Post-Training Workout *

“Private Armor, pay attention!”

Shining grit his teeth in frustration with himself as he shook himself back into alertness. What was it about today that made it so hard to focus? This was the fourth time today he had been caught by the sergeants, though thankfully, it had never been the same one each time.

“Sorry sir!” Shining dutifully called out, snapping to attention. All around him, he knew he wasn’t the only one having a hard time. It was the dead of summer. It was fucking hot. And here they all were, running laps around the training yard for some unknown reason.

“That’s better,” the sergeant barked, before turning away to address the rest of the privates. “As I was saying, you lot were a total shambles today! Far behind acceptable time!”

No one reacted, though Shining knew he couldn’t be the only stallion to feel frustrated by the day’s goings-on.

He was tired. Everyone was tired. Endless drills in the middle of a hot stretch of summer days were doing that to them.

Who in their right mind would train ponies this hard on a day this hot? he thought.

“Get to the showers, all o’ya,” the sergeant sighed with a shake of his head. “Do whatever the hell you all do on a weekend. But so help me, if we do this again on Monday and you lot are as slow as you are today, it’ll be latrine duty until I retire!”

“Yes sir, drill sergeant!” they all recited, Shining doing his utter best to not let the tendons in his neck bulge too obviously from how hard he was clenching his teeth.

For Celesta’s sake, they were trying! Whoever was in charge of the weather department today was a cruel son of a bitch, and he had a feeling there were going to be several angry letters directed his way.

“DISMISSED!” the sergeant yelled, and like that, all seventeen of them practically bolted to the barracks before the insane sergeants could make them do more laps around the empty training yard.

Based on the distant clocktower down in the city of Canterlot, Shining knew it wouldn’t be too much longer before Princess Celestia lowered the sun and raised the moon, and if all went well, this meant a respite from this blasted heat. It had to be at least a hundred degrees Marenheit out here!

“Fuck that sick son of a bitch,” muttered one of his fellow privates, head practically dragging along the ground, dripping sweat every few steps.

“You said it,” grunted another, eyelids drooping.

“Aren’t there rules against this?” complained a third.

It was always fun listening to everyone complain. Not because he wasn’t tired or didn’t hate it, but just because one of their squadmates was from Trotland, and he could make a sailor blush. He wasn’t quite as foulmouthed as Corporal Sabre, whose penchant for calling everything that moved a cunt was legendary among the Peacekeepers, but Shining wagered with enough alcohol, he could give her a run for her money.

“I swear to feckin’ Faust above,” Private Jenkins groaned as he trotted with them on shaky legs, “if that twat of a sergeant makes us do even one more lap, Imma bash some cunt’s face in with me helmet.”

Shining felt a slight bit of disappointment. So it was a tame day today. Figures the sergeant would have him so exhausted he couldn’t even swear right.

“So, what are y’all’s plans this evening?” asked one stallion that Shining knew came from someplace south, roundabouts Dodge Junction.

“I got none,” Shining admitted as they entered their barracks, a simple stone building with tens of others like it in neat rows around the military section of Canterlot Castle. Inside were two rows of beds pushed neatly against the wall, with a trunk and desk stuck next to each one, on which were the owner’s personal effects.

But on Shining Armor’s, there was an additional object. A letter, in a plain white envelope and sealed with actual wax, stamped with a sunburst he had never seen before.. Unlike Celestia’s, which was a simple sun, this one looked like a much harsher sun, with a sort of yin-yang shape in the center of it.

“Whatcha got there, Shining?” asked the southern stallion, looking over from his own bed, which he had just collapsed onto while other stallions shuffled off to the showers.

“A letter,” Shining looked at it a bit suspiciously. It was definitely for him, as it had his name on the front of the envelope. “Problem is, I have no idea who sent it to me. Who even uses sealing wax anymore?” he showed the other stallion the seal.

“Ah recall readin’ somewhere that the real fancy formal letters all have that. Dunno whose sign that is, though.”

“Hmm,” Shining grunted, sitting on his bed and breaking the seal and extracting a bit of parchment that he noticed was incredibly fancy, with a gilded border around the edge of the page.

Dear Pvt. Shining Armor,
Your presence is requested immediately in the Dusk Quarters of the Residential Wing of Canterlot Castle, by order of Princess Celestia. Come alone, and knock four times at the door.

In place of a name at the bottom was the same sigil, only it was colored red and yellow.

“Huh,” was all he could say. “How the buck do you request someone’s presence by order of the Princess?”

“Do what now?” the other stallion looked over, a confused expression on his face. “Can I see?”

“Sure,” Shining handed over the letter for him to look at. “Gotta get going though. Don’t want to risk it if the sender isn’t bluffing.”

“Hell of an contradiction, that is,” observed the stallion, before handing it back. “Strange. Sure you’re not going to shower? Make yourself presentable?”

“Look at the line,” Shining indicated the ten stallions in line at the washroom door, inside of which were four stallions cleaning up. “Besides, it did say immediately.”

“Fair point. Have a good weekend, dude,” the stallion swung himself up and trotted off to join the end of the line.

“You too, man.”

And with that, Shining plodded out of the barracks, carrying the letter with him. The Dusk Quarters… He had heard the name, but never visited. Hell, he hadn’t even been into the Residential Wing since he had started, but he figured it was only a matter of time until he was doing guard duty outside Celestia’s room like everyone else.

No time like the present to find out where it is.

Fuck this wing.

It had taken him twenty minutes to find the Dusk Quarters. Never had he guessed it would be on the same floor as the Royal Suite. Whoever slept in here had to be a pretty important pony, so why hadn’t he ever heard of them?

A bit nervous as he stood before the door, he raised a slightly-shaky hoof (be it from the exercise or nervousness, he didn’t know) and knocked four times.

“Come in.” The voice was unmistakably female, and Shining noted it did sound somewhat close to his age, too.

Shining pushed open the door and stepped inside, feeling his nervousness grow.

The room was exquisite. A mahogany writing desk on one wall, with a perfect view of the training yard down below, a bookcase on the opposite wall almost completely stuffed with books, a golden saddle rack sat in the corner, on which several saddles emblazoned with the same mark were hanging, the walls were a deep purple, there was a black rug on the center of the floor, and a fluffy-looking pouf near the bookcase, and centered on the back wall was a magnificent four-poster bed with sheets and drapes that had to be silk.

And sitting on her belly on that bed, watching him step in nervously like a cat, was a young mare.

Shining had never seen this mare around the castle before. She had a rather leggy figure, a bright amber coat, a red mane and tail with golden streaks, and the brightest blue eyes he had ever seen.

And they were currently fixed on him, with a small smile on her face.

“I, uhh, got your letter,” he said, holding it out, before internally cringing. Smooth, Shining. Real smooth.

“Shut the door, would you?” she asked, getting to her hooves.

Her voice was a bit lower than he was used to, but it had a faint, musical quality to it, as though it were a singer’s voice.

Shining did as requested, though it didn’t help the nervousness.

“Relax,” a warm hoof touched his shoulder, and he looked to see that her smile had widened just a bit. She looked a bit amused by his trepidation. “I won’t bite you or anything,” she lidded her eyes a fraction, “unless you ask nicely, of course.”

Shining felt his eyes shrink and he almost leapt backward into a wall, which drew a guffaw from the mare.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding! Relax, would you?”

If only it were that easy, but she took him by the hoof and led him to the bed and had him sit down.

“So what’s your name?” he asked as he took his seat and she got back to the same position as before.

“I’m Sunset Shimmer,” she answered. “I’m one of Princess Celestia’s personal students.”

“I’m Shining Armor,” he replied, before he cringed again. Damn it, Shining, she knows! Who do you think sent the letter!?

Sunset giggled, “I think we’ve established that I already know who you are.”

It was strange how her laugh could disarm just about every bit of nervousness in him and set him right at ease. It was a bit like being with Cadance again, though it had been a couple of years since he had last seen her.

“So you’re probably wondering why I asked you here,” Sunset hopped out of bed and began to pace around the room. Recognizing such a tic in his sister, he reasoned she had to be as nervous about this as he was, whatever her reason for calling him here.

“Yeah, the letter didn’t really say,” he glanced down at the paper he was still holding.

“Kinda embarrassing to put in a letter to somepony you’ve never met before,” she admitted with a sheepish smile. “I, uh... “ she took a deep breath, “I’m in heat.”

RED ALERT! RED ALERT! ALL UNITS MAN YOUR BATTLESTATIONS!

If Shining’s pupils had shrunk before, they were absolutely miniscule in comparison now.

“Yeah, that’s why I couldn’t just put it in a letter,” she chuckled at the look on his face, and that seemed to set her more at ease. “Well, now that the cat’s out of the bag, I asked you up here because…” she fell on her haunches and tapped her hooves together nervously while avoiding eye contact, “I, uhh, was hoping you would help me get through it.”

DOUBLE RED ALERT! ALL UNITS DIVERT ALL THOUGHTS TOWARD UNSEXY THINGS, AND ALL BLOOD FLOW AWAY FROM GROIN!

“Uhh…” was Shining’s rather eloquent reply.

Sunset snorted, but waited patiently for him to collect his thoughts. Which didn’t take all that long.

“Sorry,” he shook his head sheepishly. “I just… why me?”

Sunset wordlessly glanced out of the window above her desk. Shining looked too, getting a rather good view of the training field down belo-- oh.

She’s been watching me train, he thought, the pieces sliding into place. She’s got a crush on me!

“Oh,” he said as it all started making sense. “Well…”

“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to,” her voice shook slightly as she said that. If she was anything like him, he figured she was probably kicking herself for asking this.

“I never said that!” Shining blurted out hastily. A bit too hastily, truth be told. “I just… this just seems really sudden, you know? I mean, we’ve never met before now.”

“I would have asked you before my season started, but…” she trailed off, her cheeks going red. “I just thought it was too embarrassing.”

He couldn’t blame her. This whole situation was a bit embarrassing. On one hoof, he definitely wanted to say yes. A pretty mare his age was straight up propositioning him for some free sex! No real idea whether or not that would turn into friends with benefits or if this was just a no-strings-attached thing, but still…

And if he were honest with himself, no part of him wanted to say no, but he felt a bit too nervous to just say yes.

And this conundrum was taking several seconds to figure out, as Sunset sighed and glanced away.

“I’m sorry for bothering--”

“I’ll do it.”

She looked back at him in disbelief, while he felt every bit and more as shocked as she looked, but she broke into a nervous smile.

“That’s great! I--” she caught herself before she exclaimed too loudly, “th-thanks.”

“N-no problem,” he smiled even more nervously than before. “But um…” he swallowed, “before we… ah--”

“Fuck,” Sunset continued.

What the hell? She was nervous a second ago, but now that I’ve accepted, she’s got all her self-confidence back!

