Part XXII. Public

A cloudy day in Canterlot-town did not inhibit the sea of press that hounded the line of ministers and royal assistants filtering into Parliament’s massive doors. On either side, reporters from every newspaper all over the nation attempted to crowd in while a few well-placed guards did their due diligence in keeping the peace and everypony else bay. A cacophonous mesh of voices constantly sounded, all barely discernible individually, as reporters barked their questions to anypony who might lend even a hint of a listening ear. A few ministers would answer vaguely, though details were scarce as the Princesses did well to ensure that the true reasoning for the emergency session being called was thickly veiled.

Even louder noise erupted once everypony caught sight of Princess Luna and Fredrick, both garbed in formal regalia and jet-black suit respectively. Celestia was already inside the Parliament building, and the guests of honor decided to bring up the rear of the pony-caravan. Voice recorders and microphones were shoved in their faces, though, of course, guards did their very best to keep the excitable press behind an arbitrarily drawn line (with mostly success). None was more diligent about this than Princess Luna’s newest honor guard, Stella.

Clad in shiny new, onyx-black armor and adorned with bright-blue ceremonial decorations as per custom (with both a sword on her hip and a rifle slung on her back), the batpony mare quickly had to adjust to daytime life as she ensured nopony got within a certain diameter of Luna and Fredrick. She took the side closest to Luna while another honor guard named Windfire did well to see that Fredrick was undisturbed, though the two would alternate positions seamlessly.

“Jesus Christ that’s a lot of press…” Fredrick commented as he angled his mouth towards Luna’s ear.

“Pay them no mind, Fred. All their questions will be answered in due time; allow Stella to keep them in check,” Luna remarked in kind. She had given Stella full authority to ensure she and especially Fredrick were not hounded. The much crankier (due to adjusting for daytime) thestral would gladly make good on that.

And boy, was she excellent at it.

“PRINCESS! OVER HERE, PRINCESS!”

“PRINCESS! IS IT TRUE THAT…”

“YOUR HIGHNESS, ARE YOU GOING TO…!”

“FREDRICK! JUST A MINUTE OVER HERE, FREDRICK!”

“PRINCESS, IS IT TRUE YOU’RE GOING TO ANNOUNCE FREDRICK AS YOUR ROYAL CONSORT!”

“There will be no questions at this time!” Stella shouted in her iconic drawl at a couple of rowdy reporters and journalists that got a little too close into the guard-line. “All questions are to be directed to Her Highness’ press officers after the hearing!”

Stella quickly made her way over to disperse the crowding ponies back into their ranks, nudging them along harshly.

“Alright! Let’s go, LET’S GO! Yeah, that means you too, ya knob! Get your ass out before I throw your ass out!” she ordered a particularly aggressive photographer back, but the beige pony quickly swatted her hand away.

“Hey! Don’t fucking touch me, I know my rights!” he yelled back angrily.

Stella was not amused, clearly evident by her gaze darkening and baring her teeth.

“LISTEN HERE, CUNT!” she suddenly screamed with maximum aggression. She shoved him back harshly, planting her armored palm under his chin and angling his body sharply away from her friend and Princess. “The only right you’re afforded is my right hoof crushing your right fuckin’ bollock if ya don’t shut yer gob and FUCK OFF!” Stella punctuated by hurling him back beyond the initial security line. She then began pointing at another particular pony in the crowd. “AND you, ya hackit twat! Have another go at me and I’ll cut your cock off, mate!”

The rest of that particular section became much more quiet and amiable upon witnessing that display of force; even the other royal guards gave her a bit of extra space out of concern for their own physical well-being.

“Jesus, you couldn’t have picked a better-qualified pony for an honor guard,” Fredrick added, wholly impressed at what he just witnessed and having to fight off his laughter. Luna, however, made no such attempt to stifle her giggling.

