Chapter 24

Dave stood holding Celestia in his arms, her wings still wrapped around them both like a barrier to prevent any disruptions

Dave held Celestia as tight as he could, her flowing mane caressed his fingers as he held her close and she allowed her crown to fall from her head

Celestia reluctantly pulled her head away from Dave’s, she kept her lips close to his, their breaths being shared between them

“I’m sorry I ever doubted you” Celestia whispered “I promise to never leave your side”

Dave smiled happily “And I promise I will always be here for you”

Celestia’s horn glowed faintly as her royal attire was removed and she replaced her silver bracelet “What are you going to do today?”

Dave stroked the side of Celestia’s pure white face “I am going to stay with you all day… if you will have me”

Celestia held Dave even tighter “That would make me happier than ever before” She tilted her head away “Guard!”

A Pegasus guard stepped in and saluted with a grey hoof “Yes your majesty?”

“I don’t want to be disturbed for the entire day, I don’t care if Discord has escaped again” Celestia quickly returned her head to Dave “Understand?”

“Yes your majesty” the guard left the room and closed the door gently

Celestia smiled happily “So what should we do?”

Dave looked around the room, a grand bed sat in the middle of the room its covers were completely flat, everything was adorned in white or in the princess’s cutie mark

“Well what could we do in here?” Dave continued to look around the room

Celestia could not see much from her current position, “Well we do have a bed” She blushed heavily as she met Dave’s nervous smile

“I-I don’t know about that” Dave chuckled slightly with Celestia “I have never done that type of thing before”

Celestia buried her head in Dave’s shoulder “I know me neither, don’t know why I suggested it”

Dave looked at Celestia “Hang on, you are countless years old and you never… mated?”

Celestia blushed as she hugged Dave again “Well I have had a… colt in the past that I was fond of but… he wasn’t in the relationship for me, he was just after my title”

Dave kissed Celestia deeply “Well I am willing to wait a million years for you to be ready for that… type of stuff”

“Thank you” the white alicorn held her head gently beside Dave’s “Dave no offence but… you smell a bit”

Dave laughed as he released Celestia “Yeah well running from your army didn’t help much in the sweat department”

Celestia took Dave into the bathroom “Here is my bath, feel free”

Dave gawped at the small private swimming pool complete with miniature waterfall “How big do you want this?”

Celestia smiled “Well I like to clean my wings thoroughly before I go out into public”

Dave removed his clothes and carefully stepped down into the water, it came up to his chest at the shallow end of the pool

“Wow I would have thought this was for exercise not washing” Dave swam to the other end of the pool and dunked his head under, as he came up he wiped his face “Where is the shampoo?”

Celestia tapped the water “All included, specially engineered so the water provides the right mix for whoever steps in”

Dave swam under the waterfall and allowed the falling water to massage his back “Ohh this feels so good” he sighed happily as he rubbed his back

Celestia gently stepped into the pool, the water rose to the base of her neck as she floated behind the waterfall and began to rub Dave’s back for him

Dave let out a deep breath as Celestia massaged him perfectly “How are you that good?” he asked

“About eighty-six thousand years ago me and Luna both took massage classes” Celestia whispered into Dave’s ear “Don’t ask why”

Dave reached over his shoulder and grabbed one of Celestia’s hooves “I won’t don’t worry” He gently pulled the hoof forwards as he replaced Celestia “Now let’s see if beginners luck is any better”

Celestia giggled as she spread her wings out wide “I’m sure you will be fine”

“I’m gonna try and my best though” Dave gently began to massage the joins between Celestia’s back and her wings “You seem to be carrying a lot of tension”

“You can tell?” Celestia smiled at Dave through the veil of water “You just said you never did this before”

Celestia could make out Dave’s smile “I just thought it would seem more professional if I said some words that they do”

Celestia giggled, “Yes well I would certainly be happy having you as my personal masseur”

Dave began to rub around the princess’s neck “Masseur as well as boyfriend?”

Celestia allowed her head to hang as relaxation seemed to flow from Dave’s hands, his fingers working the stress out of her muscles “Don’t you mean coltfriend? Or very special somepony?”

Dave walked through the waterfall and hugged Celestia “We can work details out later”

Celestia tilted her head back and licked Dave’s cheek “Whatever you say”

Meanwhile…

Strong Shield walked along the corridors, unicorn servants were fixing the broken windows

“Has the wall been repaired?” Strong Shield asked the repairpony

“Oh yes sir” The servant bowed his head weakly “I am just finishing off this one and then everything is as good as new”

“Good to see you are ahead of schedule” Strong Shield bowed his own head in return as he continued down the corridor

Strong Shield walked down into the training grounds where Spitfire was supervising the assembly of the remaining launchers

“Hey Strong Shield” She said happily as she heard the guard approach

“Good morning Miss Spitfire” Strong Shield looked over the three launchers “Has the forth been placed on the balcony outside the guard watchtower?”

Spitfire giggled, “Wow you don’t take a break do you?”

Strong Shield did not share her happiness as he took a deep breath “No I do not”

Spitfire leaned against one of the launchers “I bet you’ve seen a lot of action haven’t you?”

