The guards didn't do much at my house. They noted that there wasn't even really enough room for them to exercise properly, like they did while on duty. There wasn't a whole lot I could do to help them.

Shining Armor started to help me with the chores I had to do. It was, of course, optional. Neither Celestia nor I told them to do it, so Soulfire was exempt from chore duty. And it's not like I was gonna ask Celestia to help. She's a Princess, she's not supposed to do chores.

I guess it's just the husband in him that compelled him to help. I wish I had a husband like him...

I was pretty sure Soulfire still held a grudge against me.

While they were around, I did what I could to pay attention to them so I could look for any shift in attitude. Nothing really changed amongst them.

Celestia, on the other hand, changed a lot. She was now... my girlfriend.

Celestia was a cuddlebug. She was a cuddlebug and a little puppy dog. She followed me around the house as I moved around and she didn't care if she was obvious about it. I didn't care either. I liked when she was with me.

If I ever found myself sitting on my couch, be it to eat or use my laptop or just to relax, she was sitting next to me, leaning on me or snuggling up against me.

I certainly wasn't complaining about her affectionate attitude. In fact, I loved it. Who wouldn't? It was a dream come true to have my very own big, squishy huggy-buddy.

She was affectionate and playful. At times, she really was almost like a pet. I rubbed, pet, and scratched her whenever she held onto me. When I scratched her back, she purred like a kitten. I always tried to return as much of her affection as I could.

She was a clingy girlfriend and I loved it.

We really were together. It wasn't really that different at all. We were just more free around each other. Free to be ourselves. Celestia had a lot of pent up love and I was the one that she wanted to share it with.

I thought about her so much now. Sometimes, I would find questions I would ask her, and she would answer them without any hesitation. I was curious about her and she was open with me.

One thing was stuck in my mind, though. The morning after we woke up in the same bed, she felt that she had been manipulated. At least, that's how I understood it. At the time, she was vulnerable and scared. She was so much more susceptible to the feelings that come with infatuation and love than I thought she would be. I never thought I'd see her like that. I never want to see her like that again...

And... another thing. Something else that I've noticed. Something important. She never returned what I said to her. She never said that she loved me. If I ever said it to her, she would giggle or maybe just smile at me.

Even if she didn't say it though, I knew she felt that way. With the way she's been acting, how could she not? It was there. It was definitely there.

The more I thought about her, the more my mind became muddled. I loved her. I loved her a lot. After a point, it became hard to separate the truth from I wanted to believe about her. I tried my best not to assume things. It was more fun and personal asking her myself, anyways.

It was a week or so later, about halfway through the month, when something of note happened. Throughout the whole week, Celestia and I spent so much with each other.

I was upstairs on my laptop after an uneventful day of work. Celestia, of course, was to my side, laying against me. I wasn't doing anything special. At the moment, I was simply checking Facebook. I clicked away to go to YouTube when the internet on my laptop started to fail. Initially, I thought that I just needed to reset the Wi-Fi. I went downstairs and did just that, Celestia following me down. I waited about ten seconds, then plugged them back in. Nothing.

I did it again and got the same results. I checked it on my phone, as well. It wasn't working there, either. I unplugged it again, then left it alone for ten minutes. I checked it for dust, but it seemed fairly clean. I plugged it back in and got the same result as before. I checked it on my other computer and even the Ethernet connection failed to work.

"What is going on here?" I grumbled to myself.

I checked the cables leading to my network from my computer. My home network system was a few different network devices stored in their own separate area in my basement. I had used the knowledge I gained while in school to make my network as efficient as I felt necessary. Nothing was wrong with them, as far as I could tell.

Celestia had no idea what I was doing and didn't hesitate to ask. I answered her as best I could. She seemed to understand about half of what I told her.

Again, I turned the system off and back on. No luck. What's up with this thing?

If I couldn't figure this out before tomorrow, Celestia would be without internet while I was at work. That'd be boring for her.

Against my usual troubleshooting methods, I called in to the company that provided my internet service.

Apparently, they couldn't connect to my house either, meaning something was wrong outside of my personal setup.

