anyone if I went out into the hallway in the nude.

Well, except for that one maid that Auntie Celeste said had a thing for humans. She probably wouldn’t mind.

I threw on a T-shirt and some jeans from my closet and left my room to head to the dining hall. On my way there, I ran into Luna again.

“Fully dressed at nine-thirty on a Saturday morning?” she asked as she approached me. “What’s the occasion?”

“I’m going out with some friends to the art museum,” I answered.

“Sounds fun,” said Luna. “Oh, and you’ll be happy to know that you won’t be seeing Blueblood at all, today. He’s going to be out all day on a date.”

“Is he cute?”

Luna let out a hearty laugh. “Oh, that’s hilarious! ‘Is he cute?’ Pure genius!”

“You sure do love a good joke,” I commented. “In all, seriousness, though, I pity the poor unfortunate soul that has to spend an entire day with that guy.”

“As do I,” the princess agreed, still stifling giggles.

I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle myself. I never considered myself to be a comedian, but Luna seemed to like my brand of humor a lot.

However, is it just me, or does Luna sound a little like Rarity?

Nah, I’m just imagining things.

When we got to the dining hall and went to get our breakfast, I noticed Luna’s peculiar choice for her meal.

“A bran muffin?” I asked curiously. “Bland much?”

“Before you even start,” she interrupted, “my advisor was concerned about my eating habits, and he insisted that I integrate more nutrients into my diet.”

“The struggle is real,” I commented.

Luna then let out an overdramatic sigh. “Ah well. I guess this is how it must be. Unfortunately for you, the size of my lower half will begin to diminish, leaving you with less to stare at.”

I furrowed my brow. “You know, that joke tends to get old after a while, especially when that joke revolves around something I did over a month ago.”

“Aha! So you admit that you were staring at my candies!”

“Your goodies,” I impulsively corrected, “and no, I wasn’t!”

“Deniaaaaaaaaal~” she sang before taking a bite out of her muffin. Her face visibly, and quite humorously, twitched in disgust, and I thought that she was gonna spit the bite out, but she swallowed her pride, as well as the muffin.

“Ugh! This is disgusting!” she yelled. “I swear this diet is going to be the death of me!”

I chuckled. “Good luck with that.”

Later that day, I took a taxi carriage to the school, where Octavia and Rarity would be waiting for me. I checked my watch along the way, and I was making good time. I didn’t like being late to things.

“Here we are, sir,” said the driver. “That’ll be seven bits.”

You know, maybe taking the castle’s private carriage wouldn’t be a bad idea.

“Oh, sure,” I said, as I handed him the money and left the cab.

“Hey, Marcus!” somepony called. I turned around and saw Rarity waving at me with Octavia standing next to her.

I smiled and approached the two mares. “Hey, Rarity. Hi, Octavia. I didn’t keep you two waiting for long, did I?”

“Not at all,” Octavia said, waving her hand dismissively. “So, now that we’re all here, why don’t we get going?”

So Rarity, Octavia, and I started walking toward the museum. Rarity had been to Canterlot before, and knew where the museum was, but Octavia, having been born and raised in Canterlot, knew all the shortcuts to get there faster.

“So if we go through the park here,” she explained, “we’ll end up two blocks away from our destination.”

“Wow, Octavia,” I said, “It’s like you know the city like the back of your hand.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” the mare nervously chuckled as she turned her face away from me.

Was that a hint of pink that I saw on her cheek?

No, I must be imagining things again.

All of a sudden, my phone vibrated in my pocket. When I checked it, I saw that I received a text message from Auntie Celeste. The message read:

'Luna told me that you were headed to the art museum with some friends. Stay safe, and let me know when you get home.

-Celeste <3'

I sighed when I read the message and thought about putting my phone back in my pocket, but then I considered the possibility of Celeste texting me again because I didn’t respond, or worse yet, she might CALL me.

I sighed inwardly and replied: 'Sure.'

Short, sweet, and to-the-point.

“Who was that, darling?” Rarity asked.

“My aunt,” I answered with a sigh. “She was just checking up on me. She tends to dote on me a lot.”

“I’m sure it’s just because she loves you,” the unicorn teased.

“I don’t like that tone,” I said. “Are you making fun of me?”

“Somewhat.”

The three of us collectively chuckled as we walked across the park, but when we finally got to the museum, I got this strange sensation that I was being watched.

“So, whose idea was it to come here?” I asked, trying to distract myself from that sensation.

“Octavia’s,” Rarity happily answered. “She thought that is was a great way for us to spend time together, being lovers of art, and all.”

“You really should stop speaking on my behalf,” Octavia muttered in embarrassment.

“And you should stop being so modest, darling,” Rarity retorted nonchalantly.

The feeling of someone’s eyes on me still wouldn’t leave me, even as we walked into the museum. While Rarity and Octavia discussed amongst themselves where to go first, I looked around the lobby for any suspicious characters. At first, I didn’t see anyone that stood out, but then I saw one particular mare.

She was a unicorn mare that was taller than average, for sure, and she had a slender frame clothed by a white dress. A white hat adorned her head and a pair of shades covered her eyes. Her pink mane and tail looked matted down, and a few stray locks fell over her shades.

Wait a minute…

Those locks of hair were different colors than the rest of her hair; one was an aqua color while the other was a pale green color. Hang on; the only mare I know with a multi-colored mane like that is…

The mare lowered her shades and looked right at me with her eyes. Her magenta colored eyes. She then proceeded to smile.

“Fuck!” I thought! “It’s Celeste! Did she seriously follow me here!?”

I decided not to panic and instead try to lose her. “So, have you two decided where we’re going first?” I asked hastily.

“Well, there’s a collection on the fifth floor featuring art depicting interaction between the human and pony societies,” said Rarity. “Octavia and I thought that that would be a lovely place to start.”

“Sounds great, let’s go!” I said, trying to mask my anxiety. The three of us left the lobby and got into the nearest elevator. As it went up, I tried to make sense of my situation. My aunt just followed me and my friends to the museum, and she went so far as to disguise herself, too!

“Relax, Marcus,” I thought. “She’s probably just making sure you’re safe. I mean, she’s your aunt, and she has to look out for you. Sure, the way she went about it was a little creepy, but there’s no real harm done. Now that she knows that there’s nothing to worry about, she’ll most likely just leave.”

I let out a relaxed sigh and smiled contently.

I had to hand it to Auntie Celeste, though; it was clever of her to mat her mane and tail down and dye them pink, even though she missed a few strands.

DING!

I instinctively looked up and saw that the elevator had reached the fifth floor. When the doors opened, Rarity, Octavia, and I walked onto the floor and headed towards the collection that Rarity mentioned earlier. The place seemed to be decently filled. There were a good number of ponies and people there, but not so much so that you didn’t have breathing room. The three of us meandered around the exhibit, looking at the different pieces of art. Like Rarity said, here was a recurring theme of interaction between humans and ponies.

“Rarity, Marcus, look at this one,” Octavia said. The piece that she was referring to was a watercolor painting of the Manehattan cityscape from two different time periods; the left side of the painting showed the city as it was seventeen years ago, before contact with humans was made, while the right side of the painting showed a present day Manehattan.

“So this is what the city looked like before we humans came along,” I said. “There are a lot less lights and advertising.”

“And all of the carriages are stallion-drawn,” Rarity noted. “You rarely see those these days. Most carriages are run by motor now.”

She was right, too. After making contact with humans, ponies started to develop vehicles that looked like hybrids between carriages and cars. In the painting of Old Manehattan, there were just straight-up carriages.

“I was only one year old when ponies and humans first came together,” Rarity explained, “so I don’t even remember a time when there weren’t humans in Equestria.”

“What about you, Octavia?” I asked. She was older than Rarity and me, so she probably had a more vivid memory of the pre-human era.

“Well, I was only three when the humans first came, so I don’t have that many memories of life without them.”

“Makes you wonder what it was like, doesn’t it?” I asked.

“Definitely,” the two mares said.

We left the Manehattan painting and continued browsing through the collection. There were a few more pieces that caught our attention, but towards the end of the collection, there was one piece in particular that caught our eyes.

It was a large acrylic painting that stood vertically on the wall. The painting depicted a hilltop with two figures standing on it; one was a human man, while the other was a mare. The man and the mare were holding each other in a warm embrace and sharing a kiss as the sunset cast a shadow over their forms, giving them a silhouetted appearance.

“Oh, how romantic!” Rarity gushed. “I love it when romance is shown in art!”

“It really does melt your heart,” Octavia agreed.

“Look at the date,” I said. According to the date, the painting was made only several months after humans and ponies met each other.

“It must have been quite the daring piece for its time,” Octavia surmised. “I’m sure that it was very rare for a human and a pony to be in a romantic relationship.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Nowadays, it’s more common.”

“Say, darling. Octavia and I never got your opinion on this painting.”

Way to put me on the spot, Rarity.

“Well, I think that the technique and colors are really nice…” I improvised. In actuality, I thought that the painting was more amazing than that. Like Rarity, I was a sucker for romantic art, but unlike Rarity, I wasn’t very comfortable with sharing that.

The two mares looked at each other with unamused expressions. “Boys,” they said simultaneously.

After leaving the collection, the three of us continued through the museum together. Each of us had one collection or exhibit of the place that we particularly liked. Rarity’s favorite was the collection of old Saddle Arabian fabrics, and Octavia really liked the collection of pre-Equestrian musical instruments.

As for me, there was a nice pop art exhibit that caught my interest.

After a few hours, the three of us decided to get something to eat at the museum’s café. When we got there, we were able to get a table right by the window.

“I think I might be getting the hay fries,” Octavia thought out loud.

“I never thought you were the type to like hay fries,” Rarity commented.

“They’re a guilty pleasure of mine…”

“Mine, too! Whenever I have them, though, they go straight to my hips.”

That explained a lot, not that I’d complain.

“I’ve never had hay fries,” I said. “Are they really that good?”

“They are quite delicious, darling. You should try a plate.”

“Eh, why the hell not. So I guess its hay fries for all of us, then.”

Once we all placed our orders, the three of us engaged in some idle chatter as we waited for our food to arrive, but then I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Actually, it was somepony that I noticed.

Unicorn mare, tall, white dress, white hat, shades…

You’ve got to be shitting me.

Celeste was still here? Why!? Was she that concerned for me? She noticed me looking at her and took out her phone. A minute later I received another text.

'When will you introduce me to your friends? They seem like nice young mares.'

My eye twitched when I read this. “Hold on guys,” I said to Rarity and Octavia, “my aunt’s texting me again.”

And so the back-and-forth ensued.

'I don’t know, Auntie. Can we talk about this later?'

'Oh, I see. You’re on a date. Well, don’t let me keep you away from your lovers.'

'THIS ISN’T A DATE!!! Why would I be dating two mares!?'

'Polyamory isn’t very uncommon in Equestria, Marcus! :)'

'Will you PLEASE go home?'

'Fine, fine, I’m leaving.'

I watched Auntie Celeste as she got up from her seat and left, but not before she ordered a piece of cake to go. Typical.

It was obvious that I needed to talk to Auntie Celeste about this. As much as I loved her, and as much as I appreciated her looking out for me, there were some boundaries that needed to be set, and they needed to be set as soon as possible.

By the time I had gotten back to the castle, it was minutes after four, and the first pony that I ran into (not including the royal guards) was Luna.

“Oh! Good evening, Marcus,” she greeted. “I take it you had a pleasant time at the museum.”

“Eh, yes and no,” I answered. “It’s a long story… well, not really a long story, but a story regardless.”

“So tell.”

Luna and I walked down the halls of the castle as I explained to her what happened with her sister today.

“That sounds like Tia, alright,” she said, more to herself than to me. “She’s done the same thing to me before. It’s her way of showing concern.”

“I know, but It’s making me feel a little uncomfortable, so I’m gonna talk to her about it.”

“Fine, just be careful.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. “Be careful?”

“I tried to do that once when we were younger, and her response was… less than pleasant. I wish you luck, though.”

With that, Luna and I parted ways, and I started to get second thoughts about this. Was it really worth it to talk to Auntie Celeste about this? It’s not like she did anything wrong.

No, no, what I had to say had to be said, or else she won’t stop. If I ended up making her mad, so be it. With my mind set, I walked over to Auntie Celeste’s room and knocked on the door.

“Coming!” she called out from inside. Her voice was followed by the sound of hoofsteps, and then the door opened. “Oh, Marcus!” she said with glee! “You’re back from the museum! How was it?”

“I was fine, Auntie, but there’s something I need to talk to you about,” I tell her bluntly.

She blinked. “Oh… Okay, come on in, sweetie. Make yourself comfortable.”

I opted to take a seat on Celeste’s bed, and I took a deep breath as I want over what I had prepared to say to her.

“So what is it you want to talk to me about?” she asked.

“It’s about today, at the museum,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean when you followed me and my friends around. Just… why?”

Celeste gave me a look, a look that told me that she really didn’t see anything wrong with what she did. “I was just making sure my nephew is safe. Canterlot may not be as big a city as Manehattan, but it can still be dangerous if you’re not careful.”

“Don’t you think you can trust me to look out for myself out there?”

“Well, yes, but I just want to be there for you in case anything happens.”

I let out a sigh. “Auntie Celeste, I’m seventeen. I appreciate the fact that you’re concerned for my safety, but you can trust me to be responsible when I’m on my own.”

She thought about what I said for a moment before speaking. “Okay, you’re right. I should have more trust in you.”

I smiled at her, and she smiled back. What was I worried about? This went better than I expected.

“But…” she said.

“But what?” I asked.

“Since we’re putting everything on the table, there’s been something about you that’s been worrying me,” she explained.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“You seem to want nothing to do with me.”

I look at my aunt incredulously. I wanted nothing to do with her? Just what the hell was she talking about?

“You seem to be embarrassed of me, Marcus. You don’t want to be a prince, you want to keep your adoption a secret, you don’t acknowledge me in public, and you practically ignore me at home.”

Oh man. I didn’t even notice this. Once I heard it, I started to feel guilty.

“All I’m asking for is a little affection from my nephew,” she said. “Is that too much to ask?”

I sigh. “I’m sorry, Auntie. I didn’t mean to make you feel like I was ignoring you. I’ll try to be more sensitive to your feelings.”

“And I’ll try to be more sensitive to yours.”

Man, while this was a touching moment, I couldn’t help but feel like I was in a sappy scene from a poorly written fanfiction.

“So, how about you give me five hugs and three kisses every day while we’re at home, and I won’t try to give you any in public?” Celeste offered.

“You gonna stop following me, too?” I ask.

“Yes…” she conceded.

“Then it’s a deal.”

Auntie Celeste’s face brightened up and she gave me a tight bear hug! “Oh, thanks for being so understanding, Marcus! I’m so glad to have you as a nephew!”

“No problem, Auntie.” I said as I hugged her back, and the poorly written fanfic feeling started to return.

Chapter 4: The Party - Part One [Costume Conundrum]

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Over the next few weeks, I had to keep my promise to Auntie Celeste.

Five hugs.

Three kisses.

Every day.

No excuses.

I wasn’t the only one that had to stick to a difficult routine, though. Luna was struggling to keep up with the diet that her advisor put her on. I decided to check on her this morning before heading off to school.

I knocked on her bedroom door, only to be met with-

“WHAT!?”

I flinched, but I didn’t run away. “It’s Marcus,” I said.

“Oh, come in,” she called.

I slowly opened the door and walked into Luna’s room. The princess was lying on her bed with her face in her pillow.

“You alright in here?” I asked.

The response I got was a loud, frustrated groan. She then sat upright on her bed and looked right at me with bloodshot eyes. Her body was shivering all over, as well.

Was she going through withdrawal?

“I can’t take it anymore, Marcus!” she complained. “I just can’t! I haven’t had a decent meal in weeks, and I’ve lost seven pounds! I tried sneaking some buttered pancakes with syrup yesterday morning, but one of the guards saw me! My advisor’s got the Royal Guard on his side now! It’s like I can’t win!!!”

Yeah, definitely going through withdrawal.

“Why is it that everything that tastes good plasters itself onto my body while everything that’s good for me tastes like swill!?” she rhetorically asked. “I swear, if I don’t have something sweet to eat, I’m going to explode!”

I needed to do something before she did something drastic.

That’s when I remembered; I had packed an extra snack to eat later today. It looked like Luna needed it a lot more than me. Besides, if I ever got hungry, I could just buy something from the student lounge at CUFTA.

I took the paper bag containing the snack out of my bag and tossed it to Luna. She instinctively caught it with her magic and looked at me with a questioning look.

“It’s a blueberry muffin,” I told her. “You’d better eat it fast before a guard catches you again.”

Luna smiled at me gratefully. “Thank you, Marcus,” she said with a smile.

“Don’t mention it,” I said as I left her to enjoy her muffin. I made my way to the castle’s exit, but before I could leave, Auntie Celeste stopped me.

“Aren’t you forgetting something, nephew?” she asked, reaching her arms out for emphasis.

I rolled my eyes and gave her the hug she was asking for, and after that I gave her a kiss.

“One hug and one kiss down, four hugs and two kisses to go,” I thought.

I said goodbye to my aunt and caught a cab to school, when I got there, I looked at my watch.

Eleven-seventeen AM, Thursday, October 7th.

I had a decent amount of time before my first class, Color Theory, which was a class that I shared with Rarity. I was carrying my portfolio, which held the project that was due today. As I walked to class, the white-coated unicorn caught up with me.

“Good morning, Marcus!” she greeted.

“Morning Rarity,” I greeted back.

“Do you have your project done?”

“You know me. I always get my projects done on time.”

“What about that one time when-”

“LALALALALALALALALA!”

The mare shot me a look. “Very mature, Mr. Cortez. Anyway, what color scheme did you decide to for your project?”

“I decided to use warm colors. Red, orange, colors like that.”

“Interesting. I chose cool colors. Blue, purple, and the like.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And how is that interesting?”

“Well, you chose warm colors to match your warm personality, while I chose cool colors to match my calm personality.”

I scoffed at Rarity. “Calm? Weren’t you the same mare that freaked out when you thought that your assignment for your Design 101 class would be late?”

Rarity grunted and turned her head away from me, sticking her nose in the air. “I remember no such event.”

“Sure you don’t.”

“However, speaking of design, have you heard about the Pre-Nightmare Night party?”

I shook my head.

“Well, Octavia told me that every year, in the middle of October, the school would hold a Pre-Nightmare Night party. It gave students the opportunity to show off their costumes and survey the competition for the real Nightmare Night, when the school-wide costume contest will be held. While I won’t be entering, I think it’d be a good opportunity to practice my craft.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” I told her. “I’ll ask my aunt if I can go.”

“If you want, Marcus, I could design a costume for you,” Rarity offered.

“You’d do that for me?” I asked.

“Sure, darling! I’m already doing Octavia’s costume and mine as well. Making another one won’t be too much of a hassle. Just let me know what costume you want whenever you make a decision.”

“You sure?”

“You doubt my abilities, Marcus. I once designed dresses for five close friends of mine back home in Ponyville, so two Nightmare Night costumes will be no problem.”

I chuckled. “You’re ambitious. I’ll give you that.”

“You know me.”

We both made it to class and turned in our projects. Afterward, Rarity and I walked back to her and Octavia’s room. “Hey, Octavia!” we say to her as we walked in.

“AGH!” the earth mare said in surprise. We caught her in the middle of practicing her cello.

She tended to go into her own little world whenever she played.

“Oh, it’s you two,” she said with a sigh of relief.

“Who were you expecting?” I asked.

“Nopony in particular,” she answered. “I guess I’m a little jumpy with Nightmare night coming up, and all. Speaking of which, did you hear about the party?”

“I just told him this morning!” Rarity chimed in excitedly. “I, for one, can’t wait. This will be the first college party I’ll have ever attended.”

“Mine, too,” I said.

Octavia shuffled in her seat. “It will be my first college party, as well.”

Rarity and I looked at her incredulously. “Hold up, you’re a third-year student, and you haven’t been to one party here?”

The earth mare shook her head.

“My old roommate went to every party, but she would always be the DJ, so I would have been by myself. I didn’t really have any other friends to go with,” Octavia lamented, but then she looked at me and Rarity with a smile, “but this year is different since I have you two. I might even go into the haunted house, provided that you two go with me, of course.”

It was then that Rarity started to nervously shuffle. “Well, I’m not one for haunted houses, Octavia…”

I shrugged my shoulders and said “I’ll go with you.”

Octavia sighed with relief. “For a moment, I thought that I would have to go by myself. Thank Celestia.”

I almost instinctively looked behind me, but I reminded myself that it was just an expression.

Why do ponies say that anyway?

“Well, I’m heading home,” I said. “I’ll catch you guys later.” Before I left the room, I looked back at Rarity and told her “I’ll let you know what costume I want.”

“Let me know soon, darling.” she said. “The party is next Saturday.”

“I will,” I assured her as I left the room.

As I rode the taxi back to the castle, I thought about what I wanted to be for the party.

“A vampire? That’s been done to death. A superhero? No, that’s just as bad. A Wonderbolt? Nah. Everypony and their mother is gonna be a Wonderbolt. Man, this is gonna be harder than I thought.”

I’d have to put more thought into this.

When I got back to the castle, I had the misfortune of running into Blueblood.

“So the freeloader returns from school,” he sneered.

“You ask Celeste for money every other day, and I’m a freeloader?” I snapped back.

“Ugh, I absolutely despise that little nickname you have for Aunt Celestia,” he said. “Only a fool would come up with a name like that.”

“She came up with that name,” I told him with a matter-of-fact tone. I had just about enough of Blueblood for the day, so I decided to just leave, but not before I told him one last thing.

“As much as I’d like to continue this conversation, Blue Balls, I have to leave,” I said, “but before I go, there’s something on your face that looks like a pimple.”

The stallion’s eyes widened and he looked for the nearest reflective surface to check his face in. “There’s a blemish on my face!? Where!?” he asked in a panic.

“Oh wait; now that I get a closer look, it’s not a pimple. It’s just your face,” I snicker before leaving.

Not one of my best insults, but it was something.

I decided that my next destination would be Auntie Celeste’s room. I still had to ask if I could go to the Pre-Nightmare Night party, and I still had to give her four hugs and three kisses.

As much as it killed me to stick to this promise, it was better than having her embarrass me in public.

On my way to Celeste’s room, I ran into Luna, who looked much better than she did this morning.

“Good afternoon, Marcus,” she said. “How are you?”

“Fine, I was just going to see your sister. I have to ask her if I can go to a Pre-Nightmare Night party that my school is having.”

Luna’s face brightened up when she heard this. “Is it not too late to apply to your school?” she asked, and I chuckled in response. “It’s nice to see a pre-celebration of my favorite holiday. Have you decided what you’re going to be, yet?”

“No,” I groaned. “I’ll figure it out eventually, though.”

Luna and I eventually reached Celeste’s room, and I knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” she called from inside.

“Marcus and Luna,” I answer,

“Oh! Come in!” she responded happily.

As soon as I walked in, I was assaulted by my aunt via bear hug, which squeezed the wind out of me.

For a dainty princess, she had the arm strength of a goddamn stallion.

Oh, well. At least I got another hug out of the way.

“So, how’s my favorite nephew?” she asked.

“Don’t let Blueblood hear you,” Luna snickered.

“I’m fine,” I tell her. “There’s something I want to ask you, though.”

“Okay, what is it?”

“Well, my school is having a Pre-Nightmare Night party next Saturday, and I was wondering if I could go.”

My aunt paused for a moment and thought about it. That was not a good sign, especially when you take the expression on her face into account.

She looked like she didn’t like the idea.

“I don’t really like that idea, Marcus.”

Called it. Fucking CALLED it.

“What do you mean?” I ask, hoping to at least get a reason.

“I’ve seen how bad college parties can get,” she told me. “Kids get crazy with the alcohol, and college students like to play a lot of harmful pranks this time of year. I don’t want you around any of that.”

“Alcohol?” I ask. “I’m not even of age!”

“In Equestria, the legal drinking age is seventeen,” Luna chimed in.

Way to help out.

“Come on, Auntie,” I pleaded. “You know me better than that. Plus, I’ll be with my friends, so it’s not like I’ll get attacked or anything.”

“Not that it’s my place to say,” Luna interjected again, “but I think you should show Marcus some more trust, Celestia. He’s a responsible young man, and I don’t think that anything bad will happen to him.”

Now that’s more like it.

“This isn’t a matter of me not trusting him, Luna,” Celeste countered. “It’s a matter of me wanting to keep him safe.” She then looked at me. “Marcus, I promised your parents that I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you, and I intend to keep that promise.”

“Auntie, I’ll be fine, nothing will-”

“I said no, Marcus,” she interrupted with a stern voice.

I stood there silently and considered saying something to convince her, but I simply decided to give up. “Fine,” I said with a hint of bitterness as I leave the room. When I closed the door behind me and started to walk away, I heard Luna and Auntie Celeste talking. I moved closer to the door so I could hear them.

“Was that really necessary, Tia?”

“What are you insinuating?”

“Nothing, I just think that you aren’t giving Marcus enough credit. I’m sure he knows how to conduct himself. I understand your concern regarding the fact that it’s a college party, but this is an art school in Canterlot, not a community college in Las Pegasus.”

“I can’t take any chances. I have to protect him.”

“This is starting to seem less like wanting to protect him, and more like not wanting to let him go. When Marcus’s parents let him come here to study, I doubt they wanted him to stay locked up in a castle all the time.”

“Thank you for your input, Luna, but I’ve made my decision, and it’s final. Marcus is not going to that party.”

I quietly sighed in disappointment. At least it was reassuring to know that there was somepony on my side. I can’t say Luna didn’t try.

I dejectedly walked back to my room and jumped on my bed. My first opportunity to experience a college party, and I couldn’t’ go.

I was upset.

I was frustrated.

I was pissed!

BEYOND pissed!

Why the hell couldn’t I go? What was Auntie Celeste so afraid of? That was the most bullshit explanation I had ever gotten! There was no reason for me not to go to that party!

That was it.

I couldn’t let this stop me. I HAD to go to that party, even if I had to sneak out.

The question was, how was I gonna pull that off?

Just then, I heard a knock on my door, followed by a voice. “Marcus? Are you in there?” the voice said. “It’s Luna. May I come in?”

While I really wasn’t in the mood to talk, I decided to let Luna in anyway. “Are you okay, Marcus?” she asked me.

“No,” I said bluntly. “I just don’t understand why your sister has to treat me like a friggin’ baby!”

“I don’t understand it either. I tried to convince Celestia to let you go, but she wouldn’t be swayed.”

“I figured as much,” I said. “Which is why I’ve decided to-”

“Sneak out?” she interrupted.

“Exactly.”

“That will never work, you know.” Luna told me. “At least, not without some help.”

I looked at her with widened eyes. “You’re gonna help me?” I asked.

“Of course,” she answered. “I practically owe you for this morning. That blueberry muffin really hit the spot. What’s the saying for that? You scratch my back, I scratch yours?”

I couldn’t believe it. All I did was help Luna break her diet, and she’s repaying me by helping me sneak out to go to a party!

Wait, why the hell do I care?

“Okay, I’m in!” I say enthusiastically.

“Perfect,” she said. I’ll come up with a plan and let you know about it tomorrow. In the meantime, you just relax. I’ll take care of everything.

“Thanks, Luna. This means a lot.”

The princess looked at me with a smile. “You’re welcome, Marcus,” she said as she left my room.

Just then, my phone chimed. I had received a text message from someone. After checking my phone I saw that the message was from Rarity.

‘How did things go with your aunt?’ the text read.

‘Perfectly,’ I responded. ‘You’ll see me at the party next Saturday. Oh, and I’ve decided on a costume.’

‘What is it?’ she asked.

I smirked as I typed ‘I’m gonna be a timberwolf.’

Chapter 5: The Party - Part Two [Fun at the Festival]

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Over the next week, I was pumped. I was about to go to my first college party! Granted, I was going to sneak out behind my aunt’s back to get to that party, but the end justifies the means, right?

Besides, what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.

The day after Luna offered to help me, she told me her plan. Apparently, she had her sister’s daily schedule memorized to the second. At eight PM on Saturdays, she would have a meeting with the leaders of the Royal Guard. That was our window of opportunity. While Auntie Celeste would be in her meeting, Luna would fly me to the party herself. Once I was there, she would then cover for me back at the castle. How she would do that, I had no clue, but I trusted her enough to get the job done.

As far as Rarity and Octavia were concerned, I had gotten permission from my aunt to go to the party, while it hurt to lie to my friends like that, it was for the best.

Again, what they don’t know won’t hurt ‘em.

All week, I kept asking them what they were going to be for the party, but whenever I brought up the subject to either of them, the conversation would follow the same pattern.

“So what are you gonna be?” I’d ask.

“You’ll find out on Saturday night,” they’d answer.

“Come on, you can tell me.”

“No.”

Eventually, I decided to just drop the subject and just wait until the party to find out.

Finally, the big night came, and I was more ready than ever. Two days before, Rarity got my timberwolf costume done, and after having to try it on to see if it fit, I snuck it home in my backpack.

I couldn’t risk Auntie Celeste getting suspicious.

I slipped on the costume and waited for Luna to-

*KNOCK KNOCK*

Right on schedule.

“Who is it?” I asked, just to make sure it wasn’t somepony else.

“It’s Luna,” said the pony on the other side.

“Come in,” I tell her.

Luna let herself into my room and chuckled when she saw me. “Impressive costume,” she said. “Did you design it yourself, or is it store-bought?”

“Neither. A friend designed it for me.” I picked up the mask that came with the costume, put it on, and then I growled at Luna.

“Oh, no! A timberwolf! Somepony, please help me!” she cried overdramatically.

We both shared a short laugh at that.

“In all seriousness, though, we should depart while the opportunity is upon us.” Luna lit up her horn and I was surrounded by a blue aura. “With the spell I just cast on you, you’ll be able to fly alongside me as we make our way to the party.”

“Sweet,” I said. “Well, I’ve got everything I need, so let’s get going.”

Luna smiled and opened my bedroom window. She then flew out of it while the spell she cast on me lifted me up and carried me out behind her. Once we were both outside, she closed the window and took off towards the school with me in tow.

I’ll be honest, I was a little scared at first, but as we flew over Canterlot, Luna looked back at me with a reassuring smile.

I don’t know how or why, but seeing Luna’s smile gave me peace of mind.

It took about five minutes for us to get to the school, and we were surprised to see how decked out it was. The buildings were decorated to look like ghosts were flying around them.

Those visual effects majors don’t fuck around.

The fields of the campus were lined with different booths, some for games, others for snacks, and even a few for kissing. Luna and I landed near the school’s main entrance, and we said our goodbyes.

“Thanks again for helping me sneak out,” I told her.

“It was my pleasure,” she said with a smile. “Now go have fun, and I’ll make sure Celestia doesn’t find out that you left.”

“Sure,” I said, and Luna took off in the direction of the castle.

“Okay, Rarity and Octavia told me to meet them outside their room,” I thought, “so I shouldn’t keep them waiting for long.”

When I made my way to the girls’ dorm room, I was surprised to see their costumes.

Rarity was wearing a short-haired blonde wig, and her tail was dyed brown to match. She also wore brown contacts. Her torso was adorned with a grey long-sleeved sweater that had the British flag on it, along with a black skirt.

As for Octavia, her costume was more elaborate. She was wearing a black suit with a red cape over it, along with a white mask that covered the upper left corner of her face.

“Hello, Marcus!” Rarity said happily. “You’re still looking quite handsome in your costume.”

“Of course you’d say that, considering you made this costume,” I said, and then I took a good look at Rarity and Octavia’s costumes. “Okay, I can tell that ‘Tavi is the Phantom of the Opera, but I’m drawing a blank on your costume, Rarity.”

“Why, can you not tell?” she asked. “I’m Audrey Hepburn.”

Wait a minute… didn’t I mentally compare Rarity to Audrey Hepburn once? How did she know?

“I’ve been watching a lot of old human films lately, and I took a shine to Audrey,” she explained. “She’s probably my favorite human actress now. Granted, this costume isn’t as flamboyant as my usual Nightmare Night designs, but I decided to go for the ‘simple is better’ approach.”

“Well, now that we’re all here, let’s go out and enjoy the festivities!” Octavia said, not even trying to hide her excitement. I had never seen her like that before. I guess she must be pretty stoked that she was finally attending a college party.

Who was I to deny her that happiness?

The three of us got some treat bags, left the dorm, and headed outside, where there was a plethora of booths waiting for us. We wandered through the different booths to see what they had to offer.

“Why don’t we get some snacks?” Rarity suggested.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Octavia said. “I am feeling rather peckish.”

“Did somepony say peckish?” a mare said from a nearby booth. We recognized her as one of the star students among the culinary arts majors. She was wearing a zombie chef costume, and she was holding out a plate full of delicious snacks.

“Take as many as you want,” she said. “They’re on the house for the next fifteen minutes!”

“Really? Thanks!” I said as Rarity, Octavia, and I took some snacks off the plate and put them in our treat bags and left. As we continued to walk around, I turned to Octavia and asked “So, where’s this haunted house at, ‘Tavi?”

“Towards the east entrance of the campus,” she answered, and she guided me and Rarity to the house. “I heard that the Performing Arts majors tried everything they could to make it as scary as possible.”

“I still find it hard to believe that you’re the type of pony that would enjoy a good scare,” I told her.

“Well, it helps when someone is there with you.

Octavia looked a little embarrassed after saying that.

That’s probably just me reading into it too much.

“Here we are,” Octavia said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Um… I’ll wait for you two on the other side…” Rarity said apprehensively.

“You still don’t want to go?” I asked her.

“Don’t worry about it, Marcus,” Octavia said. “If she doesn’t want to go, she doesn’t want to go. We don’t need to force her.”

The unicorn smiled and thanked Octavia. “You two go on ahead. Like I said, I’ll be waiting on the other side.”

With that, I was practically dragged to the haunted house’s entrance. Before we went in, though, I took the opportunity to ease Octavia of any fear that she had.

“Don’t worry if you get scared,” I told her. “You’ve got a ferocious timberwolf protecting you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said with a giggle.

I couldn’t help but smile at that. Lately I’ve noticed that ‘Tavi had a cute giggle, one that was contagious as well.

The moment we walked into the house, though, two students dressed as a manticore jumped out and roared at us, causing me to scream loudly. Octavia looked at me with a disappointed expression.

“Oh yeah, you are quite the ferocious beast, Marcus,” she muttered.

And there went my pride…

Octavia and I continued our way through the haunted house, with me making sure to stay behind her.

Don’t judge me. Those Performing Arts students don’t play.

We made it to a dark, dimly lit hallway of wire fences. Behind the fences were students dressed as zombies, and they kept trying to grab at whoever passed by reaching their arms through the holes of the fences. While Octavia was naturally a little frightened, I was scared out of my fucking mind! I mean, I knew that this wasn’t real, but I was too distracted by my fear to think about that.

It was then that I realized that staying behind Octavia was a bad idea. Since the hallway was so narrow, I couldn’t walk around her and make a mad dash for the exit, and Octavia opted to take her sweet time walking down the hall.

“Come on, ‘Tavi,” I urged. “Can you pick up the pace a little?”

“Why? Are you scared?” she teased, and then she stopped dead in her tracks, keeping me from moving forward.

“No, I just don’t want to keep Rarity waiting, is all.”

“Ha! You expect me to believe that?”

“What do you want from me!?”

“Just admit that you’re scared and we can leave,” she offered.

Is she crazy? There’s no way that I was gonna admit that to her, no matter how scared I was! Just then, however, somepony reached out through one of the holes in the fence and grabbed my arm.

“AAAAAAAAAGH!!!!” I screamed. “OKAY! I’M SCARED! FUCK, I’M TERRIFIED! JUST GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!!!!”

Octavia turned back and smiled at me. “You just said the magic words.” She grabbed my wrist and rushed out of the hallway with me in tow, and we made it out of the haunted house.

I was practically out of breath by the time we made it out, and I heard Octavia laughing as I tried to get myself together. “That was not cool,” I said to her.

“On the contrary, I found that to be rather enjoyable,” she struggled to say in-between fits of laughter.

I glared at the mare. “You have a sick sense of humor.”

“I suppose so. In all seriousness, however, I’m glad that you decided to accompany me,” she said.

“Why do I get the feeling that you just wanted to torture me?”

“You really think that I’m that cruel.”

I let out an exasperated sigh. “I guess not,” I admitted. “Wait a sec, where’s Rarity?”

“Here I am!” the unicorn said, as if on cue. She was running towards me and Octavia with a small box in her hand.

“What’cha got there?” I asked.

“Well, while you and Octavia were in the haunted house, I made a quick trip to one of the souvenir booths and picked up a little something for you.” Rarity handed the box to me, and I looked at it with curiosity.

“What is it supposed to be?” I asked.

“It’s a Blind Box,” she explained. “Inside each one is a random trinket of some kind, but you never know what you’ll get.”

“Really? Cool!” I took the box from Rarity and opened it, anxious to see what was inside. It turned out to be a metal wristband with the words “CUFTA Pre-Nightmare Night Festival” engraved into it. “Where did you get this?” I asked.

“From that booth over there,” Rarity answered, pointing in the booth’s direction.

I’ll have to remember to make a stop at that booth later and get another Blind Box.

Several hours later, at around quarter to eleven, Rarity, Octavia, and I went to the back end of the campus for a little bit of peace and quiet. The three of us lied on the grass as we looked up at the stars. Luna really went all out tonight, because the sky looked especially beautiful tonight. It sucked that she couldn’t come to the party with me, but she had her duties as a princess to attend to.

Not to mention the fact that she was covering for me.

“Man, this was probably the best party I’ve ever been to,” I said to no one in particular.

“Mm-hm…” Octavia and Rarity absentmindedly agreed.

“I’m glad I’m here with you guys, too,” I told them. “It made the experiences that much more fun.”

“Even the haunted house?” Octavia asked with a smirk.

“Yes, even the haunted house,” I admitted. In retrospect, while I was really scared, the haunted house was actually pretty damn fun.

The three of us got up off the grass, and I looked at Rarity and Octavia, who were both giving me warm smiles. I chuckled and said “Man, I definitely don’t want this night to end.”

“Too bad.”

My blood froze when I heard those words, not because of the words themselves, but because of who said them. I then heard the sound of hooves stomping on grass, and I turned around and became horrified at what I saw.

Standing right in front of me was my Auntie Celeste with a furious look on her face.

“For you, this night ends now,” she declared with finality.

“P-Princess Celestia!?” Rarity said in shock. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I came here to pick up my nephew,” she told the two mares. “Apparently he thought that he could get away with sneaking out when I specifically told him not to go to this party.”

“Marcus, she can’t be talking about you, can she?” Rarity asked. “Because that would mean-”

“That I’m his aunt,” Celeste finished for her.

Both Rarity and Octavia were taken aback by the sudden revelation, and they simply couldn’t believe it. “Is that true Marcus?” the earth mare asked.

All I could do was nod my head in silence.

“So you haven’t told them about me, hmm?” Celeste asked. “Looks like I’m not the only one you’ve lied to.”

Damn, as if I didn’t feel bad enough.

“Auntie, I can explain-”

“I don’t want to hear it!” she interrupted sternly, which made me, Rarity and Octavia flinch out of fear.

“Let’s go, Marcus,” she said, turning her back towards me. “You are in SO much trouble.”

Chapter 6: Severe Repercussions

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Auntie Celeste and I walked to her carriage, which was parked near the back of the school, which was where I was when she caught me.

Coincidence is a bitch.

I didn’t say, or rather, I wasn’t able to say another word to Rarity or Octavia before Celeste left with me in tow. Once we got to the carriage, she made me go in before her, and I sat down without saying a word.

The ride to the castle was dead silent. I tried not to look at Auntie Celeste for the whole trip, but I could feel her gaze piercing through me, and it made me shift in my seat uncomfortably. I dared to look up at her for just a second, but I looked back down when I saw the expression of sheer anger on her face.

I was SO gonna get it.

When we got back to the castle, the guards stepped back and let us in. I saw the looks of fear on their faces. They didn’t say a word as Celeste and I entered the castle. She walked in front of me, and I knew that I was to follow her, wherever she was taking me.

It turned out that she was taking me to her room. She opened the door with her magic and looked at me.

“In,” she said coldly.

I nervously walked into the room and took a seat in a nearby chair. I looked to my left, and saw that the fireplace was lit. The dim lighting from the fire made the atmosphere more tense and scary than it already had been.

Celeste walked over to the fireplace and stared into it for a moment. This was my chance to get myself together. I may be scared, but I can at least stand my ground. Despite the fact that I did break her trust, and while I was ready to take any punishment that I was going to get, I still believed that I was in the right. I still believed that she should’ve let me go to that party in the first place.

I steeled myself and prepared for my tongue lashing.

“I cannot believe that you deliberately disobeyed me, Marcus” Celeste said, her back still turned towards me. “I thought you knew better than that… To go behind my back like this… I’m incredibly disappointed.”

I said nothing.

“And to think that Luna helped you, too,” she continued. “All this effort just to go some ridiculous party.” Auntie Celeste then turned to face me for the first time since we got home. “So what do you have to say for yourself?”

I already knew the responses she expected.

“I’m sorry.”

“I shouldn’t have done that.”

“I’ll never do it again.”

She wasn’t getting any of that from me.

“I don’t have anything to say,” I told her calmly.

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Nothing at all, huh? So you’re not even the least bit sorry for breaking my trust and going to that party?”

“I never said that I wasn't sorry for breaking your trust,” I explained, “but I’m not sorry for going to the party.”

“And why is that?” Celeste asked. I could feel her frustration rising with every word.

I took a deep breath and stood up, looking her dead in the face. “Because I should’ve been allowed to go in the first place.” I then proceeded to explain myself to her in the calmest way possible.

“Auntie Celeste, I’m seventeen years old. I know how to act at a party. I don’t go to parties to smoke and drink alcohol. I go to parties so I can spend time with my friends. It’s like you don’t trust me to take care of myself.”

“I told you before that that wasn’t the case.”

“Then what IS the case!?” I ask agitatedly, forgetting to-

“Watch your tone with me, Marcus!” Celeste said threateningly.

I took a moment to compose myself before speaking, but then she continued.

“You think you’re grown, but you’re not! I’ve lived several of your lifetimes and I’ve seen things that you’ve never seen. I know what’s out there, and I know what’s best for you. When I tell you that you can’t go somewhere, it’s because I’m trying to protect you!”

You know what? Fuck it. I needed to speak my mind.

“Protect me from what!?” I ask angrily. “It was a friggin’ college party!”

“I told you to watch your tone with me, Marcus. And I don’t appreciate that language, either.”

“Well, if you just let me go to the party instead of locking me up in the castle all night and treating me like a damn baby, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation!”

It was then that I felt it. You could call it guy’s intuition, or some sort of sixth sense, but whatever it was, it didn’t change the fact that I sensed it.

Celeste’s last nerve had snapped.

“Alright… that is IT!!!” she yelled, her voice causing the room to shake. Her horn lit up and emitted a shockwave that almost knocked me over, and the flames in the fireplace flared up violently. When I recovered, though, I looked up and saw that Celeste was airborne, staring down at me with glowing white eyes.

“I’VE HAD JUST ABOUT ENOUGH OF THIS!” she yelled in a voice I’ve never heard before. It sounded like her normal voice on top of a deeper, more distorted voice.

“I AM YOUR AUNT AND YOU WILL SHOW ME RESPECT! YOU THINK YOU’RE BEING LOCKED UP IN THE CASTLE, WELL I’LL SHOW YOU WHAT THAT’S REALLY LIKE! I’M KEEPING YOU UNDER LOCK AND KEY FOR THE NEXT MONTH! YOU’RE GOING TO COME STRAIGHT HOME AFTER CLASS EVERY DAY, AND YOU AREN’T TO STEP FOOT OUT OF THIS CASTLE FOR ANY OTHER REASON! STEP OUT OF LINE EVEN ONCE, AND I’LL KNOW!”

I opened my mouth in a pathetic attempt to object, but I was quickly interrupted.

“DON’T EVEN TRY TO SAY ANYTHING! YOU’RE LUCKY THAT I WAS GENEROUS ENOUGH TO GIVE YOU A MONTH AND NOT A YEAR. NOW GO TO YOUR ROOM, ORION!!!”

I blinked. “What did you call me?” I asked in confusion.

Realizing what she had just said, Celeste snapped out of her goddess-like rage trance and lowered herself to the floor slowly. She had a look of… fear? Hesitation? Uncertainty? The look was hard to read, but I could tell that something was on her mind. However, she simply shook it off and turned her back to me. “Just go to your room,” she said coldly.

Knowing that there was nothing more I could do, I left her room and slowly walked towards mine. As I walked, I noticed some of the guards looking at me fearfully. They must have heard when Celeste was screaming at me. Their constant stares quickly started to annoy me. “WHAT!?” I yelled, and they quickly looked away. I grunted and continued on to my room, which was now guarded, and slammed the door behind me once I entered. After changing into my sleeping clothes, I angrily got into my bed.

This was such BULLSHIT! Why did Celeste have to treat me like such a little kid!? I tried to wrap my head around why she would do that, but it only made me angrier!

But then I remembered the last thing she said when she was yelling at me. She called me by a name I’d never heard before. What was it… Orion?

Just then, I heard two thudding sounds from just outside my room. “What the hell was that?” I thought as I walked to the double doors. Before I got to it, though, the doors opened on their own, then closed two seconds later.

“What the-”

“Relax. It’s just me,” a voice said.

“Luna?”

“Who else,” she said as she suddenly appeared right in front of me. “I had to use an invisibility spell to get here undetected.”

“And I’m assuming those loud thuds were the guards falling to the ground.”

“Quite perceptive, aren’t you?”

“You didn’t knock them out, did you?” I asked worriedly.

Luna scoffed. “I would never take such barbaric measures,” she said defensively. “Not anymore, at least. I simply lulled them to sleep with a spell.”

“Why go through all this trouble just to see me?” I asked.

“Why do you think?” she answered with an incredulous look. “Celestia, of course. I got quite the reprimanding from her when she found out that I helped you sneak out, and she told me to stay away from you while you’re grounded. She said that I was being a ‘bad influence’ on you.”

“I guess we both got busted, huh?” I sighed.

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to keep Tia from finding out,” Luna apologized. “She would have been completely in the dark had it not been for one minor oversight.”

“It’s okay,” I assured her. “Wait a sec… What minor oversight?”

Luna put her fingers to her forehead and sighed. “Blueblood. He saw us leave the castle from his room.”

I twitched the moment I heard his name. That stuck-up little prick snitched on me! I would have to teach him a lesson later.

You know what they say: snitches get stitches.

“I can’t believe it!” I exclaim, trying not to be too loud. “This plan would have gone without a hitch if that jackass hadn’t gotten in the way! Now the both of us are in trouble.”

“Yes, but you more so than me,” Luna lamented. “I could hear Tia using the Royal Canterlot Voice on you. You weren’t too scared were you?”

“I didn’t cry, if that’s what you meant.”

“That’s rare. Most ponies end up drowning in a pool of their own tears when Celestia uses the Voice on them. Then again, the instance of her using the Voice at all is rare in and of itself.”

“Did she use the Voice on you when she found you out,” I asked.

Luna shook her head. “No. What had happened was… You know what? Why don’t I just show you?”

“You can do that?”

“Sure. Just hold still,” Luna said as she took her hands and held my shoulders to keep me from moving. She then focused some magic into her horn and rested it on my forehead. The next thing I felt was my mind going blank; as if every thought was being washed away to make room for what was to come. Before I knew it, I was standing in Luna’s room, watching her being confronted by Auntie Celeste.

“Luna,” she said to her little sister, “where is Marcus?”

“In his room, sleeping, like I told you the last time you asked,” Luna answered sarcastically.

“That’s interesting,” the older princess said, “because Blueblood told me that he saw Marcus flying out of his bedroom window towards the school.”

“You do realize how ridiculous that sounds, right?”

“Of course, but then Blueblood mentioned that you were flying with him, and that you were using a spell to carry him with you. Sounds a lot less ridiculous, doesn’t it?”

“That may be so, but you’re forgetting that you saw Marcus in his room sleeping not ten minutes ago. I was there with you when you checked.”

“I know, but after Blueblood told me what he saw, I checked again and saw that it wasn’t Marcus sleeping in his bed, but a mere illusion spell meant to fool me.”

Luna cursed under her breath at the realization that she had been found out.

“You’d think that I could trust my sister not to go behind my back,” said Celeste.

“What was I supposed to do?” Luna asked.

“Mind your own business, for one,” her elder sister retorted. “Raising Marcus is my responsibility, and my word is final. I don’t need you being a bad influence on him.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Raise him? He’s seventeen! He’ll be grown in less than a year. If anything, you’re merely taking care of him.”

“Regardless of his age, I’m still his aunt, and he needs to get over his problem with authority.”

Luna scoffed. “If there’s anyone with a problem that they need to get over, it’s you. You keep treating him like a baby when he’s almost an adult. Did it ever occur to you that the more you try, the more you’ll push him away?”

“Luna, I’m warning you, don’t push me!” Celeste threatened. “I don’t want you near Marcus for a month, got it?”

“See? This is exactly what I’m talking about. You have this incessant need to control everything. Mark my words, Marcus will end up wanting nothing to do with you.”

“That’s enough Luna!” Celeste warned. “Drop it or I’ll-”

“You’ll what? Use the Royal Canterlot Voice on me? We both know you can’t bring yourself to do that to your own sister.”

Celeste hesitated when she heard Luna say that, because she knew she was right. The elder princess merely grunted and left her sister’s room, and the memory started to fade as my mind came back to reality.

“Phew!” I said in exhaustion. “That was… something.”

“It is quite the trip the first time around,” Luna said. “Well, there you have it. That’s the lecture I got.”

“Lecture? More like an argument,” I chuckled.

“Oh hush, you,” she said as she playfully shoved me, and then she put her arm around my shoulder. “Again, I’m sorry you had to get in trouble. If it’s any consolation, I don’t think you did anything wrong. If it were up to me, you would still be at that party right now.”

“Thanks, Luna,” I said, and then I remembered something. “Oh, before you go, I’ve got something for you.”

“A present? For moi?” she asked coyly.

I chuckled and reached for my bag. I dug around a little and found what I was looking for. “Here ya go,” I said as I presented the gift to Luna.

“Ah, so this is one of those Blind Boxes I’ve been hearing so much about,” she said as she took the gift. “I wonder what little trinket is inside…”

Luna fidgeted with the box a little before getting it open, and she gasped at what was inside. I curiously peered into the box and saw that it contained a necklace with a hooded unicorn emblem engraved into it. The back said “CUFTA Pre-Nightmare Night Festival.”

“Thank you, Marcus!” she said excitedly. “This is beautiful!”

“I guess I got lucky,” I said. “You never know what you’ll get in those things. Anywho, I’ve got something else for you.”

“You shouldn’t have,” she joked.

I rolled my eyes as I pulled out a plastic bag. “Here, I got some treats for you at the festival.”

“How sweet!” she said, chuckling to herself at her pun

“Well, I won’t be able to go out on the actual Nightmare Night, and I wouldn’t want you to gobble me up.”

Luna chuckled again, only this time it was more sinister. “Well unfortunately for you, child, this meager amount treats isn’t sufficient enough to satisfy me. Looks like I will have to eat you anyway!” The princess then tackled me, and I fell backwards onto the bed. I tried pushing her off of me, and succeeded after a few minutes. While I knew that Luna was obviously holding back her strength, I still felt a sense of victory when I got her off of me.

“I should be leaving, now,” she said. “Those guards might be waking up soon.”

“Hold on, Luna,” I said. “There’s one thing that I need to ask you before you leave.”

“Yes?”

“Does the name Orion mean anything to you?” I asked.

Luna looked at me with a sad expression and shook her head “No, I don’t recognize the name.”

“Oh, okay,” I said.

Luna smiled, said goodbye, cast her invisibility spell, and left the room. I sighed and went to bed. It was minutes after midnight, and I needed some sleep.

Then again, considering the fact that I won't be able to leave the castle for any reason besides school, I’ll most likely be getting a lot of sleep.