“I’ve seen my fair share” Strong Shield didn’t attempted to turn his scared eye away “How do these launchers perform?”

Spitfire shrugged “They work alright” She turned back to the guard “SO what is the most dangerous situation you’ve gotten into?”

Strong Shield rolled his good eye “Miss Spitfire don’t you have practise with the rest of the wonderbolt team?”

Spitfire gasped, “You’re right” she pushed one of the launchers so it aimed over the castle “Do you mind?”

Strong Shield pushed his hoof down on the lever and the orange Pegasus was shot into the air, he watched as she glided effortlessly over the tall castle and flew towards the wonderbolt stadium

“Sergeant Strong Shield” A guard called as he saluted

Strong Shield walked over and repaid the salute “Yes guardsman?”

“Princess Celestia has ordered that she is not to be disturbed today under any circumstances” The guard kept his eyes strait as Strong Shield sighed

“Well then those are our orders” Strong Shield saluted “Anything important comes to me and I shall either deal with it or pass it on to the ponies who can”

“Yes Sergeant!” The guard saluted as he marched away

Strong Shield looked up at Celestia’s quarters, the curtains were closed and the sun shone brightly on the castle walls, his eyes were turned away as a familiar voice reached his ears

“Strong Shield!” A well-built white stallion with a blue mane trotted over, his white horn stuck out of his mane

Strong Shield saluted “Captain Shining Armour”

Shining laughed “I still have one day left on my honeymoon” Strong Shield lowered his hoof “I trust you have been keeping things going since I have been away”

Strong Shield nodded “The guards have been working efficiently and no problems have caused any harm” He raised his eyebrow “May I ask why you are back so soon?”

“We had a fantastic time in Haywaii but me and Cadence decided to come back a little early” Shining Armour tapped his sergeant on his shoulder “Give you some time to tell me if anything has happened that I should know about”

“I have already compiled a report for you and it is currently residing in my desk in my office” Strong Shield began to walk around the captain “I shall go retrieve it”

“I will read it tomorrow” Shining Armour gazed at the launchers before following the guard “For now I might just follow you to see how you have been running things”

Strong Shield sighed quietly “Yes Captain” inside Strong Shield felt slightly happy that is workload had just been considerably reduced

Meanwhile…

Dave dried himself on a warm towel before pulling his clothes on “So I take it you don’t want to be cooped up in here all day” he called through into the bedroom

“Not exactly” Celestia replied, “Is there anything you would like to do?”

Dave walked through into the bedroom “Is there anywhere outside which is private?”

Celestia trotted over to him and placed her hooves around Dave’s neck “Well the gardens are off-limits to everypony except the guards, Luna and I so we could go there”

Dave rubbed his nose against Celestia’s “Do you fancy strawberries and cream and maybe some ice-cream?”

Celestia smiled “Why of course” she led Dave out of the bedroom and towards the garden, they passed the kitchen on the way to order some treats

As they stepped into the garden the sun shone brightly in Dave’s eyes “Whoa, do you have to have it so bright?” he joked

Celestia bumped her head against Dave as the walked over to a tall tree and sat in the shade of its wide branches

A servant unicorn levitated over a large basket, placed it down next to Dave and bowed deeply to Celestia

“Thank you” She smiled as the servant trotted away “So Dave… how long do you live for?”

Dave’s eyes widened as he slowly turned his head to the alicorn “What kind of question is that?”

Celestia rested her head on Dave’s shoulders “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have asked”

Dave wrapped an arm around her “Well generally somewhere in the seventy to eighty region”

“I’m going to enjoy every year” She smiled as she sat next to him

“So am I” Dave smiled as he kissed her head “Strawberry?”

Celestia pulled away “Yes please”

Dave opened the basket and pulled out a bowl full of strawberries, he picked the largest one up and held it out to Celestia, she leaned over and bit the strawberry and the juices burst flavour into her mouth

“Thank you,” she said happily as she ate the rest of the sweet fruit, her horn glowed as she levitated one over to Dave’s mouth “One for you”

Dave smiled as he allowed Celestia to levitate the red treat between his teeth, he bit down on the berry and the explosion of taste exploded around his tongue

“Thank you” He said happily as he savoured the taste, Celestia leaned her back against the tree and Dave rested his head in her lap as he looked up at her “What did I do to deserve you?”

“Well I suppose it was the fact you treated me like somepony normal rather than a princess” Celestia smiled down as she stroked his brown hair “You were so… comfortable around me”

“Yeah the look on your face when I randomly kissed you on the cheek” Dave chuckled slightly as Celestia blushed

“Think yourself lucky” she teased him slightly “I don’t normally date outside my species”

Dave smiled at the joke “you don’t date at all”

“What is this then” Celestia raised an eyebrow at him playfully

“Well we could label it Interplanetary relations” He reached up and stroked the side of her face “But to be honest I think this isn’t exactly at the date phase is it?”

Celestia levitated the basket closer and pulled out an ice-cream “If I could marry you I would”

Dave chuckled “Aww I don’t get to be a prince or… king?”

