It had all come together so nicely—so indisputably perfectly that Fredrick wondered if he was in a movie… or some shitty romance novel of some kind that could be found on the deepest, darkest corners of the internet.

Hell, probably a fanfiction or some gay shit like that, he figured.

These thoughts were further affirmed when the last part of his grand master plan (of which the entirety was simply: hope that Stella didn’t remember her own goddamn birthday somehow) was actioned.

It was the culmination of a lot of sleuthing, and ultimately using what had become a subconscious ritual for Fredrick and his foul-mouthed batpony marefriend. Once things had quieted down for her at work, Fredrick had been able to resume ‘picking her up’ from the barracks… much like he enjoyed during the earlier days of their relationship.

From there, they would enjoy a stroll through the castle as they made their way back to Fredrick’s room or somewhere else once they figured out anything else they wanted to do—Stella would chat his ear off all the while.

Just as he preferred it.

What was different this time, was the final puzzle piece under the guise of routine… a little something that would catalyze a night that Fredrick hoped Stella would always remember fondly.

“By the way!” he interrupted one of her little stories.

Stella cocked her head at him—Fred wasn’t exactly one to rip her from her storytelling reverie over nothing.

“Eh?”

Incapable of suppressing his smugness of a thousand suns, he turned the handle to his room and threw open his door unceremoniously.

That’s when he gestured towards his perfectly made bed… of which on top of the comforter sat a single, small, hand-woven basket containing a multitude of little gifts.

“Happy Birthday, Stella!” he further exclaimed with a bright smile.

He pitied the fools who never got to enjoy the feelings of surprising their significant others so fabulously that it made an impression… a cute impression in that their eyes widened to anime-girl levels and their jaws dropped.

Fredrick lived for the shimmer and glint in Stella’s eyes when she was suddenly overcome with a wave of pleasant surprise and happiness… but he also lived for the Stella-esque additions to her basic emotions that truly set her apart from the rest.

She balled her right fist and punched the air indignantly.

“Fer FUCK’S sake!” she exclaimed, then turned to Fredrick with a disbelieving smile on her face once all the dots had connected in her pretty little head.

“Did… Did I really forget me own fuckin’ birthday? Are you serious?!”

Fredrick didn’t get a chance to answer that before Stella’s expression turned at an instant—she squee’d and threw her arms around Fredrick’s neck, and had thrown her entire weight onto him as she swung her legs excitedly.

“Thank you, love! Thank you so much! Somepony remembered~” she said, and Fredrick happily met her halfway for a kiss when she puckered her lips oh so expectantly.

He set her down back on her hooves and led her forward to his bed whilst he placed his hand lovingly onto the small of her back. Her toned midriff was completely exposed by her choice of the namesake, blood-red top—Fred never passed up the opportunity to run his fingers through her mouthwatering back-dimples like an X-Wing fingering a Death Star trench.

He leveled another kiss to her cheeks, much to Stella’s playful giggling.

“Mwah! Anything for you, my love! I got you some stuff I wanna give you!”

Though Stella bounced excitedly on her hooves in such a way that Fredrick was in danger of having heart problems… her stubbornness when it came to material affection he showed her was still as strong as ever.

“When’re ya gonna not get me shit on days like this, ya fuckin’ coat-less weapon? Seriously, you really don’t have to, Fred…”

Fredrick playfully rolled his eyes as he folded back the sleeves on his shirt. He flashed a lopsided, yet warm smirk at her.

“Oh I’m well aware that I don’t have to… I just don’t give a slow-roasted, honey-glazed shit, though. I want to. Besides! Consider it an extra token of appreciation for putting up with my own bullshittery on occasion,” he said, then quickly laid out all the things he got her in a little ensemble.

Such things included a large bottle of Northern Sapphire Cream Cutie, a custom-made sheath for her combat knife, and an entire tin full of white chocolate.

Fredrick then felt two arms snake around his front and pull him back into Stella’s embrace. His heart raced and he felt his cheeks color as Stella pressed her full chest and her right cheek into his back… and just held him where he was.

“Yer still too good tae me after all this time, lad. Ya know that? I love you…”

Again, Fredrick was sent blushing under Stella’s praise and her words, and he turned around in her grasp to fully embrace her in return.

“I love you too, babe,” he replied, then kissed her forehead and buried his face in her mane as she leaned against him.

Night Lily Conditioner. God that smells good…

“So goddamn much. I just want to make you happy,” he, continued speaking from the heart.

He heard Stella giggle all girly-like, and he peered down at her when she pulled away from him… only for the tip of his nose to be suddenly met with hers. He bit his lip and felt just the right of primal fear and excitement when she smiled devilishly at him in just that way he adored.

