Sunset Reset

by LordBrony2040


Chapter 14: Pretty Pony Princesses Like Shiny Things

Sunset blinked in confusion as Cadance galloped away into the school. Then, she looked over to the young stallion under her wing in confusion. “Did she seem a little...odd just then?” If anything, Cadance had seemed almost afraid of something. Not to the level when Sunset tormented her, but...still afraid. Sunset hated seeing Cadance like that.

After taking a second to recover from the teleport, Shining Armor looked up to the bigger pony. “Uh...maybe she needed to go to the bathroom?”

The rather...guy explanation of Cadance’s sudden departure made Sunset roll her eyes. It was things like that which just screamed the fact Shining Armor had never had a girlfriend before in Sunset's face. And his kissing. Shiny really needed to work on his kissing.

Although...it had been nice to feel his lips on her cheek…

And Sunset didn’t even have to pin him to a bed, press her lips up against his, and practically drag his tongue into her mouth to get it. While she didn’t exactly like the fact that Cadance had pointed out to Shining his invite had been rather pathetic, Sunset couldn’t really argue with the results either.

In fact, she felt like Shiny needed a reward for his efforts. It was a brave move for Shining to have taken a little initiative. Not to mention the fact he put the moves on a princess in such a public place. Double-bravery like that needed to be rewarded, and with more than just a little peck on the cheek from his princess.

It needed full lip contact. It deserved her tongue in his mouth, her hooves on his hindquarters while his were allowed to touch hers, her body pressed up against his without a single stitch of clothing between them.  It… She wanted to have her stallion in her embrace as they shared a moment of full-throttle passion while she put her scent all over the little pony.

The mental images that soon followed, with Sunset and Shining Armor getting into more and risque positions every second had the amber alicorn feeling...full of desires.

Desires that demanded to be met.

And...it wasn’t as if Sunset could say no when her stallion deserved a reward.

“Hey Shiny, you wanna skip first period?” she asked softly into his ear as she leaned down to whisper into it. “I’ve got some equine anatomy lessons I need to review with you.”

The question, or maybe the fact that it was whispered into his ear in a way that included a rather seductive caress of her breath made Shining Armor tense. “Um...S-Sunset…” he mumbled while blushing. “We’re in the middle of the schoolyard.”

As if something as silly as that would be able to stop her. Sunset didn’t care if all the ponies in Canterlot were looking at her as she stood together with her stallion. If anything, she wanted them to see. She wanted to pin his body to the side of the school in front of everyone, and show them just how much he meant to her. Shining Armor got the most powerful, the most popular, and the most desirable girl in school. Not the cool kids, or the jocks, but the adorable little nerd.

But...his unease stopped her an inch before she could bite down on his ear. So, Sunset came up with a quick compromise. They still had time left before class, and she could teleport.

Sunset smiled before channeling magic into her horn and locking onto one of the several beacons she had placed around Canterlot nearly a week ago, when she had gotten lost and met the wonderful stallion that was currently wrapped in her wing. With a destination set in her mind, she teleported them away from the building.

Not even a second later, Sunset could feel the grass under her hooves, and the buildings of Canterlot could barely be seen for all the trees surrounding the couple that appeared in the shade they offered. While the Canterlot City Park was pretty pathetic in size compared to the human version, the bipeds hadn’t decided to build their less important municipality in the side of a mountain. Still, gave her nice scenery and seclusion thanks to the early morning hours, so it was more than enough for Sunset’s needs.

Right after they landed, Sunset let Shining go from her wing-grip and smiled at him. It was a telling, hungry smile. “And now we’re in the middle of the city park,” she explained before her fantasies altered to reflect the new environment. Grass really would be better for what they were about to do rather than something like the roof of a building or empty classroom.

Although...personal experience said having sex on top of a teacher’s desk did add a bit of excitement to the act. Even danger. It had been something that was kind of...lacking when she had been going out with bipeds. Not that she needed help getting excited around her stallion of course.

The alicorn advanced on the naked unicorn. “All alone again, just you and me,” she said with a smile that left no doubts about her intentions. “Problem solved.”

“S-Sunset!” Shining Armor exclaimed in a half-panicked tone that almost sounded cute. Soon though, she’s make him really squeal. “You...you, how did you…”

The amber alicorn licked her lips in preparation. They’d have about fifteen minutes of kissing, and after Shining begged her not to stop, she’d move on to something a bit more...adult. Her body needed something more adult. It screamed for adult.

And what Sunset Shimmer needed, she took.

...no matter what the guy said on the matter.

All of a sudden, cuteness of the moment faded, and Sunset found herself feeling guilty as she realized what she was doing. Taking control of the situation while showing the guy that he had absolutely no power in the relationship, that was what the old her had liked to do. While she hadn’t done it through physical strength and magical power before...the two new angles of domination had just made it all that much worse.

She let out a sigh and hung her head in shame. “S-Sorry,” Sunset apologized. “I just...no…” There wasn’t really any way to explain how she had wanted to...what? Prove to Shining that she was still in charge? Force herself on him?

How had what Sunset wanted to do go from rewarding her stallion to...that?

“I’m sorry Shiny,” she repeated in an ashamed whisper. “I’ll take us back. I’m sorry, I...I almost…” She fiercely shook her head. “W-We should go.” I wasn’t really going to, the alicorn told herself with much more strength than she had a moment ago.

Even the old her wouldn’t have gone that far. She had been willing to use deceit, enticement, manipulation, and maybe a bit of intimidation to get what she wanted, but Sunset had always had her moral limits even back when she was in CHS. And using physical strength to force herself on another person or pony was the line she wasn’t even about to go near.

Shining Armor’s expression went from annoyed to concerned in an instant. “Sunset, what’s wrong?”

Although she opened her mouth to tell the colt that everything was okay, Sunset found herself unable to actually speak the lie. What she had been tempted to do made Sunset feel physically ill. Shining Armor had been perfect, and in return Sunset had let her lusts run wild, and almost did something that was unforgivable.

No, I wasn’t going to... Sunset told herself as she mustered her defense. There had been that one time when they had been together before. She had stopped herself then, and she had stopped herself just now. She wasn’t some out of control monster that still took what she wanted no matter the consequences.

The amber alicorn stood there for a moment, looking at Shining Armor. As much as Sunset wanted to just sweep her near miss under the rug...part of her rebelled against the thought. Even if nothing had actually happened, even if she had stopped herself, Sunset couldn’t just push such a thing to the side and keep on going like everything was fine. So...she shoved her teeth back together before letting out a sigh and giving her stallion a hopeless look. “Shiny, can we talk?”

“Um...well...we do have a few minutes,” he mumbled with uncertainty.

Hearing his reply made Sunset just feel worse for some reason.

“But...you...you’re more important to me than a perfect attendance score,” Shining went on before trotting up to Sunset and giving her a nuzzle that made Sunset look up at him in surprise. “But...um...can you make it fast? As you can...I mean? We can just be counted late if we’re only ten minutes behind the bell and-”

The amber alicorn stopped listening to Shining’s worried ramblings, and barely kept herself from knocking herself out with her own strength as she resisted the urge to facepalm at his childish worries in the wake of what Sunset had almost done.

Almost!

As in: didn’t.

She didn’t even attempt to try!

Sunset sucked in a breath and bit the inside of her lip.

A problem…

She needed to focus on a problem.

Shining’s problem...that didn’t involve the big alicorn that was willing to jump his bones. He didn’t want to be late. Because time kept ticking even though their positions had moved and more important things than high school were going on in their lives at the moment and he wanted her to hurry up, but sound and conscious thought processes only traveled so fast without extenuating...circumstances…

Sunset blinked. Extenuating circumstances she could make!

“Actually, I can do that,” she said before measuring out the space for the spell bubble and sending the magic through her horn after making sure there was nothing living that would cross the barrier that was about to be formed.

After she was done weaving the spell and threw it out, Sunset looked around to make sure the effects had taken root, and then turned her attention back to Shining Armor, who was just staring at her confused. “I’m sorry...what?”

The science that popped into her head at the question made Sunset feel a little better. Science was pure, free of dark and lustful emotions.

“Oh, well since you didn’t want to get in trouble for being late, I created a localized temporal dilation bubble around us at the increased pace of ten-thousand,” she explained before looking around for something to help with her explanation in the way of a visual. Although there were plenty of trees, she needed something a little more obvious than still branches.

Shining blinked. “Uh...could you say that in Equish?”

Although it galled her to dumb the explanation down to the point where it was misleading, Sunset decided it was better than having to give the real long explanation of what her spell did. “I stopped time,” she told him evenly before pointing to a bird that was still in mid-flap outside the bubble.

Following her foreleg, Shining Armor saw the robin seemingly frozen in mid-air, and blinked before he looked back to her with a disturbing amount of...Sunset didn’t really know if it was fear, or awe.

It made Sunset...uncomfortable. Shiny didn’t need to be looking at her like that.

“Y-You can do that?”

Despite the fact that the topic of their conversation had switched to Sunset’s favorite subject of herself, the amber alicorn didn’t feel very happy. “Well...not until recently,” she confessed before sitting down on the cool grass. The study of temporal magic had garnered Sunset’s interest after her return to Equestria, and she hadn’t really had much to do during the week when she had been waiting for her transfer to Canerot Academy to go through. “Just uh...don’t try and step outside the bubble. It’s really dangerous.” To help him see the edge of the temporal field, Sunset channeled a little bit of magic and marked the fifty-foot circle the bubble created around them. “The deadly kind of dangerous.”

“G-Gotcha,” Shining replied before stepping closer to the amber alicorn, closer to the center of their warm island in the frozen sea of time. “So um...what did you want to talk about?”

The innocent question destroyed the little bit of protection the distraction of having to create the temporal bubble gave Sunset’s thoughts, and brought her mind to the problem at hand. The multiple problems, actually. She honestly didn’t know where to begin.

There was just so much to talk about. Cadance, Sunset’s desires to stay, her need to leave, Twilight, and...the reason she had brought Shining Armor away from prying eyes to begin with. A stupid, spur of the moment decision that had been so much of the old Sunset’s train of thought that it left the alicorn wondering if she hadn’t really changed at all by the time she managed to bring that particular locomotive to a halt.

Because talking had been the last thing on Sunset’s mind when she brought Shining Armor to a secluded little area of the park with less than pure intentions.

And he deserved to know that.

“Can you guess why I brought you here?” she finally asked.

Shining Armor gave Sunset a curious frown. “To...talk?”

At first, the amber alicorn was going to just say that she had decided to reward Shiny with a little makeout session for his bravery in kissing her on the cheek. Either that, or show him how it was really done. And Sunset didn’t do kisses on the cheek.

