“Why am I naked?” Lieia nearly shrieked, covering her womanhood with one hand and her ample breasts with her other hand. She stared in shock at Celestia.

“Where’d you put my clothes? Where are they?” She looked around frantically, a blush creeping across her cheeks. Celestia couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Celestia! This isn’t funny! What is someone walks in on us?”

“Well, that’d be bad.” She sat up, and checked the room, quickly finding said garments.

“Thanks! Now, would you turn around? I’m not exactly comfortable at the moment.”

“Why? Are you ashamed of something? I can lock the door if you like.” She did just that.

“I’m not ashamed of anything!”

“You act like you are, Lieia.” Celestia flashed a smug grin.

“Am not!” Lieia scowled, and let most of the clothes drop on the floor, fishing out her underpants and bra. She deftly slipped those on, followed by the rest of her clothes.

“So, what’s up with that spell?”

“I suppose we should’ve gotten some clothes on you before I cast the spell, but there’s no fun in that, now is there? You’re not exactly hard on eyes, Lieia.” She added slyly.

“Sheesh, thanks. Do all ponies have a fetish for naked women or is it just you?” Lieia grumbled, cinching her holster around her waist, rechecking that the revolver had its safety catch on.

“Only me. Shall we go, then?”

“By all means, Celly. You know, I really enjoyed having a dinner with you, I really did.” Lieia walked down the stairs, flashing her trademark grin. They were soon out on the street, walking side by side.

“So, what now?”

“I was thinking about-wait. What is that?” Celestia stopped, and then looked closer at a newspaper stand. The owner had stepped out for a while, but she grabbed one newspaper immediately, scrutinising the front page, her face quickly taking on a crestfallen expression.

“Oh buck…” Curious, Lieia walked over to her, peering at the newspaper.

“What? Is something wron-Oh. Shit.” She froze, staring in disbelief at the big black and white image taking up most of the page, an image that clearly showed them both sharing a kiss.

“I knew I heard something!” Celestia groaned.

“Well, I’d say the cat’s outta the bag now, Cel. Let’s get going before we’re ambushed by paparazzi.” She shook her head in disbelief.

“Princess Celestia!” A herd of clamouring ponies was galloping straight for them, with saddlebags holding their cameras.

“Homeworld damn them, they’re already here! Let’s go, Celly! We need to lose them!” She led Celestia away, making use of the many alleys and backstreets in Canterlot, trying to loose the paparazzi swarm that was hunting them.

“Homeworld?”

“It’s sort of a long story, Cel! I’ll tell it once we’re no longer being chased!”

It took them two hours to lose their pursuers. They were hiding near a public swimming pool, doubled over and gasping for breath.

“Well, that was interesting. Now, how about you tell me the story of ‘Homeworld’?”

“Oh, right. Okay. Well, the thing is, no one really knows our real homeworld, the one where humanity started out from. A lot of knowledge was lost in the Unification Wars. The planet has many names, but the most oft-used are Earth or Terra. A lot of historians and suchlike are trying to find any links that would point them in the right direction, but they haven’t found it yet. It’s more or less just a myth among our people nowadays.”

“Earth, you say? It is written in the history books that the Everfree Forest is a part of Earth that fell here eons ago. The weather patterns there are above the pegasi to control, and the animals that inhabit it are wild and dangerous to ponies.”

“Well, damn. That’s going to draw some attention, Cel. Might be the biggest clue to find Earth again. Right, what shall we do now? Everyone and their dog must know about us by now.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Celestia sighed, and Lieia scooted closer to her, pulling her in a hug.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to leave you. I’ll stay with you, come hell or high water.” Lieia smiled reassuringly.

“Thank you, Lieia.” She wrapped her right wing around Lieia, bringing her close.

“So… Think we can sneak back inside the castle, Cel?”

“What’s with you and nicknames? Why don’t you have one?”

“I do! ‘s Lee! My name really isn’t as long as yours, so I got less material to work with.” She sighed, before smiling mischievously.

“How about we go for a swim? There’s no one around at this time.” She stood up, glancing around.

“You mean in the pool?”

“Yeah! Why not?” Lieia was already out of her clothes. She flashed a quick smile to Celestia, before diving head-first in the pool, surfacing on the other side.

“Come on, Celly! The water’s fine!” Lieia circled lazily in the water. “Are you scared?”