Stella lidded her eyes.

“Well lemme tell ye somethin’, cunt… yer sappy ass is doin’ one hell of a job at that,” she said, snagging her own lower lip with one of her fangs.

Fredrick knew that face from the moment the two of them started dating… that same face that served to drive him crazy in the best of ways throughout the tenure of their relationship. From his valuable experience over the last six months specifically, such a look from her was the harbinger of some very satisfying sex…

Imminently.

While Fredrick was always down to service and be serviced by his hot thestral marefriend, tonight was the one night where he knew that ain’t nobody got time for that.

Fredrick was barely able to voice any meaningful alternative to the implicit proposition before Stella smashed her lips against his. Any immediate thoughts of protest died in the back of his throat as his own mouth began to respond by virtue of instinct.

His eyes shut, and he wrapped his arms around Stella’s midsection.

Hmmm… a couple minutes of birthday make-out couldn’t hurt, right?

“Mmmmph…” he moaned when he felt Stella will apart his lips and slip her tongue into his mouth. There was no turning back from those expert lips of hers.

Stella was quick to reply with what Fredrick felt were her own intellectual thoughts on the matter:

“Mmhmmmm~…”

One thing that really did it for Fredrick was just how much raw emotion Stella had been putting into her kisses recently.

Ever since their rather explosive heart-to-heart over a week ago, this was one change that he noticed the day of… and thereafter since. While she was the unspoken master of initiating their lustful exchanges (Fredrick was slowly making sure it was becoming more equal, but Stella’s sex drive dwarfed his, which always impressed him), Fredrick felt that she was making a conscious effort to really highlight her love for him even in the smallest things…

…such as a simple kiss.

Fred never felt that Stella had ever denied him the physical or emotional intimacy that he as a man had sought… he always felt that she had shown it in her own special ways. She was making it plainly obvious now, and the fact that he could feel her genuineness through it all really sealed it for him.

They were in wonderful standing.

Fredrick let his hands fall to the bare portion of her back, again courtesy of her midriff top. He then slid both his palms under her garment, where he could run his fingers over her powerful back muscles and the base of her wings interwoven through her bra.

He felt—and heard—Stella purr at his ministrations, and she smiled against his lips (which made him smile even wider) while their tongues were firmly engaged in attrition warfare.

Fredrick took a deep breath and inhaled Stella’s familiar ‘scent’ as they continued to make out. She always had a way of intoxicating him, and that’s probably why he often agreed to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted.

However, his rational thoughts reorganized themselves when he felt Stella’s hand trace down his stomach… and then cup his crotch nice and firmly.

He opened his eyes wand was brought back to reality.

Now Stella, now’s not the time to use that…

Fredrick pulled away from a suddenly confused mare, even more so when he placed his hand on her wrist and gingerly moved her away from his stiffening bulge just in time.

“Hehe… as much as I’d love to sweep my bed clean and take you on it right now, there’s gonna be plenty of time for banging later…” he said.

Stella cutely shimmied on her hooves, and Fredrick almost faltered when she continued to level her lustful gaze onto him in any attempt to convince him otherwise.

“Oh come the fuck on lad… what the fuck’s more important than fucking me right the fuck now?!” she whined while her hands grasped the hem of her midriff.

Fredrick smugly smiled again, and as if right on cue, there was a firm knock at his door.

“Because, babe…” he said. “The night’s not exactly over yet…~”

He then called out past Stella and towards the door:

“Yes? Come in!”

His door unlatched and creaked open. A female Lunar Guard in full armor poked her head in.

“Mister Himmelreich, sir?” she addressed. “Your first guest has arrived!”

Fredrick beckoned inward, not paying any mind towards Stella’s completely confused expression.

“Thank you! By all means, let ‘em in as they get here!” he said, smiling.

The nameless guard nodded with her own smile and opened the door fully while gesturing inward to an unseen guest.

Fredrick already knew who was arriving first, so he only watched Stella raptly… and took great personal pleasure in seeing her face light up when Sveta swaggered through the door with the iconic Sabre smile and her luggage in tow.

“Sup, fuckers?” the younger Sabre sister greeted, throwing her arms open grandiosely and putting her outfit and personality on full display.

Fredrick nodded slowly, impressed. A plain-black tank-top and shorts looked amazing on her… simple, yet effective!

“SVETA?!” Stella excitedly exclaimed, all smiles and beaming eyes. “How the f—when-how—FREDRICK! What did you do?!”

Fredrick could practically feel his mouth rising vertically on his face because of how smug he was right now.

“Things,” he said. “And stuff. I told you the night wasn’t over yet!”

