Chapter 44

Luna and Battering Ram both walked along the corridor, laughing quietly as they told each other jokes. The large earth pony smiled as he looked out of one of the large windows and down at Canterlot’s busy streets

The large earth pony sighed as he quietly returned to following the dark princess. He paused as the princess walked around the corner and gasped, quickly retreating and heading down the other way

“Is something wrong princess?” Battering Ram frowned as he moved to look around the corner

“No nothing,” Luna said quickly, impatiently inching down the corridor as she wanted Battering Ram to follow. “I umm… thought we could go see the castle gardens”

Battering Ram saw through the act and turned to peek around the corner, jumping back as a large black fog rushed past, red flashes of lightning bounced around as Odio swept past

“HEY LUNA! HEY BATTERING RAM!” Odio cheered as he raced down the corridor, pausing as he looked back at the large earth pony

Luna frowned at the two males as they glared at each other in confusion. “Excuse me Odio, but how do you know Battering Ram?”

“W-well I heard from Dave that there was a huge pony with that name,” Odio made a shrugging motion with his fog. “I made the connection with relative ease because of my new thinking skills I learnt in Phoenix Wright”

Battering Ram gave a confused look to Luna, the princess sighed as she rolled her eyes. “Odio has a strange hobby that involves him wasting time”

“Wasting time?” Odio growled, “I will have you know that I have reached the Ender Dragon in Minecraft, not that you would care… that reminds me, where is Dave?”

“I would say him and Celestia are about to make their way to the mountain top,” Luna smiled as Odio’s flaming eyes narrowed. “Dave is going to propose to Celestia with my help”

Odio pulsed red as his eyes widened, “What?”

Luna smiled at Odio’s discomfort, “Yes Dave has finally decided to settle down and put his adventures aside, that means you will have to learn to let go and stop being so persistent in trying to get his attention”

Odio’s growl turned into a soft purr, “Well it can’t be as tough for you, losing your forbidden love and your sister in one foul swoop, ooh that has got to sting!” Odio smirked as Luna’s smile faded, “If I lose, you lose, if I win, you lose… the thing is with you is that you don’t have many ponies near you that would help unless they had something to gain or they were family”

Luna lowered her head slightly, “Leave me alone Odio, you made your point”

“Uh uh,” Odio chuckled, “this is too much fun, watching you squirm, watching as every option around you involves you losing something dear to you.” Odio seemed to breathe in Luna’s sadness as her ears dropped even further, “You don’t have anypony to support you and nopony who loves you enough to stand up to me!”

“SHUT UP!” Battering Ram yelled, his voice echoing down the corridor as he caused Odio and Luna to both jump in shock. “You think you are untouchable! Unstoppable! But in reality you are pathetic, hiding behind Dave and using him as a tool against others because he is too kind hearted to say no to you!”

Odio snorted as he floated towards the pony, “Listen here you! I know things about you that would get you thrown out of here in a second, so if you don’t shut up then I will…”

“I DON’T CARE!” Battering Ram roared, “You work in the shadows, try to get dirt on ponies and blackmail them… without that, you are nothing, alone and weak”

“Fine!” Odio spat, “Princess Luna! This earth pony before you was once a guard here, before you returned and he has a very interesting past with…”

“Strong Shield,” Battering Ram sighed, “I was a guard, things went wrong, I fought Strong Shield and I left the guards.” He looked at Luna as he felt Odio’s eyes widen in surprise, “If you really want to know more then I will tell you later”

“W-why would you do that?” Odio gawped, “You do realize what could happen?”

Battering Ram nodded, “Yeah but I can’t stand by and watch somepony being bullied or hurt… even if it means me getting into trouble”

Luna stepped forwards and stood between Odio and Battering Ram, she sent a glare to Odio, “I suggest you leave”

Odio growled before deciding to float away, sending glares at the ponies. Battering Ram sighed as Luna stood to face him, her head held high as she narrowed her gaze. “Yeah, my protective attitude has gotten me into trouble before”

“Battering Ram?” Princess Luna said in a plain tone until Battering Ram took a deep breath and stood up straight, awaiting orders from the princess that could use her powerful magic to throw him aside

“Yes Princess Luna?” Battering Ram began to plan an escape route, starting with the door beside him to break visual contact with the powerful mage. It would force the princess to use a weaker spell with a wider radius, hopefully he could use his massive strength to push through and find another way to escape, possibly a balcony or a short fall out of a window