Chapter 7: Benefits and Apologies

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It was Sunday night. The first day of my grounding had come to an end, and in retrospect… it wasn’t that bad. I mean, sure I couldn’t go anywhere, and I was still pissed about that. Plus there was the fact that I couldn’t be around Luna since she was a “bad influence” on me.

Oh, and there was the fact that I had two guards assigned by Auntie Celeste to follow my every move. They would wait by the door whenever I was in my room or in one of the castle bathrooms, and if I happened to see Luna around, they would direct me away from her, but I digress.

On top of that, I still didn’t know who this “Orion” guy was.

ANYWAY!

The point I’m trying to make is that there were a few benefits that came with being grounded.

Benefit #1: I don’t have Celeste on my back.

I know that sounds weird when you first hear it, but bear with me here. Celeste had two of her most trusted guards tailing me, and with them watching me, she didn’t feel the need to breathe down my neck like she usually did.

Benefit #2: No more hugs and kisses.

Needless to say, there’s been a lot of tension between me and Celeste since last night’s… altercation. Because of that, she didn’t make an effort to see me. Usually, she’d bother me to give her a hug, a kiss, or both, so I could meet my quota of five hugs and three kisses every day. Now that I’m grounded, though, I haven’t heard shit from her.

I assumed that she saw it as a punishment, but if you ask me, it was more like a reward. If I had to suffer through another one of Celeste’s vicegrip hugs, I was gonna kill somepony.

Benefit #3: I have more time to myself.

I’ve never had more time on my hands. All day I’ve been drawing away and working on school projects. I was pretty much caught up by the time noon rolled around.

Man, if Celeste thought that this “grounding” was gonna break me, she had another thing coming.

That night, as I was about to go to bed, I heard something peculiar, as though someone was trying to contact me. What made it even more peculiar was that I could’ve sworn that the sound was coming from inside my head.

“Hello… Marcus?”

I ignored the voice and got into my bed, but then I heard the voice.

“Hellooooooooooooooooooo? Testing, testing, one, two, three. Testing, testing, testing testing testing testing testing testing testing…”

That voice sounded familiar…

“Luna?” I thought.

“Finally, a response!” I hear.

“Why the hell is your voice in my head?”

“I’ve spent all day working on a telepathy spell so that we can stay in contact without having to be face-to-face. Now that I’ve established a psychic connection with you, we can mentally contact each other whenever we want!”

“You ever heard of texting?”

“You know I’m a total neophyte when it comes to modern technology. Well... besides video games. Regardless, isn’t this a lot colder?”

“A lot cooler, you mean.”

“You know, I was expecting a better response. Something along the lines of ‘Wow, Luna! What an ingenious plan!’”

“Sorry to disappoint you. In all honesty, though, this was pretty clever.”

“Thank you. So, how has your grounding been so far?”

“Bearable. I don’t have to deal with Celeste clamoring over me since her guards are keeping tabs on me for her, so that’s a plus. The only thing is that I’ll have to face my friends tomorrow.”

“What do you mean?”

“They were there when Celeste caught me, and I never told them that she was my aunt. They’re really gonna let me have it when I get to school tomorrow.”

“I’m sure that they will understand if you explain yourself,” Luna reassured. “Well, don’t let me keep you from getting a good night’s sleep. Have a good day at school tomorrow, Marcus.”

“Thanks, Luna.” I thought as I went to sleep.

The next day, as I was about to leave the castle to go to school, I saw that the guards stopped at the door as I continued out. I turned around and looked at them in confusion.

“You guys aren’t gonna follow me to school?” I asked.

“Princess Celestia will know when you are to be home,” the first guard said. “She has a copy of your schedule.”

How the fuck did she get a copy of… shit, I forgot. The school sent me TWO copies of my class schedule in the mail, one for me, and one for my parent or legal guardian, i.e. Celeste.

“Also, the princess has agents of her secret service watching you from the shadows, for added insurance,” said the second guard.

Are you fucking kidding me? Okay, maybe this grounding wasn’t as lax as I thought it was.

I had a bigger worry on my mind, though.

What was I gonna say to Rarity and Octavia when I see them later today? My mind flashed back to something that Auntie Celeste said when she caught me.

“So you haven’t told them about me, hmm? Looks like I’m not the only one you’ve lied to.”

Pshh! What did she know? I didn’t lie to Rarity and Octavia. I did tell them that I lived with my aunt, and they never bothered to ask me who she was, so I never told them. Technically, I didn’t lie to them.

But try explaining that to a female. Guy logic doesn’t work on them.

Then I remembered: I did tell them one lie. I said that my aunt said I could go when she actually didn’t, but that’s not so bad, right?

Right?

….Right?

Whatever. Fuck you.

By the time I thought everything through, I had already caught a cab and reached the school. I walked to where I would usually meet Rarity, but she wasn’t there.

This… wasn’t a good sign.

Hang on, now. I can’t panic. Maybe she’s just running late.

I made my way to her and Octavia’s room, and I hesitated before I raised my hand to knock on the door. I swallowed hard and meekly knocked, waiting for a response.

“Who is it?” I heard. It was Rarity’s voice.

“It’s Marcus,” I said nervously.

I heard nothing but dead silence, but I hoped that one of the mares was just getting up to open the door for me. Then again, if that was the case, I definitely would have heard hoofsteps.

I stood there for a good twenty seconds before I started to get the message. Rarity and Octavia were obviously very mad with me, and they didn’t want to see me. Man, I messed up big ti-

“Come in,” Octavia said.

I let out a sigh of relief and opened the door. When I walked inside, I saw Rarity and Octavia sitting on their beds, looking at me with disapproving faces.

Unlike the situation with Auntie Celeste, I actually cared that they were upset with me.

“I guess you two are pretty mad with me, huh?” I asked with a sigh.

“You could say that we are a little perturbed,” said Octavia.

“I guessed so,” I said with regret.

“What I don’t understand is why you would keep this a secret from us,” Rarity told me. “Why didn’t you tell us that Princess Celestia was your aunt? Aren’t we your best friends?”

“You are my best friends,” I defended, “I just didn’t want anypony to know that Celest…ia was my adoptive aunt.”

That was a close one. If they knew her nickname, they’d laugh at me. While that would lighten the mood, it’d be at my pride’s expense.

“If everypony knew that I was a royal, then they’d start kissing up to me and pretend to be my friends just so they could brag about it. I didn’t want fake friends, I wanted real ones.”

“You’re overreacting, Marcus,” Rarity dismissed. “We wouldn’t have treated you differently just because you were the princess’s nephew.”

I glared at the unicorn. “Really?” I asked. “You can really sit there and tell me that if you knew that I was Celestia’s nephew when we met, that you wouldn’t have treated me the least bit differently?”

Rarity instinctively opened her mouth to say yes, but then she hesitated, and she looked away from me with a hung head. “I guess not,” she conceded.

“Look, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry I kept you guys in the dark about this,” I admitted. “I should have told you guys once I knew that you were really my friends, and I promise that I won’t keep secrets from you anymore.”

The two mares looked at each other, then at me, and then back at each other. Octavia was the first to speak.

“Well, you did say sorry…” she said.

“And judging from how mad the princess was when she found you,” Rarity added, “I assume that you’re already in enough trouble…”

“So we’ll accept your apology… on one condition,” the earth mare finished.

“Name it.”

“Answer all the questions that we’re about to ask you, and answer them truthfully.”

I nodded my head and took a seat in a nearby chair. “Okay.”

Rarity asked the first question: “So, how long have you been Princess Celestia’s nephew?”

“Since August,” I answered, “so it’s been two months.”

Octavia asked the next question: “Since you’re part of the royal family, what is your title?”

“I’m a Duke,” I answered. “I was offered the title of prince, but I turned it down. My name would be all over the news in a heartbeat if I accepted.”

Rarity and Octavia continued to ask me questions about my life as a royal, and as promised, I answered them truthfully.

Then came the final question, which Rarity asked.

“How mad was Princess Celestia when you got home?”

I sighed. “‘Mad’ is a gross understatement. I got grounded for a month. Straight to school, straight back, and I’ve got guards watching me 24/7.”

The two mares looked at me somberly. “That was… unfortunate, to say the least.” said Octavia. I could tell that she and Rarity wanted to say that I got what was coming to me, but thankfully, they decided not to.

“So,” Rarity said, “I think we should be getting to class, Marcus. We have only ten minutes before it starts.”

“You’re right,” I agreed, getting out of my seat and heading towards the door with the unicorn following behind me. “See you later, Octavia,” I said to the earth mare.

“Goodbye, you two,” she said as we left the room.

As Rarity and I walked to class, we started to chat idly like we always did.

“I’m glad you and ‘Tavi were able to forgive me, Rarity. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it, darling. Despite the fact that Octavia and I were a little mad at you, we could never stay mad at you.”

“Any particular reason why?”

The unicorn took a moment to think about it before answering. “Well, when you think about it, keeping a secret from me and Octavia and lying to us about being able to go to the party were the only things you did to use that were… reprehensible, for lack of a better word,” she explained. “Other than that, there isn’t much else we can hold against you. I mean, you’re always there for us, and you’re always willing to spend time with us when you get the chance.”

I chuckled “With that description, one would think that I was your gay friend.”

Rarity stopped dead in her tracks. “Wait… you’re not gay?”

I stopped dead in my tracks. “You thought I was gay!?”

Okay, maybe that sounded a little homophobic, but she just questioned my sexuality! I looked into Rarity’s eyes hoping for some sign that she was joking.

Thankfully, I found a sign not only in her eyes, but on her entire face. She couldn’t hold in her laughter, and she almost fell to the floor in joy-filled tears. “Oh, darling, I’m only joking!” she said in-between fits of laughter. “I’m in the fashion business. I know a gay man or stallion when I see one.”

“Don’t joke about stuff like that, though…”

“Oh, I’m sorry, sweetness,” she said, nudging my left shoulder playfully. She then looked down and saw what I was wearing on my left wrist. “Is that the bracelet I gave you at the festival?”

I looked down at the bracelet and said, “Oh, yeah. I looked really nice, so I decided to wear it. I put it on my left wrist since I’m left-handed. That way, I can always see it when I’m drawing.” I then paused for a second. “Why did you ask?”

“Just curious, is all,” Rarity said nonchalantly as we continued on to our class.

It was two in the afternoon, and my last class of the day was finished. Under the terms of my grounding, that meant that I had to go straight home, lest I get in more trouble. The second I walked through the castle doors, my guards showed up.

“Hey! I missed you guys!” I exclaimed in an attempt to channel my irritation through humor.

The best jokes come from negative emotions.

I decided to just go to my room. Classes were pretty exhausting today (probably because it was Monday), and I was in need of a drawing binge.

The walk to my room was deathly quiet, and the silence started to get to me, so I decided to make conversation with the guards.

“So fellas,” I said. “If I were to get into a… ‘verbal altercation’ with Prince Blueblood, and the argument began to get physical, would you stop me?”

The guards remained quiet.

“Hello? An answer would be nice.”

“We’re thinking about it,” said the first guard. I turned around and saw that the guards had faces of deep thought, like they were seriously debating over whether or not they would allow me to kick the shit out of Blue Balls. They looked up, then they looked at each other, and then they looked back up.

“We’ll have to get back to you on that,” the second guard told me.

Just then, when we rounded the corner, I saw somepony walking in the opposite direction as me.

Auntie Celeste.

Even though she was a good distance away from me, seeing her instantly killed my mood. To make things worse, the hallway we were in was a straight shot with no doors, so there was zero chance of her going in a different direction before our paths crossed.

As I walked, I kept my head to the ground so I didn’t have to look at her, and as we got closer and closer, I moved closer to the wall that was furthest away from her. I looked up for a split second and saw that Celeste had her eyes in front of her, not even paying attention to me.

Good.

Even when we passed each other, we didn’t even give each other the time of day. There was, however, a moment the air became incredibly tense the moment we passed each other by. It lasted for a millisecond, but it was the longest millisecond I had ever experienced. It was like all our respective frustration festered and boiled when they came in close proximity with one another, and the intense feeling left as quickly as it came.

When I reached the end of the hallway, I turned left, looked out of the corner of my eye, and saw Celeste standing and looking at me. She must have noticed me looking back, because she quickly turned back around and continued on her merry way. The expression she had on her face intrigued me, because it wasn’t one of anger, disdain, or even frustration.

It was an expression of sadness.

I thought on this the whole way back to my room, even after I had closed the door and changed into more lounge-type clothes. What was up with Celeste’s face? What reason would she have to be sad unless-

A gear clicked in my head, and an evil smile grew on my face. “Hey, Luna,” I thought. “Luna, you there?”

“You rang?” she answered.

“Curious question: how has Celeste been today?”

“Well, she did seem very preoccupied today. Why do you ask?”

“Because I think I know why. I passed by her in the hall earlier. She played it off like she wasn’t even concerned with me, but I caught her looking back at me when I passed her. She looked like she was sad.”

“Wait… I think I know where you’re going with this. Are you suggesting that Celestia… misses you?”

“I know it sounds conceited, but think about it. I didn’t see her at all yesterday, and aside from just a minute ago, I haven’t seen her at all today, either. I think that my keeping a distance from her is getting to her, but she doesn’t want to admit it since I’m supposed to be on punishment.”

“That does make sense, now that I think about it. Tia was never able to stay mad at me for more than three days.”

“In that case, all I have to do is wait her out, and she’ll cave! If I keep from acknowledging Celeste, it’s gonna get to her, and she’ll break like a twig.”

“You evil, evil boy,” Luna told me. “That has got to be the most despicable, diabolical, and awesome plan ever concocted!”

“I try,” I thought nonchalantly.

“Oh, I just realized, with my knowledge of Tia’s schedule, I can let you know where she is so you can avoid her, and on the off chance that you two bump into each other, you can just pretend that she doesn’t exist. The fun will be doubled!”

Oh yeah, my aunt was in for it now.

Game on, Celeste. Game on.

Chapter 8: Could You Do Me a Favor?

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Wednesday.

Two days since the waiting game began. I haven’t seen Celeste since our encounter in the castle halls two days ago. Luna’s been helping me to stay away from her by letting me know where she was scheduled to be. Right now, it was ten in the morning. My first class wasn’t until three, and I planned on sleeping in till then, but…

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

I groggily reached onto my nightstand and felt around for my phone. When I found it, I picked it up, answered it and brought it to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Marcus, darling! You weren’t sleeping when I called, were you?”

“Nah, Rarity. I’ve been up for a while,” I lied.

“Okay, good. I have a question: What time is your first class today?”

“Three PM.”

“Well, if it’s no huge bother, would it be possible for you to come over to the school within the next hour and do me a favor? I’m making a suit that’s supposed to fit a human, but I don’t have any human mannequins to work on, so I was wondering if I could… use you?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Are human proportions really that much different from those of a pony?”

“Darling, there is a world of difference.”

While I still didn’t really agree with her on that, she was the fashion expert, so there’s probably some deep, intricate difference between pony and human anatomy that I just can’t see.

“Alright, I’m in,” I tell Rarity. “So, you said you’d like me there within the hour, right.”

“Yes, I’m in one of the design studios in the Fashion wing of the school. Room 48.”

“Gotcha. I’ll be there as soon, okay?”

“Thank you, Marcus. You’re a lifesaver.”

CLICK!

Okay, so maybe I wasn’t going to be able to sleep in, but I had plenty of rest last night, anyway, so it’s no huge loss.

I looked at the clock; it was almost quarter after ten, which meant that my breakfast should be here any sec-

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

“Sir Marcus,” one of my guards called. “Your breakfast is here.”

“Coming!” I called back as I walked over to the door and opened it. The first thing I saw was a maid with a catering cart in tow. She was an earth pony with a light brown coat with a medium-length, straight dark brown mane and tail; she had a set of amber-colored eyes, and she was dressed in the standard outfit for all the maids in the castle, which were a little too revealing, if you ask me. I mean don’t get me wrong, I like the whole black and white frilly motif and the cute little hats they wear but I must admit that all that open cleavage, the off shoulder top design, the white striped formfitting midsection and the ridiculously short ruffle skirt kept making my eyes wander too much for comfort.

If I had to guess the mare’s age, based solely on her appearance, I would have to say that she was about… twenty-five, maybe. When it came to her body, which as I said was made blatantly apparent by her current attire, all her curves came out perfectly balanced, to be honest. Her whole frame had a perfect hourglass shape, her delicate arms connected to a small and narrow chest frame, going down to a slender waist and a pair of well-shaped, decently sized hips and thighs. And of course, I could never forget the feature that was as if purposefully put on display for me to notice: her big double D boobs! Although Rarity’s did seem a tad bigger due to their slight sag, the maid’s in contrast were very perky. As for the rest of her… well, the catering cart was blocking my view, so I can’t give you an accurate description.

Keep this in mind: I wasn’t checking this mare out. This was just passive observation. Every guy does it, ladies.

Something wasn’t right, though…

“You’re not the usual maid that brings me my meals,” I said. Mind you, I honestly didn’t give a shit who brought me my food. I asked that question out of mere curiosity.

“Oh, she’s sick, Sir Marcus. Since she wasn’t here to take care of your catering today, I took it upon myself to cover for her in her absence,” she said proudly, perhaps a little too proudly.

I looked at her with an unsure face. “Uhh… thanks.” I took the breakfast items I wanted from the cart and put them on a plate.

“It was my pleasure,” said the maid. “If you need any snacks or anything, just ring the kitchen and I’ll come up with a cart for you.”

“Thanks,” I said again. “So I guess I’ll see you at dinnertime.”

“Mm-hm!” she said with a bow, and she turned around and left. Now that the cart wasn’t blocking my view, I was able to get a look at the maid’s lower body.

Not that I was trying, mind you.

Her rear was rather small and really tight, and yet very visible as it protruded in between her thighs. I could also see her cutie mark under her skirt. It was a coffee pot. Fun fact: her tail which was coming out of a small buttoned down space on the top of her skirt did absolutely nothing to obscure the view I was being given.

Once my punishment ends, I'll have to talk to Celeste about these uniforms.

Again, this was just passive observation.

When she rounded the corner of the hallway and left my sight, I heard the guards behind me stifling chuckles.

“What?” I asked, turning around to look at them.

“Nothing, Sir,” said the guard on the left.

“Don’t worry about it,” said the guard on the right.

I simply rolled my eyes and walked back into my room to finish my breakfast and get ready to meet Rarity.

After wolfing down my meal, taking a shower, and getting dressed, I was about to leave my room to head to school, but then…

“Marcus?”

“Yeah?”

“This is Agent Luna checking in with the semi-daily status report.”

“This isn’t covert ops, Luna. You can drop the Agent act.”

“But it’s so fun! You can’t deny me that, can you?”

“I guess not…”

“Anyway, Celestia has just gone to the conference room to meet with the Japaneighse ambassadors. It’s the ideal time to leave the castle if you plan on doing so. Something tells me that she’ll be there for a while.”

“Thanks for the heads up.”

“My pleasure.”

Armed with this new knowledge, I left the castle while Celeste was occupied, heading towards the school. While I was leaving earlier than usual, I wasn't really breaking the terms of my grounding. Celeste only forbade me from leaving the castle when I wasn't going to school, and wanted me to come straight home after class. Don't believe me? Well, here's a little reminder of what Celeste ~~said to~~ yelled at me, word for word:

YOU’RE GOING TO COME STRAIGHT HOME AFTER CLASS EVERY DAY! AND YOU AREN’T TO STEP FOOT OUT OF THIS CASTLE FOR ANY OTHER REASON!

See?

Anyway, once I got to school, I walked straight to the Fashion wing of the campus, looking for the studio that Rarity told me to meet her in.

“42, 44, 46, oh, here it is. Room 48,” I thought out loud, and I knocked on the door.

“Coming!” I heard from the other side, followed by the sound of hurried hoofsteps. After that, the door opened. “Marcus! You’re here! Do come in, darling!”

I smiled and walked in, looking around the studio. It was an average size, about half the size of my room at the castle, which was rather large. It was painted in all white, with a drafting table and tool cabinets on the left side, and a set of mannequins on the right side, all of which were pony shaped.

She was right. She really didn’t have any human mannequins to work on.

“Okay, Marcus, here’s the situation,” Rarity started. “I have a suit made to fit a human, and I need somebody to try it on for size. From there, I can make the necessary adjustments.”

Wait, I thought she said that she needed me to be a mannequin so she could make the suit from scratch. I didn’t think that she had the suit made already.

“Okay…” I said as Rarity retrieved the suit for me. When she gave me the garments, I proceeded to put them on over my clothes, but then the unicorn began to object.

“No, no, no, darling!” she told me. “I can’t get an accurate fitting if you simply wear the suit over your clothes. You need to change into it.”

I sigh in frustration. “Okay, where’s the changing room at?”

“Well, there isn’t one in here... This is just a studio.”

“Alright, I saw a bathroom down the hall. I’ll just go there.”

“Are you insane!? I can’t have my unreleased design being tossed around in a public bathroom, even if it is at a prestigious university!”

“Well, what do you suppose I do, then? Use magic?”

What? I can’t help being a smartass sometimes.

“Just change in here,” Rarity said nonchalantly.

“WHAT!?” I yelled.

“Oh, don’t be a prude, Marcus. Besides it’s not like I’m going to watch.” The unicorn then covered her eyes and turned around. “Does this make you feel better?”

“I guess,” I grunted, and I walked over to the other side of the room to change. As I got undressed and redressed, I kept my eyes on Rarity in case she got any ideas and tried to sneak a peek.

“Alright, I’m done.” I say once I get the suit on.

“Okay… Oh! Look who’s all gussied up!” Rarity said to lighten the mood. “Now, let me just get my measuring tape, and we can get started.”

I looked down at my hand, then back up at the unicorn. “Do I need to take my bracelet off?”

“Oh, no!” she answered frantically, but then she reigned herself in. “I mean, it’s not necessary, sweetness.” She cleared her throat and approached me with the measuring tape, and then she decided to make conversation so the atmosphere would be less awkward.

She could have picked a better topic to talk about, though.

“So… since you live in Canterlot Castle, and since you’re the princess’s nephew… does that make Prince Blueblood your cousin?”

I sighed in frustration. “Yes... it does.”

“I see,” she said.

Something about the way she said that made me suspicious. “You’re not into that scumbag are you?”

“Oh, heavens no!” she exclaimed, offended at the mere notion. “I wouldn’t’ give that miserable excuse for a stallion the time of day!”

“You sound like one of his ex-girlfriends,” I chuckled, but then I abruptly stopped. “You aren’t one of his ex-girlfriends, are you?”

Rarity looked away from me nervously as she knelt down to “Well, I’m not an ex-girlfriend, per-se.”

“Explain.”

“Well, a year and a half ago, I went to the Grand Galloping Gala knowing that he’d be there. I had hoped to make a connection with him, but…” It was at this point where her tone began to turn sour and she began to tightly grip the edge of my jacket in resentment. “He treated me like dirt. I thought he was my Prince Charming, but he was the furthest thing from.”

I sighed and put my hand on her head consolingly. “I’m sorry you had to go through that,” I told her. “At least you realized how bad he was for you. That’s more than I can say for a lot of girls.”

Rarity looked up at me with those big, blue eyes of hers. “Thank you, Marcus,” she said, and she returned to measuring my pants. “So, why did you ask if I was interested in Blueblood?”

“Because at first you sounded like you were, and I wanted to steer you away from him.”

“Oh, yeah? And why is that? Are you jealous of him?”

“No,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “It’s just that I’ve seen the way he treats mares, and I don’t think any mare deserves that kind of treatment, especially a mare that’s close to me.”

“Like me?” she asked, and then she quickly added “and Octavia?”

“Exactly,” I answered, looking down at her. It was then that I noticed the view of Rarity’s chest that I got thanks to her low-cut top. There was practically a valley of cleavage just a few feet below my face and practically next to my hands. After realizing that I was staring, I quickly averted my eyes, only to have Rarity chuckle at me.

“It’s alright if you stare, darling.”

I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “So you’re okay with guys just staring at your chest?”

“I never said that. I’m just letting you do it because, well, I trust you.”

She trusted me? Even after I lied to her and Octavia and snuck out to a party? Honestly, in retrospect, I’ve been a pretty untrustworthy person.

“Well, that’s a relief,” I told her.

“How so?” she asked.

“I was gonna lose a whole lot of respect for you if it turned out that you’d let any old guy ogle you.”

The mare let out a cute giggle. “You forget that I am a lady, Marcus Cortez. Ladies keep certain things exclusive to those they trust.”

“Good to know that I fall into that bracket.”

After several more minutes of small talk, Rarity finished measuring me. “Okay, I think that’s it, darling,” she said. “You can change back into your regular clothes now.”

“Just when I was getting used to the suit,” I joked, receiving a roll of the eyes from the unicorn. She covered her eyes again and turned around so that I could change, and once I did, I neatly folded the suit and handed it back to her. “I hope you get a good grade on this design,” I told her as she took the outfit from me.

“Hmm? Oh yes, the grade. I hope I get a good mark, too.” she responded absentmindedly. “Well, thanks again for your help, sweetness. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem.”

“So, where are you off to, now?”

“Well, I still have a lot of spare time before my next class, so I may just go and see what Octavia is up to.”

“That’s sounds all well and good. I have a class in twenty minutes, so I should be getting a move on. I’ll see you later, Marcus.”

I waved goodbye to Rarity and I left the studio to go to her and Octavia’s room. On my way there, I figured it would make sense to call her and make sure she was actually in her room. I dialed her number and waited for her answer, which was rather prompt.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Octi. It’s Marcus.”

“Oh, hello, Marcus! I was just about to call you. I know your first class isn’t until much later, but I was wondering if you could come over a little earlier than usual.”

“I’m actually on campus right now. I was helping Rarity with something earlier.”

“Well, that is rather convenient.”

“So, are you in your room right now?”

“Yes, and I could really use your help with something, so I hope you don’t mind doing me a favor.”

“Not at all. I’ll be right there.”

“Great. You can let yourself in when you get here.”

I made my way over to Octavia’s dorm and headed to her room, which she left unlocked for me. When I walked in, I saw the earth mare in the middle of tuning her cello. “What’s going on here?” I asked. “Does this have something to do with this favor you have in mind for me.”

“Actually, yes. See, there’s a school-wide musical competition, and I’m trying out for a spot in the solo classical division. I haven’t done a solo performance in a while, so I fear that I may be rather rusty. That’s where you come in.”

“I hope you don’t expect me to coach you or anything.”

Octavia giggled. “No, nothing of the sort. I simply want you to listen to the piece I chose, and then I want your opinion of how I did.”

“Now there’s something I can do.”

The earth mare smiled at me, picked up her bow, and prepared to play her piece. “Before I start, just know that I put a lot of consideration into this,” she told me.

As she moved her bow towards the strings of her instrument, I noticed that her hand was trembling. While the idea of her being nervous perplexed me, I decided to try and calm her.

“You don’t have to be nervous, you know,” I said to her. “It’s just me.”

Octavia looked at me with a surprised face, but she relaxed when she saw the smile on mine. She took a slow, deep breath, and began to play.

How would I describe the music she played? It was soft and soothing, yet fiery and passionate at the same time, and it was at the perfect pace, too; it wasn’t too fast or too slow.

I looked at Octavia’s as she played; she seemed so serene, as if she was in her own little world and was letting all her emotions out through her cello. She didn’t even have her eyes open.

Just how long has she been practicing?

When Octavia finished playing her piece, she let out a deep breath, opened her eyes, and gave me a hopeful look. “Well, what did you think, Marcus? Give me your honest opinion.”

I smiled at the earth mare. “I thought it was great!” I told her. “You really have a talent for music, ‘Tavi, although you probably already knew that.”

She let out a sigh of relief. “Still, it fells nice to hear it from someone else.”

I got out of my seat, approached Octavia, and sat next to her on her bed. “So, looks like you’re ready for that competition.”

“Huh? Oh yeah, the competition. Well if you say so, then I guess I am ready.” The mare fidgeted in her seat for a moment before speaking again. “So, how are things at home?”

“Well, my grounding isn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, if that’s what you’re asking. I might even get off for good behavior.”

“You sound like someone that just got prison time,” she giggled.

“That’s pretty much how I feel, but if I’m lucky, my punishment might end sooner than expected.”

“Let’s hope it does,” Octavia said with a smile. “I miss getting to spend time with you on the weekends.”

“What do you mean by ‘you’?”

Octavia’s eyes seemed to widen for a second, but then she looked at me with a smile “You and Rarity of course!”

“Oh, I see,” I said. “You really enjoy spending time with us?”

“Of course I do. This year was probably the most fun I’ve had during my time at CUFTA, and it hasn’t even been two months since the year started. When my roommate left for Saddle Arabia, I made a promise to myself that I would open up and not be so… ‘uptight,’ as she endearingly called me. You… and Rarity both helped me do just that.”

“Flatter us more, why don’t you?” I joked.

Just then, I heard a high-pitched beeping sound, which made Octavia jump in surprise.

“Oh, no!” she exclaimed. “I only have five minutes left until my next class! I’m sorry Marcus, but I have to go. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Sure,” I said as I got up and walked towards the door. “Bye, Octavia.”

“Goodbye, Marcus, and thanks for coming over.”

“No problem,” I told her as I left the room.

It was quarter to six in the evening, and I had just gotten home from school. As usual, my guards were waiting for me beyond the castle doors. I decided to go to my room and wait for my dinner, so I got moving, but I can’t help but think that I forgot something. It kept nagging me as I walked, but then it came to me…

But it wasn’t the best way for it to come to me.

I saw Auntie Celeste walking down the hallway, just like the last time I saw her. I had forgotten to tell Luna that I was home! Thanks to that, I wasn’t aware of where Celeste was.

I guess I know now.

It’s cool, though. I just have to ignore her, that’s all. I kept walking, and Celeste and I got closer and closer to each other. When we were about to cross paths, she looked at me with a hopeful smile, but I turned my head away and moved closer to the wall. I kept my eyes averted from her, so didn’t see her reaction to my ignoring her.

I could tell that she was on the verge of breaking, though. It was only a matter of time.

When I had gotten to my room, my dinner had arrived not five minutes later. When I opened the door, I saw that it was the same maid that brought me my breakfast.

“Hello again,” she greeted. “I have your dinner here for you. The chef cooked you the usual.”

“Thanks miss,” I replied. “Say, I never got your name.”

The maid smiled and leaned forward on the cart she was carrying, giving me a view of her bosom. “It’s Honey Pot,” she said, batting her eyelashes at me.

I immediately noticed how kinky her name sounded. That name may have been cute for a little filly, but for a grown mare, it sounds rather suggestive.

“Well, uh… thanks, Honey Pot.”

“It was my pleasure, Sir Marcus,” she said with a wink.

I gulped nervously as Honey Pot turned around and left, deliberately swaying her hips back and forth. It was then that the guards behind me chuckling again.

“Okay, what’s so funny?” I asked.

“Nothing,” answered the guard on the left. “It just seems that Honey Pot has her eyes on you.”

“She has a thing for humans,” added the guard on the right. “You’d better watch out, kid.”

Then it hit me, Auntie Celeste mentioned that there was a maid in the castle that had a thing for humans. I didn’t think that she was being serious, though!

I slowly backed into my room and closed the door, officially weirded out. Hopefully that mare was just teasing and wasn’t really coming on to me. I turned and looked at my calendar. There was just over a week before Nightmare Night. It would have been nice to go out and wear my timberwolf costume again, but current circumstances were preventing that.

Hopefully I’ll still be able to make the best of it when the night comes.

Author's Notes:

And another chapter done. Before I say anything else, I want to thank danail24 for helping me with Honey Pot's introduction scene. He wrote an awesome description of her based on my image, and allowed me to use it. Who knows, maybe I'll make a drawing of her.

Go and read danail24's story, "Error H: Love is Complicated". It's an HiE/Anthro story, like this one, and it's really good!

Honey Pot will be showing up again, and she may even get a chapter in the upcoming Alternate Perspectives story, but she's not a main love interest for Marcus. She's just there for comedic purposes (and so I can sharpen my skills with sexual humor).

So, it's been two days so far, and Celestia hasn't broken yet, but she's getting there. How much longer do you think she'll last? Will she catch on to Marcus's game? Will Marcus break before she does? What's Marcus gonna do for Nightmare Night?

You'll find out soon enough.

Chapter 9: Mares on My Mind

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Sunday.

It’s been a week and a half since my second encounter with Auntie Celeste. Since then, I made sure that I always checked in with Luna so I wouldn’t run into her older sister again. Not only was she my way of knowing where Celeste was, she was also my way of knowing how my avoidance has been affecting her. Speaking of which, I needed a status update.

“Hey, Luna. You there?”

“As always.”

“How’s Celeste doing? Has she been showing any signs of breaking?”

“She has had a rather melancholy air about her as of late, and she’s seemed rather distant, as well.”

“Perfect. Although… I do feel somewhat guilty for making her suffer like this.”

“As do I, but it’s necessary. She won’t get the message otherwise.”

“Trust me, I know that. I never said that I was gonna back out. I was just saying I felt a little guilty.”

“Ah, I see. Anywho, you do realize what day it is, right?”

“No,” I thought, but then I looked at my calendar. “Oh, shit! It’s Nightmare Night!”

“That’s right!” Luna excitedly told me. “Isn’t it your first Nightmare Night, as well?”

“Well, yeah, but you know I can’t go out.”

“Oh yeah… Well, don’t you fret! I’ll think of something that should make this holiday enjoyable for you, Marcus!”

“Thanks, Luna. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Okay, bye!”

Just then, I got a knock on my door, it was breakfast time again. When I opened the door, I saw that it was Honey Pot who was bringing my food again. She was filling in for my usual maid last time, but then she got better the next day, so I hadn’t seen Honey Pot since then.

“Oh… Hey there…” I said nervously.

“Good morning, Sir Marcus!” she greeted happily. “Here’s your breakfast!”

“Um…”

“You’re probably wondering why I’m serving you today, huh?”

I nodded my head.

“Well your usual maid, Dusty Feather, is now working in the castle’s infirmary, and I was asked to fulfill her regular duties from now on, so expect to see me more often.”

“Oh, okay…” I said with an unsure voice.

“So, what are your plans for tonight?”

“Well, I’m not so sure about what I’m gonna do.”

“Oh yeah, considering your… situation.”

Damn, did everypony hear when Celeste was screaming at me?

“Well, I hope you have a good night regardless. I’m sure you’ll find something exciting around the castle to do. I’ll see you later, Sir Marcus.”

Honey Pot gave me a wink before leaving, and just like last time, she made a point of strutting as sexily as she could while leaving. Once she was gone, my guards started laughing… again.

“Okay, a joke can’t be funny for that long,” I commented.

“Sorry, Sir, but the fact that she’s interested in you is so obvious!” the guard on my left said in-between fits of laughter.

“You don’t think I know that?” I asked incredulously, but then a clever thought came to my head. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out, or are you just jealous that I’m the one that she has her eyes on?”

The guards stopped laughing them moment I said that.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” I said victoriously as I walked into my room, breakfast in hand.

As I ate my breakfast, I looked around my room, wondering what I could do to pass the time away. I had already finished all my projects for school thanks to the amount of spare time I had as it was. Maybe I could just draw until my hand fell off?

Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

I first took a shower, and then for the next several hours, I sat in my little mini studio and drew to my heart’s content. After finishing about ten pages of comics, I decided to switch it up and draw some portraits.

Who was I gonna draw, though?

Eh, screw it. I’ll just start drawing and then it’ll come to me naturally. It’s a technique that I picked up from one of my classes, and my teacher said that it was a good mental exercise, as well.

Nothing like a good workout, right?

I started with the basic construction lines, and then I drew a crosshair on the face so I had an idea of where the face was looking and where to put its features. I then started sketching out a muzzle.

Okay, so whoever I was drawing, it’s obviously a pony, and judging from the shape of the muzzle, it was most likely a mare.

I continued to draw the mare’s face, and I was starting to get into the rhythm of this technique. I started to draw the ears, and then the eyes. The lashes were long and elegant, and I shaded the area above the upper eyelashes to mimic the look of eyeshadow. I then drew the mane, which had a set of elegant curls in it, and I added a horn just because. I decided to stop drawing once I got the head done, and I signed the bottom right-hand corner of the drawing. With that done, I put my pencil aside and looked at my finished piece, but then I realized something…

Mare, unicorn, long eyelashes, elegant curly mane…

I had just drawn Rarity!

That was a little weird. I mean, I wasn’t thinking about her at all when I was drawing, yet here she is on the paper. I decided not to dwell on it too much, chalked it up to coincidence, and flipped the page in my book to start a new blind portrait. From there, I repeated the same process I did last time.

Circle, crosshair, facial structure, facial features, hair, signature.

Once I signed the drawing, I took a look at what I had drawn, and my jaw dropped.

It was Octavia.

Okay, maybe I’m just a little out of it today. Maybe one more drawing will help.

Circle, crosshair, facial structure, facial features, hair, signature.

Okay, maybe this time I didn’t draw somepony I knew… Fuck.

I couldn’t believe it. Did I just draw…

Princess Luna!?!?

Okay, enough drawing for the day.

I get out of my chair and look at the time. It was two-thirty in the afternoon, so I still had a lot of time on my hands.

Fuck it. I’ll just take a nap.

I jumped into my bed and wrapped myself under the covers, allowing sleep to take me.

I found myself in a desert, a desert that was uncharacteristically cool. I looked around, and there was nothing but sand for miles around; I wondered what I was to do.

“Marcus…”

Huh? What was that?

“Marcus…”

I looked around to see who was calling me, but there wasn’t anyone around. Just then, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“AAAAGH!”

I practically jumped out of my skin and turned around to see who it was that tapped me.

“Luna!?”

“You picked the perfect time to sleep, Marcus,” she told me.

I gave her an irritated look. “Oh really? Why is that?”

“Because I’ve finally come up with something exciting for you to do. You know the old tradition of offering candy to Nightmare Moon on Nightmare Night, correct?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, since my return, the citizens of Equestria send me treats as a form of offering, but my damned advisor intercepted the mail and took all the candy so that I could stay on my diet. That’s where you come in. Now, I could easily get the candy myself. An invisibility spell here, a sleeping spell there, and the treats are mine, but I wanted to give you something to do.”

“So you decided to make me your errand boy?”

“Don’t think of it as an errand. Think of it as a challenge. You have until eleven thirty tonight to get the treats, and it doesn’t matter what you do to get them, so long as you get them. Good luck!”

With that, she snapped her fingers and everything became white.

I woke up with a start, breathing heavily with my hand on my chest. Being forced out of my own dream was quite the rush.

I looked at the clock, and it was minutes to three. I had eight and a half hours before I had to give the treats to Luna. While it was quite the problem to figure out, there was a more pressing matter at hand.

I was hungry as fuck.

I rang the kitchen and waited for my lunch to arrive, wondering how I was gonna get Luna’s treats as I waited.

KNOCK, KNOCK!

Feeding time.

I approached the door and opened it, and I saw Honey Pot with her cart again. “Here’s your lunch!” she said with glee.

“Thanks.”

“No problem! If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Hang on a sec… Honey Pot was obviously into me, so maybe…

“Actually, could you come in, for a sec? I have a favor to ask.”

Honey Pot’s face brightened up. “Of course!” she happily accepted, and she quickly walked into my room.

When I closed the door, I turned around and looked at the maid that had just entered my room. She looked… excited.

She obviously was getting the wrong idea.

“Oh my… I’ve never done this on the job before, Sir Marcus,” she told me. “Are you sure that Princess Celestia won’t catch us? I surely wouldn’t want to get you in trouble or anything.”

Okay, she DEFINITELY got the wrong idea.

“Um… I didn’t call you in here for that.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that there’s something else I wanted to ask of you. You know how Luna’s advisor put her on a diet over three weeks ago?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, he’s keeping the treats that were sent to her for Nightmare Night in his office. I was wondering if you could get them for me.”

Honey Pot stopped and thought for a moment. “Hmm… Well, I could do that for you, but what’s in it for me?”

“Well, what do you want?”

I immediately regretted asking that question once I asked it.

“I dunno,” she said. “I guess it would be too much to ask you to sleep with me. There’s a chance that somepony, namely Celestia, would find out. Plus, I don’t know how comfortable you are with having a partner that’s ten years older than you.”

Ten!? She was twenty seven!?!?

“I know!” she said suddenly. Honey Pot started to walk towards me, and I backed up as she got closer. “Relax, I won’t bite,” she crooned.

I found myself with my back against the wall, and Honey Pot was inches away from me. She turned around and put her back against me, and then she grabbed my wrists with her hands. The mare brought my hands up, and then she placed them on her boobs.

My senses were suddenly overtaken by the feeling of these two round cushions resting on my palms, right between my fingers! I tried to restrain myself from yelling, and it came out as a pathetic whimper.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Honey Pot whispered sultrily. “Go ahead and give them a grope. If you don’t, the deal’s off.”

Shit, she had me cornered, both literally AND figuratively. She pretty much gave me an ultimatum: grope her tits or find another way to get Luna’s Nightmare Night candy.

I didn’t want to disappoint Luna, so had no other choice.

“Fine,” I whispered back to Honey Pot. “But don’t make any noise.”

“That all depends on how good you are.”

Having heard enough from her, I tightened my grip on her chest, deciding to get it over with. The form of her round perky breasts shifted easily, accommodating the touch of my hands as if they were full of cream. The skin of those things was very thick, soft and tender, considering it was my first time touching a pair. After about five seconds, I attempted to let go because I was afraid of getting excited, but then Honey Pot tightened her grip on my wrists, making me flinch.

“Not so fast,” she whispered. “I’m not letting you off that easy. You can keep this up for a full minute, can’t you?”

I look at the clock. One whole minute? This mare really was pushing it.

“One minute and that’s it,” I told her with finality.

“Oh and since you’ve stopped, now you have to put your hands underneath my top!” The maid added, smiling at me devilishly. “No way!” I protested but when I saw the fierce look on her face, I flinched before finally responding.

“Fine, you win!”

It was the longest minute of my life.

The moment my hands slipped underneath the dark fabric, I was instantly surprised to realize that she wore no bra. Cursing inwardly, I advanced, roughly groping her melons, rolling my eyes at the ridiculousness of it all. Honey Pot squealed a couple of times but to my relief it wasn’t very loud. While my hands roamed, I had to admit that the feeling of my fingers mashing her bare jugs felt differently than when I was doing it over her clothes. They felt much softer, smoother and squishier like a pair of big marshmallows. And quite frankly, the feeling of silky fur was strangely erotic. However as I continued, I found two firm nubs appear in between my pointing and middle finger. They hardened and grew as I explored them which in turn made Honey moan lustfully.

“Ooooooh! That feels so good when you play with ‘em like that! And I see your naughty side is finally showing.” Honey Pot commented.

“What are you talking about?” I asked indignantly.

“Why the anomaly happening in your pants, boy! It feels great when you press it against my bum!” She crooned the last part seductively as she rubbed her ass against something big and stiff that I had been ignoring so far.

I was officially freaking out!

To make it even harder on me, the mare squeezed my wrists, making my hands reflexively squeeze on her boobs harder.

She practically made me her puppet.

"Your hands feel heavenly," she whispered, and I watched the clock in agonizing humiliation. Finally, after sixty seconds had passed, she released my wrists and walked away from me.

“Thank you, Sir Marcus. I’ll happily do that favor for you now. Oh, and this will be our little secret, right?”

I grunted. “Trust me. I won’t be telling anypony about the humiliation you put me through.”

“Oh, don’t be like that. I felt it when you found some enjoyment in it.”

This mare was starting to get on my nerves.

“I’ll see you later, sweetheart,” she teased as she left my room, leaving the door open. When she was gone, the two guards looked inside.

"What happened?” they asked.

“I asked her to run an errand for me.”

“Taking advantage of her attraction to you, I see,” the guard on the left said.

“Hardly,” I told them.

“If anyone got taken advantage of, it was definitely me,” I thought.

Nearly an hour later, I heard another knock on my door. “Finally,” I thought. I answered the door, and Honey Pot was standing before me with her cart, only a tarp was over it. She pulled the tarp away and presented me with two bowls of treats.

“The one on the left is from Luna’s advisor’s office. The one on the right is from the kitchen. Consider it a Nightmare Night gift to you.”

“Thanks…” I uttered nervously.

I took the two bowls from Honey Pot and went back into my room, but not before she gave me a wink and turned around to show off her rear.

While I appreciated the gift, this mare was getting way too overzealous for her own good.

With the treats secured, and some for myself, I decided to eat some of the candy Honey Pot gave me. As I dug around the bowl. I found an envelope with my name on it under all the treats. I hesitantly opened the envelope, knowing full well who it was from, and looked at what was inside.

It was a photograph of Honey Pot in what looked like a Nightmare Night costume. I said “what looked like” because there was barely anything there. The mare was wearing a black-furred two-piece outfit, a choker with a bell on it, black stockings, cat ears, and a furry tail sock.

And I thought the sexy kitty costume was done to death in the human world.

At least it explains why she took so long to get the treats.

On the lower right-hand corner of the picture, there was something scribbled in black marker.

“Happy Nightmare Night, Marcus!

Love, your kinky kitty,

Honey Pot.”

I think I have a predator on my hands. I wonder if I can keep the guards once I get off of my punishment.

I waited and waited for eleven-thirty, when Luna would come to collect her treats. In the meantime, I found a secure place to hide the photo of Honey Pot.

What? Just because I didn’t like her doesn’t mean that I was just gonna throw the photo away. I’m not heartless.

At eight-thirty, I decided to take a walk through the castle to kill some time, and as I walked, I got an idea. I turned to my guards and asked. “You guys wanna help me knock Blueblood down a few pegs.”

They looked at each other, and then they looked back at me. “Definitely,” they said.

After procuring the necessary supplies, my guards and I went to Blueblood’s room. He was sleeping, and that was the perfect time to strike. The guards opened the doors and I got to work. Earlier, we had gotten some rolls of extra-strong transparent tape.

If you don’t know where this is going, let me explain. The plan was to put a thick line of tape in the doorway that was about the same height as Blueblood’s head. Then, I would wake him up, agitate him to the point where he decides to charge at me, and then he’d run right into the tape, effectively knocking himself out.

Time to put the plan in motion.

“HEY, BLUEBLOOD!” I yelled, waking the stallion up.

“What the-” he groggily uttered. “Who’s… You! What are you doing in my room!?”

“Dude, you sound like a chick. Besides, I’m not in your room. I’m standing outside it.”

“Either way, get out of my sight!”

“Nah, I’m good here.”

“I mean it, peasant!”

“Nope.”

“Go away, or else!”

“Or else what?”

That was the straw that broke the pony’s back. “That’s it! I warned you!”

The foolish unicorn got out of bed and charged at me. I took a few steps back and watched as his face collided with the tape. The momentum of his charge sent his body flying forward while his head stayed in place. Blueblood then fell to the floor like a ragdoll, and I stepped over his ragged body.

“That’s what you get for snitching, bitch!” I taunted with a hearty laugh, and the guards behind me were in stitches. It took a while for them to calm down, and then we walked back to my room. When I got to the door, however, I saw somepony I didn’t want to see.

No, not Honey Pot.

It was Auntie Celeste.

She happened to be walking down the hall when I saw her, and when she passed me by, she gave me a hopeful smile, and then she did something that I wasn’t expecting her to do.

She spoke to me.

“Good evening, Marcus,” she said. “Happy Nightmare Night.”

I didn’t even bother to acknowledge her.

I simply entered my room, leaving my aunt standing in the hallway. The second I did, though, I felt a pang of guilt coarse through me.

It hurt like a bitch.

As mad as I was with Celeste, doing that to her just now really hurt. I had to remind myself that I had to stay strong. I couldn’t break, not when she was on the verge of breaking, herself.

I had to outlast her.

It was eleven twenty-nine.

I watched the clock as it ticked on. I felt like I was about to make a drug deal. I obtained contraband goods, bribed a slutty female to do my dirty work, and was waiting until near-midnight to make the trade-off.

Yeah, sounds a lot like a drug deal.

I continued to look at the clock as the second hand approached twelve.

Five, four, three, two, one.

Just then, I saw a surge of magic coat the walls of my room, and all the lights in the room went out. After that, a swirl of dark blue clouds appeared, dimly lighting the area.

I watched in fear as a figure lowered itself from the clouds. It was an black-coated alicorn mare clad in light blue plated armor. Her pupils were slitted, like a cat, and she had sharp teeth. She had the same voluptuous figure as Princess Luna, the only difference being that her wings were larger and more pointed.

Subconsciously, I knew that this was just Luna putting on a show, but I was too scared to think about that.

“Hear me, human!” she announced with a booming voice similar to Celeste’s yelling voice, only lower in volume. “I am Nightmare Moon, and I have come to collect the goods that I have been promised!”

“Th-they’re right here,” I whimpered as I scrambled to get the treats for her. Nightmare Moon chuckled at my clumsiness as I offered the bowl of goodies to her. She took them from me and looked them over.

“Hmph. This tribute seems good enough. I suppose I could spare your life this year, but there’s one thing I must say.”

“And that is?” I asked, fearing the answer.

Nightmare Moon walked up to me with a wicked grin. She lowered her face to mine and looked me in the eye before saying:

“Thank you, Marcus.”

My heartbeat slowed down once I heard Luna’s normal speaking voice.

“And I lied about what I thought of these treats. They look spectacular! Just how did you procure them?”

“You don’t wanna know.”

“Very well. By the way, I saw your little prank on Blueblood. Nicely done, if you ask me.”

“You know me. I try to go above and beyond.”

“Which explains why you were able to get these goodies for me. Oh! There are cookies in here! Yum! With all this treasure, I’ll be able to gain back all the weight I lost!”

“How much would that be?”

“Twenty pounds. Twenty blasted pounds”

“I thought you looked a little scrawny.”

“Look who’s talking! Anyway, with all this deliciousness, I’ll finally get my posterior back to its proper size!” Luna then shot me a sneaky look. “And then you can get back to staring at it.”

“I don’t stare!” I yelled defensively.

“You’re lucky I cast a soundproofing spell on this room, otherwise, the guards would hear you yelling,” Luna giggled, and then she approached me. “Seriously though, thanks for doing this for me. It was really nice of you.”

Then, unexpectedly, Luna wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. She then loosened her grip a little, and did something I really didn’t expect.

She planted a kiss on my cheek.

Luna let me go and smiled. She then picked up the goodie bowl and looked back at me.

“Happy Nightmare Night, Marcus,” she told me before disappearing in a swirl of blue mist

I stood there dumbfounded for a second before going on about my business. I looked at my phone and saw that somepony sent me a message with an attachment

Said attachment was a photo of Rarity and Octavia at CUFTA’s Nightmare Night fashion show. Rarity was dressed in her Audrey Hepburn costume, Octavia was in her Phantom of the Opera costume, and there was a text message under the photo.

“Wish you were here.

XOXO,

Rarity and Octavia.”

I smiled as I saw the picture, and I felt a warmth inside me. Even when those two were having fun, they were still thinking about me.

It was then, when that warm feeling engrossed me, and when I thought about all the good times that I had with Rarity, Octavia and Luna, I realized something:

I loved them, and they loved me.

At least, I hoped they did. I had enough reason to believe they did. I mean, Rarity and Octavia's behavior the other day was peculiar, and Luna just kissed me not a minute ago.

But with that realization came a harsh reality:

I loved three mares, but I could only have one.

Chapter 10: They Love Me, They Love Me Not

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Monday.

The day after Nightmare Night. It was late in the afternoon, and I was still thinking about whether or not Rarity, Octavia, and Luna had feelings for me. At the moment, I was on my way off campus, and from there, I’d wait for a taxi carriage. After some consideration, there was no doubt in my mind that I liked all three mares, but there was still the question of whether or not any of them liked me back. I mean, based on how they’ve all been acting lately, there was enough evidence to make that assumption, but I can’t just go up to them and say “Hey, I’ve noticed this, this, and this about you. Does this mean you like me?”

What guy does that?

Plus, I’ve seen a lot of instances where a guy thinks a girl likes him, but he turned out to just be misreading signs. I didn’t want to put myself in that situation. Imagine how embarrassed I would be if I turned out to be wrong.

Before I asked any questions, I’d have to see if I had enough evidence to go on.