“Oi!” Sveta interrupted, tapping her hooves and cocking an eyebrow. “You cunts gonna say hi tae me properly or am I gonna stand here awkwardly like a flasher’s flaccid fuckin’ dick?”

Fredrick certainly didn’t need to be to be told twice. Neither did Stella apparently when she raced forward with another uncharacteristic ‘EEEE’ before jumping and embracing her taller, yet younger sister. It always cracked him up when she did emit such a foreign noise.

“Hah!” Sveta exclaimed, laughing as she set Stella back on her hooves. “Happy birthday, fuckin’ queerdo,” she added, then rustled Stella’s mane much to her immediate chagrin.

“Oi, fuckface! Don’t mess the mane up! Respect yer fuckin’ elders, ya manner-less cunt!” Stella shot back in a rather expected manner while fixing her mane and ponytail back up.

Sveta scoffed.

“‘Respect yer elders’ Bitch yer fuckin’ like three years older than me—eat my ass,” she said.

Fredrick stepped up to her and apparently Sveta didn’t need an invitation to throw her arms around his neck and plant a wet kiss on his cheek.

“Mwah! So good tae see you, Fred! Thanks so much fer bringin’ me out here!”

Fredrick beamed as he held her around the shoulder in a half-hug.

“Heh, no problem at all! How was the ride over? A-And guess the parents couldn’t make it?” he asked.

Stella cut in disbelievingly:

“You invited mum and dad out?!”

Sveta addressed him and Stella together:

“Train ride was good! Slept the entire way, though.

“And aye… conflicting plans, unfortunately. They wanted me tae thank you fer the offer though—meant a lot, mate. They’ll be out here in the near future tae see Stella so they wanna see you then,” she said.

Fredrick’s attention was beckoned to his right when Stella slunk under his other arm and gazed up at him lovingly… a gaze that he was more than willing to meet with equal lovingness.

“Hey, birthday girl,” he said, and kissed her on the forehead.

Sveta stuck a finger in her mouth and faux-gagged.

“Ugh… GAAAAAAY!”

“You wish you were gay with us!” Stella retorted.

Fredrick chuckled at the fifth-grade-level banter but the humor was cut short when there was yet another knock at his door.

Stella was first to react:

“Wait… what? Are—are there more ponies!?”

Fredrick flashed her a creepy face.

“Maaaaaaaybeeee~?”

He then called out to the door:

“Come on in!”

The same guard poked her head in.

“Your next guest has arrived, sir,” the guardsmare said while simultaneously pushing his door inward.

In walked a familiar batpony mare with a naturally, yet familiar stoic aura as well as a forward-swept, crimson mane. It went quite well with the red and black flannel shirt she had underneath her leather jacket. A nice pair of jeans complemented a much more casual look for a mare that—in Fredrick’s humble opinion—always radiated authority and commanded respect.

It would make sense… she was a cop, after all. One of Canterlot’s finest.

Fredrick smiled widely at one of Stella’s friends whom he was fond of, and then gestured widely.

“Highground!” he greeted as the newcomer took easy, controlled steps towards them with hands in her pockets.

She confidently smirked right back at him.

“Hey! How’s it going?” she replied.

“Welcome to my humble abode!” Fred added

Stella was also quick to greet with no small measure of increasing joy mixed with surprise.

“Fuckin… Highground?! What the fuck?! Fredrick! Did you reach out tae all me friends?!” Stella looked to him for answers.

Though… her mounting shock was still somewhat betrayed by her equally mounting happiness, even when she moved to embrace Highground.

“Sort of…” Highground said with no attempt to veil her cryptic tone whilst hugging Stella.

She smirked fondly at the younger batpony.

“Happy birthday, kid. It’s been a while,” she said.

As Fredrick had expected from a mile away, Stella immediately took issue with that. She promptly sent her reply back via first-class shipping in banter:

“Oi mate, who the fuck’re you callin’ ‘kid?!’ Ya hyper well-done slab of beef curtains?”

Fredrick couldn’t hold back his maniacal cackling that erupted from his chest. Sveta was quick to follow suit, though much more leveled. Highground, to her credit, also busted out laughing jovially.

“Hah! Oh shit I’m gonna have to remember that one. Reminds me again that it’s been more than a hot minute since we’ve gotten a drink…” Highground mused.

Sveta’s voice entered into the conversation from over Fredrick’s shoulder, and he stepped aside so the younger Sabre could mosey on in.

“Good tae fuckin’ see ya again, Highground!” she greeted, and the two thestrals firmly shook hands with toothy smiles.

