Chapter 4: Dinner and a Bonus

Luna had dressed herself in some casual clothes that consisted of tighter jeans and a long sleeve shirt that hugged her torso before deciding to head out. Since she had been going out with Seafire, she had made subconscious efforts to look even better for him. This sometimes meant that she’d doll herself up a tad bit more than usual, though this was not always the case. Sometimes, like now, she would merely ask herself if he would like something on her. In this case, she chose something that hugged her figure a little more than usual. Satisfied with her choice in attire, Luna added a lone teal blue highlight to her hair before magically sealing her door and walking out towards Ponyville to meet her friends, raising the moon as she walked. She contacted Celestia one more time as she strolled along.

“Just checking in. How’s your sexcapade going?” Luna asked in jest.

“Hey Luna, and I thought you knew that I was joking about Octavia. She’s just a really good friend who comes over frequently. I only said that stuff to joke around and make you uncomfortable,” Celestia replied with a chuckle. Luna rolled her eyes.

“The sad thing is, I actually believed that one hundred percent. Am I interrupting your binge drinking session?” Luna drenched her words in sarcasm. She could practically feel Celestia rolling her eyes.

“Not at all. Tavi couldn’t stay too long this time as she had some musical business to tend to. That comes at a bad time as well, since I have nothing to do right now. Parliament is on leave for the next few weeks and all my work was done ahead of time. This is foreign to me, because very rarely have I had a ‘boring’ night,” Celestia explained. Luna grinned.

“You know, Tia, you’ve been really hard working and busy lately. We all have. Come out with me! I’m sure our friends would be delighted to have you join us for dinner. Besides, I haven’t gotten to see you as much due to the increase in political activity,” Luna offered. Celestia was somewhat surprised at being invited out, and she didn’t really know why that was. To tell the truth, Celly had been feeling a bit down lately, and this could lift her spirits.

“You know, I think I’d like that… yeah I would. I’ll meet you there?”

“Sounds good Tia. If Octi was still there I’d say bring her as well, but… meh, oh well. I’ll let you get ready. Talk to you then, sis.”

“You got it. And Luna?”

“Hmm?”

“Thanks,” Celestia added in a very soft tone. Luna was slightly put off by this.

“Is something amiss, Tia?” Luna asked in a concerned manner.

“I’ll tell you later. But I’m going to get ready to see you all tonight. I’ll talk to you later,” Celestia responded.

“Okay then,” Luna replied before closing the connection.

“I hope she’s okay… I’ll ask her later tonight,” Luna said out loud before entering Ponyville’s center.

Celestia just disconnected from the mindchat and was looking herself over in the mirror a bit before deciding to change into something more casual. She sighed audibly before deciding to do something. Truth of the matter was, was that Celestia was tired. Not physically or mentally, but tired of just… stuff. Well, at least that’s what she told herself, not really bothering to rationalize her usage of words. Celestia just felt somewhat… lonely. Even though Luna was with Seafire, she never became distant from Celestia at all. In fact, the whole ordeal brought them closer together. Celestia was pretty much just missing the feeling of having someone to see romantically. It had been a very long time since she had someone like that in her life and her last interest ended terribly when she was coronated Princess of the Sun all those years ago. She figured it would have been easier since she “played for both teams” but it readily became apparent that that wasn’t the case. She was very happy for Luna, but at the same time, slightly envious, which she felt very horrible about. She supported her head with her hand for a while, staring off into space before actually redressing. At that moment, she witnessed Private Windfire walking along the hallway by her open chambers. He saw her and lightly bowed respectfully and giving her a nice smile.

“Windfire! Didn’t Luna give you a week’s leave?” Celestia asked. The tall and modestly built soldier leaned against her doorframe, sporting relaxed attire.

“Indeed she did, Princess,” Windfire replied.

“Please, call me Celestia. But then… why are you here?” Celestia asked further with a giggle. Usually when soldiers and guards were given leave, they got as far away from the castle as possible. He smirked in return.

“I had to drop off my equipment in the military wing and pick up some casual clothing before I headed out,” he explained.

“Oh… okay then,” Celestia said with an odd inflection in her tone. She herself didn’t really understand why she used that tone; Most likely because she was appreciating his company at the time. He picked up on this.

“Forgive me for prying, but you seem like something is troubling you,” Windfire observed with genuine concern. She appreciated his concern more than he knew. Most of their guards were just that… guards. Swearing an oath and becoming stoics hell bent on protecting them until death. Few showed or attempted closeness towards the Princesses.

“It’s just… it’s a long story,” Celestia replied with a grateful undertone. She truly was happy that he cared, but didn’t want to bother him with her problems. He raised his brow with a friendly smirk.

“I’ve got a week’s leave. I’ve got time.”

Celestia replied with a soft grin, meeting his own gaze.

“Care to sit down?” she asked him, patting a spot on her bed next to her. He nodded and calmly walked over, taking a seat next to her.

“Now, as much as you’d like to tell me… what’s bothering you, Celestia?” he asked. With that, she proceeded to tell him her feelings of loneliness and other factors involving Luna’s love life and what not. He listened very intently and allowed her to finish talking for a good five minutes before he even thought about speaking.