“Okay, let’s start with Rarity,” I thought. “If my memory serves me well, the earliest sign she’s ever shown of liking me was at the Pre-Nightmare Night Festival. After I got out of the haunted house with Octavia, she gave me that Blind Box that had the bracelet in it.”

Was that enough to say that she had feelings for me? Probably not. The Blind Boxes were only ten bits apiece, so they weren’t that expensive. Plus, Rarity was known for her generosity, as she and other ponies keep reminding me.

“But then when she saw me wearing the bracelet the other day, she seemed really… grateful, as though she feared that I’d throw it away.”

That sounded more like a sign. I mean, if I bought a gift like that for one of the mares I liked, I’d feel great if they wore it every day like I did with Rarity’s gift.

“Then there was the fitting two weeks ago. She had no problem with me changing with her in the room, and she was willing to tell me all about her bad date with Blueblood. I’d assume that she’d only share that with someone she trusted. Then when I mentioned that I wouldn’t let a mare close to me get treated badly, she immediately thought that I meant her, and then she quickly added Octavia’s name.”

That was a HUGE red flag. What reason would she have to do that other than to conceal some hidden affection?

With all this in mind, I was about eighty to eighty-five percent sure.

“What about Octavia?” I thought. “When I think about it, she started showing signs before the party, when she asked me to go into the haunted house with her. Well, she asked Rarity to go with her, too, but when Rarity declined, Octavia didn’t even bat an eyelash. She actually looked even more excited than before.”

Okay, that could count as a legitimate sign. As I walked out the front gate, I found a flyer taped to it. After examining the flyer, I saw that it was for the music competition that Octavia told me about, and it reminded me of the day she played that piece for me.

“Hmm, that might be a sign, too. Octavia could’ve asked anyone to listen to her piece,” I thought. “Hell, she could’ve asked one of her fellow music students, ‘cause they would’ve given her a better critique, but instead she asked me. Wait a sec…”

Something on the flyer caught my attention. Apparently, the competition was... only for first and second year students?

“That can’t be right. Octavia’s a third-year, so why would she tell me that she was entering?”

Another red flag.

“Octavia must have wanted an excuse to play music for me. It’s the only answer that makes sense. Plus, she said that she ‘put a lot of consideration’ into the piece. On top of that, she said that she ‘missed spending time with me’.”

Okay, I was now ninety percent sure that Octavia was into me. There was still that ten percent of reasonable doubt, though.

I flagged a cab and got on my way home, and my mind continued to wander as I got closer to the castle.

“Then there’s Luna,” I contemplated. “Up until last night, I thought that all her teasing was just part of her sense of humor, but when she kissed me last night, I brought all of those instances to question. Could that just be her way of showing friendly affection, though? I mean, her older sister is my adoptive aunt, which makes her my aunt, too. I could just be misreading signs, but then again, she seems closer to me than anyone else in the castle. Even though, she's technically family, I still feel an attraction to her.”

I just couldn’t figure Luna out. If I was going to make an educated guess on whether or not she was romantically interested in me, I needed to wait, maybe test the waters a little.

“We’re here, sir. Canterlot Castle,” said the carriage driver.

“Oh, thanks,” I told him absentmindedly as I paid him for the ride. When I entered the castle, I was greeted by my usual guards, and I made my way to my room. As I walked, I decided to put all my thoughts to rest for a while, lest I get a headache.

As I continued down the narrow castle halls, though, I got the feeling that somepony was following me.

Somepony other than my guards.

I heard distant hoofsteps accompanied by the sound of rolling wheels. I then heard a voice call out to me and the guards.

“Excuse me, gentlemen,” the voice called.

The three of us turned around and saw a maid coming our way, Honey Pot, to be exact.

“I’m kind of in a hurry, so pardon my going so fast,” she told us with a smile.

“Sure…” the three of us said as we stepped aside for the mare to pass us. When she passed me, though, she flicked her tail and whipped my butt with it, causing me to jump in surprise. The sneaky mare kept looking forward, as though nothing happen, but I knew that there was a satisfied grin painted on her face. Hell, I could practically see it.

So that was two accounts of sexual harassment in two days. Honey Pot was scaring me more and more each day. Looking at my guards, I could tell that they were about to say something.

"Not one word," I told them.

I finally made it to my room, and I decided to jump into bed before anything else. Unfortunately, a knock on the door interrupted my nap was before it even started. I sighed and looked and went up to my door so see who it was.

“If it’s Honey Pot again, I swear to God I’ll…”

But it wasn’t Honey Pot. It was another mare, a mare that towered over me by a head and a half, a mare that I had made a conscious effort to avoid, a mare that I hadn’t said a word to in weeks.

Auntie Celeste.

I noticed the depressed look on her face. Her eyes were cast off to the side, like she was afraid to look me in the eye.

“May I come in?” she humbly asked. “I’d like to talk to you.”

What was I gonna do? While I was supposed to be avoiding her, I couldn’t just shut the door on her when she came knocking. Just because I was mad at her doesn’t mean that I hated her.

Plus, if she actually came to my room to see me, did this mean what I thought it meant?

I silently let my aunt in, and she took a seat on my bed while I pulled the chair from my desk and sat in front of her. It was at this point that I realized that I eventually would have to speak to her.

“You don’t have to talk right now,” she told me in a soft voice. “Just listen, okay?”

I nodded my head.

“Marcus, I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’ve rarely seen you around the castle as of late,” she started, her eyes still focused on the ground. “We’ve only seen each other three times in two weeks, and each time, you didn’t even say a word to me."

I stayed silent.

"After a while, I started to think that you were doing this on purpose. You certainly had the motivation to do that. I figured that I was just play along until you calmed down, but…”

It was then that Celeste raised her head and looked me in the eye for the first time in a long time. I was taken aback by how red and teary her eyes were, and in my stunned moment, Celeste pulled me into the tightest hug she’d ever given me.

“I just can’t take it anymore, Marcus,” she whimpered. “I miss hearing your voice. I miss seeing you happy. I miss being able to give you hugs and kisses. I can’t play this game anymore! I’ll give you anything you want. I’ll take you off of punishment, I’ll let you see Luna again, and I’ll even let you go wherever you want for however long you want! I just want my nephew back!”

My aunt continued to whimper and snivel; her tears dripped from her face and would either fall on my neck and run down my back, or they would fall on my shirt and get soaked into the fabric. The tears, Celeste’s tears, felt incredibly cold, and I shivered whenever they would fall on my bare skin.

“I’m sorry, Marcus,” she said, her voice barely louder than a whisper. “Please don’t make me suffer anymore.”

This was it. The great Princess Celestia had finally broken. I had won. I outlasted her. This was what I wanted right?

So why... Why did I feel so terrible?

By then, I realized how much damage I had done to my aunt, and I started to feel like the most despicable guy on both worlds. I never intended for this to happen, for my Auntie Celeste to turn into a weeping mess before me. I never expected her to have such an adverse response to my ignoring her. I knew she was attached to me, but not this attached. What’s more, she always seemed like a strong mare that would never break down like this, so seeing her in such a defeated state, it…

it…

It broke my heart.

Auntie Celeste continued to embrace me, my head lying on its side against her shoulder. I let out a sigh and hugged her back.

“It’s okay, Auntie. I forgive you,” I told her, “and I owe you an apology, too. I shouldn’t have been so cold to you. Even when I knew that I was hurting your feelings, I still continued to do it. I didn’t mean for it to get this bad. I was acting like a spoiled brat.”

“Even so,” she said, “I shouldn’t have used the Royal Canterlot Voice on you the night I punished you. I made a promise to myself years ago that I would never use it on a family member under any circumstances, and I broke that promise that night. When I think about how much I yelled and screamed at you, I get so mad at myself. You must have been so scared, Marcus.”

“I brought it on myself, though. You told me not to go to the party and I went anyway. I broke your trust. That would make anyone mad.”

Celeste released me and gave me a smile. “While that may be true, you did have a point when you said that I should have more trust in you.”

“Actually, it was Luna that said that.”

We both shared a laugh, the first laugh we shared in a long time. “Regardless, I’ll try to be less controlling.”

“And I’ll try not to break the rules so much.”

Auntie Celeste laughed again and pulled me in for another hug. “I love you, Marcus, you know that?”

“I do, and I love you too, Auntie Celeste.”

Now there was one mare that I knew loved me for sure.

I didn't care that I beat her anymore. I was just glad to have my Auntie back.

“Now, I’m sure you’ll want to go and tell Luna the good news,” she said. “I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.”

I realized she was right. “Thanks, Auntie! See you later!”

“No problem, Marcus, and don’t worry about me staying in your room. I’ll be right out.”

I nodded my head and walked out of my room. When I passed by the guards, though, I heard sniffling sounds coming from both of them.

Were they crying?

Never mind that. I needed to find Luna. I figured the first place I looked should be her room, so I got on my way. As I was walking, though, I heard voices coming from the throne room. Curiosity overcame me and I peered into the room, looking in to see what was going on.

It turned out that Luna was there, sitting on the throne with her advisor standing next to her. There was also an earth pony standing at the foot of the throne’s staircase.

From where I was standing, he seemed to be rather tall, and he had a rather stocky frame. His coat was a pale shade of red, and his mane and tail were a light grey color. His mane was short and styled up, and despite his distance from me, I saw the unnecessary amount of gel that was in it. His back was turned to me, though, so I couldn’t see what his face looked like.

“So you see, Princess Luna, I am obviously the perfect choice,” he said arrogantly.

“The perfect choice? For what?” I thought.

“I think that you really should consider this stallion, Princess,” said Luna’s advisor. “He seems to be a very good suitor.”

That last word echoed in my head. Suitor? This guy was asking to marry Luna!? But he sounds like a total chump! There’s no way that she’d even think about accepting his offer!

...Right?

Luna cleared her throat and stood up to address her… suitor.

“While you make a… compelling offer, Platinum Vault, I will have to decline,” she told the stallion. “Like I’ve told the suitors that came before you, marriage is not a priority for me at the moment. I’m sorry for all the trouble you went through to see me.”

The stallion stood there stunned, while I silently celebrated outside. Rejected and slightly humiliated, Platinum Vault turned around and left the throne room. Thankfully, he left via the east entrance as opposed to the west entrance, which was where I was hiding. Once he was gone, I peered into the throne room and watched as Luna stepped down from the throne, with her advisor bumbling behind her.

“P-Princess! You’ve turned down yet another potential husband? That’s the fifth one today! Why?” he asked.

“As I’ve told you before, Withers,” the princess explained. “I have no interest in finding a husband right now. It’s been merely two years since my return. Don’t you think I’d rather enjoy my life first before I make such a big step? We go through this nonsense twice a year. What’s the point?”

“It’s tradition, princess.”

“A tradition that I would like to be rid of. Furthermore, why are you harassing me with this frivolity instead of Celestia? Why isn’t she going through this ‘tradition’?”

“Well, Celestia said that she didn’t want to be married just yet.”

“Hmph. So you’ll respect my sister’s wishes, but you won’t respect mine?” she asked coldly, not even bothering to look at Withers. “I will be in my bedchambers.”

Luna walked away from her advisor on her way to her room, and I stood there watching in awe.

Wait, why am I waiting here instead of going to her?

I got up and followed Luna, who was way ahead of me. She always was a fast walker. As I tried to keep up, I wondered why she hadn't told me about this 'suitor' thing before. By the time I had gotten to Luna's room, she was already inside. I knocked on the door and waited for a response.

“Who is it?” she asked with a tired tone.

“It’s Marcus. Can I come in?”

A pause.

“I’m really not in the mood to talk right now.”

“Please, Luna. If something’s bothering you, you know you can tell me.”

I stood there for what seemed like an eternity as I waited for her to answer me.

Assuming that she would answer me, that is.

Chapter 11: Heart to Heart

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“Please let me in, Luna,” I pleaded. “I don’t like to see you upset. You know that.”

I put my ear to the door and listened for some kind of response.

The first thing I heard was a heavy sigh. I’m not sure what that meant, but I hoped for the best.

“You can come in,” she finally said, and I let out a sigh of relief. I opened the door and saw Luna lying face-up in her bed. She had changed out of the dress she was wearing earlier in exchange for something more casual.

Namely some elastic shorts and a t-shirt that said “Best Princess”.

I climbed into Luna’s bed, lying down next to her as she stared at the ceiling.

“I saw what happened in the throne room,” I admitted. “You want to talk about it?”

The princess let out another heavy sigh. “I suppose it would make me feel better if I did.” She turned her head to look at me before continuing. “Marcus, you’re more acclimated to modern society than I am. What’s the general consensus on marriage?”

That was… quite the question. I took a moment before responding; I wanted to answer to the best of my ability.

“Well, I honestly can’t speak for everyone, so I can’t tell you what everyone else thinks, but here’s my view on marriage.”

I paused for a moment before continuing.

“Marriage is when… two individuals, who have been in a steady romantic relationship for a long time, decide to make a vow to each other that… that they’ll stay together for the rest of their lives, committed to each other and only each other.”

Luna scoffed. “Rather profound for a seventeen-year-old. Are you simply regurgitating something you read in a book?”

“I know it sounds like that, but that’s really how I feel.”

“By your definition, then, you must believe that when these two individuals make this vow, it should be made after they have already been romantically involved for a considerable amount of time, yes?”

“Uh-huh.”

“That’s what I thought. Which brings us to the problem I’m having: this tradition of interviewing suitors and simply picking one as my committed husband for life seems archaic and rather ridiculous.”

“I can agree with you on that.”

“I don’t see why Withers makes me go through this routine of looking through all the stallions that just want my hand in marriage for the sole reason of earning a position in the royal family. Why can’t I be with someone that I have a true connection with? A committed relationship is fine, but why rush into marriage so soon? I would rather have a normal romantic relationship with someone I truly loved than an empty marriage with someone with whom I share practically no true connection.”

“What would your ideal relationship be like?” I asked, trying to get her to open up more and let out all her feelings.

Luna laid there and thought about it, and then she said:

“It would be a lot like ours.”

I blushed, not expecting that answer at all. It still piqued my curiosity, though, and I decided to pick her brain a little and see what she meant.

“What kind of relationship do you think we have?”

Luna looked up at the ceiling, pondering my question, and then she looked back at me.

“I think that we have the kind of relationship where… There’s an unconditional trust between us.”

“Explain.”

“Well, I feel like I can tell you anything, no matter what it is. I also feel that you can come to me about anything, too, because that’s how much we trust each other. I feel connected to you on a level where I can tell when something is wrong with you and you can tell when something is wrong with me. We can also be ourselves around each other without feeling self-conscious about it. You like me for who I am, and I like you for who you are.”

She stopped for a second to think again; like there was more she wanted to say.

“Lastly, I feel like we look out for each other. One of us is there to catch the other when they fall. I feel like you would do anything for me, as I would do anything for you.”

Luna looked back up to the ceiling again, wondering if she had anything else to say. She shook her head to herself and looked back at me.

“Yes, that’s the kind of relationship that I think we have.”

I laid there staring at her in awe. I tried to form words, but I failed every time I tried. No one had ever spoken that highly of me before.

Not to my face, at least.

“I never thought you felt that way about me,” I told her.

Luna giggled. “In that case, you don’t give yourself enough credit.”

“I guess not.”

“So, Marcus, do you feel the same way I do? About our relationship, I mean.”

That was a good question. Did I feel the same way about my relationship with her? I wasn’t entirely sure. My first instinct was to say yes, but my conscience told me to think before answering.

Let’s see. I do trust her unconditionally. I do feel like I can tell her anything. I don’t feel self-conscious around her, and I do feel like I would do anything for her.

The only part that I wasn’t sure about was the part about knowing when something was wrong with her. I mean, I only know that she was upset about the whole marriage thing because I happened to see her in the throne room earlier. I’d be completely in the dark if it wasn’t for that.

“Marcus?” Luna said, snapping me out of my thoughts. She looked at me with a fearful face. She had just poured her heart out to me, and here I was, taking forever and a day to respond to her. I had to at least say something.

“Yeah,” I told her. “I think so…”

Luna gave me a satisfied smile, and then she reached out and pulled me into a hug.

“Thank you Marcus. I feel a lot better now.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” I said with a smile, and then the princess let me go.

“Well, I’d hate to leave you, but I need to get going.”

“Really? Where to?”

“I need to see your sister about something.”

Luna tilted her head in confusion. “I thought you were supposed to be avoiding her.”

“Oh right! I forgot to tell you, I’m off punishment. Everything’s all good now.”

She chuckled. “That’s good. In retrospect, I should have suspected as much considering you’re seeing me in person without any guards accompanying you.”

“Yeah, it feels weird now. I was getting used to it.”

“Well, I’ll see you later, then.”

I nodded my head and left Luna’s room, and then I set off for Auntie Celeste’s room. Like I said to Luna a minute ago, I needed to see her sister about something. What was that something?

I needed some advice.

Yeah, I just said that. I needed some advice. Girl advice. From my aunt.

Don’t judge me. It takes a real man to admit that he needs help.

Unfortunately, Celeste’s room was a whole seven-minute walk from Luna’s. In an effort to make the time go by faster, I hummed random songs to myself.

The technique worked at first, but then I came across something that set me back a little.

Wait, did I say “something”? I meant “somepony.” Somepony whose voice sent shivers up my spine when I heard it.

“Marcus! Over here, sweetie!”

I looked behind me and saw that it was none other than Honey Pot who called out to me.

“Fuck!” I thought. “Not her! ANYpony but her!”

I immediately increased my pace, hoping to get away from that crazy cougar of a mare. Once I rounded the nearest corner, I started to run.

Celeste could wait. Getting away from Honey Pot was more important.

I made sure to make as many turns as I could, hoping that she wouldn’t be able to find me, but…

“BOO!”

I yelled in shock as Honey Pot jumped out of a corner and scared me.

“How… How did you…”

The maid flipped her mane smugly and chuckled. “I’ve been a maid at this castle for years. I know it like the back of my hand, so that means I know all the shortcuts.”

Honey Pot then walked closer to me and brought her face uncomfortably close to mine.

“It’s pointless to run from me, Marcus. Cute, yes, but pointless.”

It was then that I caught a whiff of the scent permeating from her mane. It smelled like… coffee? That’s weird. I expected it to smell like honey simply because of her name.

Wait… why the hell should I care!?

I put my hands on Honey Pot’s shoulders and gently pushed her away. “Ever heard of personal space?” I asked. “And since when do you call me by just my name?”

The mare giggled, which made her boobs bounce a little with a nice flop. “Well, I figured that after the intimate moment we shared yesterday, you wouldn’t mind if I was less formal when addressing you.”

I rolled my eyes. “That was anything but intimate.”

“Oh, by the way, did you find my gift?”

“Unfortunately.”

“And what did you do with it?”

“I contemplated burning it at first, but I just hid it somewhere.”

Honey Pot giggled again, and it really started to creep me out. She then got closer to me again and wrapped me in a hug, her large cushions pressing against my chest.

I tried to think of something that would keep me from getting aroused.

“You know,” said Honey Pot, “while I simply love this little game of hard-to-get that you’re playing, part of me I wishes you’d just cut the bullshit and admit you want me, already.”

Well, somepony’s delusional.

“You know… There are ponies of which I’ve heard of. I believe they call them… ‘creepy stalkers’! And there is such a thing called ‘sexual harassment’. Maybe I should just quit running and simply report you.” I threatened turning her own little come-on against her with a stern retort. My patience with this mare was running really thin, really fast.

“Oooooooh~ You’ve suddenly turned into the forceful type. I like that, but please relax, my master. I am simply here to serve you. Perhaps I can… ‘convince’ you to drop your charges if I… help you to relieve the tension that has been plaguing you lately.” Honey spoke with a much softer tone, one that made me feel funny. She then moved her hands to the muscles between my shoulders and began massaging them, which made me breathe much easier as my mind began to get hazy. “Trust me, I know when a man is torn up inside. A mare can feel those things.” she whispered in my ear.

“Aren’t you cold in that skimpy outfit?” I asked trying to change the subject. Luckily for me, I had just managed to suddenly snap out of whatever spell she had just put me under. “It’s November, and all the other maids are wearing coats over their uniforms.”

“Humph. While I appreciate your concern for my health,” she answered with a disappointed tone as she let me go. “I’d rather not cover up my assets.” She then bent forward, showing off the massive valley of cleavage in her dress.

Seriously, it looked like her breasts were about to pop out at any moment.

“Besides, if I covered up, how will you be able to see my beautiful babies? I know you miss them.”

“Trust me, I don’t, and I hope I don’t see them again anytime soon.”

“Oh, come oooooooooon! Stop denying it. Admit it, you know you want another chance to cop a feel.”

“Will you leave me alone?”

She stood there and smirked. “Your lips say ‘leave me alone,’ but your hormones say-”

“‘Go away’.” I finished for her.

“Alright, fine. I’ll go. For now, at least. I’ll see you when I come by your room with your dinner.”

“No you won’t,” I said smugly. “I’m not grounded anymore, so you won’t be taking meals to my room anymore.”

“Heh, I’ll still see you around, sweet cheeks,” she taunted as she passed me by. She tried to smack my butt with her hand, but I anticipated it and caught her by the wrist.

“Cut that shit out. It’s getting old.”

“Ooh, feisty. Honey likes,” she said, licking her lips as deliberately slow as possible. She made sure her tongue made a full round over her chops, coating them with saliva. Her eyes lit up in satisfaction when she noticed me unintentionally follow the movement, to which I cursed myself mentally for.

Ugh, that had to be the most lecherous thing I have ever seen a mare do in front of me, yet! It was like being dumped in a bathtub full of grease! I shuddered and continued walking away from her. The further away I got, the better I felt.

“Oh, and one more thing! Have fun jerking off to my photo, pervert! I know you’ll be doing it every night before you go to bed!” Honey Pot’s voice called out from a distance, ending it with the demonic cackle of a succubus.

Aaand, me feeling better just went down the drain at the mental picture she had just forced on me. Awesome.

I eventually made it to Auntie Celeste’s room, and I knocked on the door once I got there.

“Who is it?” she called out.

“It’s Marcus,” I answered.

“Oh! Come in, sweetie!”

I chuckled at her excitement and walked in. When I entered, I saw my aunt reading a book in her bed.

“What’cha reading?”

“Oh, it's just a romance novel that your mother introduced me to.”

“Really? What’s it about?”

Celeste closed the book and cleared her throat. “Actually, it’s best if you don’t know. It’s not very appropriate.”

I raised an eyebrow at that? What kind of romance book would be inappropriate for me?

Then I remembered: my mom was into those erotic fiction novels, so with that in mind…

There’s no way she got Auntie Celeste into that kind of literature, too!

I sighed inwardly and walked up to my aunt, taking a seat next to her on the bed. “Listen, Auntie. I need to talk to you about something. Something serious.”

Celeste’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, really?” she asked. “What is it?”

I sighed nervously. “Before I tell you anything… promise me you won’t tell anypony about it.”

“I promise,” she vowed.

“Okay…” I said as I prepared to tell her about my dilemma. “There are these three mares that I really like, each for different reasons, and I don’t know which one I like the most.”

“Torn between three mares, I see. If I may make a guess, those mares that were with you at the party, are they two of the three?”

I blinked in surprise. “Um… yeah.”

“And the third mare is Honey Pot, right?”

I felt my eye twitch when I heard that. “What!? No! It’s somepony else!”

“Oh really?” she asked, surprised. “Then who?”

“It’s… um…”

What was I gonna tell her? That I had a crush on her little sister, who was my aunt-by-adoption? Something told me that she wasn’t going to take it well. Even if I tried to explain to her that I didn’t even see her as my aunt, that wouldn’t help at all. I sat there silently, wondering what I was going to say.

“It’s okay, Marcus,” Celeste crooned, putting an arm around me and pulling me into her shoulder. “You can tell me. I promise I won’t judge you, whoever this mare happens to be.”

I sat there, my head rested against my aunt’s shoulder. The feeling of her silky coat against the side of my face did well to ease my nervousness, but I was still scared to tell her that I liked Luna.

“What if I told you,” I said quietly, “that the third mare I liked… was your little sister?”

No response.

This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all. She wasn’t saying anything. She must have been absolutely disgusted with me. What was I thinking!?

Just then, I felt Celeste put her other arm around me, and she softly embraced me.

“I wouldn’t be mad at you,” she whispered.

“Really?” I asked in disbelief. “You don’t have any problem with it? I mean, she’s my aunt. It would be the same as having feelings for you.”

“While something like this is rather… unheard of, and while I’m not one hundred percent comfortable with the idea, at the end of the day, I can’t tell you who you can and can’t have feelings for. That isn’t my right.”

Well, while she didn’t say that she was completely on-board with the idea, I still felt that sense of support that I was hoping to get.

“Would you have a problem if I ever decided to choose all three?”

“Of course not, Marcus. However, if you want my honest opinion, I think you’d be better off in a monogamous relationship.”

I looked up at her with a questioning face. “Really? Why?”

“While it is true that having multiple partners isn’t uncommon in Equestria, a romantic bond is stronger when shared between just two partners, in my opinion. You’re the only ones that matter to each other, and your love for each other will be much stronger because of it.”

I reflected on what Celeste just said, and she had a point. I had said something similar to Luna not too long ago, but hearing it from someone else made me think about it on a deeper level.

“Also,” Celeste continued, “I feel that you only want to be with all three mares because you don’t want to hurt any of their feelings.”

“Well, yeah,” I said with a matter-of-fact tone.

My aunt sighed. “Unfortunately, Marcus, that’s not a very good reason.”

“Why not?”

“There are times in life where you have to make choices, choices which, no matter what you decide, will end up hurting someone. I’ve been a princess for over one thousand years, and I’ve been in this situation many a time. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from those experiences, it’s that if you try to please Everypony, you’ll ultimately end up pleasing nopony, especially yourself.”

“That sucks…”

Celeste nodded. “Yes, it does, but it’s a part of life that we all must deal with. If it’s any reassurance, I’m certain that if Rarity, Octavia, and Luna like you as much as you like them, they’ll be happy for you no matter which of the three you choose.”

A pause.

“Are you sure?” I asked, looking up at my aunt.

She looked down at me and smiled. “I’m positive.”

Just then, I realized something.

“Wait, how do you know Rarity and Octavia’s names?” I asked.

Celeste merely chuckled. “I’m well acquainted with both mares. Octavia’s ensemble played at the Grand Galloping Gala about a year and a half ago. As for Rarity, she’s a close friend of a former student of mine.”

“Really?”

“That’s right. She’s even helped to save Equestria on multiple occasions.”

“What!? You’re lying!”

“Nope. Despite this, though, her and her friends’ contributions usually go unnoticed.”

Great. As if I didn’t have enough of an inferiority complex among my peers.

“That aside, I think the best thing you can do is be honest an up-front about your feelings. I don’t know about human females, but when it comes to us mares, we prefer the direct approach.”

“And how do I do that?”

Celeste smiled and put her finger on my nose. “You’ll have to figure that out on your own, nephew. I can’t give you all the answers.”

While I was a little frustrated at that, I couldn’t deny that she had a point. I couldn’t just have all the answers handed to me. This was a problem that I needed to figure out on my own.

“I guess you’re right,” I admitted.

“That’s what I like to hear,” Celeste said with a smile. “Oh, and in regard to Luna, she’ll be an exception to the ‘direct approach’ that I just mentioned. I think you should take some time to truly figure out how you feel about her before you admit anything to her.”

“I thought you said that you weren’t going to give me all the answers.”

“Well, I won’t give you any more answers starting now,” she giggled, and she gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey! Don’t do that!” I protested.

“What? I figured that since we’re on good terms again, we could return to that ‘five hugs, three kisses’ deal we had going on.”

“Celeste…” I growled.

“Okay, okay, how about three hugs and two kisses?”

I sat there grumbling. There was no way I was getting out of this.

“Fine,” I conceded. “Oh, I was wondering, why did you think that I liked Honey Pot?”

“Oh… I just had a hunch,” she said suspiciously. “Oh, and I also found this photo in your room.”

Celeste waved a picture in front of me, which she seemed to grab out of nowhere, and my pupils shrank when I saw what it was.

It was the picture that Honey Pot gave me on Nightmare Night.

“I figured that you’d harbor feelings for your ‘kinky kitty’,” Celeste teased. “So, how did you even get this picture from her?”

I grunted in embarrassment and frustration. “All I did was ask her to run an errand for me, and now she thinks that I have a thing for her. I don’t see how getting a bowl of Nightmare Night candy would make her believe-”

“Okay, I get the gist.” Celeste then leaned in closer to me. “Be honest with me, though, did you have some fun with this picture last night?”

I immediately moved away from my aunt and got off of her bed. The notion! The very notion that she thought that I would sit down and stare perversely at that photo, take off my pants, and grab my… Aaaaaaargh! Even Honey Pot made fun of me in that way not fifteen minutes ago!

“That’s it, I’m out of here!” I said, throwing my hands up.

“Oh, come on! I’m just teasing! It’s fine if you do, though. Everyone likes to get in touch with themselves from time to time!”

“LALALALALALALALALALALALA! I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!!”

“Do you at least want the picture back?”

“You can keep it!” I yelled as I ran out the door and closed it behind me.

“Ah, boys,” I heard Celeste reminisce from inside her room. “They’re so easy to tease! Maybe I should give this picture to Luna and let her have some fun with it!” she told herself.

Oh God, no. Anything but that. As if Luna didn't have enough to tease me about! She would have a field day with that picture!

Just when we were having a nice, heartwarming moment, Celeste had to fuck it all up with that picture. I thought she told me that she wasn’t going to stay in my room for long!

Maybe I should have burned that picture, because I’m starting to think that I might be cursed.

Chapter 12: Up-Front and Honest

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“What a great piece, Marcus! Excellent work, as always.”

“Thanks, Professor,” I said gratefully. “I took a bit of a risk using charcoal to draw this, but I think it worked out in my favor.”

“It certainly did!” my professor agreed. “My only critique would be to have a wider range of values. Try different degrees of gray in order to make the piece more visually dynamic.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I chuckled as I left the professor’s office and returned to my table where Rarity was also sitting.

“So what did he think?” she asked.

“You know Professor Draft. He’s always praising me, no matter that I do.”

“It’s like he worships the ground you walk on.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You say that like he doesn’t do the same to you.”

“Well, we are the top two students in his Drawing 101 class. It’s only natural.”

“We’ll see. You still have yet to show him your project.”

“Rarity, you’re up next!” Professor Draft called from his office, which was where he gave his critiques to students. The tall, thin, purple-coated pegasus sat in his rolling chair by his office doorway.

“Wish me luck, darling!” she said as she got up and walked towards the office. I couldn’t help but look at her rear as she walked.

She had on a pair of black skinny jeans, a strong contrast to her white coat. They hugged tightly against her lower body, making every curve visible to me, especially her wide, childbearing hips. I wondered if she knew how those jeans made her look. She couldn’t have been dressing like that deliberately, could she?

Nah, she’s too classy for that.

Back to what I was saying, Rarity’s tail swished back and forth along with her hips, and they swayed in opposite directions.

Hips moved left, tail moved right. Hips moved right, tail moved left.

I was practically hypnotized, and I glued my eyes to what I was looking at.

It made my head go dizzy as I undressed that lower half with my eyes. Her thighs entranced me with their immense volume as their voluptuous forms shifted gracefully, the skin thick yet bouncy. And that only made her magnificent buttocks pop out even more, its perfect inner arcs beginning high and near the tail and the outer curves spread wide apart, making her ass look big, yet tight.

What? I’m an artist. I have a natural eye for detail.

I normally didn’t do this, but since I’ve come to terms with how I felt about Octavia and Rarity, I‘ve gotten more comfortable with staring at them on occasion.

Just so long as they didn’t catch me.

Once Rarity went into Professor Draft’s office, my mind began to go off into its own little world again.

It’s been three days since I talked to Auntie Celeste about my feelings. Since then, I had been contemplating what I should do to admit my feelings to Rarity and Octavia. On top of that, I’ve been trying to figure out my feelings for Luna. I mean, I did find her attractive, and I did feel some sort of connection with her, but was it a romantic connection or a platonic one?

I still hadn’t figured it out.

I decided to put that concern aside for now and instead focus on the mares that I knew I liked. How was I going to tell them that I had feelings for both of them? There had to be some kind of solutio-

My train of thought was interrupted when Rarity left the professor’s office with a dejected look on her face.

“Oh, no,” I thought. “This can’t be good.”

Rarity trudged across the room and took her seat next to me, letting out a long sigh.

“What happened?” I asked concernedly.

“He didn’t like it,” she admitted, but then, after a long pause, she cracked a smile.

“He LOVED it!” she said with glee. “He said it was my best piece yet!”

“I don’t think he said all that,” I teased. “You’re probably just over-exaggerating again.”

“Are you questioning my artistic ability, Marcus Cortez?”

“Maybe I am. What of it?”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Oh be quiet, you,” she said dismissively as I triumphantly grinned at her.

Just then, Professor Draft walked out of his office and called the class’s attention.

“Alright everyone! Class is about to end, so I need your attention for a moment. I’ve looked at all your pieces, and I have to say that I’m really impressed. Tomorrow, we’ll do a group critique so you all can get some feedback from your peers. I’ll see you all tomorrow!”

With that, the professor dismissed us, and we all flooded out of the room. Rarity and I walked to her and Octavia’s room and made some small talk along the way.

“So tell me again how your aunt revoked your punishment,” she requested. “You weren’t very specific when you told me and Octavia two days ago.”

“There wasn’t really much to go into, Rarity. Celestia told me that she thought about it and decided that a month-long punishment was a little too harsh, so she let me off. Not much more to it than that.”

What? Did you expect me to tell her that my aunt turned into a crying mess and begged me to stop ignoring her? I couldn’t sully Auntie Celeste’s reputation like that. She had a status to uphold.

“I can’t help but think that there’s something you’re not telling me…” Rarity said, more to herself than to me.

“Well, you’ll never find out if your hunch is true or not.”

“You are incorrigible.”

“Being incorrigible is one of my best qualities.”

Rarity playfully scoffed as we reached her room. Once she unlocked the door, we walked in and saw Octavia sitting at the center table drinking some tea.

“Oh, hello, you two. How was class?” she asked.

“Same old, same old,” I answered.

“Professor Draft gave us high marks on our projects, as usual,” Rarity added. From there, she and Octavia started talking about Rarity’s piece while I sank into thought again.

Like I said before, I still hadn’t decided how I was gonna tell Rarity and Octavia that I liked them. So far, the only thing I was sure about was that I was going to tell them both at the same time. That would make the process a lot faster and a lot less troublesome.

So how was I going to tell them?

I maintained a calm appearance, but inside I was incessantly racking my brain. I didn’t know what to do, and trying to come up with a solution was practically killing me!

“Okay. Relax, Marcus. Just think back to what Auntie said…………………. What did she say?”

I thought back to three days ago, and tried to remember what Celeste told me.

“Everyone likes to get in touch with themselves from time to time!”

No, that definitely wasn’t it. It was something else, something about what mares prefer…

“I don’t know about human females, but when it comes to us mares, we prefer the direct approach.”

That was it! The direct approach! It was then that I realized what I had to do: cut the bullshit and just tell them up-front.

“Marcus? Are you okay?” Octavia asked suddenly.

“Huh?”

“Well, you just seem to be really… distant right now.”

“Oh, no. I’m fine,” I reassured her.

“Is there something on your mind, darling?” Rarity asked.

I paused. Was this the right time to come out and say it? I mean, I was just practically given an invitation to tell them what was on my mind.

Maybe I should wait a liiiiittle longer…

No! Now was as good a time as any!

“Well, there was something that I’ve been thinking about for a while now,” I admitted.

“Would you like to talk about it?” Octavia asked, and I nodded my head in response.

I took a seat between the earth mare and the unicorn at the table, mentally preparing myself for what I was about to tell them.

“So, what’s been troubling you, sweetness?” Rarity asked.

I paused and took a deep breath. Here goes nothing…

“Well, I was just thinking about the three of us,” I explained. “I know we’ve only known each other for about two months now, but… would you two consider me to be… close to you?”

Rarity and Octavia gave me surprised looks.

“Why, of course you’re close to us, darling!”

“What would make you think otherwise?”

I let out a sigh of relief. “Nothing. Just wondering.”

“Well, do you feel the same way about us?” Octavia inquired.

I hesitated for a second and put my head down. This was it, the point of no return. I couldn’t turn back now, not after I’ve come so close.

I took another deep breath and lifted my head.

“You could say that,” I answered. “I do feel like we are close, and I do feel something else.”

“Like what?” Rarity asked, her head tilted to the side.

Seeing her in that cute stance made me smile, and it eased my fear a little bit. “See, the thing is… I sort of…”

“Sort of…?” the two mares asked in unison.

“I sort of… have feelings for you… both of you.”

Silence.

A long, awkward silence.

I hung my head down again. I was too scared to look at Rarity or Octavia, and I imagined the looks on their faces. There was no doubt in my mind that they were surprised, to some degree, but the dead silence didn’t give me any clues as to what other emotions they were feeling.

It was at this point where I started to panic.

Without even thinking, I said the first thing that came to my mind.

“You don’t have to give me a response now,” I said blindly. “Maybe I could take each of you out sometime and we can talk about it then. I mean, they don’t have to be dates or anything, just-”

Just then, I felt a comforting hand on my shoulder. I looked to my right and saw it was Octavia’s hand that I felt. The earth mare gave me a reassuring smile, and then she spoke.

“That would be great, Marcus,” she said.

“Indeed,” added Rarity, and she put her hand on my shoulder as well. “It would be nice for each of us to spend some alone time with you.”

I felt a smile slowly grow on my face, and I felt an enormous weight being lifted off my shoulders. I began to wonder what I was worried about, and I also realized why Auntie Celeste wanted me to be direct:

Even if Rarity and Octavia didn’t like me back, they still cared about me, and they would never try to hurt my feelings.

“So, when are you going to take us out?” Octavia asked.

“Huh?”

“You just said a minute ago that you would take each of us out, did you not?” Rarity reminded me.

Shit. I did say that.

“Um… how about Saturday?” I suggested.

“That sounds nice. How about you, Octavia?”

“I have no qualms with it. It sounds like a good day to me.”

“Then it’s settled!” Rarity declared. “So, how does this sound? Marcus, you and I can spend the morning and early afternoon together, and then you can spend the rest of the day with Octavia. By the end of the day, you’ll know how we feel about you.”

“I guess that could be arranged,” I said with a nervous chuckle. “So I guess I’ll see you two on Saturday, then.”

Both mares nodded their heads, and I awkwardly left the room, closing the door behind me.

“Oh, God,” I said quietly to myself. “That was stressful. Oh well, at least they didn’t reject me.”

Something that Rarity said stuck with me, though.

“By the end of the day, you’ll know how we feel about you.”

Why would she say that? I mean, if neither she nor Octavia had feelings for me, then wouldn’t they have declined my offer to take them out? Was this already a sign that they, in fact, DID like me back, or did they just accept my offer so they could spare my feelings, and then they’d let me down gently on Saturday.

You know what? No. Just… no. I’ve done enough thinking for one day. I’ll just stop worrying and take things as they come. Whatever happens, I’ll just deal with it accordingly.

It was three in the afternoon by the time I got home, and I decided to head to Auntie Celeste’s room. I was gonna have to tell her that I’d be out all day Saturday.

Come to think of it, this was gonna be my first time telling her that I’d be going out with a mare (or in my case, mares). I wondered how she was going to react.

Hopefully, she won’t take it the wrong way.

I really wasn’t looking forward to the long walk to Celeste’s room, but luckily, I ran into her in one of the hallways.

“Oh! I see that you’re home, Marcus,” she said with a smile, and she pulled me into a hug.

“Hello to you, too, Auntie,” I replied.

“How was school?”

“Pretty good. I finally told Rarity and Octavia how I felt.”

Celeste’s face brightened when she heard that. “Really? Oh, I’m so proud of you, Marcus! You’re finally confronting your problems like a man!”

“Thanks, Auntie… Wait, what do you mean, ‘finally’?”

“Oh nothing. So, how did the lovely ladies react?”

“Well, they didn’t really say whether or not they felt the same, but I’m gonna be going out with them on Saturday; Rarity in the morning, and then Octavia in the afternoon.”

“So… you’re taking them out on dates?”

“Well, sort of. You could say that. Why?”

“Oh, nothing. I’m just getting used to the fact that you’ll be dating, that’s all. Seems like just yesterday I met your parents for the first time, and you were still inside your mother’s womb.”

“You mean the day you tumbled off the roof and landed in the bushes with the grace that only an alicorn princess could possess?”

“Don’t make me ground you again,” Celeste joked.

“Okay, okay, but can I ask something of you?”

“Of course, Marcus. What is it?”

“Could you not follow us around like last time?”

Auntie Celeste gave me a confused look. “What are you talking about?”

“You mean you don’t remember the day I went to the museum with Rarity and Octavia and you kept tailing us?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sure you don’t.”

“Regardless, I think this is a good sign!”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Rarity and Octavia agreed to go out with you, so they must have at least some interest in you. They’re probable testing the waters to see if you’re right for them, or maybe they already like you!”

A smile grew on my face when Celeste said that.

At that point, Celeste and I had reached her office, where she had a lot of paperwork to get through, according to her.

“Well, I’d better get to work,” she told me. “I need to at least put a dent in this paperwork by tonight.”

“Don’t let me keep you, then.”

“Princess Celestia!” somepony called suddenly. My aunt and I turned around to see who was calling her, and I nearly heaved when I saw that it was none other than-

“Honey Pot?” my aunt asked.

“Fuck my life,” I whispered under my breath, only to receive a swift, yet firm strike on my shoulder from Celeste, who obviously heard me despite my hushed voice.

She may have been a pony, but she had ears like a bloodhound.

“You have a message for me, I presume?” she asked Honey Pot.

“Yes. Your three-o-clock appointment with the mayor of Maresachusetts tomorrow has been moved to four-o-clock.”

“I see. Thank you, Honey Pot. You’re dismissed.”

“Yes, Princess,” the maid said with a bow. As she did so, she looked up at me with a deceivingly warm smile. “Oh! Hello, Marcus,” she said.

“Oh, are you two familiar with each other?” Celeste asked, feigning ignorance.

“Yes, Princess,” Honey answered as she stood back up. “I used to bring him his meals. He insisted that I simply call him by his first name, and I happily obliged."

I narrowed my eyes as I looked down at the mare, who was shorter than me by a few inches.

How come I never noticed that?

It must have been her intimidating and seductive nature that made me picture her as a taller mare.

“Well, it’s nice to see that my nephew is getting familiar with the staff. Don’t let me keep you from your other duties, though.”

“Of course, princess,” Honey said with another bow. “I’ll see you around, Marcus.”

With that, the mare happily left me and Celeste, and my eye twitched as I tried to process what just happened.

“What was that!?” I asked my aunt the minute Honey Pot was out of earshot.

“What?”

“You know that’s the same mare that gave me a picture of her barely clothed, right? The same mare that’s been stalking me, right?”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Marcus. She just likes you.”

“I know that! The problem is that she is way too forceful!”

Celeste sighed. “You ever think that she’s like that because you keep pushing her away? I know you don’t feel the same way for her, but you don’t have to be so mean. Some mares take that as denial. Maybe if you were a little nicer, she’d get the hint.”

“Easier said than done.”

“Don’t worry about it so much. I'm sure she's a reasonable mare.”

Celeste crouched a little and kissed me on the cheek before going into her office.

I shivered. Not because I was cold, but because I feared for my safety.

Chapter 13: The Dates - Part One [Know Your History]

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“I’m not wearing a tie!”

“Come on, Marcus! Stop being so stubborn! You want to impress the ladies, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s not like I’m taking either them to a five-star restaurant!”

“Would it kill you to take some pride in your appearance?”

“I take plenty of pride in my appearance!”

It was Friday night, the night before I was supposed to go out with Rarity and Octavia on separate… dates, for lack of a better word. Auntie Celeste offered to help me pick out some clothes for the occasion, and I figured that having her with me to provide a second opinion would help a little.
 As you can tell, I was sorely mistaken.

Celeste insisted that I wear a tie, but I objected to the idea, and we’ve been going back and forth about it for about three minutes.

“Come on, Marcus. You’re being ridiculous. They already know that you like them, so it’s not like you’ll look bad for going the extra mile.”

“I thought you told me that I needed to make my own choices,” I retorted.

“I never said that!” Celeste objected.

“Well, you said something along those lines!”

Celeste let out a frustrated grunt. “You know what? I give. You win, Marcus. Don’t wear the tie.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” I said in exasperation, and resumed picking out my clothes.

I decided on an orange, long-sleeved T-shirt with a dark blue down jacket to be worn over it, along with bluish-black jeans and dark blue sneakers.

“What do you think?” I asked Celeste.

“Eh, it’s decent enough. You’ll need something to top it off, though.”

“Like what?”

“Hang on. I’ve got just the thing.”

Celeste lit up her horn, and a small box appeared in her hands.

“I’ve had this for a while,” she explained. “This was going to be one of your Hearth’s Warming gifts from me, but I think you need it now more than ever.”

“What’s ‘it’?”

“Here, open the box.”

Eh, what the hell. I took the box from Celeste and opened it to see what was inside.

“A bottle of cologne?” I asked in confusion. “It’s not enchanted, is it? I don’t want to involve magic into this.”

“Love is magic, Marcus,” she playfully swooned and I rolled my eyes at her cliché remark, “but to answer your question, no. This isn’t enchanted, it’s just really expensive. The commercials said that it practically turns the user into a mare magnet.”

“You have no idea how advertising works, do you? Haven’t you heard of a little something called embellishment?”

“Well, I thought it smelled nice. Besides, it won’t hurt to use a little spritz of it.”

I looked at the bottle with an unsure face. “I guess...” I put the bottle on my nightstand and hung up my clothes.

“Do you want those clothes ironed for you by one of the maids?” Celeste asked.

“Can you guarantee that Honey Pot won’t end up being the maid ironing them?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll iron them myself.”

“I thought you were going to try and be nicer to Honey.”

“I’m working on it. I’m not gonna turn into her best friend overnight.”

Celeste rolled her eyes. “Well, you seem to be all set, so I’ll let you get some sleep before your big day tomorrow.”

“Yeesh, you make it sound like I’m getting married.”

My aunt looked back at me with a sly expression on her face. “You never know. Maybe that’s what it’ll eventually come to, if you get lucky.”

I froze when I heard that. The thought of marrying one of the mares I liked never crossed my mind. Not that I found it unappealing, mind you. I just never thought about it until Auntie Celeste brought it up.

“Helooooo~” she said as she snapped her fingers in front of my face. “I was only kidding. I wasn’t expecting you to fall into deep thought about it.”

“Sorry. You know I do that sometimes.”

“I know, but you do it at the most unexpected of times. Well, I’ll get out of your hair, for now. Goodnight!”

“’Night.”

With Celeste out of my room, I jumped into my bed and drifted off to sleep.

“Marcus?”

“Luna? Is that you?”

“Who were you expecting?”

“No one in particular. Anyway, would you mind showing yourself? I’d like to see who I’m talking to.”

“I suppose so.”

A familiar blue smoke appeared and a tall silhouette appeared inside of it, which was obviously Luna. I rolled my eyes at her bravado.

“I know we’re in the dream world, but is all this really necessary?”

“I guess not,” Luna said, and the smoke immediately disappeared, leaving behind the tall, dark blue-coated alicorn princess. “You sure do know how to spoil a mare’s fun.”

“It’s a gift. Anyway, what brings you here?”

“Well, I have a proposition for you,” Luna explained. “I know you have feelings for your friends Rarity and Octavia, and I also know that you’re going out with them tomorrow, so I-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Back up! How do you know that? You can’t just zoom past that like it was no big deal.”

Luna sighed. “Okay, I maaaaay have looked into your dreams for the past few nights.”

“What!? Why!?”
 “I was… curious,” she mumbled sheepishly. “Besides, it’s my responsibility to watch over the dreams of all the citizens of Equestria, but that’s neither here nor there.”

“Then where is it?” I asked with a stupid smile.

After giving me the “are you serious” look, Luna continued to speak. “As I was trying to say, once you return home from your outings, I was wondering if you’d like to go dreamwalking with me that night.”

“Dreamwalking?”

“That’s how I look into the dreams of others. Well, that’s my name for it, at least.”

“And you can take me with you?”

“Yes, and it’s quite simple, actually, but I’ll spare you the explanation. So, is it a date?”

“A… date?” I asked in disbelief.

 “Yeah, a date,” she answered with a determined smirk. “I don’t want to lose you to one of those college mares.”

I’ve never seen such a competitive side of Luna before. “Wait, does this mean you… have feelings for me?”

The princess tilted her head to one side. “Was that not clear before?”

“Before?”

“When we were talking about the significance of marriage, remember? I told you that I simply wanted a steady romantic relationship, and I told you that my ideal relationship would be like the one we had.”

I blinked, "That was not clear in any sense of the word, Luna. I didn’t really catch the implication that you liked me that way.”

Luna gave a frustrated sigh. “I suppose I need some more help with modern courtship. In any case, do you accept my offer, Marcus?”

“Sure. It’s a date, Luna,” I nodded.

“Perfect!” the princess said happily. “Meet me in my room tomorrow night, okay?”

“Sure.”

Luna gave me a smile and disappeared with a poof, and then everything went white.

I woke up the next morning well rested and ready to take on the day. I looked at the clock on my nightstand, which read six-thirty AM. I was supposed to meet Rarity in the city square at eight, so that gave me an hour and a half to get ready and go meet her. I already had my clothes picked out, so that gave me plenty of time to eat my breakfast, brush my teeth, shower, get dressed, and get to the town square. By the time I was ready to leave the castle, it was quarter after seven.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to head to the square a little early,” I thought. “Who knows what traffic is gonna be like.”

I started to walk towards the door, but then I got this nagging feeling that I was forgetting something. I turned around and the first thing that caught my eye was the bottle of cologne that Auntie Celeste gave me the night before. I walked back to the table that the bottle was sitting on and picked the bottle up, using two sprays of the cologne on my neck. I figured that that would suffice for today. With that done, and nothing else to do, I left my room and began my walk down the hallway. On my way to the castle entrance, I ran into Auntie Celeste.

“Marcus!” she greeted happily. “There you are! I was just heading to your room to see you before you left. It’s a good thing I caught you.” She then took a whiff of the air around me and sighed contently. “Ahh, you smell heavenly. I told you that cologne was a good idea.”

“Just because you like it doesn’t mean that Rarity and Octavia will,” I remind her.

“Marcus, would it kill you to be at least a little bit optimistic? I’m sure they’ll love it!”

“If you say so…”

“Oh! Before I forget, I’ve got something for you.” Celeste lit up her horn, and a small card appeared in her hand. When she handed it to me, I saw that it was a credit card.

“I’ve decided to give you this to use for today only,” she explained. “Use the opportunity to treat the mares to something nice, okay? I’ll pay for everything.”

“Really?” I asked in disbelief. “Are you sure?”

“Of course! Just don’t tell Blueblood that I gave this to you. He’ll throw a fit if you do, and that’s one headache I’d rather not have.”

“You got it, Auntie.”

Celeste smiled and pulled me into yet another one of her infamous vicegrip hugs, and then she gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“Good luck today, sweetie. Hopefully I won’t be the only mare that’s kissed you by the time you come home.”

“I hope so, too,” I chuckled.

“Go get ‘em, ladykiller.”

Auntie Celeste and I had another laugh and parted ways, with me heading out the castle and with her going… wherever the hell she was going.

What? I never bothered to ask.

After I left the castle, I caught a taxi carriage to the city square, which was where I was supposed to meet Rarity. It turned out that I made a good choice in going early, because there was quite a bit of traffic. In spite of that, I still made it to my destination with fifteen minutes to spare.

I decided to wait for Rarity by the fountain, and I sat right on its edge as I contemplated what I had planned for today. Since Auntie Celeste had given me a credit card to use, and since she was paying for everything, I could take Rarity to a nicer restaurant rather than the modest diner I originally planned to take her to. Then I thought of Octavia. After Rarity and I finished our date at two-o-clock this afternoon, I was to meet Octavia in this exact location at two-fifteen so that I could start my date with her.

Just then, I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of somepony calling me.

“Marcus! Yoo-hoo!”

I looked in the direction that the voice was coming from, and I smiled when I saw Rarity approaching me.

