Fredrick stood on the edge, staring down at his fate.

But not in the ‘counting down the seconds to his self-demise because a camgirl did not announce his name over stream after a ridiculous donation,’ sense. It was more of an ‘I’m on the precipice of shitting myself because I’m about to propose to a girl who already loves me dearly and wants to marry me’ sense…

…or something like that.

He had already power walked through the corridors of the castle, strode through the seemingly endless sea of green that was the Northern Courtyard… and now there he stood at the edge of what he had come to know fondly as ‘The Great Stairway to Hell.’ Not that it actually led to the abyss or anything, but that whatever he was going to be privy to going down that set of stairs would be living hell for the soldiers involved.

And lord knows what it held in store for him… hopefully something good as it was oft to do.

Hell, down at the Battle Circle was the site where Fredrick asked Stella back to his room for their first pseudo-date—the next big step in their relationship, as it were. He was not blind to the irony that this would hold an even greater step for them.

“OOOOOIIII! DICKHEAAAAD!” Fredrick heard a far-off, familiar voice rip through his reverie.

Blinking his head clear, he glanced down towards the bottom of the stairway and, just in front of the small crowd of troops gathered around the Battle Circle, a lone, feminine-looking figure stood. She was practically t-posing at him.

“THE SHOW’S MUCH BETTER DOWN ‘ERE, MATE! GET THE FUCK DOWN HERE BEFORE I COME UP THERE AND PULL YE DOWN BY YER RIGHT BOLLOCK YA FUCKIN’ CHEEKY, COMBED-HAIRED, FUCK, SLIM CUNT HUMAN WANKER!”

Fredrick laughed heartily. Some things never really changed, and he hoped they never would.

He yelled back as he started down the stairs.

“YEAH, YEAH… I’M COMIN’.”

“YE ALWAYS DO AT NIGHT, LOVERCOLT! NOW GET DOWN HERE AND GRAB FRONT ROW SEATS, YA TWAT, OR I’LL SIT ON YER FACE!”

Fredrick shrugged, shaking his head in joking misunderstanding.

“THAT’S—THAT’S NOT HOW IT WORKS, WOMAN! YOU CAN’T THREATEN ME WITH A BETTER TIME!”

“BET, CUNT!”

Fredrick smirked down at her—well, what he could make out of her from the top of the massive stairway. She had just leveled at him an incomprehensible amalgamation of random insults and swear words, and another pejorative with a sexual innuendo as an acting conjunction.

Stella was definitely in extremely high spirits today, but then again, this tended to be the norm on almost all days aside from some notable exceptions. Even so, he couldn’t help but wonder if her mood today was partly as a result of some pre-meditated plans?

Only time would tell.

Two could play at that game… or technically, one could play at that game where it was debatable whether the other player was actually playing or not. And if the other player was, in fact, playing, he didn’t want to get caught with his flaccid dick out.

His thoughts digressed.

Fredrick sailed down the stairs at a comfortable pace after giving Stella a thumbs-up. He could’ve probably gone faster, but he wanted to make sure that the precious cargo he was carrying in his pockets didn’t spill out like spaghetti on the ground… especially the dagger, which was still concealed.

His already bright, eager demeanor continued to lighten when Stella came further into view—even more so when she moved to intercept him at the bottom of the stairs. That familiar lightness in his core… the one that elevated him to such heights of happiness, had not diminished in the slightest since the day they became friends. And from all the shenanigans and adventures since then, that feeling within him had only gotten stronger.

Here was to hoping that feeling, directly correlated with the bond they shared, would become unbreakable.

The animal part of his brain dictated that Fredrick slide down the railing for the last flight, which was executed successfully without dropping any precious cargo. Just as he had seen coming, Stella was waiting for him right at the bottom with open arms…

…and by ‘open arms’ he meant ‘she just threw himself onto him with zero regard for his preparedness.’

Though Fredrick did have to admit… she looked hot in her captain’s uniform: a dark gray with a few blood-red accents on her lapels, pockets, as well as an identically colored dress shirt. Combined with her having forewent the visor-cap, and all further complemented by those golden eyes, that smile and that ponytail on display…

…just… MMMMPH!

“Hey babe!” Fredrick beamed as he embraced her tightly to him by the waist.

Her response was not immediately forthcoming, aside from an exaggerated kiss on his lips… and then subtly biting her lip when she separated from him.

“Evenin’, love!” she replied, and then began taking him by the hands towards the Battle Circle.

“Thanks fer makin’ it out on such short notice! I know ye like tae have yer personal wanking hours but with Sveta and the lasses all here…” she hinted, and Fredrick smiled excitedly as he fell into step with his suited-up mare.

Now he really felt underdressed.

Still, his response was laced with a mix of humor, sarcasm, and a healthy amount of truth:

“Like I’d never come out for you? Pshh… even if I didn’t, you’d’ve probably sent like, an entire fireteam to blow down my door or some shit, anyway,” he said.

Stella attempted to take her spot glued right to his hip with his arm around her waist, and Fredrick was more than happy as ever to receive her. However, in a flash of quick thinking, he realized that her leg rubbing up against his shorts would likely trigger a reaction in the form of ‘oi what’s in yer pocket—already horny tae see me?’ or something along those lines. He couldn’t risk blowing it after he had come so far already.

So, in some quick sleight-of-body, he instead pulled Stella’s skirt-and-slacks-clad butt right into his crotch, and duly wrapped his hands around her midsection—a much more intimate embrace, and one that Stella absolutely adored.

Her reaction was immediate, and she angled her face back up at him with her slyest, yet dreamiest smirk:

“Oooooh~, already getting’ ahead of ourselves? Keep holdin’ me like that and we’d have tae give the troops another show,” she cooed, again snagging her lip with one of her fangs.

That was another thing that Fred had come to admire about her: she never cared about putting up a façade in front of the rest of the Guard. Her skill and presence, quite honestly, spoke for itself, and Fredrick was always thrilled that Stella had the confidence to wordlessly assert this fact.

He shot an impish smirk right back at her.