“...yes. before we do that,” his heart was hammering in his chest for some reason. Shouldn’t he be relieved? “C-can I go get cleaned up? I did just get done running at least fifty miles.”

“I’ll go with you,” Sunset said, practically leaping up and moving over to help him up. “Sorry, it’s just been really bothering me.”

“I actually couldn’t tell,” he admitted, taking her hoof and letting her help him stand up, before she led him back out into the halls toward her bathroom.

“I’ve been using a spell to keep the smell masked,” she admitted, her cheeks going pink. “Doesn’t do anything about.. you know.”

“I th-think so,” he replied. He really had absolutely no idea what she meant by “you know.”

The door to her bathroom was nothing special, a simple wooden rectangle, but then when she pushed it open, Shining gasped.

The floors were immaculate tile, there was a marble sink, a regular toilet, a rack with several fluffy towels that looked like they were made of clouds, and in the center, a large tub dug into the floor, big enough to fit several ponies.

It looked like it was designed similar to an amphitheatre, with a ring about ten inches down, another one about twenty lower than that further in, and then the bottom about a full meter down. At one end was a set of stairs leading down into it, like a hotel jacuzzi. Even as Shining watched, Sunset trotted over and pushed on some sort of floor switch next to a large faucet, which caused the stone tub to start filling quickly.

“Feel free to get in,” she indicated the tub. “Water’s nice and warm. I’ll be in in a second.”

“W-wait,” he blinked, “you want to bathe together?”

“We don’t have to,” she responded. “We can wait, or whatever.”

“N-no, it’s fine,” Shining smiled nervously. “Just… just caught me off-guard.”

“Oh,” she looked relieved.

Shining took the opportunity to slowly step in. The moment his first hoof made contact with the water, he sighed quite audibly, and then slid into a seat on the second ring, as the water started to creep over it and up toward the outer seat.

Sunset, meanwhile, stepped out for a moment, leaving Shining to lean back against the stone and relax his head against the outer seat ring. It was true bliss. While the others in his squad got to fight over a shower, here he was in one of Princess Celestia’s students’ own bathtubs, feeling all of his troubles just vanish.

If only they could see me here…

He felt a slight disturbance in the water a few moments later and looked up. Sunset had entered the tub, setting some shampoo and soap down near the edge of the third ring, and tooka seat next to him as the water started to go past his shoulders. Just a bit up his neck, and the faucet stopped, leaving them in pleasantly-hot water, before the water started to bubble.

“Oh Faust,” sighed Shining feeling himself slide downward just a bit.

“I know the feeling,” Sunset said, before plunging down beneath the water for a moment and coming back up, soaking herself for just a moment.

As she came up, Shining got his first experience seeing a mare with a wet mane up close.

And what happened then? Well, in Ponyville they say,
Shining Armor’s balls dropped three centimeters that day.

This was not lost on Sunset, who gave him a salacious wink as she pulled her mane back with her hooves and set to working shampoo into it.

All while Shining just stared at her, feeling his friend to the south start to push its way out to visit.

So much for relaxation.

“Impressive,” Sunset said, looking down at his crotch through the water, which, to his horror, was only slightly obscured by the bubbles. But rather than linger on it, she instead dipped below to rinse out her mane.

Shining didn’t know why. She seemed perfectly clean before.

When she surfaced with an audible “Ahh,” taking obvious care to flick her head back and send her mane flying and creating a spray of droplets, Shining felt his little friend grow even more than it already had.

“Shining, could you be a dear and wash my back?” she asked, levitating over a washcloth and squeezing some body wash onto it.

“Uhh…” Shining answered again. Sunset giggled once more (such a beautiful sound), before leaning over and kissing him lightly on the cheek.

“You’re so cute when you’re embarrassed.”

All he could do was reach up and touch the spot she had kissed him, before gingerly reaching over and taking the washcloth from her. Just when he was about to take it with magic, she reached over and grabbed his hoof.

“No magic,” she said firmly. “I want you to use your hooves.”

“O-okay,” he nodded. She smiled sweetly, and then turned around, laying her on the lip of the outer ring and exposing her back for him to wash. He swam over next to her, taking his time to admire how strangely-alluring the sight of her back alone was, before he raised the towel, quivering in a shaking hoof, and brought it down on her back.

Okay, that’s step one. Now, just… side to side…?

With light strikes, he set to washing her back. It was almost like how a lot of the pegasi and earth stallions would wash each others backs, but he never had that problem since he had magic.

At first, he stayed only right up by the back of her neck, but then he started to move around, getting her upper barrel on both sides, and even closer to her flanks. Her sighs and coos were music to his ears, but even though he was feeling a bit adventurous, he definitely wasn’t acting like it, always shying away when he felt he had gone too far.

She wasn’t complaining, though. Shining chanced a glance at her face, and she had her eyes shut and seemed to be in total bliss. But even so, he didn’t want to ruin things for himself.

“Lower,” she grunted after a few minutes.

“Sorry?” he asked. He was currently back up by her neck again.

“I said ‘lower,’” she repeated, a lot more clearly this time.

He complied, going down about halfway down her back.

“Lower.”

His hard-on was reasserting itself as he was now at her flanks.

“Lower.”

He was right on her tailbone now.

“Under.”

Shining’s breath caught in his throat.

“B-but--”

She turned and gave him an amused look, but firmly repeated herself.

“I said ‘under,’ Shining.”

With a hoof that had to be singlehoofedly generating at least a 7 on the Richter scale, he reached down, grasped her tail, and lifted it up gently, exposing her private place to his hungry (and terrified) eyes.

Her tailhole was perfectly clean, a dark ring of muscled flesh that held his eyes for a moment, before something far more enchanting drew his gaze downward.

It was perfect. Her fur was neatly trimmed just away from her marehood, leaving her lower lips exposed at just the right amount. The pink flesh within was already considerably moist, even after she had lifted her rump out of the water for several moments, and the smell!

“Any time now, Shining,” Sunset teased, giving him a mixture of an amused look and a sultry “go on” gaze.

Shining was about to dutifully comply, but then her red magic caught his hoof, and then took the washcloth away.

“No towel.”

He was at critical nervousness now. Every breath was labored, and his eyes were pinpricks by this point. But he did as he was told, and reached his hoof down, ever-so-slowly, until he touched her lips.

At once, he heard her sniff in surprise as he made contact. The sensation of touch alone was amazing! It was like her marehood was a hot tub of its own, moist and hot, but unlike the hard stone, the edges were soft and pliable.

Experimentally, he started to rub, marveling at how velvety her fur felt, and how soft her insides were, those brief moments he felt his hoof slide between her lips.

But now, his confidence was coming back. And after a few seconds of nervous rubbing, he quickened his pace, rubbing with more vigor. And with the harder rubbing came sounds of pleasure from her.

“Ah!” she gasped, as he grazed a particular spot at the bottom of her vagina, spasming for an instant as he continued to rub her most precious of places. “Y-yes, just like that!” she breathed, before she cried out as he hit the same place.

His nervousness was all but gone now. Her cries and sounds had emboldened him, and he was determined to make this feel amazing for her! When he brushed the same spot a third time and she spasmed again, he noticed that his hoof had grazed a strange sort of nub of flesh. So he brushed it for a fourth time, which drew a shriek from her.

And then he rubbed that spot as hard as he could, which earned a scream from Sunset, and a convulsion. Her marehood clenched around something that wasn’t there, and the moistness of it intensified. After a long moment, she relaxed, completely letting go, but breathing heavily.

With a shift of her head, she turned to meet his gaze and gave him a wide smile.

But he hadn’t noticed. Overcome by some instinct, he had leaned down and licked up some of the moistness tickling down her thigh. It had a slightly sweet taste to it, which he definitely wanted more of, so he went straight to the source, giving her marehood a lick.

Her thighs clenched again, and he was about ready to dive right in, but something gently pushed him back.

“Gimme a sec,” Sunset’s chest was heaving as she turned herself around and sat on the upper lip, leaning her back against the wall of the tub and facing Shining, in a position where opening her legs would give him direct access to her marehood. As soon as she was situated, she spread her legs again and, with a gentle nudge of her magic, eased Shining’s head back to its place between them.

Shining had to be honest, he didn’t really know what he was doing. All he was doing was licking everything his tongue could reach and trying to pay attention to what she liked or didn't like, but the best he could do was lick around in short little spurts, rest for a moment, and then go again. Sunset’s essence tasted amazing and he wanted as much as he could get, but his lack of tongue stamina was complicating things. Every inch of her insides went licked and caressed as much as possible, time and again, and from time to time he would even suck or nibble on that nub of flesh again, but he was very sure his inexperience was showing.

But in spite of that, he kept at it, all in the name of making her scream, of hearing her sigh, of the feeling of her hooves pushing his head further into her, of her thighs clenching around his head, so that he wasn’t going anywhere until he finished his job.

Maybe it was because of her heat, but in a shorter time than before, Shining gave that fleshy nub one last suck, and Sunset let out a yell, her thighs clenching around his head and her hooves pushing them as far into her as they could as a torrent of her juices splashed on his face, dribbling around his mouth as he attempted to lick it all up.

The pressure on his head wasn’t uncomfortable, despite Sunset’s deceptive strength, but it did make things a little difficult for Shining as he lapped up the last traces of her orgasm. It came almost as a bit of a relief when she unclenched her legs and let his head go to fall back against the wall.

“Have… you…” she took great heaving breaths as she stroked his hair tiredly, “done this… before?”

“N-no,” he admitted, going a little pink. “I just… Guess I was just doing what felt right.”

“You’re still… a virgin?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “I mean, I had a marefriend a few years ago, but she’s been gone for a while, and I haven’t heard back from her.”

“She doesn’t… know what she’s missing,” Sunset smiled at him, before she leaned forward and reentered the water. “Your turn,” she said, patting the seat she had just vacated.

“M-my turn?” Shining asked, confused and nervous again.

“Come on, nothing to be afraid of,” she nudged him with her shoulder, before reaching down and giving his rod a quick jerk. "I promise you'll love it."

“Sh-sh-shit!” Shining gasped as she took great care to rub her hoof around the head. “Th-that feels…”

“It’ll feel even better with my mouth,” Sunset gave him a half-lidded stare with a very suggestive smile.

That was all Shining needed. As quickly as he could, he slid himself out of the water and took the same position Sunset had, his butt on dry stone while his lower hooves remained in the water. But now, his stallionhood was on full display, leaning ever so slightly back at Sunset, who took the opportunity to look it over.

It was a dark blue thing, with a few white spots closer to his balls. Shining mentally braced himself for impact as she played with it in her hooves.

“S-sorry if it’s small,” he looked away.

“Say what?” Sunset sounded completely incredulous. “Shining, if what I’ve read is correct, you’re well above-average."

