I Accidentally Joined a Harem and Now a Princess is Hitting On Me

by stillinbeta


Chapter 5

“And you said yes? Ahh Coco congratulations!”
Sapphire was practically prancing with excitement.
“I kind of panicked,” Coco admitted.
“Understandable! I think if she asked me out I would’ve fainted.”
“Wait… you’ve never done this?”
“Heck no! Cadance almost never comes down our way, and I can only think of one or two ponies who’ve actually gone out with her outside the lounge.”
“So that means I’m…”
“Something pretty special, it seems like.”
Or an imposter.
“So when’s the big day?” Sapphire asked.
“It’s… I don’t know! We didn’t pick a date. What if it’s tonight?” Coco’s eyes widened.  “Sapphire what do I do?!”
Coco tried to bolt to her hooves, but Sapphire placed a hoof on her withers and pushed her back down.
“Calm down Twilight Sparkle. She’ll tell you when it is.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Coco blinked.“Wait, you know Twilight too?”
“Huh? No, I just know her freakouts are legendary. The great hero Spike told us all about her.”
“The great… huh.”
“You know her, right?” Sapphire brightened. “Oh wow, did you date her too? Two princesses! Are you gonna go for the hat trick after this?”
“Nononono, we didn’t date! I barely met her. She’s just a friend of my boss, Rarity.”
“Your… boss? I thought you were staying here with us. This is usually a full-time gig, you know.”
Oh no. This was bad. This was very bad! She couldn’t let anypony find out! Especially not her friend! Sapphire would feel so betrayed!
“Former boss! Former! Sorry, I just… force of habit, you know?”
Coco giggled nervously, but it seemed like Sapphire bought it.
“Oh yeah, I know how it is. But you’re here now, right? That’s what matters.”
“Right. I’m here now.”
Sapphire smiled at her.
Coco hoped the panic rising  in her stomach wasn’t visible on her face.
Mercifully, there was a knock on Coco’s door. She jumped up immediately, almost knocking Sapphire off her bed.
Outside was a mare Coco recognised from morning roll call, but couldn’t recall her name. She smiled at Coco, and waved to Sapphire when she poked her head out.
“There’s a guard at the door for you, Coco. Said they had a message from Cadance.”
“Oh, thank you!”
As Coco walked out of her room, she heard whispering behind her. She didn’t know what Sapphire and the new mare were talking about, but she heard her name and a lot of giggling. It figured that Sapphire would be a gossip.
Sapphire would tell everyone about her date. Why shouldn’t she? That was why they were here, after all. Why everyone else was here. A place where a Princess was among equals must be of high esteem. It was quite obvious that nopony here was ashamed of what they did.
But Coco was ashamed. Wasn’t she? She was just a poor, nervous mare who managed to stammer her way into a situation beyond her wildest dreams. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was an accident, one she hoped to correct soon. She’d leave quietly, in the middle of the night. Nopony would notice her missing, and everypony could just get back on with their lives.
That was the old plan. But now ponies knew. Ponies knew her. And if she was honest with herself, if she’d really wanted leave she already would’ve. It wasn’t as if there were locks on the doors or bars in the windows! Everypony came and went as they pleased. She could’ve walked out as soon as she got here. There’d be questions, and it’d be embarrassing, but she would’ve handled it.
Instead, she had stayed. She’d made friends, she’d even cuddled one of those friends. She had caught the eye of a princess! That should’ve made her want to run for the hills, even the frozen ones outside the Crystal Empire.
But she wasn’t scared of the date. She was just scared of ponies finding out. What would her colleagues say? What would Rarity say? This simply wasn’t something respectable ponies did. It was uncouth, unsavoury, unbecoming!
Yet nopony else here seemed ashamed or nervous. Nopony was wearing masks or sneaking about. They were socialising, cuddling, even kissing each other in the middle of everything. They seemed perfectly happy.
Could Coco be happy here, too?
The ship of getting out of this quickly and quietly had long since sailed. She realised that she was basically going to ruin everything no matter what happened. Why shouldn’t she enjoy it? Cadance was beautiful. Sapphire was soft and cuddly. Sometime soon she’d need to sort out what she was doing, but it didn’t necessarily mean she had to run away.
With newfound conviction, she walked purposefully toward the door, hiking her tail just a little higher than was strictly modest. She even tried to work in a little bit of a sashay as she approached.
The guard saluted her, which just made her blush and brought the sashay to an immediate stop.
Filly steps, Coco. Filly steps.
“Princess Cadance would like to have dinner at seven o’clock tomorrow. Please arrive a quarter of an hour early.”
Coco smiled. Here went nothing.
“Tell her I’m looking forward to it.”