“Hehe, oh don’t you worry, gorgeous… I’ll make sure we save it for later,” he said, and planted a kiss right on the crook of her neck.

If her giggle quickly morphing into an erotic hum was anything to go by, that was certainly to her great pleasure.

He continued to let Stella lead the two of them back to the Battle Circle, and there he could see some form of a commotion going on. The platoon was neatly sat around the perimeter in full PT getup while an easily-recognizable Schneeblume was seemingly squaring off with one of the recruits—Fred couldn’t hear exactly what words were being exchanged.

“How’s your day been, Stella?”

“Eh… administrative. But a lot better since I had tonight tae look forward to! That, and the lass with the ceramic arm always makes things that much more…” she giggled.

“…hilarious.” she added.

Right then, the two arrived at the Battle Circle periphery, and were just in time to witness a smol Schnee completely overpower a stunned recruit and finesse her harshly to the ground. The impact of the poor private threw a small dust cloud in the air, along with eliciting more than a fair share of groans of vicarious pain.

Fredrick was floored the first time he ever bore witness to such a spectacle—and it never lost its luster every time he saw it. There was just… something special about watching an illegally cute mare whom he met as a bubbly girly-girl in a pink summer dress just… shitting on ponies in hand-to-hand combat instruction.

It was further helped when—with the dust having settled—the mare herself was the only one standing in her choice of garb for this special instruction: standard guard camo pants, and a plain-black, sleeveless sport midriff top of sorts… the latter of which was much more form-fitting than the former. It did well to show off her smaller but still-quite-muscular arms and back, even above her prosthetic… same with her toned, battle-hardened abs which held more than a few visible scars—echoes from the War.

Perhaps it had been all his time in essentially living with Stella… but he had grown quite fond of the ponytail getup on mares. Schneeblume wore it fantastically.

And she completed the look marvelously with dust, sweat, and grime accenting her normally pristine, porcelain visage. The cherry on top was a single armband around her left bicep: the insignia of some Lunar Guard rank… something which Fredrick hadn’t seen until today. She wore Equestrian colors well, that was for sure.

Her warrior stance and stare quickly dissipated once the commotion died down, and she offered her hand to the downed recruit.

“You’re too trusting, soldat!” she reprimanded in the sweetest-sounding tone.

She then added while pulling the lunar guardsmare back to her hooves:

“I know from experience that it’s not in your best interest to assume the enemy will show you the same kindnesses and mercies, ja? Now—one more time! Los gehts!”

Fredrick still held Stella in his grasp, just beyond the perimeter of the Circle, and he had her all to himself since she didn’t seem to be actually ‘commanding’ today. But what raised a question in his mind… and temporarily flung the thoughts of his impending actions out of his head, was when he noticed that the usual lieutenant or two was not present.

Oh, and Schnee’s armband.

He craned his mouth towards Stella’s right ear and spoke softly:

“Command seems a little light today…? And when did Schnee start wearing Equestrian insignia?”

Fred felt her angle her face against his, comically brushing her muzzle against his lips but paying the ridiculous look little mind.

“Stolt and Umbra are both on leave, so I’m not really just observin’ today, mate—I’m technically in direct command… which is fine by me!

“Kinda miss waftin’ in the stench of the shit pile, as it were,” she explained cheekily.

She apparently seemed to immediately recall his latter question, and her face shone cutely of a glorious revelation.

“And aye, she is! It was honestly bein’ kind of a fuckin’ pain in the cunt tae keep her clearance active as a contractor. There’s a fuck-me-in-the-arse amount of bureaucracy.”

Fredrick blinked, recoiling lightly.

“Wait, really?!”

Stella offered an empathetic nod with pursed lips.

“Aye. Nothin’ Luna can really do either since these checks and regulations were enacted by Parliament fer the safety of Their Highnesses. Can’t overturn ‘em with royal decrees.

“SO,” Stella continued. “After a wee chat with Luna and gettin’ Schnee’s okay, she’s officially a Special Forces Auxiliary of the Royal Lunar Guard!”

Fredrick smiled widely.

“No fuckin’ shit!”

“Aye! Right?? Her official capacity clears an anal cum load of fuckin’ red tape off me plate, and she gets paid more!”

“What’s her rank?”

“Officially, Warrant Officer. But I made sure she knows good and well that she has me authority by proxy,” said Stella, winking back at Fredrick and chuckling.

“Oh yeah? And how’s that working out?”

“Fuckin’ wonderfully! Which is why I say I’m in technical direct command today. In reality, mate? Schnee’s got it handled,” Stella exclaimed, and then added with faux disappointment:

“She’s just too soft on the recruits sometimes.”

Literally on cue, Schneeblume blocked two expertly thrown punches to her face, and then completely sidestepped what would’ve been a punishing side kick… only to take the poor recruit off her supporting hoof entirely. She hit the ground back-first, and Schnee culminated it by driving her ceramic fist into the mare’s vulnerable abs, as if she was trying to punch the ground through her.

Fredrick flinched in vicarious pain—so did everyone else, with another fresh round of ‘oooooohs’—as the young batpony mare emitted a guttural, pained whine. Her entire body had jack-knifed at the impact point of Schnee’s fist.

Fred watched her double over in fetal position onto her side, eyes wide, mouth like a fish out of water as she was struggling to get air back into her evacuated lungs.

Schneeblume stood up tall and flexed the digits on her prosthetic.

“Better! But again, you pay the price for your overextension,” she noted.

Fredrick shook his head once and blinked.

“That’s being too soft on the recruits?!” he dared to confirm with Stella in his grasp.

To him, it seemed that maybe she was coming around to his view of it all, but quickly added with a knowing, devious smirk:

“Well, it’s a good learnin’ experience then, innit? She won’t make that same mistake again!” she declared.

She then unashamedly dragged her tongue all the way up from his chin to his eyeball… a gesture that he never truly got used to even when she did it to him on their first date night. Still, even if the side of his face got wet, warm, (and then suddenly cold) for a little while, it didn’t bother him much. It was one of the many ways that Stella validated her feelings for him.

