It Couldn't Be Coffee or Yoga, Could It? (Updated 12/4)
Between Celestial Cheeks
Chapter 1
It Couldn’t Be Coffee or Yoga, Could It?
Celestia eyed her pancakes hungrily, their promises of deliciousness calling out to her taste buds via her nose. This would be a particularly tasty batch. She would know; she was the one who made them, after all. There could be nothing wrong with some particularly thick pancakes with a whipped cream mane, blueberries for eyes, a bright red raspberry for a nose, chocolate chips for a nice big smile and the plumpest strawberries she could find for ears, all topped off with a light dusting of powdered sugar. If anyone disagreed with her, well… her subjects could be rather silly at times. That, and she may have helped herself to one or two samples of the fruits of her labors. It wasn’t like anypony was going to ask her where those last few pancakes went off to. Still, she continued to deny herself; it would just be rude to start her breakfast without her sister.
Speaking of which, Celestia thought to herself… 3… 2… 1…
The same as the last six days, Luna was remarkably prompt for breakfast, and the clip-clop of her silver-shod hooves approached the double doors leading to the Sisters’ dining room from the Lunar Wing of the castle before they swung open. The smile on her dear Luna’s face was enough to bring a smile to Celestia’s own muzzle, doubly so after that whole incident with Starlight Glimmer switching their cutie marks. As welcome her sister’s new demeanor was, it also perplexed Celestia. Luna showing up after her work at night with a smile on her face, relishing the chance to dig into her sister’s pancakes, was a rare and cherished event for Celestia, even if she never said it outright. This, however, would be seven straight days of such an event. A whole week of Luna, normally so tired and understandably irritable (the Princess of the Night not being a morning person… what a shocker…), coming to breakfast, on time, with a smile on her face and a proper appetite? Celestia had questions, and by Her, she was going to get them!
“Good morning, sister,” Luna called out from the entrance as she closed the doors behind her and started for her seat next to Celestia. Celestia knew how to read her sister solely through her body language, and much like the last six days her body was loudly stating to anyone who knew her how upbeat her mood was today. Where before the best Luna could muster was a proud yet still tired walk on one of her better days, now she was practically trotting over to the breakfast table, the spring in her step propelling her a few inches off the ground with every step she took. Her tail, something which beforehoof would usually wind up dragging behind her, now practically floated behind her and bounced gently up and down every time her hooves touched the floor. For Celestia, though, the single greatest tell had to be her mane; Luna’s moods tended to be contagious when it came to the stars in her mane, and the fact that they were glowing just that little bit brighter told Celestia everything she needed to know: her dear little sister might as well have been dancing on air without the aid of her midnight blue wings.
“It must be for you of all ponies to be so chipper at such a late hour.”
For her part, Luna gave the only proper response to such a sisterly jab, which is to say that she demurely seated herself, puffed out her cheeks, stuck out her tongue and gave her sister a raspberry when she was close enough. Celestia took a couple bites from her own plate while she waited for Luna to start devouring the stack of pancakes in front of her; questioning Luna about changes in her behavior could be a prickly subject at times, and Celestia figured that a few mouthfuls of syrupy, fruit-and-sugar-filled goodness would provide her with at least a buffer.
“So, Luna,” Celestia began after she and Luna were mostly done with their respective stacks, “you’ve been in a particularly good mood over the last week or so.” Luna finished the bite of pancakes in her mouth and swallowed deeply before looking at Celestia, prompting her to continue with a nod of her head. “That’s a good thing, of course! It does my heart good to see you in such high spirits, but I’ve never seen this side of you so frequently in the morning. What caused this? Did you have a good week overall guarding our ponies’ dreams? Have you discovered yoga? Or did you finally start quaffing the Devil’s Tea that is coffee? Because if it’s the latter I’m perfectly willing to make sacrifices and order in bulk, get it shipped directly from Janeighca from my own royal stipend!”