But...Sunset knew that even that was a lie of omission. The close contact would lead to more, and she could feel her body already getting excited at the prospect of pinning Shining Armor to the grass and making a man out of him. The idea of a stuttering Shining may have been cute, but the idea of Armor actually getting his act together and being even the least bit assertive actually made Sunset...hungry.

So, she decided to be honest with him.

It was what she deserved too.

And then he could finally see what kind of pony she really was. After that, Shining would get disgusted with her, and that would be that. Shiny would leave her, and tell Cadance, and that would end their friendship, and then Celestia would finally cast Sunset out again, and…

Sunset sucked in breath after breath to keep her heart from going crazy as her mental simulation world crashed down around her before she finally managed to speak.

“I brought us here to have sex,” she explained, making the stallion tense and actually step away from her in surprise. The reaction got a snort of a laugh from Sunset. Already, he was starting to dislike her. “We would have started with some kissing, and then maybe a little rump rubbing...but by the time I was done, I would have had you rutting me.”

Even if she hadn’t just pinned Shining to the ground and taken it, but used enticement instead, Sunset knew it boiled down to the same thing. The carrot or the stick, it didn’t matter, they both made the horse do what Sunset wanted.

Shining Armor gulped, his face bright red. “S-Sunset?” It was there in his eyes, the surprise that would soon turn to disgust. At least it would when Sunset got done telling Shiny just the type of mare she really was.

A sigh escaped from the amber alicorn’s mouth, and she felt her body proclaim that it was more than willing to still follow through with the plan despite the destroyed mood and other problems with engaging in intercourse with the little pony. “And you know what the most awful thing about all this is?” she asked rhetorically. “I still want to go through with it. Despite everything I know that says I shouldn’t do this, even though it puts you in physical danger, I can’t stop thinking about how much I want to have sex with you right now!” She looked up into the seemingly-frozen sky and focused on a pegasus pushing a cloud. “Buck, I’m pathetic.”

“What?” Shining Armor whispered before Sunset felt his nose touch her neck in a nuzzle. When she looked back down to him in confusion, the stallion stepped back. “Sunset, why’re you talking like this? You...you’re not pathetic. You’re the most amazing pony I’ve ever known!”

The idiotic assessment made Sunset glare at the stallion. Here she was trying to save him, and he just kept coming! It was infuriating! “Well then you obviously don’t know me very well, do you?” she shot back as she got to her hooves to give him a scowl. “We’ve known each other barely more than a week! Do you know what I was like before we met? I was a monster! I ruined lives and I took whatever I wanted from whomever I wanted and-and I just used guys because it was fun! And now, here I am again, ready to just...oh...fuck!”

Sunset let her butt fall back down onto the grass that was still damp from morning dew, and flicked her tail out of the way before rubbing her ass on the ground. Then, she realized what she was really doing, and cringed.

The windless air floated silently between them for a few moments until the stallion finally spoke. “You never answered my question,” Shining Armor suddenly said, making Sunset look back in front of herself to find him staring at her with caring eyes that made her heart flutter. After everything she had confessed to, he still cared for her. Even though she didn’t deserve it. “What’s wrong? Why’re you saying these things?”

When Sunset glared at Shining and he didn’t retreat, she looked down at the ground in defeat. He wasn’t going to just run away no matter how hostile she became, and Sunset wasn’t willing to do anything other than use her words to try and make him leave her alone.

So, she found herself thinking about the question. Why was she just spilling the truth about herself? To get Shining Armor to break up with her? If Sunset wanted something like that to happen, she would have done it herself. Guilt over tricking the amazing stallion in front of her to going out with her in the first place? Or was it all just some last ditch effort by the part of her that knew Sunset’s more biologically driven urges couldn’t be allowed to have their wish?

She just didn’t know.

“I-I’m sorry,” Sunset told him before she poured some magic into her horn as the world became blurry. If she couldn’t frighten him off and he wouldn’t leave on his own, she could at least use magic to get rid of him for a little while. “This isn’t… I’ll send you back to school.”

And then, she’d see him at lunch, and Cadance would see her, and they’d have to start this whole stupid thing over again. Except that Cadance would be there, and she would try and fix it, because that was what friends did.

But...Sunset...she didn’t...want…

No, Sunset told herself as she blinked away her tears. I do want him. I want him with all my heart. I want him as a friend. I want him as a lover. I want him as an everything! the amber alicorn told herself. Even if she was going to lose Shiny, she could at least be honest with herself about how much he meant to her.

Before Sunset’s turmoiled mind could finish the spell to send Shiny away since it was taking a bit longer than usual, something crashed into her and grabbed onto the big alicorn to actually pull her to the ground. A fetlock wrapped around her horn just hard enough to disrupt Sunset’s magic, and she blinked when she noticed that Shining Armor was holding the bigger mare against his chest, or...barrel, as he was a pony. “No,” he told her evenly with a whisper that went into Sunset’s ear. “Don’t you dare just pop me away when you’re like this. I’m here. I’m here, and everything’s okay. Everything’s okay. So there’s no need for you to be upset. I’m here.”

The certainty in his voice and the way he cradled Sunset’s head in his forelegs sent a shiver through her body. Shining ran a fetlock along the back of her neck as the stallion continued to whisper into her ear in a way that told the amber alicorn that he had to have done something like this before. Like the last time they had been so close, the scent of the stallion filled her thoughts, and Sunset found herself just wanting to stay in his embrace forever.

Even though...Sunset knew it was all destined to end.

And not just her budding relationship with Shining Armor, but her mother’s love, her best friend, her magic, her sense of purpose...it was all going to go away in less than a month!

Because it had to. If everything was to go the way it was supposed to for Twilight, then Sunset had to lose everything she had ever wanted.

Sunset blinked at the thought. And upon examining it, was filled with an overwhelming amount of despair.  Her vision became blurry again, and she sniffled through her nose more than breathed before letting out a wail of anguish. Tears streamed down her face. Shining Armor drew her in close, and Sunset cried into his shoulder.

She cried at the unfairness of it all, the sick joke that her happiness had become, and the fact that it was all going to be replaced by a twisted version of the world she was supposed to be living in. She cried about the coming loss of her mother, her friends...Shiny, and they would be traded for...what?

A low-class empty apartment? A bunch of monkeys that cared more about a bunch of games than the fabric of their own reality? A stupid crown made of tin? I don’t wanna go back, Sunset mentally wailed.

And throughout it all, Shining Armor continued to hold Sunset, and tell her that everything was going to be okay.

Even though it wasn’t.

The alicorn both hated and loved it at the same time. She wanted to shout at him that it wasn’t okay, that things would never be okay, and yet...Sunset couldn’t help but hold the unicorn as tightly as she dared as he whispered those sweet and caring words into her ear. Because they just sounded too wonderful not to listen to.

Several minutes, or hours later, Sunset finally ran out of tears to cry into Shiny’s damp coat. Even then, Shining Armor continued to stroke her mane, hold her, and offer the alicorn his reassuring presence. But when her breathing increased in strength, Shining’s body shifted, and he spoke into her ear. “Do you feel better now?”

Sunset closed her eyes at the question and took another moment to just enjoy being in Shining Armor’s presence. She listened to his wonderful heart as it beat against his chest. “A little,” she told him before nuzzling the stallion’s damp coat.

Although, the question of how Shining had reacted so...perfectly made Sunset look up to him. “Shiny, how did you...uh…do that?” she got out. “No offense, it’s just, you doing this...um…”

“My little sister has panic attacks and freakouts about twice a week,” he told her in a soft, calming tone. “The doctor told us to show her we’re there, and that we support her whenever we see her getting really upset at something. Sorry it took me so long to realize all of the signs in you.”

Sunset sighed, and laid back on Shiny’s coat. Even wet, it felt nice. But...Shining didn’t need to be apologizing to her. “No. I should apologize for being such an idiot,” she mumbled.

A jolt of surprise ran through Sunset as Shining Armor bent down to kiss her on the nose, and she felt her cheeks heat at the stallion’s kindness. “Sunset, what was all that about?” he asked her.

This time around, the amber alicorn actually had an answer for her stallion. It was what she had just spent a good deal crying over after all. But it was an answer she didn’t dare give him. If anypony were to find out what she planned to do, Sunset didn’t think she could ignore their pleas for her to stay. “I’m sorry Shiny, it’s...princess only stuff.”

Shining Armor fell silent at that, and drew himself in close to her again. Sunset simply enjoyed his presence. Crying had drained her emotionally, making her too tired to think of sex. She just wanted to be close to her stallion for as long as she could.

“By the way,” Shining Armor spoke softly. “About that stuff you were saying before. I don’t care what type of pony you were a few weeks ago. The Sunset Shimmer I know helped me out when nopony else would, puts up with my annoying little sister and gives her the world on a silver platter, and treats my mom with more respect than anypony I’ve ever seen.”

The stallion paused, and gulped. “And uh...if you want to...lift your tail around me...well...you’re not the only pony here that wants to do that kind of stuff,” Shining finally finished before he blinked. “Huh, Cadance was right, it really is easier if I rehearse it in my head first.”

“S-So if you want me...like that,” he went on before gulping. “Then you should know...I um...want you...too. Hay, there are times when I can’t even stop thinking about you...you know...like that.”

Thankfully, Sunset’s libido was too tired to rise to the invitation. The emotional turmoil she had just went to combined with the pre-dawn awakening had seen to that. Plus… “It’s not that simple, Shiny,” she said to him after getting her own thoughts in order. A process that took a bit longer than usual. Being the pony that was being held rather than the one doing the holding felt...nice.

Pent-up tension that Sunset had been unable to get rid of since waking just seemed to ooze out of her when Shiny was comforting her.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

Sunset sighed and closed her eyes for a few seconds. Please don’t be afraid of me after this, she begged him. Even if it would make their separation easier, Sunset didn’t want to leave Shining Armor with lingering thoughts of fear when it came to her memory. “You’ve seen how strong I am, right?”

There was a little laugh from Shining Armor. “Yeah.”

“Well, from some of the tests that were performed on me right after I became an alicorn, what you’ve seen so far, what I’ve used to break the sidewalk this morning and cause a tiny earthquake with, that’s only about a quarter of my full strength,” she explained. “Something’s wrong with the way my magic is being channeled through my body. So when I get overly emotional, I lose control of my magic’s more physical aspects. When I get angry, too much power flows through my hooves and...boom. When I’m in the air I get excited and nervous about flying, and...well, weather patterns get disrupted if I flap my wings.”