Or she just likes the way I taste. Shit man, I don’t know…

But beyond that, Stella did do well to mention one thing to Schnee on behalf of Fredrick:

“Oi Warrant Officer? Please try tae keep these queef bubbles as un-popped as possible if ye much don’t mind?” she quipped, followed by some giggles and chortles from the crowd.

Schnee helped the downed recruit back to her hooves and shot a knowing smirk right back at Stella.

“Ja, Captain… but no guarantees~,” she added with a playful wink and an open-mouthed smile.

Schnee then instantly flipped her stoic visage back on and re-addressed the troops:

“Sehr gut! Thank you to those who volunteered… or who were voluntold, rather. Now, I think it’s time we all take a nice march up to the plateau of the mountain, ja? We’ll call it a day after that,” she so excitedly ‘suggested.’

At those words, Fredrick felt a disturbance in the Force… and by the ‘Force,’ he meant Stella trying to sneakily shift something around in her pocket. Really, this was worth little in the grand scheme of thought process… normally. But these were not normal times. Fredrick had a pretty goddamn good idea what the hell was in there, and it wasn’t a knife or a cock.

In his current predicament, he was in no position to just whip it out, as it were… at least without an immediate reaction from Stella. He shifted his eyes from side-to-side, trying to jog his brain for a quick answer.

But apparently, the universe had one for him when a familiar Slavic-esque voice suddenly made known its allure:

“My sincerest apologies for the intrusion, Captain Sabre,” said Midnight as she emerged from the stairs behind Fredrick.

At her first greeting, but he and Stella peeked over their shoulders, and then separated entirely with identical levels of surprise when they noticed what she was wearing: a sleeveless, legless, form-fitting, black leotard of sorts that left so much yet so little to the imagination. The ever-confident, absolute unit of a mare sauntered up to the odd couple, and her odd but no less ‘physically unwelcome’ entrance into the figurative fray drew more than a passing glance from all in attendance.

Fredrick smirked at Midnight from behind Stella’s back—the mare had come through brilliantly, and right in the nick of time.

Stella answered her entrance with a cocky, yet friendly challenging smile that she was known for:

“Midnight! Fancy seein’ you around ‘ere… and around this time. This ain’t exactly the place tae seduce impressionable university students, just so yer aware, lass.”

Midnight giggled, and then added with the most infuriating ‘I know something that you don’t’ tone of voice:

“Oh I’m aware of that—I’m off duty now, and got wind that your fine mares and stallions in uniform were getting some… close and personal instruction! So I was wondering if I could get a quick round in with the cute one…” she pointed right at a curious Schnee.

“…right in there, before everypony goes on their merry way,” she finished her implicit question.

Fredrick was… impressed to say the least. That would certainly be one way to keep Stella’s attention so he could get the drop on her, as well as providing what would be legendary entertainment value to boot. But of course, the ultimate decision on that rested with Stella, and Fredrick glanced at her to see what she’d say… as if he was expecting her to surprise him or something.

But nope. Stella cackled.

“HAH! Well… I’m fine with that! Fuck me, I encourage a proper, professional showing!” she said, and then swiveled on her hooves while she gestured to Schnee:

“Buuuuut I think that’s up to Warrant Officer Herbslicht if she agrees tae yer little… fisting session~.”

Fredrick had to stymie some genuine laughter at that, and it died in his throat in a half-chortle. For all intents and purposes, a fight of any kind could be technically referred to as ‘fisting.’

Random ruminations aside, Stella’s attention was drawn away from Midnight just long enough for Fredrick to witness the copper-coated mare wink at him knowingly.

And before he could even process that, a joking scoff sounded from behind him, and in so confirming, he found an excitably incredulous Schnee. She had cocked her hip, ceramic hand atop it and all.

HNNNNNG!

She answered Stella, making exactly zero attempt to hide any goading undertones in her words:

“I’m quite alright with that, Captain! In fact, I think this would prove a valuable lesson on how to effectively dispatch adversaries of significantly different size!” she excitedly bounced once on her hooves.

Said challenging undertones were not lost on anyone present—even Stella was impressed.

“Fuckin’ hell, lass… Righteo then!” she said and turned back to Midnight.

“There’s yer answer! So what’re ye waitin’ fer, mate? Get the fuck in there!” she ordered.

“Don’t mind if I do~.”

Midnight held her head high and sauntered—purposeful emphasis on the sashaying of her hips—past both Stella and Fredrick, and she placed her hand on his shoulder as she brushed on by.

It was the littlest, most silent reassurances that were sometimes the most effective, Fredrick felt.

And as he turned to face the Battle Circle, he was greeted with Midnight’s ass nearly on full display through the taut bottom part of her rather… interesting choice of training attire. And he sure as hell wasn’t the only one who noticed this: mares and stallions of Luna’s Finest, all of whom likely had diverse sexual preferences, took immediate notice much like him.

Fredrick, hilariously, also heard exactly what he was thinking come from the love of his life right next to him:

“Fuuuuuuck’s sake, mate… I’mma need tae bring her arse around more often… literally.”

Fredrick snickered.

“I’d expect no less from you, Stella! And sheesh… I sure as hell wouldn’t complain,” he noted.

Fredrick let her lean up against him (again, careful of the dagger right in his pocket), and she placed her arm on his shoulder whilst shaking her head.

She lamented:

“Some mares were just born tae be goddamn eye-candy, I’ll fuckin’ tell ye.”

Fredrick raised both his eyebrows and leveled a cheeky smirk at her.

“Oh yeah? Remind you of somepony?” he quipped, winking.

That earned him a girly giggle and a fist to his shoulder for his efforts, but her verbal answer was something he had come to expect:

“You fuckin’ know it, love! Had tae get ye tae stick around somehow!” she punctuated with a fang-baring smile, and then licked his cheek… again.

Fredrick had to resist… especially with just how she purred at the end of her words. He had an open invitation that, under normal circumstances, he was more than keen on acting upon: to grab that perfect ass of hers. But goddamnit that would only lead to a further, sexier escalation between the two of them.

Of course that would be most welcome… but then the likelihood of her discovering both items in his pockets was significantly higher.

