Part II: Tension

The usual ten-minute stroll--that Fredrick could take with his eyes closed--had him end up within the Lunar Quadrant of the castle, directly in front of Princess Luna’s bedchambers. As always, two Guards stood by its side, looking as stoic and intimidating as always… and sometimes Fred could swear they were statues by how still they were standing. Still, they did not have the intimidation factor that the double-doors they were guarding had, especially during the first time he ever found himself in front of them. There were no elaborate designs of the stars and the moon, nor any discernable nameplate that identified Luna’s personal residence… just large, simple, and ebony doors with steel handles; the only barrier between him and one of the two powerful Heads of State.

Said intimidation effect, of course, wore off completely over time, and the door was just an obstacle between him and his best friend in the world. Still, Fredrick could vividly recall the first day that he was literally ‘invited up to her room,’ so to speak. When Luna voiced the proposition over a pleasant lunch, Fred almost choked on his fork, and he had to remember that slang and implications on Earth no longer applied; that it indeed was a friendly, platonic request. Of course, he still felt the need to ask Luna for clarification, causing a stammering and blushing fit in return. The five minutes of awkward silence eventually subsided, and none were worse for wear, continuing their meals as if nothing happened.

The Guards paid him no mind as he approached, completely used to his presence, and Fredrick simply went straight for the handle and opened the behemoth doors. Indeed, that was not always the case. The first time, following through with Luna's request, the Guards gave him a particularly hard time, as she apparently forgot to let them know that she was expecting a guest. Chuckling internally at the memory, Fred reminisced how they nearly drew their swords on him... that was before Luna opened her door, smiled gleefully, clutched him by the shirt, and dragged him inside with her enormous strength in an instant before slamming the door closed, leaving the Guards stunned and confused. They resumed their posts like nothing happened, and Fred could only assume that Luna gave them a stern talking-to the day after.

Fred's hand kept a firm hold on the door-handle as he gently creeped inside, opening the left-side of the chamber doors only to what he needed for his form. Once fully inside the dark, precision-cooled room, he gingerly closed the door and turned to face the room in its entirety. Everything was as it should have been: curtains completely drawn on all windows save for the balcony; an (disconcertingly realistic) illusion spell covering the ceiling which displayed an ever so slowly rotating spiral galaxy; the king-sized bed that rested on the right side of the room. All just as he expected.

“You’re late,” a femininely smooth yet commanding voice sounded from the darkness. Half a year ago, Fredrick would have to fight the urge to jump and stand at attention. Now, he knew that behind that voice was an inviting tone disguised as sarcasm… a language he was proud to be fluent in.

“Well excuuuuse me, Princess. At least I was doing something,” Fred threw an equally sarcastic tone back at the co-ruler of Equestria before casually walking towards her. Though the darkness of the room did not allow him to see much, he could vaguely pick up a silhouette on the bed rustle under the covers and reposition itself.

“Hilarious. Now, are you going to get up here or am I going to have to remove myself from this comfortable cloud-bed and drag you up here?” Princess Luna’s tone turned demanding and threatening.

“Alright, alright… sheesh,” Fred replied with fake reluctance as he kicked off his shoes, threw his belt off, and climbed into the unbelievably soft bed before scooting toward the center. He always found himself commenting on the fact that no mattress on Earth, memory-foam or what not, could compete with what they called cloud-beds in Equestria… Best sleep of his life the first time he ever experienced one outside of the hospital, he’d swear by it.

Once Fredrick finally moved his form towards the other mass in the bed, he turned and looked down, letting his eyes focus what little light there was on the teal-blue orbs staring back at him with the intensity of a thousand moons. He, as well, locked eyes with her and initiated a stoic staring contest for about thirty seconds. Immediately, Luna’s gaze softened and an audible giggle could be heard before she snuggled her side into his, Fredrick reacting to her contagious twitter with one of his own.

Fred’s eyes were able to get used to the darkness and could now clearly see his company: the Lunar Princess donned a large, simple long-sleeved shirt ideal for sleeping… and the large collar gave a tiny bit of a show to him as it acted like a makeshift v-neck, framing her breasts perfectly with her position allowing a modest amount of cleavage to show. Her hair, normally ethereal and similar to the galaxy above, was its lifeless, mid-back length blue-color, a few shades lighter than her coat. As typical with even girls back on Earth, it was up in a loose and messy bun for sleeping purposes. Still, Fred had voiced several times to Luna that her hair looked better, in his opinion, down and lifeless. Luna tended to disagree but sometimes she wore it like that merely because (to his knowledge at least) she “felt like it.”

“Good evening,” Luna said in a much more friendly tone once their eyes locked again after he was staring just a tad longer than what would be in the bounds of propriety. Fredrick huffed partially in amusement, partially in embarrassment, as he was sure that she had noticed.

