The plate was levitated over to the kitchen counter to join the other empty one in being the only items thereupon. It was a rather long counter top that swerved around the area that separated the kitchen from the lounge, where two ponies sat on a soft blue sofa that was so large it could have been a bed. The occupants sighed in contentment.
Both had experienced Oxygen Rush's final tour for their personal cottage and found all of their things neatly organized around the abode by the stallions from earlier in the day. Normally, they'd both be full of energy and have the urge to get on their hooves to do something. That energy, however, had been taken by the orientation to Hello Tropics and their initial travel in getting there. So, feeling spent and lazy, they laid together on the sofa and watched the sea wave along its predestined course.
The sofa faced a different side of the island than the one they came in from and opened up to a cove that crept right up to the lawn around the cottage. It was featured with a bounty of rocks and rough crags that obscured far less of the ocean than the thick tropical plants that retreated from it. All in all, it was a nice and calming view.
“So,” Shining was the first to speak after their meal. He took a sip from a glass of fruit-flavored water and set it back onto the low-slung glass coffee table in front of the sofa. “That was good.”
“Best hayburger I've ever had,” Cadance agreed but didn't open her eyes. She kept resting her head against her husband's side, which was respectively nestled into the spacious cushions.
“Sometimes it's nice to just have a regular old hayburger,” the stallion commented to himself and then made for an observation. “You notice how much glass there is around here? There's...well...a lot.”
“It looks nice, though,” Cadance sighed happily as she rested.
“There might actually be more glass here than there is crystal back home.”
“I dissent,” his wife grinned without opening her eyes.
“Dissent? You're messing with me again,” he smiled and nudged the mare around playfully.
Finally Cadance peeked her lids open. “I'm messing with you? What about what you did earlier?”
“Earlier? What did I do?” Shining pursed his lips in thought. He didn't remember doing anything in particular.
“Oh, come on,” the princess turned over and looked into his eyes with a teasing expression. “I noticed that little tap you gave Oxygen. What was that?”
“What?” Shining frowned. “I was just being friendly. She was so nice to us that I wanted her to know we're not a couple of stuck-up politicians.”
“Of course,” Cadance deadpanned, humoring him. “And there's nothing wrong with a married stallion getting cozy with a female tour guide.”
Shining Armor reddened in the cheeks and Cadance knew then that she had him. It was so easy to tease him. Almost as easy as it was to do so with Twilight. She didn't worry about embarrassing him as much, though, because she knew all the right things that gave him his pride and dignity back.
“You can be honest with me,” she insisted as she drew herself up more level to him. “You think she's pretty.”
Shining was beat red as he rapidly shook his head. “No, she's not. I mean, she is for a young mare. I mean, I might think that if I was single. No! Uh...ah...”
Cadance barely kept herself from busting a gut right there. “You're right. She's quite the catch. If I wasn't already taken then I might consider giving her a pass myself. I mean, seriously. Those hips!”
Shining's mouth dropped as far open as was naturally possible.
The way her husband's face altered from flushed to pale and then back again was the last straw for her. She dropped away from him, rolled off the sofa, and laughed so hard that her lungs began to hurt. She saw out of the corner of her teary eyes that he had clutched his heart as well, which made her laugh even more. When she had run her course and started gasping air back into her system, she saw Shining with a refreshed countenance and a sour look.
“That wasn't very nice,” he grumped with hooves crossed as he sat straight up on the sofa.
“Sorry, sorry,” she only half apologized and gave some more reserved laughs. “It's just that you and Twilight are so easy to tease. Honestly. There's practically no work involved.”
“Hmph!” he turned his face away with indignation.
Slowly, the mare started working her way up onto the sofa again. “You did heat up pretty fast, though. Maybe my prince needs some attention...”
He looked back over to her, hooves drooping and expression softening. Then he resumed his annoyance and looked away. “You're messing with me again.”
“Oh, I don't think I have any reason to tease you about this,” she countered and finally drew herself all the way onto the sofa, grabbing him gently in her hooves. “Just the two of us on a paradise island with a whole month of vacation to do whatever we want...”
Shining Armor's face started warming up again for different reasons. He couldn't stay mad.
Cadance drew him in tighter and brought her face in so their noses touched. “I married the stallion of my dreams, my Shining Armor. And you know what?”
“Hm?” he asked shyly, his hooves creeping around her sides to return the hug. His miffed attitude from a second ago took up a permanent reservation at the graveyard.
“I'm living happily ever after,” she breathed out as she made one smooth movement to lock their lips.
The prince found his mind emptying of everything they had done earlier in the day. He forgot where he was and didn't even care. All he was concerned with now was the soft warm coat of his beloved, her plush feathers moving against his hooves that encircled her, the strand of her mane that had fallen loose from the rest and tickled the left side of his face. Her hooves that hugged him were like heaven but were forgotten for the taste of the kiss, so deep and yet so calm. It was a passion that knew they had all the time in the world.
The mare finally drew back with an elegant slowness, the peaceful happiness on her face making the stallion feel as if he ruled the world.
“Oh, Celestia,” he breathed in deep for air. “I love you so much, Cady.”