Shining Armor’s body didn’t react when she finished telling him a simple sneeze from her had the possibility of ending his life. There was no tensing of his muscles, or a quickening of his heartbeat that Sunset could hear as plain as day as she rested her head on his chest.

“It’s like I live in a world of cardboard,” she mumbled.

A fetlock stroked Sunset’s mane. “You’re being too hard on yourself. You’ve never hurt me, or Twilight,” he told her before smiling. “Tch, even Buck only got knocked around when you punched him that one time.”

Despite the attempted reassurance, Sunset didn’t feel any better. “That’s because I was in control. Even when I saw you the first time, I was in control. But, if we were to...do it, I’d lose myself to my passion. And if it works like my anger does, I’d hurt you Shiny, badly. Even if I just stayed completely still and let you mount me, I’m not even sure if the parts of you that were um...male, wouldn’t be...crushed.”

That made Shining Armor tense up.

And Sunset didn’t that feel bad about it either.

She understood that some things, a stallion should be afraid of.

“Oh…” Shining Armor said in an uneasy tone as he paused in his comfort stroking. Sunset felt that the news even made his anatomy retreat deeper into its protection, despite the topic of their conversation and closeness of Sunset’s body. “But um...you don’t know for sure...right?”

Sunset giggled as the question brought up one of her more crazy ideas. “No,” she said before smiling at the silliness of her coming words. “And if you can believe it, I was going to head out after school today, buy some materials to perform a stress test and see if you being inside me would actually be damaging when I hit climax.”

She looked up at Shining’s face to see the young stallion had gone back to looking at her with wide eyes. “Oh...that’s um...a good idea, then.”

With Shiny actually agreeing to Sunset’s insanity instead of being weirded out and repulsed by it, the amber alicorn blinked. “Huh?”

“You…” Shining stopped, took in a deep breath, and let it out. “You doing that. That’s actually a good idea, if...you know...you want to...uh...sex...with...me.”

Sunset giggled at the blushing stallion as his cheeks turned the cutest shade of red. “Hmm, looks like Cadance’s advice about thinking before speaking doesn’t quite work when it comes to certain subjects, huh?” she asked with a little grin as Shining’s blush deepened.

But just the thought of Cadance quickly killed Sunset’s mood as her mind switched from Shining Armor to the other alicorn for a moment. And...what it would mean for the three of them once Sunset was gone back to where she was supposed to be. It was a bittersweet thought, leaving them alone.

But...there might have been a way to...mitigate the damage...

“She really likes you, you know,” the amber alicorn mumbled.

“W-Who?” Shining asked, verbally stumbling from the sudden change in topics.

“Cadance,” Sunset clarified.

The look Shining Armor gave Sunset told her all she needed to know before he even spoke. “Cadance?”

“What?”

“You think Cadance likes me?” Shiny repeated as he put on a weird little frown with half-lidded eyes. “You remember what happened like...two minutes ago, right? When she was yelling at us?”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Oh no, a bossy alicorn. Like you haven’t met one of those before,” she said before smirking. “Cadance does that because she’s trying to toughen you up a little.” Not that Sunset thought that Shining Armor needed any adjustments...besides maybe a little more confidence. “Plus, I don’t think you’re going to make it through basic guard training if you can’t take somepony barking orders at you all day.”

“Okay...point taken,” he said before mumbling. “Still, wish she wouldn’t be so...wait…” His eyes widened a bit. “You mean likes me, likes me? L-Like you...like me?”

Hesitation made Sunset pause as she opened her mouth to answer with an affirmative.

Even though she knew what she had to do, the amber alicorn found herself unable to talk.

Because, once she started down this path, she wouldn’t be able to stop.

And… You’re going to be manipulating people again, Sunset told herself. You’re going to prove everything everyone’s ever said about you being a waste of space completely true.

But...if Sunset left...someone would need to be there for Shining Armor. Someone who was caring, and kind, and patient, but wouldn’t just let Shining Armor slack off and give him a good kick to the butt when he needed it.

So, Sunset pushed away her hesitation, and spoke. “I think she likes you even more than I do.”

After breaking up who knew how many relationships, Sunset was pretty sure she could maneuver one into blossoming.

“Hey,” she added before grinning at him again. “Maybe some of that bossiness of hers that you were talking about is just Cadance’s way of showing some sexual frustration. If I want to have a roll in the hay with you, odds are, she does too.”

Shining Armor’s hold on the alicorn tightened. “But...I’m with you.”

“I know,” Sunset replied softly as she forced herself to stay calm. "It’s just...sometimes I think you and her would go so much better together than you and me, you know? Cadance is so much prettier, and nicer than me. I wouldn’t blame you if...after today, if you went for the better mare.”

Even though Shining continued to hold her tightly, Sunset could tell the seed had been planted with the way his eyes became a little unfocused. “You’re a much more awesome princess than she is.”

Sunset sighed at the untrue compliment. Part of her wanted to offer a rebuttal, but...she was just too tired. So tired in fact, the amber alicorn let out a loud yawn and went back to laying on her Shiny pillow. “Shiny? Could we...stay here for a bit? I’m kinda tired.”

“Uh...how much time to we still have?” he asked.

A little smirk formed on Sunset’s lips. “Before the bell rings?” Although tired, Sunset quickly did the basic math in her head as she snuggled close to Shining Armor. “About two months,” she said before channeling some magic into the ground.

Working with plants since she had picked up some earth pony was weird. Nothing had really changed as far as the composition of the magic went, and yet...Sunset somehow felt her magic flow into the ground to turn the area of grass and dirt beneath them into something softer than the most expensive bed with a level of expertise and precision she wouldn’t have been able to do before alicornhood.

“Then take all the time you need,” he told her gently.

Sunset snuggled deeper into the unicorn’s chest and stopped fighting the urge to close her eyes. Even though she knew it couldn’t last, the princess that was never supposed to be couldn’t help indulging herself in her stallion’s presence one last time before it was time to start making preparations for her inevitable departure.


The bell announcing the end of second period rang, and Fleur De Lis put the textbooks away in her saddlebag with her magic before she moved to join her friends at the front of the classroom. Third would be their last period together before Upper Crust headed to that dreadfully boring business class she had to attend and Sassy went off to indulge in her more...socially risque career pursuits.

Even with the oddity of Sassy’s cutie mark, the white unicorn would never understand what drove her friend to indulge in such a common practice as sewing. While the fashion industry held one of Canterlot’s most refined social circles, a model was a very different creature than a seamstress.

But...Fleur had to admit that the idea of their futures being so intertwined was rather comforting. While Upper Crust would one day go off on her own path, Fleur and Sassy would be able to walk in step with each other. One pony designing the dresses that the other would wear, and both of them helping each other to stardom. PFFFs in the truest sense.

Fleur smirked at the old memories that came with the Pony Filly Friends Forever title. Like most other female ponies, she and Sassy had experimented a few years back, but...found they were just more comfortable as friends. Plus, Fleur's parents expected her to marry into one of the more elite families in Canterlot and she couldn’t just tell them to forget any arrangements like that. They were to be made for the betterment of her future.

“Something wrong, Fleur?” the blue unicorn asked when the leader of the group approached, knocking the school princess out of her musing.

Shooting her friend a smile to banish the worried expression on Sassy’s face, Fleur let out a breath of a laugh. “Sorry Sassy, just remembering the good old days,” she said before looking around to find the third member of their trio had gone missing. “Wait, what happened to Crusty?”

Sassy rolled her eyes. “You know how that mare is with gossip. Apparently, there’s some new rumor going around involving the newest princess and she just has to hear all of it,” she said. “She’ll meet us in Third.”

The mention of Princess Sunset Shimmer sent a chill down Fleur’s spine. The day before had been unnerving, and what she had heard of Sunset Shimmer since then had been downright terrifying. The head pony of Celestia’s school, Sunset had cowed both students and teachers with displays of near mythical levels of power before her connection to Celestia Herself was known! Like Fleur, she had ruled from the top spot of Canterlot’s most prestigious institution, but done so with shows of force and an iron horn rather than the social networking route that Fleur used.

Because she didn’t need it. That went double now after having become one of the top three ponies in the world.

What was even more terrifying than her mystical might was the social power Sunset could wield as a princess. A single sentence, or even just a word spoken to the right pony could completely remake the political landscape. Fleur's father had mentioned over breakfast that thanks to some of Sunset’s interviews with the newspapers, several ponies were already calling for a renegotiating to the trade deals with Griffonstone that Equestria was using to prop up their failing economy since their king Guto had gone into seclusion a few years ago. If Fleur angered the alicorn, all Sunset would have to do was mention to a designer that she didn’t like the way the white unicorn looked, walked, talked, or did...anything really, and Fleur’s dreams for what she was supposed to do for the rest of her life would go up in smoke.

So after their initial meeting, Fleur had decided to trot softly around the new princess, lest Sunset Shimmer squash her with the ease most ponies might use on a bug.

Pushing the rather disturbing mental image that created, with a thirty foot amber alicorn literally stepping on Fleur as if she were a cockroach, the diva put a smile on for the sake of her friend. “Well, no time to waste just standing around here.”

The pair of high-class ponies trotted out into the hallway and headed to their next class. They got nearly halfway there before Sassy broke the silence with a question. “Do you think she would like a dress?”

Fleur looked over to the blue pony in confusion. “What?”

“Princess Sunset,” Sassy told her, which nearly made Fleur trip on the smooth floor of the hallway. A glow of magic from her friend’s horn kept Fleur from making a fool of herself though. “You honestly didn’t think I didn’t notice the way you reacted when I mentioned her name, did you? If you’re that worried about the mare, then a peace offering might help smooth things over with her.”

Instinct and habit stopped Fleur from agreeing with Sassy’s suggestion right off the bat. Such an act would proclaim to everypony who heard that the unicorn was bowing in submission to the alicorn. But...Fleur thought about the foolishness of outright challenging a pony who many in the highest tiers of society were calling Princess Celestia’s daughter, and giggled at the idea to keep from shaking at the very thought of drawing Sunset’s ire. “That sounds like a rather wonderful idea.”

The two ponies walked into the advanced alchemy class and found Princess Sunset sitting in the back right corner of the room’s desks. The position made perfect sense to Fleur. It was away from everypony else and let her keep an eye on the whole room. While far away from the board, the unicorn seriously doubted that even the best classes the academy could match the training of Celestia’s school, so there probably wasn’t much of a need to pay attention.

After sharing a nervous look with her friend, Fleur approached the demigoddess, followed by Sassy. “Ahem, Princess, we would like to talk to you about...”

