You feel the steady hum of the powerful engine rumble through you, its call to push the throttle forward at the front of your mind. You sit inside the small Cessna aircraft awaiting your turn to take to the skies. Even though your headset muffled outside noise, you still heard the heavy roar of the Boeing Seven Forty-Seven as it took off, leaving you next in line.

Minutes later, the magic phrase rang in your ears. "November Three-Three-Two, Tower. Wind estimated five at zero three zero, cleared for takeoff." You slowly slid the throttle forward, the wheels on your aircraft inching forward as you guided it through the turn onto the runway, the last step before taking to the skies.

"Tower, November Three-Three-Two, copy. Cleared for takeoff." Coming out of the turn in the center of the runway, you slammed the throttle forward, the rumbles turning into their own pitch of sound that sang like music to your ears. The sudden acceleration forced you to the back of your chair, a feeling you never thought would get old, and the aircraft zoomed forward, building acceleration towards that magical number.

Grasping the yoke, you began to pull on it, the wheels lifting off the ground as you began a steady climb. It was a beautiful day outside without a single cloud in the sky, so you could fly almost wherever you wanted; you had a good six hours of fuel on board, so there was no rush.

Slowly the land ebbed away into water as you flew south, putting you over the Gulf of Mexico. Reaching behind the seat, you pull out a small bag containing your camera, ready to take more photographs to add to your collection.

Minutes later, while looking through the viewfinder, the plane rocks as it hits a pocket of air. The turbulence jams the eyepiece against your face, causing you to let out a curse as you drop the camera into your lap to grab the yoke. The turbulence continues to occasionally buffet you, throwing your small aircraft all over the sky.

Fighting with the yoke, you point the plane's nose down, trying to get underneath this pocket of disturbed air. However, it seems Murphy wanted you to share in his misery, and a crack reaches your ears through the headset, something giving way underneath the buffeting wind. You jerk the yoke, getting no response as your plane continues its dive down.

You key up the radio, knowing it to be a pointless endeavor. "Mayday, mayday, mayday..." you continue to talk as you try every trick you know to bring the plane out of a dive. Without your steering though, you can't do much except look at the altimeter and pray.

Three thousand feet. The worst part about this is that you know there's nothing you can do to prevent it now, but there's still a good thirty seconds before you meet the water. The light blue of the sky gives way to the dark blue of the violent gulf, and its looming threat to consume you like it has so many before.

In the last few seconds before impact, a bright flash fills the interior, your camera flash going off. The aircraft hits, and everything goes black.

You jump up in bed, grabbing at your chest as your heart's beating threatens to rip itself from your chest. You don't dream often, but when you do the dreams are typically consumed by nightmares of your arrival, or of things from home you now miss.

Simply sitting in bed, you notice the moon looming on the horizon, mere minutes from setting. Letting out a small smile, you look over to your bed partner who is still asleep. She's gotten good at sleeping through your occasional nightmare, no need to wake her up early with your troubles after all.

Gently moving the flowing mane out of the way, you lovingly gaze upon her serene face. Celestia was one to always work and worry, almost never taking time for herself. To see her at such peace, such serenity... it was a rare moment that you always savored. A gentle sound of the door closing drew your focus to the hallway's entry, a cart filled with tea and breakfast sitting inside the room.

Satisfied that your heart wasn't going to remove itself today, your hand moves from your chest to reach out towards the cart. Ever so slowly, your eyes light up with a golden hue and the cart begins to inch itself forward, courtesy of the minor amount of levitation you could use.

When you had crossed through dimensions, you were in a pretty bad way. Apparently appearing in the midst of an open court session at Celestia's hooves, she had tried something desperate to save your life. Lucky for you it worked, and as a plus you even gained the ability to utilize a very small amount of magic. It wasn't enough for anything more than very basic manipulation, but at times like this as you lay in bed, it made all the difference.

Suddenly you burst out with laughter as the sun raised, hooves seeking out your sides from behind. The cart stopped in its tracks, your focus broken as you turned to try and fend off Celestia's hooves. As you turned, a mouth met yours, the tickling turning into an embrace; one which you returned with pleasure.

Breaking off the kiss, you stared into Celestia's deep pools of magenta, the same ones that had been your first sight in Equestria. "Good morning, Sunshine." you say with warmth, tightly embracing her in a hug.