“Right back at ya, Sveta! Let’s make sure to catch up later somewhat, alright? Gotta tell me how college is going.”

Sveta shot her a lone finger-gun.

“Aye!”

Stella’s voice interjected again at the mention of ‘later’:

“Whoa… Later? What the fuck’s planned tonight, Fredrick?” Stella asked him with her dimple-laden smile that hadn’t quit since he brought her into his room this evening.

The four of them naturally gravitated into a square, and Highground cleared her throat… apparently, she was more than willing to explain what was going down. Fredrick figured that he’d let the older thestral have the stage to explain the grand master plan that she played no small part in.

“So, Stella…” Highground began, which earned Fredrick a curious, excited glance from the mare in question before she turned to her friend.

“You’ve been working way too goddamn hard for your own good. Fredrick wanted to do something special for you for your birthday, so he reached out to me for any ideas. That’s when I suggested something you had been wanting to do for a while…”

She smiled her own fangy smile.

“A bar crawl.”

Fredrick watched as Stella’s eyes just glinted with joy.

“N-No fuckin’ way … really?!” she asked, and that extra upward, squeaky, hopeful inflection of her words nearly—again—melted Fred’s heart.

Oh yeah… you dun’ gud.

“You know it!” Fredrick said. “Figured it’d be fun to visit three places that you’ve… ‘expressed interest’ in, but never been able to go.”

Highground cut in again:

“He also wanted to treat you and a few friends to a fun night doing something you love. So, aside from me, he invited Sveta which was an obvious choice.”

Then, she shrugged knowingly.

“I told him to let me handle the rest, and that I’d get a couple more ponies together…~” she teased.

Stella stopped her there:

“Wait… there’s more ponies coming?”

“Knock Knock!”

Fredrick knowingly angled his face towards his door at the sudden intrusion of a distinctly Slavic accent. That’s when he (and everypony else, really) spied the newest addition to the group as planned: the over-six-foot, copper-coated batpony mare that had so made an impression on him with her drop-dead gorgeous looks, an imposing personality, and markedly aggressive flirting style.

“Midnight Song!” Stella exclaimed brightly. “The Romaneian cocksleeve herself graces our presence! Holy shit!”

Midnight giggled as she stepped forward to join the group.

“Always happy to celebrate the birthday of the cutest, angriest, and smallest batpony in the Guard,” she calmly replied, patting Stella on the head after the two shared a firm handshake.

Fredrick giggled behind his hand as he saw Stella sizzle a bit under Midnight’s gesture, though this was to be expected—the two had a ‘friendly rivalry,’ and despite how Stella would act towards her, he was happy to learn that the two of them were actually pretty decent friends. Hence, he invited her out.

And from the looks of it, she was rearing to go, if her interesting attire consisting of a lovely-fitting white tank-top, camo shorts, and combat boots were anything to go by.

As Fredrick stood off to the side so some ponies in the small group could get acquainted with each other, he had to do some mental comparisons by virtue of being a man. Sveta still had the absolute competitive edge in the chest department even though Midnight joined them (not that the latter was particularly lacking here).

Though… perhaps even Midnight herself had similar thoughts when Sveta stepped forward to introduce herself.

It was immediately apparent—before words were exchanged—that the two had met each other for the first time.

“Get the fuck outta here… You’re the Midnight Song? Shit, Stella wasn’t fuckin’ jokin’! Yer an absolute unit!” Sveta said whilst producing her hand for a proper shake.

“Sveta Sabre. Good tae finally meet ya, lass!”

Fredrick observed as Midnight happily took Sveta’s hand in hers for a proper introduction—something that was completely expected from his point of view. What he didn’t expect was Midnight very conspicuously tracing her eyes up and down the younger Sabre sister’s figure all the while…

…and her eyes lit up like goddamn dried brush in California on a windy summer day.

Midnight bit her lip.

Fredrick knew he was about to witness something glorious happening in real time.

Oh… oh no…

“I’d recognize that smile, that accent, and that poise anywhere… though there’s two cute things I don’t recognize, that’s for sure…~” she said, punctuating with a less-than-subtle purr.

She made that allusion while plainly staring down Sveta’s top.

Fredrick tried to stymie his laughter. He tried with every fiber in his being to hold back a torrent of guffaws that was at the gates of his mouth like the Germans at Stalingrad.

But goddamnit. The healthy concoction of surprise, confusion, and embarrassment suddenly plastered on Sveta’s teal face… on top of Stella just completely forsaking her sister and unabashedly losing her shit had broken Fredrick entirely.

Midnight giggled evilly at Sveta’s reaction, which was clearly part of her master plan. Even Highground wasn’t completely immune, though to her credit she was the most mature out of the lot of them—Fredrick conceded that fully. She, too, had to fold her lips under her teeth lest she save face around everypony.