Fleur found herself trailing off as Sunset turned her head around and frowned at the two ponies before standing up glaring down at them while she turned around all of the way. “Oh, it’s you two,” she grumbled with disdain. “Where’s the third stooge?”

Standing in the presence of the princess made Fleur suddenly realize that actually speaking to Her Royal Highness was in fact a very bad idea. Just looking at her displeasure was enough to make the white unicorn close in on herself, which only made Sunset seem that much more intimidating. Thanks to some very expensive alchemical treatments, Fleur was one of the tallest ponies in school, mare or stallion, but Princess Sunset Shimmer made even her feel puny by just being near the unicorn.

“T-Third stooge, your highness?” Fleur squeaked.

Princess Sunset frowned. “You know, the fat one.”

From her place on the ground beside Fleur, Sassy gulped. “Upper Crust is a bit of a gossip, Your Highness. I’m afraid she may be late for class if whatever she’s found is juicy enough.”

An annoyed sigh came from the princess, and both of the unicorns flinched before she started speaking. “Fine. The two of you will have to do then,” she said evenly.

“Do...what, Your Majesty?” Fleur asked cautiously as her eyes drifted to the clock on the wall to her right. At two minutes to the bell, they probably weren’t going to be seeing much of the teacher for awhile. He was getting a bit up there in his years.

Princess Sunset’s lips became a sneer. “Do you two idiots have any idea just how upset Cadance is over that crap you pulled with your stupid social defense junk?” she grumbled. “And the two of you, with your little pea-sized brains, you actually thought you had any right or even half the intelligence needed to decide who Princess Cadance gets to talk to!”

Fleur gulped and looked up to the goddess in wide-eyed fear. “W-We were only trying to help, Your Highness.” If not for Fleur and her friends, Princess Cadance would have been trampled by a mob of uncouth admirers on the first day at the school!

“Yeah,” Princess Sunset snorted. “By keeping everypony else but yourselves away from her so you’d be her only social connections thus, and easy to manipulate! Do you think I’m stupid? I know how ponies like you think. Buck I used to be you.”

The demigoddess met Fleur’s eyes, and the unicorn felt as if her coat was going to burst into flames right then and there. At least until Princess Sunset let out a long sigh, and grit her teeth. “Which, unfortunately, means I also know there’s still some hope for you idiots,” she said in a less...damning voice. “So I’m going to give you two a choice. You can go and beg for an apology from Cadance, or I can make the ugliness inside the two of you match the outside.”

With the princess done with her ultimatum Sassy actually had the gall to raise herself up just a tiny bit to look at the demigoddess and speak. “Um, Princess...what do you mean, make our insides match our outsides?”

“Think of the most ugly, horrifying, socially inept thing you can,” Princess Sunset said before being down to nearly meet Sassy and Fleur muzzle to muzzle as the light blue unicorn cowered back on to the ground. “Because if Cadance doesn’t accept your apology, that’s going to be what I turn the two of you into.”

Fleur’s eyes widened in horror as said creature came to mind.

A mule?

If Princess Cadance didn’t accept their apology, then Princess Sunset was going to turn Fleur and Sassy into a pair of dirty, smelly, stinky mules? The very definition of ugly when it came to all of ponykind?

Both of the mares cried out in horror, and quickly galloped out of the room, intent on finding their salvation in the wings of the pink princess.


Lunch came much too slowly for Cadance’s liking. But as it was her newfound favorite time of day, the pretty pink princess supposed that all the anticipation had caused her to get too caught up in the waiting. Especially since Cadance came to the disturbing realization that she wouldn’t be eating with her new friends, but talking with Fleur’s instead.

But before she could even do that, Cadance had to get the one other pony that needed to be included in the coming discussion for several reasons. So, she found herself waiting outside the cafeteria for the final member of a newly formed cabal.

It wasn’t hard to find her. Most of the students rushed to get out of her way, and she stood head, neck, and sometimes even shoulders above every other pony in the hallway. “Sunset, over here!”

The amber alicorn looked over to the pink princess that was standing on the other side of the hallway from the lunch room’s entrance and trotted over to meet her. “Hey Cadance, what’s up?”

“Um...you said you wanted to talk, remember? But...can we do it somewhere in private?” she asked hesitantly. “Like...on the roof?” Cadance didn’t think Sunset would want any other ponies around for what was coming.

Sunset raised an eyebrow at the suggestion, but then shrugged and lit up her horn before she walked over to grab Cadance with her wing again. The touch made Cadance freeze up and blush. It wasn’t a bedroom snuggle, but the pink princess still recognized Sunset’s actions as a sign of great affection. Even if the amber alicorn didn’t.

“Okay give me a second.”

One mystical translocation later, and Cadance found herself enjoying the cool high altitude air of Canterlot as opposed to the smells of food coming from the cafeteria. While her alicorn-level hunger didn’t appreciate having to miss out on a meal, the pink princess promised her rumbling belly that they would find time to get some food, and going later allowed them to skip out on the line...that she never had to bother with in the first place.

Then she stumbled a little when Sunset released her grip, making the mare remember another thing she needed to talk to her friend about. Cadance turned to face Sunset, and...blinked at the pony standing in front of her as she stood on the roof with her mane blowing in the wind and her wings displayed at a full spread that showed off a level of strength that was impossible for a normal pegasus to achieve.

While she wasn’t one of those ponies that went gaga over appearances, even Cadance had to admit that Sunset looked impressive. So much so that… OH NO YOU DON’T, the pink pony princess mentally shouted at the growing flutter in her chest.

She admired Sunset, and that was it. Cadance wasn’t about to let that admiration turn into infatuation. She was the Alicorn of Love, not some empty-headed school filly!

The last thing she was about to do was start crushing on her best friend!

Especially since that best friend was in a relationship with a colt that also happened to be a friend of Cadance’s.

Sunset and Shining Armor were a couple, a couple that Cadance had helped make! So despite the fact that the stallion in question would be much happier with Cadance while the amber alicorn needed somepony who could stand up and help temper her more explosive passions in public while also being able to let her run wild with them in private, she was not about to end what little chance for happiness the two of them had! She was going to help build Shining Armor’s confidence, and let Sunset use her as an outlet until the two of them were ready to go at it on their own.

End of story.

And it would be a happy ending.

She would MAKE it a happy ending!

After abandoning her friend to the fears of losing her mother’s love, Cadance owed it to Sunset to make sure the amber alicorn’s life was full of ponies that gave her that emotion in spades, and in all the different flavors. Celestia would give her the love of a mother, Cadance’s duty was to give her the love of a completely platonic friend that had Sunset’s best interest at heart, and Shining Armor would give her the love of a husband...once Cadance got him to pony up and act like the stallion Sunset needed.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” Sunset asked.

Cadance crammed the frustration she was feeling over the friend she was physically attracted to just standing on the roof while the stallion Sunset had that was just perfect for the pink princess was still sitting down below them somewhere, eating all by himself.

Well, as long as she didn’t count all his other friends, anyway.

“It’s about Cinch,” she told Sunset.

The slightly curious and kind of worried expression on Sunset’s face died as a scowl utterly crushed it and she sat down to cross her forelegs. “Look Cadance. I know Celestia told you to take care of it yourself, but...let me handle that bitch for you, alright?” she she before letting out an angry sigh. “I’ll even give you my word not to lay a hoof or use physically damaging magic on her if you want me to. But ponies as sweet as you don’t need to get near filth like her. The scum she leaves tends to cling to your hooves.”

As Sunset finished her promise, an uneasy feeling settled in Cadance’s stomach. “That sounds a lot like something I expected to hear from the old you.”

“Yeah, well maybe the old me is what’s needed to solve this stupid problem,” Sunset said in a heated tone before exhaling a sigh that sounded half like a growl. “And don’t worry, I wasn’t going to do anything bad. I was just going to stop by the Minister of Education’s office since I had a few errands to run in town, and demand he fire Cinch, or I’ll have him removed.”

Panic spiked in Cadance’s mind at Sunset’s planned course of action. “Wait, you can’t!”

Sunset gaped at the pink princess’s statement for a second before recovering and scowling back at her. “I’m going to get her FIRED! What’s the problem with that?!”

“Because if we move against her as princesses, then she’ll use her connections to drag our names through the mud by making us seem mean and petty. She’ll say we were planning to use her to attack Buck Withers!” Cadance explained before something occurred to her. She hadn’t actually explained to either Sunset or Celestia about the little threat Cinch made to her the day before when she told her to expel the stallion.

She took in a deep breath to calm down a bit. “He’s Strong Withers’s son. You remember, the pony that tried to make you leave Equestria by crying changeling?” she asked softly. “If you make trouble for Cinch, she’ll say it’s because we tried to make her expel the son of the pony who gave you such a headache for...trumped up charges. After all, me you and Shiny are the only ones who actually saw Buck marehandle Shining Armor aside from his goons, and we can’t force them to testify without it looking like either extortion or bribery.”

The frown that appeared on Sunset’s face even before Cadance told her about Cinch only deeped. “Okay first off, I am petty and mean. And if you don’t want the political backlash, that’s fine. I’ll leave you out of it,” the amber alicorn told the pink princess before slowly walking up to her to look down at Cadance in a rather imposing manner. “But if you actually think that I’m just going to let somepony toss you to the side like that and let a brute hurt my favorite stallion just because I’ll look like a jerk for doing the right thing, then you obviously don’t know me very well!”

Cadance gulped as Sunset glared down at her and the pink princess's heart...tried to skip a beat, but she managed to keep her mind on track despite Sunset taking a political bullet to the heart in order to do what was right. And aside from the near-miss Sunset action had caused Cadance’s emotions to create, it also made the pink princess realize something: she was letting two ponies get away with something terrible just to make her life a little easier.

Seeing things in such a way, it made the princess feel...ashamed.

Looking up at her friend also made Cadance notice something else: Sunset was mad, and she had been that way even before bringing Cadance up to the roof.

Despite the rages the amber alicorn tended to fly into, Cadance had learned that Sunset’s anger only had a genuine reason for existing about one time out of four. Usually, she just got angry to cover up for some other emotional problem she was having, like the fear of having Celestia taken away from her. It made Cadance turn her concerns from the principal to Sunset herself.

“Sunset...what’s wrong?” she asked.

The larger alicorn frowned at her, but it didn’t hold the anger Sunset had shown when talking about Shiny, Buck and Cinch like she had a second ago. “What do you mean? You just told me what’s wrong!”

Cadance shook her head. “I’m not talking about that. You’ve been on edge since I saw you down below,” the pink princess explained. “Sunset, what happened?” Cadance quickly went through the small list of things she knew could get under Sunset’s coat so completely and went with the best option. “Is it something to do with Shiny?”