Celestia sighed, enjoying the contact and what little time of relaxation she could afford before the daily turmoil of the royal life. "Morning to you as well, love..." her gaze focused on the forgotten cart that had made half the journey to the bedside, a quick burst of magic bringing it the rest of the way.

Resting her head on your shoulder, you heard the tell-tale clinking of china signaling her pouring of tea. You take in a deep breath, the faintest aroma teasing your senses. "Earl Grey, Celestia?" she chuckles, confirming that you are correct again. "They must think that you really love that, that's... the sixth time this month?"

"If nothing else, my ponies love their consistency and doing what they know." Celestia chuckles as she raised a cup in front of your eyes, causing you to pull back from the hug and take the offered glass. Tea between the two of you has become something of a morning ritual, just a small part of the day that you can call yours and hers exclusively. Raising it to your lips, you take a sip, actually enjoying the taste that greets your taste buds.

The two of you simply enjoy each other's company in the bed, making short work of the teapot, for the next few minutes. Sadly, there's not much time to spare, and soon you're setting down the teacup onto the tray, Celestia's joining yours. You turn and meet her lips once more, this time with a quick, chaste kiss.

"Do you recall what today is, Celestia?" you ask as you hop out of bed, rummaging through your dresser for a clean set of clothes.

You can't help but laugh as you turn around and see her with a hoof underneath her chin, her brows creased as she attempts to nail down what you're hinting at. Her eyes widen, and you know she has it. "Five years already, isn't it?" you nod, pausing partway to the bathroom. "No matter when it is, time always seems to fly by." she says somewhat introspectively before getting up and walking to the bathroom with you.

"Joining me in the shower?" you suggestively ask, wriggling your eyebrows. Celestia cracks with laughter, sauntering up to you and kissing your cheek.

"I suppose I can, although we don't have time for any... games, sadly." you simply wrap an arm around her barrel for the very short walk to the shower, your clothes underneath your other arm. Dropping them off on the countertop as you enter the bathroom, you walk over to the shower and adjust the temperature.

Clouds, and their many uses... You'll never get over just how amazing it is. Celestia imbued you with a permanent spell that lets you walk on clouds, which is a very good thing as the shower was made of them. A simple turn of a knob, and Celestia and you had warm water with which to clean yourselves. Showering itself didn't take much time, between Celestia's magic and your hands the two of you made short work of getting clean.

Turning off the water, Celestia used a spell that was one of her favorites. Within seconds, you were warm and dry, as well as her. She walked out of the room as you donned your clothes, ready for a day of preparation for what would hopefully be a special night. Straightening your tee shirt, you walked out the bathroom and slipped on your shoes just as Celestia was putting on the last of her regalia.

"Well, I suppose it's time then. Have a good day, Sunshine." you say, smiling gently as you wrap your arms around Celestia's neck, inhaling in the scent of summer that seemed to accompany her mane.

Celestia returned your hug with a nuzzle, the soft coat brushing against your cheek. "And you too, love. I'll be ending court at noon, I believe I have a reservation at a spa courtesy of a secret admirer?" you pulled your arms back as she lifted her head, letting your lips meet for one last kiss.

Pulling back, you savor the memory of her lips on yours, a smile slipping onto your face as you walked alongside her as you both leave her room. Ignoring the presence of the guards that take up flanking positions around you two, you focus on walking Celestia to another session of Day Court.

"Our garden, Celestia, seven tonight, okay? Please don't get caught up in paperwork!" you say, arriving at the doors that herald the start of her duties. She laughs, knowing full well that you are aware of her hatred of paperwork.

"Very well, I'll see you tonight, then. Be safe, love." she whispers before standing up tall and straight, putting Celestia up as the Princess of the Day comes out. You watch as she walks into the throne room, her very presence and posture all but demanding respect as she goes to open her court for yet another day.

You would love to stay and watch her at work, but today there are other more important plans to see to. All for preparation for tonight, this special evening that, if all goes well, will be forever remembered by you both. Whistling, you turn and start walking towards the castle's exit, ready to visit the first stop of many. Tonight will be one for the books.

Author's Notes:

Well, here is part one of my second person point-of-view experiment. I'll see how it works, first and last time doing this most likely. Was something different though for me.

~75 minutes spent on this segment.