“I… am?” he looked back at her. She looked thoroughly bemused by his concern. “Wait,” he paused. “What do you mean, ‘what you’ve read?’”

“Oh, umm…” now it was she who averted her gaze. “It’s… kind of my first time too.”

“Really?” Shining felt his jaw drop. “But… you seem so… experienced!”

“I know what turns me on,” Sunset shrugged. “I’m not ashamed to admit I use my magic to masturbate when I’m feeling a little pent up," her horn glowed red and a magical dildo appeared in midair for a brief moment before it vanished. "Well, I’ve been feeling pent up since my season started, and you,” she gave him another quick jerk, which got him to groan softly as a wave of pleasure shot up his spine, “feel fantastic. So much better than my magic. Well, now it’s my turn.”

And with that, she opened wide and took Shining in her mouth, about halfway down in one fell swoop.

“Ah!” Shining yelped. His dick was suddenly covered by one of the warmest things he had ever felt, and the feeling of her tongue sliding around his shaft caused his legs to quiver. If this was what being inside a mouth felt like, how was being inside of her love tunnel going to feel?

Hell, this was mutual first-time sex, which was always supposed to be awkward if his squad-mates were to be believed. She didn't seem awkward at all, with how well she was taking more and more of him with each passing second. The thought of her practicing blowjobs on that dildo of hers only made his legs shake all the more.

But his quivering legs only emboldened Sunset, and she began to go deeper, sliding back just enough to keep his head in her mouth, before plunging back down. All the while, her tongue just went nuts, finding every spot it could and adding to his pleasure. It didn’t take long for his breathing to become as labored as her’s had, and this was before she started using her magic to fondle at his balls.

“Gah!” he yelled, as a magical aura started to roll them between it, like a minotaur’s hands roll a pair of dice. “Sunny, I--” he grit his teeth.

But no sooner had he said that than she immediately slipped him out, and her magic ceased, leaving him to whine as the orgasm he knew had been right around the corner was forced to abate and retreat to cum another time.

Did… did she just blue-ball me?

“Sorry!” she apologized, before taking his hoof and guiding him back into the water. “I just don’t want you cumming anywhere outside of me.”

Fuck.

Shining knew that if she still had him in her mouth, that one line probably would have sent him over the edge. Though on further reflection, how would she have said that with him still in her mouth?

Once he was nice and situated in the same position, back to the wall, though this time back in the water, Sunset clambered up to straddle him, pressing his erection right between their bellies, before she reached down and took it in her hooves.

“W-wait!” Shining gasped. “What about.. what about your…”

For some reason, it was suddenly too embarrassing to say. Sunset did apparently get the meaning anyway, because she smiled.

“I took a potion,” she said, giving him another couple of strokes. “You can cum inside me all you want, and I won’t get pregnant until I drink the reversal potion.”

And with that, she stood up just enough to prepare herself, her marehood mere millimeters above his stallionhood, before she began to gently ease herself down.

The moment her lower lips kissed his head, they both hissed and tensed. One of her hooves shot to his shoulder to steady herself, while the other continued to hold his rod in place.

Then she began to push down. For half-a-heartbeat, she didn’t go anywhere, but then Shining felt her labia give, and he let out a sigh of pleasure.

This was far and away better than her mouth! It was the tightest, warmest, wettest place he had ever felt, perfectly molding itself to hug every inch of his mast. And the lower she went, the more the feeling intensified.

Meanwhile, as soon as Sunset had gotten it within her, her other hoof had gone to his other shoulder, and she continued to lower herself down, slowly, her breath becoming labored again.

As soon as his medial ring passed into her, her thighs squeezed his legs, and her hooves tensed again, but it was soon past, until finally, after several seconds, she bottomed out, both of them panting from the feeling.

I’m inside her, Shining marveled, starting at the spot where they were joined. I’m actually inside her!

“Ready?” she asked, sounding completely exhausted.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

She smiled, and lifted herself up, her insides clamping down on him as though they didn’t want him to go. Higher and higher, until she only had a couple of inches left inside her, and shen she let herself fall back down.

“Holy fuck!” Shining shouted, as Sunset made a similar exclamation on landing. Up she went again, and down she went again. Over and over, and she was picking up speed. In what seemed like no time at all, she was bouncing up and down, riding him like there was no tomorrow, not even being shy about her pleasure as she let out so many sounds.

Shining was in heaven, pure and simple. This was bliss. As Sunset continued to pump up and down, he could feel that edge he had felt before start to reappear.

Closer and closer it came, as Sunset had shut her eyes and was just reveling in the feeling as she continued bouncing up and down, trying desperately to milk him for all he was worth.

Then, all of a sudden, she cried out, thighs clenching around his, and her whole body shuddering.

And before Shining had a chance to react, she had swooped down and kissed him, full in the mouth.

Shining had kissed a couple of mares before, obviously not including Twilight and his mother, but the only time he had ever felt like this from a kiss was when he and Cadance had kissed under the bleachers after a hoofball game. It was as though everything in his head had exploded. The feel of her lips on his, of her tongue pushing its way into his mouth and caressing it with all the care in the world, and the pleasure added by the joining of their bodies… it was almost too much to bear.

But then she stopped, exhausted as she was, and pulled back just slightly, though she let their foreheads remain touching.

“How… can… you.. last...?” she breathed.

“I dunno,” Shining admitted, shrugging. “Here, lay on your belly up here.”

She nodded, before slowly rising off of him, letting him slip out of her just for a moment, before she lay on her belly in the same position she had been in when he was washing her back. Only now, Shining stepped up right behind her, aimed his rod at her sopping entrance, and pushed in, sliding inside of her with ease as he mounted her, draping himself across her back.

“You’re really warm,” he mused, feeling the burning beneath her coat.

“Probably ‘cuz of the pyromancy,” she breathed, her eyes close to being completely shut.

“That why you’re so hot?” he asked, smiling a little at his own joke.

She just gave him a playful-yet-irritated look in response. “Shut up… and fuck me…”

“Don’t need to tell me twice,” he said, before thrusting in.

“Ah!” yelped Sunset as Shining cut right to the chase, thrusting in and out of her at a decent pace. His strokes were long, but they were controlled and deep. He made sure to pull himself out as far as he could without breaking their union, and then pushing back in.

All while he grunted and groaned right in her ear, even leaning over and nibbling on her earlobe, which caused her to shudder beneath him.

However, as that edge reappeared yet again, his thrusts became erratic. His control started to vanish as his work became more and more carnal.

“Almost… there…” he grunted in her ear.

“To… together,” she whispered, and then she came again, with one final wordless cry.

Her vagina clenched down on his rod, desperately trying to milk every last drop of his semen, and after two denials, this time the dam burst.

With one finally yelp, he climaxed, feeling his rod shoot spurt after spurt of his seed inside of her, filling her to the brim and then some. As soon as she felt the first spurt within her, she leaned around and kissed him again.

The passion of the moment only intensified Shining’s orgasm, his rod shooting his seed as far within her as it could, and for one long moment, they were united in paradise.

But then they came down, Sunset’s vagina relaxing and Shining’s stallionhood slowly losing its steam.

And with that, Shining pulled her backwards, into the water, with him still firmly inside of her, and leaned back against the seat while she leaned back against him, still breathing heavily.

“That… was… amazing,” she breathed, nuzzling into his neck.

“I’ll say,” Shining gasped, leaning his head down to rest on her’s. “How long--”

“Just… stay like this for a bit.”

“For you, Sunny,” he grinned despite his exhaustion, “anything.”

After cleaning themselves up and draining all the evidence of their tryst, Shining and Sunset trotted back to the Dusk Quarters, both sets of legs rather wobbly from all the fun.

At the door, though, rather than bid him good night, Sunset held it open for him and gestured with her head toward the bed.

“So,” he started, complying and stepping toward her silken bed, “what are we now, exactly?”

“Well, I, for one, know my heat is satisfied for now,” she answered, shutting the door and locking it behind them. “But, well… do you know how long Princess Celestia’s heats last?”

“I remember reading something like a month?” he tilted his head as he tried to remember, though he slid under her covers as he did that..

“Exactly,” Sunset nodded, climbing in behind him. “She’s just really good at hiding it until she’s around the stallions she chooses to help extinguish it. Anyway, since I’m her student, I, uhh,” she rubbed at the back of her mane sheepishly, “I’m probably gonna need at least one or two more sessions before my season’s actually over.”

“Oh, I’m down for that,” Shining assured her, “but what does that make us, Sunset? What are we? Are you my marefriend now? Are we just friends with benefits?”

“‘Just’ friends with benefits?” Sunset arched an eyebrow.

“You know what I mean,” Shining fell back against the bed. “Since this doesn’t seem like it’s a one-time thing, are we gonna keep doing this even after your heat’s up?”

“I want to, if you do,” she said, grinning as she slid next to him. “That was too good to only do once a year."

"Was I that good?" Shining asked, feeling his ego swell.

"Eh, there was plenty of room for improvement," she replied honestly, curling up into him. "Especially your tongue-work."

"Heh, yeah," Shining rubbed the back of his head, "I just kinda licked everything I could, didn't I?"

"What about me?" she asked, resting her chin on his shoulder and meeting his eye.

"Well, I thought all of it was amazing," he answered. "Did you practice or something?"

Sunset's response was to conjure that red dildo of her's and slide it into her mouth slowly and deliberately, winking at him as she did.

"Take that as a yes, then," he grinned as the dildo vanished. "I didn't notice any awkwardness, but," he shrugged, "I guess I'm not experienced enough to notice that kind of thing."

"Well, I'm down for getting some more experience together if you are," she purred, sliding one of her hooves around his own to hold him tight.

Shining nodded at that, smiling despite himself.

“As for me being your marefriend or something else, well…” she kissed his cheek, “let’s just play it by ear for now, alright?”

“Sounds good to me,” Shining kissed her back, and with that, Sunset’s magic shut off whatever light was still in the room, and they drifted off to sleep.

Ten Seconds Flat [OS]

View Online

The Equestrian Royal Guards. Known far and wide throughout the land for being the guards that stand there, completely at attention, showing zero emotion. Completely, totally devoted to their job.

Usually, these Royal Guards were posted in several places. Outside the castle at different spots, around the castle at different spots, outside the Throne Room, inside the Throne Room, and at other such places.

Royal Guard duty was, overall, not important work, usually given to the new guys. No better way to break them in than to have them sit outside for hours, at complete attention, without letting anything affect them. A lot of times, they failed.

And today, it was Shining Armor’s squadron’s lot to do this duty.

“Oh, come off it!” yelled Jenkins, the Trottish stallion, as he looked daggers at the sergeant. “We ‘ad the Canterlot Death Gallop on Friday, and nae ye want us to stand out in the blisterin’ sun for four hours!?”