Even then, Fred couldn’t just do nothing. Stella would suspect something was wrong in that case, and the whole scheme would be blown wide open. After firing some quick synapses, Fredrick settled on reciprocating her gesture: he drew a sensual lick up her cheek, and then cutely ‘munched’ on that iconic tuft atop her ear with pursed lips.

He apparently chose well, because that earned him that uber-jovial, feminine squeal that always had a habit of melting his heart like a glacier in the summer.

Thankfully, from there, she just leaned into him lovingly, and the two of them were able to gaze upon the show that was gonna draw everyone’s attention for a few minutes. And with that extra breathing room, Fred began to shift things sneakily around in his pockets, while keeping his eyes on the display in front of them.

Further ahead, Midnight brushed passed a few awestricken recruits and met Schneeblume in the center, her ever-cocky gaze glued to her face and refusing to abate. Even more than that, she quite noticeably eyed the smaller Schnee up and down, lasciviously tracing her features as if committing them all to memory.

All the while, she circled the war veteran mare as a gorgeous shark would her prey… not that the Schnee seemed any bit fazed by this development.

Midnight bore her teeth invitingly.

“Nice outfit!” Midnight complimented, stopping her ‘circle’ right back where she started in front of Schnee.

She further stretched out her arms and legs in various poses, leaving even less to the impromptu audience’s collective imagination. She then smirked teasingly once she sufficiently rooted out any tightness in her muscles.

“You pull it off well, little flower.”

Schneeblume seemed to show no qualm with both giggling and lightly blushing at those words.

“If you think flattery will get you mercy, you’re a bit mistaken, Mitternacht,” she quipped right back.

Midnight giggled right back at her and descended into a fighting stance… which was a marvel to look at regardless, based on sheer attire alone.

“Sounds like the language of love to me~. Why don’t you show everypony the real stormtrooper inside you! Bare those fangs!” she said with a wink, ready to go.

“I don’t have any.”

“Hehe, oh I beg to differ~.”

Schnee lowered her eyelids, and then addressed everypony around her:

“Recruits! Remember what I’ve said earlier: size only matters so much… in combat,” she warned, and then descended into her own fighting stance that was much more familiar to those already having been observing.

Stella emitted an excited squee right next to Fredrick, and he watched her bounce on her hooves for a moment like an overwound toy sprinkled with the finest crack-cocaine.

“This shit’s gonna be fuckin’ great!” she said.

Fredrick laughed at her display—her cuteness overload was always welcome. Nothing said ‘proposal night’ much like getting a cute-induced stroke and needing a bag of water shoved up his ass or something. He was no doctor.

“Wait… you’re saying you’re actually okay with two of your friends just kicking the shit out of each other within an inch of their life?” he dared ask.

And to that, she nodded pointedly, and then stared at him like he was the weird one.

“What, like you wouldn’t? Besides, it won’t be an ‘inch.’ Maybe a meter?”

He thought about that for a moment, and came to the swift conclusion that, yes, he would do exactly that if he had all of his original best friends from back on Earth.

“Ehhh, yeah, you’re probably right. So who’s your money on?” he also dared to ask.

And that, apparently, seemed to be a more profound question than Fredrick would’ve thought, especially as he saw the two elite soldiers begin circling each other. They were judging one another… eyeing each other up and peering into their on-display forms for any opening.

Or, so it seemed. He had no idea what was going on in their respective heads.

“That’s… kinda hard tae answer, mate,” began Stella.

“Schnee’s actually been in active combat fer almost half a decade. She could probably kill me in forty different ways with a single finger up me cum goblet. So I’d pick her without a second thought, well, except…” she then gestured towards the squaring-off pair.

“Fuckin’ Midnight. She’s got like, more than a fuckin’ foot on the porcelain lass, not tae mention the extra muscle mass from her just bein’ built like the fuckin… sexiest, still-somewhat-hourglass-shaped, brick shithouse known tae all of Equinedom,” she further reasoned.

And then she shrugged, looking up at Fredrick with genuine unknowing in her eyes.

“So really… this could go either way, and it’s one of those fights that, no matter how this shit goes, I wouldn’t really be surprised because I could fuckin’ explain it one way or another, y’know?”

Fredrick was impressed. Really impressed at those words.

I’m amazed at her doctrine.

“I think that’s the most detailed analysis on anything that I’ve ever heard come outta your mouth so… fucking bravo, heh,” he joked.

He then nudged her against the shoulder and leveled a rather exaggerated kiss on her cheek, which elicited, again, a cute giggle from the suited-up batpony mare. She quickly turned her face to him and put her lips in the line of fire instead. Fredrick was more than okay with that substitution.

They broke off their kiss with one another and shared a couple-second, loving stare, along with Fredrick almost getting another love-aneurism when Stella beamed widely.

And then she so cutely riposted:

“Fuck off.”

Their conversation was immediately interrupted when the rumble had apparently started in earnest: Midnight advanced quite quickly against Schnee, arms and hands at the ready to seemingly grapple the Alemaneian mare to the ground. That, or grope the shit out of her… honestly, Fredrick wouldn’t have been exactly surprised with either of those outcomes.

What was surprising was with how much alacrity that Schneeblume ‘accepted’ the invitation to open combat: she utilized her smaller, lither form to her complete advantage.

With a bright smile and the cutest grunt of exertion, she bounded just outside of Midnight’s reach, coming to rest in a three-pointed stance after her graceful exit from the firing line. Her eyes never seemed to pull away from her target.

Once again, Midnight advanced on her… though much faster this time around. She shook things up a bit by using her momentum to throw a probing, yet deadly-fast wheel-kick in Schnee’s direction… which the mare in question quickly dashed out of range of what would have been quite the punishing hit.

Immediately after though, Midnight further closed the distance with an almost inappropriately lecherous smile and attempted to get her hands on the mare.

Again, Schnee did not see it fit to strike back—Midnight was still playing too defensively it seemed, and the ex-assault trooper bounded out of Midnight’s reach, both literally and metaphorically. This time, to avoid stepping out of the Battle Circle Perimeter and forfeiting the fight, she entered into a what Fredrick would generically call a ‘combat roll’ and got back to her hooves in her initial fighting stance.