As soon as Sunset tensed up, Cadance knew that she had hit the bullseye. “No,” the bigger pony lied. “I just...there’s just some stuff going on right now.”

“Okay,” Cadance replied, deciding not to push the issue. She reached up and hugged her taller friend. Going for the full embrace that needed both of her forelegs, Cadance pulled herself up and wrapped as much as she could of herself around Sunset’s neck. “Whenever you’re ready for some help, or just want to talk to me about it, I’ll be here for you.”

While Sunset reached around Cadance to hug her back with one of her legs, the pink pony picked up a new scent in Sunset’s hair. For some reason, she smelled like a spring meadow. Which was odd, because they shared a bathroom and Cadance knew that scent wasn’t in there.

But despite the curiosity, Cadance liked the smell, and she sunk deeper into her friend’s forelegs to both breathe it in and enjoy Sunset’s presence while reassuring the other pony with her own. Although it wasn’t the same as when they were in bed, being in Sunset’s embrace still felt so blissfully wonderful that Cadance didn’t want it to end.

Then, the door to the stairwell burst open to allow three new mares to intrude on Sunset and Cadance’s private moment. The shortest pony of the trio with the yellow coat pointed at the two alicorns locked in an embrace with a superior smile. “AH-HA! I told you! Princess Cadance and Princess Sunset are a couple!” she said before putting on a smug smile of satisfaction. “That Shining Armor colt is just some toy Princess Sunset keeps around to take care of needs a vivacious mare like her has because Princess Cadance is much too delicate to keep up!”

The soft and warm embrace Cadance had enjoyed for the past few seconds turned hard and almost suffocating. “And what are you three doing here?” Sunset asked evenly, causing the three to hit the ground in a bow.

“I asked them to come here,” the pink princess explained, making Sunset back off enough to look her in the face with a dumbfounded expression.

Once she was over the surprise, Sunset went back to her usual scowl as she dropped her voice to a whisper. “Why the hell would you do something like that?”

Cadance hardened her own face and looked Sunset in the eyes while reminding herself that the amber alicorn didn’t toss fireballs at her anymore, something her hind legs had a little trouble remembering as the bigger pony glared at the smaller alicorn. “Because you need to apologize to Sassy and Fleur!” Cadance told her before she softened her expression. “I know you were trying to help me Sunset, but frightening them like that, even if you were just bluffing, that was wrong, and you need to apologize.”

“Are you kidding me?” she grumbled through gritted teeth. “After what they did to you?”

After putting her hoof up to touch her friend’s shoulder, Cadance sighed. She could understand Sunset’s anger. Being left alone was one of that pony's worst fears that she had to endure for much too long. “And I’ve forgiven them,” she said before getting back to the more important subject. “Now apologize for bullying them!”

Sunset grit her teeth for a few seconds let out a long sigh and rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she said before looking over to the trio. “Fleur...Sassy, I’m sorry for frightening you.” Then, she let out another sigh, and slunk a little bit. “If it makes you feel any better...I actually do feel bad about it...now.”

“N-No, Princess. We were the one’s at fault,” Fleur said from her place on the ground. “We...we didn’t-”

“Yeah, you were idiots that did something selfish and stupid! But I was wrong too!” she she admitted in a snap before looking away from the other girls. “To be honest, I took my anger over something else out on you girls. So...sorry.”

Then, as soon as the two mare’s nodded in acceptance of Sunset’s apology, the amber alicorn glared at the third one. “Now where in the hay did you hear that junk about me and Cadance being a couple?”


By the time the shortest mare on the building was done going on about the rumors that she had heard, and most likely contributed to unless Sunset missed her guess, it took a great deal of restraint not to knock Upper Crust off from the top of the roof. After all, she had seen what out of control gossip could do personally.

The fact that some of the ponies thought that she would treat Shiny like that made Sunset sick. So much so she didn’t feel all that bad about being away from the lunchroom despite her alicorn body’s need for nutrition. There was anger too, but it was more over how a lot of ponies thought Shiny didn’t have enough self respect to not be some kind of...boy toy.

Something she had barely managed to avoid only a few hours ago, much to Sunset's regret.

While Cadance had been mostly confused about the whole thing, once Sunset had explained things to the mare, she had become livid. Apparently, there were a few things in Equestria that got under Cadance’s skin, and ponies thinking she was some kind of pony that used colts for physical pleasure was one of them.

It actually made Sunset wonder what Cadance  thought about her own past. Something the pink pony hadn’t really commented on since they had bonded. In fact, the only thing Cadance had said about it that Sunset could remember through the anger was how good it was the amber alicorn had turned her life around.

“Let me make something perfectly clear,” Sunset told the yellow mare evenly. “Shining Armor and I are seeing each other. I enjoy his company, I enjoy being around him, and I adore his personality. He is not somepony I keep around for...physical pleasure!” Just thinking that some ponies believed that was all he was to her made Sunset want to scream in anger. “We have barely known each other more than a week, and even if things do go far enough to get that physical then I will be giving him the respect that comes along with it! Understand?”

Even though she knew that wouldn’t be happening, which only made Sunset even angrier. Which meant that even if Sunset left, Shining Armor would carry around the social stigma of being a princess’s throw-away!

For once, Cadance didn’t step in and pull on the proverbial reins. The pink princess actually stood beside the amber alicorn and glared at the two mares. If anything, she looked almost as pissed at the rumor as Sunset felt. “And just because Sunset is a little overly friendly doesn’t mean we’re dating,” she added in a much gentler tone than the alicorn beside her was using. “I hope you girls will help us correct this little rumor.”

Sunset snorted her agreement with that. Even though she knew some of the blame fell on her shoulders, the fact that some of the student body now thought that she and Cadance were together was complete idiocy. Cadance was a pure and gentle soul that always knew what the right thing was to do and followed through with it, unlike Sunset. The thought that she would have any kind of romantic feelings for the amber alicorn was almost laughable.

“Y-Yes Princess Cadance,” Upper Crust stuttered. “It’s just...it made so much sense-”

The anger that Sunset was barely keeping contained boiled over again. “That I would use a pony like that?” she demanded.

“That I would let something like that happen?” Cadance said right on top of the amber alicorn. “Shining Armor is my friend! Even if that...impossibility was happening, I wouldn’t just stand by and let another pony demean him in such a way!”

After the yellow pony retreated a few inches, Cadance nodded her head to the mare. “Very well. I accept your apology,” she said before making a face as if a bad taste had entered her mouth.

Which it probably had. Sunset felt like brushing her teeth at any rate. But...it was something they needed to move past. “Well, you got your apology,” Sunset told them. The fact that she didn’t have to make a spectacle out of it also made the amber alicorn thankful to the pink princess. “So, let’s go get something to eat.”

Before she could take a step, Cadance cleared her throat. “Actually, there is one other reason I wanted to talk to you girls,” she said. “You three, you’re the top gossips at this school and practically the head of the student body. So, I’m hoping you’ll be able to tell me something. Has Principal Cinch ever been...overly favorable to anypony that you know of?”

The three mares shared an uneasy look, and then turned their attentions back to Cadance.

“You mean the way she lets anypony on the sports teams pass their exams if they win the game before the test?” Fleur asked.

“Or that she gives out answers to the advanced class tests if your parents donate some money to the school and recommend that her salary be increased?” Sassy Saddles added.

“From what I understand, she also has several private meetings with certain members of the school board at her house,” Upper Crust told them in an uneasy manner.

Sunset frowned. While she could believe the first two, the third was a little...much. “How in the hay would you know something like that?”

“Upper Crust’s parents are on the school board, Your Majesty,” Fleur explained for her friend as the yellow pony backed away from Sunset.

Cadance fiercely shook her head. “Okay that’s...interesting,” she went on before clearing her throat. “And tell me, how do you feel about Principal Cinch?”

Once again the three girls shared an uneasy look, and Fleur was the one to speak. “Well...as much as I’m ashamed to say it...we...didn’t really care, Your Highness. We’re part of the group she gives special privileges to after all. I know I wouldn’t have gotten into my advanced classes, or receive the grades I make in many of my others if I didn’t get some of the special study guides.”

Ashamed… Sunset could recognize the nervous lie for what it was. In reality, they wouldn’t have given a damn about Cinch if Sunset and Cadance hadn’t been staring at them. More than likely, more than one of them got to coast through their classes because of special favors paid to them by the principal as she attempted to suck up to their parents. “So you know what she’s doing is wrong, that she’s letting things like some meathead hurt other ponies just happen, and you’re just sitting there?”

“But we’re just students in school Princess,” Sassy complained in her own defense as she flinched at the mention of what was going with Shining, and probably other ponies getting beaten up, or at least exploited with impunity. “Our parents are the ones with all the influence, not us!”

After giving Sunset a withering look, Cadance smiled down at the girls. “But I can see not everything with this situation is to your liking. So...I don’t suppose any of you would be willing to help us in ousting Principal Cinch, would you?”

As the three mares shared a look of unease, Sunset frowned at her friend. “I thought I said I would take care of her, Cadance.”

“I know,” Cadance agreed. “But I’m not letting you do this alone. And even though we could just order the Minister to kick Cinch out, having some actual proof of her actions, or even just more than the two of us throwing accusations at her would be better than the first option, Sunset. Even if she does try and make this look like the two of us taking revenge on somepony else instead of what it really is, I can always wash off the mud that comes from it by showing Equestria who I really am.”

Although Sunset didn’t like it, she could see that there wasn’t going to be any arguing with the pink mare. Cadance had an odd way of becoming insistent in the most foolish of things. And...having some other ponies to help point the proverbial finger at Cinch really was a better idea than some fiery princess just walking up and royal decreeing her way to a solution.

“Fine,” she agreed, although Sunset did make sure her displeasure with the idea was plain on her face. “Now, can we go and get something to eat? We’ve got fifteen minutes left, and after what happened at lunch yesterday, I need to make sure that idiot stallion doesn’t come within ten feet of Shiny without getting four broken legs.”


Shining Armor’s day was...confusing.

In the extreme.

After spending two hours with Princess Sunset, most of which consisted of her napping on the stallion’s barrel and making little moans of displeasure and other nonsensical sounds while she dreamed, he just couldn’t seem to focus on anything other than the goddess that had broken down crying in his hooves.

Both for the near-sexual encounter, and what had happened afterwards. When Shining didn’t find himself fantasizing about the big pony rubbing up against him, cradling him in her forelegs as her tongue cleaned out his mouth, he thought about the look of utter despair that had been on her face. More often than not, it was the latter of the two.

She just...looked so sad, Shining Armor thought to himself.