“I agree. I feel I made a wise decision. Her assignment was only supposed to be long-term temporary, but I think I’ll keep her on full time...” she replied, telling a half-truth of sorts. Stella had the job for as long as she wanted, due to her readily agreeing to be in cahoots with the Princesses. Of course, Luna could not exactly let Fredrick in on that.

The continuum of press had thinned out somewhat towards the doors of the Parliament building—in no small part due to Stella’s efforts—and the two were able to easily get inside… but not without either of them chortling at hearing a glorious “HEY! PISS OFF, CUNT!” in the distance before the massive doors were closed behind them.

The two both breathed a gentle sigh. It was time to get things going.

“Ready?” Fredrick asked sweetly, glancing over at his beautifully dressed up best friend. Her beauty was as striking as the first time he ever laid eyes on her, further reinforced when her hypnotizing teal orbs made contact with his own gaze. Fredrick had also conceded that, for all intents and purposes, she was his girlfriend.

It was just time to make it official. He had plans for that, as well.

“Verily. I have been planning for a good while now,” she replied, the confident aura that Luna exuded naturally in business situations ever present. It was one of the many qualities Luna possessed that drew Fredrick to her in the first place, among other things, of course.

She flashed him an endearing smile and pulled him against her, nuzzling his cheek.

“No matter how things turn out today, and I’m near certain we have absolutely nothing to worry about, our dynamic shall not change in the slightest. Am I clear on that?”

Fredrick nodded, reciprocating an identical smile, his green eyes absolutely filled with unbridled love for the alicorn mare in front of him. It had only been a few short weeks, and he took just a moment to appreciate everything they had been through and how much, and at the same time, how little had changed between them.

“I had no doubt in my mind. Still, it would be nice if everyone else was on our side, eh?”

“True, it would make future events that much simpler, I suppose. Regardless, I have no intention of letting potential negativity nor naysayers weigh in on my personal life and our relationship. You should not either,” Luna added, sweetly kissing the underside of Fredrick’s jaw. Suddenly, the door to the Parliament Building swung open partially.

“—and twist the ballsack until ya puke!” Stella underscored the end of a threat to somepony as she closed the door behind her. Once the door slammed shut, she breathed out a massive sigh, turning to the amused Luna and Fredrick, both individuals’ lips pursed in held-back laughter.

“I hate the press… with a burning passion.”

“Then you and I are in agreement once more,” Luna replied with a chuckle. Stella smiled toothily and took her place behind and to the left of Fredrick before Luna spoke again. “Now, it is about time to get this session started. Celestia and myself will do most of the talking. You get to take your usual seat to my right and listen to what transpires. I honestly don’t anticipate this being longer than ten minutes.”

“Got it,” Fredrick responded confidently and seriously. No smiles this time.

“I need not remind you how much I value your opinions and input, but I would advise you, this time around, against speaking up unless you are directly called upon to speak. Okay?” Luna cautioned him, something she felt necessary to say since he would essentially be on display in front of the whole of Parliament. While Luna knew firsthand how intelligent Fredrick was, as well as his impeccable sense of when to be serious versus lighthearted, she did not want to risk him saying anything offhanded that could potentially jeopardize their case. Fredrick often presented Luna with new ways to look at things in life, and many of their late-night conversations often delved into the realms of the deep and thought provoking… but he was also a specialist at making a complete ass out of himself, even inadvertently.

The awkwardness that permeated their early relationship was a testament to that. It did not matter in the end, though… right? However, Fredrick had a point in saying that it would make things quite a bit easier if everypony was on their side.

“You got it, Luna. I’d rather listen than speak right now anyway, if I’m being completely honest,” Fredrick admitted, adjusting his suit jacket around his tie.

Here’s hoping that Blueblood came through well enough.

“Your Highness,” Stella politely interrupted their exchange. “They’re waiting for you both in the chamber.” Luna angled her head gratefully at her newest honor guard before looking to Fredrick once more.

“Very well, then. Let us get this over with so we may have more time to relax with each other tonight,” Luna beckoned him onward, placing her arm around his waist and gesturing him forward.