Celestia was expecting at least a little rise out of Luna from that, maybe some good-natured ribbing at most; she had known for quite some time that Luna had recently taken to Blue Mountain coffee. Any counter-ribbing she was preparing died on her lips when she saw the smile on Luna’s face become flat-out eager as her horn started to glow. Celestia’s questions followed suit when Luna’s magic manifested around her rump and she parted her cheeks. By the time she pulled a miniature, naked human out from between said cheeks, Celestia’s ability to form a coherent thought had decided to punch out, get a tankard of something strong, and come back when it was drunk enough for things to start making sense.
Luna…
Her rump…
A tiny human came out of it…
Eventually Celestia’s brain caught up with what her eyes were seeing and began processing what her eyes were sending its way. Even then, it still took a moment for her to formulate a response. Her horn glowed and the room pulsed with magic before everything seemed to return to normal; temporarily soundproofing the room and locking the doors seemed prudent for what was about to happen. For her part, Luna’s eyes quickly widened as she realized what was coming and placed a sound-dampening spell around the human she held in her magic.
“Sister. EXPLAIN,” she near-thundered without actually yelling, though the fact that she made the entire table shake just by firmly placing her hoof on the table definitely got the point across. She did feel a little bad about knocking the human off-balance, leading to him having to grab onto the edge of Luna’s plate before righting himself and drawing himself back up to his full height, something that Celestia found herself estimating put the upper rim of the plate at about chest-level for him.
Truthfully, she had been planning to tear into Luna with her own Royal Canterlot Voice for the scene before her, but making assumptions had cost Celestia the presence of her sister for a thousand years. She needed information first. She could feel it, though, the inferno deep inside her. Slavery was one of the few things that pushed Celestia well past anger and right into burning rage even before seeing Sombra’s handiwork in the Crystal Empire. Celestia knew that Luna would never sink to such lows, but the implications of the scene before her required, no, demanded an explanation.
Luna seemed to agree with her, as she quickly started to speak. “I fully intend to, sister,” Luna began before gently setting the human down on the table and releasing him from her magic, “though I believe it would be best if Ben got to take part in this conversation as well.” At the mention of his name, “Ben” looked up at Celestia with a small but genuine smile and gave a polite wave, though he had the decency to keep himself covered with his other hand while doing so. Celestia returned both; she would lose nothing by being polite here, though she did have to make an effort to not wrinkle her nose at the musky smell of her sister’s scent coming off of the human now that Luna had removed him from… Celestia chose to do her best not to think about that for now. Luna cleared her throat before beginning and so Celestia got herself comfortable. “The circumstances leading up to what you see before you began one night about a month ago when I was preparing to conclude my duties as warden over our subjects’ dreams for the night. My best theory is that many of our subjects were beginning to awaken, thus reducing the amount of possible interference that their dreams might cause, but whatever the case, I sensed something foreign in the dreamscape. It was faint, almost invisible, but it was definitely there. As protector of our subjects’ dreams, I went to investigate, but instead of a threat, I found something completely different.”
“And what was that, Luna,” Celestia asked, even though she had a decent idea of what her little sister’s answer would be.
“I found a dream. More specifically, I found a dream that one of Ben’s people was having.” So I was right, Celestia thought to herself. Luna turned away for a moment, the look on her face a pensive one. “The truth is that I doubt I would have even sensed the human’s dream even if nopony at all was sleeping, their magical presence is so faint.” Looking back on it, it makes sense that I was able to detect this dream.” Celestia almost flinched at the intensity in Luna’s eyes when she turned back to face her. “It is possible to sense a dream from a being other than a pony, even if they’re almost magically dead, so long as there is some thread within the dream that I can follow.”
Celestia’s mind was sent reeling upon Luna’s revelation. Twilight’s notes mentioned that even the humans on the other side of the mirror did have magic, albeit with no way to naturally channel it at will. The possibility of a race existing that was almost completely magically dead was only theoretical! The scholarly side of Celestia could have lost itself in theorizing and possible tests she could conduct if Ben was willing to volunteer, if it wasn’t for what Luna said next.