And the confusing thing about it was, Princess Sunset hadn’t seemed anything other than her normal self when she was talking with Twilight, or when they had been trotting to school. But once they were alone, her smile had slipped away to be replaced by something Shining Armor never wanted to see on Princess Sunset’s face again.

“So...are the princesses not coming?”

When Shining realized the question had been addressed to him, he looked up and blinked. “Why’re you asking me?”

Gaffer snorted. “Because none of us just appeared at school with them this morning. Both of them, I might add.”

“Guys, I told you, nothing’s going on,” Shining reminded his friends as they all looked over to him. Which was the truth. Sunset hadn’t even kissed him when they were away. Not the fun pecking kind of kisses, or...what she and Shining did on his bed that one time.

Something he really needed to avoid thinking about in school...or in public...or near any other ponies.

“Sunset and Cadance are probably just talking about princess stuff,” he said, throwing them a bone. “I think Sunset had something on her mind this morning, but couldn’t talk about it with me there.”

Although, after learning Sunset could just stop time...in a way, Shining did think it odd that she didn’t just get done with anything like that ten seconds after the bell and come to lunch.

“Or they heard how they’re supposed to be doing it while Sunset’s riding you on the side and decided to distance themselves from us rather than get their names dragged through the mud,” Eight-Bit pointed out as his feathers ruffled with the suggestion.

“That would seem to be the most logical conclusion,” Poindexter agreed while adjusting his bowtie.

Shining Armor give them both a deadpan look. “Then how come none of you guys are sitting next to me?”

“Because even though it seems the natural order of the universe has been restored,” Gaffer began. “None of us are stupid enough to tempt fate and risk getting either of the ponies that could toss us off Canterlot with a flick of their horns mad for taking up the seats next to their stallion.”

Shining Armor groaned and slumped over. “I’m not their stallion!”

“Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that buddy,” Eight-Bit encouraged him dryly.

Across the empty seat to his left, one of the newer members of their group, the earth pony Cheerilee chimed in. “Well you have to admit Shining, it does seem a little odd that Princess Cadance grabbed you out of every lunch for a week before Princess Sunset came here.”

A second later, all the other ponies around him nodded in agreement.

Shining Armor groaned. “Cadance is just my...dating coach,” he said after finally finding the right term. “She just uh, walked me through what to do for when I was with Princess Sunset.” Most of which Shining Armor would never use, but there was no need to tell them that.

“Because that doesn’t sound suspicious at all,” Gaffer deadpanned.

Another groan came from the stallion under question. Of course it didn’t help his mood that Sunset told Shining Cadance was actually interested in him too despite the fact him and Sunset were...together?

At least, he thought they were.

It was kind of confusing, honestly.

Gaffer glanced over to the new female member of their group that was sitting on the other side of Cheerilee than Shining. “By the way, I didn’t catch your name.”

“It is a bit of a mouthful,” the tan earth pony with the hot pink mane said with a smile. “Most ponies just call me Mare for short. One for each letter in my full name.”

The explanation got a nod from the pegasus of the group. “Well, I guess that’s better than-”

And then the world went back to being upside down as a pair of alicorns exited the room in front of the table Shining and the others were sitting at, where the cafeteria line was kept separate from the dining hall, then proceeded to take the empty seats next to Shining Armor; which none of his friends had been stupid enough to occupy out of fear of the two demigods returning and wanting their...whatever in Tartarus Shining Armor was when it came to those two back.

Something Shiny wasn’t even all that sure of after his friends’ line of questioning.

“Sorry we’re late,” Princess Sunset told them before becoming a little hesitant. “We had some...things to take care of.”

Shining Armor gave the mare a little smile. “It’s okay.”

After studying her for a second, Shining Armor thought that Sunset had managed to perk up a bit since this morning. But as soon as she looked at him, her face fell just a little bit, and the white unicorn quickly looked down to his nearly empty food tray before he upset her even more. I guess she’s not better after all.

Then, the sound of another tray hitting the lunch table beside Gaffer made all of the nerd herd look to what had been the empty spot to his left and…blink at the light blue unicorn with the colorful mane that moved to sit down beside him. “This seat isn’t taken, is it?”

Once Sassy Saddles got the head shake from Gaffer, she looked back to Cheerilee. “Oh, Cheerilee, I feel I should apologize about what happened the other day. I’m afraid I was a bit...no, there was no bit or little or anything like that about what I did. I was mean to you, and I talked down to you, and made you feel like you didn’t matter to another pony that was your friend. For that, I am sorry.”

As the normal ponies stood gaping at the impossibility in front of them, the hottest unicorn in school came to sit next to Sassy and add to the insanity. Once she had gotten adjusted, Fleur nodded towards the other mare. “Yes...it’s been made clear to me that I’ve also overstepped my bounds as well,” she added. “Sorry Cheerilee. For everything.”

Upper Crust appeared next, more disgruntled than apologetic as she took a seat next to Fleur. “Ugh. Sorry,” she said before looking over to the two princesses. “Do we really have to stay here for the rest of lunch?”

“Yes!” Both alicorns replied at the same time with stern gazes.

As the five mares began eating, while Shining and his friends along with the other two new girls looked on uncertainly at the sight of the most popular ponies in school suddenly deciding to dine with the nerd herd, Sassy looked over to the stallions sitting next to her. “So, are any of you going Fall Formal this year?”

Any answer that Shining’s friends were about to give, which would have been a chorus of the ponies saying no, was stopped when Princess Sunset’s drink went down the wrong pipe and she started coughing. Both Shining Armor and Cadance patted her on the back to help clear things up. When she had finally gotten whatever it was unclogged, the alicorn looked back to Sassy Saddles in disbelief. “F-Fall Formal?”

Fleur nodded. “It’s a little dance right after the first big polo game of the year. Unlike prom, anypony can come,” she said before becoming a little melancholy. “But other than that, it’s pretty much the same thing. We even elect a prince and princess.”

“We used to call it the Fall Ball,” Upper Crust explained in a disapproving tone. “But we had to change it recently because of some complaints from the male population. Apparently, stallions in Canterlot don’t have balls.”

Sunset stood up and gave the three newcomers sitting across from her and Shining Armor an intense look. “When is it?”

“Oh you still have two weeks,” Sassy Saddles told the princess. “I’m sure that’s more than enough time for a pony like you to prepare, Princess.”

There was a loud thud as Sunset parked her plot back on the pillow behind her. “Two weeks,” she mumbled while frowning down at the table and speaking in a voice Shining could barely hear. “I...thought I’d have more time.”


The rest of the day passed in a bit of a blur for Sunset.

She spotted Buck on her way out of the lunchroom, sitting with the rest of the jocks, and made sure to give him a stare that would have probably stopped his heart in fear if he had been paying attention. Although it did give her the chance to place a minor alarm spell on the pony that she linked to another one Sunset secretly put on Shining Armor as well. If the thug came within five feet of the unicorn, Sunset would know about it immediately on top of being informed of their location.

Classes were either uninteresting, or childishly simple. What subjects hadn’t been harder in Celestia’s school, Sunset had been exposed to back in CHS on a much more intense level. Between the science-heavy education she received as a biped, and what had been taught to her while she cantered about on four legs, Sunset was pretty sure she could have tested out of Canterlot Academy in a week if she had wanted to.

The one thing the school was really good for was checking the lunar calendar. She found that the Friday after next did have a full moon scheduled to be placed in the sky, something Sunset remembering being there when Twilight Sparkle landed on Earth. Although...the night of her departure was too distant to recall if that had been the case, she made a mental note to do the math in private to double check to see if the timelines matched up.

Which she had to admit might be challenging considering the oddity in Twilight's age.

After the last bell rang, Sunset and Cadance met with Shining Armor one last time and introduced themselves to the little colt he walked home on Tuesdays. Then they left school to take care of some of Sunset’s departure preparations. Unfortunately, Cadance had to follow her along on that as well, pulling out the book she had on crystal magic and asking Sunset to explain some of the more complicated theories as they trotted down the street.

But it wasn’t as if the pink princess was entirely unwanted, even if the first stop on their journey turned out to be a bit of a bust. Minister Board was out of his office when they arrived to begin the process of removing Cinch. Apparently, he had been called away for some important reason, and wouldn’t be back before the office closed. So, Sunset and Cadance set up an appointment with him the next day.

Then came Sunset’s trip to the First Bank of Canterlot. She left Cadance in the dark as to why she needed to go there of all places. But with her coronation more than two weeks away, Sunset knew she had to take steps to make sure Twilight got the money she needed to attend Celestia’s school and continued tutelage in magic after Sunset was gone. That meant she needed to take some of the money from her royal account and put it aside with instructions on how it was to be used.

They also had to stop by the theater to purchase some tickets for the upcoming…

“Re-play?” Sunset asked as she looked at the poster that showed a pegasus in a black vest, a blonde unicorn, and a yak with a crossbow on the cover while the big black helmet of the main villain took up most of the background. “I thought we were going to see a...oh...wait...nevermind,” she said as the word triggered some of her memories concerning Equestria.

Thanks to magic, Equestria had never bothered to create anything more advanced than a simple black and white projector. Instead, several unicorns talented in illusion spells would sit around during a play’s premiere, using their magic to record it. Then, they would head out from where the plays were originally shown and  display them across Equestria.

While probably more inefficient than what she had become accustomed to, Sunset doubted that anything would change things in her lifetime. Even if a pony came along with knowledge of a better system, every pony whose life revolved around the current way of doing things would have been put out of work.

Huh, the alicorn thought as Cadance got their tickets from the mare at the front. I wonder if that’s why we’re so technologically different than humans. It wasn’t as if Equestrian science and mathematics were that much further behind than the monkeys, as Sunset could attest to with her grades at CHS, but...the different avenues of doing things combined with the problem with adaptability that came with cutie marks probably did have a huge effect on progress.

After thinking about it for a few more seconds, Sunset tossed the thought away. Not my concern anymore. If Equestria needed a technological revolution, then Twilight could give them one after Sunset saw her in the human world for the first/next time.

“Something wrong Sunset?” Cadance asked as she trotted back to the amber alicorn.

She shook her head at the pink princess’s question. “Nah. Now come on, there’s some...school supplies I need to get,” she lied as Cadance pulled her book on crystal magic back out to read some more of it.

“Okay but...can you help me with this?” she asked while pointing to one of the basic steps to crafting crystals from nothing.