“Oh trust me,” Fredrick replied, shooting a fleeting glance back at Stella. “I’m more than looking forward to tonight,” he said, doing well to ensure his tone of voice did not betray his internal knowing.

Fredrick angled his left fist backward and Stella quietly bumped it in a show of understanding, the two holding identical, playfully conniving smirks. Their little plan of a couple weeks prior was about to come to fruition, and the thestral mare had every bit of confidence that it would work flawlessly in Fredrick’s favor. In fact, said plan was already being put into action as they worked. Stella called in a few favors (and extortions) to get the whole setup ready while they were all in Parliament, a cadre of guards and other castle staff carrying out her orders. With the underlying theme of simplicity, she it would ensure ease of action, ease of success, and ease of eventual cleanup.

The sound of the idle chatter of a couple hundred members of Parliament echoed throughout the conference chamber, and while Fredrick was no stranger to being the center of attention, especially in Equestria, he took a tiny bit of an issue with being on display for all the country’s nobility and legislators, ones who would be instrumental in ensuring a comfortable, or not-so-comfortable existence going forward.

Then again, Fredrick had recalled many times that he had met with much of the nobility, and a fair amount of them were quite nice ponies, in his experience. Thus, he felt today could go solidly, assuming Blueblood made good on his words.

“Relax, Fredrick,” Luna cooed into his right ear as they approached the royal seating arrangements, having crossed the massive, circular floor. “All will be well.”

Fredrick responded with a warm smile and nodding in agreement, her words of encouragement helping to dispel much of his remnant apprehensiveness. As he ascended the small steps to their seats, he made eye-contact with a dress-clad Princess Celestia and the two shared friendly smirks and a couple of waves. What surprised him, though, was the pony sitting right on Celestia’s left: Twilight.

The unicorn smiled brightly and waved at the human, Fred reciprocating the gesture fully before he, too, took his seat on Luna’s right. Running a hand through his neatly-combed hair along the left parting line, he did one last ritual smoothing out of his suit before ensuring he was comfortable in his seat.

The shutting of the chamber doors by Stella and another royal guard signaled that all who had entered would be present. The batpony shot Fredrick an encouraging salute and a wink accross the floor while she took her position next to the entrance, immediately snapping to attention and donning a stoic, hardened gaze, much like a statue.

The entire chamber quieted down when Celestia raised her right hand, calling for silence. She then stood up tall and proudly.

“Good morning to all members who were able to make it… and it appears essentially all of you were,” Celestia greeted loudly and observed, directing her gaze around to gauge the turnout. “As you all know, this was an unplanned meeting of high importance which was called by none other than Princess Luna of Equestria. This session shall be relatively short, so without further ado, I hand the floor to my sister,” she gestured to Luna, promptly re-taking her seat as the midnight-blue alicorn stood on her hooves. A regal, stoic complexion donned her features, much as she was known for. Fredrick focused his attention on her, but could not help but let his eyes wander her shapely form within that gorgeous dress of hers.

Fredrick, now’s not the time to use that.

“Noble members of the Equestrian Parliament…” Luna began, using a low-grade of her royal voice to help project herself, letting her voice diffuse throughout the massive chamber in such a way that commanded reverence. “…I have called you all here to make an important announcement… for me, at least. It is an announcement I have little desire to make, however, pursuant to Article 23-2c of Regal Law under Equestrian Unification, I am encouraged to announce that I have taken a suitor.”

A few surprised whispers and mutterings suddenly broke out, and while a select few of the Parliament members seemed to know what was going on, most were quite confused… and the remaining were ecstatic to hear of the one who had taken the heart of Princess Luna. As for Fredrick, he did his best to keep a stoic face, facing forward and casually paying attention to the declaiming alicorn.