Battering Ram’s concentration was broken as Luna leaned forwards and gently rested her lips against his. Her eyes closed as his opened wide, shocked that he was being kissed, especially by a princess. The earth pony’s eyes slowly closed, sinking into the kiss

Luna gently pulled away as a smile crawled across her lips, her eyes gently opened to look at Battering Ram, his face still stuck as if he was still enjoying the moment. The princess placed her head next to the pony’s ear as her smile continued to grow

“I will come find you soon,” Luna whispered, “But first I have to make my sister happy”

The princess of the night walked down the corridor and left the confused Battering Ram to finally realize that he was no longer kissing anypony. “W-where am I?” he looked around in confusion until he caught on and his jaw dropped, “Ahh, buck”

Meanwhile…

The guards outside Celestia’s quarters both failed to keep their straight faces as Dave suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs and quickly walked over to the door. A large, excited smile across his face as he gently knocked on the golden doors

“Enter,” Celestia called, a mild tone of annoyance accompanied her voice. Dave was unfazed as he stepped into the room and Celestia suddenly beamed at him. “Why did you knock? You know you live here too”

Dave shrugged, “This feels better, almost more correct for our little outing”

“Who are you and what have you done with my special somepony?” Celestia smiled as she briefly narrowed her eyes. “Dave normally worries about everything and doesn’t walk around with a ridiculous grin… well most of the time he doesn’t”

“Well milady, I have a reason to be happy and we should be having fun with our picnic,” Dave tapped the large basket, the human pouting slightly. “I am trying to be romantic you know”

Celestia bit her bottom lip before walking away from the paperwork and into Dave’s outstretched arm, her horn glowing as she carried the large blanket. “If you are trying to seduce me then we could always have our picnic in here… I can order the whipped cream again”

Dave blushed at the wink, “Well as tempting as that is, I would prefer to have our picnic outside.” The red faced human smirked before leaning close to Celestia’s ear and whispering, “Maybe later though”

Celestia giggled playfully as they made their way through the castle and down the large steps. As they passed servants the love-struck couple, they bowed deeply and were met with thanks for all the work they did at the castle and inspiration for them to keep up the good work

The human and alicorn both stepped out onto the castle runway and walked towards the large storage buildings at the end of the marble runway. Dave took a few steps ahead of Celestia so he could open the door for her, playfully bowing as she walked past and swished her tail into his face

The pegasi inside the building were quickly getting into a line to salute and stand to attention. Celestia walked over to them whilst Dave looked over at the heavily polished carriages that were used for formal visits

The largest looked like it had to be pulled by eight pegasi guards, six in front and two on the sides. The size of it made it perfect for long visits that both the princesses were attending, not to mention it could open up and turn into a stage if it was needed

The rest were basically large chairs suited for the normal visits either of the alicorn sisters usually attended. The similarity between Celestia’s grand, but basic throne and Luna’s sleek, but primal chair was that they both reflected their uses inner personality. Celestia appeared grand but nopony got to see her natural side, Luna was a princess but most of her traits were still old fashioned

Dave finally returned his gaze to Celestia and saw that she was climbing onto a flat, golden chariot with a pair of guard pegasi attached to the front. Dave followed Celestia onto the chariot and placed his picnic basket between his feet

“So why are we on this?” Dave asked as he wobbled, the pegasi guards apologizing before moving forwards again except at a slower pace

Celestia nuzzled against Dave’s shoulder, seeming unfazed by the rocking of the chariot. “With this we can quickly find this flat bit of land and easily dismount”

“Makes sense,” Dave admitted, bracing himself as the pegasi flapped their wings and took to the air, taking their time so the chariot didn’t tip too far back and allow the passengers to slide off

The pegasi gently rose towards the mountain, eventually turning slightly so they could circle the mountain as they rose. The guard closest to the mountain began to scan near the peak, searching for the flat bit of land that Celestia described

“There,” the guard informed his wingpony, pointing at the flat spot until his co-worker nodded and they simultaneously began to slow and near the grassy, flat ground

Celestia levitated down the basket and blanket before gracefully opening her wings so she floated down. Dave thanked the guards before dropping down, bending his knees to absorb the shock. The alicorn used her magic to open the blanket and set it down, allowing Dave to begin to open the picnic basket

The white alicorn allowed her eyes to close as a warm breeze rolled past and gently stroked her face, her mane continued to flow in its own direction as it ignored the wind. Dave reached into the basket and pulled out a handful of rose petals