“Hello to you too,” he replied, after which he laid back fully on the pillow next to Luna’s and opened his right side to her. She accepted the invitation without hesitation (albeit with some giddiness internally) and snuggled into his side, wrapping her right arm around his abdomen and laying her head on his chest with a comfortable smile on her face… such was a typical position for them once they had gotten used to the ‘snuggle-cuddle’ idea.

There, the two laid in silence for an undetermined amount of time, their forms embraced comfortably and their eyes resting. The only noise that resounded throughout the room was the cyclic rhythm of Fred’s and Luna’s synchronized breathing: Slow, calm, elongated, and nominal. They had no intention of falling asleep anytime soon, but after their respective days, some rest was in order. As the months droned on from the beginning of this new step, they took no problem in having silent moments of relaxation and shut-eye. While at the beginning of their fledgeling friendship, awkward moments/silences were quite commonplace due to the mutual fear of offending the other party, once their senses of humors and thought processes clicked in full, it was nothing but smooth sailing. From then on, they reveled in the silences and enjoyed the fact that they could gain just as much utility with each other doing nothing as with eating, working out, or even joking around. There was no such thing as an “awkward silence” after that.

“Mmmm, you’re warm…” Luna commented, barely above a whisper but easily audible to Fredrick. She punctuated her remark by pulling herself a bit more snuggly against him, her boobs pressing into his side and stomach (not an unwelcome externality from his perspective) and her face riding up his chest a bit. He could now easily smell the shampoo she had used recently, as the minuscule follicles of her coat (which honestly felt like bare skin anyways) on her face grazed his neck. It was a bit odd the first time feeling the elongated face due to the Ponies’ anthropomorphic nature, as well as ensuring she didn’t stab him in the jugular with her spear-like horn. Like everything else, it was now second nature, as her face was angled perfectly to allow her horn to pass and just barely graze the side of Fredrick’s head.

“And you’re ice cold… like your heart,” Fred quipped, reciprocating her gesture by holding her just that much snugger, his hand resting just between the right side of her midriff and lower back, since she laid mostly on her left. Luna let out an appreciative sigh, and then immediately a chortle at his remark.

“I was on the Moon a thousand years, Fred. It takes a little while to heat back up,” she replied with good humor. Fred sighed comfortably and adjusted his body… while discreetly making other adjustments elsewhere with his free, right hand.

“How was your day?” he asked, continuing the conversation, both their eyes still comfortably resting.

“Long. It is that time of year again where the nobility likes to, as you say, ‘bitch and moan’ incessantly. Thousands of years in dealing with them are invaluable in ensuring I don’t ‘accidentally’ murder a few of them. Some things never change over time.”

“I bet. I’ve had a few run-ins with the nobles and not all of them are really… noble. I can’t imagine what you have to go through every day,” Fredrick added. Luna peaked an eye open.

“Is the nobility still harassing you? I bet it’s Blueblood again… I shall cram my horn down his throat if he is,” Luna inferred. Fred always found it humorous and somewhat sexy how Luna could threaten violence so nonchalantly. He laughed gently.

“No, no, he’s not. In fact I’ve actually had the fortune of not seeing him in about three weeks. We’ll see how long that continues.”

“How was your day?” Luna asked in return, rubbing the side of her face against his chest, causing him to almost stumble with his words.

Almost.

“Like yours, long. While you get to deal with hell-spawns, I get to deal with the bill-influx overflow. Got a bit of overtime in though, and it’s not like Celestia is terrible to work with,” he replied genuinely. It was Luna’s turn to gently giggle.

“She can be though. You merely have to work with her. I have had to live with her.”

Luna began moving her right hand on his chest, caressing from his upper abdomen back to his chest with her palm and repeating… her fingertips barely grazing his neck. For the first time, Fred’s eyes opened up with a bout of surprise and a hitch in his breath.

That’s new.

But not necessarily unwelcome. Kicking his mind back into gear (and giving up on his less than cooperative lower half), he decided on a mostly safe approach of reciprocation. Fred closed his eyes once more and began running his fingertips up and down her side, with a bit more pressure than what would be normally needed on account of her shirt. Much to his relief, Luna cooed softly.

“Have you been exercising?” Luna inquired, still running her hand up and down his shirt on his chest. While Fred was more than used to random questions popping out of the blue, this seemed different. Her voice sounded as soft as normal during these times but laced with… something he could not put his finger on. As a result, he started becoming increasingly uncertain, but willing to play it out thus far.

“Ummm… yeah, when I find the time. You’re even there with me sometimes,” he responded, attempting to figure this mare out. She cooed yet again when his hand wandered a little higher up her side than he meant to.