She was wearing a dark purple autumn dress with a black jacket over it. Her jacket had purple-furred cuffs and her hat was a matching purple. She also wore black stockings and purple boots, which struck me as weird, since ponies always walked on their bare hooves, save for special occasions like the Grand Galloping Gala. Oddly enough, this type of ensemble only served to excite me as I looked her over from head to toe. The dress covered most of her body, but it hugged her curves perfectly and pretty much complimented her figure. The whole waist and hips area made itself quite noticeable with its magnitude and so did the small elliptic hole, which grabbed my attention with its subtle cleavage area, and the whole stocking/boots combo gave her a classy yet badass presence.

To put it in layman's terms, she looked like one hot babe right now! Total knock-out!

I couldn’t help but smile at the realization that Rarity considered this to be a special occasion.

“How are you, Marcus?” she asked, and then she took a whiff of the air around me. "Wow… you smell very… fragrant today."

“I’m doing well,” I answered, "and thanks for the compliment."

Okay, I'll give this one to Celeste. She was right about the cologne.

I continued to look at Rarity's outfit, still captivated by its beauty.

“Oh, so you like my ensemble?” she asked, noticing what my gaze was directed at. “I was worried that it made my hips look too big.”

I smirked. I had gotten good at knowing when Rarity was fishing for compliments.

“They look great, Rarity,” I said, humoring her. I figured that I should give what she was so obviously asking for.

“So, where are you taking me, if I may ask?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about it, and I figured that I could take you to the Royal Canterlot Gardens.”

“Really? That sounds great, darling!”

“Have you ever been there before?”

“Well, when I was a filly, I went there on a class field trip, but I haven’t been there since. I probably won’t even recognize anything there.”

“That’s good enough for me,” I said, content that going to the Royal Gardens would be somewhat of a new experience for her.

Rarity and I caught a taxi to the castle, and we walked around back to where the gardens were.

“So, Rarity,” I said as we walked. “My aunt tells me that you’re somewhat of a heroine.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t be coy,” I chuckled. “I’m talking about the fact that you bear one of the… what are they called again?”

The unicorn giggled amusedly. “The Elements of Harmony,” she told me.

“Right. That’s what they’re called. So, tell me about that.”

Instead of answering me, Rarity looked at our surroundings, and she located the east entrance to the castle. “If we go through there, I can show you.”

Curious as to what she meant by that, I took her up on her offer, and we approached the entrance, where two guards were stationed.

The guard on the right was the first to greet me. “Good morning, Sir Marc- I mean, young human that I’ve never met before.”

I chuckled. “It’s alright, Iron Javelin. This mare knows that I’m in the royal family. You don’t mind if we enter, do you?”

“Not at all, sir!” he said as he let me and Rarity in. As she and I walked down the hall, we could hear the guards bickering outside.

“Nice going, dumbass! What if she didn’t know that Sir Marcus was a royal!?”

“It just slipped my mind for a second! Don’t throw a fit over it!”

Rarity giggled at their banter. “And here I thought the royal guards had no personalities.”

“Those are only the elites that accompany Celestia when she goes out on royal business,” I explained. “The rest of them are a lot more… lively, for lack of a better word. Anyway, what was it that you wanted to show me? I don’t think I’ve ever been to this part of the castle.”

“Haven’t you lived here since August?”

“As long as I know where the dining room is, where my room is, and where all the bathrooms are, I’m good.”

Rarity giggled again, which satisfied me since I loved making her giggle. She made the cutest sounds when she did so.

“Well, the thing I want to show you is in one of these hallways… here it is!”

We had reached a narrow hallway adorned with stained glass windows on either side.

“The windows depict important moments in Equestrian history. The window that I want to show you is about halfway down the hall.”

Once we reached said window, I looked at it, and was surprised to see that Rarity was in the picture depicted on it. She was wearing some sort of necklace with a diamond-shaped gem on it, and she was in a circle with five other mares, with a larger mare in the center of the circle. After further examination, I realized that the large mare was…

“Nightmare Moon?” I said in awe.

“Yes, that’s her,” Rarity answered. “It was two years ago. The six mares surrounding her are me and my friends. We used the Elements of Harmony to purify her and turn her back into Princess Luna. There was even a nice celebration in Ponyville afterward. You should have been there.”

I chuckled. “Actually, I was there. It was the only time I had ever been to Equestria before moving here. I actually met Luna at that party.”

“Oh really? I wonder why we didn’t at least run into each other… Then again, we didn’t know each other back then, so maybe we did see each other and didn’t even know it.”

“Maybe. So, are you in any of these other windows?”

“Just one,” she answered, and she took me to the next window. “This was when my friends and I used the Elements to turn Discord to stone.”

“Wow, who knew that you were such an important historical figure.”

“I know sarcasm when I hear it, Marcus.”

“I was only being half-sarcastic. I do think it’s cool that you’re somewhat of a hero. It’s like something out of a TV show.”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “I don’t know about all that. Let’s get back to the gardens, shall we?”

I smiled. “We shall.”

When we reached the entrance, we saw that one guard was stationed there. “Go on in, Rarity,” I tell the mare beside me. “I’ll catch up.”

“Um… okay,” she obliged hesitantly. When she walked in, I approached the guard with a serious face.

“You know Honey Pot, right?” I asked him.

“Short mare, big boobs, has a thing for humans? Yeah, I know her.”

“Make sure she doesn’t come within fifty yards of this place. I can’t have her messing this up. Got it?”

“Yessir!” the guard said with a salute.

“Good,” I said, and I walked into the gardens to catch up with Rarity.

“What kept you, darling?” she asked.

“I was just asking the guard to do a small favor for me,” I sort-of lied. “Nothing major.”

“If you say so, sweetness,” she said.

Rarity and I walked through the garden, admiring the different statues and looking at the flowers. As we walked, Rarity was captivated by a statue of the royal sisters, and while she was distracted, I snuck away and found a flower that caught my eye a while ago.

It was a beautiful yellow lotus flower, and it had just bloomed, too. I knew that it was against the rules to pick the flowers in the garden, but I’m sure that rule only applies to visitors, not royals.

And if I was wrong, I was sure the consequences wouldn’t be that severe. It was just a flower, after all.

With the lotus in hand, I quietly snuck behind Rarity, who was still admiring the statue. I kept moving until I was directly behind her, and I placed the flower onto the brim of her hat. Somehow, she felt her hat move ever so slightly, and she turned around in surprise.

“Marcus? What did you do?” she asked.

“Do you have a mirror?” I asked back.

“Pfft! ‘Do I have a mirror?’ Of course I do.” Rarity dug into her purse and pulled out a hand mirror, and she took a look at herself. She gasped when she saw the flower in her hat. “Aww, Marcus! It’s beautiful! Thank you so much, darling!”

“No problem, Rarity. Come on, I want to show you something.”

I led Rarity to the deepest part of the garden, and we approached a large wooden door.

“Wow…” the unicorn said in awe. “I certainly don’t remember being in this part of the gardens. Wait… the door has no handle.”

I chuckled. “Celestia showed this to me when she gave me a tour of the castle back when I first moved here. It’s an area of the gardens that’s closed off to those that don’t know how to get in. If you press a certain number of wooden planks in the right order, the door will open on its own.”

I pressed on the planks in the sequence that Auntie Celeste told me, and the door slowly opened to reveal a small hill with a large tree growing out of the top of it.

“Just wait till you get to the top of the hill,” I told her.

Rarity smiled at me, took my hand, and I led her up the hill to the trunk of the tree, where a blanket was already laid out for us to sit on.

“I see you were prepared for this,” said the unicorn.

“A little,” I replied. “Have a seat.”

“Why thank you, darling.”

Rarity sat down on the blanket and I sat down soon after, sitting right next to her. “Look out and tell me what you see,” I told her.

The unicorn obliged, and then she gasped in awe. “My goodness, there’s a view of the entire garden from here!”

“Pretty amazing, isn’t it?”

“It’s… unexplainable. I mean, how is it that we have a view of the whole garden from this hill and not see the hill from the outside?”

“There’s a magic field surrounding this area of the gardens which keeps it invisible from the outside.”

Rarity chuckled to herself. “Have we really come to the point where a human is explaining magic to a unicorn?”

“I guess so. Humans and ponies have come a long way, haven’t they?”

“They sure have, although they never taught us what the very first contact was like. They just skip to the part where Princess Celestia meets with the human world leaders.”

I smiled to myself. “What if I told you that I knew what the first contact was like?”

“Didn’t it happen before you were born?”

“Yep. I was born a month after first contact was made.”

Rarity raised a suspicious eyebrow at me. “How do you know that?”

I looked at the unicorn with a smirk. “I know because the first humans that Celestia’s ever met were my parents, and my mom was pregnant with me at the time.”

“No way!”

“Yes way. That’s how Celestia knows my parents, and it’s why she knew me well enough to want to adopt me.”

Rarity continued to gape at me, her astonishment painted clearly on her face. “That’s amazing, but… Why was this never recorded in history?”

“My parents didn’t want to draw too much attention to themselves,” I explained. “I guess I take more after them than I realized, considering how I wanted my adoption to be kept a secret.”

“Do you think that you’ll ever make it public, maybe even become a prince?”

I thought about that for a moment. Did I really want to do that? It took me a few moments to answer.

“I don’t know,” I finally responded. “Definitely not anytime soon, though. The title of prince would just be too much of a burden to bear right now.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Rarity admitted. “You don’t seem like the kind of guy that likes a lot of attention. That can only end badly.” She paused before speaking again. “Wasn’t there a princess from your world that died in a car crash trying to avoid paparazzi? Her name was… Diana, right?”

“Please don’t jinx it.”

Rarity made those cute giggling sounds of hers again and decided to lie down on her back. She then looked up at me and motioned for me to do the same, and I obliged.

So we both laid there on the grass, and eventually we both started to doze off. I don’t know how long we were asleep, but we were both awakened by a rumbling sound. Both our eyes shot open in surprise, and we looked around to see what made the sound, until we heard it again.

Rarity blushed and pulled her hat down a little.

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly. “I guess I’m a little hungry.”

I checked my watch and saw that it was five after noon. “It’s cool,” I assure her. “I was planning on taking you to lunch anyway. Let’s get out of here.”

Rarity and I got off the blanket and walked down the hill together. As we made our way out, I took out my wallet and looked at the credit card that Auntie Celeste gave me.

It was time to put this baby to work.

Author's Notes:

Another chapter taken care of. I want to thank Naughty_Ranko for the idea to set the date at Canterlot Castle, and I also want to thank TheGreatPandaKing and Alternate Madness for suggesting the walk through the garden. Also, the scene where Celestia gives Marcus a credit card was a shout-out to everyone that suggested that Marcus should use his royal status to his advantage, because you guys did have a point there.

So Marcus is halfway done with his date with Rarity, and he has one with Octavia in the same afternoon. On top of that, Luna's taking Marcus dreamwalking that night. Looks like our boy's got a full schedule, huh.

On a side note, school has been piling up a little due to midterms coming up next week, so I won't have as much time to write. I'll still write when I can, but I won't have as much spare time as I used to, just so you all know.

So, as usual, attack that comment section, and I'll see you next chapter!

Chapter 14: The Dates - Part Two [Spare No Expense]

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It was twelve-twenty in the afternoon, and Rarity and I were on a taxi carriage to the heart of Canterlot. Rarity was resting against my shoulder, taking a whiff of my neck and sighing contently as she did so.

“You’re not a vampire, are you?” I asked.

“Oh, ha, ha, ha,” she laughed with an unamused tone. “I was just taking another whiff of your cologne. It smells really nice.”

“Phew, and here I thought you were trying to suck my blood.”

“If this is your idea of flirting, then you’re doing a horrible job.”

“I’m working on it. How am I gonna get better if I don’t practice?”

“In that case, you have a lot of practicing to do. Being able to walk the walk will be meaningless if you aren’t able to talk the talk.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I chuckled.

“I hope so, for your sake.”

The taxi pulled up at our destination, and I paid the driver out of my own pocket since the cab service didn’t take credit cards. I got out of the taxi first, and then I helped Rarity out.

“My, my. What a gentleman,” she giggled.

“I try my best,” I said as I turned around and looked at the different restaurants that were open. “It’s your call,” I told Rarity. “We’ll eat wherever you want to eat.”

“Are you sure, darling?” she asked in concern. “I wouldn’t want to be a burden.”

“Don’t worry about it at all. I’ll be able to cover it.”

“If you say so…” Rarity looked around at the different options, and she finally decided on a modest, yet fancy eatery close to the mountainside. The unicorn pulled me by the arm to the entrance, and we were greeted by a human waitress.

“Table for two, please?” Rarity requested.

“Sure thing!” said the waitress. “Would you like a table out on the patio?”

“That would be lovely!”

The waitress smiled and led Rarity and me to the patio, where our table was waiting for us. As we walked through the restaurant, I noticed that there weren’t many customers.

Must’ve been a slow day.

“Have a seat and take a look through the menu. A server will be with you shortly.”

“Thank you,” I said to the waitress as I pulled Rarity’s chair out for her.

“Thank you,” the unicorn said to me as she took a seat, and the waitress left us with the menus.

“Man, it’s pretty empty around here,” I commented.

“Well, that’s pretty much the reason why I chose to come here.”

“I’m not following you.”

“Well, the less crowded it is, the more it feels like we’re on a private dinner. Just look around, Marcus. We’re practically the only couple on the patio.”

I did as she said and saw that she was right. Everyone else that was eating at the restaurant was seated inside. It kind-of did feel like a private dinner.

Soon after, our waiter, a pegasus pony, came and took our orders, and while we waited for our food to arrive, we continued to chat.

“So tell me, Marcus, what exactly happened when Celestia first met your parents?” Rarity requested. “I’m sure they’ve told you the story countless times before.”

I sighed. “I guess I could tell you.”

“Oh, I bet the princess came down in a beam of light, leaving your parents awestruck at her fabulous entrance!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Rarity’s fantastical assumption, and she furrowed her brow and pouted at me. “What’s so funny!?” she asked, slightly offended.

“Nothing, nothing,” I assured her, waving my hands in front of my face. “It’s just that your guess is WAY off.”

“Really? How off?”

I chuckled, and then I started to tell her the true story. “Well, first of all, Celestia didn’t appear in a beam of light.”

“How did she appear, then?”

“She fell on the roof of my house, tumbled down, and fell into the bushes.”

“No way!” Rarity laughed.

“Yup. She even busted her leg, and my mom had to patch her up.”

“I just can’t believe that...” Rarity kept chuckling at my story.

“Well, believe it. Just don’t tell anyone that I told you this. It wouldn’t be good for my auntie’s image. You understand, right?”

“Of course, darling. I wouldn’t want to tarnish Princess Celestia’s reputation,” the unicorn chuckled. “I hope you don’t tease her about it often.”

I smiled sheepishly. “Not often, just occasionally.”

“You’re such a mischievous devil, Cortez. Celestia must have quite the time taking care of you.”

“I try to keep things interesting around the castle.”

“I’m sure you do,” Rarity smirked.

This… was going really well. So far, Rarity’s loved every minute of this… date?

Yes, this was a date. I can definitely say that confidently now.

I was on a date.

With Rarity.

Here.

Right now.

I smiled stupidly as Rarity looked at her reflection in her glass of water. She was paying particular attention to her hat.

“I simply must thank you again for this lotus flower, sweetness,” she told me. “It really makes my ensemble look rather stunning.”

“It was already stunning to begin with,” I said with a smile.

The unicorn looked at me with half-lidded eyes. “Hmm… It seems you’re getting a little better at flirting.”

“I learn fast.”

“Maybe, but in all honesty, I practically gave that one to you. It was so obvious that I was looking for a compliment. If you hadn’t picked up that hint, I would have been worried that you were a lost cause in the flirting department.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want you to think that,” I chuckled, and our food came not too long after that.

Rarity had ordered an eggplant parmesan with a side salad while I had a steak with a side of mashed potatoes. Our waiter even gave us some complementary breadsticks.

Rarity didn’t seem to mind me eating meat in front of her, which made me a little less nervous about it. Then again, she had travelled to different places in Equestria, so she’d probably met some meat-eaters in her day.

“Mmmm…” Rarity sighed in satisfaction. “The food here is to die for!”

“I hope so, considering the fact that you chose to go here,” I joked.

The waiter came to our table shortly after we finished eating. “Would you two like anything for dessert?” he asked, taking notice of our empty plates.

“Nah, I’m good,” I said. “Do you want anything, Rarity?”

“Oh, no. I couldn’t eat another bite.”

The waiter smiled. “In that case, I’ll be right back with the check.”

“Are you sure that you can cover the whole check, Marcus?” Rarity asked as the waiter walked away. “I don’t mind paying for my meal.”

“I told you, Rarity,” I reassured her as I held her hand, “I can take care of it. You don’t need to worry about a thing.”

“I know, I know. Sorry, darling. It’s just in my nature to be generous.”

A few minutes later, the waiter returned to our table with our check, and I handed him the credit card that Auntie Celeste had given me. Once the waiter left to swipe the card, I excused myself to the bathroom.

“Don’t be long darling,” Rarity told me.

I smiled, and then I fast-walked to the restroom. The first thing I did was look into the mirror to check if there was any food stuck in-between my teeth. Once I had checked every space I could, I looked at the assortment of complementary breath mints, sprays, and gums that were set aside for the customers. I helped myself to a small bottle of breath spray and used two sprays of it to get rid of that post-lunch breath smell…

You know what? Maybe I could use two more sprays, just to be on the safe side.

I looked into the mirror again and smiled confidently. I was having a good feeling about this, and I was starting to believe that I was going to get a kiss when this date was over.

Call me optimistic, but it couldn’t hurt to be prepared, right?

I left the bathroom and made my way back to the table, where Rarity was waiting for me. I looked at the table and saw that the check had already been returned by the waiter.

“Ready to go?” I asked Rarity as I took the credit card and put it back in my wallet.

“Whenever you are,” she replied with a smile.

I smiled back and took the mare’s hand, helping her out of her chair and pushing it in for her once she moved. We both left the restaurant and headed to the shopping district of the city.

“Do you have the time, Marcus?” Rarity asked me.

“Sure, it’s… five minutes to two!?” I exclaimed in panic.

“It’s fine, sweetness,” the unicorn reassured me. “We still have five minutes.”

“I know, but there was one last thing I wanted to do, and five minutes is barely enough time!”

“Just relax, Marcus. You have to meet Octavia at two-fifteen, and the city square is practically right around the corner. Like I said, we have time.”

I took a deep breath, and then exhaled. “Okay, you’re right,” I admitted, and then I locked elbows with Rarity, pulling her close to me. “Come on. I’m gonna take you to one of the stores around here.”

I ended up taking her to a jewelry store, and I guided to the section where they sold bracelets.

“Why this section, of all places?” she asked curiously.

I merely grinned and held up my left wrist, and that’s when Rarity noticed that I was wearing the bracelet she gave me at the Pre-Nightmare Night Festival.

“I try to make a habit of wearing this often, so I figured that you should have a bracelet from me that you can wear often. You can have your pick of any one.”

The unicorn gasped and looked at the assortment of lovely bracelets with a hungry look in her eyes, but then she shook her head violently and looked at me. “B-but Marcus, I just c-can’t accept this! I understand that you want to pay me back for buying you your bracelet, but it just isn’t fair for you to spend so much money on a bracelet for me when yours only cost me a mere seven bits!”

“In that case, don’t think of it as paying you back. Think of it as a gift.”

Rarity’s eyes began to well, and then she gave me a big, tight hug.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!” she said repeatedly.

“It’s my pleasure,” I replied. “So, take your pick.”

Rarity let go of me and began to browse the selection of bracelets that were available, and she finally decided on a thick, white bracelet with light blue gems encrusted into it.

“This one,” she said with finality. “Definitely this one!”

“As you wish, milady.”

I called the store owner over and asked him to get the bracelet, which I paid for with my trusty one-day-only credit card. As Rarity and I exited the store, she tried the bracelet on and was admiring how it looked on her.

“Thanks again for the bracelet, Marcus. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem, Rarity. I’m glad you like it.”

The mare stopped looking at her bracelet for a moment, and focused her vision on me instead.

“Do you remember… when I said that by the end of each date, you’d know how Octavia and I felt about you?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, I suppose it’s pretty obvious by now how I feel about you, at least… right.”

My eyes widened in slight surprise. This was it! She must be admitting that she has feelings for me! I tried to keep myself from jumping as high as I could and screaming to the heavens. Instead, a timid smile grew on my face.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

The mare merely chuckled to herself. “Be they humans or ponies, boys can be so dense.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me closer to her. She then brought her muzzle to my ear and whispered something to me.

“Maybe this will make things a little clearer.”

With that, she moved from my ear to my lips as she softly placed her own lips upon them. Her muzzle was far different from the lips of a human girl, as I had had the previous experience of kissing one due to a dare back in my tenth grade year of high school. The white corners of Rarity’s muzzle were much thinner yet oval shaped, the feeling of their touch being much like being embraced by the petals of a rose. The second I felt those heavenly lips touch mine, a feeling arose in my chest, one that I hadn’t felt before.

It felt like a spark, a spark that ignited the moment Rarity kissed me, and it had spread throughout my body like a heat wave.

In the heat of the moment, I wrapped my arms around Rarity and pulled her even closer to me. Her soft bosom gave me the sensation of comfort as it made me relax and melt away all of my troubles. I also heard the mare’s heartbeat. As I listened to it, though, there was something about it that surprised me.

It was beating at a pace that far exceeded my own.

Was she even more nervous about this than I was? How could she be? She was the one that started the kiss in the first place.

Rarity then released me from the kiss and stared into my eyes with her hands on my shoulders. Although she had a calm expression on her face, I felt her hands trembling on my shoulders.

The poor mare was shaking like a frightened Chihuahua.

“I… hope I wasn’t too forward, Marcus,” she said quietly.

I smiled and grasped her hands with my own, which helped to cease her nervous shaking. “Actually, Rarity, I’m glad you were a little forward. If I had to be the one to start the kiss, I probably wouldn’t have had the guts.”

There was that giggle again. “Well, thanks for a great date, darling. I hope we can do it again sometime.”

“Me, too. I’ll see you at school, Rarity.”

The mare nodded her head and blushed. “Bye, Marcus.”

As I watched Rarity leave, I got the feeling of butterflies in my stomach, but that feeling was interrupted by the buzzing of my phone.

I looked at my phone curiously and saw that somepony sent me a text message.

“On my way to the city square.

-Octavia”

Wait a second… what time was it?

I looked at my phone’s clock and saw that it was… ten after two!?

I made a mad dash for the city square, hoping that I wouldn’t be late.

Chapter 15: The Dates - Part Three [Change of Plan]

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I breathed frantically as I made a mad dash through Canterlot’s shopping district, hoping that I would make it to the city square before two-fifteen. Despite that, though, I ran at a moderately fast pace so that I wouldn’t sweat, and the cool autumn air helped to keep that from happening, as well.

I can’t meet Octavia looking like I had just run a marathon.

After semi-sprinting through the city, I finally made it to the square, and I looked around to see if Octavia was around. Thankfully, she wasn’t. I sighed in relief and checked my watch.

Two-fourteen. I barely made it.

I took a seat by the fountain to catch my breath and wait for Octavia to show up, going over my plan for our date.

“I’ll take her to a really nice music show in the Canterlot Theatre, and then we’ll go to a really fancy restaurant for dinner.” I thought. “Yeah, that sounds like something she would like.”

As I nodded my head to myself in satisfaction as I looked at the ground absentmindedly. Just then, my light was blocked by a shadow that appeared around me.

“What the…” I said to myself as I looked up and saw what was casting the shadow. “Octavia!”

“Were you expecting somepony else?” she asked with a chuckle as I stood up and took a good look at her.

“You look really nice today.”

“Why, thank you, Marcus.”

I wasn’t lying, either. Octavia looked rather stunning. She was wearing a white, long-sleeved shirt with a stylish belt tied around the waistline. She also wore a pair of black skinny jeans with matching boots. I couldn’t help but look at how her jeans hugged tightly against her legs, those proud, thick, strong and enticing legs. Before I knew it, I was ogling her, taking a special notice of how thin and formfitting her shirt was, draping itself against the small upper body frame of the mare in front of me… and of course those D sized mounds protruding from it.

Octavia let out a giggle. “Oh my, Marcus! You’re staring so hard you’re making me blush! Let me help you. My eyes are up here!” Octavia teased, leaning so close she startled me and got me to immediately fixate my eyes on hers.

Just then, I felt a sweet aroma enter my nostrils. The lavender scent permeated from the mare, and it was strong, yet very pleasant.

Was Octavia wearing perfume?

I took in a few whiffs and smiled. “You smell really nice.”

“I could say the same for you,” she replied with a smirk.

That cologne is still working like a charm.

“I don’t think I remember you wearing this particular scent, as creepy as that just sounded,” I remarked.

Octavia giggled in response. “Well, while I was getting ready, I found a bottle of perfume that my old roommate gave to me as a birthday gift. I rarely ever used it, and I figured that now was a good time to actually put some on. So, what about the scent you’re wearing?”

“Celestia thought that it wouldn’t hurt to smell nice, so she bought me some cologne to wear,” I explained. “She insisted that I try using it.”

The mare chuckled. “I guess your aunt knows what she’s talking about.”

“Please don’t let her hear you say that. She’ll rub it in my face if she does.”

“I’ll try not to,” Octavia said teasingly.

“You’re feeling pretty impish today,” I smirked receiving a roll of the eyes as a response. “Anyway, how does an afternoon music show sound to you?”

“It sound’s great, but…”

But? But!? Oh, no, this isn’t good. I thought for sure that Octavia would want to go to a music show!

“There’s something else going on at the Canterlot Mall that I thought the two of us could try out,” she suggested.

I raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “Really? What is it?”

“You’ll find out when we get there.” Octavia said with a wink. “That is, of course, if you want to go.”

I pondered this for a second. I had no idea what Octavia had in mind for us. What could possibly be at the mall that she wants us to do together? Then again, this is Octavia we’re talking about. Whatever she was planning, it couldn’t be that bad, could it?

“Sure, I’m game,” I told her, and she slightly squealed in response.

“Perfect! Let’s go!” the earth mare said, taking my hand and walking with me to the mall.

When we got there, Octavia directed me towards the elevator, which we rode to the top floor. As we waited, I again started to wonder what could possibly be in store for me. I know that Octavia isn’t the type of mare that would want to go on a simple trip to the mall. She would want to go someplace with more refinement.

Not that I was put off by her decision. I was just surprised, is all.

“Here we are!” Octavia said suddenly, pulling me out of my thoughts yet again. We walked out of the elevator and made a left, arriving at a moderately long line.

“What exactly is this line for?” I asked, and then I noticed a poster mounted on the nearest wall.

“CANTERLOT CLIMBING ADVENTURE:
THE LARGEST INDOOR ROPES COURSE IN EQUESTRIA”

“See?” said Octavia. “This course just opened, and I wanted to try it out, so I thought that you would like to try it with me. It’ll be fun.”

“You know, I never pegged you as the adventurous type.”

“I wouldn’t call myself adventurous. I just want to try something new, that’s all.”

I let out an exhausted sigh. “Well, I guess if I can handle a haunted house, I can handle this.”

“If, by ‘handle,’ you mean ‘scream like a scared filly,’ then yeah, you’ll be fine.”

“No one needs to be reminded of that.”

Octavia gave me a look. “Oh, please. You practically walked right into that one.”

“Touché,” I conceded.

Despite the length of the line, it moved rather quickly, and Octavia and I made it to the front before we knew it. At the front of the line was an employee behind a desk with a cash register and a clipboard.

“It’s ten bits per entry,” he explained, and then he pointed to the clipboard. “You also have to sign this release form.”

Well, that eliminates the possibility of suing these people if I end up falling.

I used the credit card to pay for both me and Octavia while she signed her name on the release form. When she was done, I signed my name as well, and we were let in. The first thing we saw was a sign that said:

“Please secure all loose items in one of the provided lockers.”

Man, these guys are serious.

Since we didn’t have much stuff between us, Octavia and I shared a locker. With that out of the way, we proceeded to get our gear on. The employees at the course helped us with the complicated straps and buckles, and as they did so, they explained the rules of the course.

“You’re gonna start at the top, then work your way through the course all the way to the bottom,” they explained.

After that, they started going over the general rules, and I’ll admit that I wasn’t really paying attention. I just assumed that I knew what the rules were. No yelling, no roughhousing, no swinging, all that good stuff.

Finally, we were all set to go on the course, and Octavia asked if she could go in front of me, to which I happily said yes.

One we got on the course though, I noticed how high up we were, and I started to have second thoughts, but it was much too late for that. I looked around and surveyed the layout of the course.

It had several floors, five total, one for every floor of the mall. The final floor was at ground level. From what I could see, each floor had a different set of obstacles to cross before making it to the staircase that would take you down to the next level.

“Okay… I can do this.” I thought. “No big deal. Plus I got Octi with me- Wait… where did she go!?”

I looked ahead and saw that the mare in question was already halfway through the first floor. In a panic, I quickly tried to catch up to her, which wasn’t an easy feat. First, I had to cross a narrow balance beam, and then I had to step across a path of small footholds. As I made my way through all the obstacles, I looked at Octavia again, and she was travelling at a leisurely pace, like she wasn’t having much trouble at all.

It almost irritated me how easily she was getting through this.

After rushing through more obstacles, and nearly falling while doing so, I finally got closer to Octavia, who made it to the first staircase. When I finally reached her, though, I tripped and stopped myself from falling by grabbing her waist, making her let out a small yelp in surprise.

I was surprised to find how slender her midsection was, not to mention that I felt her soft and warm coat underneath her shirt and also… was that a small six pack? Wow! It was so well defined! I could count each separate muscle as if it was chiseled out of pure marble.

It was that moment that convinced me that this mare went to the gym a lot and worked hard, too. Also, on a side note, I felt kinda happy (yet guilty) that I had her incredibly firm, rock hard bum and legs close to my chest.

Man, I feel like a perv. Stupid hormones.

“Oh, Marcus. You caught up,” she said calmly, a little too calmly if you ask me.

“Don’t get coy with me! You left me behind on purpose!”

‘Tavi smiled and rustled my hair. “Aww! You’re so cute when you get flustered!”

“Don’t call me cute. You aren’t that much older than me.”

“Cuteness has nothing to do with age, Marcus. So, are we going to move on, or do you want to hold on to my waist for a little while longer?”

I realized that my arms were still wrapped around Octavia, and I quickly let go when she called my attention to how long I had been holding her. She couldn’t help but giggle at that.

“Come on. Let’s keep going,” she said. “I promise I won’t leave you behind again.”

“I’ll hold you to that promise,” I warned her as we walked down to the next floor.

As we made our way across the floor, I made sure to stay close to Octavia. For some reason, I felt a lot safer around her. Despite the fact that she was as new to this as I was, I got a sense of security when I was closer to her. There was a question that kept nagging at me, though, and once we got to the second staircase, I decided to ask it.

“Hey, Octi,” I said to her.

“Yes, Marcus.”

“There’s something that I’ve been curious about.”

“And that is…?”

“Do you work out at all?”

Octavia blinked in surprise. “Well, that was out of nowhere. Why?”

“Well, earlier when I had my arms around you, I felt quite a bit of muscle around your stomach, so I just thought…”

The mare giggled at my discomfort. “Oh, that. I’m an earth pony, Marcus. My body is naturally muscular. By the same token, the bodies of pegasi are leaner while the bodies of unicorns are more voluptuous.”

I raised an eyebrow at her explanation, but she continued walking without another word. My suspicious glare persisted, and she finally cracked a smile.

“Okay, maybe I go to the gym with Rarity every once in a while, but that doesn’t completely discredit my earlier explanation. It is true, with some exceptions to the rule, of course.”

“I knew it,” I uttered victoriously.

It did make sense once I thought about it. Rarity and several of the unicorn maids at the castle were definitely some voluptuous mares, and Honey Pot did have some muscle on her. Plus, a lot of the more brutish members of the Royal Guard were Earth ponies. I couldn’t say much for pegasi, though, since I haven’t seen much of them. Most Canterlot ponies were unicorns, with Earth ponies coming in at a close second.

“Hey, Marcus,” Octavia said, derailing my train of thought. “I know I said that I wouldn’t leave you behind again, but I’d like to keep moving, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, sorry. You’re right. We should keep going,” I said as we continued on. “Why would Rarity need to go to the gym, though?”

“She thinks that her hips are getting too big,” Octavia told me.

I’d have to talk to Rarity about that. There was no way she was making her hips smaller, not while I had anything to say about it.

Octavia and I continued through the course, making our way through each of the floors and eventually reaching the bottom.

“Why do they even call it ‘climbing’ when we’re going down?” I asked, more to myself than to Octavia.

“Who knows?” she said, shrugging her shoulders and not giving any real thought to it.

“You’re being really weird today.”

“Am I?”

“Yeah, you are. You’re a lot more… adventurous today, ‘Tavi”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I guess I get more adventurous when I’m around you.”

I furrowed my brow as I started to take off my climbing gear. “A straight answer would be nice,” I muttered. Once we got all our gear off, I checked my phone to see what time it was…

Wait, where was my phone?

After some mental backtracking, I let out a sigh of frustration as I realized that-

“We left all our stuff in the lockers, the lockers that are all the way on the top floor,” I lamented.

“Well, that’s a major inconvenience,” Octavia said with an equally annoyed look. “Now we have to go all the way back to the top floor to get our belongings back.”

“You think that they would’ve thought of that when they designed this course,” I grumbled as Octi and I walked to the nearest elevator.

After leaving the mall, I told myself that I had enough excitement for a while, so I decided to take Octavia to the shopping district of Canterlot. It’d be a good opportunity to buy her something nice.

“Now, you have to admit,” she told me as we walked through the district, “while it was rather scary, that ropes course was rather fun, no?”

“I guess it was…” I admitted.

Octi giggled and looked ahead of her, and her eyes caught something that really interested her.

“Oh, look! A photo studio!” she exclaimed.

“So you want to get a picture taken, huh?” I asked. “Well let’s go, then.”

I took the mare’s hand and walked with her to the studio, where an attendant, a middle aged human woman, was waiting behind a desk.

“Welcome to Picture Perfect Studios!” she said. “My name is Rose. How may I help you two today?”

“Can we have one photo shoot session for two, please?” Octavia asked enthusiastically.

“Sure,” said Rose. “That’ll be ten bits for the session, and the cost of the photos will depend on which ones you want after the shoot is over.”

I nodded my head and reached for my wallet, but then I felt something gently grab my wrist. I looked down and saw a grey coated hand around my wrist.

“Let me pay for this, Marcus,” Octavia insisted. “It wouldn’t be right of me to let you pay for everything, now would it? Besides, it’s just ten bits.”

With that, Octavia took her purse and dug around to find her bit case.

“Well, if you insist,” I told her, not wanting to argue.

Once Octavia paid the fee, Rose directed us to a room with racks of outfits. There were several rotating collections of outfits as well as clothing racks that lined the walls. As I marveled at the sheer amount of clothing there was, Octavia started to think about what kind of outfits she wanted us to wear for the shoot, and she discussed her ideas with Rose.

I didn’t really pay attention to what they were saying, all I heard were the words “black” and “elegant,” and that was good enough for me. Before I knew it, I was handed a tuxedo and directed to the nearest changing room.

Once I got fully dressed, I looked into the mirror before leaving the changing room. The black tux that I was given was pretty standard with nothing special about it, but I didn’t really mind.

It was better than spending nearly an hour in a ropes course.

I stepped out of the dressing room and waited for Octavia to come out. As I waited, I could hear her talking with Rose.

“Okay, we just need to adjust the sides a little, and… done! You look stunning, sweetie!”

“Are you sure it’s not a little much?”

“A little much? Nonsense! The dress looks perfect on you, and the gloves you’re wearing accent your look perfectly.”

“If you say so…”

“Don’t take my word for it. Why don’t you ask that strapping young companion of yours what he thinks? I’m sure his jaw is gonna drop to the floor!”

I heard the sound of a deep sigh, followed by the sounds of a door opening and hooves making contact with the floor.

And then, Octavia appeared before me.

Rose wasn’t lying. The dress was stunning. It was a long, formfitting, plicated, black, strapless garment that cascaded gracefully down the length of her body. There was a semi-transparent section located right at the very top of the dress and was covered up with black floral patterns in order to retain some modesty.

That’s not to say that I couldn’t see at least a little bit of Octi’s bra and her perky boobs underneath, which was quite pleasing to the eye, but… Enough about that! I’m killing the moment!

Anyway, she also wore a pair of black gloves that went up to her elbows, but I could barely tell from the way she was nervously hiding them behind her back.

“So… how do I look?” she asked.

“S-stunning…” I stuttered, making the mare blush.

“See? What did I tell you?” said Rose. “He can barely form words! Now, follow me to the set, and the photographer will be with you in a moment.”

“You mean, you’re not taking the photos?” Octavia curiously asked.

“Oh heavens, no. I just help the customers with everything else. The photographer here is a trained professional.”

Rose took Octavia and me to the set and told us to wait there for the photographer to arrive. After waiting for a few minutes, we heard hoofsteps coming toward us, and we looked up to see who it was.

She was an Earth pony, one that had on a needlessly extravagant black-and-white striped outfit adorned with purple highlights. Her skirt was lined with diamonds of a matching purple. The mare was also wearing a pair of black, purple-lensed sunglasses. She had a light blue coat with a white mane and tail. Her mane was short and straight, and its style reminded me of Anna Wintour, if her hair was white instead of brown, of course.

“It’s time to make… ze magics!” the mare said with a heavy German accent. “I, Photo Finish… have arrived!”

Author's Notes:

First of all, I want to apologize for how long it took me to write this. The cold weather finally got to me, and I was sick for several days. Right when I got better, my editor got sick as well, so it's been pretty hectic.

It may have something to do with last week's episode of MLP. Perhaps Discord has effects on the real world.

Anyway, what did you think of Photo Finish's appearance? Weren't expecting that, were ya?

And yes, I will explain Octavia's more adventurous nature in the next chapter. Be patient, folks.

Also, I have an interesting idea: What do you guys think of me sharing some of the original ideas I had for this story, back when I was first drafting it. I was looking over my original notes recently, and what I originally had was WAAAAAAY different from the final product. So what do you think? Would you like to know these original ideas, or no? Let me know in the comments.

Chapter 16: The Dates - Part Four [Feel ze Passion]

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I raised an eyebrow at the overly dramatic photographer. “Have you heard of this mare?” I whispered to Octavia.

“Rarity talks a lot about her,” she whispered back. “Apparently, she’s one of the most famous, if not the most famous photographer in Equestria.”

“Enough of ze whispering!” Photo Finish demanded as she took out her camera. “Ve begin… now! Pose for me!”

Octavia and I were initially flustered by how fast this mare operated, and when the first flash hit us, we were a little stunned; not to mention blinded as we tried to blink away the dots before our eyes.

“Zis is not ze vision that I, Photo Finish, had for you two!” the photographer declared from behind the lens. The look on her face was one of annoyed disapproval, as if she kept digging for her muse but was frustrated over her incapability of finding it.

“You just met us less than a minute ago,” I told her with a matter-of-fact tone.

“It only takes but a moment for a vision to come to me, for I, Photo Finish, am an artist. I can tell zat you two have an intense passion for each other burning inside of you.”

Octavia and I nervously looked at each other when we heard that. I did really like her, but I never would have described my feelings for her as an “intense passion,” mostly because I never thought of it. If Photo Finish was right about my feelings for Octavia, then this meant that Octavia felt just as strongly as I did.

Either that or this crazy mare was making shit up.

“Do not be afraid to show it to me! Let out ze passion, and let me capture it in a photo!” Photo Finish stomped with her hoof, a magical glint shining through the corner of her shades.

Octi looked at me nervously and said “I guess we should give her what she wants.”

“I guess so,” I replied, and without giving it any thought, I did the first thing that came to mind and wrapped my arms around Octavia’s waist, pulling her closer to me. With her being an inch taller than me, I had to look up a little so we could see eye to eye. ‘Tavi followed my lead and draped her arms over my shoulder.

Well now… That certainly made me feel all warm and cozy!

“Yes… Zat’s it!” said Photo Finish, the fire in her eyes growing “Now bring your faces closer!”

“Closer?” Octi and I asked at the same time.

“Yes, closer! I, Photo Finish, asked for passion. Your faces are practically seven inches apart! Zat is not passion!”

I gulped and slowly moved my face closer, and Octavia did the same. I could tell we were both nervous. My heartbeat was pumping a hundred miles per hour and so was my mare’s little jackhammer, whose vibrations I could feel through the barrier of our ribcages.

“Yes…” Photo Finish muttered in satisfaction “Closer…” If Octavia and I weren’t in the same room, I could swear that this bat-shit crazy mare was muttering to herself.

We moved closer, and six inched became five. My face was burning and Octavia’s was too, judging by the vivid shade of red plastered all over her face, showing itself clearly through her grey fur. Wait, how is that even possible? Never mind…

“Closer…”

Five inches became three. There was something strange in the way my date was staring at me. Was that… desire?

“Closer…”

Three inches became one, and all I could see was Octavia’s eyes; her beautiful, big, enticing eyes. I felt a fire ignite inside me, and I started to gaze past Octavia’s eyes and into her very soul.

This must have been the passion that Photo Finish was talking about.

I expected Octi to be a little frightened by the way I stared at her, but instead she returned the gaze right back at me, and I felt her staring right into me. She even started to smile, and oh what a smile it was. It was a little intimidating, but it also had a calming effect on me.

“Yes! Zis is ze shot!” Photo Finish declared as she snapped the picture. “Now, put your foreheads together!”

We mindlessly did what the mare said, our vision focused only on each other.

“Yes, yes! I love it! Now, let go of each other!”

We did as she said and let go, our eyes not leaving each other.

“Now, you!” Photo Finish pointed at Octavia. “Embrace him and kiss him on ze cheek.”

On command, ‘Tavi wrapped her arms around me, pulling me close and planting a soft kiss on my cheek. It was so very strange; this entire situation; it was like we were both under a spell.

“Perfect! Now, I need a stool!”

Rose immediately popped in with a tall stool, placing it on the set and leaving as promptly as she appeared.

“Now, young lady,” Photo Finish said to Octavia. “Sit in ze chair while ze young man embraces you from behind!”

‘Tavi did as she was told and took a seat, and I draped my arms over her shoulders, looking at her while she looked at me. Meanwhile, Photo Finish took several shots, chuckling to herself in satisfaction.

“Now! Get ze stool off ze set!”

Once again, Rose appeared immediately, taking the stool once Octavia got off of it, and leaving the set.

“Okay, you two. Sit on ze ground!”

Without a single word, we did as we were told and sat on the ground.

“Sit back to back,” Photo Finish ordered, “and turn your heads towards each other, gazing into each other’s eyes.”

As Octavia and I followed the order, our backs touched, and I felt the warmth emanating from her that matched mine.

We then looked into each other’s eyes, our gazed piercing each other once more, and we ignored the shutter clicks coming from the camera.

We were too focused on each other.

“Zat’s it! Ze shoot is over!” Photo Finish yelled out as she put away her equipment in the blink of an eye.

The second she said that, Octavia and I blinked, stating at each other in confusion.

“What just happened?” she asked me.

“Hell if I know,” I answered.

Photo Finish looked down at us and smiled. “You were both feeling ze passion!” she said to us. “It overtook your very being, lulling ze two of you into a trance in which you saw nothing but each other!”

I got scared again; this was the second time that this mare correctly described how I was feeling. I really did feel like Octavia was the only other being I saw.

The only other being that I cared to see.

“Zat, my lovelies, it true passion!” Photo Finish declared, and then she began to approach Octavia. “If you vant my opinion, don’t lose zis one,” she told her, taking a moment to glance at me out of the corner of her eye. “He is, how you say, a ‘keeper’.”

‘Tavi visibly gulped at the older mare’s remark, and she looked at me with a curious look in her eyes.

Photo Finish smirked and looked up towards the exit. “Now… I go!” she declared, and she zipped off the set in an instant.

“Well, that was… something,” I commented.

“It sure was…” Octi agreed. “Let’s change back into our regular clothes before we go see the pictures.”

“Good idea.”

After we got changed, Octi and I went back to the lobby, where Rose was waiting for us by her desk.

“There you guys are!” she said happily. “Quite the experience, wasn’t it?”

“You could say that,” I answered.

Rose giggled. “Well, let’s see how your pictures turned out,” she said, and she showed us the photos on her computer.

I was taken aback by how I looked in the pictures. There really was a passionate look in my eyes in every one, and Octavia looked the same, which made her just as surprised as I was.

“So, what do you think?” Rose asked.

“I guess we could just get one of each pose…” I suggested.

“That sounds good,” Octavia agreed. “So we’ll just pick out the best photo from each of the four poses.”

After several minutes of cycling through each photo over and over and over again, we finally picked the four photos we wanted.

“Okay, so what size do you want for each photo?” asked Rose.

“We’ll take them all in medium, small, and wallet sizes,” I answered, and I took out my trusty card. “Put it all on this.”

Octavia gave me an uneasy look as Rose swiped the card, but said nothing. Mere minutes later, the photos were printed and put in separate bags, one for me, and one for Octi.

“There you go!” said Rose. “Thanks for coming, and have a wonderful day!”

“You too,” we said as we left the studio, bags in hand. As we walked through the shopping district of Canterlot, Octavia looked at me, giving me the same concerned look she gave me not five minutes ago.

“Okay, what’s wrong?” I asked her.

“I’m just concerned with how much money you’re spending on me,” she explained. “These photos cost almost one hundred bits altogether. I don’t want you to throw yourself into debt because of me.”

I chuckled. “Don’t worry about it,” I assured her. “You saw the card I used, right?”

“Yeah…”

“It’s a special card that my aunt is letting me use for today only. She offered to pay for everything so that I’d be able to spoil you and Rarity a little.”

“That was rather considerate of her.”

“You think?”

“So I guess you plan on spoiling me for the rest of this date, I suppose?”

“Only if you want me to.”

‘Tavi let out a sigh. “Well, I am a little peckish. Perhaps you could spoil my appetite a little.”

“Is it dinnertime already?”

“I think that quarter to five is an appropriate time for dinner.”

I looked at my watch in disbelief and saw that it was, in fact, quarter to five.

Damn. Where did the time go?

“Well, is there any place in particular you’d like to eat at?”

Octavia took a moment to think about it, and then she looked at me. “Actually, yes, but I’d like to show you something, first. Follow me.”

I shrugged my shoulders and followed the mare’s lead, and we left the shopping district of the city, heading towards a closed building. Said building had a neon sign near the entrance that was turned off at the moment. From the looks of this place, it must have been a nightclub.

“My old roommate was the regular DJ here,” Octi explained. “I’m not sure who they have filling in for her at the moment; but then again, I’ve never been here, anyway.”

“I could take you and Rarity here one of these days,” I offered.

The mare scrunched her nose. “Well, no offense to Rarity, but I’d rather if it were just you and me. Think of it as another adventurous experience for the two of us.”

I chuckled. “You seem to really like those.”

“I guess I do.”

Just then, Octavia’s stomach growled, and my stomach did the same seconds later. “We should get to a restaurant soon,” I suggested.

“Good idea.”

Octavia ended up taking me to a somewhat fancy restaurant, but it wasn’t anything too fancy. It was a Japaneighse eatery that had about the same degree of fanciness as the restaurant that Rarity and I were at earlier that day.

We were seated promptly and given menus, and Octavia and I engaged in small talk as we waited for our waiter to show up.

“The food here is great, Marcus,” ‘Tavi insisted. “My old roommate and I used to come here all the time.”

“Okay, you seem to talk a lot about this old roommate of yours.”

“Oh, I hope I’m not annoying you.”

“Not at all. I’m actually more curious than anything. Who is this old roommate you speak so highly of?”

Octavia chuckled to herself, and then she looked at me. “Her name was Vinyl Scratch.”

“’Was’? You make it sound as though she’s dead.”

“Are you going to let me tell the story or not?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Please continue.”

“Anyway, on the stage, she’s known as DJ PON-3. She was a real wild one, that mare. While she was a stark contrast to my more quiet personality, the two of us seemed to click. We first met as roommates during our first year, and we became friends ever since.”

“I can imagine that it was a bit of a challenge getting used to living with her, judging from your description of her.”

“It was, at first, but we worked it out after about a month or two. It’s funny; she always tried to get me out of my shell, but I didn’t start doing that until after she left.”

“You said that she went to… Saddle Arabia, right?”

“Yes. She’s taking part in a study abroad program for the whole year. When she comes back for Hearth’s Warming to visit, I’m sure she’ll be surprised that I’m doing more than just sitting in my room practicing for whatever music competition that would happen to be around the corner.”

The moment she said “competition,” I was reminded of something.

“Wait a sec, Octi,” I said. “Do you remember when you wanted to play a piece for me last month? You said that it was for a competition.”

The mare visibly blushed. “Um… I think so…”

“Uh-huh. Well, several days after that, I found a flyer for that competition, and it said that it was only open to first and second year students. Last time I checked, you’re a third year. Care to explain?”

Octavia nervously chuckled. “Well, it’s a funny story, actually. What had happened was… oh, never mind. I just wanted an excuse to play music for you.”

I gave her a warm smile. “You really thought that you needed an excuse?”

The mare averted her eyes from me and started to twirl her mane. “Well, at the time, I thought that you’d think that it was weird for me to just ask to play a piece of music for you just because, so I felt that I needed some kind of reason to play for you.”

I shook my head. “You didn’t need to do that, ‘Tavi. I would’ve listened regardless of whether or not you had a reason.”

Octavia looked at me and began to blush. “Really?” she asked. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“Of course! I wouldn’t mind at all!”

She looked down at the floor and smiled. “Thanks, Marcus. That means a lot.”

Just then, our waiter had arrived, and Octavia and I gave him our orders. Once he left, I decided to ask a question that had been sitting in the back of my head.

“So… I was wondering…” I began.

“Wondering what?”

“Do you and Rarity ever talk about me?”

She raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Passively, yes, but do you mean something more specific?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, I admitted that I liked the both of you several days ago, so have you two ever talked about that day, or about my feelings for you, in general?”

Octavia pondered for a moment before shaking her head. “Not really. We pretty much kept to ourselves about how we felt. I actually have no idea how Rarity feels about you.”

While she did look rather convincing, I instinctively assumed that she was lying. “Really? You’ve never talked about it? Ever?”

“No.”

“You’ve never discussed it with Rarity? You have absolutely no idea how she feels about me?”

The mare shot me an annoyed look, but then a smirk grew on her face. “Why are you asking me how Rarity feels when you just went on a date with her this morning? Why don’t you tell me how she feels about you?”

I instantly went on the defensive. “W-why do you want to know that?”

“Why so difficult, Marcus?” Octavia asked teasingly. “Do you not like it when you’re the one being interrogated?”

Okay, I saw her point.

“Did she return your feelings? Did she kiss you? Oh! Did she use her tongue?”

“Okay, okay, I get it!” I surrendered. “I’ll stop with the invasive questions!”

Octavia let out a satisfied giggle. “Good. Although, I think I know why you asked if Rarity and I talk about you.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes. You were probably hoping for me to say that we fight over you, since hearing that would really stroke your ego.”

My face turned red in a mixture of embarrassment and anger.

“Or… maybe you were just insecure.”

“Are you going to spend this entire dinner teasing and mocking me?”

“Some guys actually get off on being belittled by their partners, you know.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not one of those guys.”

“Oh, drat!” Octavia said with a purposefully exaggerated tone. “And here I thought you liked it when I teased you. What a disappointment!”

“Ha, ha, ha,” I deadpanned.

“But, in all seriousness, I’ll try not to tease you too much, even though I do find your reactions to be quite adorable.”

I rolled my eyes as the waiter brought over our food. Octavia had ordered a bowl of udon noodles with a side of dumplings while I had roasted chicken with rice. Like Rarity, Octavia didn’t mind my meal choice.

“Mmm… The food sure does smell nice…” I sighed in content. “I wonder how good it’ll taste.”

“Why don’t you dig in and find out?”