“Careful, big guy,” she giggled. “I'm not sure my aunt would approve of you using her name like that.”
“Maybe I should start using your name,” he grinned suggestively. “Because you're my goddess.”
“Pfft,” Cadance failed not to laugh. “Smooth but corny. That's my husband.”
“Hey,” he defended himself. “Look who's talking. And, anyways, I think we need a couple of breath mints.”
“Yeah,” Cadance sighed in defeat. “Hayburgers do nopony any favors.”
“I think I saw some earlier...” he thought aloud as he reluctantly detangled himself from his wife and stepped off the over-sized sofa.
Cadance tapped a hoof to her chin and then stiffened in realization. “The bathroom cabinet!” she called out to Shining as he already started his way up to the second story.
“Yeah,” Shining called back down in confirmation. The sound of rapid hoofsteps sounded as he trotted back down with a small tin of mints proudly in his magical grasp. “I don't know why they were up there but they were.”
The princess leaned across the sofa to look at the tin as he approached. “Oh, variety!”
“Cinnamon, Spearmint, Peppermint,” Shining started naming off the flavors as he opened the tin. Each of the mints was a small thin square color-coded to the flavor. “I guess this is Ocean Spray,” he prodded at a blue one. “Whatever that's supposed to taste like.”
Cadance decided to be the adventurous one by flicking a blue one into her mouth. Her eyes widened at the taste and gave her husband a little concern.
“It's bad?” he inquired.
“No,” she said around the mint in her mouth. “It's really good.”
He eyed one in the tin suspiciously. “What does it taste like?”
“Hm,” Cadance carefully leaned onto her back into the generous cushions. “Like coconut, but just barely. Mostly like fresh spring water. It's really refreshing,” she detailed and then checked her breath. “It doesn't have a strong smell but that's way better than hayburger.”
Shining Armor was about to pass up on it but finally decided, what the heck, why not? He popped one in, sucked on it, and found his wife had not decided to tease him again. It really did have the faint taste of coconut and spring water. A hum escaped his lips as he savored it and then he realized that the number of mints in the tin did not even equal the numbers of days that they planned on spending there.
“We'll have to ask for more eventually,” he commented as he placed the tin on the low table, finished the mint, and jumped back into the feather-soft aqua blue cushions.
“We need them for anything in particular?” Cadance asked as she laid down and propped her head on a forehoof, batting her eyes in faux innocence.
The prince intentionally fell sideways so he was laying eye-to-eye with her. “You were paying attention to the orientation, right? There's a lot we can do and that means a lot of our time might be spent out of this cottage. I'm not waiting until we get back here each day to freshen up. I'll take some with us whenever we go out.”
“Oh? Plan on getting near my breath?” Cadance asked in a saucy manner.
“Near doesn't begin to cover it,” he matched her effortlessly.
“Okay, okay,” the alicorn relented. “So, what are we going to do? I'm too tired to go out but we can't go to sleep either. It's only 4:00.”
“I was thinking we'd just continue where we left off,” he said with a low husky voice and climbed across so that he was laying lengthwise with her.
“We've got all month, you know,” Cadance blushed but didn't protest.
“Yeah,” Shining breathed as he brought his face in close to hers. “So little time...”
Before she could say anything, he embraced her fully and resumed their kiss from earlier. The pink pony had no complaints and, in fact, embraced him back. Neither felt the need to rush it and so they just reveled in their private intimacy. The princess commented only after they had spent another long minute without air.
“You'd be happy to do this until midnight,” Cadance breathed heavy for oxygen.
Shining tossed his mane back with a “hah” and then looked at her again with conspiracy in his eyes. “That's funny coming from somepony who'd do the same.”
“Is it possible to love too much?” the princess kept up the banter.
“Only for those that lack imagination,” he leaned over and breathed playfully into her ear. “And when it comes to you, I've got lots of imagination.”
Cadance cuddled him from her spot beneath his chin. “Aww...I wanted to be the one to say that.”
“Oh?” he leaned back to look her in the eye again. “Why?”
“Because I like giving more than receiving,” she winked at him.
Shining Armor laughed but felt his heart pull at the same time. Her look had nearly given him a heart attack, but in a good way as far as metaphorical heart attacks were concerned. She didn't have to go anywhere near her magic to have this effect on him because he was legitimately in love with her.
The last time she had used her love magic on them had been on their honeymoon and it turned out to be a terrible mistake. They had wound up spending an entire day so lost in each other's eyes that they didn't even break physical contact for the full twenty-four hours, spending it all on shameless obsession the whole time. He tried not to ever let Twilight find out since she had read that book about the love potion. That would just be embarrassing. Nevermind the details.
“Well, well, well,” he tutted as he looked deep into his wife's eyes. They were two oceans of lavender that he never got tired of swimming in. “Maybe we should leave the rest of this for tonight then.”
“Worried about falling asleep?” the mare giggled.
“Oh, come on, Cady,” Shining stuck his tongue out at her for a second. “You're just too soft. Especially when you drape those beautiful wings around me. You're killing me.”