“This particular dream, Celestia, and the thread that I was so easily able to latch onto, was about you.”
A couple minutes later, the portion of Celestia’s brain responsible for coherent thought returned from getting another, stronger drink.
“How?”
It was the only thing Celestia could really manage at the moment. Her gaze drifted down to Ben, her eyes pleading with the small human standing next to Luna’s left foreleg to shed some light on how what her sister just said was even possible.
“I’m not really sure myself,” Ben said in response with a shrug of his shoulders. “At least as far as the dreamscape, I mean,” he hastened to add when he noticed Celestia’s downcast expression. “I can definitely answer why whoever that was would dream about you.” Ben took a deep breath before continuing. “My world knows about you, your sister, Twilight Sparkle, the Element Bearers, Equestria, everything.” If Celestia didn’t know any better, she’d say the look that crossed Ben’s face was little bit apologetic as he stopped for a moment before continuing on. “The thing is, though… we all thought it was fiction. Twilight’s adventures with her friends is a TV show.”
Her mind wanted to go out for another drink, but Celestia shushed it. Another human race knowing about her, her little ponies and Equestria because it was presented as fiction on their world was far from the strangest thing she’d heard so far this morning. For her part, Luna just shrugged and let Ben continue talking. As far as Ben, the smile that he now wore was wistful, almost reminiscing.
“I don’t think anyone expected the following the show got. It was aimed at little girls, but the fact that so many older boys and full-grown men were devoted fans of the show surprised everyone.” Ben gave a heavy sigh. “I guess Equestria was just a world we could escape to, if only in our minds.”
“And in this case, being a world you could escape to turned out to be quite literal it seems, my little human,” Luna added with a warm smile, one which Ben returned. “After finding this dream, Celestia, I resolved to learn more. I began remaining within the dreamscape long after our subjects had awoken and began finding more humans dreaming about Equestria and our subjects. Some were dark, some were disturbing with the scenarios that these humans could think up.” Worry began to grow in Celestia’s mind at the implications of these more disturbing dreams and what might have happened in them to both her and her subjects. “Others quite simply broke my heart at how desperate for belonging and friendship some of these humans were that they clung to ponies they thought didn’t even exist. And still with others I found tales where they were able to draw strength from these “fictional” characters and move on through difficult times.” She looked at Celestia with a look of absolute warmth. “I came across several humans who Twilight’s example helped to turn away from possibly committing suicide.”
Whatever worry had begun festering in Celestia’s mind was quickly silenced when she heard of what her student had accomplished without even realizing it. Her heart swelled with pride, not just for Twilight, but for all her subjects who may have inadvertently helped creatures they had never even met. Still, that left one question unanswered.
“And how did that lead to, well…” Celestia trailed off, simply gesturing at both Luna and Ben with a foreleg.
“Ah yes, that,” Luna responded with a steadily-brightening blush. “Well, there were… other dreams, ones that I’m bound by my oath as a dream warden to not disclose the contents of due to the, uh, personal nature of said dreams. All I will say is that they were there, and eventually one caught my eye.” Luna looked down at Ben, her blush deepening as the human’s cheeks were growing a similar shade of red. “It wasn’t the first erotic dream I had found that involved the dreamer and myself partaking of more, well, carnal interactions, but the subject matter was different from others that I had seen.” Luna looked down at Ben with a guilty look on her face. “Ben, is it alright if-“
“Luna, I’m here. Your sister’s smart, I’m pretty sure she has a good idea of what we’ve been up to, especially considering where she saw you take me out of a little while ago.”