I chuckled and used my chopsticks to try a clump of rice, and my eyes widened in surprise when the taste hit me. This food tasted amazing!

“That’s the usual first reaction,” Octavia told me. “Rarity and I came here a few weeks ago and she had that exact look on her face when she took that first bite.” The mare chuckled at the memory and then took a bite out of one of her dumplings.

She and I continued our dinner, and by the time we were done, our stomachs were stuffed, so I asked the waiter for the check.

Octavia let out a contented sigh and pushed out her chair. “Excuse me for a moment, Marcus. I need to use the little fillies’ room.”

“Sure. I’ll be here,” I said, and she left to go to the restroom.

Once she was out of sight, I dug into my pockets to take out my breath spray. I wouldn’t say that I was expecting a kiss at the end of this date, but I’d rather be prepared than have rancid breath.

I started out with a couple of sprays, but then I thought that I could use one more.

And maybe another.

And maaaaaaaybe another.

Okay, one last one.

“Agh!” I exclaimed as my mouth started to burn. Maybe I overdid it with the breath spray.

I quickly fanned my open mouth with my hand before Octavia came back. When she got to the table, she looked at me for a moment and tilted her head in curiosity.

“Are you okay, Marcus?” she asked.

“Who, me? Oh yeah, I’m just fine. Don’t worry.”

“It’s those times you tell me not to worry that make me worry the most,” she said with a frown.

I chuckled amusedly at Octavia’s concern, and the waiter came with the check, which, of course, I paid with my ever-reliable credit card. The waiter took the card, swiped it, and promptly returned it to me.

“And with the check taken care of, we’re out of here,” I said as Octavia took hold of my arm and followed me out of the restaurant.

When we got outside, the mare sighed in content, and then she nuzzled the side of my face. It was hard to explain, but it felt magical when she did that. Her arms wrapped around my shoulders, her snout lying on top of the trap of my right shoulder.

I had never felt such comfort before.

“I had a really great time today, Marcus. I hope we could do it again sometime.”

I smiled back at her. “I hope so too… Say, you want me to walk you back to the school.”

Octi smiled and nuzzled me again. “I’d love that.”

With our minds made up, the two of us headed towards the school, walking down the streets of Canterlot like we were practically glued to each other, and by that I meant her arm around my shoulders and my hand on her waist. As we meandered through the city, I noticed that the sun was beginning to set, and it made me think about Auntie Celeste.

I thought about everything she had done for me just so I could have a good day today. She gave me a card to cover all my expenses, she bought an expensive bottle of cologne for me to wear, and she even stayed up with me last night to help pick out my clothes for today. I even chuckled at the little back-and-forth we had the previous night over whether or not I should have worn a tie.

Thinking about all this made me realize how much Auntie Celeste cared for me, and how much she wanted me to be happy. It took a special kind of pony to show that much love. For a ruler of all of Equestria, she was shaping up to be one great aunt.

Before I knew it, ‘Tavi and I had already reached the west entrance to CUFTA, which meant that it was time for me to say goodbye to her for the night. Having to let go of her broke the feeling of security that I was feeling a while ago, and it made me feel nervous and unwilling to let this evening end.

“You got your pictures, right?” I asked.

“Right here,” she answered, lifting the plastic bag holding the photos we had taken earlier that day.

“That was… quite the experience, huh?”

“It sure was. I’m not sure what came over me then. When we started to get so close to each other, I felt something come over me. I felt like I didn’t want to take my eyes off of you, and even if I could, I felt like that force wouldn’t let me.”

I tried not to blush. “I kind-of felt the same way. It was almost like-”

“We were under some kind of spell,” Octavia smiled.

“Yeah, something like that…” I replied.

We stood there for a few moments, looking at each other without saying a word, and Octavia was the first to break the silence.

“Marcus…”

“Yeah…”

She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me closer to her. “I’m starting to feel that strange force come over me again,” she said to me.

“Me too…” I said to her.

Six inches became five…

Five inches became three…

Three inches became one…

And then our lips met.

I immediately felt a familiar sensation course through me. Familiar, yet indescribable. Almost like…

a spark.

That was it. This was that same spark that I felt when Rarity kissed me. This was that same overwhelming sensation that spread across every fiber of my being like a wildfire. I couldn’t help but pull Octavia even closer to me, and action that she happily reciprocated. With our bodies so close together, I could feel her heart beating in sync with mine. As clichéd as it may sound, it felt like our souls were like intertwined. Despite the intense passion of the moment, our hearts were beating at a moderate pace. Neither of us felt the least bit nervous. There was no need for us to feel that way.

The feeling of being in each other’s arms was enough to ease our nerves.

The kiss continued for what felt like a blissful eternity, and then our lips parted, leaving us to stare into each other’s eyes passionately.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” she said.

“Isn’t that what I’m supposed to say?”

The mare smirked and let out a small laugh. “I guess I beat you to it,” she retorted, and she looked up at the sky. “Looks like the moon’s starting to rise.”

“Yep, looks like it.”

“Good night, Marcus.”

“Good night, Octi.”

Octavia smiled at me and gave me one last hug before walking through the gates of the school, leaving me to walk back home to the castle with a satisfied smile on my face. As I waited for a taxi carriage to show up, I looked up at the moon and smiled, remembering that I had planned to go dreamwalking with Luna later.

When a taxi finally showed up, I hopped in and told the driver to take me to Canterlot castle, and as I sat there, waiting to get home, I continued to look at the moon, wondering what the land of dreams would have in store for me once I met up with Luna.

Chapter 17: The Dates - Part Five [In Your Dreams]

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Because I feel the need to warn you, the following chapter contains a scene that's a little risqué. You were warned.

When I finally got home, I paid the carriage driver and hopped out, making sure that I didn’t leave anything behind before I closed the door. With my wallet in my pocket and my bag of pictures in my hand, I walked up the staircase to the castle’s main entrance, where the guards greeted me, as usual.

I then walked inside the castle, deciding to head towards my room first to unwind, then I’d go and tell Auntie Celeste about my day, and finally, I’ll go and see Luna so we could start our date.

As I walked through the halls of the castle, I looked out of the nearby windows, looking at the moon again. I still didn’t know what this whole “dreamwalking” thing that Luna had planned for me was going to entail, and while it annoyed me that I had no idea, I was somewhat happy as well. The stars were looking pretty good tonight, too. They were shimmering brighter than ever in an intricate arrangement, an arrangement that gave off the appearance of shiny jewelry, strewn across the sky in all their glamour.

It also gave me a hint that my next date had really made an extensive effort to impress me.

However, the happiness that I was experiencing immediately faded away one I heard-

“Marcuuuuus!!!”

Fuck.

I agonizingly looked behind me and saw Honey Pot happily skipping towards me with a big smile on her face.

“Okay, Marcus. Remember what Auntie said,” I thought. “Be nice, be nice, be nice.”

“How have you been, sweetie?” the mare asked. “I haven’t seen you all day. I tried looking for you, too. I overheard some of the guards talking about you being in the garden, but when I asked the guard that was posted there, he said that you had already left and that he didn’t know where you went.”

“Yeah… I’ve been running errands all day,” I lied. “I have a huge art project due in a week, so I had to go out into the city and get some supplies.”

What? Auntie Celeste told me to be nice. She said nothing about having to be honest.

“Oh, okay,” Honey said, apparently believing me. She then looked at me with lidded eyes. “Maybe I could bring you your meals while you work and save you the trouble of going all the way down to the dining hall.”

“Actually, I’d rather get my meals myself. Thanks for the offer, though.”

Honey Pot furrowed her brow and pouted angrily for a second, and then her face returned to the pleasant appearance it had before. My right arm was then constricted by both of her arms as she brought herself closer to me, pressing her boobs against my arm on purpose and looking up at me with batting eyelashes.

“Well, maybe I could visit you, anyway. You know how I can’t go a day without seeing you, sugar.”

“Unfortunately, I do know that,” I thought as Honey Pot sank my arm deeper into her body, her bosom threatening to practically devour my appendage.

“Actually, I’m going to need very little distractions,” I calmly explained to her as I gently tugged my arm out of her grip. “This project is worth a big chunk of my grade, and I want to invest all my focus into it.”

The mare sighed and looked to the side in frustration, putting her hands on her waist and striking an indignant pose. “Fine.”

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to my room. It’s been a long day, and I need some time to relax.”

“Alright then. I’ll see you later, baby!” Honey said, and then she blew me a kiss, which I gently swatted away.

“You know I don’t like you like that, right?” I told her with a nervous chuckle.

“You will eventually. I know you can’t resist all of this for much longer.” The mare ran her hands down her body suggestively as she said that, which made me cringe. “Just say the word, sweetheart, and I’ll put it on you in a second.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” I muttered to myself as I turned away and continued to walk back to my room. As I walked away, I realized something.

I should have told Honey Pot that I was seeing somepony else.

I facepalmed so hard at that realization. Even though I wasn’t officially in a relationship with Rarity, Octavia, or Luna, it still would’ve helped to at least tell Honey Pot that there was a mare that I actually liked. That could’ve finally made her get the fact that I had no interest in her, and then she would back off.

That is, of course, assuming that she had the decency to respect when a guy is taken.

Once I got there and reached for the door handle, I felt somepony hug me from behind and squeal with joy.

Was it Honey Pot again? No. The hug that I was receiving was from somepony that was taller than me.

Somepony that was MUCH taller than me.

“Welcome back nephew!”

“Hello to you, too, Auntie Celeste.”

“So? Tell me how your dates went! I’m dying to know how my nephew did on his outing!”

“Okay, but can we talk about it inside?”

“Of course!”

Celeste and I walked into my room, and I tossed my bag of photos onto the bed.

“What’s in the bag?” she asked.

“I’ll get to that later in the story,” I answered as I kicked my shoes off and jumped into my bed, only for Celeste’s magic to catch me before I landed.

“And that do you think you’re doing, young man?” she asked sternly.

“Getting into my bed so I can tell you about my day.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something? You just came home from being out in the city all day. Your clothes are filthy! Go take a shower and get into some clean clothes.”

“Are you serious? I thought you wanted me to tell you how my dates went.”

“That can wait,” Celeste answered as she used her magic to open my dresser and take out some sleeping clothes and levitate them over to me while I was still suspended in the air. “Now go and get yourself cleaned up, and don’t take any of those rushed showers, either.”

“Or, I can do all that after I tell the story.”

My aunt said nothing. She simply levitated me towards the bathroom, used her magic to open the door, and literally tossed me inside.

Thankfully, I didn’t break anything.

After taking my forced shower and changing into my sleeping clothes, I left my bathroom and found Auntie Celeste seated on my bed, reaching for the bag of photos that I took with Octavia.

“Ahem!”

“Oh, you’re done!” my aunt said sheepishly.

“I told you that I’ll get to the bag later in the story,” I reminded her.

“I know, I know. So, now that you’re all showered, come lie down next to your auntie and tell her all about your day.”

I rolled my eyes and approached my bed, lying down next to Celeste, and I began to tell her about my dates.

“And here I was worried that something would go wrong, but from your story, it sounds like you had everything under control,” Celeste said, and then she gave me another one of her crushing hugs. “Who knew that my little nephew was such a playboy?”

I chuckled at the compliment. “I wouldn’t say that. I pretty much went with the flow.”

“By the way, taking Rarity to the secret spot in the garden was a good call.”

“Thanks.”

“And I still find it hard to believe that Octavia wanted to go to a ropes course. When I first met her at the Grand Galloping Gala, she seemed so demure.”

“Well, according to her, I bring out her adventurous side.”

My aunt smirked and gave me a look. “Well, that adventurous nature will definitely work out for you in the long run if you end up choosing her.”

My eye twitched. “Why do you always have to take things that far?”

“It’s just something you’ll have to get used to,” she said as she looked at the photos that I took with Octavia, finally satisfied that I finally showed her what was in the bag I had. “Aww, you two look so beautiful in this picture! So romantic! Can I have one?”

“Sure, but after you do, you’ve got to leave.”

“Why are you kicking me out all of a sudden?”

“Before I went on my dates today, Luna invited me to go dreamwalking with her tonight.”

“Oh, I see. Well, have fun!”

I gave Celeste a concerned look. “You seem to be pretty okay with the fact that I like your sister.”

“Well, it is rather strange, considering the fact that you’re my adopted nephew, which makes her your aunt, but I’ve lived through times where such intimate relationships were commonplace. Plus, you aren’t related by blood, so if you two do end up together, I guess I could get used to this.”

I smiled to myself. “Thanks for being so supportive, Auntie.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” she smiled back. “Well, don’t let me hold you up any longer. I’m sure Luna is anxiously waiting for you.”

Celeste and I got off the bed and left my room, and from there, we parted ways for the night; she went to her room, and I went to Luna’s room. Once I got there, I looked over what I was wearing:

A simple t-shirt and pajama pants. Should I have worn a little more? I really had no idea what this whole dreamwalking thing was about, and I pretty much just threw on what Celestia gave me when she forced me to take a shower earlier.

I decided to just pay it no mind and knock on Luna’s door.

“Come in!” I heard from inside, and I opened the door to see Luna in front of a mirror, fixing the deep blue nightgown she had on. It was a simple garment, made of very light material that draped over her figure, but still accentuated it quite nicely, nicely enough for me to notice something:

“I see you gained back the weight you lost.”

“I know! Isn’t it wonderful?” Luna asked excitedly, spinning around and causing her nightgown to gracefully spin with her.

I laughed at the fact that Luna was the only female I knew that would have a positive reaction to being told that she was gaining weight.

I didn’t mind that she was gaining weight, either. I actually found it quite hard to look away as I gazed at the mare, her large voluptuous curves laboring my breathing and making me pull down on my t-shirt. The top of her simple getup had string straps which hung to the rest of the garment, displaying a huge portion of her enormous bust which was quite saggy without a bra but still very enticing. Meanwhile, the bottom of the nightgown was semi-transparent and showed her bubble shaped bottom and bouncy thighs in all of their evenly spread voluminous splendor.

I am so going to hell.

“Even with all the weight I gained, I still haven’t gone through half the treats that I received for Nightmare Night.”

“You must have a lot of admirers, Luna,” I said.

“I suppose so,” she sighed, and then she walked up to me, “but I admire you.” She then gave me a hug that was tight, yet comfortable, which was a pleasant contrast to her sister’s hugs, not to mention the fact that I practically sank into her soft flesh, what with her being bigger and squishier than me.

“I hope Withers doesn’t notice that you gained back the twenty pounds he made you lose.”

“He’s been busy with other affairs, so he’s been rather distracted, lately. Thankfully, that meant that I could cheat on my diet and binge on cookies and chocolate. It’s been nice, not hearing him complain about my eating habits.”

“Why don’t you just fire the little prick?” I asked. “He’s your advisor, not your father. You have bras that are more supportive than him.”

“Well, with what I’m carrying around, I don’t doubt that,” Luna said, looking down at her chest, “but believe you me, I’ve thought about terminating his employment. Unfortunately, Withers has tenure as an advisor, and I can’t fire him until that tenure is up.”

“And when will that be?”

“In six months,” the princess lamented.

I stayed silent in thought, and then I got an idea.

“Why don’t we visit his dreams tonight and mess with him a little?” I asked with a devious smile.

“I love when you get that look in your eye, Marcus. I can tell you have something quite devious planned.”

“So, how do we do this dreamwalking thing?”

Luna smiled. “Well, normally I would come into your dream as usual, and then I would pull you out and take you through the dream world with me, but…”

“But…”

“I was thinking we could share my bed tonight, and our close proximity will allow me to simply take you into the dream world without having to look for your dream.”

“You know full well that’s not the real reason why you want me to share a bed with you,” I said with a knowing smile.

“Someone’s gotten a little forward recently,” Luna smirked before she turned around and approached her bed, while I approached it from the opposite side. We both climbed into the bed and pulled the sheets over our bodies, getting comfortable in the soft fabric.

“Comfy?” Luna asked.

“Very.” I answered.

I heard a soft giggle, and then I felt the bed shift. Then next thing I knew, I had Luna’s arms around my waist and her body against my back.

“How about now?” she asked again.

“Even better,” I answered, and I lied there with the Princess of the Night embracing me. I smiled as Luna’s warm breath caressed the back of my neck, and I felt her nuzzling the top of my head with a satisfied sigh. She was so close I could sense much of her frontal curves: her soft silken arms draping themselves around me; her thighs and calves intertwining themselves with mine, their incredible tenderness encompassing my lower body; and her rather large melons which made my back melt under their power and lulled me into a sense of security. I sighed to myself as I drifted off into slumber.

I found myself floating in a dark, empty plane of reality, and before I could ask myself where I was, I was approached by Luna.

“Welcome to the dream world,” she said. “This is the space that I use to travel between the dreams of my subjects.” She then pointed to a portal that was close by. “See that? That’s the portal to your dream. Now we just need to find Withers’s portal.”

“How do you know which portal belongs to whom?” I asked. “I don’t see anything in my portal that tells you that it’s mine. Hell, I don’t see anything at all.”

“Exactly. Under normal circumstances, a portal would show the dream of who it belongs to, and since you’re here with me, there’s no image in your portal.”

I let out an understanding “Ah…” and then I followed Luna on our search for Withers’s dream. Eventually, we finally found the stallion’s portal, and we looked inside to see what he was dreaming about.

Withers was sitting on the patio of a luxurious mountainside estate, enjoying a glass of fine wine.

“He looks so peaceful,” I said mockingly.

“We can’t have that, now can we?” Luna smirked. “So, what do you have planned?”

“I figured that I could give the old bastard a little scare.”

“I like that idea. Allow me to help you appear more intimidating.”

Luna lit up her horn and enveloped me in a coat of magical energy, changing my appearance. A black cloak appeared on my body over my normal clothes, and my eyes turned a glowing red. My teeth also became sharper, and my hands assumed a claw-like appearance.

“Not bad, Luna- Whoa! What happened to my voice?” I asked.

“I changed it a little to sound more demonic. What do you think?”

“I think it sounds awesome!” I said excitedly.

“Now go on in and scare the color out of that pain in the ass while I provide the atmosphere.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I said as I went through the portal. I floated in the sky, Withers unaware of my presence, and Luna made the sky turn pitch black, causing thunder and lightning to roar across the sky and scaring Withers out of his wits.

“Oh, goodness! What’s happening?”

That was my cue.

I lowered myself down to the shivering stallion with a toothy grin on my face. The hood of my cloak obscured my face, leaving only my glowing eyes and my wicked smile as my only visible features.

“Withers…” I said with an evil voice.

“Who are you?” he asked in fear.

“I am the guardian angel that watches over Princess Luna,” I told him. “I have been observing your actions as Luna’s advisor, and I am far from pleased.”

“W-w-what do you mean? I’ve been nothing but supportive to the princess!”

“I wouldn’t call pressuring Luna into marriage and making her feel insecure about her weight counts as being supportive. I should send you to the underworld for eternity, but I shall let you live… on one condition.”

“W-w-what is it?”

“Not only must you give up on finding a husband for Luna, but you must also release her from her diet. From then on, you must never question her personal decisions, for if you do, I shall return, and I will not be as merciful to you then as I am now.”

“Y-yes! Whatever you say! I promise!”

“Good. I will now take my leave. Heed my warning, Withers, for I shall be watching you closely,” I said, and then I went right up to his face. “VERY closely.”

With that, I disappeared from Withers’s dream, appearing right outside the portal, next to Luna, who was practically dying at the performance I put on.

“My word!” she said in-between fits of laughter “That was amazing, Marcus! I’m in sutures!”

“Stitches,” I corrected, my voice and appearance back to normal.

“Whatever,” she dismissed. “Now that Withers will be out of my mane, let’s continue through the dream world.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

Luna and I continued our trip through the dream world, chatting idly as we did so, and then we came across a portal that caught our eyes.

Inside the portal was a small opossum that was wearing a suit. He was scurrying down the castle halls on his way to one of the balconies.

“Hey, Luna. Isn’t that Tiberius?” I asked.

Luna gasped and rushed over to the portal. “My Tibbles? This is his dream? Aww! I wonder where he’s scurrying off to!”

“Animals have dreams?” I asked.

“Of course they do. Every creature in the world has dreams,” she answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

“I wonder where the little guy’s going,” I said, more to myself than to Luna.

“Why don’t we go through the portal and find out.”

“Can’t we just watch from out here?”

“It’ll be more fun if we’re actually there. We’ll just avoid being seen so we don’t interrupt anything.”

“If you say so…”

Luna and I crossed through the portal, arriving in Tiberius’s dream. The little marsupial made his way to one of the castle balconies, where a small table was set up with two chairs. Luna and I silently followed, hiding behind the pillars.

“What do you think this table is for?” I whispered.

“Judging from the way Tibbles is dressed, I’d assume that-”

Before Luna could finish, we heard a screeching sound coming from the distance, and before we knew it, a flash of red and orange swooped up over the balcony, before slowing down and landing on one of the chairs at the table. That blur turned out to be a tall, majestic phoenix.

“Wait, isn’t that Philomena?” I asked

“It is,” Luna confirmed. “These two must be on a date! Which means that…”

“Tiberius has a crush on Philomena!”

The opossum climbed up to the table and presented a tiny bouquet of flowers to his date, to which she blushed beneath her feathers and hid her face with her wing shyly, giggling at the gesture.

At that moment, Luna forgot that she was supposed to be hiding and popped out from behind the pillar in excitement.

“TIBBLES!”

The poor rodent squeaked in shock as his owner rushed towards him, trapping him in a hug.

“Oh, how adorable! You’re on a romantic date with Philomena! I’m so happy for you, my ickle-diddy-widdle-tibble-kins!”

Philomena stared at the display in front of her, and then she burst into crows of laughter, nearly falling to the floor in tears. The phoenix spread her wings and took off laughing at Tiberius’s embarrassing situation as she did so.

Angrily, the emasculated opossum forced himself out of Luna’s arms, squeaking madly and running away in shame.

“Tibbles, wait! Come back!” she called, only for Tiberius to ignore her and keep running. “I don’t understand. What did I do?”

“You mean aside from the fact that you just cockblocked your pet?” I asked as I approached the confused princess.

“Cockblocked? Oh, I get it! You’re saying that because Philomena’s a bird, right?”

“Not even close,” I said, shaking my head. “Let’s get out of here. Hopefully you won’t ruin the dreams of any other guys with crushes.”

“I still don’t see what I did wrong,” Luna declared stubbornly as we left the dream.

From there, we continued on through the dream world, passively looking through the dreams of all of Equestria’s citizens.

“That’s odd. It seems like all the children are having pleasant dreams tonight,” Luna said with curiosity. “Not a nightmare to be found.”

“How many nightmares do you usually take care of in a night?”

“Somewhere around thirty or forty,” she answered, and then she giggled. “Speaking of nightmares, I’m surprised you haven’t had one about a certain maid yet.”

“Don’t even bring her up,” I warned her. “We were having a good night up till now. Don’t ruin it.”

“I’m just making an observation. You’d think that you’d have at least one nightmare about her, what with all your talking about how much she disturbs you.”

“Can you blame me? She’s insane! She’s so fixated on me, and she’s convinced herself that I have feelings for her!”

“Have you not tried telling my sister about it?”

“I have, but she just said that I was overreacting and that if I was nicer to her, she’d back off.”

“And how’s that working out for you?”

“What do you think?”

Luna sighed. “Leave it to Tia to be so soft. If it were up to me, I would have fired that mare.”

“Why can’t you?” I asked.

The princess frowned at me and said “Half the maids in the castle are exclusively under my authority while the other half is under Celestia’s. Honey Pot is in the latter half, so I can’t fire her.”

“Just my luck.” I grumbled.

“Marcus~”

I raised an eyebrow and looked at Luna. “What the hell happened to your voice?” I asked.

“I didn’t say anything,” she answered.

“Then who-”

“Oh Marcus~”

She was right. The voice was coming from somepony other than Luna. It must have been coming from someone’s dream.

I looked around and tried to find out where the voice was coming from, and then I finally found the portal the voice came from.

When I saw whose dream it was, though, my skin went pale.

I saw Honey Pot being pushed up against a wall by a tall, masculine figure whose face was obscured by shadows. She looked like she was in a very uncomfortable position, but she also looked like she was enjoying it.

The mare let out a moan of pleasure as she looked back at the figure holding her.

“Marcus…” Luna said in disbelief. “I think that’s you!”

I looked at the person holding Honey Pot against the wall, but the shadows prevented me from determining his identity.

Then again, knowing that crazy mare, what other guy would she be dreaming about?

The man holding her opened his mouth to speak, and when I heard his voice, it only confirmed my and Luna’s suspicions.

“I can’t wait any longer, Honey,” he said in my voice as he twisted the mare’s arm behind her back, making her let out another moan.

Hurray. Now I can add “is a masochist” to the list of things that are wrong with this mare.

“I’ve wanted a piece of this hot body of yours for a long, long time.”

“Oh, really?” Honey asked, panting heavily. “And here I was beginning to think that you really didn’t want me.”

“I DON”T WANT YOU!!!” I screamed from outside.

“They can’t hear you, you know,” Luna told me. “They’re in there, and we’re out here.”

“Let’s go, Luna.” I said, taking her arm. “I don’t want to see this.”

I was not expecting the response I got.

“Not just yet.”

“What?”

“I said not just yet. Just give me a second.”

“For what!?”

“I just want to see where this goes.”

“FOR WHY!?!?”

“I’m just… curious, is all,” the princess shrugged. “Now quiet down. I want to hear this.”

Okay, I didn’t mean Luna any disrespect, but she was really trying my patience!

The Marcus in Honey Pot’s dream firmly grabbed her bare bottom under the short skirt of her maid outfit and squeezed tightly, causing her to let out a loud, happy moan.

“Heh, heh. Nice and tight,” he said, making me shiver at how I sounded saying those words like that.

“Oh, Marcus! I love it when you’re so forceful!” Honey Pot yelled.

And now I can add “has a rape fetish” to my little list.

The dream version of me smirked cockily and lowered his head to her mane, taking in a forceful sniff and sighing in content. After that, he started to nip at Honey Pot’s neck, making her shudder in anticipation.

“Let’s go, Luna!” I whined.

“Just another minute or two…” she responded.

“Why the hell would you want to watch this!?” I asked incredulously.

“Like I said, I’m curious,” she answered as she tiled her head at what she was seeing. By then, Honey Pot had gone totally wild.

“Oh, Marcus! If you don’t take me now, I’m gonna lose my mind!”

Oh, no. If where this dream was going wasn’t clear before, it certainly was now.

“Dammit, Luna! Let’s go.”

The princess scrunched her nose and nodded her head. “I suppose I’ve seen enough. We can leave.”

“Thank you!” I exclaimed with relief.

We couldn’t have left that portal any faster.

“Do you enjoy torturing me, Luna?” I asked as we continued through the dream world.

“Somewhat,” she answered. “The faces you make when you’re mad are simply adorable!”

“Well, can you not do that?”

“I won’t make any promises.”

I rolled my eyes as we came across another interesting portal. It showed us the image of a beautiful beach with palm trees decorating the golden sand and crystal blue waters cascading along the shore.

“Somepony’s having another romantic dream,” I said, pointing out the pegasus couple resting by the shore.

“Would you like to go in and relax on the sand?” Luna offered. “I’ll cast a charm that’ll prevent us from being seen.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Eh, why the hell not,” I said as we crossed through the portal. Once we got through, Luna cast the charm and we found a nice spot on the sand where we could rest.

“Ahh~ The sand feels nice and warm,” I sighed as I reveled in the sensation of the sand on my feet. “I didn’t know that my sense of touch would actually work in a dream.”

“Well, when one is dreaming normally, only two of the five senses, sight and hearing, are active. When dreamwalking, however, one’s mind is actively aware of being in the dream world, and thus all five senses become active.”

As she was explaining this to me, Luna conjured up a large blanket for us to lie down on. The two of us got comfortable on the blanket, the princess wrapping her arms around me affectionately. We stayed there with the warm rays of the sun beating down on us, a pleasant contrast to the increasingly cold weather in the real world.

“Luna…” I said, breaking the silence.

“Yes, Marcus?” she cooed lovingly.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“I know you told me why you liked me, but…”

“But what?”

“Did it ever bother you that we’re technically related?” I finally asked. “I mean, when you told me how you felt, you didn’t seem to be hesitant at all.”

Luna sighed. “It has crossed my mind on numerous occasions. For some time, I felt really confused about whether or not my feelings for you were… right, for lack of a better word.”

I looked at Luna as her expression went somber for a moment, but then it began to brighten up again.

“But after dwelling on it some more, I began to care less about it,” she explained. “You and Celestia aren’t related by blood and neither are we, and as far as the rest of Equestria was concerned, you aren’t related to me or Tia at all.”

“I guess when you put it that way, it makes sense.”

“Does my sister know? About your feelings for me, I mean.”

I nodded.

“How did she react?”

“Well, she said that if we do end up together, it would be awkward for her, but she’ll support us either way.”

Luna let out a relieved sigh.

“Oh, thank goodness. It’s good to know that she has our backsides.”

“Our backs,” I corrected with a laugh. “Even with her support, though. There are still gonna be some ponies that won’t like this. I mean, so many nobles want to be with you. Imagine how they’d react if they lost you to someone else, and a teenager, no less. I’m sure there are still those types of ponies that believe that the fact that I wasn’t born into nobility would ‘taint the royal bloodline’.”

Luna smiled warmly at me and held me closer to her. “I don’t care,” she stated bluntly. “They can say whatever they wish to say. It won’t matter to me in the slightest, and if anypony has qualms about it, that’s their problem, not ours.”

I smiled back at the princess, happy that she was willing to face the backlash of being with an average guy like me. “You really feel that strongly about me?” I asked.

“Of course I do,” she answered. She brought her face even closer to mine. I immediately realized what was coming, so I moved my face towards hers at the same slow pace she moved her face towards mine. Meanwhile, our bodies were so close to one another that we could feel each other’s heartbeat.

And then our lips met.

Luna’s lips were as soft as the embrace she was giving me, perhaps even softer, and the locks of her wavy mane that were sneaking over to my traps and neck gave me a nice tickling sensation. I wrapped my arm around Luna, finally returning the embrace she had been giving me for the past several minutes, and I held her as tightly as I could.

The kiss felt great. Incredible, even, but…

I couldn’t help but feel like there was something missing.

There was a certain… emptiness I felt when I was kissing Luna, an emptiness that I didn’t feel when I kissed Rarity or Octavia. Something wasn’t there that should have been, and I couldn’t tell what it was.

When Luna and I separated, I tried not to give her a look of disappointment, but then I saw the look that she was giving me.

She was disappointed, too…

“That didn’t… feel right…” she said sadly. “No offense to you, but… I was expecting this to feel a little different.”

“Me too,” I agreed. “Maybe we should try again.”

“Yes, of course,” Luna accepted. “We might just be in the wrong position, it all.”

Instead of lying on our sides, Luna opted to straddle me and kiss me from above instead. “This might be better,” she said hopefully, and she lowered her lips down to meet mine.

Unfortunately, the change in position did nothing to fix the kiss.

Luna and I looked each other with expressions that contained a mix of confusion and sadness.

“I don’t get it…” I said.

“I don’t, either,” she admitted. “The kiss did feel pleasant, but something was amiss about it.”

“It feels like something’s missing. Something important, like-”

“A spark?” Luna finished for me.

My eyes widened in realization. That was it! That’s what was missing! When I kissed Rarity, I felt a spark that ran through me intensely, and I got that same feeling when I kissed Octavia. My kiss with Luna, on the other hand, didn’t have that spark.

“So what does this mean?” I asked her.

“I don’t know,” she answered, the volume of her voice barely over a whisper. “Maybe it means that… that…” Luna kept hesitating, like she didn’t want to admit what she was about to say.

“Maybe this means that this wasn’t meant to happen,” she finally said, and her eyes began to well up.

“I’m really sorry Luna,” I told her as I hugged her consolingly. “I know how disappointed you feel right now.”

“I really thought that you were the one, Marcus,” she whimpered. “This date was going so well, too, and now it’s ruined.”

“Who says it’s ruined? We can still have a good time. This date has been really fun, so far, and even if we weren’t meant for each other, hanging out with you is still a lot of fun.”

Luna gave me a surprised look. “You truly mean that?”

I nodded my head.

“So we’re still friends, then?” she asked hopefully.

“Of course we are,” I answered with a smile, which made her smile back.

“Thank you, Marcus,” she said as she rested her head against my chest affectionately. “Let’s go. We still have more dreams to visit.”

Luna and I got up off the blanket and found the portal that brought us to this dream. From there, we continued through the dream world, and as we floated around, Luna stayed close to me, finding comfort in my presence.

“Do you feel better, Luna?”

“Somewhat. I’m still a little upset, but at least we’re still having a good time.”

“That’s good to know,” I said with relief, and then something caught my eye.

There was a portal that showed one of the halls in Canterlot castle, and there was a pony walking down the empty hallway. Because I was so far away from the portal, I couldn’t see who the pony was. In fact, I only knew it was a pony because I could barely make out a tail from its figure.

“Luna, you see that portal over there?” I asked.

“Yeah, and the pony in it looks familiar,” she answered.

“Let’s go and take a closer look.”

Luna and I floated towards the portal to get a better look at whose dream it belonged to, and I figured out who it was before we even got close.

If the tall figure, white coat, and light magenta eyes didn’t give it away, the long multi-colored mane and tail certainly did.

This dream belonged to Auntie Celeste.

Author's Notes:

And with that, the final chapter of the Dates arc is FINISHED! I just realized that all the subtitles for this arc's chapter are three words long.

Know Your History
Spare No Expense
Change of Plan
Feel ze Passion
In Your Dreams

The next chapter is going to have a pretty big revelation, so I hope you guys don't get too impatient waiting for it.

I know I disappointed a lot of LunaMarc fans, but I hope you guys don't stop reading this story because of it.

What could Celestia possibly be dreaming about? You'll see...

Also, a bit of news. As of writing this note, I'm one follower away from reaching the 200 mark. In celebration, I'm going to draw a one-page comic of one of the funniest scenes from this story so far. So, let me know which scene made you laugh out loud! You can make more than one suggestion, if you want.

See ya next chapter!

Chapter 18: Flashbacks and Nightmares

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“Yeah, there’s no mistaking it,” Luna said. “That is definitely Celestia. This dream has a different feeling than the others we’ve seen, though.”

“What do you mean?” I asked curiously.

“Well, there are three types of dreams: fantasies, nightmares, and flashbacks. Each type gives off a certain flow of energy. All the dreams we’ve seen so far were fantasies, whereas this dream is a flashback. Still, though…”

“What?”

“The way the castle is decorated… I don’t remember it looking like this.”

“Maybe this memory happened while you were banished.”

“That seems most likely,” Luna nodded. “While I am unfamiliar with the decorations, I do know what part of the castle this is. It’s the last main hallway before the infirmary wing.”

Luna and I then looked at Celeste, and we were taken aback by the uneasy look she had.

“Is she sick or something?” I asked.

Luna examined the look on Celeste’s face for a moment. “I cannot tell from mere observation, but she does seem rather despondent.”

“Hmm…”

I debated with myself over whether or not I should keep watching Celeste’s dream. While it would be respectful to her privacy if I simply minded my own business, I had just intruded on several dreams within the past hour and a half…

Well, at least it felt like an hour and a half.

What would be the harm in looking to see what memory my aunt is reliving? Besides, if I stayed outside the portal, she wouldn’t even know that I was watching.

And so Luna and I continued to watch Celeste’s memory.

She walked through the main entrance of the infirmary wing. When she did, the receptionist flinched in surprise and cleared his throat.

“Oh! Princess Celestia! The doctor is waiting for you in the third examination room,” he told her.

“Looks like you were right about Tia being sick,” Luna commented.

“We’ll see, for now,” I said, still not sure if I was right or not.

Celeste nodded her head at the receptionist and continued towards the exam room, knocking on the door once she got there.

“Come in.”

Celeste entered the room to see a mare with a pale purple coat and a snow white mane and tail. She was wearing a doctor’s coat and a pair of glasses, and she was holding a clipboard in her hands. “Good afternoon, Princess,” she said.

“What did you call me for, Crystal Cure?” Celeste asked with a hint of impatience.

“Well, there’s no easy way to say this…”

“Just make it quick, will you?”

Crystal Cure winced at the princess’s passive-aggressive tone.

“I’m sorry,” said Celeste. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.”

“It’s okay,” the doctor told her with an understanding smile. “I don’t blame you after what you’ve just been through. I don’t know many mares that have maintained a happy mood after a miscarriage.”

My mouth, as well as Luna’s, fell open in shock at what we heard.

“A… a miscarriage!?” Luna exclaimed.

“I don’t believe it…” I said, more to myself than to her.

“To think that Celestia had been hiding this all this time!”

“Can you blame her, though? I’d keep that a secret, too.”

We continued looking into the dream, and Celeste was looking at the ground with a sorrowful look on her face.

“I’m sorry Princess,” said Crystal. “Forgive me for being so blunt.”

“It’s fine…” Celeste sighed. “So, why have you called me here?”

“Well, as you know, the intense trauma during labor and the subsequent loss of the foal ended up severely damaging your uterus, and we had to perform some reconstructive surgery to fix it. I needed to wait until you were fully recovered to run some tests on you.

“May I ask what these tests are for?”

“They’re to make sure that you haven’t suffered any obscure damage during foalbirth.”

My aunt let out a sigh. “If I must…”

All of a sudden, the image in the portal flashed white, taking me by surprise.

“Wait, that’s it? What happened?”

“Flashback dreams don’t cover every minute detail of a memory,” Luna explained, “thus the dream will occasionally flash forward like this. The image will return soon.”

Not a second later, the image came back, just as Luna said it would. Auntie Celeste was still in the examination room, only this time she was alone. She sat on the examination table as she swung her legs back and forth, most likely waiting for the doctor to return, which she did a few moments later. Crystal Cure entered the room with an emotionless look on her face, and she tried not to look at the princess.

“So, what did the results say?” she asked.

The doctor didn’t respond.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine…” she responded. “It’s just that I’ve looked at the results, and… I’m not sure how to tell you this…”

“Whatever it is, Crystal Cure, I’m prepared to face it.”

Crystal paused for a moment and took a deep breath. “Well, after examining you, I saw how scarred your womb was from the surgery, and… I’m afraid that your injuries have affected your ability to bear foals.”

Celeste’s face became more worried than before. “How so?” she asked fearfully.

“Well, you’re still able to conceive, but the likelihood of the foal surviving past thirty weeks is… below ten percent.”

It was at this point that my aunt began to shiver. Despite that, however, she still looked for a glimmer of hope.

“I can still try, can’t I?” she asked.

Crystal Cure frowned. “You could, but I cannot recommend that in good conscience.”

“Why not? There still is a chance of success, isn’t there?”

“Yes, but the consequences of failure are much too severe to take such a risk. By the time the foal dies, it would be developed enough to require surgery to remove, and the procedure would damage you even more, possibly even rendering you unable to conceive. Not only that, but if, by some miracle, the foal does survive past thirty weeks, carrying it past that point will cause you tremendous pain due to your scarred womb. The pain would be so severe that it would not only cripple you, but kill the foal as well, and that’s if you’re lucky. Worst case scenario, the trauma would kill you.”

The princess froze when she heard this, and so did Luna and I. My aunt was just told that she couldn’t have a kid, and even if she tried, doing so would cripple her, kill the foal, or kill her and the foal. It was practically a no-win situation.

“My word…” Luna lamented.

I was practically speechless. I never would have guessed that Auntie Celeste was hiding such a tragic memory within her. I looked over at Luna and saw that she was wiping tears from her face. Seeing such a scene would cause that reaction in anypony.

Just then, the memory flashed white again, and when the image returned, Luna and I saw someplace totally different from the castle infirmary.

“I don’t recognize this place at all,” said Luna.

“I do. It’s the hospital back in my hometown,” I explained.

“But why would Celestia have a memory of this place?”

“I think I know why.”

Auntie Celeste walked down the hall hurriedly, looking in various directions as though she was looking for someone. She finally stopped when she saw somebody she recognized.

“Hector,” she called quietly.

“Is that your father?” Luna asked. I didn’t blame her for not recognizing him right away. Unlike her sister, Luna hadn’t seen my parents much.

“Celestia? You’re here!” dad said with a smile.

“Just like I said I would be. Am I too late?”

“No. Maria’s still in the delivery room. The doctors asked me to stay out here while they delivered the baby.”

“Thank goodness. I thought that I was running late.”

“Wait, this is the day you were born, isn’t it?” Luna asked.

“Looks like it,” I said.

Just then, a doctor walked out of the delivery room with a smile on his face. “He’s here,” he told Dad and Celeste, and they happily rushed into the room, where my mother was waiting with me in her arms.

“He’s sleeping,” she whispered as Dad and Auntie Celeste entered the room. Dad walked over to Mom’s side and she handed me to him.

“Hey there, son,” he whispered, and my eyes slowly fluttered open.

“Aww! You look so cute!” Luna squealed when she saw my baby self, and I blushed in embarrassment.

Dad looked at Celeste and smiled at her. “Do you want to hold him, Celestia?”

“Me? Really?”

“Of course,” said Mom.

Celeste smiled as Dad handed me to her, and she looked down at me with a warm expression. “Hello there, little one,” she told me as she tickled my nose with her finger. My baby self grabbed at her finger with his little hands, gripping on the soft fur coating it.

The princess giggled and moved her face towards mine, scrunching her nose. “You are such a cutie!” she cooed, and I reached out to feel her muzzle with my hands, making her giggle even more.

“You two have already decided on a name for him, right?” she asked my parents.

“Yeah. We’ve decided to name him Marcus,” Dad answered.

“He really seems to like you, Celestia,” Mom commented. “It’s like you’re his auntie.”

Celeste smiled and looked back at my baby self. “Yeah… I’m your Auntie Celeste,” she told me as she tickled my little nose again.

“So that’s how she came up with that nickname,” Luna said.

“Yeah… I actually thought Celeste was her real name until I was three,” I explained. “I tried growing out of it when I turned thirteen, but she wasn’t having that.”

Luna giggled. “I can relate. Celestia would sometimes get upset if I didn’t call her ‘Tia’ for a long time.”

All of a sudden, Luna began to shiver, and a look of horror appeared on her face.

“Oh, no…” she said.

“What is it?”

“The flow of energy coming from this dream is starting to change. Its pattern is starting to resemble that of…”

“Of what?”

“A nightmare.”

Right when Luna said that, everything around Celeste began to disappear, leaving her inside a black void with nothing but my baby self in her hands.

At least… that’s what it looked like.

Celeste looked down and saw that the bundle in her arms was empty, and she dropped it in shock while letting out a yelp of fear.

“What in the world?” she said confusedly. She looked around in a panic, and the look on her face became more and more anxious and desperate. “Marcus!” she yelled. “Marcus, where are you!?”

She began to run through the void, attempting to find some trace of me, and after a few moments of searching, she finally found me, only this time, I was my current age.

“Marcus! Thank goodness!” she sighed in relief. “I thought I had lost you!”

The me in her dream didn’t respond. Instead, he kept his back turned to Auntie Celeste.

“Marcus? Are you okay?” she asked, and she reached her hand out to touch him, but he turned around and grabbed her wrist tightly. Celeste’s eyes widened in surprise, and she was even more surprised when she saw the look in the dream Marcus’s eyes.

They were pitch black.

“Don’t… touch me!!!” he yelled at her. His voice sounded like a mix of me at my current age and me as a child, resulting in a twisted, demented cry.

“Marcus?” Celeste said with a shiver. “Is something the matter?”

“You’re what’s the matter! I’m sick of you always being on my case! I can’t go five minutes without having you check up on me!”

“But sweetie, I only do these things because I love you.”

“Well, you’re suffocating me! You may think you’re doing what’s best for me, but all you’re doing is annoying the shit out of me!”

My aunt’s breathing became labored, and she struggled to from words. “Marcus… I really don’t appreciate you using that kind of language against me…”

“AAAGH! Will you stop trying to be my mother!? Take a hint, princess!”

“Take a hint? What do you mean?”

“I. DON’T. NEED. YOU!!!”

Luna and I looked on in horror at what was unfolding before us. I was starting to get angry. I would never say that to Auntie Celeste’s face like that! No matter what difficulties we had, I would never say something that harsh! Even when we had that fight after the Nightmare Night party, I never felt that I hated Celeste.

My aunt tried to get ahold of the nightmare Marcus, but he disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving her behind in the dark. Celeste stood there, alone, tears welling up in her eyes and threatening to fall. She fell to her knees and hunched over, weeping in agony over the pain in her heart.

“I can’t watch this,” I said. “I have to go in there!”

“Marcus, don’t!”

By the time Luna’s warning reached my ears, I had already attempted to cross the portal, only to receive a strong electric-like shock to my hand.

“Agh! What the hell!?”

“Celestia’s nightmare is so strong that it’s emitting a lot of excess energy,” Luna explained. “It takes a strong enough dreamwalker to enter a nightmare like that.”

The princess took a deep breath and closed her eyes, and she reached out to stick her hand through the portal…

Only to be shocked by its energy, as well.

“What in the world? Why is this nightmare so strong?”

“You mean you can’t go in?”

“I’m trying-AGH! But I can’t-AGH! Break through!”

I groaned and began to rack my brain over how I could save Auntie Celeste from her nightmare. Every second I wasted in the dream world was another second of her suffering!

Just then, I got an idea.

“Luna! Wake us up!” I said. “Once we’re back in the real world, I can go to Auntie Celeste’s room and wake her up the old-fashioned way.”

“Good idea!” she said, and she took my hands and lit up her horn. Everything went white for a moment, but then we found ourselves back in Luna’s room. I immediately climbed out of bed, and was about to head to the door when…

“Hold on Marcus,” Luna called. “Don’t forget that you were just sleeping. You aren’t in the best condition to run all the way to Celestia’s room. Let me teleport you there.”

“Thanks, Luna.”

“Don’t mention it.”

The princess lit up her horn once more before aiming at me and zapping me with her teleportation spell.

I found myself outside Auntie Celeste’s bedroom, and I didn’t think twice before barging in and rushing to her bedside. When I got there, I saw that my aunt was tossing and turning in her bed, whimpering and sniveling at her nightmare.

A look of sorrow befell me, but it quickly turned into one of determination.

“Auntie Celeste! Wake up!” I called, but she wasn’t waking up. “Wake up!” I yelled again, but there was still no response. I furrowed my brow in anger and grabbed my aunt’s shoulders to stop her from moving around…

and then I shook her.

“Auntie Celeste, listen to me! What you’re going through isn’t real! It’s only nightmare! Now WAKE UP!!!”

The princess’s eyes shot open, and she let out a loud gasp as though she had been drowning. She continued to breathe heavily as she looked up at the ceiling, and then she turned to look at me.

“Marcus… is that you?”

“It’s me, Auntie,” I told her as I helped her sit up.

Tears were falling from her face as she tried to talk to me. “I… I was having this nightmare. You were there, and you were so angry…” It was at this point that she started to hyperventilate, her breathing becoming erratic and uneven. “You started y-yelling at me, and you… you said that you d-didn’t need me anym-more.”

I put my on hand on my aunt’s back and the other on her chest, just below her neck. “Auntie, you need to breathe, okay. Just relax. You don’t have to say anything.”

With me supporting her, Celeste’s breathing became more even, and she began to calm down. I wiped the tears from her eyes, but more came falling down.

“Don’t cry, Auntie,” I told her. “I don’t want to see you cry.”

“I can’t help it Marcus,” she whimpered. “You told me that you didn’t need me anymore, and that I did nothing but annoy you.”

“But Auntie, that was just a nightmare. It wasn’t real. You know that I would never say those awful things to you. I don’t think that you’re annoying, and I’ll always need you.”

Celeste sniffled and looked at me. “How did you know?”

“Huh?”

“How did you know that I was having a nightmare?”

I sighed. “Luna and I came across your dream while we were dreamwalking. When it turned into a nightmare, we tried to save you from there, but I ended up having to pull you out from here.”

A small smile creeped its way onto her face. “Thank you…” she told me, but then the smile disappeared as quickly as it came. “So I guess you saw my memory. You know which one I’m talking about.”

“Yeah… that memory… I’m sorry, Celeste. Luna and I shouldn’t have eavesdropped on you.”

My aunt sighed. “Well, what’s done is done. We can’t change anything about it.”

“The foal you lost,” I said, trying to be as sensitive as possible, “was that Orion?”

Celeste looked at me in shock. “How did you-”

“You accidentally called me by his name a month ago,” I explained.

“Oh… I remember that, now,” she lamented. “Orion was the name I was going to give my son.” She then looked at the clock which read twelve-thirty AM. “Today would have been his birthday.”

I let out a deep breath. “I think I finally understand.”

“Understand what?”

“Why you’re so protective of me. You look at me like a son, and you’re only being protective because of your motherly instincts.”

“Not even that,” she said. “When I held you in my arms the day you were born, I felt like I had been given a second chance. I felt that if anything were to ever happen to you, I wouldn’t know what to do. Sure, I wasn’t really going to be a mother, but it was the closest thing I had to ever being one. You were the son that I never got to have, and I sheltered and spoiled you so much because I wanted to make the most out of every moment I had with you. I cherished the relationship that we had.”

“Have,” I corrected. “I’m still here, and I’m still your nephew.”

Celeste looked at me, and she finally showed me a genuine smile, one that lasted for longer than a mere moment. “That you are,” she said. “Are you sure that you’ll always need me, though? I mean, you’ll eventually start your own life, and you’ll have a wife to take care of you.”

I chuckled and held Celeste close to me. “Even so, there are still some things an auntie can do that a wife can’t. I’d be lost without you, Celeste, and you know that.”

I then hugged my aunt as tightly as I could, and she reached her arms around to hug me back. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as tight as her usual hugs, and yet I still felt the same amount of love and affection in it, if not more.

“Tell you what,” I said, “how about we spend the entire day together, just you and me? We can go out into the city in the morning.”

“I’d like that a lot, Marcus.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” I smiled as I let go of my aunt. “You want me to spend the night with you tonight, just to keep you company?”

Celeste laughed. “No, thank you. I think I’ll be fine.”

“Okay then,” I said, and I turned around to head towards the door, but then…

“Marcus?”

“Yeah?”

Auntie Celeste looked down shyly and said “On second thought… maybe I could use some company tonight.”

I smiled warmly and approached the bed, climbing in next to her, and I fell asleep with my dear Auntie Celeste holding me close to her.

Like she would her own son.

Chapter 19: A Day Out With Auntie

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The next morning, I woke up to the unpleasant feeling of the sun hitting my face as it rose. I scrunched my face in discomfort and pulled the blanket over my face, but the sunlight easily penetrated it.

“Are you kidding me?” I said to myself as I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Once my vision cleared up, I looked to my left and saw that Auntie Celeste wasn’t in the bed next to me, which I pretty much expected.

It was her job to raise the sun, after all.

I got out of the bed and shut the curtains to the window that was letting the sunlight in. It was too damn bright in the room, and I had to fix that. I looked at Auntie Celeste’s clock, which read seven-fifteen AM. I then looked back at the bed and sighed; there was no way I was gonna get back to sleep, not after I just got out of bed to close the curtains. I was already wide awake, and there was no hope of me getting back to bed.

Just then, the bedroom door opened slowly, and the first thing I saw was a white horn creeping in, followed by a mane of pink, green, and blue, and then a white-coated face with magenta-colored eyes.

“Rats, I thought you’d still be asleep by the time I got back from raising the sun.”

“As bright as that sun is, there was no way that was gonna happen, Auntie.”

“Ah, well. I was hoping to make the best of having some quality time with my nephew,” said Celeste as she revealed herself from behind the door, wearing a golden sleeping robe with a “C” monogrammed on the hip. “I can see it now. You’d wake up in my arms, and the first thing you’d see would be my smiling face.”

“You’re gonna be spending the entire day with me, Auntie. Relax.”

“I suppose that’s true. Now, I’d hate to do this, but I’m gonna have to kick you out. I need to get ready.”

“Yeah, I’ll just let myself out.”

“Meet me in the dining hall,” she told me. “We’ll have breakfast together.”

“Alright, see you then,” I replied, and I left my aunt’s room to give her some privacy as she got ready. From there, I headed over to my room, which was quite the walk from Celeste’s, but I didn’t mind. When I was nearly there, though, an unfortunate event befell me.