Unfortunately, Sunset also ended up buying the materials for her...anatomy experiment. Cadance had needed a dumbed down explanation of how a crafted crystal matrix fit together, and Sunset had been mostly on auto-pilot when she walked into the alchemical crafts store to pick up her more lewd supplies, and a few other things that would be useful back on Earth when she had to go there. Thankfully, Cadance had believed everything Sunset bought to be for class, and the amber alicorn wasn’t about to dissuade her of that notion.

By the time they made it back to the castle, Celestia had already set the sun, and was waiting for them in the dining hall. Nothing had been served, but the fact the chef was standing by the big pony meant that they wouldn’t have to wait to put in their orders.

“Ah Cadance. I’m afraid you just missed Minister Board,” the princess told the two alicorns as they walked in, making them both blink in confusion. “You did remember I said I would set up a meeting between the two of you, correct?”

“Oh…” she replied as she took her seat. “Um...actually, we went to his office on the way home to...aheh...I can’t believe that slipped my mind.”

Celestia nodded. “Well, I suppose this is more my fault than yours. I didn’t think you’d take the initiative in such a way when I suggested you taking care of this principal of yours by yourself.”

As the conversation continued on, Sunset found her mind wandering to more important topics than the goings on in Equestria that she soon wouldn’t be around for.

While Twilight’s needs had been easy to meet, Shining Armor was a bit more...complicated. After the events of this morning, Sunset knew that she had to hand him over to Cadance so she could take care of him when Sunset was gone, but...two weeks didn’t seem like much time to do it in.

And there was always the possibility of having the pink pony in her life via a relationship with her brother might do something bad to Twilight. Sunset didn’t want to think of what might happen to the mare she owed everything to if her past was too screwed up by the amber alicorn’s interference. A few minor temporal bumps like some magic tutoring by some nameless unicorn might get smoothed over in time, but an alicorn that ending up being an unofficial big sister? There was no way such a thing wouldn’t have a major impact on Twilight’s life.

“We did make some new friends,” Cadance said, bringing Sunset out of her thoughts.

Sunset knew that Celestia would want her input into such matters, so she did her best to make it as brief as possible. “Three unicorns. I suppose two of them are okay, but one is just too...snobbish for my taste,” she said before remembering the third mare they had met at lunch. “Oh, and there was that earth pony mare we met at lunch but...I didn’t catch her name.”

As Sunset had predicted, Celestia gave her a warm look and congratulations on the achievement of finally warming up to friendship, which put a damper on Sunset’s mood. After all, it was Twilight Sparkle that had turned Sunset around. The amber alicorn didn’t deserve any praise for just...following along on another pony’s breakthrough.

“I wonder if they’ll want to come with us to the re-play this Friday,” Cadance mused.

Sunset rolled her eyes at the pink pony’s optimism. “Cadance, they were only there to apologize to our real friends for being bitches to them,” she told her older best friend. “I doubt they’ll want anything to do with us tomorrow.”

Before the conversation could devolve into an argument, a path Sunset was certain of when she saw Cadance’s disbelieving frown, Celestia spoke up. “Wait. This Friday?” she said before looking over to her daughter. “Sunset, that is when the ambassador from Griffinstone will be arriving!”

“WHAT?” Cadance shouted in surprise, making Sunset jump back a bit. “But...but you said it was this weekend! As in Saturday and Sunday, not Friday!”

Celestia sighed at the outburst and held up a hoof. “Do not worry Cadance, you’ll not have to attend the actual meeting. I’m sure that you can still meet up with your friends after the ambassador arrives at five and we finish greeting him,” she said before smiling a little bit. “Friends who will also include a certain colt, I take it?”

As Cadance began to sputter her response, Sunset found herself both relieved, and yet sad at the same time. Not being able to see Shiny outside of school was a little depressing, despite what had to eventually happen, Sunset had been looking forward to at least making one last memory together. But...she needed to start cutting ties with him, and Celestia had just given her the perfect excuse to blow him off, and maybe speed the process up a bit.

“But what about Sunset?” Cadance demanded with a frown.

“She will be attending the meeting with me to observe how to deal with foreign dignitaries,” Celestia explained. “I know it seems like I’m leaving you out in the cold again, but Sunset has observed me in court for many years now, and knows how to talk with the more...connected creatures of Equestria. And I thought we agreed to keep you out of the political scene until you graduated?”

“No, that’s not what I-”

Sunset cut Cadance off and nodded to the white alicorn before the irritation she was feeing and her friend’s actions made Sunset stand up to join in her complaining about the meeting with the ambassador of a country that was probably only in Equestria to beg for more gold. “I understand, Mom.”

“But...Sunset…” Cadance mumbled before she looked at the biggest princess in the room. “Auntie, can’t you...delay the meeting? Most of the time I’ve been here, I’ve heard you go on and on to Sunset about the importance of friendship, and now that she’s made some friends you’re saying there’s no time for any of them anymore?!”

Sunset sighed. The last thing she wanted was for Cadance and her mom to get into a fight. “Cadance, it’s fine,” she assured the pony. Even though...Sunset didn’t really feel that way. Celestia springing that on her in the middle of dinner after hearing they had plans did kind of suck.

Even if meeting with foreign dignitaries was more important than going to the magical movies.

“I am overjoyed that Sunset has learned that lesson,” Celestia told her. “But some things take precedence.”

“But that’s not fair!” the pink princess shot back.

Celestia broke the gaze of the smallest alicorn in the room, and looked down at the table as the chef brought in their food. “Few things in the life of a princess are, I’m afraid,” she told them before taking her salad form in her golden magic. “Now, let’s put this discussion to and end, shall we? Arguing about it won’t change what needs to be done.”


By the time dinner was over, Sunset felt the day’s exhaustion weighing heavily on her. Having to keep up appearances in front of her mother while figuring out the next step in her plans to ensure everything happened the way it was supposed to had hit a bit of a snag.

The problem was, just how in the hell was she supposed to leave Shining Armor with Cadance without turning her off to him? Not many girls dated the guy their best friend just dumped after all. Even if she did like him now, once Sunset was done with the guy, the pink princess might just decide he wasn’t worth it or even feel like moving in would be like poaching Sunset’s stallion.

Such were the thoughts on Sunset’s mind as she found herself standing on the edge of her Celestia-sized bathtub that her apartment's bathroom was equipped with, with her front legs resting on the floor the thing was built into while the warm water helped with the tension in her muscles. A tub big enough to nearly swim in back when she had been a regular unicorn was about the only bit of opulence that Sunset was glad she had gotten back in the day. Her high-end couch had been bad before she had become too fat to lay on it, and now it was completely useless.

The door to her living room opened, and Sunset looked up at Cadance as she trotted in with a smile. “Room for one more?”

The usual question of sharing the bath got a smirk from Sunset. “More like five,” she replied before motioning for her friend to come in with a wing. It was a shame she would never be able to see if they could be used as replacement hands. While magic was mostly superior, fingers had their uses.

As Cadance trotted around to slowly head down the stairs into the miniature swimming pool filled with warm water, Sunset found her eyes glued to the pink pony’s coat as it descended into the clear liquid. Although there wasn’t that much of a change between the looks of a wet pony and a dry one, adding a bit of dampness to her coat made Cadance’s musculature much more visible.

Visible enough to make Sunset gulp.

Seeing every detail of the physical perfection that was Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was enough to make even the new Sunset green with envy. Although Sunset’s alicorn body had gotten all of the power and a bit of an athletic-style looks upgrade, Sunset had to admit that Cadance’s ascended form was far superior in the looks department by a factor of ten.

“Wing job?” the pink princess asked.

Sunset blinked. “Huh?”

“I’ll brush your wings, you brush mine?” the pink alicorn asked before she gave Sunset a little smile. “Like we talked about last night? I know you can do it easy with your horn, but mine’s…”

The amber alicorn didn’t need to wait for Cadance to finish. The pink princess was still pretty wobbly when it came to her control. So she gave her friend a little smile, and nodded. “Sure.”

After Cadance walked to the edge of their little indoor pond to prop herself up on the edge like Sunset was doing, the other alicorn backed up and picked up Cadance’s feather brush in her magic from where it lay next to the sink. Like Cadance had shown her, Sunset gently ran the gentle brush over the back of the alicorn’s wings to help get off the bits of dirt and dust she had accumulated over the course of the day.

As she worked, the silence stretching out between them demanded to be filled by more than the odd moan of pleasure from the pink princess. Moans Sunset really hoped were from the warm relaxing water and not what she was doing to Cadance’s wings. The things were pretty sensitive.

“Mmmm that feels good.”

But ponies couldn’t...get excited from having them touched.

“Oh yeah, there...right there.”

...she hoped.

“Hey Cadance,” Sunset said as the unease crept into her mind. She needed to talk about something. Anything. As long as it kept Sunset from thinking about the possibility that she was...stroking Cadance’s pleasure centers.

Because being in the middle of a hot bath with her extremely sexy and naked friend as Cadance moaned in pleasure really wasn’t a good place to be for a mare of Sunset’s human values. The whole naked=sex thing her subconscious still seemed to be stuck on had nearly gotten her in trouble once today, she didn’t want another close call.

So...she focused on a problem. More of a social problem than a mystical or mathematical one, but still a problem. Which was just how in the hell was Sunset supposed to tell her best friend she wanted Cadance to sleep with her...proto-boyfriend? “Remember last night, when you told me you...liked Shining Armor?”

“Hmmhmm,” the other alicorn replied as she sunk a little lower in the water and stepped back a bit, bumping her cute little butt into the front of Sunset’s barrel.

Sunset gulped down her unease and took a deep breath to steel herself. With just two weeks left, she didn’t have time to be too subtle. “So...what do you think about going out with him on a date this Friday instead of me?”

“Mmmm I-wait!” the pink princess exclaimed before her wings knocked away the brush Sunset was using to clean them and she spun around to look at Sunset face to face. “What do you mean go out with him? He’s your coltfriend Sunset! A-And besides, like I said, there’s no spark between him and me!”

The panicked onslaught of questions, reasons, and other things made Sunset take a step back. But her retreat was a small one, as her rear ran into the edge of the tub one step in. “Well, yeah, but...isn’t that what dating a guy is supposed to be about?” she asked. “Figuring out if the two of you work?

“And it’s not like me and Shiny are mutually exclusive,” Sunset went on, sounding much less sure than she meant to. “We’ve gone on one real date, and I’ve known him for a total of about nine days Cadance. Buck, you’ve actually spent way more time when him than I have, and we haven’t done more than kiss!”

Cadance let out an angry snort. “I don’t care!” she exclaimed. “The two of you...it...I’m not just going to canter in and steal your guy!”

