//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: I Accidentally Joined a Harem and Now a Princess is Hitting On Me // by stillinbeta //------------------------------// The walk back to the harem ended up being more of a canter. Cadance insisted that they weren’t in immediate danger, but she certainly seemed spooked. Coco worried Cadance was just trying to reassure her.  Once they got back to the harem, all the ponies in the lounge jumped to attention. Coco realised Cadance hadn’t removed her regalia. Cadance stomped her hoof a few times to get everypony’s attention, and the room shook with each hoof fall.  “Your attention, my little ponies.”  Silence overtook the room instantly. The common lounge wasn’t an especially loud place, but it was eerie to hear it without any activity at all. “We’re going to need to do our ceremony a few weeks early. Your services are required.” Rather than the panic and confusion Coco expected, the ponies seemed thrilled at the prospect. Whatever the ceremony was, it must not be particularly onerous. And whatever it was, Coco was about to be a part of it. Sapphire trotted over to Coco, but was stopped by Cadance.  “I’m afraid this one’s mine this time, Sapphire.” Cadance smirked. “At least this time.” Sapphire grinned, then snapped off a salute.  She turned to address Coco. “Sounds like we’ve got a lot to talk about.” Then, with a quick peck on a blushing Coco’s cheek, she turned and made her way back into the tide of ponies milling about. “You’ve made some good friends here,” Cadance observed. “Sapphire is… well I’m really happy I found her. She taught me a lot of things about myself I was pretty excited to discover.” “Oh?” “Well, um, I didn’t know I was into mares before her.” Cadance giggled. “That’s silly. Even I knew that.” “You’re the Princess of Love, though! You probably have like, magic love sensing powers.” “I do. But I didn’t need them to see you sneaking looks at my flank.” Coco let out what she assumed was a very dignified squeak. “Well, um, be that as it may, I’m still really grateful to Sapphire. Someone had to make it through my thick skull.” “Hmm... I think you’re smarter than you give yourself credit for, Coco.” “I don’t know about that. This whole mess started because I got so lost in your castle I ended up here.” “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. I still need to ask for directions sometimes.” Coco’s jaw dropped. “You’re joking.” “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” She leaned in conspiratorially. “Between you and me, I think the castle rearranges itself sometimes.” “I thought the same thing! Every guard brings me to your chambers on a different route. There can’t actually be that many hallways, this place isn’t that big.” “Maybe I should commission a map I bet Twilight would love that.” “Oh, she absolutely would! Do you think she could do it?” “If anyone can do it, it’s Twilight. But if she can’t… well, Twilight’s grown up a lot. Most of the castle would probably still be standing afterwards.” The two chuckled, leaning into each other. Looking around, Coco noticed the herd had thinned considerably. They were just about the only ones left in the common space, and pretty much all the doors to the bedrooms were closed. “Cadi?” “Yes, Coco?”  “Would you like to come back to my room?” “It would be my pleasure.” Coco blushed, then headed for her door. In her head, she was panickedly trying to remember what state she’d left her bedroom in. She hadn’t exactly been in the best shape when she left, and at minimum the sheets would be a tangled mess. If she wasn’t lucky, there’d be clothes all over the floor, and maybe a plate or two on the desk.  With a deep breath, she opened the door and gestured for Cadance to enter.  The goddesses had smiled on her, apparently. Well, Cadance was probably a goddess. Or at least a demigoddess. She was certainly smiling. Plus her room was clean, so she had that going for her. “You’re a neat pony, Coco.” “Thank you, Cadi. You’re pretty cool too.” Cadance giggled. “I’m flattered. But I meant your room.” “Oh. Of course.” Smooth one, Coco. “It looks like you’ve barely unpacked,” Cadance commented. Coco looked at the floor. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to be staying.” Cadance nodded. “But now?” “If you’ll have me, I think I would be very happy here.” “I’d like nothing more. Remind me to get you a housewarming gift next time we’re out.” The two mares had made their way onto the bed, and Coco was becoming increasingly aware of the lack of distance between them. The bed was, in theory, pretty roomy. But for whatever reason ponies always ended up cuddled up against her. “So…” Coco tried her best to smile. “So?” Cadance cocked her head. “I um. I don’t have a lot of experience... with stuff. I can give it a try, but I’m worried I won’t be um. Quite up to your standards?” “Coco? What are you talking about?” “We have to uh... have sex, right? To charge the crystal heart? Save the day?” Cadance looked absolutely dumbfounded, and Coco realised she had greatly misjudged the situation. She wasn’t sure in which direction, but she steeled herself for whatever came next. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for either laughter or a rebuke. Instead, she felt a gentle hoof trace her muzzle. “You poor thing,” Cadance cooed. “You’re scared, aren’t you?” “A little bit,” Coco admitted. “Fret not, little one. The Crystal Heart is charged by love, not lust. The last thing we want to do is force you into something you’re not comfortable with.” “But all the other ponies…”  “Are deepening their relationships in ways that make sense to them. Us sitting here, just talking, getting to know each other? That’s doing just as much as your neighbours going at it next door.” Coco flicked up an ear. There was indeed a faint oscillating sound coming from against the wall. She blushed. “Relationships are based, at their core, on trust and respect. For some ponies, making love is a way of expressing that trust. But for you and me? That would be a violation of your trust in me. I respect you and everypony else way too much to force you into something you’re uncomfortable” “I can see why you’re the Princess of Love.” “Oh, that’s because I can see who everypony’s attracted to. This is just basic knowledge.” “Wait, you can see…” “Mhmm.” Squeak! “You should totally ask her out, by the way. Her thread to you isn’t much, but it could be strengthened with a few choice words. By you… or a close mutual friend.” Coco blanched. “Oh, no no no, please. That’d just make things weird.” “Because she’s your boss?” “Well… that’s part of it, I suppose.” “As I understand it, you’ve resigned to take up a permanent posting in the Crystal Empire.” “I suppose that’s true…” “And she is an astoundingly beautiful mare…” “That’s true but…” “That thing she does with her eyelashes, wow.” “Cadance!” The Princess blinked. “Yes?” “You said you’d take it easy on the teasing.” “So I did. My apologies, Coco. Sometimes I just go into… Shiny calls it matchmaker mode. I’m told it can be a tad overbearing.” “But you won’t tell her?” “Absolutely not. Trust and respect, remember?” “Right. Right. Just getting used to all this.” Coco smiled awkwardly, trying to continue the conversation, but it seemed her train of thought was completely derailed. Cadance was smiling warmly at her, but it wasn’t the serene, stoic smile Celestia gave to her subjects, nor the business smile Rarity used around customers. It was her own unique smile, and it seemed to say, “I like you very much.” Before she could overthink things, Coco leaned over and planted a kiss on the side of Cadi’s muzzle. Somehow Cadance managed to turn a further shade of pink. “You don’t have to…” “I know. But I want to.” Coco shuffled over, laying her head on Cadance’s barrel. She listened to the other mare’s heart beating, feeling at peace. “I really like you, Cadi.” “I like you too, Coco.” And then they were kissing again. Soft, quiet kisses, punctuated by nuzzles and whispered nothings. The world faded away once again. There was no crisis, no noisy neighbours, no forgotten obligations. Just two mares, holding each other close. And then, when they tired of that — how had they tired of that? — the two of them just laid on the bed, resting on each other like the world’s softest oroborus. Coco recalled Cadance lighting her horn, feeling her hair prickle from the powerful magic being cast. Then there was a flash, but not of light. She didn’t see the heart, but she absolutely felt it. She felt absolutely at peace, secure, and happy. She hadn’t even noticed that she’d drifted off. “Wake up, sleepyhead.” Cadance was nosing her awake. At some point the Princess had extricated herself from Coco and departed, because she was just poking her head in through the doorway. Her mane still looked a little mussed.  “What happened?” Coco asked. “Scoot over and I’ll tell you.” Coco realised she was sprawled out across the entire bed, an impressive feat for such a tiny mare on a Princess-sized mattress. Blushing, she gathered herself up in a corner and patted the spot next to her invitingly. “The short story is we won.” Coco let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding.  “The Crystal Heart did exactly what it was supposed to. But I think you already noticed that, didn’t you?” “It was cozy,” Coco groggily mumbled. “That’s the goal. Unless you’re an nasty cloud of black smoke, in which case it’s probably quite unpleasant.” “So it’s gone? We beat it?” Cadance sighed. “Probably not forever. He’s come back before, and I doubt we managed to completely track him down this time, but he’s getting weaker, and we’re getting stronger.” She winked. “I think that was the most love we’ve ever gotten into the Crystal Heart. I’d like to think we had a thing or two to do with that.” The right words eluded Coco, but luckily she’d been learning a different language recently. She leaned over and gently nuzzled Cadance, who let out a happy whinny. “So what happens now? To me? We were in the middle of discussing that when this whole thing happened.” To her surprise, Coco realised she wasn’t scared anymore. Certainly, it felt like things had been put into perspective recently. But more than that, Coco trusted Cadance. She wasn’t going to do anything rash or mean. However the chips fell, Coco knew it would be fair. “I’m still not happy about you lying to me. But!” She held up a hoof to Coco’s question. “I forgive you. You were in an awkward spot, and I didn’t exactly help you out. We’re going to have to talk about how this happened, and make sure it doesn’t again.” “I don’t want to get anyone in trouble! All the ponies here have been really nice to me.” “Oh, don’t worry about them. We just want to make sure everyone here really wants to be. You fit in well, but what if you hadn’t? What if you’d felt pressured into something you weren’t comfortable with? That’s not the kind of environment we want.” “I think I understand that.” “Now, of course, there is the matter of the position you were intended to occupy. We do still need a designer. But I think we can work something out.” “I’m looking forward to it.”