I’m sure you’ve already guessed what I meant by that.

“Marcuuuuuus~”

Why? Why so early in the morning?

“Hi, Honey Pot,” I said unenthusiastically.

“It’s such a coincidence that I’m seeing you!”

I raised an eyebrow. “How is it a coincidence when you always go out of your way to see me almost every day?”

The mare chuckled as she approached me. “Can you blame a mare like me for wanting to be around a stud muffin like you?” She got uncomfortably close to me and placed her hands on my shoulders, looking up at me with lidded eyes.

My eye twitched and I raised my hands to shove her off, but then I remembered that I had to try and be nice to her. Instead of shoving the small mare, I gently removed her hands from my shoulders.

“Hmph, you’re not as aggressive as you used to be, sweetheart,” Honey said with a pout as she folded her arms. “I remember when you were so defiant. What happened?”

I took a deep breath and spoke. “I figured that just because I wasn’t attracted to you, that didn’t justify me being so mean to you.” It was such a struggle to say those words in that order. You don’t even know.

“Au contraire, my sweet. You weren’t mean to me at all,” Honey Pot said as she traced her finger up my torso. “I don’t mind a bit of a chase. It makes getting what I want all the more… satisfying.” She said that last word with a purr that made me shiver in discomfort.

“Look, Honey Pot. You’re nice and all, but like I said before,”

Countless, countless times before,

“I just don’t want to be in that kind of relationship with you. I don’t see you that way. Besides I have a-”

The mare put a finger on my lips and smirked at me. “Hmph. Silly boy, you’re so young. You don’t know what you want.” I knitted my brows in frustration when she said those words. She then got close to me again, and the shivers came back. “I could help you figure it out, though. I’m sure I can bring back that aggressive nature in you.”

“I don’t remember having such a nature to begin with,” I thought, but then my train of thought was interrupted as my personal abuser started rubbing her tits up and down my chest with provocative and lascivious motions, her hands gripping my arms tighter.

“I had a dream about you last night, you know,” Honey whispered as she brought her face so close to me that I could feel her hot breath on my face. Admittedly, it smelled pretty nice, but having it all up in my eyes was making me tear up.

“It was probably the most blissful, most erotic dream I ever had!” she continued. “You had me up against the wall, your hands all over me, caressing every inch of my body. You were like an animal!”

“Well, too bad it was only a dream,” I said as I wiggled out of her arms.

“A dream that I’m all too ready to make a reality.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.”

The mare looked at me deviously and licked her lips while giving her melons a little bit of a mashing. “There’s the Marcus I know.”

“Look, Honey Pot, I’d love to continue this conversation, but I have to leave.”

“And go where?”

I gave her an angry look and growled in frustration. “I’m spending the day with my aunt, and I have to get ready!” Just then, something hit me, and I chuckled. “And I’m sure she’d love to know why I’ve been keeping her waiting. I don’t think she’ll take kindly to one of her maids interfering with her day plans.”

The maid grunted and turned away from me. “Okay, you win… for now,” she said as she walked away.

“This chick just doesn’t let up,” I thought in exasperation. “Even when I try to tell her that there’s somepony else, she stops me before I can get it out.”

I let out a sigh and headed to my room, hoping that a quick, warm shower will get that crazy mare out of my head. Besides, I was sure that some of her scent rubbed off on me while she was rubbing her body against mine.

After taking a shower and getting dressed, I headed down to the dining hall, where Auntie Celeste told me to meet her. The outfit I was wearing was pretty casual, and I kept the weather in mind as well.

It was mid-November, and it was getting colder and colder every day.

With that being the case, I decided to wear a dark blue jacket over an orange long-sleeved T-shirt, along with a pair of black jeans and sneakers that matched my jacket. It actually relieved me that I didn’t have to think about my attire too much. Unlike my dates with Rarity and Octavia, this was just a casual outing with my aunt.

Come to think of it, I didn’t really have to dress nicely for my date with Luna. It’s funny how my outings with the princesses required less wardrobe consideration than my outings with two normal mares.

I reached the dining hall, and Auntie Celeste was getting some food from the catering table that was set out every morning. It looked like she decided to go with a casual look today, too. She was wearing a gold hoodie with a white shirt underneath, and she wore a pair of jeans that were white with gold accents.

Come to think of it, this may have been the first time I’ve seen my aunt dressing so casually.

“Oh, there you are, Marcus!” she said happily. “What kept you?”

“Take a guess.”

“Honey Pot?”

“I’m telling you, auntie, the mare is crazy! I know you told me to be nice, but it’s not working!”

“I’m sure you’re just overreacting, sweetie.”

I furrowed my brow at my aunt. “She told me that she had a dream about me manhandling her against a wall! I swear, she’s this close to taking my virginity!”

The princess smirked. “Don’t say that so loud,” she whispered. “Better not let her know you’re a virgin. Having that knowledge might make her pounce on you like a manticore.”

“Celeste!”

“Relax, Marcus. You know I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you. You may not know it, but I’m keeping a close eye on her. She is under my authority, after all.”

“I really hope you mean that,” I muttered as I grabbed some bagels and hashbrowns from the table and put them on my plate.

“Of course I do, nephew,” Auntie Celeste cooed as she bent over and pinched my cheek. “I have to protect my family, after all.”

“Can you not do that?” I asked as I gave her an unamused look.

“Sorry, sorry. I forgot that you weren’t a baby anymore,” she smiled. “So, do you want to eat in the carriage?”

“Sure, why not?”

Just as Auntie Celeste was about to light up her horn and teleport us out of the castle, we saw Luna pushing a cart filled with cookies, chocolate, and various pastries, an ecstatic smile adorning her face.

“Luna? Where are you going with all those sweets?” asked the elder sister. “Weren’t you on a diet?”

“I was, but not anymore! Withers said I was free to eat whatever I wanted, and that is exactly what I plan to do!” The younger sister looked at the cart and said “Come, my sweet delights! I shall devour you all and savor your heavenly taste! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Luna trotted out of the dining room and down the hall, laughing maniacally as she did so.

“Should I be concerned?” asked Celeste.

“Nah, she'll be fine” I assured her.

“If you say so…” my aunt conceded, and she lit up her horn and teleported us outside the castle, where a royal carriage was waiting for us.

It was then that I became uncomfortable.

“I thought we were taking one of the regular carriages, like when you dropped me off on my first day of school.”

“I only abided that request and donned a disguise that one time because I had to keep my promise to hide my relation to you,” my aunt explained as we got into the carriage.

“How is today different from back then?”

Celeste simply giggled and said “Marcus, we’re just going out to the city today. Nopony is going to assume that you’re related to me. I go out with good friends all the time.”

“There’s still the possibility of somepony hounding us. Did you forget that you’re a princess?”

“Marcus, Marcus, Marcus, there is a difference between being a celebrity and being royalty.”

“Said difference being…”

Celeste put a finger to the bottom of her muzzle in thought. “Well, to make a comparison, think of a royal figure like me or Luna, and then think of a celebrity like, say, Sapphire Shores.”

“Okay…”

“Unlike in the human world, royalty and celebrities are treated differently from each other in the pony world. While somepony like Sapphire Shores would be constantly followed by cameras wherever they went, a royal would be treated with a certain degree of respect. Rather than shoving cameras in my face, the citizens of Equestria are actually quite formal with me when I appear in public; a bit too formal, if you ask me, but what can you do?”

The situation actually made a lot more sense once it was explained to me, and I nodded in understanding once the explanation was over.

“So, do you see the difference now?” Celeste asked as she took a bite of her blueberry muffin.

“I guess so…” I answered as the carriage stopped at the city square. Celeste and I got out of the carriage and stretched our legs, happy to be out in the open air.

“So, where are we going first?” she asked me.

“Well, this is pretty much your day, so whatever you want to do is fine with me.”

Auntie Celeste thought for a moment, and then her eyes lit up. “I know, follow me!”

I raised an eyebrow at her sudden enthusiasm, but I followed my aunt regardless. We walked for about ten minutes before reaching our destination:

The Canterlot Arcade.

I looked at Celeste with a surprised look on my face. “Here? You wanted to go to an arcade?”

“Well, I hear you and Luna talking about video games often, and I felt like I was missing out, so I figured that now was as good a time as any to see why they have so much appeal.”

“Okay then,” I said passively as we walked into the arcade. The minute we entered, I noticed the look on Celeste’s face; she was taken aback by all the flashing lights and random sounds from various games. She really was an arcade virgin.

“You really haven’t been to an arcade before?” I asked in disbelief.

“Nope,” she answered bluntly. “Are there any games that you and I can play together?”

I assumed that she asked that question because she didn’t want to look like the one pony in the place that had no gaming experience whatsoever. I scanned the place for a game that fit her conditions, and I spotted one on the far left of the arcade. I led her to the game which required the players to sit in a fake spaceship.

“This looks like one of those little rides for foals that you see outside of the supermarket,” Celeste commented.

“I guess you could make that comparison,” I said as I took a sat inside the ship and she sat beside me. “In this game, one player is the pilot while the other player is the gunner. The pilot has to navigate through an asteroid field while the gunner has to blast away any asteroids and enemy spaceships in their path.”

“So which player am I?”

“You’re gonna be the pilot. All you have to do is not hit anything while I blast away everything in your path.”

“Okay… That seems simple enough…” the princess said warily as she gripped the controls. I put a bit in the machine and started up the game. Once the game started, I could immediately tell that something was wrong.

“Your hands are shaking,” I told Celeste.

“How can you tell that they are?”

“The screen keeps moving,” I deadpanned.

“Sorry, I’m just not very good at this.”

“Don’t worry. Like I said, all you have to do is not run into anything. If something is about to hit us, just move out of the way.”

Celeste let out a deep breath. “Okay,” she said, and she steadied her hands.

For the first two or so minutes, everything went smoothly. We got through the first wave of enemies with no problem, save for a few near misses with some meteors. By then, Auntie Celeste got more comfortable with the controls.

Once the second wave of enemies came, she got even better. She was able to dodge everything that I couldn’t shoot down, and we cleared the second wave easily.

By the time the third wave came, she got more confident. She started weaving through the asteroid belt like it was nothing, and she was even able to fly through a bonus ring.

But that fourth wave, though…

By then, it had been about ten or so minutes, and Celeste had gotten so confident, that she started moving the ship controls with her magic.

“Um… Auntie? I wouldn’t recommend that.”

“Don’t worry Marcus, I can do this. You saw how well I did in that last round.”

At that moment, I had a bad feeling that we weren’t gonna make it past this round. I did the best I could and shot down every asteroid and enemy ship that I was able to take down, but even with all my efforts, Celeste still had to dodge quite a few obstacles, and thanks to her using her magic instead of her hands, her movements weren't as steady as before. If that wasn't bad enough, a meteor shower started, and it wasn't long before Celeste crashed us into something.

“Wait, what just happened?” she asked in confusion.

“We lost because you got cocky.”

“I was not cocky!”

“You tried to move the ship with your eyes closed for the first ten seconds of the round,” I sighed. “I will admit, though, you do learn fast.”

“Looks like I’m a pro gamer already!”

“You’re getting cocky again, Celeste.”

For the next few hours, we went around the arcade playing different games of all kinds, and our gaming spree even cut into the afternoon a little. Just when we were about to get going, we came to a game that really caught Auntie Celeste’s attention.

“What’s that game over there?” she asked.

“That’s the Big Roulette,” I explained. “It’s a game that you play for tickets. You spin the wheel and whatever number it lands on is the amount of tickets you win. There’s a daily jackpot that gets either higher or lower each day.”

“What’s today’s jackpot?”

“Fifteen-hundred tickets.”

I could’ve sworn I saw my aunt’s ears twitch in happiness upon hearing that, and she practically dragged me over to the game and gave me a bit.

“Go on, go on! Spin the wheel!”

“You don’t have a gambling problem, do you?”

“Of course not, now spin the wheel!”

I rolled my eyes and put a bit into the machine, and then I gave the wheel a good spin. Seeing the wheel go round and round with its many colors almost made my head spin. As it slowed down, I looked to see if I would land the jackpot. The arrow on the wheel clicked and clicked as the numbers passed by, getting slower and slower, until it approached the jackpot. The wheel was just about to stop, and the arrow was just about to click to the number next to the jackpot, which was zero. However, by some stroke of luck, the arrow stayed put, and a bunch of lights went off on the machine as it played a triumphant jingle.

Just then, I felt a familiar crushing force surround me, and I looked down to see Celeste’s arms around my body.

“I knew you’d win!” she exclaimed happily as she crushed me with her vicegrip, the sheer force threatening to break me in half.

“Can you please let me go?” I struggled to say as I lost more and more oxygen.

“Oh, sorry, Marcus,” she apologized as she let me go, and I felt the blood start to flow through my arms again. I looked down and saw that the machine was still spitting out tickets. It took about half a minute before all fifteen-hundred came out, and Celeste used her magic to fold them up and put them in a small bucket.

“I’m assuming you want to go to the ticket counter now,” I told her.

“What makes you say that?” she asked as she tilted her head.

“You’ve been giggling like a little schoolfilly for the past ten seconds.”

The princess blushed under her white fur and smiled sheepishly. We then walked over to the ticket counter, where the unicorn behind it greeted us.

“Good afternoon, did you enjoy- P-Princess Celestia!” she stuttered as she saw who she was addressing, and she bowed as we approached her.

“Hello!” she answered with a smile and a wave.

“What brings you here, of all places?”

“Oh, I’m just spending the day with a good friend of mine,” Celeste answered as she pulled me close to her. “He won all these tickets for me-”

“For you?” I thought.

“-and he wanted to get me a prize.”

I opened my mouth to object, but then I saw the look on Celeste’s face. Her expression was a weird combination of pleading me to get her a prize and threatening me with death if I didn’t.

“What she said,” I sighed. “So, what do you have for fifteen-hundred tickets?”

The mare at the counter turned around and looked at the higher shelves on the wall. “Let me see… Oh! We have this!” She lit up her horn and levitated a large stuffed phoenix chick down to the table. “This little cutie costs fourteen-hundred tickets, so you’ll still have a hundred left over.”

“I’ll take it!” Celeste declared enthusiastically as she brought the stuffed creature close to her with her magic. Meanwhile, I handed over the bucket of tickets, which the counter mare put on a scale. After she measured the tickets and printed out a receipt, she gave me a card.

“This card has your remaining one-hundred tickets on it so you can use it later,” she explained. I thanked the mare and walked out of the arcade with Celeste and her new “pet” in tow.

“I think I’ll name you… Sunshine!” she giggled.

I groaned at the ridiculous name. “So, did you have fun?”

“Did I ever! Maybe I should start playing video games!”

“You’ll have to practice a lot if you want to get up to me and Luna’s level.”

“I guess that’s true. It takes a lot of skill to win the roulette jackpot on your first try.”

I raised my eyebrow at the way she said that. I turned to look at her and said “You rigged the machine with your magic, didn’t you?”

“I admit nothing,” she answered, looking up to the sky with an innocent expression.

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll admit something, though; you were right about how the public treats royalty.”

“Does that mean you’ll become a prince and make your relation to me as my nephew public?”

“Don’t push it Celeste,” I warned. “I still have art school to think about, and the responsibilities of a prince will just be a distraction.”

“Humph. I suppose you’re right. I mean, it takes a lot of talent and skill to juggle art school and princehood. Only someone really special can pull that off.”

“I’m not falling for that reverse psychology bullshit.”

Suddenly, I felt some kind of force strike the back of my neck, and I looked at Celeste to see her looking down at me with a dangerous look in her eye and smoke coming from her horn.

“Keep it up and I’ll wash your mouth out with soap,” she warned. “You know I don’t like that language.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered.

Just then, my phone rang, and I was surprised to hear who was on the other line.

“Hello, Marcus!”

“Hey, Octavia! What’s up?”

“Well, last night I did tell you that I was going to call you today, didn’t I?”

My mind went back to that night, and I did remember when she said that. I looked to my left and saw Auntie Celeste making kissy faces at me, which I rolled my eyes at. “I guess I forgot,” I told her.

“So, what are you up to?” she asked.

“I’m just hanging around the city.”

“Really? So are Rarity and I!”

“Well, that’s a coincidence… Hold on a second…” Something had caught my eye by the fountain in the city square. Actually, it wasn’t something. It was somepony. “Are you at the city square fountain right now?” I asked.

“Actually, yes. How did you know?”

“That’s where I’m at! Turn around!”

Octavia turned around and her eyes widened in pleasant surprise when she saw me. She then tapped the mare next to her, which turned out to be Rarity, who I would have recognized if it wasn’t for the hat she was wearing.

The two mares approached me happily, and they gasped when I saw that I was with my aunt.

“Good afternoon, you two,” she smiled.

“Good afternoon, princess,” they said sheepishly in unison as they both gave her a curtsey.

“There’s no need for that, ladies,” Celeste said with a laugh.

“Well, since we’re all here together, why don’t we continue this outing as a group?” Rarity suggested.

“Well, actually… I kind of promised that it’d be just the two of us today,” I said, out of respect for my aunt.

“Oh, I don’t mind, Marcus,” she said with a dismissive wave. “The more, the merrier!”

“Well, why don’t we get something to eat together?” Octavia suggested. “Rarity and I haven’t had lunch yet.”

“And neither have we,” Celeste finished.

I smiled. “Then it’s settled,” I said as the four of us walked to find someplace to eat. As we walked, though, a paralyzing realization came over me:

I was going out with the two mares I liked and my aunt, too. That was not a good combination…

Chapter 20: Parental Supervision Required

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As we walked out of the city square, Rarity, Octavia, and Celeste decided amongst themselves where we were all going to go for lunch while I tried to figure out how I was gonna survive this. Throughout my life, I’ve heard horror stories from other guys about when they introduced their girlfriends to their mothers, and they never ended well.

“Is that okay with you, Marcus?” Octavia asked me.

“Wait, what?”

“We decided to have lunch at the diner by the mountainside. Is that okay with you?”

“Oh, yeah. That’s cool.”

The mare giggled at me, and so did Rarity, as well, and the four of us headed towards the diner with Rarity and Octavia leading us. As the two mares walked in front of me, I couldn’t help taking a good look at what they were wearing. I mean, they liked me, and I liked them, too, so it’s not like they would be offended if I let my eyes wander a little.

That’s how I justified it, at least.

I looked at Octavia, first. She was wearing a short, purple, long-sleeved button-down dress that that matched her eyes. The silky-looking material hugged her waist tightly, the folds of the dress moving in sync with her body. Her muscled thighs meanwhile swayed to and fro creating quite the hypnotizing display.

As for Rarity, she was wearing a red hat with a red top and black fall jacket with matching jeans. I thanked heaven that they were skinny jeans, since Rarity’s hips were unarguably her most attractive physical features.

Well, that’s not to say that I didn’t notice her generous backside, its cheeks grinding against each other like a fluctuating number eight, the motion itself driving me insane. I could almost swear that the mare that possessed that magnificent ass was doing this on purpose and was smirking as I stared.

I then felt something soft brush against my neck, and when I looked down, I saw that it was Auntie Celeste’s tail. I looked up at her, and she raised her eyebrows at me with a smirk. “Like what you see?” she mouthed, nudging her head towards the two mares, their tails swishing left and right in front of me.

“Shut up,” I mouthed back, and she chuckled silently.

“You are so going to hell,” she mouthed.

The four of us finally made it to the diner, and thanks to my aunt, we ended up getting the best booth in the house, which had a picturesque view from the side of the mountain.

The funny thing, though, was that she didn’t even ask for it.

The stallion that seated us handed us some menus and told us that our waiter would be with us shortly, so the four of us made small talk while we waited, which was fine, until…

“So, ladies, did my nephew treat you nicely yesterday?” Auntie Celeste asked as she set her stuffed phoenix in her lap.

“You mean he didn’t tell you?” Rarity asked back.

“Oh, he did, but I just want to make sure he wasn’t lying.”

“You know, I’d appreciate it if you guys didn’t speak as though I wasn’t here,” I interjected.

“Why don’t we start with you, Rarity,” Celeste continued, practically ignoring me, making my eye twitch in irritation.

“Well, Marcus started our date by taking me to the royal gardens, and he showed me a secret spot that had a view of the entire garden,” Rarity told her. “We then slept together under the shade of a beautiful tree. It was like something out of a romance novel!”

“And what happened after that?”

“We took a cab into the city, and Marcus treated me to a wonderful lunch!” Rarity continued, and then she pulled her sleeve back to show her wrist, and the piece of jewelry adorning it. “After that, he took me to a jewelry store and got me this lovely bracelet!”

“Well, I’m not surprised. I did tell Marcus to spare no expense, after all,” Celeste said with a smile, and Rarity let out a giggle. Octavia, on the other hand, looked a little… uncomfortable. “So, Octavia, how was your date with Marcus?”

The earth mare brightened up and she began to tell my aunt about her date with me. “Well, Marcus pretty much let me decide where we went on our date, so I decided to show him my more adventurous side.”

“Really? And how did you do that?”

“I took him to a ropes course.”

“You don’t say? I bet you had a hard time getting Marcus to go through with it. He can be such a coward sometimes!”

“HEY!” I objected.

“Actually, while he was a little nervous, he didn’t show that much apprehension,” Octavia answered.

“Well, it’s good to know you didn’t let my nephew fall to his death,” Auntie Celeste laughed.

“Of course not. I’d never let that happen.”

“So, where did you two go afterward?”

“We went to a photo studio and had a shoot with Photo Finish herself, and then we went to a lovely Japaneighse restaurant!”

Rarity scrunched her snout and pouted as Octavia recalled my outing with her, and I saw her ear twitch at the mention of Photo Finish, which reminded me that she was a big fan of the famous photographer.

“After that, he walked me back to school as the sun set in the sky…” Octavia swooned, fondly remembering that moment.

“Well, it looks like Marcus wasn’t lying,” Celeste smiled.

“What would make you believe that I even was lying?” I asked, annoyed.

“Well, there’s the time you snuck out to that party last month.”

I sighed. “Point taken.”

Just then, our waiter came to take our orders, and I sighed in relief. Finally, I could get a break from the torture Auntie Celeste was putting me through.

If only that break lasted a little longer.

Once the waiter left, Celeste wasted no time getting back to her little game. “Okay, girls, time to get to the juicy stuff. I’m sure you’ve both kissed Marcus by now, right?”

Rarity and Octavia averted their eyes from Celeste in slight embarrassment. “Maybe…” they said with blushes on their faces.

An evil smile grew on my aunt’s face. “So, how was he? Was he aggressive, or did he let you take control? Did he use any tongue? Give me ALL the details.”

I sunk in my seat, hoping that lightning would strike me down. Thankfully, when I looked up at Rarity and Octavia, neither of them looked eager to share.

“Don’t be shy, ladies,” said Celeste. “This is really for Marcus’s benefit, after all.”

Say what?

“He needs to know how he did so he can do better next time!”

“I resent that statement,” I muttered.

“Sorry, princess, but I’d rather not say…” Octavia admitted.

“Me neither,” Rarity added.

“Oh, well. I suppose I can’t force you two to tell me,” my aunt shrugged, “but enough about the present for now. Let’s talk about the future.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“Rarity, Octavia, I can tell you both love my nephew very much, so why don’t we talk weddings?”

I almost stabbed myself with my own fork.

“Or better yet, why don’t we talk kids?”

I hate my life.

“I’ve wanted to talk about this one day and now is the perfect time! So, how many great nieces or nephews am I going to be expecting?”

Unfortunately for me, this was a subject that Rarity and Octavia didn’t mind talking about.

“Well, if I were to have kids,” said the unicorn, “I don’t think that I would want more than two, and I’d like for them to be close in age.”

“Two kids, huh?” I thought. “I could deal with that.”

“And you, Octavia?”

“Well, I never actually thought about the idea of having kids…” the earth mare admitted, “although, if I were to have any, I’d probably want… three, maybe?” For some reason, she looked at me as though she were asking my permission to have three kids, which made me feel uncomfortable.

“I’ll admit, I was hoping for one of you to want at least five,” Celeste pouted.

“Not even,” I commented.

“Oh, really? And how many kids do you want, Marcus?”

“It’s a bit early to be thinking about that, isn’t it?”

“It’s never too early to think about the kids,” my aunt told me. “Then again, you do have a point. You three have your schooling and your careers to think about. Besides, I’m a very traditional mare when it comes to these kinds of things, so I expect these kids to be born within wedlock.”

Just then, the waiter came with our food, which meant that Celeste could finally stop talking about marriage, and kids, and whatever other embarrassing thing she could come up with. After we finished our food, our waiter asked if we wanted any desserts, to which Auntie Celeste enthusiastically said “yes.”

Octavia ordered some cream puffs topped with dark chocolate sauce, Rarity got a bowl of ice cream, and Celeste and I got several slices of vanilla cake; I got two slices while she got five.

One thing about Auntie Celeste and cake: she LOVES it! If she could, she’d have different flavors of cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I shit you not. I’ve seen her eat a whole three-tier chocolate cake by herself in less than a half hour!

It was not a pretty sight.

And don’t even get me started on what happens when you try to separate her from cake. Let’s just say that things can get pretty… violent.

Anyway, the four of us dug into our desserts, savoring their taste. After I finished my first slice of cake, I felt a familiar soft feeling on my neck. I looked down and saw that it was Celeste again, this time brushing me with her mane instead of her tail. I then looked at her plate and saw that it was completely empty. The princess pointed at my remaining slice of cake with her mane and gave me a hopeful smile.

I raised an eyebrow at her. She really expected me to give her a slice of cake after embarrassing me like that? She had another thing coming.

I turned my head away from her, but she pulled it back using her magic and gave me a pleading look, watering puppy-dog eyes and all.

I raised an eyebrow at her again, and then a malicious smile creeped its way onto my face. I looked at Octavia, who was nearly done with her cream puffs.

“Hey, ‘Tavi,” I said to her. “Do you want my last slice of cake?”

The look of devastation on Auntie Celeste’s face was priceless.

“Really? Thanks, Marcus!” she said gratefully as I slid the plate over to. “Would you like to split it with me, Rarity?”

“Sure,” the unicorn answered, and she used her magic to break the slice in half and levitate her piece to her mouth.

“Do you like it?” I asked.

“It tastes amazing!” Octavia exclaimed. “I should have ordered a slice or two for myself!”

“Me too,” Rarity agreed. “This cake is delightful! I can see why you and Celestia love it so much!”

“I’m glad you like it,” I said with a smile. Just then, I felt several crushing impacts on my left foot, and I barely kept myself from yelling in pain. I looked down and saw Auntie Celeste’s hoof on top of my foot, pressing it to the floor with a great amount of force. I looked up at her, and she gave me a deadly stare.

“That’s what you get,” she mouthed.

“It was worth it,” I mouthed back with a pained smile.

After about a minute, Celeste removed her hoof and the waiter came with the check. Auntie Celeste offered to pick up the tab, a gesture that the rest of us accepted gratefully. When we walked out of the restaurant, it was half past two.

“Are you okay, Marcus?” the unicorn asked. “You look like you’re limping.”

“Nah, I’m good,” I told her with a dismissive wave. “My foot just fell asleep, that’s all.”

“Well, Rarity and I have to go. We’re attending a light show at three,” said Octavia.

“Sounds like fun!” said Celeste. “Marcus and I are going to head back to the castle. Have fun at the show!”

The two mares smiled and said “Thank you, princess.”

Octavia then walked up to me and gave me a warm hug. “See you at school tomorrow,” she said as she let me go, and she gave me a quick peck on the lips.

I looked at Rarity, who had an envious look on her face, and she walked up to me and gave me a tighter hug. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow, too,” she said as she let me go, and she gave me a kiss that lasted a second longer than Octavia’s.

Auntie Celeste chuckled at the mares’ hidden competitiveness towards each other. “That reminds me,” she said as she walked up to them. “I need to tell you two something.”

“What is it, Princess?” Rarity asked.

“Just to let you know, Marcus is very precious to me, and I love him like he’s my own son,”

Oh, no. I know where this is going.

“and I will do everything in my power to keep him from getting hurt,” Auntie Celeste then bent down to look Rarity and Octavia in the eyes. “So, consider this a warning, if either of you two do anything to hurt my precious nephew, there will be consequences, understood?”

The tone of her voice was a severe contrast to the look on her face, and that alone terrified the two young mares.

“Y-yes, ma’am,” they said in unison as they held each other, shivering in fear.

“Now run along, you two!” Celeste said with a happy demeanor. “You wouldn’t want to miss your show, would you?”

“Umm… yes!” Rarity answered, still shaken up by my aunt’s threat. “Come on, Octavia!”

“Right behind you!” the earth mare said hastily as she and Rarity walked away as fast as their legs could carry them.

“Was that really necessary?” I asked. “There wasn’t any need to scare the-”

Celeste gave me a serious look as she lit up her horn, reminding me to choose my next word wisely.

“-living daylights out of them.”

“Well, as your guardian, I felt the need to send a message, just in case those two ever tried to hurt you. I have to protect those that are precious to me, after all.” She raised her stuffed phoenix to her face. “Isn’t that right, my widdle Sunshine?” My eye twitched as I watched her make kissy faces to her stuffed toy.

“Sometimes I wonder if you’re insane,” I muttered.

“Who knows? I probably am,” she chuckled. “So, did you happen to notice how jealous those two were of each other?”

“Pretty much,” I answered.

“I wonder if they ever get into catfights over you?”

“Nah, they’re too classy for that.”

“Hah! Don’t even front, Marcus!” Celeste laughed. “You know you’d love to see two hot mares fighting over you!”

“I never said that I wouldn’t. I’m just saying that it’s not likely to happen.”

My aunt giggled at my comment. “I suppose that’s true, but it can’t hurt to dream right.”

“I guess not.”

Auntie Celeste and I had a little laugh as we walked back to the city square and Celeste called a carriage to take us home.

So far, this day out with my aunt was pretty good, despite the embarrassment she put me through at lunch, but I promised to spend the ENTIRE day with my aunt, so I still had some bonding time left.

Not that I minded, of course. In fact, I was looking forward to it.

Chapter 21: Unwinding

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When the carriage pulled up in front of the castle, Auntie Celeste and I climbed out and stretched our limbs. Celeste even stretched out her wings.

“I really need to invest in bigger carriages,” she said, more to herself than to me. “You know. I don’t really feel like walking up to my room. How about I fly us up there?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Sure. Why not?” Flying didn’t really bother me much, considering that I had flown with Luna before.

Celeste lit up her horn and coated me with a levitation spell. She then spread her wings and flew up into the sky, taking me with her. As we flew up, I turned my head to look at my aunt, and I took a deep breath before saying what I was about to say.

“Auntie…”

“Yes, nephew?”

“I know this may be a touchy subject for you, so stop me if I cross the line.”

Celeste gave me a concerned look. “Okay… What’s on your mind?”

“Well, about how you can’t carry a foal… have you ever considered a surrogate mother?”

My aunt sighed and stayed quiet for a second, and then she chuckled a little. “Believe me, that was the first thing I thought of once surrogacy became a thing, but when I asked about it, I was told that no normal mare would have been able to bear the child of an alicorn, and while there are three other living alicorns now, it wouldn’t be right of me to have them bear my burden.”

I let out an understanding sigh.

“Not only that, but… After what I had been through, I became really uncomfortable with any kind of invasive medical procedure. It’s almost like a phobia for me.”

“Oh, okay. Sorry for bringing it up.”

Celeste looked at me and smiled, and then she levitated me closer to her. “Don’t worry about it, Marcus,” she said. “I actually feel a little better talking to you about it.”

“That’s good to know,” I smiled back, and we finally reached the window to Celeste’s room. She pulled me closer to her and held me in her arms as she focused her magic on opening the window.

“Why are you carrying me bridal style?” I asked. “I’ve seen you focus your magic on two things before.”

“I have, but I don’t want to take any chances,” she answered, and then she nuzzled me. “You are my precious nephew after all!”

I laughed and pushed her face away from me. “Alright, alright. Quit it.”

My aunt gave me a smug expression. “You used to love it when I nuzzled you.”

“Key word: used to. Can you put me down now?”

She shrugged. “I suppose so,” she conceded as she let me down on the ground.

“You always tend to revel in the days when I was a little kid,” I told my aunt as I took a seat on her bed.

“You are a little kid. Compared to me, at least,” she smirked as she sat next to me.

“Everyone in Equestria is a little kid compared to you.”

“Hmph. Touché,” said Celeste, “but can you really blame me, though? You used to love when I would come over to your house to visit. I remember when you were just a toddler and you loved poking my snout.”

“You mean like this?” I asked as I prodded my aunt’s snout with my finger, and she reflexively scrunched her face, causing me to laugh. “Now I remember why I loved doing it. That face you make is hilarious.”

“What face.”

An evil smile appeared on my face. I raised my finger and poked her again, which made Celeste make the face again. “That face,” I said.

“Stooooooooop!” she whined as she covered her muzzle with her hands.

“Fine,” I easily conceded.

“I hope you don’t do that to Rarity and Octavia.”

“I never really thought about it. I wonder how they’d react, though.”

“Well, don’t do it,” Celeste demanded.

“And why not?”

“Because that’s our thing for us to do.”

I scoffed. “Somepony’s getting possessive.”

“Possessive? Me? Feh, I am not possessive.”

“I beg to differ,” somepony said from outside.

My head, as well as Celeste’s, turned to the bedroom door, which was cracked open a little. The door then opened fully, and Luna poked her head inside sticking her tongue out at her older sister. The elder princess returned the gesture.

“I thought you two were going out for the day,” Luna said as she walked in and shut the door behind her. She was eating a cookie that (I assumed) was left over from her morning binge.

“We just got back,” said Celeste.

“How long have you been eavesdropping?” I asked.

“Not too long,” she answered. “Honestly, the only thing I heard was Tia saying ‘I’m not possessive,’ and I just decided to object.” She then jumped on the bed beside me and Celeste.

“Luna!” the elder sister scolded. “You’re getting crumbs all over my sheets!”

“Am not!” the younger princess argued.

“Are too!”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“You two bicker like children,” I commented.

The two alicorn sisters scoffed at me. “No we don’t,” they said simultaneously.

I rolled my eyes at their denial.

“So, how was your day out?” Luna asked.

Celeste smiled. “Well, first we went to the arcade, and-”

“You? At an arcade? That’s a surprise.”

“I thought I’d give video games a try. Anyway, Marcus won a ticket jackpot and generously got this little cutie for me!” She held up Sunshine so Luna could see.

“Okay, here’s what really happened,” I interjected. “Your sister cheated and used magic to make the roulette stop at the jackpot, and then she used my tickets to buy the toy.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Luna sighed.

“Anyway, after we left the arcade, Marcus and I ran into two lady friends of his from school, and we all went to a diner to get something to eat.”

“You didn’t embarrass him, did you?”

“What do you think?” I asked.

“You’re exaggerating,” Celeste said with a dismissive wave.

“She started talking about marriage and future children and how good I was at kissing, and at the end of it all, she practically threatened them!”

Luna shook her head. “For ponies’ sake, Tia. You’re a walking mare repellant. Marcus will never court a mare with you practically scaring them off.”

“If they’re so easily frightened, then maybe they shouldn’t be with my precious nephew,” said Celeste. “Hang on, why are you so open to Marcus having a marefriend? Don’t you like him, too?”

Luna’s eyed widened, and then she looked at me. “You told her!?” she asked.

“No!” I answered. “I just said that I liked you, not the other way around!”

“To be honest, I just guessed that you liked him,” Celestia admitted. “After Marcus told me about his feelings for you, I noticed how affectionate you were with him. That affection seemed more than familial to me.” She then looked right at us. “So where do you two stand, now?”

Luna and I blushed. “Well, we decided that… we should just stay friends,” I said.

“Exactly,” Luna added. “We just weren’t… ‘feeling it,’ in laypony’s terms.”

We looked at Celeste for a reaction, and we could have sworn we saw her let out a sigh of relief. “What was that for?” Luna asked.

“Oh, nothing. I’m just glad you two settled things amicably and without any animosity,” she said, although I kind of felt like that wasn’t the real reason why she sighed like that. “However, what are you going to do now, Luna? Marcus may have two other mares he can choose, but what about you?”

“What about me?” she asked back. “I’m in no rush to find someone. Instead of chasing, I prefer waiting on the right one to come along and chase me. Who knows? Maybe I’ll try courting females and see how that fares.”

“You giving up on the male species just like that?” I asked.

“I don’t think that love should be limited by gender.”

“Point taken,” Celeste and I said.

The three of us stayed on the bed for a little while longer until Celeste spoke up. “Anyone up for a movie?” she asked. “I could use a good laugh.”

Luna and I shrugged. “Sure, why not?” we answered.

My aunt smiled and used her magic to teleport us to the castle theater, which had a massive viewing screen. She then walked up to the cabinet of movies she had collected over the years, wondering which one she should pick.

“Um… aren’t we allowed to weigh in on what movie we watch?” Luna asked.

“Don’t worry~” Celeste answered with a singsong voice. “You two are gonna love the movie I’ve picked!”

“Why do I doubt that?” I thought.

My aunt then turned around and showed us the movie she picked.

“Power Pony Adventures!?” I asked incredulously. “That PG movie!? I saw that when I was ten!”

“That’s it, I’m picking the movie,” Luna said with finality as she walked past her sister and looked through the cabinet herself.

“We’re looking for a comedy right? Okay, let’s see… That one’s alright… This one’s a little better… Oh, that one’s just abysmal… Ah! Here’s a good one!”

Luna took out the DVD case and showed it to me and Celeste. It was a buddy cop film that came out almost a year ago.

“Now that’s more like it!” I said.

“I suppose,” Celeste conceded.

“Then it’s settled! We shall watch this one!” Luna declared happily.

While Auntie Celeste started the movie up, I helped Luna get the popcorn machine going. The last time she tried to do it by herself, it didn’t work out so well.

And by that, I meant her mane got caught in the machine.

Thankfully, with me helping her, that didn’t happen again. Once the popcorn was all ready to go, Luna and I took our seats next to Celeste and got comfortable. I didn’t go to the castle theater that often since I usually opted to just watch movies on my computer, but the seats in there were very comfortable.

As the movie went on, Luna and I were practically dying from laughter. Celeste laughed, too, but not as much as we did. By the time the film ended, Luna and I were in tears.

“Oh, man…” I said, trying to steady my breathing. “That movie was a friggin’ riot-OW!”

“Tia! What was that for!?”

“I warned him about his language, Luna,” the older princess answered.

“Stop being so strict with him,” said the younger princess. “We’re all having fun here, aren’t we?”

Celeste paused for a moment, and then she chuckled. “I guess you’re right. While the humor was a little crude, the movie was still enjoyable.”

“I’m glad you feel that way,” Luna giggled. “Now, if you two will excuse me, I need to find Withers and, as they say, ‘mess with him’.”

“Mess with him?” her sister asked, confused about what she meant.

“I think he needs a quick reminder from my guardian angel.”

“What just happened to your voice?”

I chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, Celeste. It’s an inside joke.”

She raised an eyebrow at me. “Hmph. Okay then. See you later Luna.”

The younger princess lit up her horn and teleported out of the theater, and Celeste and I opted to walk back to my room.

“I hope you two aren’t spending your spare time picking on that poor old stallion,” she said.

“Pssh, we’re not picking on him at all.”

“Then what are you doing?”

“I said not to worry about it, didn’t I?”

“Whenever it involves you and Luna, I always worry. You two are diabolical.”

I laughed. “Diabolical? Now you’re just exaggerating. We’re mischievous, maybe, but not diabolical.”

Celeste rolled her eyes. “Bottom line, you two cause trouble. You’re like Bonnie and Clyde.”

“Hm… I never thought of it that way,” I pondered. “We should totally call each other Bonnie and Clyde!”

My aunt shook her head with a chuckle. “You are something else, Marcus.”

“Yeah, well, so are you.”

“I guess you have a point there.”

“Oh! Before I forget, do Rarity and Octavia have any plans for Hearth’s Warming this year?”

“Well, Octavia said that her old roommate was coming to town, but aside from that, I have no idea about their holiday plans.”

“Well, when you get the chance, Marcus, let them know that I’m holding a small get-together for Hearth’s Warming Eve, and that they’re welcome to come if they want. Octavia can even bring her friend if she wants to.”

“I’ll try to remember that,” I said.

After a few more minutes of walking, Celeste and I finally reached my room.

“Well, I should get to lowering the sun,” she told me, “which means that the day’s over.”

“Bummer. It seems like it went by so fast,” I said.

“Even so, it was still fun. Thanks for spending the day with me, Marcus. It really means a lot to me.”

“No problem, Auntie.”

“I’m glad I was able to spend some auntie-nephew time with you. I was starting to wonder if you had outgrown me.”

I laughed. “Believe me, that’ll never happen.”

Celeste smiled, and her eyes began to water. “Oh, come here, you!” she said as she pulled me into a warm, surprisingly soft hug. “You are just the sweetest little thing! You always know what to say to me.”

“I try,” I chuckled, and I hugged my aunt back, but then I felt her grip get tighter on me. It wasn’t long before I felt my bones beginning to crack. I began to hit Celeste’s sides with my fists in an effort to get her attention.

“Air, air, air, air, AIR!!!” I yelled, losing more oxygen with each passing second. My aunt looked down and saw my face turning blue, and she immediately let me go.

“Oh, I’m sorry Marcus!” she said. “I didn’t know I was hurting you.”

“It’s fine…” I sighed as I rubbed the sides of my arms. “It’s a wonder where you get all that strength, though.”

“I’m an alicorn, sweetheart,” she boasted. “I’ve got the grace of a pegasus, the magical prowess of a unicorn, and the brute strength of an earth pony.”

I rolled my eyes at her bravado. “Don’t you have a sun to lower?”

“Alright, alright. I get it. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Sure.”

Auntie Celeste smiled and bent down to give me a kiss on the cheek. I instinctively raised my hand to wipe it off, but then I saw her light up her horn.

“Don’t you dare,” she warned.

I smirked and walked into my room, wiping my cheek once I closed the door.

It was nighttime. Minutes to eleven, to be exact. I spent the last few hours either doodling away in my sketchbook or using my computer. I had already showered and changed into my sleeping clothes, and I decided that it would be best to finally go to sleep since I had class the next morning.

However, just when I had gotten comfortable and was about to turn off the light on my nightstand, I heard a knock at my door.

“The hell?” I thought as I got out of the bed and approached the door. I slowly opened it, curious as to who would want to see me at this hour, and not a second later, I got my answer.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t an answer that I was particularly happy with.

“Honey Pot?” I asked in disbelief.

“Hello, Marcus,” the mare said with an uncharacteristically serious tone.

“What the hell are you doing here so late?”

“Never mind that. Can I come in? We need to talk.”

I rubbed my temples in annoyance. “What could we possibly have to talk about that can’t wait ‘till morning?”

“Could you just let me in, please?” she snapped insistently.

I rolled my eyes and let the mare in, knowing that if I kept this conversation going, I’d never get any sleep. “Fine, but make it quick. I have class tomorrow.”

Honey Pot nodded and walked in. Now that she was in the light, I was able to see her, and what she was wearing, more clearly.

She wore a white nightgown with thin straps. Not only were the straps thin, but so was the fabric of the garment itself; I was able to see the silhouette of her figure underneath; her delicate hourglass figure with those proportionate double D's, her lithe waist, her womanly hips and perfectly developed thighs...

I'll give this mare some credit; she never fails to make herself known.

“So, what do you want?” I asked.

“Like I said, sweetheart, we need to talk,” she answered.

My eye twitched at the irritating name she called me, but I didn’t voice my annoyance and instead tried to get her to say what she needed to say. “About what?” I asked.

“You seem to be ignoring me lately, Marcus. You’ve been out all day today and yesterday, and you’ve been staying late at school for the past week, too.”

“Have you not noticed that I’m always ignoring you?” I asked as I walked towards my bed. “If this is all you need to tell me, then- HEY!”

All of a sudden, Honey Pot wrapped her arms around me from behind, hugging me close to her. She smelled of peach-scented shampoo and her coat felt more delicate and tender than before.

Had she been conditioning it for me?

“Will you let go!?” I asked angrily.

I felt her shake her head against my back. “I miss having you around, Marcus. I’ve been seeing you less and less often, and I won’t have it!” She then took in a big whiff of my scent, and I shivered uncomfortably. “You have no idea how badly I’ve missed you.”

I pried myself out of the mare’s grip, only to fall forward onto my bed. By the time I rolled onto my back, she was already on top of me. Her nimble fingers were clamped onto my wrists like steel traps as she leveled her head with mine, her mane cascading down my face and almost into my eyes. From this point of view, I had a clear shot of her almost bare hanging breasts, erotically swaying under the slightest motion.

“That’s it, Honey Pot!” I quietly yelled. “I’m done joking around! Get off of me!”

“You don’t seem to understand, sweetheart. I’m not joking,” she told me with a tone that scared me. “I’ve made my desires very clear, and you haven’t done a thing to satisfy them.”

“That’s not my responsibility!”

“I know. I’ve realized that. I shouldn’t have left it up to you. You know what they say; if you want something that badly, you have to take it.” The mare lowered her head towards me and nuzzled my cheek. “I’ve given you enough chances. Hell, I’ve practically thrown myself at you, but you haven’t done a thing about it, so I’ll have to take matters into my own hands.”

“But I have-”

“Shhh…” she said as she gently placed a finger on my lips. “Not another word. You don’t need to say a thing. Just relax and let me do all the work. You’ll love it, I promise.”

Despite Honey Pot’s vow, I wasn’t convinced that I was going to love this at all. I struggled underneath her, only for all my squirming to be in vain.

Damn her and her earth pony strength.

I soon had my face forcefully pressed against her soft bosom. I couldn’t deny I did kind-of enjoy the feeling of that soft-as-a-cloud rack mashing itself against my visage, forcefully making me motorboat it. The mare also started grinding her legs against my crotch, moaning at the contact it was making with the tent I had long since pitched, and also… Oh God, she wasn’t wearing anything down there!

I didn’t know how much more I can take without cheating on my mare friends! I had to do something! Anything! My mind went into full panic mode when I felt her reaching for my pants!

Thankfully, because of Honey Pot’s small size, my legs were mostly free, and I kicked around in an effort to get out from under the psychotic mare. One of my legs ended up knocking into my nightstand, and not two seconds later, I heard the sound of glass breaking.

My eyes widened, and I began to panic. “What was that?” I thought. “Please don’t let it be…”

“What’s with the look on your face?” asked Honey Pot. She sat up and looked behind her, and in that momentary lapse of attention, I pushed her off of me and looked to see what fell off my nightstand. I looked and saw that it was a picture frame that fell, and when I picked it up, I saw that the glass on the frame had cracked.

The picture was of me and Octavia.

The more I looked at the crack in the frame, the angrier I got. “You see what you did!?” I scolded Honey Pot. “You just can’t take no for an answer, can you!?”

Instead of responding to me, the mare’s eyes were fixated on the picture I was holding. “Who… who’s that?”

“That’s not any of your business,” I said coldly. “Besides, even if I told you, I doubt that you would care.”

The maid continued to stare at the photo, taking notice of how close Octavia and I were to each other. “She’s your marefriend, isn’t she?” she asked.

I sighed. “That’s one way to put it.”

“That’s what you’ve been trying to tell me, wasn’t it… You liked another mare, and that’s why… you didn’t want me.”

Finally, she was getting it.

The mare looked down and sighed. “Fuck… I’m such an idiot. I can’t believe I was so stubborn.” She sighed again and somberly stood up from my bed. “I’m… I’m sorry for causing all this trouble, Marcus, and I’m sorry for ruining your picture. I know my apology probably isn’t worth much, but… I’m really sorry.”

I didn’t say anything as the mare walked away and left my room. It was strange; while I was incredibly angry at her for nearly raping me and making me break my picture frame, part of me was a little glad that she finally got the message that I wasn’t into her.

I sighed and set the picture back on my nightstand. “I’ll have to replace the frame one of these days,” I thought, and I climbed back into bed, pulling the covers over me as I drifted into slumber.

Chapter 22: Letters and Lovers

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I woke up the next morning at seven-thirty. My first class was at nine. While I was feeling particularly lazy that morning, it only took a nice, hot shower to fully wake me up. After getting dressed, I was on my way out of my room, but right as I was about to open my door, somepony started knocking. Curious as to whom it could be, I opened the door, and I was surprised to see a breakfast cart waiting for me, my meal sitting on a tray. I was even more surprised at who brought it.

It was another one of Auntie Celeste’s maids, the one that Honey Pot replaced.

“Dusty Feather?” I asked in confusion. “What brings you here?”

“Honey Pot asked me to bring this to you,” she explained, and then she picked up a piece of parchment wrapped in a ribbon and handed it to me. “She also wrote you this letter.”

I took the letter with a raised eyebrow, and then I picked up the tray, as well. “Thanks, Dusty.”

“My pleasure, Sir Marcus,” she bowed as she left, cart in tow.

I shut the door, set my tray on my drawing table, undid the ribbon around the letter and read it:

Marcus,

After what happened last night, I realized how badly I mistreated you. I had no right to harass you the way I did. To be honest, I did have a feeling that you were interested in somepony else, but even then I ignored that suspicion and kept chasing after you, and I am truly sorry for that. I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I’ve decided to tell Princess Celestia what I’ve been doing, and I’m willing to accept whatever punishment she gives me, even if it means losing my job. It’s the least I could do to make up for what I’ve put you through. Consider this breakfast as my way of saying goodbye, because this may very well be the last time you’ll hear from me.

Sincerely,
Honey Pot

Wait… she planned to get herself fired?

I instinctively started towards the doorway, and I rushed out into the castle halls, not sure of where I was going.

“Shit! I may have been mad at her, but I never wanted her to lose her job! Okay, where is Celeste at this time of day… Her office has to be my best bet…”

When I finally reached my aunt’s office, I cracked open the door a little to see if Honey pot was there, and sure enough, she was. She had her mane tied back, and she was dressed in a coat, as if she was going outside.

She really was prepared to leave.

Meanwhile, Celeste was sitting at her desk with a serious look on her face. She was looking down at the desk in thought, and then she let out a sigh. I stayed hidden, hoping that Celeste would have mercy on Honey and not fire her.

“Honey Pot,” she said, “while I appreciate your honesty, I can’t ignore the fact that what you’ve been doing these past few weeks was incredibly reprehensible. I have to take some disciplinary action.”

“I understand,” the maid said emotionlessly.

“I’d hate to do this, but I’m afraid I’ll have to dismiss you. Pack all your things. I expect you out in a half hour.”

“Yes, Princess,” Honey said with a bow. “Goodbye.”

At that moment, I opened the door, surprising both mares.

“Marcus!?” They gasped in shock.

“Don’t do this, Celeste!” I told my aunt.

“Marcus, were you eavesdropping?” she asked.

“Yes, but that’s not the point. I know what Honey Pot did was wrong, and I’m not saying that she has any excuse, but she doesn’t have to get fired!”

I felt a hand softly grasp my shoulder, and I turned to see Honey Pot looking up at me.

“Marcus, it’s too late. She’s already made her decision. Besides, I have to make up for what I’ve done.”

“That may be true, but you don’t have to lose your job,” I argued.

“So you’re willing to have her stay at the castle despite what she’s put you through?” Celeste asked.

“Auntie,” I said as I approached her desk. “There’s no denying that Honey Pot was in the wrong. In fact, I’m still a little mad at her, but I’m asking you to just go easy on her.”

Celeste looked down and thought about it for a moment.

“Please, Auntie?” I asked again. “For me?”

She let out a sigh and looked up at me with a serious look, but then that serious look turned into a small smile.

“Fine, but only because you’re so adamant about it.” She then looked at the mare behind me. “Looks like you got lucky, Honey Pot. You can stay.”

The mare’s eyes brightened up, and she walked up beside me and bowed gratefully. “Thank you so much, princess!”

“Don’t thank me,” Celeste chuckled. “It was thanks to Marcus that you got to keep your job.”

Honey Pot immediately turned to me and tightly wrapped her arms around me. “Thank you, Marcus! Thank you thank you thank you!!!”

“It’s fine, really.” I told her.

