The Fire and the Moon
Smolder was sitting in the dining room of the Canterlot Castle, listening to Celestia humming a tune to herself as she flipped pancakes on the griddle. To be sitting at a table that only thousands of ponies would dream of sitting at, staring at the sun-marked flanks of the co-ruler of Equestria and her flowing mane, Smolder was only further dumbfounded at how she ended up in this chair. She was thinking of the words to say to her new lover, whatever she can get out before sheâd have to spend weeks, maybe even months, without the sight of Celestia. As she opened her mouth, she saw Princess Luna enter the room, smiling until she saw Smolder out of the corner of her eye. Eyeing the dragoness like a three-headed bugbear, Princess Luna eventually tore her gaze off of the dragoness and looked at her sister.
âMorning, sister,â Luna nodded her head. âAre you almost done with those pancakes? Iâm pretty tired from managing a gala and keeping ponies from having nightmaresâŚâ
âYes, of course!â Celestia replied with a higher pitch of her voice, her tail and wings wiggling as she flipped the pancakes onto a plate and opened the fridge, using her magic to pull out a small container of blueberries and a can of whipped cream before closing the fridge. âWas it at least a fun night, dear sister?â
âLot more than I thought itâd be,â Luna smirked, and Smolder saw a glint in the alicornâs eye.
âDid I miss anything at the Gala?â Smolder asked, and Luna looked at her for a split second before responding.
âOh, nothing but the same old greetings and gossip,â Luna giggled.
âSo if the Gala was boringâŚand I doubt you enjoy experiencing other poniesâ nightmaresâŚwhat was the fun part of your night?â Smolder tilted her head.
Smolder didnât fail to notice Lunaâs eyes widening, with a bright red blush appearing through her dark blue fur. Even Celestia paused in her pancake decorations to turn around and look at Lunaâs frozen expression.
âErâŚjust getting to check up on the rest of Twilightâs students and seeing how much theyâve learned about friendship!â Luna chuckled. âI must say, theyâre very kind and know how to address royalty properly~â
Was IâŚnot the only one of us to get laid last night?!
âWell, t-thatâs good to know,â Smolder nodded, her turn to blush like a tomato. âS-Sorry about freaking you and the guards out last night, Celestia mentioned that to me on the way here.â
âNo need,â Luna waved a hoof at Smolder as she finally took a seat across the dragoness and gave her a funny look briefly before smiling at her. âCelestia prepared most of us thoroughly for what to expect last night.â
âWait,â Smolderâs eyes widened as she looked at Celestia shaking her head and giving a cutthroat gesture at her sister, who still had her back turned to Celestia. âCelestia planned for this to happen?â
âWell of course!â Luna beamed as Celestia groaned and slapped her face with her own hoof. âEver since she first spoke with you, she couldnât stop thinking of you and the fire in your eyes. She swore up and down that youâd be the more wonderful partner sheâd ever have! And you only proved yourself ten times over from the way you really threw that stallion on his ass! It was soooooooo romantic-â
âOkay, we get it, sister,â Celestia spoke through gritted teeth, using her magic to levitate two full plates of pancakes to the table in front of Smolder and Luna. After Luna shut up, Celestia frowned as she looked at Smolder. âSheâs telling the truth, my little firecracker dragoness, but please know that it wasnât a game for me. And I certainly wasnât planning on you causing that scene at the Gala, I was only meaning to pull you aside at the right time.â
âWell,â Smolder stared at the smiling blueberry pancake with a big whipped cream nose for a few moments before neglecting the fork next to her and ripping a piece out with her claws. âThe right time came up, didnât it? And I donât think it was manipulative, I think its romantic as fuck.â
âAw~â Luna smiled, levitating a forkful of fruity pancake to her lips. âSee dear sister? Sheâs touched by the gesture, not put off by it.â
âIf you say so,â Celestia rolled her eyes, walking towards Smolder and kissing her on the forehead as she ravenously downed bite after bite of her pancake pile. âSit tight, my lovely dragoness. Iâve just got some post-gala stuff to check up on, and then Iâll teleport you to that hotel, okay?â
Smolder nodded, her heart skipping a beat as she chewed her food with her mouth open and eagerly waved Celestia goodbye as she teleported out of sight. Gulping her food down, Smolder wiped the crumbs from her lips as she noticed while Luna was still eating bites of pancake from her fork, she was staring at Smolder until Smolder looked back, and Luna quickly looked down back at her pancakes.
âOkay, so why donât you tell me what you really think about me?â Smolder narrowed her eyes at Luna as she flinched and dropped her fork on the table.