He’s on a cold streak, Shining thought. No good swears for a few days now.

Personally, he didn’t mind too much. It definitely was an easier day that the past weekend. And he knew how to stand at attention for long periods of time. All courtesy of his dad, who helped him practice before he came to the guard.

The sergeant, meanwhile, grinned at them. “Oh yes, private. Apparently some of you lot complained about training on Friday. And your prayers have been answered. No running today. No, instead you get to stand out in the sun for six hours.”

This didn’t go over well. Suddenly, the whole line broke composure, excluding Shining, and started babbling away, yelling in frustration at the sergeant, who didn’t look the slightest bit concerned.

“WHO THE FUCK DID IT!?” yelled Jenkins, looking up the line. “WHO THE FUCK WENT AND CRIED LIKE A LITTLE BITCH!?”

“Why should we all get punished just for one pony complaining!? T’aint right!” asked Wood, the southerner.

“EVERYBODY SHUT UP!” roared the sergeant. “PTS IS ACTIVE!”

At once, everyone snapped to attention and shut up.

“ARMOR!” barked the stallion, causing Shining to nearly jump out of his skin.

“YES DRILL SERGEANT SIR!” he replied, stepping forward, eyes fixed dutifully forward.

“GET YOUR ARMOR ON AND GET YOUR ASS OVER TO THE FOYER! YOU’RE KEEPING COMMON PONIES OUT OF THE WEST WING!”

“YES SIR DRILL SERGEANT SIR!”

“GOOD! NOW GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY SIGHT!”

And like that, Shining scampered off toward the armory.

That won’t be so bad, he thought. Just sitting in the castle foyer all day? It is kept rather nice in there. Maybe I’ll see Sunset again.

The memory of her winking at him with her wet mane got him to smile to himself, though he pushed the thought down before he could think about the rest of their activities in her bath pool.

Being the first one in alphabetical order had its perks. He was easily able to get the best set of armor, get fitted rather quickly by the armorer, and then get on his way to the foyer quickly.

This particular armor wasn’t the standard-issue uniformity armor, which temporarily changed coat, eye, mane, and tail colors to look like everyone else. This armor kept him looking exactly the way he normally was, though it did cover his cutie mark. He was thankful for having a white coat, and for being allowed to be in a position where he could keep his tail hidden. If he looked like every other guard, he was less likely to be messed with.

Upon entering the rectangular foyer, which was empty but for the guard he was replacing at the moment. With a quick salute, the other guard nodded at him and wandered off, while Shining trotted over and took his place, snapping right to attention and taking the time that no one was here to glance around the room.

Several glass cases with royal artifacts were there, shields and swords from famous battles hung on the walls, there were several banners of the Equestrian crest, and at the top of the foyer was a mosaic of Celestia’s sun.

There were a few doors that led to different parts of the castle, but all of the others were open to the public except the one he was standing in front of. There was also a rather grand staircase in the center the back side compared to the one he entered. It rose several steps up, with very fine wood providing the supports and rails, and plush carpeting on the steps, and at the top, it split off into two paths, one of which Shining knew went off to the Throne Wing.

And here he sat.

And sat.

It wasn’t all bad, though. He pitied his friends who had to stand outside, but overall, it was rather nice in here. Not to mention, there were few ponies who came in today, allowing him to relax, though he had to snap to if he heard them coming. Even Princess Celestia trotted through the hall, accompanied by two of his squadmates. One of them smiled slightly at Shining as they passed into a different door, to which he grinned back. Princess Celestia noticed, but rather than tell them off, she gave him a warm smile as they passed, before they were out of sight.

In no time at all, he was nearing the end of his shift, if the clock opposite him was accurate. He hadn't checked it much, just because he knew that if he did, the shift would get longer and longer, and he wanted it to be over. The sooner it was over, the sooner he got to go see Sunset again.

“Hey there, stud.”

He jumped in his armor, before catching himself and snapping back to attention and staring straight ahead at the opposite door.

“Heh, got ya.”

He knew that voice…

“Could you please move, Shining? You’re blocking my exit.”

Shining complied, stepping to the side and allowing Sunset Shimmer to trot on by, around him, and then sit down next to him as he continued to stare ahead, though he couldn't quite contain the grin at having his friend around to help him pass the time.

“Soooo, guard duty today?” She asked, smiling teasingly at him. “Why else would you be in here, just wasting your time when no one’s been here all day…”

“On assignment,” he grunted. “Some of my squadmates complained about Friday’s training.”

“And you got put in here?” Sunset asked, snorting. “Favoritism at its finest. Sergeant clearly likes you.”

“You think so?” Shining asked.

“Well duh,” Sunset shrugged. “Why else would he stick you in a nice, quiet environment, where no one ever goes or causes trouble? And it’s not outside.”

A mental image of Woody and Jenkins dying of heat stroke in their armor leapt to his thoughts. Despite his best efforts, he just couldn’t quite stop the grin from worming its way onto his face.

“What’s so funny?” Sunset asked.

“Couple of squadmates,” he explained. “Probably melting on duty right now.”

“Speaking of ‘melting,’” she said, her voice suddenly going low, before she lidded her eyes and gave him a flirty smile, “I think I’m down for another night with you. I’m still not walking right after Friday evening.”

Shining smirked to himself.

“I’m up for it too, but, ah,” he looked all over at his armor, “I’m a bit preoccupied.”

“Oh, when you’re done, obviously,” Sunset leaned over and pressed her side into his, “but whenever you’re ready, just come on up to my quarters and we’ll get it done.”

“Are we ever gonna talk about us?” he asked, looking around the room, hoping no one was watching or listening.

She faltered for a moment,.before shrugging. “Some time after my heat cycle ends, yeah,” she said. Shining didn’t like how vague that was. She seemed to notice, because she stood up and kissed his cheek where it wasn’t covered by his helmet. “I promise, Shining, we’ll talk about us. I just want to get this taken care of, and we can stay fuck buddies after if you want, but I don’t want my heat influencing my thought processes when trying to determine what we are, you get me?”

“Yeah, I get you,” he nodded.

“Anyway, how much time you got?”

“Looks like about twenty minutes or so,” he glanced up at the clock to make sure. “And even then, I have to stay till my replacement gets here.”

Time really had flown by with nothing going on and with no heat to wear him out.

“I gotta go grab something from the Royal Library, but I’ll be back in a few to help you finish up, alright?”

“Yeah,” he smiled at her. “Looking forward to it, Sunny.”

And with that, she trotted off, straight ahead of him, her tail swaying side to side and giving him a totally-intentional peek at her nethers, before she turned a full ninety degrees and marched straight up the stairs, giving him a wink as she trotted away.

Unsexy thoughts! he thought desperately, but the memories of Friday night were here in force, and before Shining knew it, his friend had come to pay a visit, slipping out of its sheath.

Fortunately, no one was here in the foyer.

“WHAT’S UP, CANTERLOT CASTLE? THE FASTEST FLYER IN EQUESTRIA IS HERE!”

Oh buck me…

A blue pegasus filly had entered, striding confidently into the room, head held high, tail held proudly, and with that look on her face that suggested she firmly believed her boast.

She was a few years younger than him, looking to be about Twilight’s age in her mid-teens, and with a lithe form that looked like it was growing to fit her rather slightly-gangly legs. Her eyes were a sharp magenta in contrast to her coat, but her mane and tail were a prismatic display of every color of the rainbow, and accenting this was her cutie mark, a cloud producing a lightning bolt colored in the same rainbow.

Unsexy thoughts, unsexy thoughts! he repeated in his head endlessly, hoping to subdue himself before it could cause any embarrassment.

“Didn’t know the castle had this many swords and stuff,” she said in a slightly scratchy voice as she surveyed the room. Her eyes lingered on Shining just for a moment before she dismissed him and continued surveying the room.

Please go away, he thought, as he realized he was fighting a losing battle against his stallionhood. Please just go away and let me get rid of my hard-on…

“Soooo…”

Faust damn it.

The rainbow-maned pegasus slid next to him rather gracefully. He pretended not to notice. It was showtime.

“What’s so interesting about that wall over there?” she asked, leaning up against him and looking the direction he was, directly at the door opposite him.

Shining, of course, didn’t answer, nor did he react when she leaned up against him. He was determined to weather this particular storm. Just a few more minutes, and he could go be with Sunset...

“What’s up?” she drew back and stared at him curiously. “Not allowed to talk, or somethin’?”

Obviously not. Unfortunately, his total feigned ignorance of her only seemed to embolden her rather than give her the hint that he wasn’t going to pay attention.

“So if I were to get in your face and go ‘BOOOOOOO!’...”

And she did just that, suddenly jumping into his vision with wide eyes and an intense expression, as though she were putting everything into getting him to jump.

Much to his own relief, he didn’t. He even managed to continue staring at the same spot on the door opposite him.

“You’re gooooood,” she said in a low, almost predatory voice as she stepped back to look him over. He didn’t like where this was going.

“Is that…?”

Oh, shit, he thought. She was glancing down. Was his friend still there? yep, definitely there. Fuck!

“Why the hell is there gum on the floor!?” she suddenly shouted, reaching down and grabbing something in her hooves and bringing it up. Sure enough, it was a wad of gum. How the buck had it gotten there? He had been here for the last five and a half hours!

Did this pegasus do it?

She didn’t seem to. It looked hard and dry, and she trotted over to dispose of it in a nearby receptacle, making a face in disgust as she did it, but as soon as she had tossed it out, she was back in front of him, staring into his eyes.

“I’m gonna make you react, you know,” she assured him, smiling evilly. “No one here, just you and me. And I think I got the best way to do it.”

Shining managed to resist the urge to gulp at that.

"I saw your stiffie, bud. That for me?"

His eyes widened ever so slightly at that. And unfortunately, she noticed.

"Bet it was," she smirked. "After all, who doesn't want a piece of this?" She turned and wiggled her butt at him just to emphasize that point, her tail held perfectly out of the way to give him a nice, teasing view of her winking marehood.

“Ah,” he gasped, feeling a shiver run through him.

GAME OVER.

“Oh, you like that?” she asked, her evil grin widening. “Looks like we have a winner. Do you like it when I tease you like this?"

Faust almighty, please…

But his composure was gone, and he couldn’t stop himself from grunting, despite his best efforts.

But even worse, she leaned right up to his ear, her warm breath tickling the fur around it.

“What time’s your shift end?” she asked in a low voice, and he could hear the huskiness behind it.

“T-ten minutes,” he hissed, hoping that would satisfy her and get her away.

“Nine-Horse Hitch Inn,” she recited, leaning back. “Room 412. Come alone. Room all to myself.”

And with that, she turned away, her tail reaching up and stroking him under the muzzle, as well as giving him a view of her treasure for a brief moment before it came down to block his view.

