Now you're doing it on purpose,” Shining Armor said pointedly to his wife.
“Oh, Shiny,” she returned in a sultry voice - if such a thing was possible beneath a scuba diving mask. “I was doing it on purpose from the very beginning.”
Once more the alicorn princess appeared to lose control of her underwater drift, colliding right into her husband's flank. This time was a little different, though, because he also drifted on impact and quickly grabbed her around her midsection, holding her tight against himself while being careful not to pinch the oxygen tube running from the tank on her back to the mask on her face.
“You have caught on very fast, Shining Armor,” Oxygen Rush complimented him from across the short distance of the diving pool. They were at the bottom and the fake murkiness made her appear a little distorted even so close. It was a clever trick to help orient ponies to real diving, but it wasn't anything Shining Armor had difficulty in overcoming.
“I'm surprised that we can talk,” he averted embarrassment at the praise.
“H2pOny is my business aside from resort service,” Oxygen explained. “I keep working hard to make these technologies the best they can be. I am afraid I still haven't managed to significantly reduce excess use of oxygen supplies when making conversation though...”
“Thanks for the help,” Cadance added in and wriggled out of her stallion's grasp. “I think we've covered everything even if I'm not as good at this as Shiny.”
The prince and the guide exchanged an understanding look. Cadance had been playing the whole time and was obviously far better than Shining was. Perhaps she had even done diving before and only pretended not to know.
“I do not often recommend diving around the bay right after learning, though,” the pale blue pegasus guide disclaimed. Her mane waved about freely in the water the same way theirs did, but it seemed obvious now why Oxygen kept her mane a little shorter than most mares. It didn't get in her way as much with its current length. “It is important to be fully rested before diving so one does not cramp or lose the energy to move.”
The royal couple took her cue to swim back up. It wasn't particularly dark down at the bottom of the beginner's pool, but the bright lights above the surface seemed blinding at first. Shining thought he now knew what a deep sea fish felt when it broke surface in the daylight (assuming one ever did). The depths almost seemed preferable in those first few seconds. That and also the air. It wasn't something he really ever thought about but, having spent so much time underwater, the cold impersonal nature of the air was practically offensive.
“I see why you seem to love your job so much,” Shining told Oxygen Rush as they climbed back out of the pool and removed their masks. “The water is really nice after you get used to it.”
The mare looked fondly behind her at the pool. “Yes,” she spoke calmly. “It is like my home. I know it must sound strange coming from a pegasus.”
“Not at all,” Cadance disagreed as she used her magic and a towel to pat her suit-encased form. She was barely dripping, however, because her suit didn't seem to hold any of the water. Most of it simply slid off, as if the suit was made of oil. “It sounds poetic if you ask me. Perhaps even romantic. You single?”
“Cady,” Shining Armor protested to his wife.
“It is okay,” Oxygen Rush smiled as usual while she took the masks and tanks from them and stored her own. “Yes, I am single.”
“Aw,” Cadance pouted. “Why? You're smart, beautiful...”
Oxygen blushed and hid it because she was still facing the lockers where she put the equipment. “M-most ponies don't think much of a pegasus that doesn't use her wings...”
“That's ridiculous,” Shining's expression turned sour as he contemplated when to remove his diving suit. “Cadance doesn't use her wings as often as most pegasi but my love for her is deeper than any ocean.”
“You're totally trying to score points with me,” his wife slid him a sly expression.
“Got that right,” he whispered back.
Oxygen Rush laughed while recomposing herself to face them again. She turned to them and drew in a forehoof as a gesture for the suits. “You are very lucky,” she looked to Cadance, “to have such a loving spouse.”
“I am,” the princess replied humbly, “but it doesn't make me feel good knowing you're alone. Maybe we can find you some special stallion!” she suddenly exclaimed in excitement, old fires of matchmaking re-igniting. “Or mare. Do you like mares? I'm really good at this mind you!”
Shining placed a hoof on her shoulder and pointed to their guide. “You scared her,” he whispered.
Indeed, Oxygen Rush had a little paleness to her face and a shake in her hooves.
“Don't tell me,” Cadance gasped. “You're afraid of having an intimate relationship?”
“Don't make it worse,” Shining groaned.
“P-please,” Oxygen stammered for their diving suits.
Both royals flashed their magic and had the suits levitated over to her in short order. The removal of the suit had just as much of a shocking sensation for the stallion as it had when he put it on. He wondered if he'd ever really get used to it.
Cadance wasn't going to stray from her course, however. This was her cutie mark, after all. She approached the mare. “Come on, dear. Talk to me. Would you like to talk to me away from Shiny?”
The sweetness of the alicorn's tone was not lost on Oxygen, but she didn't want to upset the resort directors if they found out that her personal affairs had gotten tangled up with their most important clientèle.
“Forgive me, Cadance,” she began. “Though I would trust your judgment, I cannot let my personal matters interfere with your vacation. This time is for you and your husband – not me. Please just enjoy yourself.”
Cadance wilted a bit. “Very well,” she sighed. “On the condition that we have a private chat sometime.”