They scheduled someone to come and take a look at it, but unfortunately, it was going to be a few days until he got here.

Looks like it's unavoidable.

I told Celestia about the situation, but she didn't seem particularly bothered by it. She's never bothered by anything.

Without the internet, entertainment would be limited. For both of us. For almost the entirety of the next day, at least when I was home, I spent my time with Celestia. Usually, we just sat together on the couch. It seemed to be the normal place for the two of us.

As per our arrangement, two days later, a very large black gentleman came to work on my internet. I wanted to know what he was doing, but I always hate when people breathe down my neck, so I decided against it. As it turns out, the outside cables had been damaged. He said that a squirrel could have gotten to them.

Outside cables were not my area of expertise.

While this may not sound important to you, it also wasn't important to me. What was important was that I spent even more time with Celestia than before. During the time I spent with her, I noticed that we were alone more often than before. The guards were typically somewhere else whenever we were together. I couldn't help but feel that it was done on purpose, but was unable to figure out if she had asked them, or they did it on their own.

They trusted me enough to leave me alone with her. Celestia trusted me, I knew that, but it was basically their job not to trust me, so it made me feel pretty proud of myself.

I didn't really have anything else to do. I didn't do much. Work, computer, sleep. Now that something else has been added to that schedule, it feels strange.

I was sick of sitting around the house all day and I knew Celestia felt the same. I didn't care about the guards because they weren't really my problem. I liked them, but Celestia was really the only thing that mattered to me right now.

When I got back home today, Celestia was at her usual place. Luckily, the couch was pretty comfy just to sit on.

She looked to me and said, "Welcome back."

I smiled lightly at her. "Hey, Celestia. Um... yeah... I'm gonna go..." I mumbled the last few words, trailing off as I walked into my room. I wanted to shower, so I got went to get some clothes. If the guards weren't here, I would just shower first. They were ruining my daily life.

I picked out some underwear and a shirt, but was shocked to find that my dresser was devoid of pants.

"Oh, come on..." I growled to myself as I checked every drawer. "You gotta be kidding me. Seriously? Fucking..."

Three people using all my stuff. Clothes, food, time...

I didn't want to be rude to the guards, but I really wanted to shower. Damn it...

I went downstairs to start the laundry. Celestia decided to come down after me. Surprisingly enough, there weren't any clothes at the bottom of the stairs. I went to the washer. Maybe I left some pants in, earlier. Or... maybe not. It was empty. I opened the drier to find a full, dry load of pants.

Did... Shining do this? I looked at Celestia, who confirmed my suspicions. Shining Armor is prime waifu material...

I retrieved a pair of pants from the drier and went back upstairs, a bundle of clothes in my arms.

I set the clothes in the bathroom and finally took my shower.

The water helped me clear my head a bit. I wasn't feeling too hot right now, I guess. Celestia and her guards have been here for a while. It hadn't even been that long and I was already bothered by it. I didn't fully understand why I felt this way. Maybe it was the lack of pants. Maybe not. Shining fixed that issue for me.

I was almost out of hair-care products. Four people with gorgeous hair using the same supply of soap. Maybe that's why I was bothered...

My shower wasn't an especially long one. It wasn't an especially special shower, either. It was just a shower. I tossed my clothes down the stairs and that was that.

So that was the highlight of that day. Two days later, something that was actually important happened.

I was downstairs and strangely enough, I was alone. I had expected Celestia to be with me. Oh well.

I was on my computer, watching videos with my headphones on my ears. Someone tapped my shoulder. Initially, I thought it was Celestia again. I removed my headphones and turned my head.

It was Shining. His face was surprisingly serious. I turned my chair to him. "Something up?" I asked.

"Princess Celestia wants to see you."

I gave him a brief questioning glance, then shrugged. "Alright then..." I stood up and stretched out. "What's up? Did she say?"

"She's ill."

"Sick? Hope it's not contagious, I work at a restaurant. Did you check her temperature?"

"We don't know where to find a thermometer."

"Fair enough. Guess I'll get that..."

From the look on his face, it seemed that he knew that getting sick was about as normal as normal gets, but then again, it was his Princess we were talking about.

