You wake up to a weird feeling as you stir in your bed. First off, you feel almost uncomfortably tight, like something is squeezing you. Secondly, a constant drift of sweet, warm air is blowing against your face. But that's not the weirdest sensation, on no. Because you also feel something soft and plush pressed against your lips.
As your eyes flutter open, you hiss once the sun rays hit you. The action causes you to slightly part your lips, causing something to invade into your mouth almost instantly.
Your eyes shoot open immediately, revealing none other than Chrissy before you! Her eyes are closed and your lips are tightly interlocked with each other. Her tongue starts to move inside your mouth and you instinctively react by moving your own. This results in a spontaneous Prench kiss as Chrissy pushes her tongue more aggressively against yours.
As your mind finally decides to follow your body and wake up, you promptly pull away from the kiss, panting heavily and blushing like crazy. A trail of saliva is still connecting you two. You look at Chrissy with wide eyes as she smacks her lips, yawns, and snuggle deeper into your pillow, sleeping soundly.
As you lay in your bed, silently freaking out over the fact that one of your best friends Prench kissed you in her sleep, you cannot help but feel extremely aroused as certain tightness in your pants slowly makes itself known.
The ministrations of the previous night start to bubble up in your mind and you remember that all your friends plus Tia decided to do a slumber party in your room. At first they have been worried, afraid of what father might have said to you after your little scuffle yesterday, so after you assured them that it was fine, you invited all the gang to hangout in your bedroom.
You look around the room, smiling fondly once you detect Starswirl and Daring sleeping on the couch. The thing was big enough for each stallion to comfortably sleep at each end of the couch. A glance to the right reveals Tia as she snores cutely on a few giant pillows in front of the fireplace. You awkwardly smile once your eyes lay on Chrissy, though. It is not like you did not like the kiss -In fact, if you are honest with yourself, you kind of liked it- but it is the fact that it was Chrissy, of all ponies, that kissed you. Now, you do not say that Chrissy is ugly by any chance. She was pretty, beautiful even. But she was also your friend, and you do not know if such a relationship can happen.
Anything else you might have thought was slowly slipping away as you discover that you cannot see Aurora anywhere. As if on cue, you feel something snuggle into your abdomen. Raising your blanket reveals none other than Aurora herself! Her hooves are wrapped firmly around your torso and her tail was draped across you bare thighs.
You internally scream in your head as you realize how closely Aurora is to the tent in your underwear. As if fate was not cruel enough, Aurora starts to wiggle in her sleep, her rump rubbing your raging boner. And to add salt on wound, Chrissy's body slowly turns to you. Too shocked to do anything, you cannot react fast enough as Chrissy slams her lips against yours a second time.
By this time, you are far too shaken to even attempt to stop what is happening. Two of your friends, both of whom you care dearly, are assaulting your body, in the most arousing ways possible.
You lift a shaky hand and slowly use it to pat behind Chrissy's ear. She moans into the kiss, enjoying the feeling hand. Slowly, you move your hand away from Chrissy. To your relief, she breaks the kiss and moves her head into your palm again. You gently guide her head back to the pillow, where she rests her head and begins to snore cutely through her nose.
Not to take care of the other… 'problem'.
You grab Aurora by the waist and try to lift her off of you. Aurora growls and warps her hooves even tighter around your abdomen. The suddenness empties your lung in a one big exhale. Meanwhile, Lil' you fare no better.
Thinking fast, you once again wrap your arms around Aurora and roll in your bed until Aurora rests next to you on the pillow. You gently remove your arms around you and start tickling her along her barrel.
Aurora responds by giggling and moving her hooves to try and stop your attack. The moment Aurora releases you, you jump from your bed and rush to your bathroom.
You briskly walk up to your sink and splash a generous amount of water onto your face. The water drips off of you as the light from the tiny window to your right makes them appear like diamonds. You look up at the mirror, your reflection in looking quite on the horrified side. Your eyes are big as saucers despite only waking up a few minutes prior.
"What… was that," you quietly whisper to yourself.
You suddenly yelp when your hand suddenly stings. You look down at your bandaged hand and slowly unwrap it. The cut beneath it looks like it healed quite nicely over the night, but the stinging sensation came from the back of your hand.