“Yes, I suppose that’s true,” Luna admitted before placing a foreleg in front of him, which Celestia quickly realized was to hold Ben steady while Luna gently but firmly nuzzled him, the soft breaths of her from her nostrils blowing back Ben’s wild mane of blond hair. “Most of the dreams I bore witness to had the humans at their regular size, which would put an average human of Ben’s species at the same height as Cadance. That wasn’t the case with Ben’s dream, Celestia. Unlike the rest of the erotic dreams I had seen from his people, this was the first one where the human in the dream was much, much smaller than the pony. Ben here was as small in that dream as he is here, and in the dream I was…” Despite being the alicorn of the sun, Celestia was pretty sure she could feel the heat from Luna’s cheeks from where she was sitting. “I was putting him betwixt my rump cheeks.” And now Ben’s blush was beginning to equal Luna’s. “At first I was somewhat put off. I mean, how could someone find it pleasurable to be placed in a pony’s hindquarters of all places? I left the dream at that point, figuring I’d put it behind me soon enough.”
There was a pregnant pause where Celestia waited for the predictable other shoe to drop before eventually deciding to give it a little push over the edge.
“Except…?”
“Except that I couldn’t put it behind me. For whatever reason, I couldn’t get past the thought of Ben here snuggling up within my rear. Maybe I have some kink that I didn’t even know existed until seeing it for the first time. Maybe after spending so long seeing our subjects admire your rump more than mine by a large margin in their dreams that I was just drawn to someone so attracted to my own rear end that they wished to be lost inside it. But whatever the reason, it remained in the back of my mind, always tempting me with tantalizing flashes of what I had seen in Ben’s dream. Eventually I decided to act on it, if for no other reason than to satisfy my own curiosity and at the very least sample the forbidden fruit so that my mind would stop teasing me with it.”
“And that,” Ben interjected with a wry look, “was when things got interesting.”
“To put it mildly, my little human,” Luna said with a cheeky grin, though the blush was still plastered prominently on both their faces. “It was about two weeks after initially encountering the dreams of these humans that I made my move. I waited until my duties were complete before seeking out young Ben’s presence in the dreamscape again. Once I found it, it was a simple matter of using my magic to lead the dream back to the one that intrigued me so. Once it reached that point, I simply entered into his dream and took the place of the dream simulacrum of myself.” It was at this moment that Celestia noticed that Luna was biting her lip, and a dreamy look had entered her eyes. “I will admit it felt odd at first, sister, but it wasn’t long before…” Celestia watched as her sister shuddered before being able to continue, her eyes lidding as she resumed speaking, “… before I began finding the whole experience incredibly enjoyable.” To her credit, Luna was able to bite back most of the moan that tried to escape past her lips. “I kept coming back every day for a week after that, with Ben and me getting more and more into it each time, before an idea struck me.”
“It was quite the idea, I must say,” Ben added. “I was looking forward getting into bed that night in the hopes of getting that same wonderful dream again. Imagine my surprise when, instead of immediately getting into the action, “dream Luna” starts speaking to me and telling me she was real.”
“I’m honestly surprised you believed me so quickly.”
“Well, to be fair, people generally don’t have the same dream for seven days straight, especially where their “dream pony” gets progressively more into it each time,” Ben countered. “The point is, you offered to bring me to Equestria with the promise that I’d get to spend more time in your butt! I figured that the worst case scenario was that I’d be about to step into a magical portal and then I’d wake up. Best case scenario, I’d get to experience what I was feeling in my dreams for a lot longer. I just wasn’t expecting to wake up to the sensation of falling through said portal as soon as I said ‘yes’,” he added, running a hand through the matted sandy blonde hair atop his head.
“Either way, it worked out,” Luna said before looking back at Celestia. “I’ve kept Ben tucked away within my rump all week to keep me company while I carry out my duties. He’s the secret to why I’m in such a good mood, Celestia. He just feels so good back there that his presence works the edge off of the stress I start feeling before it can affect my mood, even when it’s so late for me. Speaking of which…”
Celestia knew it would be proper to look away as Luna stood up from her seat and gently picked Ben’s slim form up in her magic. She knew, as Luna turned so her back end was pointed right at Celestia, that she should close her eyes. She knew, as Luna levitated Ben around to her rear while leveling a sultry gaze at Celestia and positioned the little human so that he was pressed up against where her cheeks met, that she should tell them to do this elsewhere.
She knew she should have.
She didn’t.
“I think it’s about time to put dear Ben back in his favorite place in all of Equestria.”