Sveta cleared her throat with an awkward chuckle.

“A-Aye… you’re definitely how Stella told me about you, mate,” she said.

Midnight flashed her a coy smile.

“And I hope Stella’s told you everything about me...~” she replied with no veil to her questionable prodding.

Fredrick wasn’t sure if he ever saw Sveta gulp nervously since he met her. But thankfully, Stella intervened and forcefully separated their hands before giving the much taller thestral a quick PSA:

“Heh. Not in yer life, Mid’. She’s straighter than a fuckin’ geometric line in the dead of winter, lass.”

Midnight cocked her head with a rather poignant incredulity—unimpressed.

“Oh please Stella…” she said, then let her impropriety shine through once more. “Noodles are straight until you get them all hot and wet… and then start eating them…

“Besides! You know everypony’s… Songsexual~,” she further punctuated with a purr and an annoyingly coy smile.

Fredrick couldn’t take that dumb play on her last name. Nope. Not one bit, and it seemed like no one else could either, if the resounding groans of increasing discomfort were anything to go by.

Fredrick ran a hand down his face.

“Oh Jesus Christ…”

Stella mirrored him completely, and from the sounds of it, Fredrick figured this may have been a regular occurrence.

“Fuckin’… Midnight I swear tae fuck if ya say that retarded shit one more time tonight I’ll fuckin’ look up yer family name, find yer mum, and shag ‘er with both me fists—five in the pink, five in the stink,” Stella threatened.

Midnight crossed her arms under her chest.

“Don’t threaten my mom with a good time! Besides… not like you could handle her anyway, little filly. You can barely handle me,” she said.

Highground spoke up with a rather astute observation:

“That’s like, more than a proportional amount of sexual innuendos just from you tonight in like… the past three minutes. You gonna keep at it?”

“Maybeee~…”

“Yes,” Stella answered Highground straightforwardly. “She absolutely, one-hundred percent is going to make shite innuendos all fuckin’ night. Now…”

Fredrick locked eyes with her as she turned back towards him.

“We’re expectin’ what… one more maybe? I think?” she asked.

Fredrick smiled and nodded once.

“Yup! Just one, babe—figured that would round us out nicely for the night. And I think she should be arriving any minu—”

“Hallo?”

Fredrick did not recognize the foreign, indisputably Germanic-sounding voice in the slightest, and looked to Highground for confirmation… a confirmation he received when she smirked back at him and nodded once, deeply.

She called over her shoulder:

“Come on in, Schnee!”

Everyone turned towards the door, but Fredrick was quite surprised at who had already entered his room’s threshold.

Besides inviting Sveta and Highground herself, the police-mare had suggested that Midnight come along… as well as another good friend of Stella’s that the guardsmare hadn’t seen in a long while—Schneeblume.

Fredrick had never met this mare before, though he had heard some passive mention of her through Stella. She often stopped by her place when she accompanied Princess Luna on royal business trips to Ponyville. From what he gathered and what Highground had explained to him, Stella and Schnee met on the off chance, but had immediately become great friends thereafter.

What Stella had also mentioned vaguely in passing conversation—and what Highground explained in detail—was that this Schneeblume was a recently-former, elite soldier that had seen years of active combat in what this world’s version of the Great War was. She was a grizzled veteran of most of her nation’s campaigns and was on a loooong path of healing… physically and psychologically.

Based on all of this information shared with him, Fredrick had certain… preconceptions as to who he was expecting to walk through his door. Hell, somepony fitting Midnight’s build with many more physical scars, coupled with the natural, resting stoicism of Highground fit this image pretty accurately in his mind.

That’s not who walked through his door.

That’s not who Fred saw literally skipping forward excitedly on every hoofstep she took, making the skirt of her flower-patterned, bright-pink summer dress flutter in an artificial breeze.

But perhaps most importantly, that was not the mare he envisioned when he quickly noticed how pristine, porcelain-white her blemish-free coat was… on top of how ‘smol’ she was. Having now just seen her in the flesh, Fredrick swore that she could not have been taller than five-foot-two.

This perfect-complexioned, brightly smiling, jet-black and straight-maned mare was the actual combat soldier of the servicemares here?

And good lord… those abyssal lavender eyes were gorgeous.

Huh… funny how that works out.

Stella ripped straight through Fredrick’s million-mile-an-hour thought process, and squealed in barely bridled excitement all the while:

“SCHNEEEEEEEEEE!!”