It was a compromise but Oxygen didn't want to argue with the guests. “Whatever you wish,” she relented.
They left the room after they were fully dry and it was after they parted ways with Oxygen Rush at the Center's front door that Shining Armor addressed his wife more bluntly.
“Oh, come on,” Cadance defended as they stepped back into the cleanly lit interior of their ship. “I just can't bear the thought of her being alone. Or anypony for that matter. I can picture her working hard every day and even working into the night all by herself. And you noticed how tired she was, right? It's just so sad!”
“Not everypony wants or needs a special somepony, Cady,” the prince put the matter direct but gentle. He grabbed the wheel after they entered the forward cockpit.
Cadance proceeded to produce a series of clicks and blurts of disapproval. “Maybe for a select few, but I could see the emptiness in her eyes. She's definitely the type to want and need a special somepony. Don't you trust my destined talent, dear husband?”
He felt the fine coat of her face nuzzle into his side as he concentrated on steering the ship out. “Of course I do,” he soothed. “I just don't want you to put any stress on her when she's already under pressure. I was thinking we'd give her some space by not calling on her too much for a while.”
“Hmm,” Cadance hummed. “Well I won't give up that easily. I promise that whatever I do, I won't burden her. That's the opposite of what I want to do.”
“Did you have anything in particular that you wanted to do today since we've got the diving basics down?” he switched topics and set the ship in a gentle curve towards their island. The hydrofoils were barely starting to rise above the water due to the speed and the currently calm water of the bay split evenly around them as they cruised across it. The forward glass wall that he was viewing through must have had some manner of tinting because he knew that the water was reflecting a bright late morning sun that should have been near blinding.
“If this is our only day before the official resort opening,” the pink princess mused, “then perhaps we should do something at our island, since we might end up busy at all the places that open up tomorrow. You already arrived at the same conclusion based on our heading.”
“You noticed,” Shining replied flatly.
“It was either that or you wanted to get me somewhere alone and private again,” his wife remarked suggestively while running a hoof up his spine. It made him shiver.
“Alright,” he feigned, waving her off and keeping his eyes on the water in front of them. It was admittedly hard to steer and handle Cadance at the same time. “Maybe a little both. You were messing with me the whole time Oxygen was trying to teach us.”
The mare giggled. “Of course. But I didn't make any trouble for her and we both learned exactly what we needed to.”
“About that,” Shining started suspiciously. “Are you sure you've never done any diving before?”
Cadance laughed nervously.
“I thought so.”
“The resort should be getting a lot of traffic tomorrow by what Oxy told us,” she switched tracks. “We could take advantage of the attractions already open today but then again...”
“Everything will open tomorrow and we'll probably end up spending all our time at them rather than our island...yes,” her husband re-iterated for her.
Shining didn't anticipate it because he was still focused on steering the Star to the fast approaching center island. Perhaps that was why Cadance took the lapse in alertness to place the kiss on the back of his neck. It was one of the spots she knew to be particularly sensitive. With a chill going up his spine again, Shining almost jerked the wheel.
“No fair!” he complained weakly.
“What?” Cadance played innocent while she hung off his neck. “I was just saying that you read my mind.”
Shining Armor slowed the ship as it came up to their dock. It locked into place. “I'm glad I still can. It took me a while to do it after we first met.”
Now free of distractions, Cadance pulled on her stallion so their faces were mere breaths apart. “And when you did, you found out the only thing I wanted was to get inside your head.”
“Was that a doubl-”
Shining's words were cut short when his wife locked her lips on his. The kiss was deep but very brief.
“You keep this up and we'll miss lunch,” the unicorn male grinned like a foal.
Cadance stepped back from him and started out of the cockpit. “I wasn't really hungry anyway...”
Shining Armor awoke just in time to see the sun setting out of their bedroom's glass wall. A groan escaped his lips, but it was not an altogether unhappy one. He promised himself that, one of these days on the resort, he'd be the one to start something with his wife. With a mild case of his family's trademark inquisitiveness, he wondered what had brought this particular playfulness upon Cadance.
“Honey,” he whispered into her ear. It was right in front of his mouth.
She giggled and then tried bringing the sheets up over their heads. The attempt failed since the sheets were already entangled with them. “I'm not awake yet,” she faked a mumble into the pillow.
A second passed.
“You called me 'honey,'” Cadance added in realization. She must have found something amusing about it because she giggled again and cuddled up to him, which was pointless because they already had cuddled up.
“What's gotten you so...provocative lately?” he asked directly but with tenderness in his voice. He really was simply curious.
“You don't like it?” she turned her face to him and revealed a hint of worry.
“No!” Shining denied instantly. “I love it! It's just....I was curious.”
Cadance found a smile again. “I'm just relaxing – like you should. Come on, Shiny. We're on vacation.”
The stallion sighed. It was true. He was still using his head too much when he was supposed to be kicking back.
“I love you,” Cadance tacked on while placing small butterfly kisses on his neck. “That's all there is to it.”
