Afternoon had passed into early evening in the Crystal Empire, the sun's rays casting sharp glares and reflections off the magnificent Crystal Palace, where Shining Armour was just getting back to his chambers after a long day of work. The good news about being both prince of the Crystal Empire and the captain of the guard there was that his workload was much lighter physically speaking, giving him a chance to let himself go a bit that he hadn't had when he was commanding the Royal Guard in Canterlot.
The bad news? Paperwork. Lots and lots of paperwork. Shining had just spent the better part of an afternoon dealing with reports from the various garrisons around the city and outskirts, as well as tedious, rambling entreaties from some of the nobles. It was a very great shame that there were no nobles called Buck Off, because that was what Shining had so desperately wanted to tell them after reading the umpteenth simpering, sycophantic plea from those ignorant fops. And he had thought that dealing with military bureaucracy was maddening! He could only imagine how hard it was for Cadance, who actually had to meet with those idiots face to face every single day.
Muttering dark thoughts about paperwork and the aristocracy in general, Shining nodded a hello to one of the palace chambermaids, who bowed respectfully in return. He opened the door to the grand master bedroom he shared with his wife and stepped gratefully over the threshold. He used his magic to undo the straps on his armour, letting out a little sigh of relief as the fleshy sides of his barrel and rump were allowed to hang out unhindered, before carefully placing it on a mannequin in the closet. He had to commend the royal blacksmiths—those adjustable straps had been a great way to stop his gut from being painfully constricted while he went about his duties. It was probably a good idea to look into getting the armour itself widened a bit again, though. Shining smirked. After all, he wasn't getting any thinner.
Once he had his armour off, Shining walked to the bed with the robotic movements of somepony who's had a really long day. He flopped onto the bed, closed his eyes, and let out a sigh of tiredness and gratitude as the softness of the down duvet caressed him, his flab jiggling slightly from the sharp movement.
"Rough day?" Shining looked up to see Cadance stepping out of their en suite bathroom, her mane slightly damp from the shower as she looked at her husband with a warm little smile.
"You could say that," Shining groaned, as he rubbed one of his temples with a hoof.
"Oh dear," Cadance said sympathetically, as she headed over to the bed and sat down next to her husband, wrapping a wing around his back. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"It's these damn nobles," Shining muttered, grateful to have the opportunity to vent a little bit to somepony. "They're deluded, the whole bloody lot of them. Just today, some ignorant fool from House Upper Crust was begging me to let him import some cheap parts for his lumber mill from North Korhaya, of all places. North Korhaya!" He crossed his eyes, put on a vacant smile and started speaking in a dumb-dumb tone of voice. "Oh, absolutely, sir," he trilled. "I'll just ignore the trade embargo we've had on the North Korhayans for some time now, on account of the slight issue of those equine rights violations over there, and you'll have your parts in no time at all. No problem!" He scowled and gritted his teeth. "Seriously, how does anypony get through life that detached from reality? At least when I deal with the guards, they know which way is up. These aristocrats probably couldn't find North Korhaya on a bucking map if I asked them to, let alone tell me about the political relations between us and them!"
By this point, the cords in Shining's neck were starting to bulge slightly. He noticed that Cadance had pulled back from him a little, and was regarding him with a slightly worried expression.
"Ah... sorry." He laughed self-consciously, rubbing the back of his head. "It's just frustrating, you know?"
"I know the feeling, believe me," Cadance cooed softly, as she placed a hoof on her husband's plump stomach. "Maybe I could... help you unwind a little bit?" she asked, fluttering her eyelids.
"Ehh..." Shining sighed. "No offence, Cady, but I really don't have the energy for that right now."
"What? Oh... oh! No, not that, silly," Cadance said, giggling. "I'm not in the mood right now, either. No, I meant something more like..." She gave his belly a little pat for emphasis.
"Oh, right," Shining said, before giving his wife a happy smile. "Well that, I could certainly go for."
"Great! Just get comfy there and I'll be right back." Cadance hopped off the bed and headed back into the bathroom as Shining wriggled down further into the pillows, grinning in eager anticipation. Cadance returned momentarily, holding a bottle of foal lotion in her magical aura.
"Alright, sweetie," she said softly, as she climbed onto the bed and lay alongside her husband. "Just relax and let me take care of you."
With that, Cadance upended the bottle and started to squirt the lotion onto Shining's belly, causing him to gasp a little as he felt the cold substance against his fur and skin. She stopped once she'd created a circle about the same size as a small saucer on her husband's gut, before quickly breathing on her hooves to warm them up. Once that was done, she pressed her hooves into the lotion-covered part of Shining's tummy and started to gently rub in little circles.
Shining closed his eyes and let out a sigh of pleasure as he felt his wife's skilled hooves spreading the lotion all over his gut, his flesh wobbling and bouncing slightly along with her movements. The lotion felt like a soothing balm, soaking into his flesh and washing away all the pent-up stress and frustration he'd accumulated over the day. He could forget about soldiers and ignorant aristocrats for now. All there was was his wife, his belly, and the wonderful sensations as he wriggled and moaned joyfully under her hooves. It wasn't long before his eyelids started to feel heavy, and a heavenly warm, fuzzy feeling of utter relaxation and contentment spread from his core throughout his entire body. Every neuron from head to dock seemed to be firing pure pleasure signals, and those signals only got stronger as time went on.
For her part, Cadance was revelling in the sensation of having her husband like putty in her hooves, being given a chance to lovingly feel and caress all the soft rolls and folds of his luscious belly. It felt so... intimate. Not in a sexual way, but more in an emotional way, which was somehow just as satisfying. She continued to trace her hooves all around his gut, like a baker tending to dough.
"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" she murmured softly, as she continued to gently knead and stroke Shining's belly.
"Oh," Shining moaned, feeling one of his hind legs start to kick reflexively. "Ooooh... oh Celestia, you're so good at this..."
Cadance smiled, and started to lower her head until she was resting her head on Shining's stomach. From there, she simply rested her head on his soft, pillow-like fat while she continued to tenderly stroke his sides, relishing in the warm softness, the sounds of her husband moaning above her...
Their session was rudely interrupted by a loud gurgle from Shining's belly. His eyes snapped open as Cadance stopped rubbing and raised her head. There was a brief, awkward pause before Cadance spoke up.
"You haven't eaten dinner yet, have you?" she asked.
"Ah... nope." Shining blushed. "Like I said, rough day."
"Well, you seem to be pretty relaxed now," Cadance teased, lightly poking his gut. "What do you say we head down to the kitchen now?"
"But that requires getting uuuuup..." Shining whined.
Cadance laughed. "Well, I can always get one of the servants to send it up here. How does chili cheese hay fries with extra sour cream sound?"
"Cadance..." Shining beamed as he leaned in to nuzzle his wife. "You really know how to end a day on a high note."
END