So… is this how it was gonna be?

To Fredrick, it seemed like the fight was already shaping up to be a stalemate. Midnight was clearly trying to use her larger build to finesse Schnee into an unbreakable hold or land an earth-cracking target combination form to end the fight at an instant. Schnee was significantly harder to read, as she had not even attempted to strike back, and only kept her distance. She was the wildest card here…

So much so that even Fredrick was on the edge of his seat… he normally would be, but he had to check himself, and not lose sight of what the original goal of all of ‘this’ was: to beat Stella at her own game.

With Midnight and Schnee having now taken over the complete attention of everyone else, all that remained was for the two of them to really get going in… whatever the endgame of this session was. Once he could make sure that Stella’s attention was completely captured to the point where he could sneakily step behind her without drawing her attention, then he’d be in the perfect position to drop to his knee.

Fred decided that the ring would be most appropriate first… then the dagger for some extra bit of surprise.

Oh yeah. It’s all coming together.

The murmurs from the audience increased further as the exciting tension ran high… but still, infuriatingly, Schnee refused to commit to an attack. Occasionally she’d advance on Midnight, but she would wisely pull off when Middy would lift a powerful leg or bring her fists to bear.

Fredrick was confused—he expected Schnee in all her glory to like, pull a spade out of her ass and start clobbering Midnight to death with it. Of course, that was ridiculous… but as a soldier class who specialized purely in offensive, lightning-quick, decisive, and deadly strikes, Schnee was not exactly living up to that name. Then again, Fredrick also understood that he knew absolutely jack shit about actual combat and had he been in her place right now, he would’ve probably had his head crushed like a watermelon between Midnight’s thighs.

There were worse ways to die in battle, he surmised.

Schneeblume danced towards the center of the circle again, just out of Middy’s reach like the last few times… and when the larger mare advanced on her once more. To everyone’s shock and possible horror, Schnee did not retreat, and instead held fast.

Midnight struck just as she closed the remaining distance, and threw what looked like a perfect, fast, deadly-accurate reverse with her right fist. Her target: Schnee’s muzzle. Everypony, including Fredrick and his marefriend next to him, gasped and called out when it appeared Schnee wasn’t doing a goddamn thing about it.

Fred watched as Schnee dodged to her right. But in so doing, she brushed off Midnight’s attack with her right, ceramic hand, redirecting it as far away from her face as possible and catching the mare by the forearm. As quickly as she dodged and parried, she countered, and used the same hand to acquaint the back of her knuckles with Midnight’s cheek, effectively backhanding the taller mare.

Though the strike likely carried literal weight behind it, owed to the choice in material of Schnee’s prosthetic, Midnight’s eyes widened, and she gasped more in line with being stunned or startled by the sudden counter. Schnee pressed her advantage, and closed into Midnight’s guard entirely, jamming her shoulder into the batpony’s diaphragm in a harsh body check.

That definitely granted her some space.

Schneeblume sprang into action to instantly consolidate her gains and follow up on her attack… but to the shock of everyone, Midnight thrust forward her palm just in time and caught the smaller mare right on her forehead. For a split second, Schnee tried to swing at her adversary, but was being held at arm’s length, just out of reach by sheer size disparity… like an older sister would her younger.

Fredrick had to stop himself from losing his shit at the sudden sight.

Then again, this was also a friendly match, so he couldn’t really tell how much the two of them were holding back—he would wager ‘a lot.’ A shame, considering he wanted to see some proper power levels, but good because he didn’t want to see anypony get seriously hurt.

As soon as Schnee’s face was caught in the vice of Midnight’s hand, she released herself by damn-near looking like she crushed the offending wrist. In one fell swoop thereafter, she contorted Middy’s whole damn arm at an extremely awkward and painful angle towards the floor, much to a rather verbal confirmation of such by the taller batpony. Such an angle forced Midnight into an equally awkward leaning position for the ‘split-est of seconds’, but that’s all Schnee needed. At least, that’s all she needed to acquaint Midnight’s neck and chin with her right shin.

And that earned some a synchronized, pained ‘OOOOOOH!’ from the congregation.

Midnight clearly saw stars for a moment. Everyone heard the impact.

Again, Fredrick found himself enraptured. He wanted to get the most front-row seat with Stella and start cheering on the fight… much like Stella was right next to him.

“AYE! There we go! Give ‘er another one, lass!” she encouraged.

But he had to yank himself back to his original purpose once more. He had to remind himself what he was fighting for, for fuck’s sake! Midnight was giving him the grandest of openings right now… she was sacrificing bodily integrity to Schnee, so Stella wouldn’t beat him to the punch in proposing to him! He couldn’t, in any good conscience, let that sacrifice be in vain!

So while he, too, cheered alongside Stella to at least appear inconspicuous… he became hyper aware of what he had to do: all he had to do was back off a couple steps, pull the ring box from his pocket, and then get down on one knee—all without Stella catching him in the act, or beating him to the punch.

It had to be quick. It had to be decisive. But most important of all, Stella shouldn’t ‘discover’ his antics until the box was open.

And that felt a lot easier thought, than done.

The moment Schnee’s leg connected with Midnight’s pretty face, along with a grandiose flailing of Stella’s arms and a verbal encouragement to boot, Fredrick thought that he could just start stepping back now. He moved to do so…

…and then Stella immediately latched on to his arm with the giddy, borderline outlandish excitedness of a sixteen-year-old girl at a KPOP concert trying to tell you the difference between all the bands when in reality they all had an identical goddamn aesthetic.

“Fuck me mate, this is gettin’ intense!” she exclaimed while clutching his arm and fidgeting on her hooves.

She held him right where he was.

Trapped.

Fredrick rolled his eyes and bit the inside of his lip, his stress levels having risen so fast and hard, he thought he was gonna have to give a name to the aneurism on his aorta.

FUCK.