“Ahem,” my aunt cleared her throat, and Honey immediately let go of me. “While you do get to keep working here, I will be keeping a close eye on you. You’ll have to earn back my trust, Honey Pot. Understood?”

“Y-yes, Princess.”

“Now, go get changed into your uniform and resume your duties.”

“Right away, Princess,” Honey bowed and promptly left the office, leaving me and Celeste alone.

“So that’s what you’re like when you’re in boss mode, huh?” I commented.

“But of course,” she answered. “It may not seem so, but I try to run a tight ship around here. While I do believe in positive reinforcement, I still maintain an air of authority when the time calls for it.” She sighed and leaned back in her chair. “You know, Marcus, you’re too nice for your own good.”

“So are you.”

“I suppose that’s true. Regardless, I owe you an apology.”

I gave her a questioning look. “An apology? For what?”

“I should have taken you seriously when you told me that Honey Pot was harassing you. Until today, I thought that you were just exaggerating, as usual. I should’ve been more sensitive.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said dismissively. “Everything ended up working out for the better, anyway. Besides, you may be a princess, but I don’t expect you to be perfect. You’re still a little new at this parenting thing.”

“I know, I know,” my aunt said, rolling her eyes, and then her ears twitched. “Oh! Don’t forget to tell Rarity and Octavia about the Hearth’s Warming Eve party. I need to know if they’ll be attending so I can make the guest list.”

“Sure… Wait, how big is this party gonna be?”

“Actually, it’ll be relatively small. Just a few close friends. You’ll get to meet my niece and her husband from the Crystal Empire, and a few others, too.”

“Don’t you have a student that you said you wanted me to meet?”

“Ah, yes. Unfortunately, she’s too occupied with running the holiday festivities in Ponyville, so she won’t be able to make it until the day after Hearth’s Warming. It’s a shame. I was hoping for her to be able to attend.”

“Oh, well,” I shrugged. “I gotta go. My breakfast is getting cold. See you when I get back from school.”

“Okay, then. Bye!” Celeste said as she waved me off. I left her office and went back to my room to finish the breakfast that Honey Pot sent for me. After that, I brushed my teeth and left the castle to catch a cab to school.

By the time I got to the campus, it was near eight-thirty. As usual, my first stop was Rarity and Octavia’s room. Once I reached their door, I knocked on it and received a prompt answer.

“Coming~” Rarity sang from inside as I heard her approaching the door. When she opened it, she immediately hugged me. “Marcus! How are you, darling?”

I chuckled. “I love how you jumped at me the second you opened the door. What if I was someone else?”

“Well, I had a good feeling that it was going to be you, sweetie,” she smiled as we walked inside.

“Hello, Marcus,” Octavia said once she saw me.

“Hey, Octi. How are you?”

“Just fine, love,” she said as she got up from her chair to hug me. I always smiled when Rarity or Octavia called me by a pet name. I got a good look at the earth mare and saw that she was wearing a sleeping robe with her initials monogrammed onto it.

“No classes today?” I guessed.

“None at all,” she answered. “I plan on lazing about all day today. I figured that since it’s that last week before winter break, I might as well get an early start.”

“It’s the last week before winter break?” I asked.

“You never look at your school calendar, do you, darling?” Rarity giggled. “It’s the last week of November, and for winter break, CUFTA students get the entire month of December off, as well as a week in January.”

“I like the sound of that,” I said, and then the mention of winter break reminded me of something important.

“Since we’re talking about winter, I need to tell you two something.”

“Yes?” they asked simultaneously.

“My aunt is hosting a small party for Hearth’s Warming Eve, and she was wondering if you two wanted to come.”

“Really?” Rarity asked, her eyes getting starry. “I’d love to!”

“Don’t you have to go back to Ponyville for Hearth’s Warming, though?” Octavia asked her.

“Yes, but my train doesn’t leave until midnight on Hearth’s Warming Eve. I can still attend the party so long as I pack beforehand.”

“Will you be able to make it, ‘Tavi?” I asked. “I told Celestia about your old roommate coming to visit, and she said that you could bring her along.”

“Thanks, Marcus,” she answered. “I’d love to go!”

Just then, I heard a beeping sound, and Rarity looked at her watch. “That’s me. My next class starts at quarter to nine. I’d better get going. I’ll see you two later!”

Octavia and I said goodbye to Rarity as she left, and with her gone, it was just the two of us.

“So, do you plan on spending time with your old roomie during the break?” I asked her as I took a seat on her bed.

“Definitely. Vinyl and I have a lot of catching up to do once she gets here,” she answered. “I’m looking forward to introducing you to her.”

“Why is that?”

Octavia laid her back on her the bed. “Vinyl always thought that I had no prowess when it came to the opposite gender, so she’ll be quite surprised to see that I’ve got myself a boyfriend. Sure, we aren’t really official yet, but she doesn’t need to know that.”

I smirked and laid my back on the bed as well. “Is that all I am to you?” I asked dramatically. “Am I just some trophy you can show off to your friends just so you can make a point?”

She rolled her eyes, but she still decided to humor me. “Of course not, love,” she crooned, caressing my face with her hand. “You mean much more to me than that.”

“Prove it,” I pouted jokingly.

The mare smirked and moved herself closer to me. “You want me to prove it, do you? Okay, but only because you asked for it.”

Without any further warning, Octavia brought her lips to mine and began to passionately, yet delicately, make out with me. I happily accepted her advance and returned the kiss with as much enthusiasm as she was giving me. At first it was just our lips caressing each other in a most soft, tender manner, but then however it grew into a battle between our tongues as they snaked around each other in an aggressive mating dance. The kiss went on for almost two minutes before we had to stop for air.

“What’s gotten into you?” I asked, slightly winded. “You usually aren’t this forward. It’s not mating season, is it?”

“Very funny. We don’t have time to ourselves too often, and you only have a good twenty-five minutes before your next class, so I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity,” she explained. “Besides, you’re rather hard to resist.”

“So are you,” I told her. I gazed at Octavia’s body, taking in every inch as it laid on the bed. The way her robe was draped over her body gave me a great view of her cleavage, and the garment accentuated her figure, as well. It was also rather formfitting as I witnessed her hourglass curves gently shifting at the slightest movement; the rise and fall of Tavi’s chest gave me a feeling of comfort as I imagined the warm body that was hidden underneath that robe.

And her breasts hidden beneath the cleavage line…

They were perfectly spherical, sticking out beneath the cottony material like two proud hills. I didn’t dare to say it out loud, but I was really hoping Octavia would make a sudden move in order to get the chance to see those lovely jugs of hers bounce.

Man, if I didn’t have class soon…

The mare chuckled and put her finger under my chin, tilting my head up. “Hey, my eyes are up here.”

“Sorry,” I chuckled. “I couldn’t help it.”

“I’m flattered,” she giggled as she got even closer to me and began to nuzzle me. I wrapped one arm around her and put my free hand on her head, running my hands through her mane and occasionally scratching her ear. She sighed in content as I held her in my arms, her body close to mine. Along with the usual rhythm of her heart, I was very happy to enjoy the feeling of softness of some bodily areas combined with firmness of others.

Damn, that robe of hers was thinner than I thought.

Unfortunately, time decided to go by faster than usual, and I looked up to see that I only had five minutes to get to my class.

“Crap! I have to go, Octi!” I said as I shot out of her bed then turned around to give her a quick peck on the lips. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

I was in such a rush that I was out of the door before she could even respond.

As I ran to my class, I thought about the Hearth’s Warming Eve party.

“So Rarity and Octavia are gonna be at the party… By then I will have been stringing them along for over a month. It really isn’t fair for me to have them waiting for my decision. Besides, if I take too long, they might get upset with me, and that’s the last thing I want.”

I pondered the thought for another moment and then came to a decision.

“Okay, I’ll make my decision the night before the party. That’ll be one of my Hearth’s Warming gifts to them… although it won’t be much of a gift for the mare I don’t choose.”

I finally made it to my class with less than a minute to spare, but when I looked at the door, I saw a piece of paper posted on it.

“ATTENTION ‘HISTORY OF CARTOONING’ STUDENTS
ALL CLASSES ARE CANCELLED THIS WEEK”

My eye twitched as I read the note, and I gritted my teeth in anger.

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?”

Chapter 23: Old Friends Meet New Friends

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“And then I realized that I only had a few minutes to get to class, so I had to rush out of there and leave Octavia all by herself. So then, after all that running, I get to my class only to find out that that class had been cancelled for the week! Can you believe that, Luna!?”

“What I can’t believe is that this is the fifth time you’ve told me this story, Marcus,” The princess commented. “It’s been four days since that happened. Relax.”

“Sorry, I’m just really pissed. Why didn’t they send a note out to the students, or something? If I had known that there was no class, I would’ve stayed with Octavia!”

“Why didn’t you just go back?” asked Luna.

“Because by then I had already ran across campus and my legs were killing me, so since that class was the only one I had for the day, I just left the campus out of the nearest entrance and went home.”

“So I guess that the universe cockblocked you, then?”

“And I guess that you finally figured out what ‘cockblocked’ means,” I smirked.

Luna looked at me crossly. “Very funny, Cortez.”

It was Friday night. It had been several hours since I had gotten home from my last class of the day, which was also my last class until January. Luna and I were in her bedroom, lying on our backs on top of her bed.

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much, in all seriousness,” the princess said to me. “You’ve got the whole month of December to make up for it. I’m sure Celestia won’t mind you inviting one of them over.”

I scoffed. “Oh please. Knowing her, she’ll probably put us in separate rooms, or maybe even separate wings of the castle.”

“That is a possibility,” Luna admitted, “but there’s also a chance of Tia wanting you two to sleep in the same room considering how pushy she is about you getting married and having kids.”

“I guess that makes sense…”

“Have you even decided which mare you want yet?”

“Not yet,” I sighed, “But I plan on making my decision on the night before the Hearth’s Warming Eve party.”

“So the bet will be settled on the twenty-third, then,” Luna muttered to herself.

I raised an eyebrow and sat up. “Bet? What bet?”

Luna silently cursed to herself and sat up as well. “Since you’re aware of it now, Celestia and I made a bet over which mare you’d choose. If I won, Celestia would have to go without cake for a week. If she won, then I would have to go without cookies for a week.”

“So who bet on whom?”

“Tia and I agreed not to tell you because we didn’t want to influence your decision, so I mustn’t say. All I know is that you’d better pick the mare I bet on. I didn’t get off my diet just to be put on one again. I’m finally at a weight I’m happy with, and I don’t want anything changing that.”

I rolled my eyes.

“If anything, Tia should be the one on a diet. She’s starting to get a little plump in certain areas,” Luna continued.

“Don’t let her hear you say that. She might banish you to the moon again. Besides, you’re a little big, too.”

“Yes, but I balance it out around my whole body and make sure that I’m plump in the right places. If my hips are too small, I eat food that goes to my hips. If my thighs are too small, I eat food that goes to my thighs. It all balances out so I can eat what I want and still look sexy and squishy!”

I chuckled. “I’ve never seen a mare embrace her figure like you do.”

“That’s because I’m one of a kind!” Luna declared, striking a silly pose as we laughed.

It made me happy, still being able to spend time with her like this. Even though we decided that we weren’t going to pursue a romantic relationship, nothing really changed between me and Luna. She was still her same, happy, carefree, goofy self, and she treated me the same way she always did. We still loved each other, but it wasn’t the romantic kind.

We were the best of friends.

“So, what are your plans for tomorrow?” she asked.

“Well, I’m meeting Rarity at her and Octavia’s dorm room to help set up.”

“Set up for what?”

“Octavia’s old roommate has been studying in Saddle Arabia this year and she’s coming to Canterlot to visit for the holidays. Octavia’s going to be picking her up while Rarity and I fix the room up.”

“What’s there to fix? Aren’t those two usually tidy?”

“I know, but Rarity is really making a fuss over this. She insisted that she and I spruce the place up a bit while Octavia’s out.”

“I suppose she just wants to make a good first impression. They are rather important, after all.”

“I understand that, but from what Octavia’s told me about Vinyl, she doesn’t seem to care much for the little details.”

Luna smirked. “Are you just trying to get out of doing work, Marcus?”

“What? No! I’m just saying that Rarity might be taking this a little too seriously, is all!”

“I’m merely teasing, Marcus,” the princess laughed. “It’s getting late, you should be getting to bed soon so you don’t end up being late tomorrow.”

“I guess…” I said as I got up off Luna’s bed. She gave me a warm hug before using a teleportation spell to send me back to my room.

The next morning, I caught a cab to the school and made my way to the Rarity and Octavia’s room.

“Yeah, I’m at the door right now,” I said into my phone.

“Oh, really? Hang on a moment, love,” Octavia replied as I heard hoofsteps approaching the door, and it opened a second later. “Hello, Marcus! Glad you could make it!”

“My pleasure, ‘Tavi.”

“Okay, Rarity’s inside cleaning up. I’m headed over to the train station to pick up Vinyl. I should be back in about twenty minutes or so, okay?”

“Sure. Rarity and I have it covered. Don’t worry about it.”

The earth mare sighed. “Alright, then. I’ll be back, love.” She smiled and gave me a peck on the lips before leaving.

With Octavia gone, I walked into the room and saw Rarity sweeping the floor. “Ah, there you are, darling! I’m just about done with the sweeping, but you could start by making Octavia’s bed.”

“Sure,” I said as I walked up to the unoccupied, unmade bed. As I folded the sheets, I heard sounds of sweeping and shuffling behind me. I then heard Rarity put the broom and dustpan away. I continued to make Octavia’s bed, whistling to myself as I did so. As I expected from a mare like her, the bed wasn’t too unkempt to begin with, so it wasn’t much of a chore to fix it.

I spotted a stray pillow looking to fall between the bed and the wall, so I caught it before it could do so and placed it at the head of the bed. Just then, I felt a pair of arms wrap around my midsection, and then I felt a large yet soft mass push itself onto my back.

I turned around with a raised eyebrow and saw Rarity hugging me from behind, nuzzling her head against my back and mumbling to herself with her eyes closed.

“I thought we were cleaning, Rarity,” I told her.

The mare chuckled sultrily and looked up at me with lidded eyes. “I know, darling, but most of it is done already. The room isn’t that big you know. Besides, we have twenty minutes before Octavia and her friend get here. That’s more than enough time for some quick cuddling, and maybe even a few kisses.”

I laughed “Behave, young mademoiselle! I just made Octi’s bed. I’m not gonna let you mess it up less than a minute afterwards.” I humored my mare, glancing at the nearby clock while I was at it.

“Marcus, I am a lady,” the unicorn reminded me, “and I have respect for Octavia. I planned on cuddling with you in my bed, and I don’t mind making it up again.”

I looked at the clock again and thought about it for a few more moments. “I suppose so. You’re usually pretty good with time, so I guess you deserve a treat.”

Rarity squealed and suddenly jumped up, putting her hands on my shoulders and wrapping her legs around my waist. The suddenness of her action took me be surprise, and it took a second for me to remember to hold her up with my hands.

“Next time, warn me before you do something like this,” I laughed as I carried her to her bed.

“Sorry, sweetie,” she giggled. “I’ll try to remember that.”

“Normally, I don’t voluntarily give piggy back rides nor do I carry anything over fifty pounds, but I’ll make an exception for you.”

“You’re quite lazy, aren’t you?” Rarity chuckled. “You know, I was hoping that you’d take me up on this offer. You’ve done this with Octavia when you had some alone time with her, and I would find it quite unfair if we didn’t take advantage of our time alone.”

“Octavia told you?” I asked in disbelief as I sat on the bed with Rarity in my lap.

“No, darling. You did. Just now.”

“I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”

“Yes, but I find it rather cute. Hopefully I can outdo Octavia.”

“Considering the fact that you’re wearing everyday clothes and she was wearing a thin robe, I’m not too sure about all that,” I thought with an inner smirk.

Rarity lidded her eyes and leaned in to kiss me, using the momentum to gently push me onto my back, I wrapped my arms around her as I returned her kiss, matching her enthusiasm. Her upper body felt quite nice under my fingers, my digits trailing along the line of her small and narrow back and surprisingly thin waist. I was pretty much humoring the mare at this point and was letting her take the lead, which is why I let her end the kiss a little earlier than I would have liked.

Rarity moved from my lips to my neck as she planted kiss after kiss on me.“Hey, hey! Go easy on me, will ya?” I demanded. “We’re having a guest over. It would be inappropriate if you left hickeys for Octavia and her guest to see.”

Quite frankly, I told her that because all that neck related tenderness was making me shiver with excitement, a growing feeling of thrill spreading through my body.

“Hmph. I suppose you’re right,” Rarity said as she lifted her head from my neck. “You’re so adorable, though. I guess some cuddling will have to do, for now.”

“I’d like that,” I smiled, and the mare smiled back, hugging her body to mine and nuzzling her head under my chin. Some stray strands of her mane managed to tickle my nose, and I laughed a little as I caught a whiff of its scent, a sweet mix between kiwi and mint. “Your mane smells nice,” I muttered.

“Thanks,” she muttered back.

The two of us remained there, Rarity’s body on top of mine, and we held each other tenderly as we relished in the comfort of our embrace.

Only to be interrupted by a loud ringing sound.

Rarity’s eyes shot open, and she looked in the direction the sound was coming from. She reached under her pillow and grabbed the culprit, her phone.

“Hello?” she said as she answered it, trying not to sound like she was just taking a short nap.

Because of how close we were to each other, I was able to hear who was on the other line.

“Rarity, it’s me. I’m on my way back. Is everything okay on your end?”

“Oh! Yes, Octavia!” Rarity said, trying and failing to sound subtle. “Everything is just fine! No need to worry about a thing!”

“I never said that I was worried.”

“Yes, I know but… Uh… I’ll see you later!” Rarity stuttered, quickly hanging up her phone.

“Smooth,” I commented.

“Oh, hush, you!”

Rarity and I spent the next five or so minutes cleaning the rest of the room. Rarity made her bed while I took care of the bathroom.

The unicorn had established that she “didn’t do bathrooms”.

By the time we finished and sat down for a breather, we heard keys jingling in the door, and said door opened not a second later.

“We’re here,” Octavia announced as she walked in with a small blue suitcase, and I heard a chuckle come from behind her, followed by a voice that severely contrasted Octavia’s soft, elegant tone.

“This room sure has changed since I left,” the voice said, and the pony it belonged to stepped into the room with another suitcase that matched the one Octavia was pulling. She was wearing a black t-shirt that was under a white hoodie that matched her almost-as-white coat. She was also wearing a pair of baggy jeans and there was a pair of headphones was resting comfortably around her neck. The mare also had a short mane and a medium tail whose color alternated between cobalt and cyan, and her eyes were covered by a pair of shades with a black frame and dark-purple lenses.

As I looked at her, my mind went back to the conversation Octavia and I had about pony body types. While the mare I was watching was a unicorn, she was built more like a pegasus. She was about as thin as I was.

She must have been one of those “exceptions to the rule” that ‘Tavi mentioned.

“Rarity, Marcus,” the earth mare began, “I’d like to introduce you to my old roommate-”

“Ah, quit being so formal, Octi,” the other mare chuckled as she removed her shades, revealing a pair of purplish-red eyes. “The name’s Vinyl Scratch. Nice to meet you guys.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Miss Scratch,” Rarity said as she approached her with an outstretched hand.

“Please, call me Vinyl,” the older unicorn insisted. “Man, I’ve never seen the room this clean before!”

“That’s because you always kept your side of the room in complete disarray,” Octavia commented.

“Oh, details, details,” Vinyl laughed, and then she looked at me. “So, you must be Marcus. Octi’s told me a lot about you.”

“She has, huh? Well, it’s nice to meet you, Vinyl,” I said as I bumped fists with her. I really liked how relaxed she was. Octavia was right, she and Vinyl were incredibly different. It was a wonder how they ever got along.

“Oh, Octi mentioned something about a Hearth’s Warming Eve party or somethin’ on the way over here.”

“Yeah, my aunt’s hosting one, and she said that you could come as Octavia’s plus one.”

“Sure! It’d be nice to go to a party where I’m not the DJ for once. Where’s it gonna be at?”

“Canterlot Castle.”

The unicorn raised an eyebrow. “Canterlot Castle? Is your aunt Princess Celestia, or somethin’?” She laughed as Rarity, Octavia, and I gave each other uneasy looks. Once Vinyl saw the looks on our faces, her laughter started to die down. “Wait, you’re not serious, are you?”

“Actually… I am. Celestia’s my adoptive aunt, but we keep our relationship really hush-hush.”

Vinyl chuckled. “In that case, your secret’s safe with me.”

The four of us spent the rest of the morning getting Vinyl settled in, and then we all chatted away over some tea.

“So, Rarity,” said the older unicorn, “How are you and Octavia getting along?”

“I’m right here, Vinyl,” the earth mare interjected. “You don’t have to talk like I’m not.”

“We’re getting along great!” Rarity answered. “Sure, I was a little intimidated by the idea of having a roommate that was two years ahead of me, but she’s really nice.”

“Am I invisible to you two?” Octavia deadpanned.

Just then, my phone began to ring, and I picked it up, wondering who it was.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Marcus? It’s Auntie Celeste. Could you come home? Luna and I need some help planning the party.”

“Um, sure, Auntie. Whatever you say. I’ll be there as soon as I can."

“Thanks, Marcus. Bye!”

The phone clicked as my aunt hung up and I stood up from my seat with a sigh. “That was my aunt,” I told everypony. “She needs me back home. I’ll catch you guys later, ‘kay?”

“Okay,” the three mares said, and I walked towards the door, but as I exited the room, Octavia followed behind me and shut the door behind her.

“I’m mad at you, you know,” she said quietly.

“For what?” I asked.

The perturbed mare pointed at my neck. “Care to explain that hickey? I know that wasn’t there before I left.”

“Oh, this? This is just a mosquito bite.”

Octavia stepped closer to me and gave me a stern look. “You don’t have to lie, Marcus. You know I don’t like that.”

“Sorry…” I told her nervously.

The mare looked at me for a little while longer, and then she chuckled. “Go on home, love,” she said before she gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Yes, ma’am,” I joked as I left the hall.

It didn’t take long for me to get a cab to the castle. As I sat in my seat, I heard my phone ring again. Looking at the caller ID this time, I saw that it was Octavia calling me.

“Hmm, did I forget something back there?” I thought as a answered the phone.

“Hello~” I answered pleasantly.

“You were expecting Octavia weren’t you?"

I froze when I heard Vinyl’s voice. “Oh, how embarrassing,” I muttered.

“No worries, man,” she said. “Anyway, I need to ask you something.”

“Yeah?”

“I haven’t gone Hearth’s Warming shopping yet, so I was wondering if you wanted to go with me while Rarity and Octavia are busy.”

“Busy?”

“They made plans to go to the spa tomorrow. They invited me, but I opted out. As you probably already guessed, I’m not the spa type. So, you up for it?”

I thought about it for a moment. I didn’t have any big plans for tomorrow, so it seemed like a good idea. Plus, Vinyl knows Octavia really well, well enough to know what present she’d like for Hearth’s Warming.

I smiled and said, “What time do you want me to meet you?”

Chapter 24: Tis the Season For Shopping - Part One [The Musician and the Fashionista]

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The next day, at around eleven forty-five, I was getting ready to go out into the city to meet Vinyl. I was already dressed, and I was making sure I had everything before I left.

Oh, and Auntie Celeste was in the room with me, too.

“So you’re getting a jump on your Hearth’s Warming shopping, huh, nephew?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I answered. “Rarity and Octavia are gonna be at the spa this afternoon, and Octavia’s friend Vinyl offered to shop with me.”

“Well, that’s nice of her. I’ll bet you’ll find the perfect gift for both your mares.” Celeste lit up her horn and levitated something over to me. “This may help you a little.”

I looked at the object that I was given, and my eyes widened when I saw that it was the same credit card that Celeste let me use when I went on my dates with Rarity and Octavia.

“Just don’t go too overboard and buy something like a carriage-car.”

I chuckled. “Don’t worry. I won’t.”

“Good,” my aunt smiled. “So, what do you plan on getting your dear old auntie for Hearth’s Warming?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I dunno. I’ll think of something.”

Celeste gave me an offended look and stared me down. “What kind of answer is that? You should’ve had an idea of what you were gonna get me by now!”

“Relax, Auntie,” I smirked. “Don’t be a spoiled princess… Oh, wait…”

“Very funny, Marcus, but I’m being serious. I’m getting you a really great present this year, and I expect to get a present just as great.”

“You are such a virtuous mare,” I told her sarcastically. “No wonder all the ponies in Equestria look up to you.”

“Watch your tone with me boy. Go on and head out to the city before I put you over my knee.”

“Pshh. You wouldn’t,” I laughed.

“Keep talking and you’ll find out,” Celeste threatened, but then she cracked a smile and began to laugh, too. “Okay, you got me. I’d never do that to my precious nephew, now go on, then. I’ll leave the room behind you.”

I rolled my eyes at my aunt and left my room. If I stayed and kept humoring her foolishness, I’d be late for my meet-up with Vinyl.

I was relieved when my taxi was able to get to the city before noon. Vinyl and I agreed to meet at that time, and I didn’t like to keep others waiting for too long. We arranged to meet each other in the shopping district of the city. As I entered the area, I looked around for the mare, and I found her leaning against the wall of a building with her shades over her eyes and a pair of earbuds in her ears.

I approached the mare as she bopped her head to the music that was blasting in her ears. It was so loud I could hear what song she was playing. I could even hear the lyrics clearly.

“Vinyl?” I called once I was standing in front of her, only to receive no response. “Vinyl?” I called again, waving my hand in front of her face, but to no avail.

Were her eyes closed?

Realizing that just calling her name wasn’t getting me anywhere, I let out a frustrated sigh and yanked the earbuds out of her ears.

“Huh? What?” the confused unicorn said as she jolted up, her shades falling off of her face.

“Man, you were really out there, weren’t you?”

“Oh, sorry about that, man,” Vinyl said as she picked up her shades off the ground. “I tend to go into my own little world when I’m listening to music.”

“It’s fine. At least I have your attention now. So, where do you think we should go first?”

The mare shrugged. “That depends. How much money are you able to spend?”

“My aunt gave me a card to use, and she said that I could spend as much as I needed, so long as I don’t go too crazy.”

Vinyl smirked. “Luckily for you, Octavia isn’t too high maintenance. Do you plan on getting some other gifts?”

“Yeah. I want to get a gift for Rarity, Princess Luna, and Auntie Celest…ia.”

Phew, that was close.

“Well, we have plenty of time, so we don’t need to rush. C’mon, I already have an idea of what to get Octavia.”

Vinyl took the lead as she and I walked through the district until we finally stopped by a music store. “Well, this isn’t surprising,” I said, more to myself than to her.

“I know this seems predictable, but trust me on this one,” the unicorn said as we walked inside. “Last night, while Octavia was practicing her cello, she was telling me and Rarity about how she needed a new one since her current one was getting worn out.”

“You know, I was hoping to get Octavia something more meaningful than a new cello,” I interjected, disappointed at Vinyl’s idea.

“You didn’t let me finish, Marcus. This shop sells custom made instruments, so you add a personal touch. Plus, you can engrave a special message into the bow. It’s the perfect chance to come up with something romantic for one of your special someponies.”

I blinked when I heard her say that. “You know?” I asked.

“Of course. When three mares are living under the same roof, the subject of the opposite sex is bound to come up. Besides, ‘Tavi and I tell each other everything.”

“You two really are best friends, huh?”

“Of course! Now, I think we can get the cello with a nice glossy finish. As for the color, I was thinking one that matched her coat with her cutie mark painted on the side.”

“You know what it looks like?”

“I’ve been Octi’s roommate for two years. Of course I know what it looks like. I’m surprised you don’t know, or have you two not reached that point in your relationship yet.”

I gave Vinyl an unamused look, not impressed in the slightest by her little joke. She merely laughed in response.

“Dude, relax! I’m just screwin’ with ya! C’mon, let’s place the order in.”

The two of us walked up to the front desk to place the order, and the store owner, a human man, looked at Vinyl with a surprised look.

“Vinyl! Vinyl Scratch! Long time no see!” he said happily.

“What’s up, Gavin?” she asked as she bumped fists with him.

“Same old, same old. Where have you been, though?”

“Studying in Saddle Arabia. I’m visiting for the holidays.”
“Well, in that case, welcome back to Canterlot!” Gavin said. “Doing some early Hearth’s Warming shopping?”

“Actually, I’m helping out my friend Marcus here,” she answered as she put a hand on my shoulder.

“Hey,” I said as I shook hands with Gavin.

“So, whaddaya say, G? Can you hook him up for me?”

“Sure! Any friend of yours is a friend of mine! What do you need, Marcus?”

“Well, Vinyl told me you did custom jobs,” I explained.

Gavin smiled. “That I do, that I do.”

“In that case, I’d like to get a grey cello with a glossy finish,” I requested.

“And paint a magenta treble clef on the side, and make the strings the same color, too, while you’re at it.”

“Sure,” the owner chuckled. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, I’d like to get the bow in matching colors, and I want to engrave a message into it.”

“What kind of message did you have in mind?”

I immediately blushed when I was asked that question. Of course I knew that I had to say what my message was if I wanted Gavin to engrave it, but having to say it was a little embarrassing.

“Well, the message is… ‘For my beautiful Octavia’,” I admitted.

Gavin blinked. “Aaaaaaaaaah, I get it now. You’re getting this done for a special lady, aren’t ya?”

“You could say that,” I chuckled nervously.

“Well, with that in mind, on top of the fact that Vinyl asked me to hook you up, I’m gonna do all that for half the normal price. Quite the steal, if you ask me.”

“He’s right, you know,” the unicorn added.

“In that case, I’ll take it,” I said with a smile.

“Sweet! That’ll be seven hundred and fifty bits.” I handed Gavin my card and he swiped it with no problem. Once he returned the card to me, he handed me a slip of paper and a pen. “Alright, I should be able to get this done in about a week. Just fill out your contact information on this piece of paper here, and I’ll give you a call once your order is ready.”

“Great, thanks!” I said as I filled out the slip.

“No sweat. Thanks for your business, kid,” Gavin smiled, and then he looked at Vinyl. “See you around, V.”

“Sure, G,” she replied as she and I walked out of the store. “Okay, one gift down, three to go. Who’s next, Marcus?”

“Rarity,” I answered.

“So I’m guessing you want this present to be all lovey-dovey, too, huh?”

“You make it sound really cheesy when you put it like that,” I deadpanned.

“Chill, dude. I never said it was a bad thing. Matter of fact, I think you’re pretty lucky.”

“How so?”

Vinyl smirked and put her arm around me, pulling me close to her. “Do I have to spell it out for ya? You’ve got two smokin’ hot mares that want you, and you get to take your pick! I’ve seen the way you look at both of ‘em from time to time. Not that I blame you, though. They’re both pretty cute. That Rarity girl’s some nice hips, am I right?”

My face got increasingly red as she kept talking.

“Not that I’m trying to move in on your mare, of course,” she disclaimed. “I’ve already got a cute thing in Saddle Arabia.”

“You’re into mares?” I asked.

“I swing both ways,” she explained. “When you’re into the whole club scene, you’re open to experimenting. And before you ask, Octavia does know.”

“How did she react when she found out?”

“She was pretty okay with it. I told her a few days after we met. She just made it clear that she wasn’t interested in mares, and that she didn’t want me to try anything funny. It was a real shame, too. She’s a hot one, Octi.”

I thought about the idea of Vinyl and Octavia being in a relationship. While it seemed weird, what with their contrasting personalities, and all, I found myself oddly intrigued by the idea.

“So, where are we gonna find a present for your sexy little maiden?” she asked, though she sounded like she was asking herself that question. “Oh, I’ve got the perfect idea!”

Vinyl proceeded to lead me to a luxury clothing store, and she took me to the mare’s section.

“Alright, Rarity’s obviously a fashion-inclined girl,” she explained, “so getting her something nice to wear will mean a lot to her. So, what do you have in mind?”

“Well, how about something that she can wear while she’s lounging around her room, something she can just throw on whenever she’s thinking of me?” I suggested.

The unicorn smirked. “Good thinking, now let’s see if we can find something like that…”

Vinyl and I looked through the racks of clothing to find something that fit what we were looking for, until we finally came across something,

Namely a beautiful, indigo-colored silk robe with light blue accents.

“This… is perfect!” I said.

“Yeah, and check out the tag,” Vinyl added. “You can get it monogrammed for no extra charge.”

“In that case, I’m sold!” I declared as I took the robe off the rack and brought it to the front counter. The stallion behind it was a posh-looking unicorn with thin glasses.

“Ah, you have quite the eye, young man,” he said to me. “I suppose you want it monogrammed, as well?”

“Yeah,” I answered. “I’d like an ‘R’ sewn into the right hip, if it’s not too much trouble.”

“Why, of course not, sir! ‘Twill be quite easy, actually. Simply be back to pick it up tomorrow. That is, of course, if you can pay for it.”

I smirked and handed the stallion my card and he swiped it for me. “I’ll be back tomorrow,” I told him as he handed me the card back.

Once Vinyl and I left the store, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket, and I answered it without bothering to look at the caller ID.

“Hello?”

“Marcus, darling! It’s Rarity. How are you?”

“Oh, I’m fine. You and Octavia enjoying your spa day?”

“Oh, it is simply divine, darling! Octavia is right next to me, would you like me to put you on speaker?”

“Sure. Why not?” I shrugged.

I heard a light click, followed by another voice. “Hello, Marcus!” it said.

“Hi, Octi,” I greeted back. “Are they treating you nice at the spa?”

“Oh, you have no idea,” she answered. “The attendants have been waiting on our hands and hooves! We’re in the hot springs right now.”

“And they’re miiiiiiiiixed~” Rarity chimed in musically. “You have no idea what you’re missing, sweetheart!”

My face went red again, which was happening often today. The thought of sharing a bath with Rarity and Octavia, the thought of the warm water against my skin as I relaxed in the bath, and then seeing those two beautiful mares walking into the room in nothing but their towels, towels that would soon come off and reveal their luscious bodies underneath.

The image rendered me utterly speechless.

“What are you and Vinyl doing, anyway?” Rarity asked, snapping me out of my stupor.

“Oh, we’re just hanging around the city. She asked me if I wanted to walk around with her since she was going to be by herself, so I figured why not, y’know?”

“I guess,” said Octavia, “but it would’ve been nice to have you here with us.”

I couldn’t help but think, “Yeah, it would’ve been…”

“Ah well. It can’t be helped. I’ll talk to you two later, okay?” I said.

“Okay, Marcus,” they answered simultaneously as they hung up the phone. I let out a heavy sigh, and Vinyl looked at me curiously.

“What’s the matter, man?” she asked.

I sighed again in response. “Nothing, V. Part of me is just starting to regret choosing to do my Hearth’s Warming shopping today.”

Chapter 25: Tis the Season For Shopping - Part Two [The Two Sisters]

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I tried not to think about the fact that I was missing out on a nice, hot bath with Rarity and Octavia, and instead I focused on the matter at hand. I had gotten gifts for both Rarity and Octavia, and I was still searching for a good present for Luna and Auntie Celeste.

“So, we’re looking for a present for the royal sisters, huh?” asked Vinyl. “Not gonna lie to you, man. That’s gonna be a challenge.”

“I know, but we’ve got all day,” I said, trying to stay positive. “We’ve only been out for just over two hours, and we already have gifts for two of the four mares I’m shopping for. If we keep our heads up, I’m sure we’ll find something.”

“Someone’s feeling really optimistic.”

“It’s probably that ‘Hearth’s Warming cheer’ I keep hearing about.”

Vinyl rolled her eyes and smiled, and then my phone started vibrating again.

“Are the mares calling you back?” she asked.

“No, I got a text message from… Luna?” I said in surprise.

“Why do you sound so shocked?”

“Well, Luna’s not the best when it comes to any piece of technology that isn’t a video game,” I explained. “According to Auntie Celest…ia, she’s had a phone for months, but she’s never used it.”

“Then how would she get in touch with her friends?”

“She finds telepathy much easier.”

I looked to see the message that Luna sent me, which read:

“Finally learned how 2 text! I asked Tia 2 teach me.”

I chuckled and typed a message back.

“Good 4 u. Maybe Celeste will teach u how 2 use the internet next.”

“Baby steps, Marcus. Anyway, look what I got in the mail!”

Attached to the message was a picture of a cardboard standee of a character from one of Luna’s favorite video games, Chimera Hunter, which wasn’t really surprising. For the last week, Luna wouldn’t stop talking about the latest game in the series: Chimera Hunter IV. Vinyl and I passed by the nearby video game store, and there was a poster hanging in the window saying:

"CHIMERA HUNTER IV:
AVAILABLE NOW!"

A million and a half signals began to fire in my head at that moment.

“Vinyl, I think I know what I want to get for Luna,” I said as I walked into the store.

“Interesting. I never thought that the princess of the night was a gamer.”

“She’s full of surprises, even more so than her sister.”

Vinyl and I walked up to the front desk and got the attention of the clerk, a unicorn mare with a black mop-top and a pair of thick glasses.

“Hey, there! Need anything?” she asked.

“Yeah, I was wondering if you had any copies of Chimera Hunter IV left,” I told her.

“Well, we did get a lot of orders in for that, so I’m not sure… Give me a minute and I’ll check for you.”

The mare ducked behind the counter, looking through the many games that were stored there, and she continued to look for almost two whole minutes. I became increasingly worried as each second passed, the chances of there not being a copy left becoming more and more likely, but then!

“Found it!” the mare said, and she rose up from behind the counter. “You’re in luck, there were only two copies left.”

Two copies, huh? I guess I should pick up a copy for myself, too.

“I’ll take ‘em both,” I told the mare.

“Great! Would you like season passes for both games?”

Eh, why the hell not?

“Sure,” I accepted, and the clerk put the games in a bag along with the season pass codes, and she handed the bag to me.

With the bag in hand, I left the store with Vinyl following right behind me. “Alright, now to figure out what to get for my aunt,” I thought out loud.

Just then, a low rumbling sound caught me by surprise, and Vinyl couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Maybe we should get something to eat first,” she suggested. “It wouldn’t be a good idea to try and think on an empty stomach.”

“Good idea.”

The two of us left the shopping district and found a small fast food joint near the city square. I was actually pretty relieved that Vinyl wasn’t as high maintenance as Rarity and Octavia. Don’t get me wrong, I love those two to death, but there was still that constant worry about something or someplace not being “good enough” for them.

Of course, this might just be me being paranoid, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Vinyl and I ordered our food and took a seat by the window, which had a nice view of the fountain in the city square, and we engaged in a bit of small talk.

“Okay, stop me if I sound like I’m prying,” the unicorn began, “but how long has it been since you admitted your feelings to Rarity and Octavia?”

I stopped eating for a moment. That was a really good question; how long had it been since I told those two that I liked them?

“I think it’s been almost a month now,” I answered.

“You plan on making a choice soon?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna tell them on the night before the party, although a part of me wants to make a choice and tell them sooner than that.”

“Why?”

“Well, I’ve been looking at it from their perspectives, and the way I’ve been treating them seems a little unfair.”

“Unfair? I’m not following you.”

“Think about it, Vinyl. Because I’ve been taking so long to make a choice, Rarity and Octavia have been waiting for an answer from me for almost a month. I don’t think any mare would want to be kept waiting for that long. I kinda feel like I’m stringing them along, you know?”

The unicorn took a sip of her soda as she thought about it, and once she finished, she shook her head with a chuckle. “You are so clueless,” she told me.

“Clueless?”

“You have no idea how much those two love you, do you?”

I continued to give her a confused look.

“You’re right, no regular mare would hold out for a guy this long,” Vinyl explained, “but those two are something special, Marcus. They must really love you if they’re willing to wait a whole month for you to choose one of them. When you left the dorm room yesterday, they couldn’t stop talking about you. They went on and on about how nice you were and how cute you were and how good of a kisser you were…”

My face went a deep shade of red. “They said all that?” I asked her in disbelief.

“Not only did they say it, but they wouldn’t stop talking about it. Trust me; those two will be willing to wait ‘till the twenty-third.”

I sighed and gave her a smile. “You seem to be pretty sure of that,” I told her. “Thanks for talking to me about this, V.”

“No prob, man, now let’s eat!”

I laughed and dug into my food, my mind cleared of my nervousness over my two mares. With our hunger quelled and our minds focused, we left the fast-food joint and headed back to the shopping district.

“I think I’ve figured out what I want to get for my aunt,” I said to Vinyl.

“You have, huh? Well, where to?”

“You’ll see. C’mon.”

I led a confused Vinyl through the district, and when we reached our destination, she became even more confused.

“The hobby store?” she asked, tilting her head. “Why here, of all places?”

“There’s something specific that I need to get from this place.” I answered as we walked inside. We wandered through the aisles as I searched for the aforementioned “something specific.” Finally, I came across what I was looking for.

“A large picture frame?” Vinyl asked. “Okay, now I’m really lost.”

“Instead of just buying something for Celestia, I’m gonna make something for her. It’ll mean a lot more to her that way.”

“A gift made with your bare hands, huh? I like it. Let’s go buy this bad boy!”

I chuckled at the unicorn’s sudden enthusiasm as I carried the frame to the register and bought it. We were in the store for less than fifteen minutes.

“So that does it for your Hearth’s Warming shopping, then?” Vinyl asked.

“Yep. Thanks for helping me out, V.”

“No problem, man.”

“So, how are you doing with your holiday shopping?”

“I’ve already got my gift for Octi picked out, but I think I should get something for Rarity, too. I’m not worried about it, though. She seems like an easy pony to shop for.”

“Easy for you to say,” I chuckled.

“And maybe I’ll get a little something for you, too.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that. You helped me out a lot today. That’s a present to me.”

The unicorn laughed at me. “Ha! Don’t give me the whole modesty act! I’ll get you something nice, ‘kay?”

“If you insist,” I shrugged. “I’ll see you later, Vinyl.”

“Later, Marcus, and good luck with Rarity and Octavia,” she said as she walked off and put her earbuds in.

Despite the fact that she could no longer hear me, I still thanked her as she walked away.

It was five minutes after three when I got home. I walked in quietly and made an effort to stay silent. I didn’t want Auntie Celeste or Luna to see me and ask me about the curious bags that I was carrying. Thankfully, I made it to my room without being spotted.

Once inside, I reached into the bag I got from the video game store, took out my copy of Chimera Hunter IV and put it in my disc cabinet. I then took Luna’s copy and hid it at the bottom of my sock drawer.

Now where to hide the picture frame…

It was half my size, which really made it hard to figure out a place to hide it. At first I considered hiding it in my closet, but there was a good chance that she’d try to look there while I was gone.

Then an idea hit me.

I walked over to my drawing table and opened the drawer underneath it, taking out a roll of the ultra-strong tape that I use for emergency sketchbook repairs. I then took the frame out of my bag and slid underneath my bed, taping the frame to its underside.

“You’re a freakin’ genius, Cortez,” I said to myself.

“I’d have to disagree,” a voice interrupted.

I let out a surprised yelp and hit my head on the underside of my bed. The sound of giggling reached my ears as I slowly crawled out from under the bed.

“Did I scare you?” the voice said, and I turned around to see who it belonged to.

“Oh, Luna. It’s you,” I sighed. The princess was outside my window, smiling at me as she hovered in the air with her wings. “I was worried that you were Auntie Celeste. What are you doing here?”

The princess smiled and her mane began to rustle, which looked weird since it was already perpetually moving. Not a second later, a familiar face popped out of Luna’s mane.

“I was taking little Tibbles for a fly,” she told me as she sat on my windowsill. “He likes to feel the wind in his fur every now and then.” She giggled as her pet opossum grabbed several strands of hair and swung back and forth holding onto them like they were a vine. “Why were you so worried that I was my sister? You’re not keeping secrets from her again, are you?”

“I am, but it’s the good kind,” I insisted. “I was hiding her Hearth’s Warming present.”

“You already went shopping for the holidays?”

“I figured that I should get it done before the holiday rush started,” I explained as I got walked up to Luna.

“Well, at least you were able to figure out what gift to get for Tia. I’ve been trying to come up with a suitable gift idea for over a month, and I’m coming up small.”

“Coming up short,” I impulsively corrected.

Luna shot me a glaring look.

“Sorry, sorry. Force of habit… Wait a second…” I looked out the window towards the ground and saw somepony walking towards the royal gardens.

“Look down there, Luna,” I said, subtly pointing in the pony’s direction. “It’s Celeste.”

“Really? I wonder what she’s doing at the gardens.”

“I dunno. It’s kinda hard to see from up here.”

Luna lit up her horn in response and cast a spell on herself and me. “This eyesight charm should help.”

We watched Celeste as she walked into the gardens, and as we watched, we saw that she was carrying a bouquet of flowers in her hands. She continued into the gardens until she reached a small mound in the ground that had a small pole sticking out of it. Celeste then knelt down and placed the flowers on the mound, staying on the ground for a few more moments.

“Oh, no…” Luna said.

“What?” I asked.

“She’s paying her respects to Orion.”

“Really? How do you know it’s him and not somepony else?”

Luna paused to take a deep breath. “In Equestrian society, a mother honors their unborn foal by designating a spot for them to… to pay their respects. It’s customary to place a bouquet of flowers at the memorial, replacing them whenever they rot away.”

“Wow…” I said, practically speechless.

“Ponies value the lives of foals dearly, even those that never had the chance to take a breath in this world. Because of the value we place on the lives of the young ones, losing one’s foal is the greatest pain a pony can bear.”

I said nothing. I was too taken aback by Luna’s words. I knew that Auntie Celeste was in an incredible amount of pain, but hearing what Luna said made me understand just how terrible my aunt’s anguish was.

“I always wondered why Tia was so unusually ecstatic the day she came home after you parents agreed to have you stay here. I always thought she was overreacting, but after finding out about Orion, it all makes sense now.”

“Did you two talk about it after we saw her dream?”

“Yes. Surprisingly, she wasn’t too upset with me for invading her privacy. I suppose she needed somepony to talk to about it. It saddened me to see her so distraught, but then she told me how much of a difference you’ve made in her life.”

“A difference? Me?”

Luna nodded her head. “She told me that just seeing you would make her smile on the worst of days, and I can understand why. For so long, she’s had a hole in her heart that she believed could never be filled, and with you here, that hole has filled, and she’s become a lot happier. It’s as if you were her own flesh and blood.”

I continued to look at Auntie Celeste, who was still knelt down in front of Orion’s memorial. She finally got up and turned around, and then I saw her face.

She was smiling.

“She’s finally at peace,” said Luna. “Knowing all the pain she went through only makes me want to find a perfect present for her that much more.”

“I know what you mean. Celeste is always putting others before herself. She even told me that she wouldn’t have another alicorn bear her child because of the pain they would go through in labor.”

Luna looked at me with widened eyes. “She did?”

I nodded my head.

The night princess lowered her head in thought for a moment, and then she looked at me with a smile.

“Thanks for telling me that, Marcus,” she said as she tucked Tiberius into her mane and took off without another word.

“Umm… You’re welcome?” I muttered with a confused look on my face.

I had no idea what she thanked me for, but something told me that whatever it was, it was something important.

Chapter 26: Decision Day

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December 23rd.

It’s been three weeks since winter break started, and the snow began to fall around the second week. We even got a huge amount of snow last night, and I could see some of the weather ponies managing the snow that was covering the roads.

I still hadn’t gotten used to the fact that weather wasn’t a naturally occurring thing in Equestria.

But I can’t be distracted by something as trivial as the weather.

Today was the day. The day that I had to make my decision on which mare I wanted to be with.

Either it was gonna be Rarity, or it was gonna be Octavia.

These past three weeks have been incredibly nerve-wracking for me. As this day came closer and closer, I grew more and more nervous and anxious. I tried as hard as I could to calm myself down so that I could make my decision. Sometimes I would distract myself by working on my present for Auntie Celeste, which was coming along nicely, if I do say so myself. The only annoyance was that whenever I finished working on it, I would have to tape it to the underside of my bed again, and I’ve had one too many close calls with Celeste because of it.

Other times, I would talk to Luna about it. While I did fear that she’d be uncomfortable with me talking about it so often considering the fact that we used to be romantically interested in each other, she insisted that she didn’t mind and that she would offer whatever moral support she could.

Moral support can only help so much, though.

It was quarter to twelve. I had skipped breakfast in exchange for putting the finishing touches on Celeste’s gift.

“Okay… It looks like I’m just about… done!” I cheered as I put the last detail on the gift. I then turned to look at my bed with a look of dread on my face.

“Great. Now I have to put this thing away… again,” I said to myself.

I picked up the frame and put it in a plastic bag. I then got my roll of tape and crawled under my bed to attach it to the underside one last time. Once I had it attached and I crawled out from under my bed, I let out a sigh of relief.

“There, now I’ll just take it out tomorrow morning and wrap it.”

Just then, my stomach started to rumble, cruelly reminding me of the fact that I hadn’t eaten breakfast.

“Man, I really should get something to eat,” I said, and then I looked up at my bathroom door. “I should probably take a shower first, though.”

With my overnight body odor extinguished and a clean set of clothes on my back, I left my room and started on my walk to the dining hall. As I walked through the corridors, I saw some of the maids setting up Hearth’s Warming decorations, as they have been doing since last night. When I got to the dining hall, I saw that it was one of the most, if not the most decorated room in the entire castle.

“Whoa…” I said in awe as I got my food. Auntie Celeste was really pulling out all the stops for this Hearth’s Warming Eve party.

After I ate my fill, I went back to my room to think. I had several hours before I had to go over to the school and tell Rarity and Octavia who I’ve decided to be with. I never told them that I’d be making my decision today; I really didn’t want to turn this into some sort of competition for my affections, so they didn’t even know that I planned to visit them today.

I tossed around in my bed, trying to come to a decision, but I was too distracted by what would happen when I chose one over the other. It was unavoidable: once I made a choice, the mare I didn’t choose would have her heart broken, and I kept thinking about how each mare would take it.

Especially Rarity.

In the months that I’ve known her, I’ve learned that sometimes, Rarity doesn’t take rejection very well. Whenever she would have one of her episodes, she’d lie on her bed crying and wailing while she binged on ice cream.

It was never a pretty scene.

However, while I didn’t want to put Rarity through that, I couldn’t choose somepony for the sole reason of keeping them happy. That wouldn’t be fair. I had to go with the mare that I felt the deepest connection with, but I couldn’t figure out which mare that was.

I was just about to let out a yell of frustration when I suddenly heard a knock on my door.

I quickly composed myself and cleared my throat. “Who is it?” I asked.

“It’s Auntie Celeste!” a cheery voice answered from the other side.

“Come in,” I said as I rubbed my head.

Not a second later, my door opened and Auntie Celeste walked in, taking a seat next to me. “How’s my precious nephew doing?” she asked.

“I’ve been better,” I answered.

“Oh right. Today’s the big day, isn’t it?”

I nodded my head.

“Well, have you made a choice?”

“See? That’s the problem. I can’t! I’m trying to look at this objectively so I can come to a decision on who I want to be with, but I can’t! There are too many things to consider!”

My aunt said nothing. Instead, she simply chuckled.

“This isn’t a joke, Auntie!” I said. “I’m having a serious dilemma here!”

“I’m sorry, sweetie,” she chuckled again, “but this is so unlike you. You’re starting to act like an old student of mine.”

I gave her a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“I mean you usually don’t look at things this analytically. As a matter of fact, you rarely think of the consequences. You just do whatever you think feels right.”

“Can you skip to the part where you actually say something that helps me?”

“Don’t take this as though I’m making fun of you, Marcus. While you don’t usually think about things this much, it’s not really your fault. It’s simply in your nature as an artist,” Celeste explained. “I know this is a hard decision for you to make, but you can’t put too much thought into this. All that matters is what your heart feels.”

I took in what she just told me, and then I sighed. “And what if I don’t know how my heart feels?”

My aunt simply chuckled again and said, “You’ll know.”

“I’ll know?” I repeated.

She nodded. “When the time comes, you’ll definitely know. Like I said, don’t put too much thought into it. Just let it come to you.”

“That’s the best advice you can give me?”

“It’s the only advice I need to give you,” Celeste smiled as she pulled me closer to her with her wing. She then leaned closer to me and kissed me on the forehead, and I instinctively moved away from her.