I walked upstairs, retrieving the thermometer and some headache medicine from the cupboard. I also grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

I went into my room. She was laying on the bed. She looked to me as I walked in, then smiled. Soulfire was standing against the wall, but as I walked in, he left.

"Y'alright?" I asked.

"I'll be fine after some rest." she replied, turning to her side.

"Sure?"

"I'm sure."

I walked over to her and poked her cheek with a finger. She looked at me and gave me another smile.

"C'mon, let's check out your temperature."

She scratched her head and yawned before sitting up against the wall. She was sweaty and her eyes were tired, but she still smiled.

I put a sleeve over the thermometer and handed it to her. She placed it into her mouth.

I brushed her hair out of the way and placed my hand over her forehead. Warm. She looked up at my hand, then back to me.

The thermometer beeped at us. 101.7. I read out what it said to her.

She let out a sigh as I put it away.

"Oh, what's wrong?" I asked her.

She let out a small grumble. "My head hurts, my nose is clogged, I feel nauseous..."

"That... sucks. Here, this might help." I gave her some of the medicine and the water and she smiled at me. "You don't need a bucket, do you?"

I briefly looked away from her as a thought crossed my mind, but realized that what I was thinking was simply incorrect. She was just sick, nothing else. It was too soon, anyways.

"That... No, I'm fine." She laid back down on the bed and turned to her side, facing me. "I haven't been sick like this in quite a while."

"Oh yeah?"

"It's been... years. I can't remember. Maybe it's because I'm not in Equestria anymore."

She moved her hand out from under the blanket, staring at me. I reached mine towards her and she grabbed it.

She looked up at me. "Stay here. They leave me alone when you're with me."

She seemed upset by something and I had a feeling that the guards were innocent in this case. She was just using it as an excuse. It probably wasn't brought by her sickness, either.

Seeing her like this dampened my own mood. I nodded to her, then lowered to my knees next to the bed.

She looked to me as a small smile grew on her face. Her eyes closed again.

She pulled on my hand, then laid her head on it. I tried to take it back.

She let out a soft, "No... It's mine." This was followed by a giggle.

"I need my hand, c'mon."

"I need it more."

She opened her eyes again. I looked right at them, setting my head on the bed next to her.

"You're always welcome to lie with me, you know." she stated.

"Hmm?"

"Does this come as a surprise to you?"

"I guess..."

"We haven't lain together since then, Phil." she said, referring to that night, "Did you not think you were allowed?"

"I guess not..."

"Did you forget? We're together now."

"I don't really know what I thought."

"Come on... lay with me."

"But you're sick."

"I'm not that sick. And I wasn't talking about sex, if that's what you were thinking."

"It may have crossed my mind."

She chuckled. "Is that so? I suppose the thought crossed my mind, as well." She gestured to the bed with her head. "I rather enjoy when I'm able to lie with someone."

"No need to convince me, Celestia." I said to her.

Another chuckle. She turned to her other side and lifted the blankets behind her, allowing me to get in next to her.

I slid one of my arms above and the other beneath her as I laid down. She dropped the blanket behind me, then sighed.

My arms were around her stomach right now. She pushed herself against me. Her back pressed against my chest.

Her hair was getting in my face. It had a faint smell of strawberries to it. Odd, considering I didn't have any strawberry-scented hair-care products here. I ran a finger through her bangs, moving her hair away from her face. Her smile widened.

This was... actually a little awkward. I wasn't used to this kind of thing. Not with Celestia, at least. The last time I held her like this, I hit my head on my nightstand.

I didn't really understand why, but it was more awkward than anything. It's exactly what I had wanted... but I didn't want it.

I hated this feeling.

And she knew that it made me feel like this. She knew just how to push my buttons and did it whenever possible. She liked it whenever I was flustered. It was her way of showing her feelings, it seemed.

I could feel her heartbeat pressed up against her like this. It was so fast. Maybe she was flustered as well.

I had a boner. This was awkward. She knew I had a boner. She was laughing at me on the inside, I just knew it.

