Week three of Celestia's stay here. Week three of the month, as well. I guess things were getting pretty interesting at this point. At least the things that happened between Celestia and I.

To me, it seemed like the word girlfriend wasn't a correct term for her, but I had no idea what was right in that regard. She was too... perfect for that. Whenever I said it though, she smiled at me. A different smile than her usual one. A genuinely happy smile. I didn't say it too often, but when I did, it always cheered her up.

I'm gonna ruin the surprise and just say it. We fucked each other... a lot. Every single day, and almost always more than once a day. The most common times were when I woke up to go to work in the morning, when I got back home, and when we went to sleep. No room in the house was safe from us, not even the bathroom. We took every chance we got to have some X-rated fun.

There was little to do in this town of mine. There was nothing especially interesting here. Before, Celestia had wanted to go out and explore, but she had seemingly lost interest in this little town. Now, she just likes being with me. There's always a pleasant smile on her face whenever she's near me. I had the same smile from being with her.

Tonight, the two of us were up late. It was just another Saturday night. Celestia and I were sitting on the basement couch.

Two things were happening right now. One, I was playing Twilight Princess on an emulator using a wireless GameCube controller. That was happening on the middle screen. Two, on one of the side screens, a Twitch stream was playing. It was a weekly thing I usually tried to watch. I usually miss it because of my work habits, but now things were different. The sound from both of these things were coming from the middle monitor, as I didn't have a dedicated speaker set for my computer.

Neither of these things were important. I guess I just liked the background noise.

Celestia was watching the monitors, not really knowing which screen to focus on, although it seemed like she focused a lot on the game I was playing. Throughout the night, she asked me questions about both the stream and the game. I knew quite a bit about both of them, so I was able to answer more of them.

None of this really mattered, much like the majority of my daily activities. What mattered to me was that we were still spending time together.

I started getting tired at about 2:00 AM, but kept going much later. I looked to her every so often. She didn't seem at all bothered by the time. She was lucky. I wish I could stay up like that.

I yawned. It was late. The clock on the computer said 4:53. I shut down my game, but left the computer on for some idle messing around in case I wanted to do anything on it. I had a wireless keyboard and mouse with me on the couch, so I didn't have to move anywhere.

I yawned again. I was done, for the most part. Tired. I turned the computer off. "I think it's time to call it quits." I said aloud, looking to her.

"So early?" she joked, "Anything else?"

"Huh? Oh... Maybe. Is there something you'd like to do?"

She smiled, then shook her head. She briefly looked away. "Well... There is something I'd like to talk about. It can be saved for the morning, though."

"I'm still awake now. Is it important?"

"To me."

It's gonna be one of those things again, isn't it? "Well, tell me. I might be able to help."

She let out a sigh before saying, "Do you remember what we said... about when I would leave? When I... could leave."

"I've never really stopped thinking about it." I solemnly replied.

"So... when my time here is up... when I finally go back home to Equestria... What will happen to you? To... us?"

"I don't know." I replied, "That's not something I have an answer for."

"What... do you want?" she asked. I noticed a shift in her voice. She was upset. "Tell me what you want."

"What I want..." I shook my head. "I don't want you to go. I don't want you to leave me. I want you to stay with me. I want to stay with you. That's what I want."

I just seemed to upset her even more. She looked away as she gave me a quiet, "I knew you were going to say that. I didn't need to ask, but I did..."

I turned to her and placed a hand on her leg. I looked to her face as I asked, "So what do you want, Celestia?"

Half of me knew what she was going to say. The other half was scared. I was terrified that she would say something different.

"I want to stay here." she replied softly, placing a hand over mine. "I love this world. I love being here. I... I love you."

I smiled at her. Before now, the most I had heard from her was that she was unsure. This was the first time she had said it so plainly. I didn't need to hear it, but it felt great. Even so... "But we can't stay together like this. You'll have to go home. There's a chance we'll never see each other again."

"There's also a chance that it won't even happen." she said, her voice briefly shaking, "I could end up trapped here forever. Or... I may choose to stay."

"You have family in Equestria. What about them?"

"This is between you and me. Leave them... Leave them out of this."

I placed my second hand over hers, grabbing her hand with both of mine. "It isn't just about us. You have a lot of ponies counting on you, Princess. Your student, your niece, your sister."

"I know..."

"And those guards that showed up. They gotta go home, too."