“Can you not?” I said, annoyed.

“What? I can’t kiss my nephew anymore?”

“But you kissed me on my forehead! Don’t you know how degrading that is?”

“Oh, stop being dramatic,” she said as she rolled her eyes.

I tried to rub the kiss off of my forehead, but Celeste used her magic to hold my hand in place.

“Ah, ah, ah, don’t even think about it, Marcus,” she said as she waved her finger in front of me.

I furrowed my brow and used my free hand to poke Celeste in the snout, and she instinctively scrunched her face.

“Stooooooooop!” she whined as she released her hold on my hand and covered her muzzle. “I hate when you do that!”

I scoffed. “No you don’t.”

Just then, my phone started to ring, and when I checked the caller ID, it was Rarity who was calling me.

“Alright, you need to go,” I told Celeste, who merely rolled her eyes as she got up and left my room. Once she was gone, I answered the phone.

“Hello?” I said.

“Marcus, darling! How are you?”

“I’m just fine. Things are a little hectic around the castle today with all the preparations for tomorrow’s party.”

“Sounds like you could do with some fresh air.”

“Are you saying that you have something planned?”

“Well, Octavia and I have been talking, and we thought it would be a good idea for the three of us to go ice skating tonight.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t the rink close early on Sundays?”

“Yes, but Vinyl knows the owner, and she was able to pull some stings for us. We’ll show up at seven-thirty tonight and he’ll let the three of us in. We’ll have the whole rink to ourselves!”

“That sounds great! So I’ll meet you by the rink at seven-thirty, then?”

“It’s a date,” the mare giggled. “We’ll see you tonight, darling!”

The phone clicked as Rarity hung up, and I tossed my phone onto my bed. “Well, this changes plans a little,” I thought. “Looks like I’ll just have to tell them at the ice rink tonight. Well, at least the fact that we’ll be spending time together will soften the blow a little.”

By the time I had gotten to the rink, it was seven-twenty-eight in the evening. The sun had already gone down due to the fact that it was late December, and the streetlights kept things visible for everyone out in the city.

It was deathly cold that night, so I wore three layers of clothing, a hat, a pair of gloves, and a scarf to keep myself warm. As I waited for Rarity and Octavia, I let out a yawn, and I could see my breath dissipating into the surrounding air. Even with my ridiculous amount of clothing, I still felt the low temperature eating through each layer I had on, and it annoyed me to no end.

In case it isn’t already obvious enough, I don’t like the cold.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to endure it for too much longer.

“Yoo-hoo! Marcus!” I heard someone call from behind me. I turned around and saw Rarity and Octavia approaching me. Unlike me, they didn’t have on as many layers of clothing as I did, and I had to admit that I was enjoying what I was seeing.

Rarity was wearing a white jacket with a faux mink collar and cuffs, and she looked… quite poofy in those. She also had on a pair of tight, black pants and black knee-high boots, which kind of turned me on, because her luscious lower body curves were put on display as if for the sole purpose of my amusement. To top it off, she had on a white pair of earmuffs.

As for Octavia, she had a long, black coat with black pants and low boots. She also wore a knit cap over her head. A bit more modest compared to Rarity, but I liked it.

“A little overdressed, aren’t we?” Octavia giggled.

“Says the one with a layer of fur covering her body,” I retorted.

When the clock struck seven-thirty, the skating rink owner, a pale blue pegasus mare, showed up at the door.

“You guys Vinyl’s friends?” she asked.

“Yes,” Rarity answered. “We talked over the phone.”

“Oh right. I recognize your voice. Gimmie a minute to unlock this door.” The mare took out a key and opened the door for us and let us in. “I can only give you guys an hour, though, so make the best of it, kay?”

“We will, thank you,” Octavia said as we walked in.

Once we were inside, we found three pairs of skates set down on a bench in the lounge area.

“Looks like Vinyl thought of everything,” I said.

“But how in Equestria did she know our shoe sizes?” Rarity asked.

“Vinyl has a way of surprising others like that,” Octavia chuckled as we took off our shoes. “I don’t think we have to use the lockers, either, considering the fact that we’re the only ones here.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Rarity shrugged as she and Octavia put their purses on the bench, and then we all removed our coats and tossed them on the bench, too.

“Have you ever been ice skating before, Marcus?” the earth mare asked me.

“A few times, but I haven’t gone in a while. Hopefully I’ll remember what to do.”

“Well, I’ll stay close by in case you start to fall,” she told me with a wink.

I then heard Rarity struggling to get her skates on, and I gave her a concerned look. “You okay there?”

“Oh, don’t mind me, darling. Just trying to get these skates on.” She struggled for a few more seconds, but then she let out a sigh of defeat. “Okay, maybe I need a little help…”

I chuckled and got on my knees in front of Rarity as I helped her get her hooves into the skates. Rarity could be so helpless sometimes, but I couldn’t deny that she was rather cute. A cute, dainty damsel. As I recalled all my memories with her, I realized how much I spoiled her, and how much she spoiled me. We were always giving each other gifts, or kisses, or loving embraces. A lot of our relationship revolved around spoiling each other, but none of it felt empty or hollow.

I guess that’s why she’s the element of Generosity.

When I successfully slipped her hooves into the skates, I buckled them for her and jokingly wiped fake sweat off my brow. I then looked up to see Rarity bent over, looking down at me with lidded eyes.

“Oh, Marcus, you’re such a big help,” she crooned. “I can always count on you to come to my aid when I need it.”

I found myself speechless as she practically gazed at me, and my eyes drifted down to her chest as it hung in front of me, held back by her black sweater. Those low, hanging, marshmallow-like cushions of hers… so enticing… Can’t… look… away…

“What are you staring at, darling?” Rarity asked with a smirk as she brought her face close enough for her snout to touch my nose.

“N-nothing!” I lied as the sweet perfume she was wearing made its way into my nostrils.

The unicorn merely chuckled. “You know you don’t have to lie to me, sweetheart. When it’s you, I don’t mind if your eyes wander a little.” She chuckled again and placed her lips upon mine, giving me a deep, five-second kiss.

“Um…” I said stupidly as the kiss ended.

“You are so adorable!” she giggled, and then I heard somepony clear her throat.

“How about we get on the ice,” Octavia interjected. “We only have an hour, after all.”

Was there a hint of jealousy in her voice?

Nah, I’m just imagining things.

Octavia, Rarity, and I got onto the ice rink, and while it took us a second to get used to the ice, we quickly got used to it.

“Ah, it’s nice to go ice skating every now and then,” said the unicorn, “but I really should invest in my own skates. These tacky rentals are throwing off my ensemble.”

Octavia and I rolled our eyes with smiles on our faces, and while we were distracted, Rarity took my arm and pulled me with her as she zoomed past Octi.

I had to get myself together a little when she caught me off-guard like that, and once I had regained control, I looked at Rarity as she gracefully skated around the rink with me.

“You’re being a little possessive today, aren’t you?”

“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about, dear Marcus. I’m just taking advantage of our time alone.”

“It’s not just us here, you know.”

Was that rapid skating I was hearing behind me?

“For now, it is,” said Rarity.

“No it isn’t!” Octavia interrupted as she zipped by, taking me with her by my arm. “You don’t mind if I steal him for a moment, do you?”

“Whoa!” I exclaimed as I almost lost my balance again.

“Sorry, love,” Tavi apologized as she skated with me, “but I can’t have Rarity keeping you all to herself. I love you just as much as she does.”

“I thought you guys weren’t fighting over me.”

“Who says we’re fighting? We haven’t come to blows yet.”

“Yet!?”

All of that sense of reassurance flew out the window the moment she said that. In a flash, a scenario of my two mares getting into a catfight crossed my mind, and it was a horrific yet somehow arousing thought. Nevertheless, I shook that out of my mind quickly. I was starting to lose it, and I didn’t like it.

Just then, I felt something wrap around my other arm, pulling me away from Octavia. I ended up next to Rarity again, and I saw that she used her scarf to pull me back to her.

“To answer your question, Octavia,” she smirked, “I do mind, so I’ll be taking him back, thank you very much.”

“Guys, I’m getting dizzy…”

I skated with Rarity for about a minute, and then I was suddenly lifted off the ice.

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” I shouted as I was carried by… Octavia!?

“Man… earth ponies are strong…” I thought.

“Don’t worry, love. I won’t drop you,” said the mare.

“Fine, you win, Octavia!” Rarity called, but then she grinned. “I know when I’m beat, but don’t keep him for too long!”

Octi laughed victoriously as she continued to carry me bridal-style around the rink.

“Can I come down?” I asked. “Being carried like this is degrading.”

“Of course, Marcus,” she told me as she slowed down. “I’m bringing you down slowly, okay? Be careful.”

I chuckled. “You sound like my aunt.”

I got my first skate on the ice with now problem, but when my second skate hit the ice, I started to stumble, and I inevitably fell down, taking Octavia with me. I fell on my back as she fell on top of me and practically blasted the wind out of my lungs on impact. We slid across the ice for a bit, and then came to a stop, and I closed my eyes as I waited my head to stop spinning.

“That could’ve ended better,” I groaned. I opened my eyes, and I saw Octavia on top of me, her chest squished against mine. Even though her sweater was pretty thick, the feeling of my aching chest was soon replaced by the comforting softness of my mare’s bosom. Her black, silky mane hung down from her head, caressing my cheeks as I stared at her.

“Okay… maybe this isn’t so bad…” I thought.

“Staring again, I see,” the earth mare smirked as an intoxicating aroma hit me.

Was she wearing perfume, too?

It wasn’t as sweet as Rarity’s, but it was just as, if not more effective at mesmerizing me. The fact that I was looking right at Tavi’s big, magenta-colored eyes didn’t help much, either.

“Did you have to be so aggressive?” I asked.

She merely chuckled. “I guess you bring out the best and the worst in me,” she crooned. “There must be something about you that makes me so adventurous.”

It was true. As I got to knew her, I found that Octavia did have an adventurous side. Whenever we were alone, she would always do something I wouldn’t expect from somepony that seemed to be so reserved. The haunted house, the ropes course, and to a certain extent, the photo shoot we had with Photo Finish…

Although I still think that Photo Finish had some kind of spell cast on us. I don’t care that she was an earth pony, there was some sorcery afoot that day.

Sure, we didn’t spoil each other, unlike my relationship with Rarity, but Octavia was not only a beautiful mare, but going out with her has brought surprise after surprise my way. She was a quiet mare at times, but you know what they say about the quiet ones.

“I’m actually rather glad we’re in this position,” the earth mare whispered pressed her snout to my nose, “because now I can do this.”

Octavia locked lips with me as we laid there on the ice, her hands caressing my face, as she did so. I wrapped my arms around her and returned the kiss at first, but then I felt an increasingly cold sensation on my back and stopped kissing her back.

“What’s wrong, Marcus?” she asked.

“As much as I like kissing you, Octi, I think I’m gonna get frostbite if I stay on this ice for too long.”

“I concur,” Rarity added as she skated towards us. “You’ll make Marcus catch his death of cold, Octavia!”

“Sorry, sorry,” she said as she got off of me and helped me up. With Rarity and Octavia’s little “competition” overwith, they took turns skating with me, and then for the last ten minutes, the three of us skated together, with me in the middle, of course. Just then, we heard the rink owner’s voice played over the PA system.

“Alright, you three. Hour’s up.”

“I guess we have to leave now,” I sighed.

“Well, we made the best of our time,” said Rarity.

“Let’s get our stuff and put away the skates.” Octavia added as we left the rink.

With our skates put away and our coats back on, we headed back out into the freezing cold, and to our surprise, it was snowing.

“I didn’t know that there was a snowfall scheduled for tonight,” said Octavia.

“It does look rather lovely, though,” Rarity sighed.

This was it. I had to tell them. I had held off for long enough. I had to tell them who I was going to choose…

And yet I wasn’t sure.

After all that, I was no closer to figuring it out than I was when I first admitted my feelings for them. Both of them made me feel loved in their own special way. I was attracted to them for different reasons and they had personalities that I thought were wonderful.

Rarity’s gentle spirit or Octavia’s adventurous one… I just couldn’t pick!

Just then, I heard a familiar voice in my head

“You’ll know…”

Auntie Celeste… she told me that I’d know when the time came. I looked at Rarity and Octavia, and I felt… something.

I didn’t know what it was, but if I had to compare it to something, it would be similar to a magnetic force, a magnetic force that I felt with one of the mares, and it was drawing me towards her.

I knew which mare I wanted to choose.

I took a deep breath and looked at the both of them. “Rarity… Octavia…”

“Yes, Marcus?” they answered.

“I think I’ve been keeping you guys waiting for too long. I need to make a decision on which one of you I want, and I think I know who I want to choose.”

Both mares’ eyes visibly widened, and they looked at me intently, the nervousness in their expressions clear as day.

This was it. The moment I chose who was going to be my marefriend.

…

“Octavia.”

The earth mare gasped and I saw her put her hand to her chest to stop her heart from pounding.

“Me?” she asked in disbelief. “Why?”

“Well, I really like the different sides of you. Around others, you’re a prim and proper lady, and that’s already very attractive, but when it’s just us, you show a more adventurous side that I really like.”

I looked at Rarity and saw the hurt look on her face. Her eyes welled up as she had a look of sheer disappointment and disbelief on her face.

“Rarity, I… I’m really sorry.”

The unicorn shook her head as it hung down, not wanting to show her face. She even sniffled a little as tears began to fall from her face.

“Oh, no,” I thought. “Here it comes.”

Rarity then spoke in-between quiet sobs. “I don’t need an apology,” she said emotionlessly, but then, she raised her head and looked at me with an expression I didn’t expect to see.

She was smiling.

“I’m just glad you’re with the mare that makes you happy,” she told me.

I stared at her, speechless. “Y-you mean… you’re not mad?”

“Of course not, Marcus. I am disappointed, yes, and I was really hoping you’d pick me, but I had prepared for this.”

“Prepared?” Octavia asked.

“In my experiences with romance, there’s one thing that I’ve learned when it comes to waiting for someone to come clean with their feelings.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

Rarity smiled. “Hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.” The mare sighed and wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’m just glad you’re with a mare that really loves you, Marcus, but, if I may ask… could you do me one favor?”

“Anything.”

“…Can I have one last kiss?”

I looked at Octavia, and she nodded her head. “Don’t worry about me. Go ahead.”

With that, Rarity and I held each other one last time, and we leaned in to give each other our last kiss together. We stood there in each other’s embrace as the snow fell, making the most of our final romantic moment together. We both tried to savor it as much as we could, and we held the kiss for over a minute before we separated, our final spark fizzling away.

“Thank you,” she told me.

“No problem,” I told her, and then I looked at her and Octavia. “You two want me to walk you back to your room tonight. We can keep each other warm.”

Octavia and Rarity looked at each other, and then they looked back at me and nodded their heads. “We’d love that,” said the earth mare.

I hooked elbows with both mares as they got close to me, and the three of us walked to the school together in the falling snow.

Finally, after weeks and weeks of uncertainty, I finally felt at peace with my love life, and the three mares that I had to choose from narrowed down to one. Despite the fact that I had to break the hearts of both Luna and Rarity, they still loved me, and they were happy that I was happy.

I was really lucky to have them in my life.

Chapter 27: Home For the Holidays

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“Marcus.”

“…”

“Marcus…”

“…”

“Maarcuuuuuuuuuus…”

“Ugh…”

Who in the hell is calling my name this early in the morning? I didn’t ask for a wake-up call. I slowly and groggily opened my eyes, only for them to shoot open when I saw that Auntie Celeste and Luna were sitting on my bed.

“Finally! You’re up!” Celeste cheered.

“Waking me up this early should be a crime,” I groaned.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic!” my aunt laughed.

“I told you this was a bad idea, Tia,” said Luna. “We should have just let him be.”

“Well, we can’t change it now,” Celeste shrugged. “So, is my precious nephew excited for his first Hearth’s Warming holiday?”

“It’s too early in the morning for this…”

“Don’t complain, Marcus. Now, the party starts at seven PM tonight, and at eight, we’ll be doing the traditional Hearth’s Warming Eve gift exchange. Before all that happens, though, we have to pick up my niece and her husband from the train station at noon, and I want you to be there so you can meet them.”

“Tia wouldn’t stop talking about how excited she was for you to meet them,” Luna commented.

“Why shouldn’t I be? I always get excited when my family comes together like this,” my aunt smiled, and then she looked at me. “Anyway, Marcus. You’ll be getting your gift from me before the exchange, so since I’m giving you such a great gift so early, I hope that I’ll enjoy my gift from you when I get it.”

I scoffed. “You’d better. I worked my ass off to make that gift for you.”

Celeste glared at me. “I should give you a good zapping for swearing like that, but since it’s a holiday, I’ll let it slide.”

Luna rolled her eyes.

“Oh, before I forget,” I said, “Rarity told me that she has to catch a train to Ponyville at midnight, so she’ll have to leave the party early to pick up her bags and head to the station.”

“She has to go through all that trouble?” Celeste asked. “Tell her that she can bring her bags here when she comes for the party. That way, when she’s ready to leave, her bags we’ll be here, and we can take her to the station.”

“Really? I’m sure she’d like that.”

“Well, anything for one of my nephew’s lady friends,” she chuckled, “which reminds me, you were able to make a decision last night, right?”

I nodded.

My aunt immediately squealed, and then she practically tackled me as she bombarded me with questions. “Well? Who did you choose? What led up to it? How did the other mare react? Tell me everything!”

“Can I get some of my personal space back first?”

Celeste sighed and moved away from me, and I started to explain the events from last night.

“After Rarity, Octavia, and I went ice skating last night, I told them that I was ready to make my decision, and I chose Octavia.”

“WHAT!?” Celeste shouted.

“YES!!!” Luna cheered. “I WIN! NO CAKE FOR YOU FOR A WEEK, TIA! HA!”

I glared at my aunt. “Is that why you wanted to know so badly? So you and Luna could settle your stupid bet?”

“What of it?” she pouted, and then she sighed in defeat. “Great. Now I get no cake for a whole week.”

“I’m not completely cruel, sister,” Luna interjected. “I shall be a gracious victor and allow you to partake in your favorite dessert today and tomorrow, but your no-cake penalty will begin the day after tomorrow.”

The elder sister sighed in relief. “Okay. I can live with that. So, I want you two to get some breakfast, but don’t eat too much, because we’ll be going to lunch after we leave the train station. Meet me outside the castle at quarter to twelve so we can get to the train station on time, okay?”

Luna and I rolled our eyes. “Whatever,” we said simultaneously.

Eleven forty-five came by faster than expected, and Luna and I met Celestia right outside the castle’s main entrance. Not a minute later, a carriage pulled up by the foot of the staircase, and the three of us got in and headed towards the train station. By the time we got there, it was mere minutes to noon, and we sat on a nearby bench as we waited for the train to arrive.

“I’m looking forward to seeing Shining Armor again,” said Luna. “I have a score to settle with him in Oubliettes and Ogres.”

“So it’s Shining Armor and… what’s his wife’s name again?” I asked.

“Cadance,” Celeste answered. “You really should make an effort to remember your cousins’ names, Marcus.”

“Well, I haven’t even met them yet.”

Right when I said that, a chime came from the train station’s PA system.

“Attention passengers, the train arriving from… THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE …is about to arrive. Please stand clear of the platform edges.”

After that, the tracks started to rumble, and we heard the whistle of the train as it approached the station. The wind rushed past us as the first car passed, and the train soon came to a stop.

“Be on the lookout, you two,” said Celeste.

“You two?” I asked. “Need I remind you that I have no idea what these two look like?”

“Found them!” Luna said as she pointed us to where the prince and princess of the Crystal Empire were.

The three of us walked over to them as they got their bags, and Celeste called out to them happily.

“Cadance! Shining Armor!”

The two ponies looked in our direction and smiled when they saw us.

One was a pink alicorn mare wearing a formfitting light pink coat with white accents along with a white scarf and a pair of white snow pants. She had a tri-colored mane and tail of pink, purple, and yellow. Her mane went down to the middle of her back, she had eyes that were a darker shade of magenta than Auntie Celeste’s and her figure was rather petite.

Not that she was short or anything; in fact, she was two inches taller than her husband. It was amazing how impressive in size alicorns were. Speaking of size, her curves were more modest compared to my aunts; she was rather slim, yet not overly so, with delicate arms and elegant legs and a pair of small yet still sizeable C cup breasts that went well with her narrow upper body frame.

The other pony was a white unicorn stallion wearing a thick white jacket with blue accents, a blue scarf and snow pants, and had a mane and tail colored in three different shades of blue. His mane went down to just past his shoulders, his eyes were a medium shade of blue, and he had a muscular build to him. It was quite the athletic physique, highlighted by his broad shoulders and back, and legs even thicker than his wife’s.

Wait, why was I looking at a dude’s legs?

I think Auntie Celeste mentioned something about him being the former captain of the royal guard on the ride over here, but to be completely honest, I was tuning her out for the entire ride.

“Auntie Celestia! Auntie Luna!” the mare said happily as she rushed over to hug her aunts. “It’s been forever since I last saw you two!”

“How have you been, Cadance?” Celeste asked.

“I’ve been just great, Auntie.”

“And the Crystal Empire is faring well?” asked Luna.

“As always. Of course, it’s mostly thanks to Shining Armor ruling by my side.”

“You don’t have to flatter me, sweetheart,” the stallion said as he approached us, luggage in tow.

“How are you, Shining Armor?” Luna asked.

“Doing well, thanks,” he answered, and then he looked at me. “Oh, is this your nephew, Celestia?”

“Well, it’s nice to know that somepony knows that I exist,” I said.

“Oh! Where are my manners!” said Celeste. “Cadance, Shining Armor, this is my nephew, Marcus. Marcus, this is my niece, Princess Cadance, and her husband, Shining Armor.”

“Nice to meet you, Marcus,” said the pink alicorn. “I guess since you’re Auntie Celestia’s nephew, that makes us cousins.”

“I guess so,” I chuckled.

“So, now that introductions are out of the way, why don’t we find a place to eat,” Luna suggested. “Preferably somewhere warm.”

“Not just yet, Luna,” her elder sister answered. “I have to give Marcus his gift.”

“Wait… right here?” I asked, and my aunt nodded with a smile.

“It’s waiting for you right around that corner over there,” she told me as she pointed to the corner of the station. “Go on. Go see what I got you.”

I looked in the direction that Celeste was pointing in curiously as I walked towards the corner, wondering what she had gotten for me, and when I finally rounded the corner, I was definitely surprised.

Celeste didn’t get me one present, but two; two living breathing presents.

“Surprise!” they said when I saw them.

“Mom! Dad!” I exclaimed as I hugged my “gifts” as tightly as I could.

“Good to know that you’re happy to see us, Marcus?” my mom said as she rubbed my back.

“How has school been, son?” Dad asked.

“It’s been awesome!” I told them. “When did you get here, though?”

“Celeste mailed us tickets last month, and we arrived last night,” Mom explained. “We got to stay a night in one of the best hotels in the city.”

“I see you really like your gift, Marcus,” Celeste chuckled as she and the other royals walked up to us.

“Thanks, Auntie!” I said with a smile as I held my parents close to me.

“Not to ruin this reunion, but…” Luna interjected, only for her rumbling stomach to speak for itself.

“Okay, okay. We can go eat,” Celeste laughed.

The seven of us went to a family diner in the city, and we were able to get a large booth that could fit all of us. As we ate, I did some catching up with my parents and got to know Cadance and Shining Armor a bit more.

“So how has living with Auntie Celestia been for you, Marcus?” Cadance asked.

“It took some getting used to, but it’s alright,” I answered. “She does smother me a lot.”

“Pfft! I do not,” my aunt scoffed.

“I’d beg to differ,” Luna opposed.

“I’m sure she was just looking out for my son,” my dad said as he draped his arm over me.

“So, Marcus,” Shining Armor spoke up, “Luna tells me you’re a gamer.”

“I also said that he’s more of a challenge than you are,” the night princess added.

“I highly doubt that.”

“You are pretty bad, sweetheart,” Cadance admitted. “I’ve seen colts play better than you.”

“So I guess we’re just taking jabs at my gaming skills now?”

“Hey, you were the one that brought it up,” I smirked as everyone else laughed at the poor stallion’s expense.

“Anyway, son,” my mom said, “Have you met any cute girls. I know that a lot of cute ladies go to art schools.”

I looked at Auntie Celeste, who was sitting to my immediate right, and she gave me an evil look.

I didn’t like that look.

“Maybe…” I answered.

“More like definitely!” Celeste interrupted. “Her name’s- ow!”

My aunt looked down and saw me holding one of her feathers.

“Keep yapping and I’ll pluck another one,” I whispered.

“That goes double for me,” Luna whispered from Celeste’s opposite side as she grasped one of her elder sister’s feathers.

Celeste sighed in defeat and said “Never mind.”

“You’ll get to meet her tonight at the party,” I told Mom as my aunt folded her arms in frustration and blew a stray strand of hair from in front of her eye.

“I look forward to it,” my mother smirked.

By the time we all got home, it was quarter to two in the afternoon. Auntie Celeste had the castle attendants carry Cadance and Shining Armor’s bags as well as parents’ bags to their respective rooms.

“I’m sure the four of you would like some time to get settled in,” she said to our guests. “You can follow the attendants to your rooms and get unpacked. The party starts at seven in the event hall, okay?”

“Okay,” they all said, and then they followed the attendants up to their rooms.

Celeste, Luna, and I parted ways for the afternoon, and I made my way over to my room, but then…

“Marcus…”

That voice… I’ve heard it before.

I turned around and saw a mare that I hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Honey Pot?” I asked in disbelief.

“Hey… Long time no see, huh?” the mare said as she kept her hands behind her back. “Anyway, I wanted to see you.”

“Why?”

“Well, I have something for you…”

Honey Pot removed her hands from behind her back, revealing a small wrapped box.

“Since I won’t see you at the party, I wanted to give you your Hearth’s Warming Gift today.”

I gingerly took the present from Honey’s hands, still in awe at the fact that she got me one in the first place.

“Well? Aren’t you gonna open it?” she asked.

“Oh, right.”

I tore away at the wrapping paper, wondering what this mare could have gotten me, and by the time I had gotten all the wrapping paper off, I got my answer.

“A picture frame?”

Honey Pot nodded her head. “To replace the one that broke. It was my fault that it got cracked in the first place, so this is my way of making up for it.”

“You didn’t have to do this…”

“It’s the least I could do for all the stress I put you through these past few months.” She paused before speaking again. “I know you’re probably still a little mad at me, but… do you think that we could be friends? Just friends?”

I looked at the mare, and then I looked down at the frame she gave me, and then back up at her.

I sighed, and then I smiled down at her. “Sure. Friends,” I accepted. “It sucks that I didn’t get you a gift, though.”

“That’s okay, Marcus. You don’t need to-”

“Hold on. I think I know what’ll do.”

I placed my hand on her head, causing her to wince a little, and I bent over to give her a peck on the forehead.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve, Honey Pot,” I said as I smiled at her.

The earth mare looked up at me with a dazed expression. “Uh… I…”

“Don’t think too much of it, though. Like I said before, I have a marefriend.”

“T-thank you, Marcus,” she said with a bow.

“No problem,” I chuckled. “You know, you’re actually a pretty nice mare. I’m sure there’s a guy waiting for you out there somewhere.”

“You really think so?”

“M-hm,” I answered with a nod. “Just give it time, you’ll see.”

Honey Pot bowed again. “Thanks for the encouragement. I should go before Princess Celestia gets here. I don’t know if she’s okay with me being around you. Have a good time at the party.”

With that, the small maid walked away with a smile and a blush on her face, and I looked back at her with a smile.

That was probably the first conversation we’ve had where she didn’t try and come on to me.

I chuckled as I turned around and headed to my room. I was gonna need a quick nap before tonight’s party.

Final Chapter: A Happy Hearth's Warming

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Seven PM.

I had been relaxing with my parents in my room when the clock struck that time, and there was a knock at my door.

“Who’s that?” Dad asked.

“I dunno,” I answered as I got up to see who was knocking. “Celeste and Luna are down in the event hall, so I have no idea.”

When I opened the door, I saw that the pony knocking on my door was one of the castle guards.

“Sir Marcus, Miss Rarity and Miss Octavia have arrived and are awaiting you in the event hall,” he said.

“Thanks, Platinum Mace,” I told him, and then I turned to look at my parents. “Sounds like they’re about to start the party without us.”

My mom chuckled. “Don’t they know that it’s not a party unless a Cortez is there? And who are these ‘Misses’ that Platinum Mace is talking about?”

“I’ll explain on the way,” I told her as we left the room.

As we walked down the corridors of the castle, I explained to my parents how I met Rarity and Octavia on my first day of school, and how I had developed feelings for both of them and struggled to figure out which one I wanted to be with.

“So I’m assuming that one of these mares is the one that was in that picture you have on your nightstand?” Mom asked.

My only response was a blush.

“You really didn’t think that I wouldn’t notice that, did you?”

“I was kinda hoping that that would be the case…”

My mother laughed as we reached the event hall, where everypony else was waiting.

“There they are!” Auntie Celeste said joyfully as we entered.

As she said, the party was small; there was her, Luna, Cousin Cadance, Cousin Shining Armor, Rarity, Octavia, Vinyl, my parents, me, of course, and… Blueblood… for a total of eleven attendees.

“Great, Blue Balls is here,” I thought vehemently.

Thankfully, said vehement thought went away when Rarity and Octavia walked up to me happily!

“Marcus!” they both said excitedly as they quickly walked towards me.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve!” said the unicorn.

“How have you been today, love?” asked the earth mare.

“I’ve been doing great,” I answered. “My aunt actually got my parents to come visit me.”

My folks smiled at the two mares, giving them friendly waves. “It’s very nice to meet you two,” my dad said to them. “Marcus has told us quite a bit about you-”

“Let’s cut to the chase, shall we, ladies?” my mother interrupted. “Which one of you did my son choose? I’m dying to know!”

My father sighed. “Maria, do you have to scare the poor girls?”

“Oh, relax, Hector. It’s just a simple question. So, how ‘bout it, ladies? Which one of you is the lucky mare?”

“Sweet Jesus, take me now,” I thought, almost raising my hands in the air in a ridiculous gesture.

“Um… that would be me,” Octavia said as she raised her hand a little.

“Well, aren’t you the gorgeous little filly!” Mom gushed. “Then again, you’re both very attractive gals. I’ll bet Marcus was making his brain explode trying to pick between you two!”

Rarity and Octavia began to blush heavily underneath their fur.

“Seventeen years, and you’re still as abrasive as you were when I first met you, Maria.” Auntie Celeste chuckled.

“You know me, Celestia,” Mom laughed.

“I just try to rein her in before she gets too out-of-control,” Dad added.

“Like the loyal husband you are, Hector,” Celeste hummed. “Anywho, I don’t blame you for being excited for Marcus and Octavia’s future.” She draped her arms over me and my marefriend and pulled us closer to her. “Today they’re dating, tomorrow they’ll be married and making babies!”

It was then that I started to blush, and Octavia blushed even harder.

“Of course, we won’t be able to stop their raging hormones, so we’ll have to make sure that, if they do decide to get frisky, they’ll be responsible about it,” Mom joked.

“You hear that, Marcus?” Celeste asked. “If you’re gonna give Octavia here a special Hearth’s Warming gift, be sure to wrap your present before stuffing it in the stocking!”

My mom and Auntie Celeste both shared a laugh at that. Blueblood was chuckling, too, since the joke was at my expense, and even Vinyl let out a few giggles. I wasn’t really mad at her, though. In the short time that I’ve known her, I learned that she was a total riot.

“That’s enough, the both of you!” my father scolded.

“I concur,” Luna added as she walked up to us. “This is a family get-together, not a television roast.”

“Ah, well. I suppose we’ve given Marcus enough of a hard time, Maria,” my aunt shrugged.

“For now, at least,” my mother smirked evilly as she and Celeste walked away.

With those two out of the way, I let out a heavy sigh. “Octavia, if you want to break up with me, I totally understand.”

“I have more than my fair share of embarrassing relatives, Marcus,” my marefriend told me. “I’m sure I’ll be able to handle your mother and aunt.”

My dad scoffed. “Good luck with that.”

Rarity giggled at my father’s comment. “Looks like you have your work cut out for you, darling!” she said to Octavia.

“Yes, but just think,” she responded. “This easily could’ve been you. I’ve seen how you handle stress.”

“It can’t be as bad as the way YOU handle stress, Octi!” Vinyl blurted out.

The earth mare rolled her eyes with a scoff. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

As the party went on, we all enjoyed some snacks from the table that the castle caterers set up for us. It was pretty fancy too, but that’s to be expected from the Canterlot royal chefs. I had to admit that the tiny gourmet portions made for excellent hors d’oeuvres. There were all sorts of goodies set out, and there was even a plate with a large vanilla cake on it, and on the plate was a note that said:

“FOR PRINCESS CELESTIA’S CONSUMPTION ONLY”

That didn’t really bother the rest of us, though. Luna’s dessert vice was cookies, and according to Shining Armor, Cadance’s was ice cream. On top of that, there were two other cakes for the rest of us.

About an hour into the party, the DJ started playing some more upbeat songs, and the lights in the room dimmed, leaving the center of the room brightly lit by the illuminated floor tiles.

“Damn… not bad,” Vinyl said, impressed at the setup. “It’s nice to be at a party where I’m not the entertainment, for once.”

Celeste looked at Octavia and me and asked “Aren’t you two gonna dance?”

“We’re just fine here, Aunite. Thanks,” I answered.

“Oh, come on. You don’t want to be a bore to your marefriend, do you?”

“Actually, Princess,” Octavia interjected, “I’m just fine with not dancing.”

“If you say so,” my aunt shrugged. “Oh, and you don’t have to be so formal with me, Octavia. You’re my nephew’s marefriend, so we’re practically in-laws!”

The earth mare blushed as the alicorn walked away, and she cleared her throat nervously.

“She sure does think ahead, doesn’t she?” Rarity quipped.

“I know. It can really be a pain sometimes, but I can live with it,” I told her.

All of a sudden, Blueblood swooped in out of nowhere and sat next to Rarity, draping his arm over her shoulder.

“Hello, there, gorgeous. Have we met before?” he asked.

“Is that your idea of a pickup line, or do you really not remember me?” she asked back.

“Oh, so we have met, then. That’s strange. I’m sure I’d remember a face as beautiful as yours.”

This motherf-

“Will you go away, Blueblood? She’s obviously not interested,” I told him.

“Keep to yourself, peasant,” the unicorn scoffed. “You already have a marefriend, and you’ve broken this poor lady’s heart in the process. You had your chance with her.”

“If memory serves, you had your chance with me way before Marcus did, Blueblood,” Rarity retorted. “Don’t you remember the Grand Galloping Gala nearly two years ago?”

“Not particularly.”

“Do you at least remember my name?”

“No…”

“You don’t remember me at all, do you?”

“I just remembered this one mare that was really rude to me for some reason.”

At that moment, Rarity gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, but then she took a deep breath and quickly calmed down. She then smirked and said “I think there’s a stain on your shoulder.”

Blueblood’s pupils shrunk, and then he let out a filly-like shriek. “A STAIN! OH NO, OH, NO! I HAVE TO GO AND FIX THIS!” The pompous stallion rushed out of the hall to return to his room, and Rarity let out a hearty laugh.

“That should keep that royal pain busy for a while!” she said in-between fits of laughter.

“That was quite devious,” Octavia chuckled.

“Not to mention funny,” I added.

“Well, I had to do something,” Rarity shrugged. “You have to admit, the atmosphere in here just got a lot more pleasant. So, you two really aren’t going to dance?”

Octavia and I shook our heads. “We’re satisfied just being with each other,” the earth mare said.

“Also, I don’t want to be anywhere near that,” I said as I pointed to the dance floor. Rarity and Octavia looked in the direction I was pointing and cringed when they saw my parents dancing. They were flailing their limbs like crazy people, constantly having near-misses with the other dancers, and at one point they even busted out their retro 70s disco moves. Sweet Auntie! Why did it have to be Disco? It’s the most embarrassing and outdated dance on both worlds!

“They’re almost as bad as Twilight,” I heard the unicorn whisper to herself.

“Here’s hoping you didn’t inherit your dancing skills from them…” Octavia told me.

Another hour had passed, and Auntie Celeste announced that the gift exchange was about to start. We all gathered around a table, where the attendants had placed all the gifts. As per tradition, the host of the party, in this case, Celeste, would pick the gifts one at a time at random, and read who it was for and who it was from. They would then hand the gift over to its intended recipient and have them open it.

“Okay, let’s see here…” Celeste said as she used her magic to lift up a gift. “Let’s start with the small gifts, first. This one is for Luna, and it’s from Marcus!”

My aunt handed the gift over to Luna, and I looked at her, anticipating her reaction. She opened the gift slowly, and when she saw some of what was inside, her expression changed from calm to erratic as she began to furiously remove the wrapping paper, and she gasped when she saw what I got for her. On top of that, she instantly activated her Royal Canterlot Voice.

“YESSS!!! CHIMERA HUNTER IV!!! I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS GAME FOR OVER A YEAR!!!!! O GLORIOUS MOMENT OF FULFILMENT!”

We all couldn’t help but chuckle at Luna’s reaction to her gift, and when she realized that we were all looking at her, she cleared her throat, composed herself, and said “Thank you, Marcus.”

Celeste giggled at her sister and continued giving out the presents. “Alright, next gift…”

One by one, gifts were passed out to everyone, and we were all pretty happy with what we got. Octavia and Rarity got each other necklaces with charms that said the word “Roomie”. Vinyl got Octavia a CD set of her favorite classical musician, Auntie Celeste got Luna a new headset, Shining Armor and Cadance got Celeste a set of bath salts from the Crystal Empire, and they gave each other engraved bracelets.

Those were all the gifts that I could remember. Everyone was really generous with the presents this year.

As for the gifts that I got, Octavia gave me a new sketchbook with a set of expensive pens and other drawing tools. Rarity’s gift for me was a suit, and for some reason, it seemed familiar to me.

“Remember when I asked you to do a fitting for me two months ago?” she asked. “I made some updates to the suit so it would be more your style!”

I had honestly forgotten about the suit, but I smiled and thanked the unicorn regardless.

Mom and Dad got me a new drawing tablet, Luna got me a new video game that I had been looking forward to, and Vinyl got me a bottle of expensive cologne. She even wrote a note on the box that I read to myself:

“Remember to wear this whenever you go out with Octavia. She LOVES the smell of this stuff.”

I dared not to read it out loud, lest I get laughed at again.

After several more gifts were given out, we got to the last three gifts, which were the biggest out of all of them, and they were all from me.

“Oh, it looks like Marcus was quite generous with his gifts this year,” Celeste commented. “This first one is for Rarity.”

“Moi?” the unicorn asked as her gift was levitated towards her. She curiously used her magic to remove the wrapping paper, and underneath it, she found a box. When she opened it, I saw her face lose all its color.

Well, not really, since her coat doesn’t have any color, but you know what I mean.

The shocked expression on Rarity’s face increased in intensity as she levitated the robe I bought for her out of the box.

“My word… It’s… g-g-gorgeous…”

“You think it’s good now? Feel the material,” I told her.

Rarity levitated the dress closer to her and caressed the robe with her fingers, and she shrieked with joy when she felt how soft it was.

“It’s silk! And it has my initial monogrammed onto the hip! Oh, Marcus, I love it!” she exclaimed as she hugged the garment and rubbed her cheek against the silky smooth material.

Auntie Celeste chuckled happily and looked at the next gift. “Alright, this next one is for Octavia,” she said as she levitated the large gift to the earth mare.

I decided to have her gift put into a rectangular box so that she wouldn’t be able to guess what it was. If I had just had the cello wrapped by itself, it would’ve been a dead giveaway. Vinyl and I gave each other knowing glances as ‘Tavi tore away at the wrapping paper and opened the box, and we both smiled when we saw the mare’s reaction at seeing her gift.

“My word! This is beautiful, Marcus! It must have cost a fortune to get this custom-made!” she gushed.

“A little, but think nothing of it,” I told her. “Check out the bow, though.”

Octi gave me a curious look, and then she took a look at the bow, gasping when she saw what I had engraved into it.

“For my beautiful Octavia…” she read aloud, and everyone else aww’ed and gushed at how romantic it was.

And then there was the final present.

“Okay… so this last one is for… me!” Celeste said excitedly. My aunt began to giggle like a giddy schoolfilly as she eyed the present up and down. “Hmm… I’m guessing it’s a large portrait of me, like you used to do when you were seven.”

I winced as I heard various sounds of laughter. “Just open the damn present,” I muttered under my breath.

My aunt hummed musically to herself as she unwrapped her gift. When she saw pieces of the picture frame, she gave me a cocky smirk, like she knew what I had gotten her.

Boy was she in for a surprise.

She was so sure that I had made a portrait of her like I would always do when I was a kid, but I’ve been doing that for too long. Auntie Celeste deserved something different, something more… personal.

When she peeled back the last piece of wrapping paper, her expression turned from cocky to speechless in less than a second. Her eyes began to well up, and a smile grew on her face.

“Well? What is it?” Luna asked curiously.

Celeste said nothing as a tear fell from her eye. She merely turned the picture frame around, showing everyone what I had given her.

Inside the picture frame was not a drawing, but a collage of every single photograph that Celeste and I took together, from the day I was born, to the day I moved to Canterlot, and even some that we took at the arcade together.

“How… How did you get all these pictures?” she asked.

“Well, I asked Mom to e-mail me copies of all the pictures that she had, and I dug up some old pictures that I had. The rest was just a matter of taking them to the printers so I could get some good quality copies. Long story short, it wasn’t easy. So, what do you think?”

“I love it, Marcus,” she sniffled. “Thank you.”

“Aww!” Luna gushed. “You made Tia cry! How could you do that, Marcus?”

Celeste chuckled and turned to her sister. “Oh, shut up, Luna,” she quipped as she wiped her eyes. “Well, that does it for the gift exchange. Let’s get back to the party, shall we?”

We all nodded and put our gifts back on the table, where they would wait for us until it was time to go, and the first thing we did was swarm the dessert table (making sure to leave Celeste’s cake alone) and got something to eat.

Two and a half hours had passed, and the time was eleven-thirty. Rarity approached me as I was eating some brownies and tapped my shoulder.

“Marcus?”

“Yeah, Rarity?”

“It’s a half hour to midnight, I really should be going.”

“Already? Okay, I’ll tell my aunt.”

I walked up to Celeste and told her that Rarity had to leave, to which she gave me an understanding smile and called several attendants over.

“Gentlecolts, would you mind retrieving Miss Rarity’s bags and get a carriage for her?” she asked politely.

“Yes, Princess,” the young stallions said with a bow as they went off in different directions; one went to get the carriage while the others went to get Rarity’s bags.

Celeste then turned to Octavia and Vinyl. "If you two would like to leave, as well, I can arrange for the carriage to drop you off at CUFTA after Rarity gets to the train station."

"If it's not too much trouble Princ- I mean Celestia," said 'Tavi.

"It's no trouble at all, dear," my aunt smiled. "Now, let's get going, shall we?"

"Wait... you're coming, too?" I asked.

"Why of course, dear nephew," she answered, "and so are your parents."

"Actually, that's not really necessary, Celestia," Dad said, trying to help me out.

"Be quiet Hector," my mother told him, and then she turned to Celeste. "We'd love to come along, Celestia."

"It's settled, then! We're all going together! Luna, could you stay here with Cadance and Shining Armor?"

"Sure, Tia," the younger sibling nodded.

Rarity, Octavia, and Vinyl got their gifts from the gift table, and we headed into the large carriage that Celeste had gotten for us. It took us about fifteen minutes to get to the train station, and Vinyl, Octavia, and I went with Rarity to help with her bags and wait for the train with her.

“So how long are you gonna be in Ponyville?” I asked.

“Only for about a week and a half, darling,” she answered.

“You’ll keep in touch, right?” Octavia asked.

“Of course!” the unicorn said as she gave her roommate a hug. She then turned to Vinyl and gave her a hug, too. “It was nice meeting you, Vinyl,” she told her.

“Same here, Rares,” Vinyl said back.

“Attention passengers, the train to… PONYVILLE …is about to arrive. Please stand clear of the platform edges.”

“Here comes my ride,” Rarity said as she rushed over to me and gave me a tight hug. I hugged her back as the train arrived, the wind generated from its arrival barely moving us.

“See you next year, then?” I joked.

“Yeah… see you next year,” she smiled as she got her bags and walked onto the train, waving goodbye to us as the door closed.

“Well, that takes care of that,” I said. “Let’s get back to the carriage.”

When the three of us returned to our ride, the driver took us to the CUFTA, and Octavia and Vinyl said their goodbyes.

“Thank you for having us attend your party, Celestia,” the earth mare said with a bow.

“Don’t mention it. It was a pleasure having you two over,” my aunt smiled.

“You guys want me to walk you back to your room?” I asked.

“Don’t worry, love. We’ll be fine,” my marefriend assured me as she gave me a quick, two-second kiss. “Happy Hearth’s Warming, Marcus,” she told me as she and Vinyl left the carriage. As it pulled away from the school entrance, carrying me, my aunt, and my parents back to the castle, I was practically speechless.

“Well, she seems to be a good kisser,” Mom joked.

“Maria…” Dad said, getting annoyed.

Just then, my phone chimed, and I looked to see that I had gotten a text from Vinyl.

“When you get home, ask Luna if she liked the present I gave her.”

I stared at the message for a moment. What the hell did she mean by that? I shook my head and left it alone. Whatever she meant, I’d find out once I asked Luna.

When we finally got back to the castle event hall, we walked in and saw that the DJ had left and most everything had been cleaned up.

“I see that everything is under control here,” said Celeste.

“Were you expecting otherwise?” Luna asked.

“A little.”

My Mom let out a loud yawn. “Man, I’m beat. I think I’m gonna turn in for the night.”

“All that butting into Marcus’s personal life exhausted you, Maria?” my dad sassed.

“Shut up, Hector.”

My parents walked out of the hall to go to their room, and Shining Armor and Cadance did the same, leaving me, Luna, and Auntie Celeste as the only ones in the room.

“Could you two meet me at the gardens in a few minutes?” my aunt asked, and Luna and I accepted with a shrug.

With Celeste out of the room, I turned to Luna and asked her something that was on my mind. “So, Vinyl texted me and told me to ask you if you liked her present. What was that all about?”

“Oh, that…” Luna said as she twiddled her fingers. “Well, while the party was going on, I asked Vinyl what it was like to date mares, and we talked a little about that, and then she asked me if I had ever kissed a mare. I said no, and then I became a little bold and asked her if she could show me what it was like to kiss one.”

“That’s more than a little bold.”

“Maybe, but she was a pretty good kisser. Would you like me to show you what she taught me? You could use it on Octavia.”

“Eh, not really, I don’t think Octi would like it if I went around kissing other mares.”

“Vinyl had a girlfriend and she still kissed me. Besides, we’re under the mistletoe. We have to kiss, anyway.”

“We are not under the-” I said as I looked up and saw Luna levitating a plant over our heads.

“You were saying?” she asked with a smirk.

“That’s not even mistletoe! That’s holly!”

“Same difference.”

“You know, I think I hear Auntie Celeste calling us, so I’m just gonna-”

“Oh, no you don’t!” Luna said as she stopped me with her magic and pulled me close to her, locking her lips with mine. Not a second later, she did this weird thing with her tongue what made my pupils shrink to the size of pin pricks. I couldn’t describe what she did, but it was weird and awesome at the same time.

Luna gave me a cocky look when she saw my reaction, and then she released me from the kiss.

“So, what do you think. It’s a rather tidy trick, right? I’d wager if you tried it on Octavia, she’ll never want to let you go.”

“A rather neat trick,” I said, dazed. “I guess I could use that, though. It could help with my kissing swag.”

“Tut, tut, tut. Marcus, don’t you know that the word ‘swag’ is actually an acronym?”

“For what?”

The princess smirked at me. “It stands for Something We Alicorns Got.”

I gave her an incredulous look. “Let’s go to the gardens. Your sister’s probably waiting for us.”

“I suppose,” Luna shrugged.

We met up with Auntie Celeste at the entrance to the gardens and she led us into the maze of hedges and bushes.

“So why did you want to call us here?” I asked.

“What? I can’t have a nice post-party talk with my beloved sister and my favorite nephew?” she asked back.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I was just wondering.”

“Well, I just wanted to spend some time alone with you two while I replaced Orion’s flowers.”

Luna smiled warmly. “That reminds me, Tia. You’re probably wondering why you hadn’t received a gift from me.”

“Actually, yes I was,” Celeste answered as we arrived at Orion’s grave, where the fallen snow had covered the last bouquet that she set for him.

“I wanted to wait until after the party, because I didn’t get you the traditional gift.”

“What do you mean?”

“You see, sister, my gift for you isn’t a material thing, but rather, a promise.”

“A promise?” Celeste and I asked.

“Well, I know that you didn’t want a surrogate for your foal because you didn’t want to put them through the pain of bearing the foal of an alicorn, but whenever you decide to try again, I will gladly be your surrogate.”

Celeste’s eyes widened. “Luna… y-you don’t have to-”

“Too late. My mind has been made up. You deserve to be a mother, Tia. You’ve done an alright job with Marcus, and while that doesn’t really reflect raising someone from birth, I think that you’ll do just fine.”

Celeste was speechless for a moment, and then she sighed. “What did I do to earn such great relatives,” she said as she set the flowers down.

“You’re a great relative, too, Tia,” Luna told her as she started to fly. “What you give, you shall receive. I must go. I’ve missed enough of my night shift as it is.”

Celeste and I waved Luna off as she flew up to her room, and snow started to fall from the sky.

“That sure was something…” my aunt said.

“What was? I asked.”

“These past four months having you live here with me. I definitely wasn’t prepared for looking after you, now that I think about it, but I don’t think I would change anything about it.”

“Same here. I really enjoyed these past four months, Auntie, even if sometimes you were a little…”

“A little what?”

“Overbearing,” I finished as I poked her snout, making her do the scrunchy face that I always loved to see.

Celeste shook her head to compose herself, and then she hugged me close to her, letting out a content sigh as she wrapped me in the warm embrace of her arms and wings. As we hugged each other, I found comfort in how warm Celeste’s fur was. In fact, it was so warm that I forgot that we were outside in the falling snow.

“Even though we had our ups and downs, I’m still glad you let me stay here,” I told her.

“I’m glad you wanted to stay here. Having you around has really made things a lot more interesting.”

I chuckled. “I could say the same thing about you.”

My aunt looked down at me and planted a soft kiss on my forehead. “I love you, Marcus,” she crooned.

I let out a sigh as I hugged her back. “I love you, too, Auntie.”

THE END

My Overbearing Aunt

by Sketchy Changeling

Prologue: Did You Hear That?

Chapter 1: Memories of the First Month

Chapter 2: The First Day

Chapter 3: Helicopter

Chapter 4: The Party - Part One [Costume Conundrum]

Chapter 5: The Party - Part Two [Fun at the Festival]

Chapter 6: Severe Repercussions

Chapter 7: Benefits and Apologies

Chapter 8: Could You Do Me a Favor?

Chapter 9: Mares on My Mind

Chapter 10: They Love Me, They Love Me Not

Chapter 11: Heart to Heart

Chapter 12: Up-Front and Honest

Chapter 13: The Dates - Part One [Know Your History]

Chapter 14: The Dates - Part Two [Spare No Expense]

Chapter 15: The Dates - Part Three [Change of Plan]

Chapter 16: The Dates - Part Four [Feel ze Passion]

Chapter 17: The Dates - Part Five [In Your Dreams]

Chapter 18: Flashbacks and Nightmares

Chapter 19: A Day Out With Auntie

Chapter 20: Parental Supervision Required

Chapter 21: Unwinding

Chapter 22: Letters and Lovers

Chapter 23: Old Friends Meet New Friends

Chapter 24: Tis the Season For Shopping - Part One [The Musician and the Fashionista]

Chapter 25: Tis the Season For Shopping - Part Two [The Two Sisters]

Chapter 26: Decision Day

Chapter 27: Home For the Holidays

Final Chapter: A Happy Hearth's Warming