Celestia grabbed the hand I had draped over her and brought it to the center of her chest, fingers intertwined with mine. She took in a deep breath and let it out in an audible sigh.

She was enjoying this. At least as much as I was. Maybe more. She was close to me and not just because our bodies were touching.

Up against her like this... I felt warm. My body and my heart were both so very warm.

I began to think about her again. Is she really that lonely? I guess you'd have to be to come this far with someone like me...

She squeezed my hand. It's like she knew I was thinking about her. I squeezed her tightly. Her warm body was snuggling against me.

After a few minutes, she fell asleep. I wasn't able to go anywhere. I was stuck under her. If I pushed her off, it'd just be rude.

It was exactly how I thought it would be. Hair in my face, a dead arm, and an awkward boner. This was what love was, wasn't it...

I lifted myself a small bit, then planted a small kiss on her cheek. Goodnight, Celestia...

I woke up to a light buzzing noise. It came from nearby. I blinked a few times before I realized that my phone was ringing.

As I went for it, Celestia mumbled something in her sleep. "Mmm... Not now... Too tired..."

I checked who it was, the bright light briefly stunning me. I put my phone up to my ear and let out a groggy, "Trevor, c'mon... Can't a guy masturbate in peace?"

"Phil-man, what are you doing up at 3:00 in the morning?"

I turned onto my back. Celestia was on my arm. I couldn't move it. "Doing up? Fuck you. What do you want? I'm busy fondling my roommate."

"I'm sure he can wait, I need some help."

"Fuck do you need at 3 AM?" I asked again, "You should be asleep by now."

"Fuck you, you're not my mom."

"I'll be your mom for $35." I humorously replied, laughing quietly to myself.

"So what are you doing?" he asked me.

"Huh?"

"You busy or something? I didn't wake you, did I?"

Celestia began to stir. She turned to me. I could see the light from the phone reflect off of her eye.

"Of course you fucking woke me. And yes, I am busy."

"Really? Were you fucking that little cutie you found?"

Celestia placed a hand onto my chest. She gave me a curious look.

"She's not a little cutie, she is a big cutie. And no, I was busy sleeping. Dickhead."

"Anyways, I need some help."

"Serious? What with?"

"I got some car issues."

"What?"

"Yeah... I blew a tire about... six miles out off Afton road. I managed to pull it to the side of the road, but it's not going anywhere."

"Oh." This was kinda big. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Just a bit stranded."

"How'd you blow a tire? That road's so smooth."

"I think I went over a broken bottle or something. It looks like I went over a fucking spike strip. I don't have a spare, so I'm sadboys out here."

"Geez... Alright, I'll be there."

"Sweet... Thanks man, I owe ya."

"Yeah, you fucking do."

I closed the call and sighed. This sucked.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"A friend. I gotta go help him."

I sighed. The arm with the phone in the hand was idly hanging off of the bed and my other arm was still under Celestia.

I looked to her. "Sorry I woke you."

"Don't worry." she said

We looked at each other for a few more moments before sharing a brief kiss.

I laid there for a small while before pulling my arm out from under her. She sat up as I did.

"Celestia, go back to bed, honey." I said to her.

She giggled. "Honey..."

"That felt weird. I'm not saying that again."

"You're going to help your friend?"

"Yeah, he has a... his car has a flat tire."

"Can I come?" she asked.

"Really? Wouldn't you rather stay here?"

She shook her head. "I want to come with you."

"Are you sure? You were just sick. It's only been like five hours."

"I feel better."

"Well, alright then. I guess. It won't be that exciting, I'm just changing a tire. I'm not waiting for the other two though, so either go without or stay."

"I don't need them to follow me everywhere. I have you, don't I?"

"Yeah, I guess." I was sick of them following me and coming between us. I know it wasn't intentional, but it really bothered me.

I stood up. Celestia joined me. She yawned.

The two of us made our way to the car, stumbling about in our tiredness.

It was cold outside. Not surprising, given the time.

I was still so tired. As I got into the car, I rested my head on the top of my steering wheel before doing anything.

I knew where he was. There were about three different bars a bit past where he was talking about, but he didn't sound drunk.