She couldn’t bring herself to tear her eyes away from what was about to happen.
Satisfied that she had her big sister’s attention, Luna began in earnest, but instead of simply pushing Ben in with her telekinesis, she instead used her magic to once again pull her cheeks slightly apart, just enough to tempt Ben with what lay slightly beyond but not enough to reveal anything too intimate, before gently levitating Ben into the empty space that her meaty moons were once occupying. Luna’s gaze suddenly went from sultry to smoldering, the look she was giving her older sister enough to practically freeze Celestia in place to watch as, with a wide smirk spreading across her muzzle, Luna let her cheeks go. In spite of herself the only comparison Celestia could make was akin to twin waves of black-furred muscle and fat careening towards each other with the little human in between them. It wasn’t enough to say that Ben disappeared between Luna’s cheeks; saying that he was swallowed up by her sister’s rump would be far more accurate as they bounced inches apart before settling back around Ben as if they had claimed him as their own.
Luna wasn’t done, however, and Celestia could only watch as, after watching her sister’s rear essentially engulf the little one, her sister began alternating between twisting him slightly to the left and then slightly to the right, pushing him in ever so slightly with every twist and slowly working him deeper into her rump, her cheeks jiggling ever so slightly with every twist Luna made. Unbidden, images of what the human was probably going through invaded her imagination as she saw him buffeted and caressed by each undulating cheek as the muscle and fat beneath each one gently wobbled back and forth every time he was twisted a little further in. She sat there, absolutely transfixed, as the glow of Luna’s magic, the only indication that Ben was even there, slowly moved deeper and deeper into her sister’s crack until it vanished from sight, leaving Celestia wondering to herself whether the glow’s disappearance was due to Luna cancelling her telekinesis or if it was because Ben was just that deep in her sister’s rear.
Celestia sat there for a moment, completely still, her eyes unblinking. Despite how crass what she had just witnessed was, she couldn’t take her eyes off of her sister’s rear end. She had just watched her sister take a human that, if he were to stand on the floor next to Luna would maybe come slightly above her fetlock, and pushed him deep into her crack while taking the time to enjoy it. Ben certainly looked like he was enjoying it too, at least if the expression on his face before he was completely engulfed by Luna’s ample bottom was any indication.
“I take it you enjoyed the show, dear sister?” Luna’s voice cut through the haze that had settled over Celestia’s mind, breaking her out of her dumbstruck stupor. The look on her little sister’s face could best be described as a mix of pleasure and a generous helping of smugness. “I certainly enjoyed putting the show on for you.” Luna’s smug expression soon gave way to one of pure physical satisfaction as her gaze trailed down her body to stare at her rump. “In fact, I enjoyed that almost as much as I’m enjoying what I’m feeling right now.” With a look of contentment, Luna turned back around to look right at her sister. “You’ve always thought of others first, Celestia. I know you too well to think that you’re not still concerned for him, but don’t worry.” Luna’s gaze softened. “I care far too much about him to not make sure that he’s both happy and safe in my rump,” she continued, her horn beginning to glow. “I made sure to use the most powerful magics I know to both protect him from any harm and sustain him. And yes, I have been absolutely fastidious in keeping that area of my body clean for him. I may not have borne the Element of Generosity when we defeated Discord, but he gave up the life he had on his world for this. I will not allow this to be a decision he regrets in any way.”
In spite of what she had just witnessed, Celestia had to smile. “I wouldn’t expect less of you, Luna. I may not understand it, but the two of you seem happy enough with this arrangement you both have going, so I’ll allow it.”
“I thank you, sister. That does mean a lot to me.” Luna paused for a moment with her hoof on her chin, obviously in deep thought. “Celestia… if you are interested, I could certainly find a human for you.”
“Luna, I said I would allow it. That does not mean I myself am interested,” Celestia replied quickly, though the blush that had risen on her face during Luna’s “demonstration” still hadn’t receded.