You rotate your arm and check the back of your hand.
"What the…"
It was… burnt. Well, not exactly burnt, but the back of your hand was red with a bit of skin peeling off of it. That's weird. You do not remember even getting close to a fire.
Deciding it was nothing important, you decide to take a morning shower and get yourself presentable.
With a towel wrapped around your waist, you exit your bathroom. All your friends are wide awake, as well as Tia. They seemed to be idly talking on your bed before you stepped out from the bathroom.
"Morning everypony," you say, moving towards your dresser and pulling a deep purple toga with white cloth woven in between the fabric.
Tia seems to recognize the ceremonial toga and groans in response. "Please don't tell today we must attend court and I somehow forgot…"
"We must attend court today and you somehow forgot," you respond with a smirk, earning another groan from Tia.
"Why you must attend court? Sounds like a major bore," Daring asks.
"The empress of the Gryphon Empire is visiting is to discuss a defensive pact between the gryphons and the ponies," you explain. "It is rumored that the diamond dogs are growing bolder and restless, and the gryphons fear they might try to invade their country, especially since they're still recovering from the great blizzard, so they turned to us for help because Equestria is more resourceful. If everything goes smoothly today, then we'll make a public statement. That way, the diamond dogs won't dare to attack neither country."
"How do you know all of that?" asks Tia.
"Because I listen to what father and mother say during meals, instead of stuffing my face with as much food and the smallest amount of time."
Tia puffs her red cheeks and glares at you. "At least I'm not as boring as you," she retaliates. You chuckle before ruffling her mane.
"Go make yourself presentable Tia."
Tia mumbles to herself, by otherwise complies and exits your room. You turn back to your friends and smile at them apologetically. "Sorry guys, but it also means that you must leave as well."
There are a series of groans as your friend's faces fall. You cannot help but frown a little yourself, but you know that once the meeting with the empress is concluded, you could invite your friends again, it is not like they are leaving for good.
As your friends made their way out from the castle, you set a course to the meeting room. Half-way there Tia catches up to you, so you pick her up and tuck her under your armpit. She squirms for the rest of the walk, but you do not care. She is cute like that.
Eventually, you reach the meeting room, where two stallions stood vigilant. Upon seeing you they step aside and open the doors for you. You let Tia down before walking into the room itself.
"Ahh! And here are my wonderful children!" exclaims mother as she sees you. With her you can see your father sitting next to her, as well as whom you assume to be the gryphon empress.
She is very beautiful, you have to admit. Her feathers were white, ending with a light blue tip, and her fur down her lower body was deep azure. She wore a modest amount of jewelry, only a few rings and a little bit of glowing powder on her wings, but it was done very tastefully.
Her deep rosy eyes scan you with curiosity before a gentle, reserved smile adorned her beak. "So this is the elder son I heard so much about," she purrs. "The king and queen told me a lot about you."
"It is an honor to finally meet you, ma'am," you reply, bowing your head respectfully.
The empress puts a talon on her beak, concealing her gentle chuckling. "My, my, and a gentelcolt at that. You sure raised him well." she directs the last part towards mother, who smiles proudly at you. "As a matter of fact, I brought my daughter as well. Is it too much if you show her around the castle?"
As the empress finishes her sentence, a pair of eyes poke from behind the empress, then a body emerges. The young gryphoness was a spitting image of the empress, minus her eyes. Hers was a light shade of pink.
Unlike the empress, the gryphoness had no jewelry on her, but she still had a natural beauty that rivaled her own mother.
"Her name is Silver Rose," the empress says, pushing the younger gryphon towards you. She resist for only a moment before your eyes lock.
Her eyes widen for a moment, probably surprised. It is not like there are many like you in the entire world.
Eventually though, she finds the courage to speak. "Hey, nice to meet you." she approaches you and raises one of her talons towards her.
"Please," you reply, taking her talon in your hand and kneeling down. "The pleasure is all mine." You gently kiss her talon.
You allow yourself to smirk as you let Silver Rose's talon go and see how she's looking at you with wide eyes. Her cheeks explode with heat as she rubs the place you have kissed her.
The empress chuckles. "I see you also taught the young chick how to properly greet a lady as well!"
"Actually," your mother speaks, shooting you a knowing smirk. "This was entirely him."