“Of course not!”

“Suuuuure.” Lieia smirked, diving underwater for a moment, and reappearing ten meters away, her hair plastered across her face.

“You’re scared, right?”

“I most certainly am not!” Celestia scoffed, discarding her jewellery and climbing in the pool. She paddled over to Lieia, who was smiling smugly. She breathed in deeply, diving under. Celestia felt Lieia’s fingers tickle her stomach and she giggled. A moment later Lieia pulled her underwater. She struggled wildly, but Lieia held her firmly, before grabbing hold of Celestia’s head and kissing her, breathing some air in the startled mare’s lungs. She saw the surprise in Celestia’s eyes and decided to surface.

They broke the surface of water, with Celestia glaring at Lieia.

“Why do you scare me like that?”

“Sorry. I can’t help it. I really need to rein myself in.” She kissed Celestia again.

“Well, at least I could really test my lungs. I have a built-in air tank that has enough super-compressed air for two hours. Useful, no?” She swam backwards, flicking a splash of water at Celestia with her leg.

“C’mon. Let’s swim.” Her slow, powerful strokes propelled her forward, and she soon was swimming circles around Celestia, humming nonsense.

“Lieia, you do enjoy shoving it in my face that you are physically stronger that me, do you not?”

“Well, you’re a slow swimmer, Cel. But I guess you like to take things nice and slow, huh?”

“True. What’s the point of doing something if you’re going to hurry through the experience?”

“I guess that makes sense.” Lieia hummed thoughtfully, before diving again, reappearing in front of Celestia.

“So… Want to do something fun?”

“Not really, Lieia. Want to simply enjoy this time, maybe?”

“Sounds tempting, Celly, it really does. Okay.” Lieia grinned, swimming alongside Celestia, though she couldn’t help but show off occasionally.

“Okay, I can feel myself get wrinklier than a grape. I should get out now.” Lieia muttered some time later, and was gripping the edge of the pool, pulling herself out, flipping herself around, kneeling down in the soft grass.

“Y’comin’?”

“I think I’ll spend another minute or two.”

“I can wait that long.” Celestia’s eyes were drawn to Lieia. She was mesmerized by the trails of water that rolled down Lieia’s chest, stomach, and across her well-defined hips, soaking in the grass.

“What? They’re not fake!” Lieia’s irritated voice snapped her back to attention and Celestia waved her legs energetically so as not to sink.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about my breasts! They’re not fake. I didn’t go under the plastic surgeon’s knife. Homeworld knows I got enough trouble because of them in school. Like, this one time, some idiot or another thought it’d be a good idea to grope me. I broke his arm, knocked two of his teeth out and kicked him in the balls.” She shifted around, settling down on her knees, and leaned forward in away that did wonders to her already full cleavage.

“The way I see it, if there’s any touching to be done, you better be involved.” She chuckled, before standing up.

“I could use a towel.” Celestia was also climbing out of the pool, her mane and tail hanging limply like a multi-coloured curtain.

“You know, you look really hot like that.” She gestured at the mane.

“Do all humans have a fetish for wet pony princesses or is it just you?” Celestia chuckled.

“Well played, Cel. Well played.” Lieia smiled, before trying to tidy her hair. “Now, how about that towel?”

“Well, I guess this is where we part ways. I have to get back to base.” Lieia scratched the back of her head, smiling beguilingly.

“Oh. Well, um… Would you like to spend the night at the castle with me, maybe?” Celestia proposed hopefully, making Lieia chuckle.

“No date’s ever complete without this awkward moment, eh?” She rubber her chin, humming thoughtfully. “I’d like that, actually. I need to unwind a bit.”

“I’ll teleport us to my room right away, then.” Celestia’s horn lit up with magic and they disappeared in a bright flash of light, reappearing in Celestia’s bedroom. Lieia shrugged her jacket off, tossing it on a vacant chair.

“So… Iron Night? Where’d you pull that one up from?” She noticed Celestia hesitate before answering.

“It’s… it’s the name of my former student. The one I had before Twilight. She and I… had a falling out with each other. One night, it all got out of hoof and we had a really bad quarrel. We both said things we didn’t mean and… well… I never saw her again after that night.”