Fredrick rubbed Stella’s arm to save face. His entire body fidgeted through sheer adrenaline and impatience like Michael J. Fox on a washing machine. He was genuinely excited about the scene… but it was all mixed in with a healthy bit of nervousness in that he may actually fail in his quest and have nothing to show for Midnight’s seemingly caved-in neck.

I’m not losing this race.

Fredrick just needed to be a little more patient… and then feign an excuse (if Stella did not let him go on her own accord) to take a step back. That, or he was going to have to settle for a less glamorous way, and just brute force this proposal… but damnit he was gonna win this!

After Midnight took Schnee’s shin to her neck and chin, she quickly recovered.

With, again, a dexterity for her size that surprised everyone present, she used her free hand to grip Schnee’s own wrist—the one that had so maneuvered her into such a vulnerable position. She reversed the hold entirely, twirling Schnee as she was her partner in a swing dance… and then straight-up kicked both her legs out from under her. Schnee impacted with all the kinetic force of a half-cartwheel, borne to the earth by virtue of gravity at that point.

Everyone groaned when they saw (and heard) the meteoric impact that would’ve completely leveled and knocked out a lesser pony. Schnee was not a lesser pony in any respect, and as quickly as she was forced to Prench-kiss the dirt, she rolled away and quickly put distance between her and Midnight once again.

Her pristine coat was much dirtier now, and she groaned in some measure of pain as she stretched out her back. Midnight also looked to be gaining a few streaks of dust and dirt on her, especially her arms and face.

Schnee appeared to harbor no ill will for that punishing strike, either… and beamed as the two opponents began circling each other once more:

“Very nice, that hit!” she turned to quickly spare a passing glance at the recruits watching.

“Take notice, soldaten… one moment of bad judgement, weakness, or distraction is all it takes to literally be put on your face!” she cautioned.

Midnight giggled right back, and then followed up with that extra, dripping accent to her tone that couldn’t be mistaken for anything else but flirtatious and challenging:

“I’ll say!” she commented. “Good kick, yourself! If I was tired after my shift, you definitely woke me up! But is that really what the best of Alemaneia has to offer?”

And Schnee seemed to gladly take the bait.

“Oh that’s what you want, ja? Then how about we get you some more caffeine?” she said, then promptly went on a lightning offensive.

The only difference this time was that she didn’t come out swinging per se.

On her way to close the distance between her and Midnight, she dipped low, scooped up some dirt from the ground, and then used the momentum she created in her sprint to hurl said pile of dirt at her adversary. Midnight’s face caught the brunt of the surprise present, her hands immediately attempting to shield her face, as well as to quickly wipe away anything that stuck.

True to Schnee’s nature as an assault trooper, she granted her enemy no respite.

The whole gesture, however, earned more than a vocal reaction from the crowd. Stella especially seemed completely beside herself like an overenthusiastic sports fan.

“HOLY SHIT! She fuckin’ pegged that cunt right in the face, lad!” Stella exclaimed, squeezing Fredrick’s bicep into a pulp as she quivered excitedly in her hooves.

Thankfully though, she let him go so she could stretch out to get a better look, though Fredrick still snorted at her phrasing.

“Uhhh… babe I’m not sure that’s the umm… word I’d use to describe what we’d just witnessed…” he noted.

But that’s when he also noted in full: Stella had let go of him, and in fact, stepped forward to grab herself a better look at the brawl that was unfolding in front of their eyes. Further pressing him for time right in the moment was when Stella slipped her hand in her right pocket again… and began to idly fondle something in a way that was foreign to Fredrick. She never had any tick like that, even when she was fully dressed up in clothes that had usable pockets.

Stella then said with a rather ‘loving’ tone, not even bothering to look back at him or flash him a toothy grin that he could hear:

“I’ll peg you, cunt~!”

She was completely enamored—starry-eyed—by Schnee and Midnight wailing on each other. Fredrick tested this theory as he scooted back farther, to see if she would notice, while he flatly responded:

“Oh ho, yo ho—you most certainly will not!”

Stella chuckled… but didn’t turn back to look at him. Her fists were balled in front of her chest, punching idly into the air as if she was controlling one of the two combatants with her mind.

This gave Fredrick the opening he needed to take a big step back. This was it, in his mind. His heart was beating like mad, rattling his cage like a meth-head gorilla, and adrenaline was beginning to course through his body as the weight of what he was about to do was now really bearing down on him.

He was a full three feet behind her, with a glorious view of an equally glorious backside. Stella did not make any indication she saw him take such an unusual step away from her side, or if she did, she certainly didn’t care… which would’ve been odd in its own right.

Fredrick was in the clear. He could only assume Stella was also searching for the right moment to ‘whip it out,’ as it were, but was sidetracked by an oh-so obviously not orchestrated friendly match. Indeed, after a couple more agonizing seconds to be extra sure, Stella never tore her gaze away from the two mutual friends whom were engaged in an admittedly entertaining death-battle for bragging rights of sorts…

…though really only one of them was knowingly making the sacrifice to buy Fred time.

It was now or never.

With time seemingly slowing down just a smidge, Fredrick thrust his hand into the pocket of his shorts and found he velvety ring box. He turned it over in his hand once, pursed his lips…

…and then unholstered it entirely.

Slowly, he kneeled onto his right knee. As Stella’s back remained diligently turned to him, he opened the ring box, revealing the ring in what light remained of the waning day. Fred took a deep, prideful, but shaky breath as he just held that position for what seemed like a small eternity. Stella wasn’t noticing him in the slightest… just as fucking keikaku’d.

And just like he fully expected, he was spotted… by one of the recruits who occasionally turned around to regard their Captain with humor at her antics. The first one did an immediate double… no, triple take to confirm she was actually seeing this shit.

Like a cascading domino effect, Fred saw that one recruit emphatically, excitedly, tap the shoulder of another to point out his rather obvious and recognizable act. And that second guard drew further attention… and then the murmuring started.

More and more eyes turned away from the brutal, intense, and partially erotic display of two elite soldier mares duking it out ‘purely for education.’

And with every single face that turned… all of them were in some way beaming widely at the display. As expected for Fredrick, and after what seemed like another small lifetime passing on by, the sudden, collective attention to something right behind Stella drew their Captain’s attention.