“It shows,” she mentioned, and her next action completely took him out of his calm state: Luna unbuttoned a single button in the middle of his shirt and slid her hand inside and onto his chest, beginning to continue her actions that she had above the fabric. The sudden contact of her amazingly soft hands on his bare skin made Fred shoot his eyes open and suddenly intake air. What really made him question things was when simultaneously, she swung her right leg over both of his, ensuring her entire body length was pressed into him in all its glory. While, as a male who was certainly attracted to the other party in the room, this was more than welcome, but as a friend, this was becoming increasingly out of character.

Ooookay this is getting a bit odd.

“Okay Luna, what’s going on,” Fred prodded as he adjusted himself, moving their positions so he could look at her. The innocent expression on her face, one meant for a stoic hardass, could melt the hardest of ice.

“W-Why? Do you not like my actions?” she asked with trepidation and attempting to veil her emotions.

“Of course I enjoy your actions, Luna… I’m just not used to that level of cuddling yet, so you took me by surprise. What's up?” he asked again, but with a tone of genuine inquiry rather than demanding. He could see in her teal-blue eyes that she was debating something in her head. Finally, after several moments, she conceded with a sigh.

“I… I have a confession to make,” the Princess of the Night, ever powerful, sounded incredibly meek at the moment. Fredrick turned his entire body towards her to give her his full attention. By her wandering eyes, which found the bedsheets much more interesting than usual, he could tell she was unsure of herself. Resting on both of her forearms, Fred was given a nigh perfect view down her shirt. Yonder valley was nothing short of mesmerizing, and he pried his eyes away as quickly as they glued themselves.

“It’s okay. You should know you can tell me anything,” he urged her as nonchalantly as possible. She took another sigh and steeled her resolve.

“I am… sort of… in heat.”

If there was a way to completely wipe all RAM from one’s mind, that certainly did the trick.

“...Huh?” Fred asked for clarification, to ensure that he indeed heard perfectly. It was not like he was ignorant of what a ‘heat’ was or what it meant in this world. He was more than educated on the topic within his first month in Equestria, and this was why sometimes he saw neither Celestia nor Luna for more than short glances once in a while. It wasn’t like he kept a schedule.

Now that would be weird.

“You heard correctly, Fred. Normally I ensure to keep my distance when it onsets, but it was such a long day today and I just wanted some company. Believe me, I have perfect self control for the most part but once in a while… something slips,” Luna began explaining, gesturing with her hand at her most recent actions in referencing an example.

“I see…” Fred urged her to continue.

“I was hoping it would not come to this, lest you believe I see you as nothing but an oversized pillow to touch as I please. That is why, regretfully, I withheld information from you…” Luna looked down for a bit, but then locked eyes with Fred once more. He could plainly see that she was regretful of her actions. “I’m sorry, Fredrick… I just,” she sighed once more and caught her breath. “I just did not want you to think any less of me if I told you and invited you to my room. I was hoping that any abnormal actions that would be the cause of any form of lapse in judgement would be subtle enough, and to think you would not notice… you probably think I thought of you as stupid enough to not catch on to anything…” Luna began rambling and her emotions were starting to mesh into one. The normally in-control mare was starting to lose her thoughts with absolutely no help thanks to the hormones afforded by her heat. Fred needed to do damage control and do it immediately.

Moving by reflex and not by thought, he pulled her into his embrace, as he had done many times in the past, and let her head rest against his chest as she had been so keen on doing. The effect was immediate and she calmed down considerably.

“Look, Luna… while I would have appreciated some advanced warning, I do understand why you withheld such information. Your fears were justified, though unfounded. I guarantee you, a ‘heat’ would be pretty far back on the list of things to drive me away,” he reassured her, pulling back to lock eyes with her again, showing her that he was indeed genuine with his words. He took her silent acceptance as a cue to continue:

“And it’s clear that you have the self control of a madmare… I’ve seen what heat does to mares.” He made a visible shudder at certain memories. “After all, you haven’t completely jumped me yet… though I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to that,” he joked to lighten up the situation. Luna could not help but blush and hit him in the shoulder playfully, following up with her trademarked look of incredulity.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t, Fred.”

“Now, come on. Let’s rest. If it makes you feel any better, now that I’ve been exposed to that…” It was time to choose his words carefully. “I don’t really, umm… mind if you want to continue what was going on.”

Yeah, totally could’ve phrased that better.

Luna gave an audible chortle.

“I am most certain you would not mind, huh, my little pervert?” she quipped, both of them lying down again and resuming their usual positions.

“Says the one who’s been feeling me up in the first place,” Fred playfully threw words back at her. Luna placed her hand on his chest before, again, slipping it under the button-line of his shirt.

“Implying you were not feeling me up in return.” Fred placed his hand back on her side.

“Hey, it’s socially acceptable for you to touch my chest. That’s not fair at all. Plus you have a semi-pass because of your heat,” he pointed out. Luna hummed a bit in thought.