The sensation made Shining quiver in delight. He resolved to himself that he'd never stop feeling overjoyed at hearing those words or being kissed by his mare for that matter. There was also a certainty that he'd kiss her back and tell her that he loved her just as much, which he did.
“We should get up,” he declared after they separated from another kiss, such a thing now so common that it was hardly even worthy of notice. “Or we won't be able to sleep tonight and our days will be off.”
“I don't mind being a night owl with my lover,” Cadance returned.
With both of their heads laying sideways against the pillow, it would take an equal amount of effort for them to get out of bed, nevermind how tangled up they already were with the sheets and each other. The prince tried leading by example.
“Oof!” Cadance exhaled as her stallion flipped her over himself, slipping her out of the entanglement in one move. He threw the sheets up, spun in place, grabbed Cadance to move with him, and suddenly they were both standing beside their bed. “How do you do that?”
“Guard training,” he smirked. “After the first year, you get really good at getting out of bed before the sergeant finds you a half-second late to the whistle.”
“So you fake it when you act like you're have a hard time getting out of bed?” she raised a brow.
“Only when you're in it with me,” he answered with a chaste kiss to her cheek.
Cadance blushed and, though it was imperceptible to most ponies due to her pink coat, Shining could tell. She leaned into him and stuttered with her first words. “W-why do you have to say things like that?” she tried sounding more joking than serious. “You make me think it couldn't possibly be true to have you – like it's all some dream I'll wake up from and then cry because it's not real.”
“Hey,” he held her. “I'm not perfect. I just try to do everything I can for my perfect princess.”
Cadance regained her composure. “It's been a while since you've called me that.”
“Then from now on, I'll call you my princess.”
The mare leaned back again from him and relished the feeling of his warm coat against hers before it was gone. She stared him in the eyes. “But I don't want you to be my servant. I want you to be my husband.”
“Oh,” Shining kept going back to a smirk. “I didn't mean 'my princess' as in 'I'm your servant.' I meant 'my princess' as in 'you're my personal property.'”
Cadance playfully punched him as she laughed. “Very well,” she snorted at the end of her laugh. “What does 'Master' wish me to do?”
Shining Armor put on a painfully fake accent of high-brow royalty. “Accompany him to the cove, of course, where she will find him a most unique seashell to be kept as a memento of this quite excellent voyage!”
The princess saluted with a stern expression.
“No, no,” Shining corrected. “You're not my inferior officer. You're my pet!”
“Woof!” Cadance pretended to bark.
Shining facehoofed. “No...nevermind. Let's just go.”
“Woof!” his wife barked again and followed him to the room's sliding glass door that lead out into the back garden.
“You know,” he commented to her as they stepped out, “Cady the Dog has a pretty cute bark.”
The two purple irises of the following alicorn lit with a fire. “Meow!” she mewled in contest to his claim.
Shining Armor froze just where the path began leading to the cove-like area of their island. He turned around slowly. “Ca...dy?”
“-the Cat,” she finished for him and started nuzzling him not unlike the way a feline might. She meowed again.
Shining failed to continue towards their destination.
“What's the matter, Master?” Cadance pretended to enunciate her words in the most feline manner she could. “Cat got your tongue?”
Just as he opened his mouth to reply, the mare stole her chance. She kissed him hungrily, not missing the opportunity to play on her own words about the tongue. When she finally slipped hers out of his mouth, she licked his face.
“Do I make a good cat?” she purred.
“Forget cats and dogs,” he breathed heavy before kissing her back just as strongly. It was a good minute before he let them separate again.
“We-” Cadance panted for air, “we're never going to get to that cove are we?”
“Possibly not,” he panted back. “But it can go pound sand. I'd much prefer kissing my beautiful princess.”
“Not your pet anymore?”
“Baby,” he half-lidded his eyes, “you could never be a pet to me.”
“Even if I wanted to be?” she returned his expression with her own.
The stallion sighed and then swept his wife up in a single swing of his forehooves. She gave an “eep” in surprise. “Do we need to go back inside?” he laughed.
“No, no,” she played coy. “Take me to the cove. I really do want to see it. It looked interesting – by what I can see from the lounge anyway.”
He didn't argue, but he did toss her up to land on his back. “Hold on,” he warned her in his normally strong voice as he reared up and started galloping down the path to the cove.
Cadance locked her forehooves around his neck and extended her wings to stabilize herself. Lush ferns and emerald green shrubs passed them by on the sides along with tall palms and thick trees. The air was humid enough to be a little on the side of uncomfortable, but Shining's speed gave them a cool refreshing breeze. As he bolted them further down the path, the sunset continued into its orange-purple stage. It was dark enough that the magic lamps set about along the path began to flicker on and cast their calm white glow onto the darkening cobblestone.
The princess had no doubt in her mind that an evening alone with her handsome husband was all she needed to forget the last of her worries, assuming a few managed to exist. And there was certainly no chance in Equestria she would let him be the sole adventurer. Nopony could outwit her when it came to a little friendly fun...or romantic fun for that matter.