“Is that everything?” he confirmed.

“Yeah… that’s everything…” Celestia said, her eyes a bit wet but not really tearing up, though she was dangerously close.

“Well,” Windfire began to speak, looking for the correct choice of words. She listened very intently.

“I can understand perfectly the situation you’re bringing to light, albeit the intensity isn’t something I’d know. What I mean by that is that you’re the co-ruler of an entire nation! You have other responsibilities and obligations on your shoulders that potentially weigh you down even more and complicate your predicament further. Doing what you have to do could drive most people to drink. However, if I may be honest…” he continued.

“Please be…” Celestia said in a soft tone.

“I believe you’re taking it too hard. Yes, I know that you’re struggling a bit because you miss having someone to come back to at the end of a busy day, for lack of better words, but you must understand the circumstances you’re in. That doesn’t mean that you can’t be with someone… by all means that’s not what I’m trying to portray. All I’m saying is that given the current political situation, it’s making it a bit hard for you to explore your options. Look what happened to Luna. Seafire came into her life when she least expected it. You can’t necessarily go looking for it because often times when you avidly pursue something you want more than anything… it will evade you by just that much,” he further explained by pushing his thumb and index figure almost together to illustrate his point. Celestia’s gaze never wavered, and she was completely taking his words to heart more than she let on.

“But one day… or many days in the future, actually… the opportunities will present themselves. Sometimes they’re obvious, and other times they’re not, and you’ll just have to take the chance on said opportunities,” He finished with a smile and lightly covering her hand with his in a show of comfort. She smiled back at him in return, not at all put off by the contact.

“Thank you, Windfire. That meant a lot,” Celestia told him genuinely. He nodded lightly in return.

“Anytime, Celestia,” he said, patting her hand softly a couple of times before hoisting himself off of the bed.

“I’ll leave you be now, Celestia,” he said as he walked to the door.

“Windfire?”

He turned around to meet her gaze from across the room.

“Yeah?”

“Are you doing anything tonight?”

Luna arrived at the designated restaurant which was rather large but one of those “happening” places where there were tons of people eating, drinking, and having a ball. There was a full bar at the center as well with plenty of conversation and laughs going on. Upon arriving, Twilight flagged her down, showing her where they were all sitting. Luna swiftly moved to the table and embraced all of her friends, especially the ones she didn’t have the pleasure of seeing the first time around. They ordered their drinks and food and made pleasant conversation.

“So, how is everything, girls?” Luna asked as she clutched Seafire’s hand.

“Well, the weather patrol is going alright. As you know we recently made the decision to let the weather change on its own and ‘naturally…’ Seriously that makes no sense. But that created even more work in the end because now we’re doing field predictions and surveying. Been a hellish week, I’ll tell you what,” Rainbow Dash answered first as she took a sip of her drink.

“I’ve just rolled out, with the help of Seafire, some new men’s suits. I’ve received numerous new orders as a result and the week has been quite busy, consequentially,” Rarity added, seconding the ‘busy week’ attitude.

“Tons of birthdays were happening this week and because of that I had to bake more cakes and plan parties and set up decorations and oh BOY was it So. Much. Fun  It was like I was partying all week and baking which are my two favoritest things to do ever!” Pinkie said with enormous enthusiasm and surprisingly all in one breath. Luna chuckled with the other girls at her antics.

“Tons of work on the farm. Had a lot more harvest than we expected so we had tah work a bit harder to get it all collected. Definitely ready for a break, let me tell yah,” Applejack said with agreement.

“I’ll agree with you all there. With the ambassador that Celestia and I had to see tonight, I’m definitely ready for the weeks end. By the way, I forgot to mention. Celestia will be joining us tonight,” Luna stated. This got the other girls excited, all of them smiling and nodding.

“Why yes, I will be!” A voice said behind Luna. Turning around she saw Celestia in some casual clothing minus her tiara. Her look (and essentially, her presence) was drawing a few looks here and there but nothing major, as many had grown accustomed to the Princesses frequenting outings. At her side was Windfire, to which she was cordially holding his upper arm. Everyone said hello to her and embraced her as she greeted all of them, saving a huge hug for Luna.

“I see you coerced Windfire into coming with you, Tia. What she offer you for coming here?” Luna asked jokingly, earning a few light laughs and a rolling of the eyes from Celestia.

“Nothing, Luna. As a matter of fact I came here on my own volition. Celestia offered and I accepted,” he replied with a smile on his face. Luna nodded approvingly, tossing her gaze between him and Celestia before smirking to herself.

“Alrighty then! Have a seat, you two!” Twilight said enthusiastically. The massive group then enjoyed each other’s company, eventually getting served their food and more drinks, alcoholic and non. Everyone was enjoying themselves greatly, making plans for the future and what not. Luna was gazing at Seafire as he was talking to Fluttershy and Celestia.

“He looks… really good tonight…” Luna thought to herself as she subconsciously bit her lower lip.

