Chemistry Chapter 1: Owner of a Lonely Heart
by Fuzzyfurvert
*Pop!*
“That certainly is loud.” Princess Cadance frowned slightly as more tiny explosions went off inside the microwave. “Is this a new brand?”
“Nope. It might be a new bag design though.” Twilight smirked as she trotted past Cadance with a bundle of blankets and pillows. “Or, maybe my microwave just has cheap soundproofing.”
“You can get a better one, you know. You are a princess now, Twilight.”
“Maybe.” Twilight paused at the threshold to the main room of the library and looked back at Cadance with a shrug. “But it still works, so there’s no reason in replacing it.”
“I guess you’re right about that. I’m so used to the ‘princess life’ now that when things don’t work perfectly as they should, I almost never notice when they are replaced by Shining or the maids.”
“I don’t have maids. I have Spike, and he never throws anything out unless I crack the whip a few times.” Twilight giggled. “I’m still adjusting to the whole thing, really. Some new duties, some new responsibilities. At least I get shelf upon shelf of new books on the subject to study!”
Cadance chuckled and shrugged as the microwave dinged and powered down. Her horn glowed as she took the popcorn and poured it into a large bowl. “How much butter and salt do you want?”
Twilight trotted out into the library’s main room. “Salt: light. Butter: copious!”
A moment later, Cadance followed Twilight into the central room of the tree. “So where is Spike?” Cadance set the popcorn down on a low table in front of a plush couch.
“Visiting Sweet Apple Acres. He and the crusaders are all helping with the harvest again this year and Applejack agreed to a sleepover.” Twilight smiled as she arranged the bedding in front of the projection screen. “I told her we get so few opportunities to spend time together that she was happy to help out. You know how AJ gets when it’s about family.”
Cadance smiled. “That was very nice of her. Remind me to thank AJ afterwards. Unless the movie sucks.”
“Hey!” Twilight mock scowled at her fellow alicorn. “That was one time and it was over ten years ago!”
The romantic comedy Twilight had rented was beyond predictable. Cadance had to force herself to not roll her eyes every time the main characters got into an awkward, completely unrealistic situation designed to bring them closer. She knew she could write a better love story in her sleep.
The irony of the fact that Cadance had found herself in such a similar type of situation wasn’t lost on her.
Somehow, about halfway through the popcorn, they had both migrated under the same blanket on the floor in front of the screen. Twilight started the night very animated - bouncing even - and teased her about the overly saccharine and cheesy portrayal of “love” in the movie. It was just like when they were younger. Only now it was a girls’-night-in together instead of them watching a kids-movie while Twilight’s parents were out and Cadance was getting paid bits by the hour.
But now...things were different.
This wasn’t a cute little foal resting against her shoulder. This wasn’t a dorky, prepubescent unicorn snuggling into her side as they watched a movie before bedtime. This was Twilight. Twilight, the adorable savior of both Equestria and the Crystal Empire. Twilight, the alicorn Princess of Magic itself and her very own sister-in-law, leaned onto her shoulder and the soft feathers at the base of her wing just as she had all those years ago.
Cadance knew love. She could sense love around her like other ponies could smell haybacon. It made her stomach growl. To many, she was just as much the Princess of Love as Twilight was Princess of Magic. Cadance knew that she loved Twilight just as much as if they were sisters by more than marriage and that Twilight returned the feeling. They filled that role for each other in a way that biology had come up short on.
Cadance also knew passion and desire like the back of her hoof, as they so often were the boon companions of the love she controlled and directed. They came in just as many flavors as love itself and she could feel that old feeling welling up inside her. It was supposed to be dead and buried, the earth salted until it was nothing more than a relic of her past. Apparently it was not to be.
She swallowed the lump that kept forming in her throat as Twilight yawned and pushed herself closer. The mare was certainly older and wiser now but she still seemed to have the habit of leaning on other ponies when she got tired. Cadance did her best to control her breathing as Twilight got comfortable against her. If she could hold out until Twilight fell asleep then she could extract herself and get to her overnight bag in the bathroom and Twilight would never know.
Cadance frowned to herself. Perhaps she should invest in more saddlebags; then she could keep her pills on hoof for whenever the need arose. She was certainly in need now and her medication sat teasingly near by, just outside the reach of her magic. The stubborn and intrusive thoughts were already starting. She kept her eyes and ears on the screen as (Twilight is so warm) the bumbling lead stallion knocked over (Twilight’s head on her shoulder just felt so right) a fruit stand in a fumbled attempt to avoid being caught staring by his paramore. She couldn’t even remember the character’s names or how the movie had reached the scene. Twilight was starting to crowd everything else out of her mind. She could smell Twilight’s shampoo when she leaned on her shoulder.
That old familiar burn started to build up in her nethers. The tingle it sent up her spine felt good but she knew it for the siren’s song it was. If she didn’t put a stop to it soon she would be in for a very uncomfortable set of conversations later, to say nothing about what it would do to her pride. She hadn’t had a relapse in months and having one during a rare free moment with Twilight was the last thing she wanted.
A loud crash from the movie snapped Cadance’s thoughts back to the here and now. Another funny scene was playing out in front of her and she couldn’t remember how it had been reached. The tingle felt like a live wire worming through her. She knew she couldn’t wait any longer.
“Twilight? Could you pause the film? I have to visit the little fillies room.” Cadance stood abruptly and shrugged off the blanket. If Twilight noticed the stiffness in her movements or the slight quiver in her voice, she didn’t mention it.
Minutes later, Cadance sighed as she looked briefly back at herself in mirror. She looked tired. Her deceptively festive-looking pill organizer sat open on the counter, now missing one of the tiny blue colored doses. The tingle faded quickly under the haze of the medication. Her heart was slowing back to normal speed and her crotch didn’t feel hot enough to set fire to anything. She kept her breathing deep and even and focused on a spot of wall just above and to the right of her head. It usually took about twenty minutes for the medicine to fully kick in. She knew she couldn’t hide in the bathroom that long without raising questions from Twilight however.
Cadance stood and flushed the toilet for effect while she closed and slipped her organizer back into her overnight bag. She could do this. It was just Twilight, Shining’s little sister. Her sister-in-law, for crying out loud. The medicine quelled that urge. She had to have faith. The medicine and the therapy silenced that voice. She had to have faith. She was a normal pony.
She had to have faith.