Celestia shook her head after she had a lick of the small cone “we could do a ceremony similar to a wedding but I have to remain a princess” she shrugged slightly “Something me and Luna thought up around half a million years ago”

Dave blinked heavily “To protect from ponies just after the power?” Celestia nodded “And could you please stop adding dates to things?”

“Sorry” Celestia poked Dave’s nose into the ice cream, leaving a small spot of chocolate on the end “I don’t know what I was thinking”

Dave sat up slightly and Celestia licked the ice cream from his nose “Well maybe I will give you a tickle you will never forget”

Dave grabbed Celestia and began to tickle her furiously, she laughed loudly and Dave could not help but join in as they rolled over each other in Celestia’s attempt to free herself

As they rolled out of the shade and into the bright sunlight Dave stopped tickling and returned Celestia’s hug

They stopped rolling, the laughter still flying from the love struck couple, Dave was lying on top of Celestia and he pushed himself up

As he managed to stop laughing he looked down at the giggling alicorn, they made eye contact as they both calmed down, their faces moved towards each other as they began to kiss

Meanwhile…

“No sir there have been no problems that couldn’t be resolved” Strong Shield sighed as the happy Shining Armour followed him

“Are you sure? Most of the time there is always something happening somewhere” Shining Armour continued to follow the irritated Sergeant down the corridors

“There was an incident with a dragon a few days ago but that has been laid to rest,” Strong Shield continued along his normal patrol route “Sir I recommend you allow me to get the report for you”

“Well I can read it later” Shining Armour looked out one of the windows and towards the bright sun

Strong Shield looked back at the superior officer “Sir in my report it details a visit that is occurring today”

Shining caught up with Shield “Who is visiting?”

“Your sister Twilight Sparkle and her friends” Strong Shield smiled as Shining Armour burst into a wide grin

“Twiley is here? Take me to her” Shining Armour quickly hurried as Strong Shield began to lead him through a shortcut through the gardens

As the walked along the path they heard sudden loud, high-pitched noises, both the guards looked around as they walked

Strong Shield saw Dave and Celestia out of the corner of his eye “Hmm no disturbances” He muttered to himself, he quickly turned as he remembered who he was leading

Shining Armour saw Celestia being held down by a strange creature, the noises could easily have been hers “PRINCESS CELESTIA!” He called out as he fired an aimed bolt of magic at the creature

The creature looked up just in time to be blasted away from Celestia as Shining Armour ran over Strong Shield following slowly behind

Celestia sat up slightly to see Dave stop rolling, a few wisps of smoke floating from his chest “Dave?” she said weakly as he did not move

Strong Shield saw the fear written across Celestia’s face “Uh Oh” he sighed

Shining Armour rushed to his princess’s side “Are you hurt Princess Celestia?” he looked cautiously at the creature

Celestia got to her feet slowly “Dave?” she called again weakly

Shining Armour suddenly became the guard he was known for “Sergeant take the Princess to a more secure location and send reinforcements”

Strong Shield watched as Dave’s hand slowly clenched into a fist “Sir with respect I suggest that YOU get to a more secure location”

Celestia’s horn flowed furiously as she levitated Shining Armour into the air a few feet in front of her

“What do you think you are doing?” She growled as her face curled into a snarl

Shining Armour looked around confused “I-I’m protecting you” He gulped loudly as the princess took a menacing step towards him

“You have no idea what is about to happen to you if Dave is hurt” Celestia’s stare chilled Shining to his core

A hand gently rested on Celestia’s back “It’s ok Celestia, he made a mistake it happens to all of us” Dave stepped beside her

Celestia set the confused and scared unicorn down “I ordered for no disturbance”

Dave placed a hand under her chin and gently brought her gaze to his “Celestia I’m ok”

Celestia wrapped her hooves around Dave’s neck and buried he head into his chest “I was so frightened when you weren’t moving”

Dave heard her begin to cry as he stroked her mane “Shhh its ok” he reassured her

Strong Shield tapped Shining Armour on the shoulder and led him back inside “You just threw yourself into one of the most dangerous situations I have ever seen”

Shining Armour glanced back before looking at the scarred guard “What just happened and what was that thing?” he panted

“That was item one in the report” Strong Shield smiled slightly “That was Princess Celestia and her special somepony Dave”

“Dave?” Shining Armour gawped “Princess Celestia and… him?”

“Oh he is very capable” Strong Shield almost cracked a smile “You would benefit getting to be his friend like me”

Meanwhile…

Dave and Celestia both sat under the tree, holding each other tightly

“Well…” Dave sighed gently “I suppose I could expect that kind of treatment so long as I am human”

Celestia rubbed her head under Dave’s chin “I’m sorry I didn’t know he would be back today”

Dave smiled “I don’t mind, these things happen”

Celestia sighed as she kissed Dave’s neck “I will stop this happening ever again”

“Do you want to go back to your room?” Dave looked down at Celestia as she nodded gently

They stood up together and began to slowly walk back to the castle doors, Celestia wrapped a wing around Dave as they walked and brought him close to her, he responded by wrapping an arm around her neck and hugging gently