“No! Bad thoughts, Luna! No!” Luna reprimanded herself… but she was then thinking again.

“Oh, who the fuck am I kidding?” Luna thought once again and decided to ‘have fun’ with Seafire.

Luna gently laid her hand on his thigh. This wasn’t uncommon contact for the two of them so Seafire paid little mind as he continued to talk. Luna then decided to slowly slide her hand up and down his thigh, her developing a devious smirk as she looked elsewhere. He started to get a little curious at her actions but continued talking nonetheless. Luna then became more firm with her hands and slid them dangerously close to his crotch, giggling to herself. He stiffened his posture and coughed slightly at the unexpected contact.

“You alright, Seafire? You look a bit tense…” Fluttershy observed.

“Yeah I’m… FINE… just perfect…” Seafire struggled to say coherently. He didn’t lie to himself by saying that the contact didn’t feel nice. Celestia raised her brow at him with a smirk before turning towards Luna, who quickly changed her gaze to something more normal.

“If you say so…” Celestia said with a jesting inflection in her voice. This continued for a couple more hours as they continued to enjoy pleasurable company and Luna continuing to tease Seafire. Eventually though, it was time to part ways. Twilight and the other girls had to return to their respective abodes.

“It was really fun tonight, Luna! If you’re free tomorrow, let’s all hang out!” Twilight offered, to which the other girls nodded in agreement. Luna pondered for a moment.

“You know, I think I am free tomorrow. I’ll contact you girls then, so we can figure something out,” Luna agreed. The girls all nodded and bade their respective goodbyes before heading off. Luna could feel a light pulse in magical energy radiating off of the six girls… feeling the connection between them. With tonight being a success, the Elemental bonds had been exercised a bit. Luna was pleased.

“Windfire, it’s late, so you’re more than welcome to stay at the castle,” Celestia said with a very weird tone. Luna could almost swear that she winked at him with her eye that was not in view.

“You know, I think I’ll take you up on that, Celestia,” he replied before the both of them turned to the other couple there.

“Tonight was fun, Luna, but I believe it’s time we head home,” Celestia stated.

“Very well then. Let’s do it again soon, Tia!” Luna said before giving her sister a nice hug. After they departed, Luna turned to Seafire.

“You’re more than welcome to stay over again as well, Seafire,” Luna offered.

“Yeah that’s fine… but when we get back can we… talk?” Seafire asked. She immediately caught on to what he wanted to talk about so she nodded. The two of them walked off to her safe house and when they arrived, they shut the door behind them.

“Alrighty then. Luna, I was going to ask you about why you were—” Seafire was cut off when Luna aggressively pressed her lips to his and wrapped her arms around his face. He kissed back as well, but he was rather shocked at her forwardness. She eventually broke the kiss to catch her breath and magically remove her shirt and jeans, leaving her in a dark blue bra and panties. Seafire’s eyes widened to the theoretical size of dinner plates, his pupils dilating about 200%.

“Less talking… more of this…” Luna said with a very sultry tone, accompanied by a half lidded gaze and smirk before she pressed her lips to his again, her tongue demanding entrance into his mouth. Seafire’s eyes widened at this and he was readily about to protest the extremely fast rate of progression of the current events until his own conscience in the back of his head spoke to him.

“Bad things have happened in the past, but do not be afraid to progress forward. However, don’t let that undermine your own thoughts and feelings.”

He kept his own words in mind, grinning an identical sultry grin at Luna before he permit her entrance and kissing her back with vigor, exciting her further and ending up with Luna forcing herself onto him, Seafire instinctually using his hands to support her and accidentally knocking over some things from dressers and shelves. Eventually they ended up on the bed with Luna pinned under Seafire, her giggling in anticipation. However, Seafire had some stuff to say.

“Luna, you know how I feel about you and how much I care about you. We’ve been together more than a couple of months, but before we progress forward from here, I just want you to know that I don’t feel completely ready to go all the way…” Seafire said with a soft tone. Luna’s sultry gaze disappeared and was replaced with one of disappointment… not in him or her, but the turnout of the situation. She let out an audible sigh and before she could respond, he spoke up again.

“However,” he began to say, kissing her again and then immediately kissing her cheek.

“That does not…” he kissed her jaw line. Luna shuddered at the contact.

“Necessarily mean…” he kissed her neck several times. She was loving it.

“I’m not all for…” he kissed down to her collar bone, right above her bust line before bringing his face back up to level with her.

“Other forms of… expression,” He said with a smirk. Seafire was returning the favor for when Luna decided to try and tease him at dinner. She was eating it up, but still wondering where he was going with this.

“Seafire, what exactly do you mean by tha—” Seafire, this time, shut her up with a kiss. He eventually broke it and winked at her.

“You’ll see. I’ll see you soon,” he replied before kissing down her chin, followed by her neck, then her collar bone, between her breasts and her abdomen and lower. She was so engrossed in the feeling that she had no idea what he was attempting.

“But… Seafire… what exactly are you talking abou— OOOOOH!” Luna found out immediately and expressed her feedback with a hearty groan.

It was definitely a good day by Luna’s standards.