Stella broke from the group and wrapped the smol mare in what looked like a crushing hug… and a small pang of concern washed over Fredrick when he silently hoped that Stella didn’t break the poor girl. Though, when the newcomer only glowed and laughed heartily at the gesture—even reciprocated it—Fred knew that all was right with the world.

The entire group shifted over a couple of paces to merge Schnee with them, as well as do the usual meet-and-greet that had been taking place thus far.

Stella pulled back and took a good look at the mare in front of her, beaming all the while.

“Goddamn I’ve missed you, filly! It’s been way too goddamn long!”

Schneeblume giggled all bubbly-like and smiled all the same.

“So wonderful to see you, too, Meine Liebe!” she said, her German accent thick yet her words as coherent as they could be. “And the happiest of birthdays to you!”

Stella smirked.

“Oh lemme tell ye… it’s definitely gearing up tae be one of me best birthdays yet!” she said, and then gestured towards Fredrick as he observed from just next to her.

“And it looks like it’s mainly thanks tae this loveable dickhead of a coltfriend—and Highground—who invited and helped coordinate everythin’, innit?”

Schnee smiled up at him brightly.

“Ah! So you are the one who had the idea to gather everypony… and you’re her coltfriend? I definitely don’t believe we’ve met!” she said, stepping forward and offering her right hand to him.

She, again, beamed excitedly.

“I’m Schneeblume!”

Fredrick noticed over the next milliseconds that what Highground had warned him about earlier was indeed true—Schneeblume’s hand and forearm were not coat and skin. Instead, they were beautifully polished ceramic—a souvenir from the war. There was a bit of an addition with what looked like professionally painted flowers and vines crisscrossing around it… almost like a tattoo sleeve.

Her fingers had proper digits that appeared to be able to move somewhat, which also confirmed to Fredrick that prosthetics in this world likely had magical or cybernetic enhancements. This fact wasn’t exactly something he was dying to know about but was of interesting note, nonetheless.

Huh… neat!

But my GOD she’s cute…

Judging by the rough and tumble display that Stella showed when greeting her—as well as the rather obvious history here—Fredrick’s internal concerns were smoothed over.

He grasped Schnee’s ceramic hand, and right away felt the stark difference between holding anypony’s hand versus the cool, somewhat more emotionless feel of the ceramic. It was also a slight trip feeling the identically ceramic appendages of her smol fingers curl over his hand.

This mare was a marvel to him already—and he was literally just meeting her. Fred mirrored her smile as he shook her hand.

“Fredrick. So great to finally meet you, too, Miss Snowflower!” he said, and smirked knowingly at understanding the English meaning of her name.

Schnee giggled at the mention, and Fredrick added:

“I’ve heard so much about you from Stella and Highground here,” he said.

She playfully rolled her eyes and angled them at Stella, who shrugged oh-so innocently at her.

“What?” Stella dared to ask rhetorically. “Yer fuckin’ awesome, lass! Of course I’m gonna tell ponies as such!”

Schneeblume smirked, shaking her head all the while. It was obvious that Schnee had just… accepted the hyping up that Stella and others had done on her behalf. This likely had gone on for however long they’d known each other.

“You really over-play me, you know that? Wait… is that a word? Over-play?” she wondered aloud, cocking her head.

She looked back up at Fredrick, nonetheless.

“Do not listen to them—they know not a damn thing they’re talking about,” she added, winking teasingly at Stella with an open-mouthed smile.

Fredrick chuckled as others began introducing themselves to Schnee. Being able to finally get a decent look at all of her told Fredrick everything he needed to know… Namely, that despite this mare’s petite form, she certainly had the visible muscle sculpting on her back and arms that he would expect from a soldier of her purported caliber.

All in all, he was again hit by the same observation he’d been having for the last minute or so:

What a goddamn cutie patootie. Fuck. That shouldn’t happen. That’s illegal.

Apparently during this whole introductory period, Fredrick again did not appear to be the only one who harbored that sentiment.

Midnight had stepped forward for her turn at meeting Schneeblume properly. The readily apparent size difference between the two of these mares was comical. Even so, Midnight had approached Schneeblume with the same, questionably serious lascivious aura that she proudly put on public display.

“Well… hello there, Miss Schnee. I’m Midnight!”

Schneeblume looked up at her brightly and met Midnight’s hand with her much smaller, ceramic hand. Even then, the size-difference was still absurd as Midnight’s hand practically enveloped the smaller mare’s.

“And I’m indeed Schnee! Lovely to meet you!”

What wasn’t expected at all, however, was when Midnight yelped profanities and shook her own hand out once she and Schnee separated fully.

The smaller mare spoke up, giggling:

“You’ve got a very firm handshake. I like it!” she said, knowingly flexing the digits of her prosthetic.