But rather than trot out, she spread her wings, took one big flap, and then bolted off, leaving only a blur of rainbow color behind her.

And leaving Shining standing there, suddenly devoutly thankful Sunset hadn’t come back yet.

...until a hoof tapped him on the back of the neck.

“Have fun, Shining?” came Sunset’s voice, right in his ear.

His eyes shrank and he slid sideways to let her out. How had she gone from up the stairs to behind him? This castle was a fucking maze!

As soon as he had stepped aside, she trotted out in front of him and looked him in the eye. Those beautiful, bright blue eyes… and they looked none-too-pleased with him.

They actually looked rather icy, in stark contrast to her fiery mane.

“N-no,” he promised her, “I didn’t…”

“Oh really?” she asked, a skeptical eyebrow raised. “Your erection disagrees with you.”

Faust fucking damn it.

She glared at him for several seconds while he felt the sweat accumulate in the crook of his neck and shoulders.

“I… I…” he stammered.

“I saw you staring at her as she trotted out,” she leaned in , eyes narrowing further. “You want her, don’t you?”

Big Shining Armor wanted to scream “NO!” Little Shining Armor just bobbed “Yes!” at the thought of plowing that pegasus.

Sunset stared at him for a long moment, before her lips curved into a sweet smile.

“Well, go get her, then,” she said, stepping back and indicating the door.

“I don’t-- wait, what?”

ERROR! BRAIN.EXE HAS ENCOUNTERED A FATAL ERROR AND NEEDS TO RESTART!

“Shining,” she looked thoroughly bemused, “I saw you staring at her as she flew off. You want to tap that. Don’t deny it.”

“I… do,” he admitted, feeling his shoulders slump as he said it. Why, though? He had Sunset! And if sex with her was going to be as amazing as it was a couple of nights ago, why would he want anyone else?

“Well, when your shift ends, go get her,” she said, grinning.

“Wait…” he narrowed his own eyes. “What about us? You said we were gonna do some stuff after my shift ended.”

“Shining, right now, you’re just helping me with my heat,” Sunset said, looking him square in the eye. “Right now, we’re not attached. We’re fuck buddies. And I have nothing against you going and chasing other mares while we’re just fuck buddies. If we become more, we’ll talk about it, but not right now.”

“Wait, so you’re… giving me permission?”

“Do I need to spell it out for you?” Sunset asked, sighing patiently. “Shining, I want you to go and fuck that mare six ways to Sunday.”

Faust, what did I do to deserve a mare like her?

“On one condition.”

And there it is.

That brought his train of thought to a screeching halt.

“Err… one condition?” he asked warily.

She licked her lips slightly. “I want details, Shining.”

Shining blinked stupidly. “Sunset, are you into mares?”

“And stallions, obviously,” she smirked at him. “I want to know every. Last. Detail, Shining,” she repeated, punctuating her sentence by tapping him right in the sternum with each word.

So hot!

“What about tonight, though?” he asked, feeling Little Shining bob slightly at the thought of plowing that pegasus.

“We can always postpone tonight’s… activities to a later date,” she shrugged, but then grinned lustfully, “unless you can go multiple rounds, of course.”

“Ha-have I mentioned that you’re amazing today?” he asked, feeling relief wash over him.

“You could mention it more,” she replied, before ducking down and jerking him a couple of times herself.

“G-gah!” Shining gasped.

“One of these days, you’re gonna be on guard duty,” she said from beneath him, before he felt something wet slide along one side of his stallionhood. “And I’m gonna come in when the room’s empty…”

He liked where this was going.

“And I’m gonna crawl under you,” he saw her she turn around and stick her rump right into his crotch, pinning his cock between her back and his belly, “and I’m gonna fuck myself on your cock while you just stare straight ahead. I’m gonna try to get you to break composure, but you’re just gonna take it.”

He was starting to buck his hips ever so slightly…

“But not today.”

He almost whined as she slid out from under him, with him noticing her back had a nice shiny spot of precum smeared on it. She, however, turned around and gave him a deep, lingering kiss. Just like it had the last several times, it was like fireworks were going off in his head when their lips met. And when they pulled apart, he felt no small amount of disappointment.

“Today, you’ve got a pegasus to get.”

“Wh-why did you--”

“You’d better fill her with lots,” she tapped him on the nose, “of cum, you hear me?”

He smiled, half out of nervousness, half as the strange absurdity of the whole situation washed over him. “Anything for you, Sunny.”

She smiled warmly at that, and then trotted off back up the stairs and away.

His replacement was there not long after Sunset left, and faster than he had ever done, he hightailed it to the armory, checked in his armor, and reported in to his superior, who waved him off after only a moment.

And while his squad-mates were showering again (the ones who had been outside, at least), he trotted out of the yard, out of the castle grounds, and into the city.

Fortunately, he knew where the Nine-Horse Hitch Inn was. His parents didn’t live too far from it, but they were on vacation to Manehattan at the moment.

Speaking of vacations, was that pegasus on vacation herself? Or perhaps this was a school trip? Lots of schools came to Canterlot. It made sense, especially considering she was in a hotel.

And speaking of hotels, the Nine-Horse Hitch Inn was a rather tall building, at least ten stories high, made of smooth marble just like everything else. The insides were far more comfortable, with plush carpets, plenty of finery, and some really nice staff. No one looked at him twice as he made his way toward the stairway at the end of the room and started climbing up to the other floors, and that eased his nervousness quite a bit. And when he finally reached the fourth floor and saw the sign that pointed to Rooms 401-412 to the left, he found that he was walking quite confidently by the end of it.

One of these days, he was gonna have to go see a shrink about his fluctuating confidence levels.

Once he stood in front of the door, he took a deep breath and knocked three times.

It didn’t take too long for the door to crack open, and a magenta eye to peek through. Once it saw who it was, the door opened and the pegasus stood there, beaming.

“Good, you came!” she exclaimed, before backing up and letting him in. “I didn’t know if I had scared you off, or if you had a marefriend or something.”

“Not really sure about that myself,” he muttered as he stepped in. The hotel room was fairly typical, with the bathroom to the right, the closet behind the sliding mirror doors to the left, a desk and two beds in the main room of it, and a table and lamp, and even an easy chair in a corner. “There’s two beds, yet you get the room to yourself?” he asked skeptically as he trotted in. “Why are you even here in town?”

“Flight Races,” Rainbow Dash puffed out her chest with pride as she followed him. “I’m with the Junior Speedsters out of Cloudsdale, and we had a meet today. First place in all my races, so they let me run around town, long as I make my curfew.”

“Ah,” Shining nodded. He knew the flight school here in Canterlot sometimes went out for meets. “But how do you have a room to yourself?”

“My friend was supposed to come with us,” she leapt backwards into presumably her bed. “She dropped out and moved to Ponyville, and we originally had an even number of roommates, so they let me keep this one to myself.”

“Hm,” he dipped his head. “And you’re still in school, right?”

“Well, I graduate here in a couple of months,” she added, giving him a grin. “Probably go join a weather team or something so I can work on my flying.”

The fastest mare in Equestria, off to join a weather team? he wondered. Does she have any ambition?

But he had a more important question to ask.

“Are you safe, or are you in heat?” he asked. This would be his final precaution, since everything else seemed to check out.

“My heat cycle ended a week ago,” she grinned. “Nervous, aren’t you?”

“Not anymore,” he replied honestly, sliding onto the bed and relaxing his head against one of her pillows. It felt like a cloud bed, which meant that the next several minutes were probably going to be extra-fun. “Just wanted to make sure this was all safe play.”

“Heh, yeah, would be pretty embarrassing for a guard to make babies with a mare you don't even know, huh?” Rainbow rolled over onto her belly and shifted so that her face was level with his crotch. “I’m safe as can be, and I think we’ve had enough small talk.”

And with that, she reached over and started massaging around his sheath. Little Shining had decided to disappear between Sunset chewing him out and him getting his armor off, but after Sunset’s teasing, and this pegasus’ jerking, it didn’t take too long for his shaft to start pushing its way out.

The pegasus continued to massage around it for several moments, trying to get it completely out and ready for use, but as it got taller and taller, her smirk deepened.

“That’s more like it,” she nodded her head. “I’m Rainbow Dash, by the way,” she glanced back at him. He had just been watching her hoof and his own rod, so this caught him a bit off-guard.

“Shining Armor,” he grunted.

“Nice to meet you,” she said, before she grabbed his rod and started to stroke it.

Unlike the times Sunset had done it, or Rainbow Dash’s earlier jerking, this got straight to it. Rather than ease him into it, she instantly started jacking him off at breakneck pace, which caught him completely off-guard.

“Ah!” he gasped as her hoof shot up and down so fast, it was a blur of blue. “R-Rainbow!”

“Just warmin’ ya up,” she assured him, before she slowed back down. “Heh, your orgasm face must be amazing if that’s how you look with just a hoofjob.”

Shining neither knew nor cared how he looked. All he knew was that he didn’t want to be a one-and-done pony so soon. If he wasn’t going to last multiple rounds, he was going to make damn well sure this one wasn’t a quickie.

“What are you--” she started to say as he sat up, but then she stopped as he quickly flipped himself over right onto her back, pinning her to the mattress.

“Oof!” she grunted as he landed on top of her. “Whoa, easy there, dude.”

But Shining didn’t listen, and instead, he took one moment to line himself up with her slit, and pushed right, hard.

“AGH!” Rainbow yelped as Shining penetrated her, getting about halfway in before his medial ring stopped him.

Faust, this mare is tight! he thought, feeling Rainbow’s insides clamp down, but he pushed again. Get in there…

“Oh yes,” Rainbow thrust her butt right back at him, trying to push him in as well. “Come on, get in…”

It took a couple of seconds, but finally, Shining was able to get his ring past her pussy lips.

“Aaaah,” they both sighed in unison as he pushed all the way in, before bottoming out with a satisfying smack.

“Doing alright down there?” he asked, from just above her right ear.

“Can you… lift up so I can get my wings out?” she grunted, getting her front hooves under herself for support.

“Sure thing,” he said, before lifting up just enough. As soon as they had room, her wings unfolded and extended to either side of her, and she let out a relieved “Ahh,” before Shining let himself back down.

“Are they as sensitive as they’re rumored to be?” Shining asked, before he started to thrust in and out at a slow, methodical pace.

“Ah! Y-yes-- ooh-- yes they are-- ah, just like that!” Rainbow exclaimed, shutting her eyes and resting her head on the bed as Shining fucked her.

“Let’s see about that then,” he said, before his horn shone magenta and her wings were bathed in the same aura. At once her face clenched.

“AAH!” she yelped. “OH, YES! YES!”