Dave glanced at Celestia, her back still facing him as she embraced the warmth of the sun. Dave gently threw the rose petals into the air, the wind catching some and helped spread them around the picnic area. He made sure that the petals were reasonably spread around before he walked over to Celestia and sat behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders as he gave the alicorn a small massage

“This is certainly a good view,” Dave noted as he looked over the edge of the mountain, the city of Canterlot was in full view from their position, the ponies looking like ants running around the cracks between stones

Celestia’s tensed muscles seemed to instantly relax as she gave into Dave’s massage, her head dropping as Dave used one hand to stoke her mane aside and allow himself access for him to kiss her neck

“Would you like something to eat?” Dave whispered as Celestia leaned back and rested her body against his

The white alicorn reluctantly got onto her hooves, gasping slightly as she saw the rose petals that were strewn across the blanket and beyond. “You are certainly outdoing yourself,” Celestia smiled as she sat next to the basket, her horn glowing yellow as she levitated out a small cupcake, the pink frosting piled high on the small bun

Dave sat next to Celestia as his eyes darted to the sky, searching for any sign of Luna or what she might have planned. He sighed as he rolled his head to look at Celestia, a small smirk crossing his lips as he noticed a small spot of icing was stuck to her nose

“Come here,” Dave smiled as he wiped the icing off with a finger and showed it to the white princess. “Biting more than you can chew?”

“The icing committed treason,” Celestia smiled as she licked the icing from Dave’s finger. “It had to be isolated from the rest of the icing in my mouth until it learned its lesson”

Dave chuckled as his hand dipped into his pocket, grabbing the small box as he took a few breaths to calm himself. He pulled the box out of his pocket as he hid it behind his back, mentally preparing himself to ask the question that burned in his mind

“Hey Celestia?” Dave sighed as he looked down at the gap between them, a single rose petal floated through as Celestia placed as hoof on Dave’s leg

“Yes Dave?” Celestia smiled reassuringly as she looked across at Dave, her smile faded as she noticed Dave’s nervous attitude. “Is something wrong?”

“Hmm? No, no,” Dave muttered slowly. “It’s only… I want to ask you a question”

The white princess frowned in curiosity, “What is it?”

Dave took a final deep breath, slowly pulling the box from behind his back. His eyes moved up to look at Celestia’s but her gaze shifted as the sky became dark and the light slowly dipped. Celestia looked up towards her sun but gasped

Dave held the box out, his fingers ready to pull it open and reveal the ring inside. He instead followed Celestia’s gaze and looked up in time to see the moon moving to block the sun, the eclipse forming right before his eyes

The busy streets of Canterlot paused to look up at the sky, the entire city gasping and whispering as the moon fully blocked the sun and left a burning ring of light in the sky. Celestia frowned in confusion again but her eyes widened as words began to appear in the eclipse. A question burned into the ring of fire

Princess Celestia, will you marry me?

The princess of the sun read the words before her head slowly turned to look at Dave, his hands holding out a box that he slowly opened to reveal the elegant gem within. Celestia covered her gasp with her hooves, her eyes widened as she saw the diamond look back at her

“Well?” Dave said nervously, his hands shaking slightly as Celestia dropped her hooves and her eyes returned to normal size. Dave’s heart stopped as Celestia looked up at him with tears in her eyes

Did Celestia hate it? Did she think this was too late or too soon? Was there something wrong with the ring? Dave kept sending the same questions through his mind as Celestia slowly shook her head

“Stupid question,” the alicorn sighed, dropping her head as a huge smile spread across her face. “OF COURSE!” she screamed as she leapt forwards and tackled Dave, wrapping her hooves around his neck as she kissed him

The words on the eclipse disappeared before the word ‘yes’ appeared and caused the entire city to cheer and yell congratulations towards the castle. The chefs and servants also cheered and danced as they heard the loud roar of appeal. Even the guards raised their hooves in the air with a cheer before they quickly regained their composure

Dave managed to laugh as Celestia finally released him, “You had me worried for a minute there!” he panted as he pulled the ring free from its silk prison

Celestia’s smile grew as Dave placed a hand on her cheek and placed the ring on her horn, gently guiding it down until it rested an inch from her head. The gold band hugged Celestia’s horn whilst it allowed the diamond to stand out and sparkle in the sunlight