“Oh. I understand it’s a painful topic for you. I’m not going to pry, Celly.” Lieia’s soft voice was soothing to listen to and she turned to her lover, burying her muzzle in Lieia’s chest, trying to hold back the tears that were gathering in her eyes. Lieia hesitated for a moment, and then wrapped her arms around Celestia. They sunk to the floor, with Lieia hugging Celestia, whispering quietly to calm the distraught mare.

“Shhh… It’s alright, Celestia… Nothing to worry about…”

They spent ten minutes like that, with Lieia crooning nonsense syllables in Celestia’s ear, brushing the alicorn’s mane with her fingers, like a mother consoling her children would. She heard Celestia bite back a sob now and then, but otherwise, her lover remained relatively calm.

Some time later, Celestia drew back, smiling sadly and a bit tearfully.

“Thank you, Lieia. I… I needed to get that of my chest, I really did. Thanks for being here for me. You would make a good mother.” Lieia chuckled awkwardly at that, brushing a stray lock of her hair out of her face absent-mindedly. Celestia found the gesture very endearing to her.

“Eheh… hahaha… Oooohkayy… That’s all sorts of weird, Cel.”

“Well, I mean, not now, exactly. But when the war is over and we can actually settle down…” She let the words hang in the air, making Lieia smile.

“I’d like that, Celestia. I really would.” She hugged the mare again.

“You have no idea how happy that makes me, Lieia.” Celestia grinned happily, nuzzling Lieia’s cheek.

Lieia stood up, pulling Celestia to her feet, and kissing her gently.

“C’mon. We should get some sleep.”

“Sleep sounds nice.” Celestia smiled.

Moments later they lay in the bed, wrapped up in each other’s embrace.

“How do you keep your coat so soft?”

“One day, my dear, I shall introduce you to a spa.” Celestia muttered drowsily, curling around Lieia, covering them both with her wings.

The constant rattle of gunfire echoed through the firing range, and Lieia wasted no time addressing any clumsiness regarding the firearms. Energy projectiles, bullets, scattershot and others slammed against the targets downrange.

“So, Feathers, think they’re ready?” She asked the lieutenant. The pegasus hummed thoughtfully before answering.

“I’d say so, ma’am. We’ve still got the vehicle training to do, right?”

“Yeah, we do. After that, they’re ready and we can take another group for training, right?”

“Right, ma’am.” Feathers squirmed about uncomfortably.

“C’mon, soldier. Out with it.” Lieia looked at her expectantly.

“The newspapers. Are they true, ma’am?”

“Oh. You mean the entire buzz about me and Princess being in love? Yeah, it’s true.” Feathers seemed surprised, but forged on nonetheless.

“Wow. Um, why’d you keep it under the covers for so long, if I may ask, ma’am?”

“I’m not really the poster girl of Coalition, or the best example of the very model soldier. I don’t really make friends easily. Pissed off a lot of officers. I got quite a few enemies. If word was to get out of our relation while the fleet was still here, well… Some might be idiotic enough to try and shank me or suchlike. Use her to get to me. I don’t want to put her in harm’s way.”

“Yeah, it’d suck if one of our rulers was suddenly kidnapped, right, ma’am?” Lieia chuckled at that.

“True, that.” She leaned against the wall, pulling a cigarette out and sticking it between her lips, offering another one to Feathers.

“No, thanks, ma’am. I don’t smoke. You shouldn’t, too. Just saying.”

“Fine by me.” Lieia lit the roll of paper and tobacco before speaking again. “These cigs aren’t harmful anyway. Wonders of medical science.” She puffed out a cloud of smoke, humming thoughtfully, holding the cigarette in her fingers.

“We’ll need another lieutenant. Is there anyone you’d like to suggest?”

“Now that you ask it, ma’am, what about Derpy Hooves? Doesn’t seem that anything can dampen her spirit. That might embolden other troops. She’s handy with the 'Blastmaster', too.”

“Yeah. She’s quite something. I wasn’t sure about letting her enlist, but she’s exceeded my expectations, to be honest. She’ll make a good lieutenant, methinks.”

“I hear that.” Lieia nodded in agreement.

“It’s settled then, ma’am?”

“Yep.” Down on the firing range, Derpy was sighting once more down the range and letting loose a cloud of pellets from the Tahl-Morrien M58 shotgun.

“Bull’s-eye!” She announced happily moments later.

“I think she’ll do just fine, Feathers.” Next Chapter: Chapter 21 Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 25 Minutes