The empress chuckles even louder, but still somewhat retaining self-control. "Now I know my daughter is in safe talons. Take care of her."
"Yes ma'am." You bow again as you direct Silver Rose and Tia out from the meeting room.
Once back outside the meeting room, you turn to face Rose and Tia. "So, where would you like to visit first?"
"Well…" Rose started, only to be interrupted by her growling stomach. She grabbed her tummy with one talon and blushed. "I guess I'm a little bit hungry after the long trip."
"To the kitchen then!" you declare, turning around and marching towards your designated target. Along the way, you asked Rose about herself.
"So Rose, you must have some pretty cool stories about the Empire."
"I guess… life in the castle back home can be pretty boring, and my mother keeps pestering about finding a mate."
"What's a mate?" Tia asks.
"It's basically a couple joined in matrimony," you explain, looking at Rose for confirmation. She nods.
"What?! How old are you, even?!" Tia exclaims.
"Sixteen," Rose answered.
"B-but that's super young! Big bro is sixteen as well, and he's not looking for a bride!"
"Things are a bit different where I come from. Marriage is less about love and more about status."
You frown to yourself. Rose does not sound overly excited about this. To spend the rest of your life with someone you do not even love, it sounds quite depressing. Then a thought enters your head.
'Will I ever end up with somepony?' you think to yourself. You are vastly different than anything that ever walked this land, and only a fool would question it. What if you are alone out there?
"Are you okay, big bro?" Tia asks, bursting your thinking bubble. "You look kinda sad."
You look down at Tia, your sister, and a flood of memories rush your mind. You are reminded of your parents, Gaia and Solaris, who raised you as their own flesh and blood, your sisters, Tia and Lulu, who look up to you as adore you as much as a hero, and your friends, who stood there by your side from the day you met them.
You have family, you have friends, is it this hard to believe that one day you might also have love?
You smile gently at Tia, taking in her in your arms by surprise and squeezing her close to your chest. "Everything is fine, Tia. I just needed to be reminded of that…"
"That's, good I guess?" Tia says uncertainly before succumbing to the hug.
Rose watches you two from the side, looking quite surprise. In all her life she was taught that gryphons must always live side by side with other gryphons. She was taught that gryphons were the strongest only when together, and that other species weight them down. Yet here she was, watching two completely different beings act like family. No, not 'like'. They ARE a family.
After you release Tia from the hug, the three of you arrive to the kitchen and grab something to eat. The rest of the day was spent showing rose the castle and the gardens. At some point Lulu showed up and she and Rose connected almost instantly. Apparently, Rose is a chicksitter, and she simply adores chicks, foals, and everything that can be classified as a child.
As the sun was about to finish its course across the Equestrian skies, so did Rose's visit. You return to the meeting room, where Rose tells her mom about her time with you and Tia.
You stand next to mother on the other side of the room, watching as Rose's mom whisper something into her ear. Rose's cheeks immediately flare red and she looks at you for the briefest of moments before she averts her gaze from you.
As the empress and her daughter hop onto the carriage to carry the two back to the capital, you stand next to your mother and wave a hand at them. The two wave back before the carriage is lifted by a pair of gryphon guards, and disappears across the clouds.
"That sure was a productive day, was it not, my son?" Mother says as she trots back to the castle with you in tow.
You shrug. "I guess. It didn't feel that way on my end. All I did was showing Rose around the castle and making sure I was a good host."
Mother chuckles before draping a wing across your shoulder, bringing you closer to her. "That you did, my son. And I can safely say that you played a larger part in the negotiations than I did." Before you get a chance to question mother, she beats you to it. "You see, sweetie. I needed you to befriend the empress' daughter. Having the future rulers of the two kingdoms befriend each other ensures the alliance of Equestria and the Gryphon Empire, and I needed the empress to see that."
"So, was this all a trick?" you ask, feeling slightly irritated.
"Did you enjoy Rose's company?" Mother asks back.
"Yes," you answer. "But how that answers my question."
Mother looks at you with a grin. "I believe you just answered your own question, sweetie. Friendship is a powerful thing, never forget that."
You sigh. You are already used to mother being so cryptic. Instead you ponder about her words.
'Friendship is a powerful thing, never forget that.'