“As such, without wasting a single moment, I wish to announce to you and to all of Equestria that I am taking…” Luna then gestured her right hand over to Fred, and he had to ensure he kept his posture and composure when all eyes suddenly fell on him. “…Fredrick Himmelreich, my closest friend since my return, as my suitor. Actually, nay… as my coltfriend,” she punctuated to a chorus of gasps that sounded from seemingly the entire building. However, she was undeterred, and affixed Fred with a radiant yet equally warm smile, one that held naught but love. Her eyes and slightly relaxed posture conveyed the fact that she was relieved to have said her peace publically. Luna was happy not hide that anymore and, like she had said all those weeks ago, shout it to all of Equestria, regardless of who approved and who did not. In fact, the potential reactions she would receive concerned her very little.

Fred mirrored an equivalent sentiment, with a loving smile to boot, and the two were seemingly deaf to the commotion dying down entirely to the point of complete silence; nary a whisper to be heard.

“Ahem! If I may say something in response…” a rather old, white-haired unicorn stallion with what Fred would consider a generic ‘old man voice’ spoke up, breaking the silence’s stranglehold. He carefully smoothed out his suit as Luna and all others focused their attention on him. “… I say bra-vo! And it is about time!”

“Indeed!” A relatively young pegasus mare said and stood up with an approving grin. “I, for one, saw this coming as well, and was wondering when the inevitable would happen. Oh, I could not be happier for Her Highness!” she declared with giddiness.

“So the rumors were true…” a familiar Fancypants mused loudly as he, too, stood up tall. “I must admit I’m a little disappointed... that it took this long, Princess. But nevertheless, it is wonderful that somepony, even if he may not be of this country or even this world, has captured your heart so strongly. I wish nothing but the best for you,” he punctuated with a respectful bow.

Prince Blueblood stood up and cleared his throat.

“On behalf of myself and Lord Stratus who… is indisposed and not able to be here today, I applaud the decision wholeheartedly. Mister Himmelreich is a fine candidate for a royal coltfriend,” he praised genuinely, aiming a prideful glance at Fredrick in addition to an approving nod, though Fredrick knew that there was still (granted, barely noticeable) trademark contempt packaged with such a gesture.

“Lord Stratus would have wished me to convey his full support for such a declaration,” Blueblood added.

“You deserve nothing but the best for all you have done for Equestria!” Lord Cumulous added, though a tad stoically.

“AND he sure is a handsome one! Good on you, Princess!”

“Oh that old law? Rubbish. Date with whomever you wish, Your Highness!”

More and more members of the government began standing up and voicing unequivocal support for their relationship, and the beautiful feelings that welled up inside Luna could barely be contained. The smile that engraved itself onto her features, she could not hide, and she had to fight back the slightest mist in her eyes when suddenly, everypony in the room rose in rapturous applause.

This was certainly not how Luna, nor Fredrick, nor Celestia expected this to go. Hell, Twilight was absolutely floored at the reception. She knew well that not all the nobility nor high-ranking government officials were insufferable asshats, but she sure as hell expected some sort of opposition to materialize, given what Luna and Fredrick had conveyed to her in their concerns.

In the eyes of Fredrick, Luna, and Celestia, Blueblood had done an impeccable job, though the absence of a rather prominent figure of Parliament raised a few questions that they had no desire to find an answer for. Deep down, however, there was some degree of knowing. They just chose to ignore it.

“And in the wake of that announcement,” Celestia raised her voice to capture everypony’s attention once more; silence reigned again. “One of the ministers raised a wonderful point: that ancient law is just that: ancient. Archaic. Thus, to add to this wondrous moment for my sister, I wish to add one last thing… something that should have been done months ago, in my opinion.”

Celestia stood up fully and clapped her hands together excitedly while Luna, Fredrick, Twilight, and the others raised a collective eyebrow in anticipation.

“By royal, executive edict, I hereby decree that Article 23-2c is nullified. Any member of the royal family may consort with whomever they so desire without having to whisper a single detail to Parliament, nor anypony else! It is their business, and their business alone, as it should be for anypony in Equestria!”