Underneath him, she was writhing as she came. He was rather thankful he was a more muscular stallion as opposed to being lean, else she could have tossed him right off with the force at which she was twitching and flailing, but it appeared she wasn’t lying and the rumors about pegasus wing sensitivity weren’t exaggerated. Only a few moments of stimulating her feathers right at the roots was enough to cause her to cum.

But thanks to his weight, he was able to keep her lower body nice and restrained while he pounded into her mercilessly, not even giving her a minute to bask in it. The renewed lubrication from her juices was incredibly welcome, and made it a lot smoother.

“Have… you…” she was taking deep breaths with every thrust, “done this… before?”

“Yeah,” he grunted as he paused to adjust his angle and then shove his length back inside her, earning a cry of pleasure. Exactly once, he added internally.

“You-- ah!-- you’re really-- oh!-- good,” she had started slurring her words.

“Thanks,” Shining was grinning with pride. Two mares were singing glowing praises of his bedroom skills. Definitely one of the better things to be gifted at.

A sudden pressure in his loins got his attention, however, and he slowed to stop, still hilted inside of her.

“Something wrong?” Rainbow asked, cracking open an eye at him.

“No, just… don’t want to cum too soon,” he said, before leaning off of her. “Turn over.”

She did, taking great care to keep his dick inside of her. He also turned them to where her head was resting on one of her pillows, which lifted it just enough to see down her belly to their joined crotches.

“Ready?” he asked, taking a couple of deep breaths to prepare himself. He was gonna rut her into next year.

“Fuck me,” Rainbow commanded, a cocky smirk crossing her features as she eyed what little of his cock was exposed. “Hard as you can.”

He didn’t need telling twice. At once, he pulled his hips back, and then slammed them forward at top speed, resulting in a loud smack!

At once, Rainbow’s eyes bulged, and she let out a cry, but before it was even finished, he had pulled back and slammed forward again. And again, and again, and again.

He used and abused her passage without the slightest thought of mercy, while he nibbled, licked, and sucked on different parts of her neck and shoulders. If Sunset was to believed, there was always that one sensitive spot, and he was going to find it.

He even dragged a hoof along her belly, playing lightly with her navel, just in case, but that didn’t seem to do much other than make her giggle a bit.

Until he nibbled on her earlobe.

Then, not quite as explosively as last time…

“AH! AH! OH! YEAH!” Rainbow cried out in ecstasy as she came again, her pussy clenching down on Shining’s cock, and a flood of her juices coated his pelvis. It seemed having more time to help her build up resulted in a juicier climax.

“Ugh, ah,” Shining grunted, feeling the end grow closer and closer. “C-close…”

Rainbow hooked her legs around his hips, locking him in place, and she stared into his eyes with a hazy, tired gaze, but that didn’t stop her from bucking her hips in time with him.

“Do it,” she breathed. “Cum for me. Inside. Breed me...”

“R-Rainbow!” Shining shouted, and then he climaxed. For a moment, his eyes clenched shut as he spilled his seed inside of her, shooting wave after wave of it deep into her waiting pussy, and she let out a coo of pleasure as the warmth hit her.

It had to have been at least twenty seconds. He just kept cumming and cumming, until some of it started to spill out of her, pooling in her tail as her vagina milked every last drop from him, with her even helping by clenching her thighs together.

And when he was spent, Shining collapsed on top of her, head falling into the crook of her neck and shoulders, and hips giving a few last, tired thrusts.

“That… was awesome,” Rainbow sighed. reaching her forehooves up to pull him close. “Maybe I should move here… let you rut me whenever you want…”

Wonder if Sunny would like that, he thought dimly, simply too tired to think straight. A sudden rush of cold air enveloped his cock, or rather, what was still exposed of it, as it retreated back into its sheath. As soon as it was gone, their cocktail of cum spilled out of her, dripping down over her anus and into her tail.

“Was that… your first time?” Shining asked, rolling off of her onto his back, whereas she made the effort to get up and try to trot into the bathroom to wash off, though her shaky legs didn’t really make it easy for her.

“No,” she shook her head, further throwing her mane out of shape as the colors bled together where before, the contrast had been stark. “But it was still really awesome for a quickie.”

“A-and the-- oh!-- then?” Sunset asked, her hoof digging into her folds as Shining recounted his story to her, the both of them laying in her bed again, with her head on his lap and a hoof between her legs.

“And then,” he wracked his brain, even though the encounter was fresh in his head, “she said ‘Do it. Cum for me. Inside. Breed me.’”

“O-oh!” Sunset let out a moan as she flicked that nub of flesh right at the top of her pussy one final time, and then she threw her head back and came, her own essence soaking her thighs as she climaxed hard.

So that’s an orgasm face, Shining thought as he Studied Sunset, eyes clenched shut, nose scrunched mouth open and yelling out. She’s hot when she cums.

As it died down and she lay there, panting in post-orgasmic high, he amended that thought.

She’s hot all the time, ain’t she?

While she trembled from head to hoof, he slid into a spooning position with her as the little one, while he stroked her belly.

“Hah,” she her breath caught as she relaxed in his grip, “k-keep this up and I might just agree to be your m-marefriend after my heat’s d-done.”

“Aww,” he fake whined, “no more banging other pretty mares whenever they tease me while on guard duty.”

Sunset chuckled weakly. “Maybe we could always do a threesome?”

“Wait, adding a mare?” he asked, looking away thoughtfully. "Or a stallion? Because I'm not sure I'm down for a stallion--"

"A mare, obviously," she reached up and pulled his face back over where they could stare into each others' eyes again. "Did you forget I'm bi?"

"Yeah, sorry," he apologized. "Who would we even get for another stallion anyway? Another guard? Doubt they'd be down for it. They probably would never have let Rainbow get to them, much less go rut her."

“Heh, who’s to say the other guards wouldn’t have done it?” she leaned her head back into his chest, the crown of it right under his chin. "You don't know how they react."

“I probably wouldn’t have done it if you hadn’t told me to,” he admitted, shrugging.

“Aww, your loyalty is touching,” she pecked him on the cheek. “So, got any plans tomorrow night?”

“Not particularly,” he said, before furrowing his brow, “unless something comes up, which you never know in the Guard.”

“Good,” Sunset smiled. “Tomorrow night, just you and me, on this bed. The bath was great and all, but we gotta do it the old-fashioned way.”

Shining smiled. “It’s a date.”

The Return

View Online

“Commander? You may want to have a look at this,” the analyst said, holding up a telegram from Cloudsdale Air Base. Attached was a diagram of something they had spotted in their airspace.

“What is it, son?” asked the commander, trotting over in his sharp military uniform to have a look.

“Have a look for yourself, sir,” the analyst handed over the telegram.

“CANTERLOT AIRBASE stop,” read the commander, brow furrowing as he looked at it. “UNIDENTIFIED CRAFT APPROACHING YOUR SECTOR, stop. ATTACHED IS AN OVERHEAD DIAGRAM OF THE CRAFT, stop. WILL UPDATE WHEN MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE, stop. CLOUDSDALE AIR BASE OUT, full stop.”

As he finished, he looked over at the analyst, who wordlessly offered the diagram. The commander took it and gave it a quick survey, before handing it back.

“What do you think?” the commander asked.

“No idea, sir,” said the analyst, laying the diagram down. “But if you ask me, it looks like a giant--”

“Dick!” shouted a Wonderbolt as they practiced formations over the empty landscape underneath Cloudsdale. “Hard to starboard!”

The Wonderbolt named “Dick” instantly complied, banking hard to his right, just in time to avoid an oncoming formation of other Wonderbolts. As he ducked to the side, the two formations passed each other by, missing each other by less than two meters.

“Nice job!” the frontpony shouted back. “Show’s almost set! Just a few more practice sessions and…”

He trailed off as a large shadow passed overhead. As one, all of the pegasi in the group looked up.

“Blimey, would you look at that?” one of the wingponies remarked. “It looks like a huge--”

“Pecker!” exclaimed a young pegasus filly, as she spotted a bird perched on an outcropping of bark, who looked poised to drill into the tree that bark belonged to. Quietly as she could, the young filly snuck over to where the bird was, but it caught sight of her long before she got near it, giving her an opportunity to observe the bird from a lot closer.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Bird,” she apologized softly. “I thought you were a woodpecker.”

The bird tweeted, but then flew over to land on the filly’s outstretched muted-yellow hoof. The filly giggled as its talons clenched, but not hard enough to hurt, and brushed her soft pink mane back.

“Aren’t you just the most adorable thing?” she cooed, sitting back and stroking its red plumage.

Suddenly, the world in that little grove darkened, and the bird took off in a heartbeat. The young filly jumped, startled by the sudden change in lighting, and looked up at the sky to see what was causing it.

And when she did, she blushed.

“W-why, that looks like s-somepony’s--”

“PRIVATES!” screamed the drill sergeant.

At once, Shining Armor and his squadron snapped to attention as the sergeant started marching up and down the line.

“WE HAVE REPORTS OF AN UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT APPROACHING CANTERLOT AIRSPACE!”

Shining and the other privates broke their stance at that. An unidentified flying object? he thought, alarmed. What sort of aircraft is this? Is it the yaks? Or the griffins?

“THE OBJECT IS REPORTED AS HAVING A LONG, SMOOTH SHAFT, COMPLETE WITH--”

“TWO BALLS!” roared the umpire, stepping out from behind the catcher as the batter stepped out of the box to adjust his tail’s grip on the bat. The ump looked down at his clicker for confirmation, and then added “ONE STRIKE!”

He returned to being behind the catcher and knelt down to get the best possible view of the strike zone as the batter stepped back in, tail wrapped around the base of the bat as he prepared.

“TIME!” the umpire shouted, waving his hooves and stepping out. Something in the distance had gotten his attention.

“The hell is that?” asked the catcher, resting on his knees as he stared at the same thing the umpire was. “Looks like someone’s--”

“WOOD!” barked the sergeant.

The southern private next to Shining snapped to. “YES DRILL SERGEANT SIR!”

“Get this report up to the castle immediately!” the sergeant ordered. “Alert the Princess that an unidentified flying object is headed right for our airspace. Perhaps she’ll shed some light on the situation. Armor!”

“YES DRILL SERGEANT SIR!” Shining snapped to as well.

“You’d better go with him,” the sergeant nodded. “Get going!”

“Sir!” they both saluted and galloped off. It was mostly silent, but then Wood chuckled.

“What are the odds, eh?” he asked, smirking as they slowed to a canter on entering the foyer of the castle. The standing guard gave them a once over, but when they weren’t here to relieve them, he straightened up.

“The odds of what?” Shining asked.

“The odds of an unidentified flying aircraft looking like a big--”

“Johnson,” the commander nodded back to the analyst as he conversed with a number of operators that were in the same monitoring station.

“Yes sir?” asked the analyst.