“YEAH! Hit he—eeeeh? What the fuck ‘re you all lookin’ at? The fuckin’ Bum Rape Dwarf better be right behind—”

Fredrick watched Stella stop mid-turn when she realized that he was, in fact, no longer right next to her. A split second later, after she blinked hard in surprise, she noticed him and stared right back down at him.

She then glanced at the open ring-box in his hand… and then right at him.

Her eyes went wide. Wider than at any moment he had ever once seen her. Her waning breath finished her sentence:

“—me…”

And perhaps in not keeping with tradition in the slightest, Fredrick opened with the smuggest anime face he had in his arsenal, channeled his inner Dave Chappelle, and simply said:

“GOTCHA, BITCH!”

The audience no longer cared about the fight… in fact, once Midnight got wind what was happening, she silently got Schnee to stop the brawl, and directed her to the scene. The excited, beaming squee that came from the shorter mare’s mouth had world-ending capabilities.

None of that mattered though. All eyes were on the couple, especially as—for the few seconds they seemed frozen in place—Stella stared right at the ring that was, in turn, staring back at her.

Said ring was one that Fredrick had partially custom-made. That is, he found a design he loved, but wanted some modifications to it. The band itself was this muted silver color, reminiscent of the hull of a warship, but much shinier. This was, apparently, a ‘moonstone infused, magically forged steel alloy.’ All he needed to know was that it would last forever.

Stella’s wide eyes also reflected the light that glinted off the three stones in the center: A rhomboid-cut, deep blue, quite prominent sapphire… flanked by a pair of slightly smaller, circular-cut, golden yellow sapphires.

Though initially visibly stunned, Stella’s face morphed into something rather unexpected for the recruits watching their Captain get proposed to… but in a manner that Fredrick completely anticipated:

She started smiling… and then giggling…

…and she grabbed her stomach as she cackled into the air. Fredrick nearly lost his shit when, glancing just past her, he found all the soldiers—including Midnight and Schnee—seemingly horrified and conflicted. They thought she was laughing at him! Rejecting him!

No, he definitely knew better than that. And his expectations were proven correct when she snapped right out of it.

“FUCK!” she suddenly exclaimed, startling everyone but Fredrick. “Are you FUCKIN’ KIDDING ME, LAD!” she yelled.

“I had this shit aaaaall planned out from the beginnin’! But nooOOOooo… you fuckin’ knew, didn’t ya??” she continued to jokingly admonish him, and pointed her famous, right index finger at him.

“You KNEW, ya cock!”

Fredrick’s bright smile never abated… and he started laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. Their dynamic was on full display, and for the uninitiated, this appeared to be going quite poorly for him. Quite the contrary in his heart and mind, though—this was the greatest possible reaction he could’ve ever hoped for.

And Stella’s even-more luminous, beaming face belied her lambasting, if the subtle, humorous inflections in her tone didn’t give it away to everyone present.

Fredrick shrugged.

“I put two and two together, really. I wasn’t gonna let you win this one,” he said, winking, which earned him a ‘disapproving’ look from Stella.

She still smiled through her pursed lips while she shook her head, seemingly disappointed in herself.

While Fred would love to banter and trade sarcastic veils for eternity with his mare, he figured at least now was the appropriate time to pursue formalities. He felt his features become much softer… more wholesome. His heart continued to pound in his chest:

“But on that note, Stella…” he began.

He then took one last, deep breath before he uttered his next words:

“Will you marry me… slag?”

While the first part of his fateful question put everypony on the figurative edges of their seats, it was the last part of that question that set Stella off.

She launched into a hard, proper guffaw. But it looked like she was doing her damn best to her outburst to a minimum. Even the mighty Stella Sabre did not appear to be immune to the raw feeling and wholesomeness of the moment.

Stella audibly sighed and placed her hands on her hips while reflecting Fredrick’s warm smile. She then held out her right index finger.

“On one condition, love,” she led on.

Fredrick cocked an eyebrow. He only felt a vague idea reverberate around in his bones as to where this was going. Even on his fateful knee, his mare was still unpredictable.

“And what condition would that be, my dear?” he dared ask.

And to that, Stella smiled that infuriatingly cocky Stella Smile™, reached into her own pocket, and then dropped to her own knee right in front of him. Now at eye-level with her, she held up an open ring box right next to his own.

“Only if you’ll marry me, ya cunt!” she declared.

The entire group of ponies erupted at the display. While the official answers hadn’t been proclaimed, they were trivial at this point… and everyone present seemed fit to conjure up rapturous cheering and applause.

As for Fredrick, somehow, he knew this was where it would lead when he decided to preempt Stella’s alleged proposal plans. It hurt to smile as he stared into Stella’s golden eyes, and he couldn’t not spare a look at what she cradled in her own, slightly different ring box:

A rather simple, onyx-black band that held a thin, beautifully golden cursive engraving on the outer, flat edge that he couldn’t quiet read at the moment.

It was simple. It was to the point.

It was perfect.

He smiled brightly and, after jokingly ruminating over Stella’s ‘offer,’ he nodded once with the most conviction of anything he felt in his life.

“Fuck. Yes.”

Stella’s face exploded in a smile, and she gladly made her answer known:

“Fuck. YES!”

And with that, Fredrick did not hesitate to remove the ring from his box. Once Stella graciously held her left hand out for him, he tenderly slid the band down to the base of her ring finger. It was a perfect fit. It was the reverse process for him, and once Stella secured the ring to the base of his finger, something seemed to just… click into place.

He even got the chance to read the golden inscription on his ring now, and he had to quickly check himself before he lost himself when he read the words ‘The Brightest Star of my Night.’

It felt… correct.

“I love you, Stella,” said Fredrick.

Stella bit her lip, but her dimples were ever present as she smiled right back.

“I love you, Fredrick.”