“YES!” Twilight suddenly cried out gleefully, shattering her (normally) collected character to pieces. Luna and Fredrick were to follow, the former jumping the latter with a tight hug while the applause suddenly picked up. In the shadows of it all, Stella herself did not keep herself from participating, contributing to the thunderous clapping with a knowing smirk.

“Good on ya.”

There was then a series of careful knocks on the door that the batpony recognized immediately, and she creaked the door open, only to have her ear whispered into. She nodded appropriately.

“Now, if you all would kindly excuse me,” Luna said in her royal voice, shushing the noise. “I intend to finish my work for the day so I may spend time with my coltfriend. This meeting is dismissed!” she proclaimed before eagerly yanking Fredrick from his seat and dragging him towards the Parliament doors. She did stop, however, to shake a few hands of the more liberal ministers that hand intercepted her and, in that moment, Stella was able to grab Fred’s head and angle her muzzle towards his ear.

“Everything’s set up. Go get ‘er, mate.”

“You’re the best, Stella. I owe you big time,” Fredrick replied hastily yet gratefully, his hand and body still being dragged along by Luna.

“Aye. You fucking know it, cunt,” she added with a wink before releasing him to Luna’s clutches entirely, waving him off as he was dragged out of the Parliament building and back towards the castle.

The Lunar Princess glided along the castle corridors towards her office, her mind free from any care in the world after the short yet ultimately fulfilling meeting in the Parliament building. In hindsight, she realized there was absolutely nothing to worry about, and Blueblood, in the end pulled through marvelously. However, she was still shocked at how progressive and ultimately liberal some of the members were… but she had no reason to dwell on these things now.

Humming a happy tune, Luna greeted all passing castle staff as she made her way to her study. There were a few more princess-ly orders of business to take care of before Fredrick was to come by and meet her. The ultimate plan was to—once she finished a few reports and responded to a few joint-requests from Celestia—retire to her bedchambers and cuddle with Fredrick the rest of the evening. She had parted with her human significant other so he could change into more comfortable attire, and Luna herself could not banish the pleasant thought of getting out of her tight dress and into her baggy sleepwear… then refuse to let Fred out from her grasp.

Once her actual work was done, of course. Fredrick, as well, had to finish a few matters of archiving with Celestia.

Perhaps, even, some celebratory sex is in order…

Luna’s internal musings were interrupted when, upon entering the Lunar section of the castle, she found the oddest sight on the floor.

“Hmmm…?” she questioned as she stooped down to one knee, observing what looked like a bunch of flower petals in the middle of the wide corridor. Picking up one of the silky objects and examining it closer, she immediately recognized the deep, striking, blue gradient petal as belonging to the Night Lily, one of her absolute favorite flowers. Luna raised the right side of her mouth in a gentle smirk but her bemused expression returned when she saw that this was not an isolated ‘accident’; a trail of Night Lily petals led down the corridor.

“Peculiar…” she mumbled to herself. Luna stood up and glanced around her, seeing that there were, in fact, no guards nor anypony else of interest that could answer her questions. Sensing no ill intentions and having her own suspicions as to their origin, she opted to follow the trail of petals down the curiously abandoned hall, adopting a more formal posture with her hands behind her back.

The small trail laid out before her suddenly widened once she hung a left turn, finding the entire width of the large hallway littered with immaculate and properly-placed Night Lily petals. Again, there appeared to be nopony, not even a guard, here to witness this odd spectacle.

As if it was put together entirely for Luna.

The Princess continued to followed the mysterious trail-turned-floor of flower petals, but such a large spread soon began to trickle back into a small line… leading right to her office door and under it.

Somepony broke into my office. If this does not lead to something pleasantly surprising, that shall be a felony charge.

With a barely noticeable flick of her right index finger, Princess Luna magically unlocked her office door and cautiously opened it, allowing the light that naturally filled the room through little slits in the ceilings (acting as miniature skylights) to greet her entry. As expected, the trail of Night Lily petals continued on, but stopped right in front of her desk. Luna cocked her head and slowly advanced on her workspace with the slightest hint of trepidation in her steps, her metallic hoof-falls being the only sound that entered her perked ears.