Maybe he was out getting some cocaine or something. I told him that my prices were cheaper, but he didn't want to get roped into the whole 'where's my money' thing. If that bitch be frontin' me, I'm gon' put him to work. Well first, I'd break his legs, then I'd put him to work. You can still move product in a wheelchair. Bitches better learn.

Celestia stared at me, a tired smile on her face. What... did she see when she looked at me?

We probably should've at least left a note for the guards. If they woke up without her being there, they would be so pissed at me.

Except for my headlights and the occasional street light, it was pitch black out. I didn't usually drive this time of night, and for a good reason. I hated driving later at night. The glare that came off of lights really bothered me. It was hard to stay focused and it was even worse when I was tired.

It didn't take long to get out to where he was. I could see him signaling me to the side of the road. I pulled up in front of his car.

"It's cold out here." Celestia stated as she joined me.

"I'm sure it is." I walked up to him and crossed my arms. "Pull me out of my house at 3 AM... Away from my awesome bed and my friend here." I gestured to Celestia.

"Uhh... sorry."

"I was dead asleep..." I sighed. "Well, we better get to it, then."

As I retrieved my spare tire from my trunk, I noticed that his car had already been raised. His tire had already been removed. Made things easy.

Less than ten minutes later, we had successfully replaced his worthless tire with mine. He tossed the old tire into his trunk. I was too sleepy to really care where it went.

He held his fist out towards me and I bumped mine against it.

"Thanks man. I owe ya." he said

"Yes. Yes, you do." I said with a yawn, "Go home, ya freak. What the hell were you doing out here anyways?"

"Oh, I..."

"I don't give a shit." I grumbled.

"Kinda figured that. Yeah, home sounds nice right now. See ya, mate. Thanks again."

"Get the fuck outta here."

He went to his car, started it, and took off down the road, leaving the two of us alone.

I yawned again and looked to Celestia.

"That was easier than I thought it would be." she said.

"I told you it wouldn't be exciting. So... Do you wanna do something? We're away from your guards, so we basically have free rein over what we can do."

"Maybe. I don't know. I'm partial to going back to sleep."

"Well then, you shouldn't have came with me." I began to fumble for the next few words. "It's... not... sleep out here. What?"

She understood what I said, as far as I knew. "Well, did you have anything in mind?" she asked.

"Not really, no. I think that pizza place we went to a while back is still open, though. No, wait... Maybe not."

"I wasn't hungry anyways."

"I kinda am. Guess there's nothing."

"Don't say that. I'm sure we can find something."

"I don't know. I'm too tired to figure it out."

"This would be much more fun if we had more sleep."

"Yeah." I yawned again. "If you really wanna do something, I think I can manage."

"I couldn't do that to you."

I leaned my back against the car and blankly looked up. Not a lot of stars. It was pretty cloudy. Might rain again today. "I don't like it when they're with us. I don't like being watched. I feel like they're judging my every move. I can't stand it."

"I'm not too fond of it, either. I'm not saying that I don't like them personally, but..."

"No, no, they're good guys. Real friendly and nice. Great guys to hang around with."

"Of course. I'm glad to call the two of them friends. I just dislike how over-protective they can be. They're almost like parents, even though my sister and I are much older than them."

"That's 'cause they care about you. It's more than just a job to your royal guards. You're a great... person as well. Pony. Whatever. You must've done something right for them to want to keep you this safe."

I was telling her things she already knew, but it seemed that hearing them from me brightened her mood. A warm smile spread across her face. "You don't know how good it feels to be able to speak with someone like this. It's like a burden has been lifted off of my shoulders. I feel like an entirely different woman."

"Well, you kinda are. You have that new beautiful body of yours."

She lifted her hand and looked to it. "I suppose you're right about that." She leaned against the car next to me.

"I'm starting to think that your body is like a representation of what you looked like as a pony."

"I can believe that. Shining and Soulfire were both very handsome stallions in Equestria, and from what I've gathered, they're quite attractive here, as well."

"Damn right, they are." I said.

"Oh? What was that?"