"Do I... have to go home?" she asked me, "If I stay here, will I be able to stay with you?"

"What? Of course you can. It's not like I'm gonna turn you away or anything."

She sighed. "Thank you, Phil..." Her voice was still sad.

"Celestia?"

She looked up at nothing, away from me. "Sometimes... I would dream of a life like this. I would be a normal mare, in a normal house, with a normal husband, and I would live a normal life."

What was that third thing?

She let her emotions free as she spoke. "It's not fair!" she cried out, "I've lived like that for thousands of years! I've seen so many happy families that have what I want. Everyone else... could live a normal life. But I..." She sniffed. "But I couldn't. I could never be normal. Not until I came here." She looked back to me. "Not until I met you. You treat me like I'm normal... Like I'm... human, I suppose. It doesn't matter what I am. I don't want to leave this. I can't. I won't."

Her face suddenly changed as she realized the weight of the words she had just said.

"I..." she started. Her voice went silent.

I moved myself so I could look into her eyes. They seemed so different than before. Instead of being filled with life, cheer, and curiosity, nothing but pain and sorrow remained. She was on the verge of tears.

And she was scared. Scared of what would happen if she made the wrong choice. Scared of what would happen if she made the right choice. Just... scared.

She was just like me.

I slowly wrapped my arms around her body. She returned my embrace.

I wasn't going to try to change her mind and I wasn't going to try to convince her to do anything. As much as I wanted to involve myself in her problems and try to help her, this was just something thing that I had no control over.

Or maybe... It was something I didn't want control over. I was just as scared as she was. If I tried to say something to convince her to do something or change her mind, I don't know what would happen.

"It'll be alright, Princess... You'll see..." I started to rub her back. I held back how I felt, but I felt like she knew.

I'm not going to take what she said as a promise. As much as I hated the thought, I knew that she couldn't promise me that she would stay. And that was ok with me. It had to be. For her.

Something deep inside me wanted her to be normal. I didn't know what it was. Whether it was my personality, or my feelings for her, or something else... I wanted to feel like she truly depended on me. At least at times like these, when she showed her weak and helpless side, it made me feel... wanted.

I wanted to be strong for her. I wanted to prove that I was something I wasn't to someone I cared for. Just for a little while longer...

"Do you really think that?" she asked me, sadness apparent in her voice.

"Celestia..." I affectionately let out.

She gripped the back of my shirt tightly, already knowing the answer to her own question.

"Whether you stay..." I said, "Or whether you go... I know one thing. It'll always be alright."

"What if it's not alright? What if I make the wrong choice?"

I finally pulled away from her. I looked her in her beautiful magenta eyes. "You could never make the wrong choice."

Her expression changed slightly. She laid against my chest, emotionally defeated by this whole ordeal.

"I have to go back to Equestria... don't I?"

I wasn't going to answer that.

"I'll have to say goodbye to this simple life and return to my life as a Princess."

I had nothing to respond with. Nothing that would help, at least. She took in a deep breath, and let out a long, sad sigh. She moved herself until she was leaning against my arm. She rested her head on my shoulder.

"There's a possibility that I'm actually going to be trapped here, you know... If that happens, I'll have to stay with you."

"We never really did have any proof, did we..." I said.

"Since this is a different human world than the one my student went to, there's no promise that the mirror will even work again."

"It sent you here, and your guards."

"True, but... unfortunately, Discord seems to be the only one who knows how to move us between these worlds. I'm afraid that he's more powerful than my sister alone. We have the Elements of Harmony, but using them to force another to do something... It's not what they were made for. I still don't trust him very well."

I wrapped my arm around her and started to stroke her hair.

"Even then, we may be unable to find the portal anyways." she said.

"That'd just be a shame."

She sighed. "Yeah... So much could go wrong. And, if I go, I'd like to see you again. I don't know if that would be possible. If I stay, there may not ever be a chance to go back. If it happens, Phil... If I can't go back... Well... That'd be alright with me."

"Celestia..." I couldn't even tell her that I'd miss her. I may be in love with her, but that doesn't mean I understand what's happening in that head of hers. If I said anything that would make her regret leaving, she may not leave at all.

It hurts. It really does...

There was a mutual silence for a little while. After some time had passed, I sighed. "Want me to get you a snack?" I asked her.

"Yes, please." she replied in a somewhat cute fashion. She probably didn't even realize how cute she said it.

I rubbed her shoulder, then kissed her forehead before going upstairs and retrieving a few of the sweets that she eats all the time. They were just little kid snacks like brownies and Twinkies. As I grabbed them, I thought about how much I had spent on snacks alone. I didn't care. As long as she was happy. As long as I could make her happy for a little while longer...

Soulfire was sleeping on the couch, but Shining was nowhere to be found. He may have taken my room. Or he was in the bathroom or something like that. Or maybe he was in the town, draining the innocent of their precious blood to maintain his eternal beauty.

I set the food onto her lap before sitting back down next to her. She leaned against my shoulder. I set my hand on her leg, then reached to her hand as I looked to her eyes. "I love you, Celestia." I said. This went against what I knew I shouldn't do. I needed to say it. I needed to tell her. "No matter what happens, I'm never going to forget the time we spent together."

"Thank you." she quietly let out.

We stared at each other for a long while. Eventually, she reached for her first treat.

"You're never going to get to sleep after that." I said, yawning afterwards.

"I'll be fine."

"Mmm..."

We just had to deal with the problems that showed up when they happened. There was nothing we could do. If she wanted to stay, or go, I wasn't going to stop her. It wasn't my choice.

After she had finished her first snack, she looked to me. "I hope I do the right thing."

"Yeah... Me too." I softly replied.

More silence. We were just sitting there, waiting for something to happen.

"Hey miss, you look kind of sad." I let out with a small sigh, "Give me just a moment I'll make you glad."

"Hmm?"

"If you don't want any help, just you say."

"What?" She looked to me with a slightly confused expression.

"You know, I've got a PHD in brightening days."

"Are you... Is that... a song?"

"You may not see what I see in you, but let me tell you what I see is true. My eyesight's fine and I'm rather in my mind. I've got you in my thoughts all the time."

I could see her smile again. I smiled back at her.

"If I could take your hand and kiss you. If I could hold you close and love you. And love you..."

She leaned against me like she usually does. Whatever I was doing was relaxing her.

"The summer breeze or the winter frost. Not a season's moment will be lost, for sadness is just a... waste of your days. I could cheer you up in a million ways."

She stared at me. Her eyes were so relaxed. Almost sleepy.

"If I could... take your hand and kiss you. If I could... hold you close and love you..."

I looked back at her for a few moments after I had finished.

"That was cute." she said before planting my cheek with a kiss.

I smiled at her. My hand lifted to her face. She briefly looked at it as I caressed her cheek again. We closed our eyes and pushed our lips together. She felt... reluctant.

We pulled apart. She gave me a smile, even through her sadness. I smiled back.

The two of us laid together on the downstairs couch that night. It might not have been the most accommodating couch in the world, but it was good enough. She needed to be held. Celestia was hurting and I could do little to comfort her. When she was in my arms though, she calmed down. As we snuggled together to go to sleep that night, she was peaceful.

And she didn't brush her teeth.

I woke up with my Princess still in my arms. She had shifted as she began to wake up, which woke me. I held her closer. She sighed.

We were laying on the couch. I was close to the edge, while Celestia had the opposite side.

We were both up. Neither of us said a word for a very long while. We just cuddled against each other, enjoying the warmth of it. Then, Celestia's stomach growled.

She giggled.

"Are you up?" she asked me.

I lifted my head and kissed her cheek. She looked at me, a smile on her face.

"Hungry?" I asked her.

"Hmm... A bit..." she replied.

"What do you want me to get you?" I asked her.

"Just... stay here. With me... Don't leave. Not... yet."

"Alright, Celestia..."

I snugged up against her back. She pushed against my body.

"Phil... about... about what I said last night... I'm sorry..."

"You don't need to apologize. I know why you're so scared, Celestia. It's alright."

"I don't know if I can believe that..."

"If you don't believe it, then believe me when I say it, Celestia... It'll be alright."

"How are you so sure?"

Our definitions of 'alright' were very different. Even so... "I'm sure because I just know. I know you and I know me. And I know that it will be alright."

She sighed. "Yeah..." Next, she chuckled. "You're weird..."

"You're weird." I decisively rebutted.

She hummed to herself, not moving from her spot on the couch.

It was a long while before either of us really moved. Aside from having to eat, we could lay like this all day...

Then again, Celestia really likes eating.

She was the one to move first, which meant that I had to move so she could get free. I got off the couch first and pulled her up to her feet. She smiled at me and we hugged each other, enjoying each other's warm embrace for just a little while longer.

We pulled away from each other. She straightened her long hair with her hands, then walked upstairs, a small smile still on her face.

I went over to my computer to do nothing of particular interest. I watched a man pour fruity juice onto pizza rolls, which helped brighten my mood a little.

Suddenly, I got a Steam notification sound. It was a message from Timmy. He didn't message me often. We usually just talked at work or something.

-You still on?- he asked me.

-Well, not still. I went to bed a while ago.-
-What's up?-

-I'm on this new Minecraft server. Wanna join in?-

-Maybe.-
-I'll look into it a bit later.-
-Too busy now.-

-No you're not.-

-Yes I am.-
-Besides, you know I'd just get banned again-

-Stop hacking asshole.-

-gotta git gud somehow-

-hacking is not gitting gud.-

-it is when you just don't give a shit.-

-Git gud, kid.- he said to me.

I chuckled to myself. -Hey, look-
-I'm busy wallowing in self-pity right now. I'll get back to you on this, alright?-

-What-

-Me and my new friend gotta deal with some stuff. I'll probably take some more days off of work because of it.-

-I was wondering what was bugging you recently.-
-You ain't been the same since she showed up-

-I know-
-She's costing me moneys-
-More of them than 0-
-Moneys, that is-
-More moneys than 0-
-Is what I was trying to say-

-It's just that you've missed a lot of work, and the days that you've been here you were pretty off.-

-Yeah-
-Unfortunately, that might get worse.-

-Why's that?-
-Does it have something to do with her?-

-Yeah-
-She might leave soon.-

-Leave?-

-Like, go back home.-
-To her home.-
-Equestria-

-oh-
-That sucks.-

-Yeah-
-So I'm gonna have to deal with that pretty soon.-

-That's rough buddy-
-So-
-that night at the bar-
-What was that all about?-
-You end up together or something?

-Huh-
-Oh-
-gay-

-A little-

-That night had a happy ending.- I told him

-Nicccce...-
-Guess that proves it-
-Because Trevor said you did.-

-Where the fuck does Trevor get his information from?-
-Dat bitch don't know shit.-

-That doesn't seem very polite.-

-He's dumber than a box of rocks-

-lol-
-He said she was with you when you showed up to change his tire.-

-So?-

-Fair point-
-But she's not just your friend, is she?-

-Not anymore-

-You're lucky as fuck man-

-I know-

-She is way out of your league-

-No shit-
-She's out of everybody's league.-

There was a long pause of him writing and deleting his message. -I hope everything turns out alright.-

-Yeah-
-I'm gonna get some cereal-
-I'll see ya later-

-Alright, see ya.-

I just stared at the screen for a while, not knowing what my next move was. I closed the Steam chat window.

This sucks. Maybe I should take Celestia out for a nice dinner or something. Or maybe we could go see a movie...

I couldn't forget what she said last night. It was heartbreaking to see her like that. It was just gonna get worse from here on out. We had maybe a few more days before things would start to get strange.

Unfortunately, time passed quickly. Before anything else happened, the final week was almost gone.

To be honest, I was expecting something big. I didn't know exactly what I was expecting, or why I was expecting it in the first place, but I felt like it was going to be huge. Nothing happened. That is, nothing I noticed.

The three of them were acting strange the following day. They seemed on edge, almost as if they were seeing something that wasn't there.

Nobody spoke to me about it, but I suppose that was fine. It wasn't exactly my business. I was just confused about this whole thing.

Our little group was in the front room. I spoke to Celestia. "Is everything alright?" I asked her.

"Y-yeah, I... think..." She was barely paying attention. She sighed. "I don't know." she said with a slight head shake, "I get the feeling that we won't be able to find anything useful in town."

"What? Why is that?"

"I think... I think they'll come to us." she said.

"Oh, well that's... That's good." I didn't really have anything to say.

"Yeah..." Celestia sighed and shook her head. "I just can't decide."

"Wh-What?"

"Stay or go, stay or go... It's so hard to make this decision."

Her head was hung sadly.

She's... still caught on that? Geez. How can I help her? Can I even do that? It hurts to even talk about it, let alone make a decision. Even then there could be... This sucks.

She was so torn. It was best to let her make her own decision, if a decision is to be made.

Even after all this, there was still one question haunting me. Am I doing the right thing?