“Keep monitoring the situation, and let me know if anything changes. In the meantime, get word of this to Princess Celestia.”

“Already taken care of, sir,” the analyst replied. “A message has been sent to toe ground forces to go to yellow alert.”

“Good work, Johnson,” the commander nodded approvingly at him, and they went back to their jobs, though Johnson was going to be standing-by in case the Cloudsdale Air Base decided to send an update..

Shining and Wood trotted on into the throne room, saluting their superiors who were on guard duty today as they passed. Shining always enjoyed getting to pay a visit to the throne room. The decorative glasswork always made the place seem just that much more important, though the pony who usually resided in here did enough of that on her own.

Speaking of, Princess Celestia sat on her throne, observing the two of them as they trotted in. And, bringing a grin to Shining’s face, Sunset was there too, back to them and chatting with the princess about something best known to the two of them.

“Princess Celestia!” Wood announced as they entered. “Urgent news from Cloudsdale.”

Sunset turned to look at them, and when she recognized Shining, she grinned at him. Shining, in spite of himself, smiled back. It sure was a good thing they weren’t there with Sergeant Grit today. He’d be running laps for breaking the professionalism.

“News from Cloudsdale, you say?” Princess Celestia rose and trotted out to meet them, with Sunset right behind her.

“Yes ma’am,” the two of them stopped about halfway into the room and waited on the Princess and Sunset to meet them. As one, both of them saluted and held the stance of attention.

“At ease, gentlestallions,” Princess Celestia said, sounding almost irritated that they saluted her. “So, what is this urgent news you came to report?”

“There’s been an unidentified flying object sighted by a few Skywatchers, heading right for Canterlot airspace,” Shining explained. “We’ve been dispatched to make you aware of the situation, and as soon as any more information comes, you’ll be the first to know.”

“I see,” Princess Celestia bobbed her head thoughtfully, no doubt considering the situation. Shining had to wonder if this was something she already knew about, or if she was already considering battle tactics, or maybe she was wondering if she had left her kettle on the stove.

Truly the mind of an alicorn was an unreadable thing.

“Thank you, Private… Wood, was it?” she tilted her head quizzically at Shining’s buddy, who nodded.

“Yes ma’am, it is.”

“Good,” she smiled down at him. “Head on back to the training ground, private. you’re dismissed.”

They both turned around, but before Shining took a step, he felt a slight tug on the back of his mane.

“Not you, Private Armor,” Princess Celestia said behind him. “I’d like you to stay. I want a word.”

Wood gave him a confused look. Shining, however, just shrugged and motioned off. “I mean, it is Princess Celestia’s orders,” he said. Wood nodded at that, and trotted off.

Once gone, the door shut behind him and Shining turned to the Princess and Sunset, only to find that Princess Celestia was on her way back to her throne to sit down.

Sunset motioned for him to follow with her head, and they both trotted after her, stopping when they were at the base of the incline that led up to her seat.

“So,” Princess Celestia sat down and surveyed the two of them, “how long have the two of you been having sex?”

Shining Armor’s eyes bulged and his breath caught.

Oh shit.

A terrified glance over at Sunset revealed she appeared to be reacting the same way. She had gone rather pale, her eyes were pinpricks, and she was glancing at him as well, apparently hoping he would speak first.

The sound of tinkling laughter broke the tension, and both of them looked up at Princess Celestia to find her laughing up a storm.

“O-oh forgive me,” she said, wiping a tear from her eyes, “The look on your faces… You two looked scared out of your wits!”

Sunset and Shining both exchanged even more terrified glances at that.

“I’m sorry,” Princess Celestia’s mirth was dying down, but slowly, yet she still seemed in control enough to pause and apologize. “Forgive me, I didn’t mean to scare you that badly.”

Sunset and Shining just continued to stare at each other, mortified beyond what was previously physically possible, not sure whether or not to join in with Princess Celestia’s laughing or continue being terrified.

“Again, I’m sorry, that was mean.” To her credit, she was trying to stop the smile, but it did take her some time to get a straight face back. Ever the troll, she was.

Suddenly I don’t envy having to guard her, Shining thought, thinking back to the two guards who had escorted her on the day he had been posted in the foyer. Nothing bad had happened to them, but if her guards were the constant target of her pranks...

“You two can stop being terrified, you know,” Princess Celestia added, watching them both with more amusement. “Neither of you are in trouble. Your personal relationships are no business of mine.”

“Sorry, we just--” Sunset started, but broke off, looking completely lost for words.

“...kind of happened,” finished Shining, nodding to himself to gain confidence.

“Oh?” Princess Celestia smiled knowingly. “Been having you help her with her heat, has she? Is that how you ‘happened?’”

“Pr-retty much,” even now that it was proven safe, Sunset couldn’t keep the shakiness out of her voice. “How did you kn-know?”

“Sunset, deep breaths,” instructed Celestia, her gaze turning just a tad stern. Sunset obeyed at once, taking a deep breath in, holding it for several seconds, and then releasing it as slowly as she could. “Better?” the princess asked as she let it out.

“Better,” Sunset nodded. “How did you find out?”

“Well, do remember that the castle maids report to me,” Princess Celestia reminded her, with a slight smirk. “They’ve had to change the sheets several times now.”

“We’ve only had sex twice, though,” Sunset cut in, seeming a bit confused. “Oh, wait, there was the time I got off to you telling me about that pegasus--”

“S-Sunset!” Shining exclaimed, going redder than Sunset’s mane. This was hardly helping his mortification in front of the sun monarch.

“As I said, it’s none of my business,” Princess Celestia repeated, giving a very thankful Shining a much-needed lifeline, “but I did want to have the two of you confirm that this was the case. After all, the happiness and wellbeing of all of my subjects is my highest priority. And with that being said,” she took a moment to look them both over, “once your heat is dealt with, and these urges gone, will you two continue this current arrangement? Will you go your separate ways?” Her smile disappearing into a more neutral expression, “Or perhaps will you two seek to deepen your relationship?”

Shining’s first instinct was to glance over at Sunset, who looked a bit uncomfortable. Frankly, he was also interested to hear about this. While it was true that he and Sunset never interacted before their first romp, he had grown to really like spending time around her, and it certainly helped that she was more than a little on the pretty side.

But what about her? he thought. She did choose me to help her with her heat, but what does she think of me?

“I…” she glanced down at the ground, her mane falling just perfectly to obscure her face from him. “I don’t…”

“Mm,” Princess Celestia hummed, nodding thoughtfully. “I see. Allow me to rephrase it, then.”

And she turned her gaze to Shining.

“Shining Armor, what would you like to be after her heat is dealt with?”

“Uhh…” his mouth felt rather dry all of a sudden. And with Sunny looking over at him the way she was… Is that… nervousness? “I, uhh…”

He took a deep breath.

“I kinda was hoping we could be more than just… friends. With benefits. I mean,” he facehoofed at his own verbal clumsiness and resigned himself. Too late to keep it from her now. “I-I want to be more than just… a booty call.”

Sunset’s eyes widened a bit at that, and Shining saw some pink enter her cheeks. And rather than the disgust he was expecting, she looked almost… relieved?

“Well, Sunset?” asked Princess Celestia, looking over at her pupil. “Do you have anything to say to that?”

“I…” she started, but stopped to lick her lips. “Shining, I want completely and whole-heartedly agree with you…”

Shining’s heart sank. Here comes the “but.”

“...but I… I told you, I want to figure things out after my heat’s over.”

“Ahh,” Princess Celestia sighed, leaning back in her throne. “You want to be sure that the feelings you have for Shining are genuine, and not a product of your hormones, is that correct?”

“Y-yes,” Sunset nodded. “That’s… that’s it.”

“Well, having no shortage of experience in that department myself,” Princess Celestia smiled fondly as her eyes glazed over slightly, no doubt thinking on some of her own lovers over the years, “I can promise you Sunset, the simple fact that you’re this concerned about this is as clear a sign as any that your feelings are genuine.”

That Sunset’s first instinct was to look over at him rather than Celestia was enough to have him grinning.

“So, if you want my advice,” Celestia smiled at her, “both of you,” she now turned to glance at him, “once your heat is dealt with, and you two choose to have a little tryst, make it just a bit more intimate than a simple romp. However,” she held up a hoof before they could object, even though they weren’t going to, “I would suggest that you do wait for this until after your heat, Sunset.”

“I’ve been taking all the precautions!” protested Sunset. “I’ve taken a Brew of Barrenness before each of our--”

“That’s all well and good, Sunset,” Princess Celestia cut her off, “but I mean so that you two can truly be intimate, without the reminder that one of you is doped up on hormones.”

“Out of curiosity, I thought you said our relationships weren’t any of your business,” Shining pointed out.

“Whom the two of you choose to date and-or sleep with is none of my concern,” she nodded, “but that doesn’t mean I can’t try to point you both in the right direction to minimize your problems. Like I said, the happiness and wellbeing of all my subjects is my highest priority.”

“Huh,” Shining nodded thoughtfully. “Well… I guess we have a bit to talk about, eh Sunny?”

“Yes,” Sunset frowned, staring at the ground, brow furrowed, no doubt thinking on everything that had just transpired. “We do.”

“Well, with that, I won’t keep you,” Princess Celestia motioned with a hoof to dismiss Shining. “You’re free to return to your squadron, Private Armor.”

Shining saluted, and then trotted off, humming rather happily to himself. I can’t believe Sunny actually does want to be more than just fuck buddies!

But right before he exited the room, the doors were pushed open and Private Wood barged right back in, pushing past Shining.

“Apologies Princess, but we’ve received an update on the unidentified flying aircraft,” he said, not even checking to see if Shining was alright as he fell over.

“The UFA?” Sunset asked, looking over. “You mean the one that looks like some stallion’s--”

“Wang!” barked the schoolteacher, rapping his pointer against the blackboard to get the young colt’s attention.

“I’m sorry sir,” the young, Neighponese colt bowed hastily, but gestured out the window. “I was just distracted by that shape in the sky that looks like a--”

“One-eyed monster!” announced the carnie pony, hawking his tent to passing ponies, who all surveyed the exhibit with interest. “One-eye, four legs, a monster in the present day!”

To punctuate his point, a blue pony leapt out of the tent. The carnie wasn’t lying. It really was a monster, its single golden eye staring at all of the watchers, who all recoiled in horror. Its mane stuck out of different parts of his head at odd angles, and it almost looked like someone had pressed his two eyes together in an animation engine glitch.

But after scaring the observers for a moment, something else got his attention.

“Hey, look at that,” the cyclops said, staring up at the approaching shape. “Look at the size of those--”

“Tits!” called a grey pegasus mare happily, the largest grin on her face as she participated in this overused joke. But after a moment, her misaligned eyes fell and her pale golden mane drooped as she hung her head. “Oops. My bad. I meant--”

“NUTS! HOT, SALTED NUTS!”