Spurred on, Cadance stretched one of her wings around from beneath her and flicked him on the nose with the tip. “I'll have to remember to do that tonight.”
“Aww,” Shining groaned while liking every second of it.
“Now get off,” his wife instructed. “I think I remember seeing some board games when we got the tour.”
“Monopoly?” the stallion inquired as he rolled over with enthusiasm. He immediately set to move aside all items on the low table in front of the sofa so they could set something up.
“Yes sir, Mr. Handsome, sir,” Cadance joked in a faux-male copy of his own Guard's tone of voice. She too got off the cushions and made her way to a side closet near the kitchen.
Shining sat down patiently, back rigid and hooves straight down, but glanced over to her not the least bit for a view of her swaying tail, which she intentionally sashayed about. “Call me handsome again,” he ordered her across the room.
Cadance opened the small closet with a bit of her magic and found exactly what she remembered being there on the second marbled shelf. She pulled out the bright colored box and brought it over to the glass table and her giddy-looking male. “Only if you call me pretty and let me have the light blue properties.”
“Hey,” he was taken back. “You're way better than pretty! Like super-ultra-beautiful with an overdose of sexiest mare in the world.”
Cadance could usually take his compliments in stride because of the goofy look he often got when giving them but this one got to her. She blushed not for the first time that day. “And the properties?”
“Are still going to be mine,” he grinned stupidly.
She stuck her lower lip out in pouting while she let him grab the box with his own blue aura and open it. The board was laid out and various pieces went to their proper places. “You're only excited about this because Twilight isn't playing with us.”
“She always plays this game with us,” he complained. “I even tried to play it alone with you once and she showed up at the door like clockwork or something and joined in. She always wins, Cady. It's not fair.”
“Badly, I know,” Cadance smiled with a hoof to her mouth. She was looking over the player tokens in the center, trying to decide on which to play as. Should she be the griffon or the dragon this time? “I still remember the day I was foalsitting her and taught her how to play. It was her first time, she was four years old, and she still beat me. Badly, as always.”
“It's those light blue spots,” he narrowed his eyes to the location on the board. “She hoards them and stacks up the hotels early while we're still trying to complete the other sets.”
The pink princess shook her head. “Here we are on our vacation and we're talking about Twilight again.”
Shining looked up to her and shrugged. “She's something else, huh?”
“It's fun watching her when she knows she's won, isn't it?” Cadance remarked as she chose the elegant serpentine dragon token. “Her eyes gleam and her hooves rub against each other like she's some kind of super villain plotting world destruction.”
“And she gets this little 'hee-hee' laugh that's kind of creepy,” Shining shuddered at it. “She scares me.”
Cadance laughed. “Aw, big brother is scared of his itty-bitty sister?”
“I am,” he answered with mock pride.
“Choose your piece, Handsome,” she gave him a half-lidded look from across the board.
His larger male forehoof tapped the Cerberus token and Cadance began floating the others back into the box. “We're playing Monopoly when I could be getting another kiss,” he commented to nopony in particular, "or more..."
“How about we add some rules,” Cadance began to conspire. “Every time one of us lands on the other's property, that pony has to-”
“Do something naughty?” the stallion suggested with a saucy tone.
Cadance leaned over the table and knocked him on the head. “I was going to say something more serious. You do want to sleep in the same bed as me tonight, don't you?”
“But I thought that was where we were going to be doing those naughty things,” he continued down the same path unfazed.
She knocked him on the head again but was careful not to cause permanent damage. He was valuable to her, after all. “Behave yourself,” she commanded only half seriously.
“We're alone, Cady,” he whined. “Who am I behaving for?”
“I'm not that loose, am I?” the mare turned her lips lop-sided and placed her forehooves evenly on the fake money on her side of the board.
“What are we talking about?”
Cadance opened her mouth and then closed it. Her cheeks puffed out as she looked indignant. “Fine! Let's just play.”
“What about landing on property...?” he asked and leaned back. The sofa was just behind him and offered a great way for him to rest his shoulders against it in relaxation while still sitting on his side of the board and table.
“Forget it,” the mare looked away and closed her eyes.
Shining knew his wife could be stubborn when she was feeling miffed so he offered a solution he figured would likely work. “How about every time either of us lands, I have to tell you how much I love you and how I'll do anything to make you happy?”
Cadance opened one eye and looked at him with it. Here he went again. She could never hold her look when he started this. He knew her just as well as she knew him.
“And,” he persisted, voice lowering, “I hold you tight and tell you really close to your ear that you're my everything.”
Cadance sighed. “Fine,” she gave up. It wasn't as if she was ever mad. Any attempt she ever made for that emotion was always dissolved by him before it reached fruition. “A kiss then,” she offered, “however the payee wishes it. And the final victor gets one special request for the night.”
Shining Armor shot straight up again and leered at the board with a hungry intensity. “Yeah, I'm going to win this thing!”
As it so happened, High Prince Shining Armor lost the game of Monopoly that lasted deep into the dark night hours. He lost rather badly, in fact, and visions of a conniving little sister were now replaced by those of his scheming wife...who defeated him with the light blue properties.