Coco was no slouch when it came to fashion. She might not have the same flair for the dramatic her boss did, but she was still a designer. Her entire wardrobe was custom made, and she could create anything she didn’t have. Her stocks were full: she was supposed to be heading to the Crystal Empire as a fashion designer, after all.
It was therefore with great reluctance and embarrassment that she knocked on Sapphire’s door and declared she had nothing to wear.
Sapphire, fortunately, was not a “what’s wrong with what you’re wearing” type of pony. She instead ushered Coco into her room and started rummaging through her closet.
“I apologise, these may not quite match your complexion.”
Rarity and Coco were both shades of cream, even if their manes differed. The two of them rarely shared dresses, though, mostly due to Rarity’s obsession with couture. Sapphire’s light blue was pretty different, but fortunately Coco’s turquoise mane put her on the same colour wheel.
“Let me see,” Coco requested, and got to work.
She quickly began categorizing Sapphire’s wardrobe, dividing her clothes by colour. Visually, of course: It was quite rude to rearrange some pony's closet without asking. None of the dresses would work as is, but perhaps she could whip up a belt or two that would make everything popped.
She hummed to herself as she browsed.
Occasionally Sapphire would make some helpful suggestions. Along with some less than helpful ones.
“Oh, don’t wear purple with that blue. Looks too much like Flurry.”
“Hmm, that’s kind of a boring colour.”
“Ah, yellow compliments her mane! She’ll love that.”
“Does it have to be blue?”
Before long a couple ponies came to see what all the commotion was about. When Sapphire dropped the bombshell of who Coco’s date was, they excitedly offered their wardrobes as well. Mercifully, another mare with a similar coat was among them, and she managed to find a cardigan that actually matched her mane.
When all was said and done, she had a blouse, sweater, and fascinator that she thought looked really smart. Her efforts for an appropriate skirt, however, had been fruitless. Luckily, she still had the better part of a day until her date, so that gave ample time to fashion a simple A-line if she didn’t get too fancy with the stitching.
“Thank you, Sapphire,” she said.
“You’re very welcome! You seem to have quite the eye for fashion.”
Coco blushed. “Well, I am—used to be a fashion designer.”
“Is that so? Do you think you’d ever go back?”
Coco blanched. She supposed she was lucky the question wasn’t “why’d you leave?”
“I would certainly consider it, if the opportunity arose.”
Sapphire nodded. “I hope that’s not too soon. I would miss you.”
“You… you would?”
“Of course! We’re friends, aren’t we?”
Coco smiled. “I… guess we are.”
“You guess? “ Sapphire cocked an eyebrow. “Harsh.”
“No, wait, I mean we’re definitely friends! I’m sorry!”
“Hey, calm down Coco. I was only teasing.”
“Right. Of course.”
Coco looked at her hooves. This was going absolutely swimmingly. Nothing suspicious about herself whatsoever.
“Come on, Coco. We’re friends you guess, remember?” Sapphire poked her playfully. “What’s on your mind? I think this is more than just pre-date jitters.”
For the briefest moment, Coco considered just coming clean, telling Sapphire everything. Who she was, what she was really doing here, how things had gotten so out of control. Then she imagined Sapphire yelling, being dragged out of the dorm by guards. hauled in front of Cadance, who’d be heartbroken by the breach of trust, before finally winding up in the deepest darkest dungeon the Empire had to offer.
Best not to. A white lie would have to do.
“Just nervous about fitting in,” she finally responded.
“That’s all? You don’t need to worry about that! You got a date with Cadi on your first day. If anything we need to learn something from you!”
Coco supposed if she actually was just a new recruit, trying to find her place, Sapphire’s words would probably have been reassuring. If she’d come here to fit in, she was actually doing a pretty great job. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, and it just ended up making her feel worse. 
It must’ve shown on her face, because Sapphire frowned.
Way to go, Coco. 
“You poor thing,” Sapphire cooed. “This must really be difficult for you. Here, how about a cuddle?”
“A... what?”
“You know, snuggling? Like we did before?”
“I…”
“C’mon, it’ll make you feel better.”
Sapphire hopped up onto Coco’s bed, patting the space next to her invitingly.
A thousand questions were blazing through Coco’s mind, none of them coherent enough to put into words, let alone convey to another pony. She backed slowly away from Sapphire, eyes wide.
“Woah, hey, it’s okay.”
Sapphire reached a forehoof out, and Coco flinched involuntarily.
“Right. Sorry. Seriously, are you okay? You seem even more freaked out than usual.”
“Can’t… cuddle.”
“Gotcha. You don’t have to. Remember our rule number one here? Nopony does anything unless they want to. Your space, your rules.”
Coco nodded, and her heart started to calm.
“I gotta ask, though. You seemed pretty happy to curl up with me before. What changed?”
“Well… Cadance asked me out right? So I’m with her.”
To Coco this was extremely obvious, to the point where she wondered why she even needed to say it. Apparently to Sapphire, it was just hilarious, because she immediately cracked up.
“Sorry, sorry!” Sapphire said, gasping for breath. “I know this must be new for you, and I really don’t mean to laugh, but… well you know she’s married, right?”
Coco did know that. Somehow that knowledge of Princess Cadance had been segregated away from the knowledge that the Princess wanted to date her. Perhaps because the latter was still utterly impossible to comprehend.
“Does that mean… Is the Princess cheating on the Prince with me?!”
The facial expression Sapphire gave was so incredulous she was worried it’d get stuck that way.
“Pretty much none of us are exclusive, Coco. I’ve got two marefriends in the Harem, not to mention a very cute pony back in my old neighbourhood. And Cadance… well. What Princess of Love would be in a monogamous heterosexual relationship?”
“I… suppose that makes sense.”
“Nopony is cheating on anypony else. I suspect Shiny is going to be cheering Cadance on before she heads out. He’s really supportive that way.”
Coco imagined Shining with tiny pompoms and it was impossible not to giggle.
“Now, if your new fillyfriend isn’t gonna get mad at you, is there anything else stopping you from a little bit of snuggling?”
Coco grinned. “Can’t think of anything.”
“Then get up here.”
Coco hopped up and snuggled up against the other mare. She was just as soft as before, though Coco noticed Cadance was just a little bit softer. She finally felt relaxed.
“So are you gonna kiss her?”
Well, that had been nice while it lasted.
Coco turned bright red and tried desperately to hide in Sapphire’s mane.