Sunset sucked in a breath. “He’s not my guy!” the amber alicorn shot back as her wings extended before she reigned in her anger and nervousness started to set in. Cadance wasn’t supposed to be putting up this much of a fight over a stallion she was supposed to have the hots for! “Look...I just...I don’t think he’s right for me, okay? I mean...you remember what I said when I asked for you help, right? Well, I don’t want him getting hurt. And that’s what will happen if we keep going like we are.”

The frown on Cadance’s face lessened. “What? No! Sunset, I’ll admit you have a few issues, but you’re a good pony. You and Shiny...the two of you…why would you-”

“BECAUSE IT’S BETTER FOR HIM OKAY?” Sunset roared, which actually made Cadance flinched in fear...and Sunset deflate in shame for scaring the pink princess like she did.

“Look…” she began again after calming down. “Cadance...you don’t understand. You remember what I said about humans and clothes, right?”

Cadance blinked and become thoughtful for a moment before looking back to Sunset. “How they always wore them-”

“Except when they were fixing to have sex!” Sunset cut in urgently. “And I’m...my brain is still stuck on that! I mean...I can go around the palace because everyone here either has on armor or uniforms, or is one of those stupid nobles that just drapes themselves in clothes, and nearly all the guys in Canterlot also wear junk, EXCEPT WHERE I SPEND MOST OF MY DAY!

“And what gets me, what really, really gets me is Shiny!” she rambled on. “He was hurt yesterday, and what did I do? I take him to his house, put him in bed, and them jump on him! If I had been there for more than five minutes alone with him, I would have been riding that little pony! And when you left, I teleported us to the park this morning so we could, so we could grab a quickie Cadance!”

The other alicorn blanched. “You mean you and Shining-”

Sunset’s eyes widened and she shouted, “NO!” before freezing at her own outburst, and then began slowly shaking her head. “No, I...I stopped myself before I could…”

She let out a long sigh. “He makes me happy,” she told her friend before whining in need at the memory of his body pressed against hers. So vulnerable, so kind, so warm, so...perfect. “But this isn’t about what I want, it about what Shining Armor deserves, and that’s a better pony than me...a pony like you.”

“Okay,” Cadance whispered in a tiny voice before she licked her lips. “Sunset, I want you to look at me for a second.”

As Sunset did, Cadance brought up a hoof to touch her friend’s shoulder. “First off, you need to stop guilting yourself over this,” she told her friend. “And I want you to think about what you just said, and then tell me why you’d say something like that.”

Aggravation began to build in Sunset’s mind at the resistance she was getting. Cadance had said she liked him! What was so hard about just picking the guy up now that Sunset...well, it wasn’t that she didn’t want him anymore, but she couldn’t stay with him either!

At that reminder, anger doused, and Sunset hung her head. “Cadance...please,” she begged as the tiredness set in. “Don’t just...not even consider him because of me.”

“Sunset,” Cadance replied in an equally tired tone. “You said it yourself. You’ve only been on one real date, that I was there for. I don’t know what’s gotten into you, if it’s cold hooves or...some kind of freaky relapse from those first few days when you arrived in Equestria, but...I can’t let you run away from a relationship because you're afraid.”

“Well, maybe I just don’t like Shining Armor anymore!” Sunset exclaimed. “Maybe I decided I got bored with him! Maybe I decided I like the kind of guys I used to date!”

The deadpan look Cadance gave her told Sunset she bought absolutely none of that. Then she shook her head. “And now you’re getting angry again.”

Sunset let out a sigh. “Sorry.”

“No,” the pink princess replied. “You being angry, it shows me how much you care about this. So just calm down for a second, and tell me something.”

Although confused, and more than a little worried, Sunset nodded. “Okay,” mumbled.

Cadance was silent for a moment. She closed her eyes to take in a deep breath, and let it out between a pair of puckered lips before looking at Sunset again. “Do you think I’m sexy?”

The completely unexpected question stunned Sunset to the point she nearly choked on an empty windpipe. It took her a second to even talk. “W-What?” she asked with wide eyes.

“Do you think I’m sexy?” she asked gently again before changing her stance ever so slightly to tense certain muscles in her body that made everything just stand out more in all the right ways.

And...Sunset couldn’t stop herself from looking Cadance over once again. The pink mare really was beautiful, especially with he the way her went mane hung limp and her coat clung to her body. Each and every inch of her physique was on display for Sunset to admire, and the amber alicorn felt her heart rate increase.

She gulped. “Y-Yes.”

“Then why aren’t you trying to pin me to the bed and have your way with me?” Cadance asked much too calmly for the type of conversation they were partaking in.

Sunset frowned at the question. “I’d never do something like that to you!”

The heated reply broke through Cadance’s calm for a moment, and made the pink pony pull her head back for a second before she got the slip back under control. “Why not?” she asked, a little...less evenly than before. “I’m just as naked as Shining Armor, and we’ve been in bed together way more than the two of you have. So why are you trying to ride him, and not me?”

If it wasn’t for the fact that Cadance was talking so...evenly to her, Sunset was pretty sure she would have been gaping at the mare. But, with the pink princess being so...blase, Sunset just answered. “Because I’m your monster.”

The emotionless expression on Cadance’s face shattered. “W-What?” she stuttered.

“Cadance,” Sunset went on in concerned surprise. “Don’t act like I still don’t scare you from time to time. Yes, I think you’re sexy and I’ll admit to having...urges, but I know what I am to you...or at least part of you, and I would never put you in a position where you had to...be with the pony that terrified you ever since you came to Canterlot!”

Cadance stared at Sunset in wide-eyed shock for a minute, and then gulped before she fiercely shook her head. “So...I’m sexy...and you’re attracted to me...but you don’t want to...buck me, because you think it would frighten me?” she asked hesitantly as her eyes darted away from Sunset’s face for a fraction of a second. “So...what’s different between me and Shiny, then?”

“You’re supposed to ride your boyfriend, Cadance,” Sunset replied evenly. She would have thought the so-called Alicorn of Love would be able to figure that one out.

“And so if he’s not your coltfriend anymore, you won’t be tempted?” the pink pink asked softly before raising an eyebrow at the simple logic.

Sunset growled at the foolishness of the question. “Well...not as tempted!” she shot back as she got an inch from Cadance’s muzzle and felt the pink alicorn’s breath flow into her nose before realizing they were way too close again and drew her head back. “And they’ll be new boundaries, and...stuff. Like with you.”

It might have sounded lame, but Sunset didn’t sneak peeks at Shining Armor’s friends, and they were just as naked and nerdy and...everything else as he was! It was a mental categorization...thing. He was fuckable, and they were off limits because he was hers and they were...not.

If he wasn’t hers and somebody else’s instead, then Sunset could put him in the same category as Cadance: look, but no touch.

The silence between them stretched on for over a minute, and Sunset found herself wondering if Cadance had actually fallen asleep for a few seconds until she moved. “...okay,” the pink princess finally agreed with a little nod. “I’ll...try with Shining Armor, on one condition.”

Alarm bells started to sound in Sunset’s head. “What condition?” she cautiously asked.

“Friday, we’re all going to go see that...Solar Battles thing, right?” Cadance asked. “Well, except for you. Ugh, Celestia! Why did she have to go and do something like that this weekend of all times?”

After Sunset nodded, Cadance took another deep breath through her nose. “It’s a group date. So I’ll...toss him some romantic overtures. If he wants to be with me more than you after we’ve all spent some time together in a social setting, then I’ll...pursue him in that way.”

Sunset’s eyes narrowed as she examined the argument for any loophole the other alicorn might exploit, but found none. Unless of course Cadance was just outright lying to her. Something Sunset really didn’t think the candy-colored pony could do. “Okay.”

“Alright,” she agreed cautiously before frowning. “But! If he doesn’t want anything to do with me, you will get your...sit together. You will figure out how to get over this whole nudity thing, and you give yourself another chance with him! Understand?”

Sunset blinked. “Uh...I think the word you're looking for is shit.”

“Whatever!” Cadance exclaimed as she closed on Sunset. “Just get it together! Because if he still wants you after this weekend, I am going to lock the two of you in a room so you can get this whole fear of nudity thing you have over with! Because I do like Shiny too, and for all your talk about everything being for him, you seem to be doing it more because of your own fears than anything else!”

As Cadance finished with her verbal assault, Sunset found that the pink pony had backed her up to the edge of the small pool again and actually made her rear up on her hind legs in an attempt to add more retreating room. A foolish idea, as Cadance had followed her, and was pressed barrel to barrel with the other alicorn, her wings fully unfurled and filling Sunset vision.

The sight of the normally passive pink princess being so...dominating, made Sunset gulp...and not from the intimidation. Angry Cadance, a Cadance that could stand up to Sunset with no problem, was...actually kind of hot. “G-Gotcha.”

“Now finish washing my wings,” she ordered before dropping down to turn around and giving Sunset a perfect view of her butt.

Which...bared examining for a few seconds before she got back to work on Cadance’s wings.

Stupid Sexy Cadance, the amber alicorn thought with a frown.


Cadance found herself laying on a blanket of pure bliss as the mare entered her bedroom.

The second biggest pony in all of Equesria, Sunset Shimmer was everything Cadance wished she could be herself. She was strong, powerful, confident, knowledgeable, intelligent, and knew exactly what she wanted at all times. But would never go too far or hurt anypony to achieve it, and was always willing to forsake her own happiness for the sake of others.

And she was there for Cadance.

The pink princess rolled onto her back and waited at the head of their bed as Sunset came up to the far end, then slowly climbed aboard, Like some kind of sexy predator, the amber alicorn slowly made her way up until she was right on top of the pink princess. They shared a long, passionate kiss, and gazed into each other’s eyes for what seemed like forever after breaking it.

“I love you Cadance.”

“I love you too, Sunset Shimmer.”

“Hey,” Shining Armor complained from where he was sitting over in the corner of Cadance’s old bedroom. “What about me?”

The two mares shared a look, and then turned their attention back to the stallion. “Uh…” Cadance said to her perfect mate as the painting of their love equation hung in heart-shaped golden frame lined with rubies behind him.

Then Cadance looked back to the mare laying on top of her, her best friend, guardian and...hopeful lover?

Even when Shining Armor was the pony all of her instincts were telling her she should be with?

“That’s a good question.”

The Princess of Love slowly opened her eyes, and let out a moan more from annoyance than passion as she felt the object of her desire press up against her back even more, softly mumbling as she had her own dream as Cadance’s heart pounded in her chest at the other mare’s actual touch.

“Well...so much for avoiding the infatuation stage,” she mumbled before turning her head to look back at the real Sunset Shimmer and sighing as the...complication that was her dream returned to the forefront of her mind. “Ugh...what am I going to do with the two of you?”