“Oh come now, Celestia,” Luna scoffed, “I performed your duties once before so I know that your job is plenty stressful. I’m still convinced you’re looking for an answer to your stress at the bottom of a teacup.” A smirk played across Luna’s lips as she continued, and Celestia had a pretty good idea what she was going to say. “Isn’t it about time your method of coping with the stress didn’t put such a strain on the national budget?”
“Very funny, Luna,” Celestia replied sharply with a shake of her head, thoroughly unamused, “but the answer is still no. You now know the expectations that our subjects place upon me. It is my duty to uphold those expectations, for their sakes.” Celestia knew Luna would keep going. She needed a way out or they would be at this all day. A quick glance at the clock provided her salvation. “I have duties to attend to, Luna. I will see you come dinnertime,” Celestia said tersely, though that didn’t stop her from leaning over to give her sister an affectionate nuzzle on the top of her head. “I love you, sister. Never forget that.”
“Never again, sister mine,” Luna replied, leaning into the nuzzle. “If you ever change your mind, you know where I will be.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Celestia deadpanned as she pulled back from nuzzling Luna. “Have a good rest, sister.” Celestia thought for a moment. “And do tell Ben that I said ‘Welcome to Equestria’ the next time he sees the light of day or night,” she added before turning around, opening the doors and walking out.
Now that she had placed some distance between her and the scene she just witnessed, Celestia found it much easier to push the idea that Luna had tried to plant in her head out of her mind. She wasn’t going to force Luna or Ben to stop what they were doing; they both obviously enjoyed it, and she had noted that it was being done with mutual consent. As long as she didn’t find their activities plastered on the front page of one of the local rags, it would just be better to put this whole incident behind all of them and move on. Satisfied with her thought process, Celestia noted with a bit of a sigh that she had reached the door that marked her side entrance to the throne room. She nodded once to the saluting guards and, remembering what a headache yesterday had been, asked them to tell the kitchen staff to prepare double the amount of earl grey for her midmorning tea break. Unbidden, Luna’s words from breakfast played back in her mind’s ear.
I’ve performed your duties once before so I know your job is plenty stressful. I’m still convinced you’re looking for an answer to your stress at the bottom of a teacup.
Celestia shook her head to clear her mind and hopefully stave off the blush she could feel creeping cross her face as the all-too-fresh memory of Luna’s solution to her stress played back in her head. She was fine. She had her tea, and that was enough. She didn’t need a human, and she certainly didn’t need to relish the feeling of dominating his tiny body with her round, supple, flawless rump, basking in the feeling of the vibrations his delicious squirms would send through each of her heavenly soft cheeks before they would settle back over him and become his entire world, reasserting her rump’s dominance over him and entombing him within a prison he would never want to esca-
You are NOT helping, Celestia snapped at her inner monologue.
Although Luna was silent as she continued what was left of her meal, her mind was abuzz with thoughts about what had just transpired. I can’t hide much from you, Celestia, but that goes both ways. I know you’re interested. You’re curious as to what it’s like, but you’ll continue to deny yourself no matter how often I invite you to partake in this experience with me. A pleasant wriggling from deep within her crack cut off the descent into a bad mood that the resident of her rump seemed to know was coming. I’m sorry, dear sister, for what I’m about to do, but it’s for your own good! Luna regarded what was left of her “breakfast” as she lightly clenched her cheeks together in thanks. “But first…”
Grabbing her knife and fork, she cut a small portion off of what remained of the pancake before finishing the rest of it; she would save that piece, along with some of the fruit, for Ben’s meal once they returned to her chambers. Did he like chocolate? She’d have to ask him before tucking both him and herself into their respective beds after he ate so she’d know whether or not to bring a couple chocolate chips for him as well the next time Celestia used them on her pancakes. Thus, with her meal complete, Ben’s food secured and a plan rapidly forming in her head, Luna turned around and rapidly trotted off to the set of double doors that would lead to the Lunar Wing of the castle.
She had a plan. A plan to save her sister from the nightmare she had inflicted on herself. And that meant she had some searching to do…