At a first glance, her polished, ebony-wooden desk looked no different than it ordinarily was; the rigid order of her workspace an inanimate reflection of her personality. As Luna got closer, though, she was able to clearly make out something that was not there when she left this morning: a picture frame. Since her desk faced the door, it was facing away from her, obscuring its contents. That was easily remedied when Luna gingerly reached out and picked it up, turning the frame to face her.

Her eyes widened slightly and a faint gasp escaped from her lips when she saw the picture the aforementioned frame held.

Luna’s posture relaxed and she smirked widely, letting a gentle but pleasant warmth radiate from her chest to her entire body upon seeing the very photo Fredrick had taken of them both with his phone; the one from that particular night about three or four months prior on her balcony. Luna ran her thumb over the edges of the frame as she reminisced on that night, recalling how happy she felt to have someone like him as a friend (and now as a publically official coltfriend).

The sounds of distinct footsteps garnered Luna’s attention and she turned back towards the doorway, her complexion brightening even more when she found Fredrick, dressed a bit more casually (still immaculate) with his brown hair neatly combed as ever. What grabbed her attention the most, however, was the fact that the smiling human was holding a beautiful bouquet of intact Night Lilies.

“Fredrick?” Luna asked, barely above a whisper. Her wide, jovial complexion never left her as she gestured to the floor and out the door. “Was this all your doing?”

“I had a little help from a friend,” he confessed whimsically, closing the distance between them and presenting her the bouquet. Wordlessly, she accepted it and took a nice, deep whiff of the floral aroma she loved so much.

“They’re beautiful, Fredrick… even if you slaughtered hundreds of them just to give these to me,” Luna pointed out semi-sarcastically as she gesticulated to the massive amount of petals adorning her office floor and the corridor outside. Fredrick snorted and the two devolved into laughter, Luna placing the bouquet on her desk while they melded into each other’s embrace. Green eyes locked onto blues and their noses pressed cutely together.

“So… if you have time tonight, how does dinner sound? Just you and me. No disguises, nothing fancy. Just us in our element,” Fredrick so smoothly propositioned, running one of his hands through Luna’s ethereal mane and tracing lines on her scalp, enjoying the odd tingly feeling that bathed his skin whenever he did so.

“Dinner you say?” Luna coyly asked in return, holding her human that much closer. “I may have to shift a few things around but I think I can fit that in my schedule, coltfriend,” she playfully added, addressing him by his ‘official title.’ At that moment, Fredrick could not resist anymore; he absolutely had to kiss her.

So he did. He pressed his lips softly against hers, initiating a kiss that was chaste yet loaded with so much meaning and emotion. No longer did they have to censor any of their relationship without fear of any of their lives being made difficult, and the two unlikely lovers intended to take full advantage of that. Their lips melded together and faint, wet smacks were all that filtered into their ears… on top of a few, gentle moans and gasps for air, of course.

If only for the purpose of breathing, Luna and Fredrick separated, the tiniest strand of saliva continuing to connect their mouths.

“Retrieve me at five from my chambers?” Luna asked, tokenly confirming their outing.

“Awesome! I’ll pick you up then.”

Author's Notes:

Sorry this took so long. Life and stuff happens. Date was originally gonna be this chapter but I overestimated how much material I had for Part 23, so, by similar themes, it was moved to next chapter. Thus, Date Night and Grand Galloping Gala are up next! Oh, also, someone wants to say hi to you all:

"Heard you were lookin' for me, cunts!"

Done PERFECTLY by my good friend Pusspuss. I would trust no one else in bringing her to life. Here's the link to the picture in his DA, AND there's a nude version too. You can find it in his gallery or PM me for the link. Up to you. Again, sorry this took so long, and see you next time!