Fredrick then stood up, and offered Stella his hand, to which she graciously accepted. Once both were back on their respective feet and hooves, Fredrick watched to his absolute heart-melting amusement when his now fiancé gave into all her pent-up, childish urges:

She turned to everypony else… and danced all giddily on her hooves, squealing through the brightest smile that reflected all the dusk light. As if she could somehow be any cuter, she started giggling victoriously and thrusting her ‘claimed’ fist into the air… all to a sonorous sea of cheers, hoots, and whistles from the new recruits plus Midnight and Schnee. The latter two were also bouncing excitedly, along with one of them screaming ‘IT’S ABOUT TIME!’

The two even broke ranks and jogged right up to her so they could see her ‘fully-equipped’ hand in all its glory.

Fred’s chest felt broader than it was, his core was light… hell, Fred’s heart was on the clouds right now. It all seemed so goddamn surreal. He did it! No… they did it! But he didn’t have the time to celebrate just yet. With Stella’s back turned to him while she did the cutest shimmy, he was presented with the golden opportunity to spring the real surprise on her.

And he figured, as he once again replenished his smugness, that now was the right time to channel his inner Steve Jobs for the opener:

“Oh! By the way, babe? There’s one more thing,” he began.

He watched as she peeked over her shoulder, and then faced him in full, smiling peacefully at him… seemingly like she couldn’t possibly be any happier.

“Aye? What is it, Fred?” she asked.

He smirked.

Show time.

As if some of the holiest, most Scottish-sounding ceremonial soundtrack began playing in his head, Fredrick reached into his other pocket. Once his palm touched the leathery grip of the dagger, he knew there was no turning back now. He took yet another deep, fateful breath…

… and then he pulled it out of his pocket.

All the while, he never broke his determined, prideful, yet smug eyes from Stella’s. At the same time, he recalled the very detailed notes that Schiavona left for him on how to properly initiate the ‘Sheathing the Blade’ ritual.

With those instructions in mind, he gripped the handle, and then the tip of the sheath, and held the completed package in front of his chest with both his arms extended towards Stella. He was very careful to make sure one end of the crossguard was pointed toward the sky, and the other to the ground.

Her reaction was instantaneous. Her eyes widened again—her mouth was slowly borne to the earth. There were more than a few scattered gasps from the group of recruits behind her… Fredrick figured they were of Northern descent as well and comprehended the significance of what he was doing right now. Midnight looked on with pride, and Schnee with morbid curiosity.

And, frozen in unadulterated shock, Stella only muttered with the shakiest tone in which she failed to hide the sudden, very-obvious influx of powerful emotions within her:

“What the fuck are you doing…?”

Fredrick treated her question as token and rhetorical, and pulled the sheath and dagger apart, so his arms were parallel to one another. Then, in continuing the choreographed movements that he had practiced, he rotated his fists upwards ninety degrees.

“Y-You fuckin’ knobhead, you fucking didn’t…”

Fred cleared his throat:

“With this sheath and dagger, I kneel at your hooves,” he recited, and got right back down on one knee.

Stella’s emotion-laden reply was immediate:

“O-Oh fuck me, you actually did…” she seemed to breathily catch herself.

She covered her muzzle with her right hand in a desperate effort to stem the tide of any further emotional welling. She sniffled harshly. Her eyes suddenly and heavily misted over.

“Our hearts have been intertwined since our deepest admissions…” said Fredrick.

“Y-Y-You fuckin’…” she sniffled again. “…d-dickhead…” she then blinked an obvious wetness from her eyes, shaking her head.

“And with this dagger and its sheath, I offer to you my very soul…” he said just before carefully manipulating both items his hands.

The hilt of the weapon was now pointed towards Stella—same with the barren opening of the sheath. He gently thrust his arms out in offering.

Stella cracked further, the first rivulets of hot tears marring her beautiful face.

“Y-You fuckin’ cunt…” she sniffled. “You a-absolute cretin…”

“And with my very soul, in pony or in spirit, I swear to you I will be your shield, and I will be your sword…”

Stella didn’t have anything else to say and continued to death-grip her muzzle as if it would stop the inevitable. Her golden pools betrayed her attempted composure—completely reddened and overflowing like a fracturing dam.

She nodded vehemently.

And Fred finally bowed his head, looking towards the ground.

“Will you allow me to defend your pony and honor… as your husband, as you would be my wife?”

Fredrick looked up and found Stella had now placed both her hands around her muzzle, weeping openly into them. He felt like the luckiest man alive when she dropped her hands, and revealed her pearly whites smiling so profoundly… an open-mouthed smile that seemed to come from the deepest chambers of her heart.

This feeling amplified even more when Stella rushed forward, picked up both blade and sheath, and slammed them together fatefully, joining them once more.

“YES! YES!” she screamed. “TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH AND OUR LIVES, YES!”

Those were the magical words.

With a girlish enthusiasm that Fredrick always felt privileged to witness, she threw both her arms around his neck and pulled him in for the deepest, most meaningful kiss to date. The happiest tears were still running down her soaked face… not that he minded in the slightest.

“I love you!” she cried. “I love you so fuckin’ much ya fuckin’ absolute nutter, ye!”

“I love you too, babe… so much!”

And as the Fredrick brought both of them back to their respective feet and hooves again, the final round of cheers and literal standing ovation was deafening. Once the ascended couple separated, Fredrick watched as Stella pridefully dropped her own sheathed combat knife and then promptly replaced it on her hip with the one Fredrick gave her.

She wore it so well.

His cheeks cried out in pain as it hurt to keep the smile he could not hide from the world as he watched Stella just… revel in her happiness. In the end, that was his only goal when he was forced into this new life. From the moment they became friends, to best friends, to lovers, and now betrothed, her happiness was all that mattered to him. His still fast-beating heart had found a place it could call home, in Stella’s expert hands. And she had done well to help him grow as a person, as displaced as he may have been. The way she made him feel throughout this journey was the ultimate harbinger of what was to come.

It all led to this. And as Stella threw her arms around him again and just… loved him in the moment, Fredrick couldn’t be more over Luna’s moon about that.

Oh yeah… it all came together!

Whew lad! One more to go, guys and gals!

Also in case some didn't see in an earlier blog post, here's Stella in her new non-armored uniform: