Waking up the next morning was like waking to a dream. The woman I loved was back in my life. Waking up to the sight of her multicolored hair was so much better than what I had before.
I pulled my hand off of her body and stroked her long hair. She sighed.
"You're finally awake." she said to me without moving.
"I didn't think you were up." I replied.
"I've been awake for a while."
"A while? What time is it?"
"I don't know."
"I didn't miss my alarm, did I?"
"I don't think so." She reached towards my nightstand to look at my phone. When she returned, she said, "It's still early. It's a shame you have to leave today, of all days."
"I know."
We laid together in silence. Just being with each other was enough.
It was a long while before one of us moved. Celestia turned towards me, looking at me. She was smiling.
"I missed you." she said to me.
"Yeah, I missed you too."
I wrapped my arms around her for a small hug and touched my forehead to hers. One of her arms was stuck between us, but she draped the other over me. This was nice.
We were just staring at each other. Her eyes were so bright to me. I had no idea how much time we spent like this. Seemed like a while.
She chuckled. "I need to shower."
"If you say so."
"If I do, would you like to join me?"
"Maybe."
She waited for a little while longer before getting off my arm and pulling off the blanket. She sat up on the side of the bed. Her hair was messily draped down her back. She looked at me with a smile.
"You should come with." she said.
"Maybe."
She reached back and placed her hand over mine, looking at me.
"Alright." I said to her.
She stood up. I got out of bed after her. Just how much has she done this past month? Maybe she needs to relax more than Luna did...
"Hey, Celestia?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm... sorry."
"About what?"
"The stuff I said last night. It was... inconsiderate. I'm sorry."
"Thank you." She smiled at me. "I suppose my butt is cuter than hers is, anyways."
Whether or not she was thinking about it before, I couldn't tell, but it seemed like she had accepted my apology.
I thought about what I told Luna, that I wanted to know more about Celestia. I didn't know where to begin, or whether I would touch upon something that she didn't want to share. In truth, the thought of it was a little frightening. She has so much that she could share with me. She has so much she might not want to share with me...
I collected the clothes that were in the front room and tossed them downstairs as I passed the basement doorway. This included her bra. Thank god the windows were covered.
I heard the water running in the bathroom. I didn't know if I needed to shower in the first place, but she seemed insistent. It's not as if I disliked the idea, of course.
I went into the bathroom after her and joined her in the shower.
"So, did you ever figure out how you got here in the first place?" I asked her, "Was it really Discord, or..."
"It certainly was Discord, but I was unable to learn his reasoning behind it. Why do you ask?"
"I was curious."
"Hmm..." She parted her wet hair and looked to me. "Did you have something else on your mind?"
"Kinda."
"Well, what is it?"
"I was just thinking about the time we first met."
She smiled. "What a strange night..."
"Yeah."
"I'm glad we met."
"Yeah... It's weird, thinking back. We didn't even know each other then, and yet, here we are..."
"Isn't that how relationships are supposed to work?"
I laughed at myself. "Yeah, I guess you're right. We were just so different from each other. We're still different."
"We're more alike than you may think. Why do you think I kept you all this time?" she said with a small chuckle.
"You kept me, huh? You know, Luna said I was more like her than I thought, too."
"Did she, now... Here..." She gave me the bottle of shampoo. "Wash my hair for me."
"Your hair? But there's so much!"
She laughed. "Then you had better get started!"
I sighed. "Alright..."
So I got to work washing her hair. It wasn't the first time I've done this and I doubt it will be the last.
"Do you think we have enough time?" she asked me as I worked on her hair.
"What? What do you m..." I stopped, figuring out exactly what she was talking about. "I'm cleaning your hair, Celestia."
"My hair's clean. It doesn't need as much care as you think."
"Well, what about conditioner?"
"Phil." She seemed finished with speaking. Not that I minded.
[Scene missing]
We left the shower at the same time and went to get clothes together. It felt like she was following me just because she could.
Celestia was resting on the bed, her legs hanging over the side. Her hair was sprawled out above her head. She had underwear and a shirt, but she gave up after that point. She was almost panting right now...
"What... did you say you had for me, again?" she asked me as I finished dressing myself.
"Oh yeah. Yeah, hold on."
She watched as I reached into the drawer of the stand next to my bed. I picked up the phone inside. It was a small, red flip-phone, nothing special. I held it out to her and she took it.
"Here. You can use that to get ahold of me."
She held it above her head for a small while, then opened and closed it a few times before looking at the screen. I sat next to her on the bed and started teaching her how to use it.
"This is nice. Thank you." she said to me with a smile. Her special smile.
"Yeah, I thought you'd like it."
I wanted to talk to her all day, just like with Luna. I should've taken a day off. Regardless, I had things to do.
I got ready the way I usually do. Breakfast, deodorant, teeth brushing, work clothes. There wasn't much I needed to do. I didn't always brush my teeth in the morning, but with the reappearance of Celestia, I would have to start, for one reason or another.
I went back into my room. She was still on the bed in the same position as before. I had a while before I had to go, so I laid next to her.
"Are you going to invite her over today?" she asked me.
"I'll try, yeah."
She sighed.
"Celestia, it's alright if you don't want me to go."
"I know... I know... I've... been thinking. About... when I left and... I know that you didn't think I would ever come back... but... You didn't have any faith in me. You didn't... think I could get back."
"Celestia, I... Y... No, I... I guess I didn't."
She sat up on the edge of the bed. I sat up as well. She looked to me.
"Did you even think about it?"
"Of course I did. But... you went back home. I thought you were gone for good."
She nodded slowly. "This just... It... I can't make up my mind on this, Phil!" she suddenly let out, "I don't want to say no! I don't want to say yes, either! I don't want to prevent you from spending time with your female friends, but I don't want to... to... to risk anything..."
"Risk?"
She looked shocked at herself. "I... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
"Celestia, if you're really worried that something is going to happen, then maybe you don't have faith in me, either. If it was a guy, you know you wouldn't care."
"If it were a guy, you wouldn't have looked at her butt!" she snapped back.
"I don't care about her butt! Your butt is the only butt I care about! It doesn't matter what she looks like, or even what you looked like. It wouldn't change anything. I already have someone. Someone I love and who loves me back."
She sighed and shook her head. "I can't believe this. I'm jealous of a woman that I don't even know."
"So, what is it? I trust you, do you trust me?"
"I trust you, I do! I just... I don't know... I don't know if I like this."
"I know you still don't believe me, but I really don't care much whether you say I can go or not. Her problems aren't mine."
"I don't want to just say no. If you want to spend time with other women as friends, I shouldn't have a right to get mad."
"So you are mad!"
"No, I'm not mad! Phil! I finally get to see you again and it turns out that you were trying to get close to another woman! What am I supposed to think?"
"I... Alright, fine. Fine. You got me there. I'm sorry, but I didn't think I would see you again. I didn't know what to do with my life at that point. While you were fighting to get back here, I gave up. When she showed up, she offered to help, so I accepted. I..." I grumbled. She barely even seemed bothered by it anymore. She looked like she had already accepted my apology.
She sighed, then leaned against me.
"I just got here and you're already scaring me." she said.
"I'm scaring you?"
"Yes! Weren't you paying attention?"
"Celestia, you're the scary one around here."
"What? What do you mean?"
"Well... you're scary."
"How am I scary?"
"You're... just... scary."
"I don't understand. You're bigger than I am, you're stronger than I am... What do you mean?"
"It's just that... whenever I'm with you, I'm scared that I'm going to say something insensitive, or insulting, or that I'll do something you just won't like or approve of. You can do whatever you want, but I need to watch myself."
"I can't do whatever I want."
"Yes you can."
"Phil, I feel the same way that you do. I don't know how I should act around you. I'm... so different in Equestria. I don't act like this in my castle. I don't act like this in my world! I'm a Princess! You know how I feel about this life, Phil. You know how much I love this... how much I love you... And our relationship has been working because we've changed for each other."
"Celestia... if I ever... made a mistake... If I said or did something that came between us... I would do anything to fix it. I just don't know if you feel the same. You're better than me in every way and you've got so many responsibilities."
There was a long pause between us. I didn't know what she was going to say next. It could be anything. She could get angry, or upset. I needed to say this. I needed her to know how I saw us.
"You don't know how much you mean to me." she said to me. It sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "I love you. Just because our relationship just began doesn't mean I don't feel as strongly about it as you. Did you think that I wouldn't want to spend my life with you because of who I was, because of what I was? Living with you, in this little house of yours, has been a paradise. My paradise. I don't care where I am. As long as you're with me, I'll be happy. Isn't that what you want? For me to be happy?"
"Of course it is!"
"Well, I am happy. I'm happy and you're trying to tell me that it's not alright to be happy."
"You know what I think of you, Celestia. You know that I think you're perfect."
"I'm not perfect."
"You are. You're perfect. At least you are for me. You're as perfect a woman as I've ever seen. I don't deserve someone like you."
She pulled away from me. "You do deserve me! Stop saying things like that!"
I didn't expect her to react that much.
"Wh-What do you want me to say here?"
"It's not about what you say." I said, trying to calm her down, "You don't have to say anything. I just still can't understand why someone like me can get someone like you."
"It doesn't matter."
"It does to me. You deserve more than... me."
"I don't care what I deserve! I want you!"
"Well, I do care about what you deserve."
"So what if you're not perfect? I love you, that's all that matters. What was your point with all this? Saying that you didn't deserve me or my love... It hurts, Phil."
"I just... I wanted to... I... I don't want you to leave me. Not just leaving for your home, but leaving my life. No matter what you do, I'll always want to be with you, but I'm scared that if I step out of line, you'll leave."
"That's exactly how I feel. Exactly how I feel... I don't know how I should act around you. I know that you're... accepting, you're... complaisant. But at times I feel like I'm taking advantage of you. I don't even know how you feel about how I live while I'm here. I'm questioning what I thought I knew about you so often. I... I just want to be with you."
We stared directly at each other for a long while before we wrapped our arms around each other.
"All this over a single woman." she said, breathing out a small sigh, "I'm not usually this jealous, I promise." She let out a small nervous chuckle. We pulled away from each other and held each other in our arms.
"It's alright, Celestia. I'm just as jealous as you are. I want you all to myself."
She smiled. "I still want to meet her myself."
"Alright. I'll invite her today if things go well. I'll call you to make sure you're fully clothed by the time I get home."
"Fully clothed?" she jokingly asked.
"Yes, honey. Fully clothed."
"Honey?" she asked, taken aback, "You said you'd never say that again. It feels so weird."
"Yeah, I guess it was kinda weird. How about sweetie?"
"That doesn't work either."
"Alright, I'll go with baby."
"No."
"Cutie-pie?"
"Nooo."
"Snookums?"
"That's not even a word!"
"Love-muffin?"
"This is so weird!" She put her hands over her ears. "No more names!"
"What about..."
"No names, it feels too weird to hear them."
We stared at each other for a few moments before we both began to laugh.
I heard my alarm start to go off, meaning I still had about an hour before I had to be there. It was just on the nightstand, so I grabbed it and turned the alarm off.
We stared at each other. I didn't know what to say right now and I think she just liked staring.
She sighed. "It's strange. Any time I'm scared that I've acted out of line, I find myself in bed with you. That has never been the case before. I know that sex and love don't necessarily mean the same thing, but your touches put me at ease."
"Hmm... Maybe we should stop that."
"I don't want to stop having sex."
"I meant the... Are you a succubus or something? Like, did I get the wrong Princess?" I tapped her forehead with a finger. "Is this still Princess Celestia?"
She brushed away my hand and let out a giggle. "Of course it's still me." She paused, smiling at me. "I may be thousands of years old, but I am still a woman. I don't use this phrase often, but I have needs, too. Stop looking at me like that. I'm trying not to sound dirty. I'm being sincere."
"You're a funny one, you know that?"
She giggled again.
"That kinda makes it even dirtier though. Saying that you genuinely want to have sex."
"I-I do! You know, not all of my lovers were... active in bed with me. I've gone... centuries without sex before. It makes me feel... lonely. I... I like having someone that I can connect with on a... on a more personal level."
"Yeah, it's nice."
"And... it's not without its... personal benefits, either. I enjoy it. I enjoy it quite a bit."
"Quite a bit?"
She giggled again. "I enjoy it a lot. You're making me blush..."
"You're the one that brought it up."
"I wanted to say it. I like... being able to talk about it with someone. It's not as if I had any friends to listen to me. I can't talk about these kinds of things. I can't tell anyone in Equestria anything even remotely impure. You're my boyfriend, I can tell you anything."
"Well... alright then." I let out a long sigh. "I have done nothing but talk to people for like the past four days. Is it ever going to end?"
"Of course it's not."
"Good."
I fell backwards onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. A few seconds later, Celestia laid down next to me, staring up as well.
"You know what, Celestia? You're mine, you don't get to leave me."
"You sound like an abusive boyfriend."
"You're the abusive one around here." I replied.
"I'll abuse you." she said.
"You're an abusive man."
"You're a... courteous woman."
"I'm more of a woman than you are."
She turned over and faced me. "You most certainly are not."
"Yeah, I guess my boobs aren't as big as yours are."
She laughed and gave me a confused smile, then looked to her own chest. "I suppose you have a point there." she said, proudly puffing out her chest.
"You got them big American tiddies." I said, "In the hearts and minds of every man and woman on this planet."
"Man and woman?"
I adopted a southern accent for my reply. "Ain't nobody on God's green earth don't like them some big ol' American tiddies, I promise you that. I truly can't imagine a world where both man and woman aren't equally fascinated by a big ol' set o' bouncin' boobies."
"It kind of hurts when my boobs bounce. My wings never hurt when they moved around. I suppose that's one issue I have with being a human."
"Wait, your wings?"
"Did you forget that I had wings?"
"No, it's not that. I mean, why did you mention them? Were they as sensitive as your boobs?"
"They're not as much as my breasts are."
"So that's your one compliant, huh? That your boobs are too big..."
"I have other complaints. They're just... not as relevant."
"Well, I for one like women with big boobs."
She giggled. "I know."
"Guess it pays to have some big American titties, huh?"
"Can you stop saying that?"
"I can't promise that. I guess if someone liked butts more than boobs, they'd be marginally less impressed by them, though. Really, it doesn't matter. Even if it did, your butt is still very beautiful. Actually, beautiful isn't the correct word."
"My bottom isn't beautiful?"
"No, no, it's absolutely a thing of beauty. It's more..."
"Sexy?"
"Yes, but..."
"Attractive?"
"Yes. Closer..."
"Arousing?"
"Yes, yeah, that. I think. Your butt is very arousing. No, now it sounds strange."
She seemed very proud of herself right now, regardless of whether the right word was used.
"It's great. There. Your butt is great. Even better, it's amazing."
"Flattery will get you everywhere."
"And your legs as well. You have some seriously sexy legs, I hope you know that."
"I do, actually. You've told me before."
"Good, that's important to remember."
"I don't think it is."
"Just keep it in mind. Hmm... You know, all this talk about butts is making me hungry."
"Can't you let a woman rest?" She giggled again. "I'm sorry, I'm kidding nobody. Do you... Do you think we have enough time?" she asked.
"Funny."
[Scene missing]
My alarm rang off again. It was time to leave. Today was the worst day I could've had to go to work.
I shut off the alarm. Getting up early had its benefits. I could arrive early to work every day. Either that, or Celestia and I could do funny things to each other for like an hour.
"Is it time?" Celestia asked me.
"Yeah."
"Aw..."
"Sorry. Our first full day together, too."
"It's alright, I just don't like being alone."
"Yeah, I know."
She chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll manage."
I turned towards her in the bed and gave her a small kiss. "I'll be back soon, my little sunflower."
"Sun... flower?" At first, she seemed a little confused, but her smile returned quickly. "I kind of like that one."
"Not just any sunflower. My sunflower."
"Right. Your sunflower."
I smiled at her, then got off the bed. I reached into my pocket and retrieved my phone, then shook it in my hand. "Don't forget to call if you need anything."
"Can I call if I just want to hear your voice?"
"Of course."
I smiled again, then turned and opened the door. I retrieved my things from the front room and made my way outside to walk to work. It was somewhat cold outside, but at least my sweater was warm.
Sunflower... Guess it works.
My first, and currently only, order of business was to talk to Sarah. It would have to wait until break time, of course. I wonder how she'd react to meeting Celestia. She can be kinda intimidating at first. Not as much as her sister, of course.
Nothing unexpected happened, which was to be expected. The monotony of my days was somewhat nice, but it grew old fast.
Like I had done before, I sat across from Sarah as she ate. She immediately looked downwards.
"A-any news?" she asked.
"My girlfriend showed up last night." I said to her.
"That's nice."
"Her name's Celestia."
"It... sounds foreign."
I shrugged. "She wanted to meet you."
"Meet... me?"
"Now that I think about it, there coulda been a little more details. Sorry, my fault. Anyways, she wanted to meet you, so I told her that I'd invite you over if you'd be willing."
"Oh, I don't know about that. I mean... I..." She stopped.
"This is getting kinda complicated for what it is." I said.
She nodded. "I'm so sorry for all this, but I appreciate the effort you're going through to help me."
"So... your parents... How are they? Nice?"
"F-for the most part."
"For the most part?"
Another nod. "They're usually nice to me."
"Usually? Are they strict?" Strict felt like more of a code-word at this point in the conversation, but I couldn't tell what for.
"They don't like it when I lie, let's leave it at that."
"Are they... really strict?"
"I'd rather not talk about it."
This is... news. I think the situation just changed. "Alright, no problem."
Now I was curious about her parents. Showing up to dinner just became more of a task than an option.
I felt my pocket start to vibrate, then start to ring a second later. I reached in to retrieve my phone. Celestia was actually calling me.
"I gotta... take..."
"Is that her?" asked Sarah.
I answered the phone and without waiting for a response, I heard, "There's a problem." Her voice seemed somewhat panicked.
"Problem? What do you mean?"
"There's someone else."
"Someone... else?" I stood up, on edge. Was someone at the house?
"Someone else from Equestria came to this world."
"What?" I relaxed a little. Nobody from Equestria was dangerous.
"My sister just informed me. We need to find her before she gets into trouble."
"What? Trouble? Alright, alright... What does this mean? Can anybody just show up out of the blue?"
"I don't know. Luna's working on it."
"Alright... One problem at a time. This person, is she in any sort of danger, do you think?"
"I couldn't tell. She's very bright, but I'm still worried."
"Well, she should be fine for the time being. Look, I'm gonna come home and we can talk more then, alright?"
"Alright."
"I'll be there soon." I closed the call and put my phone back in my pocket. I sighed. "Fuck..." I uttered under my breath.
"Is... everything alright?" asked Sarah, starting towards me.
"Kinda. I gotta take care of something." I grumbled, then I walked over to Timmy and said, "Hold the fort, nerd. I gotta take off."
"What? You're leaving?"
"Family emergency. Tell the bossman for me."
"Oh, damn. Alright, you do what you gotta do."
I took off as soon as I was able and jogged home. If the person in question was smart like Celestia said, she should know enough to keep herself out of trouble, so I don't think it was that important that I got there soon, but I told Celestia I wouldn't be long.
As I reached my door, I briefly looked around. Maybe I would see someone with rainbow colored hair or something and I'd be able to save myself some time. No such luck. I went inside.
Celestia stood up in a rush as I entered. "What took you so long?"
"Sorry, I... So who, or what, are we looking for?"
She nodded slightly. "The one who has entered this world is a notorious thief known as Red Shadow. She followed me into this world in order to escape capture."
"A criminal?"
"That's right. She is... although I would not like to admit it, incredibly bright and talented."
"Gotta be pretty smart to come here out of nowhere like this."
Celestia grabbed a few strands of her hair. "If she's anything like my guards and I, her hair will be a deep crimson, and she will have a gem on each of her shoulders."
"What about her eyes?"
"Same color as her hair, a deep, vivid crimson."
"Alright... Well, what about... can Luna follow her? And like... tell us where we can find her?"
"Unfortunately, no. She's hiding herself from my sister using magic. The most Luna could do is point us in the right direction."
"Magic?"
"That's right. We're more connected with our world than before. She must've taken advantage of that."
"So... where do we need to go?" I asked her.
"When I last spoke with Luna, she said that she will be heading east. She can't have gotten too far and I doubt she'll leave town."
I nodded. "East..." East from where I lived made up the rest of the town. I had no clue where to start. "I think... we'll need some outside help with this." I said.
"You're going to tell your friends about this?"
"No, no, no... My brother. Hold on."
"Your brother?" she asked as I retrieved my phone.
I nodded. "I'll get ahold of him, tell him what's what." I called him and held the phone up to my ear.
"Hello?" replied a somewhat groggy voice.
"Hey John, it's me."
"Oh, Phil. What's up?"
"I got a favor I need to ask."
"Oh yeah?"
"I need some help finding someone."
"Finding someone? What, you gonna shoot them in the head or something?"
"My girlfriend's sister walked off yesterday and she's been really worried about her."
"You have a girlfriend? Gay."
"You think you can help me with that?"
"I don't know man. What if she wants to be alone?"
"She's not responsible enough to be alone."
"Oh. Well, she's probably out partying or something. She'll be home in a few days. I don't really wanna meddle in someone else's affairs."
"I just need you to find her. I'll take care of it from there. Can you help me or not? This is serious for her."
"Alright, alright. I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks." I gave him a description of what she looked like. "We don't know where she is, but I'm sure she didn't head out of town, so she probably went east."
"East? When did you learn your left from your rights? Alright, if I hear anything, I'll let you know."
"I don't wanna see this on Facebook or anything, alright? She's got a brain on her, she might run off before we can talk to her."
"Run off? Who is she, exactly?"
"I told you, my girlfriend's sister."
"Nah, something doesn't add up here..."
I sighed, then held my phone out to Celestia. "Here, call my brother an asshole."
"This is serious." she said to me.
I pulled my phone back. "Hear that?" I said into it.
"Alright, fine. Yeah, I'll see what I can do."
"Sweet, you're a life saver." I hung up and pocketed my phone.
Celestia gave me a curious look. "Do you think he can help us?"
"I dunno. Here's hoping. He has some friends to help him out. They're more reliable than my friends when it comes to stuff like this."
She nodded.
"She couldn't have gotten too far. Maybe she's looking for someplace to stay. Her options are somewhat limited."
"I have no idea where she could be."
"So who is she, this Red Shadow?"
"As I said, she's a thief, and a rather good one, at that."
"A thief? Maybe we'll see her in the paper or something."
"She's not that stupid. Being careful is one of her strong points. As long as she keeps using magic, we can find her. If we get close enough, I'll be able to sense her."
"Promising."
"I'll have to be close to be able to sense her power. I just hope she's alright."
"Can't imagine she'll be happy to see you."
"You're probably right. As a Princess, it's my duty to care for my subjects. As a pony however, I want her locked away. I dislike criminals."
"One thing at a time. First thing's first, we have to find her. I don't know what we can do on our own. It's like last time we looked around town, but now we're looking for someone that's moving around. We'll probably be better off just staying here until John finds her."
"We can't do nothing."
"I know, there's just a lot of ground to cover. I don't know if we could accomplish anything meaningful."
"We can try."
I sighed. "Get your shoes."
I hope this goes well. God knows what this Red Shadow is gonna get herself into. On the plus side though, she's a successful criminal. Not much of a plus side if someone looks at it from the standpoint that criminals are bad, but very much a plus side if you consider that successful criminals can keep themselves safe. So, we got that going for us.
I really need to talk to Celestia.