Stella cackled evilly.

“Mate, I’m honestly surprise you haven’t fuckin’ broken anypony’s hands with that absolute weapon you’ve got there,” she mentioned.

“There’ve been some… times where I was actually afraid I did just that…” Schneeblume was quick to sheepishly admit.

Stella wasn’t buying it one bit.

“Oh fuck off, Schnee… you know exactly what yer doin’, aye?” she prodded, nudging her friend’s shoulder, which elicited more than a visible blush and chuckle.

“Hush, you!”

Midnight was obviously struck at that, but was also quick to come back with what everyone in the room was thinking loudly in their heads:

“Can I just say, Schnee, that you’re way too much of a cutie for your own good?”

Fredrick glanced over at Stella, who glanced back at him in kind. In a massive, silent conversation that they decided to have that spanned fractions of a second, Fredrick cocked his eyebrow questioningly at her. Stella responded by raising both her brows knowingly.

Fredrick shrugged.

Tonight’s gonna be… interesting. I can already feel it in my bones.

All the while, Schnee’s porcelain-colored coat and skin allowed everypony to see the deeeeeeeeep blush suddenly fill her cheeks and face at Midnight’s comment. She averted her entire body language away while she babbled and giggled way-too girly like.

Fredrick widened his eyes and clutched his chest at the thought of possibly getting heart disease from the sight—Sveta seemed to notice this, and she could barely contain her own laughter at Fredrick’s expense.

“D-Danke sehr…~” Schneeblume uttered out meekly in her own language.

Fredrick saw Midnight flash her fangs victoriously.

Now that everypony was here though, Fredrick figured it was time to reveal the master plan for the night and then get everypony herded and over to their first destination.

He cleared his throat and earned everyone’s attention.

“Alriiiight, everypony!” he began a little louder than usual and successfully quieted everyone down.

Fredrick clapped his hands together and smiled brightly.

“So! Since everyone’s here, I thought I’d give y’all a quick rundown of the plan tonight… which, by the way, is to make sure Stella here gets to completely unwind and have an easy night in her busy life.”

He then angled his face to Stella smugly.

“Happy birthday again, babe,” he said, and garnered a mildly reticent laugh.

“Heh… thanks, love,” she replied.

“So, we’re going bar crawling tonight! Specifically, we’re gonna hit up three places one after the other that Stella’s wanted to try but never got around to,” he elaborated to brightening faces.

In reality, those whom he had invited were already aware of the plan. It was Stella that was still completely in the dark about it all. Naturally, Stella’s eyes were progressively widening and brightly reflecting all the light in the room as Fredrick continued onward.

“First,” he said and held his thumb up. “We’re gonna hit up ‘Steel Talon’ and pregame with food and light drinks. This will make sure that when we get plastered, we’ll at least get enjoy the way there with stomachs…”

Stella pumped her fist in the air.

“FUCK. YES!! THANK YOU! Always wanted tae go try that shit out!” she exclaimed, then bounced up and down on her hooves.

Highground raised her hand.

“Except for me, though… I’ll be staying completely sober tonight,” she noted.

Sveta scoffed.

“Pfft… look at you bein’ all fuckin’ responsible and stuff, aye?”

The older policemare shrugged.

“Hey, somepony’s gotta make sure you guys enjoy your drunken shenanigans safely and without any serious regrets in the morning. Since I’m the only one in this room that’s actually been a parent to an upstanding daughter, I don’t mind playing mom again for you five retards,” Highground said.

She then leaned over to Schneeblume.

“No offense, Schnee. Easier to just assume the worst when ponies get really drunk in groups… and I have way too much goddamn experience with Stella.”

Schnee waved her hand dismissively.

“None taken at all! Nopony here’s seen me drunk yet but I can get pretty erm… retarded myself with enough alcohol…” she said.

“How is Tavi, by the way?” Stella asked.

“She’s doing really well! Thanks for asking, girl!”

Midnight purred approvingly.

“Mmmm… don’t punish me too harshly, Mommy,” she added, which earned her a deadpan from the scarlet-maned cop.

Fredrick wisely figured not to address Middy’s words, and instead pointed and winked at Highground approvingly.

“You’ll be the real MVP tonight. Remind me to thank you properly over some food of your choice at a later date,” he added, then decided to move right along.

“Second,” Fred said, and held up his index finger with his thumb. “We’re gonna mosey on down to ‘Echo’s Bizarre Adventure’ for some good drinking. We’ll take a long way over to make sure that we can digest properly—I fully expect most of us to get drunk here.”

Fredrick looked to Highground knowingly.