âWhat IâŚwhat do you mean?â Luna stammered. âI t-thought it was very cute of Celestia to plan such a romantic night and-â
âNo Luna, not what Celestia thinks of me. What you think of me,â Smolder elaborated, crossing her arms at the dark blue alicorn. âI donât think you hate me or anything, but youâve been staring at me as if Iâm going to bite your head off. Wait a second, have you ever been alone with a dragon? And no, Spike doesnât count. Heâs practically a pony with scales.â
âNo, I havenât,â Luna frowned as she shook her head. âCelestia didnât even let me go to meet with the Dragon Lord over a thousand years ago, I was tooâŚunstable, for her to seriously consider taking me to represent Equestria in other territories. Maybe she has a point, how could I have done any of that when I canât even sit across the table from a dragon without making her uncomfortable?â
Lunaâs ears flattened as she buried her face in her hooves and whimpered. Smolder unfolded her arms and frowned as she looked at Luna. First, Smolder was faced with pleasuring one of the co-rulers of Equestria, a task as daunting as climbing a mountain on claw, and now she had to give a pep talk to the other co-ruler of Equestria? Smolder pressed a claw to her forehead and took a deep breath, before sighing and dropping her claw to her side. A thought occurred to the dragoness, and she perked up and sat up straight in her chair.
âWait a second, how did you handle yourself when Celestia was with those griffons and zebras?â Smolder asked.
âI didnât,â Luna whispered, barely loud enough for Smolder to hear. âThey never stayed in the morning, always left out the window so I never saw them, and so the guards never pried. Celestia was far too lucky to never have her lovers caught by the press, at least not without a believable story to cover it up.â
âSoâŚIâm the first non-pony to even be sitting here after a night with her?â Smolderâs jaw dropped, and it stayed that way as Luna nodded.
âIt certainly helped that you were one of Twilightâs students,â Luna nodded, pulling her hooves away from her face as she looked at Smolderâs expression. âYouâre that surprised, huh?â
âCelestia made me feel like the only creature in the room,â Smolder explained. âBut that still doesnât make it any easier to understand why me? It couldâve been Twilight, who practically worships the ground Celestia walks on, any of the Elements of HarmonyâŚor heck, any one of my friends even!â
Luna blushed at the last words Smolder said, and Smolder sighed as she pressed her claws to her cheeks.
âI just donât get it,â Smolder shook her head. âAnd now she probably expects me to change your view on dragons in less than ten minutes! How am I supposed to make you see me as anything other than a fire-breathing, hotheaded dragon? I canât even tell my parents that Iâm gay!â
âIâŚdonât think thatâs all you are,â Luna reached over a hoof to the middle of the table, staring into Smolderâs eyes. âAnd to be fair, I learned a lot about different creatures last night. Ones that only spoke great words about you, Smolder.â
âMy friends, right?â Smolder asked, to which Luna nodded. âSo which one of them did you sleep with last night?â
âWhat?â Luna was about to levitate a forkful of pancake to her mouth when Smolder asked the question, causing her to drop the fork on the floor.
âYou heard me,â Smolder smirked, her tail swishing back and forth in her chair. âSo youâre not adjusted to dragons yet, thatâs understandable. But which of my friends did you get to know last night? Did you experience Gallusâ talons on your back, Ocellusâ shapeshifting creativity, or did you get smashed by Yona-â
âGreat stars, stop!â Luna threw her hooves in the air. âI never thought a dragon could be so vivid with their imaginationâŚno offense.â
âNone taken,â Smolder reached her claw out to where Lunaâs hoof was on the table a few seconds ago. âHow about I drop the questions, and you stop looking at me like Iâm going to devour you whole. How does that sound?â
âThatâŚsounds reasonable,â Luna nodded, reaching her hoof out and letting Smolder hold it with her claw. As Luna smiled gently at her, Smolder allowed a few moments of them enjoying each otherâs company before smirking once more and winking at her.
âBesides, itâll definitely benefit us both to get along when Celestia lays my eggs, future Auntie Luna~â Smolder chuckled, and Lunaâs eyes nearly bulged out of her head just as Celestia walked back into the room. Sitting down with them and clapping her forehooves, Celestia grinned at the two holding hoof and claw.
âIâm so happy to see you two getting alongâŚLuna, why are you looking at my belly like that?â Celestia frowned.
âYou never told me you got knocked up last night!â Luna shouted.
âWell, would you look at the time!â Celestia laughed as she looked at the imaginary watch on her hoof before she gave Smolder the rest of her pancakes and wrapped her wing around her new lover. âSmolder, why donât you finish this in my room and Iâll take you to the hotel?â
âThis conversation isnât over-â Smolder didnât hear the rest of Lunaâs scolding as her and Celestia both teleported back into the sun alicornâs room. Smolder downed the rest of her pancakes within two minutes, and looked up at Celestiaâs bright expression with crumbs falling out of her mouth.
âSo when will I see you again?â Smolder managed to say with a muzzle stuffed full of pancakes and blueberries.
âA few days actually,â Celestia nodded, and Smolderâs heart jumped at the surprise answer. âBoth me and Luna will be giving the School of Friendship a proper tour and staying in Ponyville for a few days while my most trusted guards hold down the fort. Now, my lovely dragoness, itâs time for you to go.â
âOkay!â Smolder nodded, swallowing the last bites of food and almost finding herself saying those three words when her racing heart stopped her just in time. âThank you for last night, Celestia. ItâŚit really changed my life. I think Iâm r-ready to tell my friends about my sexuality.â
âNo Smolder,â Celestia said as she pressed her muzzle against the dragonessâ forehead, her horn lighting up as her flowing mane cascaded over Smolder. âThank you~â
And before Smolder could respond, she found herself teleported to the restroom of the hotel, taking a deep breath as she braced seeing her friends again.