“Then why do we not even the playing field?” she rhetorically asked before lifting the side of her shirt a bit, exposing the side of her underlying, toned midriff and placing Fred’s hand on her bare coat, thin enough where he could easily feel the smooth skin.

“... I’m okay with this,” he plainly admitted with a chuckle, which garnered an equal reaction from his best friend.

“I figured you would be, my dearest friend,” she replied endearingly, nuzzling her face into his neck, causing him to involuntarily get a shiver down his spine. As she ran her palm over his chest, he ran his fingertips up and down her side, though he barely needed a fraction of the pressure due to the only obstruction being out of the way. There they laid in comfortable silence once more, both of them feeling like they became just that much closer… somehow. The only sounds this time were their cyclic breathing and the occasional coo from Luna when Fred ran his fingers over her side just right. After what seemed like an hour or two, Fred spoke up with barely a whisper, as he could tell that both of them were getting more tired by the minute.

“Shall I stay the night?” he asked. This was not an unusual question for her, nor was it one he brought up every time he visited. Once in a while, he could tell that she just wanted his company and he was more than happy to give it. He enjoyed every moment with Luna and the fact that, after so many months, that she trusted him enough to even let him lay in the same bed, let alone sleep alongside her, said wonders about their friendship… and again, he wondered how he could not see their closeness from the get-go.

Luna answered immediately by nodding her head into his chest. She held onto him that much tighter.

“Okay. Let’s get some sleep then.”

“Goodnight, Fred… and thank you.”

“For what?” he asked softly. They were both quickly losing their grip with consciousness.

“For being there when nopony else would be,” she whispered even softer.

“Anything for my best friend in the world. Goodnight, Princess,” he added just the right amount of inflection on the last word, knowing she hated it when he called her by regal title. He could still feel her smile against his chest and to him, that was the greatest thing he could’ve felt before they both were lost to the grips of slumber.

Just another day.

When Fredrick did proverbially ‘sleep over’ with Luna, there was no issue of them both exiting out of her room and rousing suspicion, as they both got up at the same time for work and Luna would easily teleport him back to his own room to freshen up. Despite the small oddities that were easily worked through that night, Fred was more than content with how everything was going, though he would be sure to give Luna just enough extra space so she could ride out her heat properly.

There was no Court on the weekends so both Princesses would retire to their offices to catch up on the never-ending paperwork… although today was surprisingly a light day, relatively speaking. It was light enough where Fred and Celestia could enjoy a proper lunch break.

“You seem somewhat conflicted,” Celestia abruptly voiced during a lull in their conversation, biting into her sandwich. Fredrick was about to do the same but stopped mid-bite at her revelation.

“What makes you say that?” he asked, finishing the aforementioned bite into his fish sandwich. One of the largest culture shocks to Fred when he had to inevitably adapt was the fact that the propensity to consume meat was virtually nonexistent in Equestria, save for meat-eating species such as Griffons or Diamond Dogs. Even then, they were a minority and fresh meat was hard enough to come by, let alone to get cooking staff to actually prepare the product. Fish was considered okay though, and the fact that his diet turned almost entirely vegetarian overnight ensured that whatever bit of fat was on his body was virtually obliterated, thus allowing him to gain muscle a bit easier when he actually paid attention to working out. Tradeoffs are love. Tradeoffs are life.

Celestia looked at him incredulously, not saying a word until he locked eyes with her.

“Oh, right. I forgot you’re good at that.”

“So. Spill.”

Fredrick looked conflicted at first but knew that what he would say wouldn’t be bad or damaging really, and he could trust Celestia to keep a little confidentiality in conversation. After all, he trusted her with his life. She was a good friend too!

“You didn’t hear this from me… but Luna was acting really odd last night.”

“Oh? Pray tell?” she asked a bit too giddy in demeanor, as if so eager to get dirt on her little sister. Some things certainly did not change from planet to planet, dimension to dimension.

“She was acting really touchy-feely… like way out of character for her, even between us, which is saying something. After coaxing her into telling me what was up, apparently she’s in heat,” Fred explained.

Celestia looked like she was about to lose her shit but then suddenly stopped as she remembered something very important. Then her demeanor turned into one of questioning as she rested her chin in her left hand, looking up towards the corner of the room.

“Huh… that’s really weird.”

“How come?” Fred asked.

“Oooooooh…. yeah she wasn’t in heat, Fredrick,” Celestia affirmed with the confidence of a ruler. Fred blinked his eyes a few times in confusion.

“Huh?”

“Ever notice that when we, meaning she and I, went into heat, that we’d both disappear for a while?” she let that sink into his head for a bit before continuing. “Fred, our heat cycles are synchronized, and I know with one-hundred percent certainty that I’m not due for exactly another two weeks and six days. She was not in heat.”

Fred lifted his head so that he was facing straight forward, not gazing upon anything in particular.

“...What?!”

And just like that, the situation in his mind and reality became that much more complicated.