“Except you, of course,” he said.

Stella looked like she was going to explode in her hooves like a high-octane ball of Northern Thestral that would put most bombs to shame—she was practically salivating at the experience, which further encouraged Fredrick onward.

“And then finally we’ll end up at The Library—that one place where they have all the literal lounge spaces with couches, beanbags, chairs… the whole shebang,” he announced.

Midnight certainly seemed content with that.

“AHHH! Nice!”

“I figured that’d be the perfect place to wind down at. We can veg out, hydrate, and anyone who wants can continue some light drinking if you haven’t pickled your livers by that point.

“Oh! And there’s also karaoke there! So, feel free do that—inebriation be damned,” Fredrick added.

Sveta suddenly appeared way too excited for her own good, but Stella showed equal enthusiasm at the mention.

“Well fuck me, then… I call the mic first!” the younger Sabre exclaimed.

Stella nodded once.

“Aye… I might as well give it a go an’ get the full fuckin’ experience of the place!” she said.

Midnight waded her way into the conversation in her own manner:

“Me too! How ‘bout a… three-way?” she so overtly suggested.

Another groan fell over the group.

“Trio… a fuckin’ trio, ya horny cunt,” Stella so dutifully informed.

Fredrick spared a glance at Schnee, half expecting her to look horrified at the exchange… but in fact she was jovially laughing along. Perhaps his internal instincts to subconsciously look after someone so smol were overriding his rational thought.

But just like with her story, she continued to surprise him… and everypony else when she added with no attempt to veil her words:

“Ja! Then you three better make room in that circle-rub of yours around that big mic… because I’ll join in for a foursome!”

“PFFFT!” Fredrick slapped a hand to his mouth. He couldn’t handle this right now.

What the FUCK?!

Stella jokingly admonished Schneeblume whilst barely containing her own laughter:

“Schnee! Don’t fuckin’ encourage her, mate!”

Midnight seemed to welcome Schnee’s unexpected foray into the field of innuendos that no one needed, deserved, nor asked for.

“Hmmm… Then I’ll make sure you and I get to tag-team that mic then…~”

“Sehr gut! I’ll take the tip, you take the base, ja?”

Sveta buried her face in her hands as Midnight and Schnee giggled evilly to one another. Her sentiment echoed everypony else’s, including Fredrick’s.

“Oh fuuuuck me…” she squeaked out.

“That can be very easily arranged, honey~,” Midnight quipped.

“Filly, can you don’t… ya fuckin’ gangrenous urethra,” Stella said, butchering her own sentence for added affect.

Highground was a passive observer. Sveta had no fighting experience that he knew of. Stella wasn’t physically large enough to choke out Midnight with any guarantee of success. And the only pony (despite her size) that was more than capable of stopping the constant salvos of terrible sexual imagery—Schnee—was not helping in the slightest.

Fredrick decided to intervene for everypony’s sanity, as well as so they might be on their way sometime tonight.

“OKAY THEN!” he shouted, earning everyone’s attention at an instant.

He twirled his right arm once and ended by pointing directly at his door.

“I think it’s time we get the fuck outta here and get Stella’s birthday night started! Don’t know ‘bout y’all, but I’m starting to get kinda hungry…”

Highround gestured open-palmed towards the door.

“Sounds good to me. Shall we, guys?” she said, already leading the way towards the exit. Fredrick was not far behind.

“Aye! Let’s get fuckin’ gashed, tonight!” Stella agreed wholeheartedly.

Fredrick’s right side instantly became refuge to Stella’s person, and took zero qualm with linking his arm with hers. He smiled down at Stella, who radiated happiness and excitedness right back at him with that fangy smile of hers.

That’s also when the remaining thee else added their own, collective symphony of agreements with Highground as they coalesced around the two of them.

“Shit yeah, let’s go, cunts!”

“Hehehe, can’t wait for later already~!”

“Yes! Los gehts!”

And as Fredrick strode past his open doors and out into the castle proper, he couldn’t help but take stock of things… Most notably his mare in his hold, and being ‘escorted’ by four other pretty mares in a night of questionable decision-making that would presumably end with some measure of a hangover tomorrow.

He let a lopsided smile overtake his face again as his attention was focused forward. The white noise of vivid, energetic conversation between Stella and everypony else served to further center his mind and mentally plan for the evening ahead.

Oh yeah… it’s all coming together.

The night's just gonna be a normal night with dinner and drinks with friends. Absolutely nothing weird is gonna happen. Nope. Not at all. Why would you get that idea?

As always, a huge thank you to Enigmatic Otaku and Ausbrony for their permission to use their OCs Highground and Midnight Song!