"Hey, I know a good looking guy when I see one."

"Is that so?" She found this funny and it showed in her voice.

"Those two are like perfect. I bet they both got a dick that's like a foot long."

I managed to catch her off guard and make her laugh. She covered her mouth with a hand to stifle the giggling.

"How does Princess Cadence even survive that?"

This time, she burst out laughing. Her voice was surprisingly loud. It didn't last very long, though. I chuckled a bit as well.

"Stop talking..." she said through constant giggles.

"Sorry." I said with a small laugh.

She took a deep breath and calmed herself down. "I had so much freedom here before they arrived. I rather liked it."

"Well, you have freedom now. What do you want to do?"

"It isn't like that."

"Hmm?"

"The freedom to be alone for as long as I choose. To be able to walk out into the world without any supervision. That's the freedom I was talking about."

"I'm not gonna let you wander around without supervision, Celestia."

"I didn't think you would. I have no problems with that, though. You're not a guard. There's quite a difference."

"Yeah..."

"I like this. Being able to do nothing at all without having to worry about the entirety of a nation."

"You're quick to let go." I noticed.

"There's nothing I can do, is there?" She repeated with a more serious tone, "Is there?"

"I dunno."

She sighed and shook her head. "It's nice."

"Yeah..."

We both looked up at the sky for a small while. It felt nice being out here.

"Hey, Phil..."

"Huh?"

"Can I ask you something embarrassing?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"You're not allowed to laugh, alright?"

"Yeah, what's up?" I asked her, looking at her.

"Well... I was curious... about... if we would ever... have sex again..."

"Uh... What?"

"I... um... L-last time... I... You... I don't... know what to say, here."

"Uh... If you wanted to have sex again, all you needed to do was say so. So... do you?"

She nodded. "I... do. I really... do... I didn't... know what you'd say, so I kept it to myself, but... yeah... I do..."

I moved in front of her and put my arms on either side of her, leaning on them against the car. She slowly moved her hands towards me and placed them on my sides. "If I knew you thought this way, I would've done something sooner." I told her. "You know... I did say I was hungry, didn't I?" I moved my face closer to hers. I gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"Is that right? Well, I... I hope I can provide a satisfying meal." she said, a desperate smile covering her face, "We're doing this here, are we?"

"Unless you'd like to go somewhere else."

"We're not exactly concealed. What if someone saw us?"

"At three AM?"

"It's just been quite a while since I've done this outdoors."

I pushed my lips against hers again. I remembered what she said about kissing, but didn't really care about disputing her claim. Her mouth wasn't necessarily where I wanted to put my lips anyways. I pulled away and said, "If you want, we can wait until we're back home."

"Don't make me wait."

Another kiss. I grabbed her lower lip with my mouth and gave her a small pull. I moved close to her, wrapping my arms around her body as I continued kissing her. She gave off a sensual sigh.

I lowered my hand down her back, sliding it over her pants. I grabbed onto her bottom and she pulled away from my lips to moan.

I rubbed her bottom with my hand. I felt her let go of me. Her hands moved to her pants and started to unbutton them. I heard her zipper being pulled.

I allowed my hands to enter her loosened pants. I squeezed her soft bottom. She moaned again.

Her hands worked on my own pants. She easily undid the button and zipper where she stood.

I pushed my body against hers, lifting my hands into her shirt. I started to move my kissing downwards, kissing the underside of her chin and her neck. I unhooked her bra under her shirt, then held her tightly, sucking on her neck. She held me as I did.

I stuck my tongue out and dragged it from the very top of her chest to the tip of her chin, licking up her neck. She gave me a tiny, "Oh..." in response.

I did it once more, tracing the curves of her body with my hands leading into a gentle caress of her hips. She placed her hands over mine. Her gorgeous hips were so wide that her pants refused to slide down on their own.

I lowered to my knees, reaching around her body to grab her butt once more. I started to lick the very bottom of her stomach, just above her pants. She pulled the hem of her shirt up a bit for me.

"Keep going..." she quietly let out.

I reached to her pants, looked up at her, then started to pull.

[Scene missing]