“I’ll have some!” shouted an observer, waving the concessions vendor over to his spot in the stands. Quick as he could, the vendor shuffled over to hand off a bag of assorted nuts in exchange for a few bits, before he retreated and continued to hawk his ware.

“Come on, blue, that was a horrible call!” screamed a fan of the team that was on the wrong end of this. “How much are the Giants paying you, huh!? I’ll double it!”

Ahh baseball, thought the vendor as he straightened his Dodgers staff uniform. Truly Equestria’s national pastime.

A shape in the sky got his attention, and he scrutinized it.

“Blimey, would you look at that!” he shouted, pointing at it. “That looks like a giant--”

“PENIS! It looks like a giant penis!” shouted a pink filly with an unnaturally poofy mane from the streets of Ponyville angrily.

Her companion, an orange filly with a golden mane, a tail held at the end by a band, and a brown stetson, just stared at her in bewilderment. “Do what? What looks like a giant penis, Pinkie Pie?”

“Applejack, it’s that huge phallic-shaped thing up there,” Pinkie Pie jabbed a hoof up at the floating shape that continued to approach Canterlot. “But the author doesn’t have any originality and is just doing the radar joke from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me! Tell an original joke, or I’m gonna come out there and kick you right in the--”

“Cock!”

“Hot dayum, that is the biggest cock I’ve ever seen in my life!” a farmer rubbed his stubble-riddled chin thoughtfully.

“Twenty bits for the cock, thirty if you want me to personally stick it through the back door for ya. Also thirty if you want a pair o’hens to go with it,” answered the seller, indicating a pair of white chickens that were pecking at feed on the ground, while an abnormally-large rooster strutted around the enclosure, occasionally crowing at something.

“Deal,” the farmer said, handing over the coins before stooping down and grabbing hold the rooster to load it on his wagon. Beside him, one of his companions retrieved the hens, but as a shadow passed over them, they stopped.

“Well, would you look at that?” asked the salespony, staring at a dark shape in the sky.

“No kidding,” muttered the farmer. “Looks like somepony’s--”

“Johnson.”

The analyst looked up from the most recent report he had received from Cloudsdale.

“Anything to report?” the commander asked.

“It is a cleared Equestrian airship, sir, that much is certain,” Johnson answered, handing over a memo. “I’ve already sent the update to the castle to be taken off of alert.”

“Have they mentioned a destination?” asked the Commander.

“Yes sir. The airship will be dispatching a chariot directly to Canterlot Castle, while the main airship will be landing at our air docks.”

The commander blinked. “Main airship?”

“Yeah, that one,” Private Wood nodded. “We have identified it as a zeppelin transport, flanked by a hot air balloon on each side. There are a number of other zeppelins following, though they are a few miles back. From the top down, the front formation looks like… well...”

Shining snorted. This whole thing was ridiculously juvenile.

“A zeppelin transport?” Princess Celestia suddenly stood up. “Have they mentioned a destination?”

“A chariot will be on its way down, and it’s expected to land in the training yard. And…” he looked over to Shining, “and it’s been personally requested that our squadron be there to greet it when it lands.”

“I see,” Princess Celestia frowned. “Thank-you, Private.”

“Not at all, ma’am,” Wood saluted.

“Both of you, get back to your squadron at once,” Celestia instructed, suddenly sounding quite a bit authoritative. “Sunset, you and I will go with them.”

“Yes, Princess.”

Shining and Wood were on their way out before the Princess and her pupil could follow them, heading back out of the castle and back toward the yard, and back toward the clump of stallions in military training gear, who were currently arranging themselves into a double-column in front of a large enclosed palanquin/chariot hybrid that four pegasi were currently unstrapping from.

Flying first-class, I see, Shining thought. It looked no different to many of the other royal carriages, except unlike Celestia’s preference for flying open-faced, this one was completely enclosed. It almost looked like a carriage that could go airborne, with a round riding chamber and a red and gold exterior.

The sergeant eyed the two of them as they approached, and then with a jerk of his head, sent them off to their two spots in the double-column, on either side of the door.

“Shining Armor, wait!”

Shining paused before he could fall in. Princess Celestia and Sunset had arrived behind them, and were currently positioning themselves at the head of the two columns. Princess Celestia indicated the side opposite Sunset.

“Here, if you would.”

Shining glanced over at the sergeant, who just shrugged, and then did as he was asked, moving to stand next to the Princess. As he took his spot, her horn glowed gold, and he could feel a sudden warmth all over, before his sweat-stained training uniform was suddenly cleansed, and he looked several times more presentable.

“Thanks,” he said, still staring at the door to the carriate. Could it be…?

The double column was set, the Princess, her student, and a guard were there to greet the guest, and the pegasi were unhitched. As soon as everything was set, one guard let down a set of steps, while another opened the door to the carriage.

It was.

Striding down the steps, the smile of someone who was glad to be home on her face, was Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. She wore no finery, her tri-colored mane was pulled back into a ponytail, and she looked immensely relieved to be free of the carriage.

Her eyes first went to Princess Celestia, and her grin widened.

But then her eyes fell to Shining, and she was positively beaming.

Shining, however, didn’t share in the sentiment. He just stared at her, shock at her return coursing through him.

She’s… she’s back. Three years, and just like that, she’s back.

Her eyes left his again when Princess Celestia strode forward to meet her.

“Cadance!” she exclaimed, before wrapping her adopted niece into a tight hug. “It’s so good to have you back!”

“Auntie!” Cadance returned the hug enthusiastically. “It’s so great to be home!”

Shining took the opportunity to glance sideways at Sunset, wondering if she had noticed Cadance’s expression.

She was staring at Cadance with an expression of… disquiet. Yes, that seemed like the right word. It was clearly not happy, but rather a deep frown. And when she turned to look back at Shining, he could see her jaw working, like it usually did when she was trying to puzzle something out.

But then her eyes shifted, and Shining’s followed. Cadance was walking toward him, delight etched all over her face.

“Shiny! It’s been so long!” she exclaimed, before leaning forward and giving him a kiss.

Caught completely off-guard, all Shining could do was stand there, eyes wide and mouth kept firmly shut for all of a second before he was able to compose himself enough to push her away.

“Yeah, good to see you too, Cadance,” he said, before rubbing his mouth with a free hoof.

Her beaming faltered for a moment, but she shrugged it off. No doubt probably waving it off or something, but she turned to Sunset Shimmer, who--

Holy shit, Shining thought, feeling more than a little cold inside.

She looked outright murderous. Shining had never before experienced such fury on a single pony’s face, but there it was. The upper muscles of her muzzle were shaking, her eyes had a fire in them the like of which Shining had never seen before, and he could actually see the tendons in her neck bulging as she ground her teeth against each other at the sight.

The small comfort to go along with this was that she wasn’t looking at him, but at Cadance. Shining hadn’t had the time to really get to know Sunset, but he reasoned that Princess Celestia had probably managed to drill into her how to keep her composure at least enough to not attack someone who just inadvertently did wrong in front of them.

“Shiny? What’s--” Cadance turned to follow his gaze, and the moment her eyes fell on Sunset, she actually took a step backward out of surprise.

“Sunset,” Princess Celestia stepped between them diplomatically before anything bad could happen, “restrain yourself.”

Sunset did, only just. Her muzzle stopped twitching and she relaxed her jaw, but the deep frown and the fire still blazing in her eyes was enough to tell Shining that this was far from over. Cadance, however, just looked completely at a loss.

“Shiny, what’s going on?”

“Something best not discussed out here, niece,” answered Celestia for him, saving him the trouble. “I know it has been a long journey and you are eager to unpack your things and get reacquainted with your room, but it is a topic that should probably be addressed immediately.”

Cadance looked down at Shining-- has she always been this tall?-- quizzically, but Shining averted his gaze. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t think twice about giving Cadance a glance to acknowledge, but under normal circumstances, there wasn’t a Sunset Shimmer who looked ready to incinerate a member of the Royal Family not three meters away.

“Sergeant?”

“Yes ma’am!” Sergeant Grit stepped forward out of the double column and saluted.

“Is your squadron done with its work for the day?”

“Yes ma’am! The arrival of the chariot has disrupted training for the day, but we will resume tomorrow!”

“Thank-you, sergeant. I require Private Armor for the remainder of the day.”

“As you command,” the sergeant saluted again, and then nodded at Shining, all the instruction he needed.

Without waiting for anything else, the Princess turned and strode back toward the main castle, trotting along just quickly enough to make them work to keep up.

And all the while, Cadance looked completely confused by what was going on. Even as they trotted inside, up several flights of steps and into the Residential Wing. He noticed that they were following the path that he always walked to get to the Dusk Quarters, but he had a suspicion that that wasn’t their destination.

Sure enough, they passed right by Sunset’s room, toward another plain-looking door at the end of the hall.

“Password?” asked a musical voice that emanated from all around them. Shining glanced around in his own confusion, trying to discern the source of it, but Sunset just bumped him and pointed to glowing symbols that had appeared on the door.

“Sol Invictus,” Princess Celestia spoke clearly and authoritatively to the door. It accepted her answer, the runes disappearing and the door sliding sideways into the wall to reveal a spiral staircase made of marble, up which Celestia trotted, motioning with a hoof for them all to follow.

Sunset went first, resolutely marching after her teacher. Cadance gave Shining one last bewildered look before trotting after. Shining, however stayed there for a moment, taking deep breaths.

Okay Shining, you’re about to go up there and get involved in a discussion. It will probably feature yelling, misunderstandings, and two angry sexy mares that are this close to murdering each other. Or they will be. Deep breaths.

As his mind said, so he did. He took some great gulps of air and let them out, and then marched up the steps and into the room.

Princess Celestia’s room was rather minimal. There was a large round bed at one end, an expensive-looking square table at which two princesses and an irritated Sunset were sitting, a few pictures of what appeared to be a pale blue unicorn mare with an even paler-blue mane with Celestia back when she had pink hair-- An old friend, perhaps?-- a dresser next to the bed, a doorway to a balcony overlooking Canterlot, and another door that led presumably to a personal bathroom and closet, and no shortage of suns.

They were, almost literally, everywhere. Knitted into the rug, knitted into the covers on her bed, patterned all around the walls, and even a large one painted on the ceiling!

Does she ever get tired of looking at these? he wondered.

“Ahem.”

Shining’s gaze snapped from the ceiling to the table, where all three mares were watching him. Cadance had gone from being confused to nervous, Sunset was still very irritated, and Celestia looked serene as ever, though she was the one who had cleared her throat.

“If you would please be seated,” she indicated a pillow on the ground for him to sit on, which he did. “We have… quite a bit to discuss.”

Cadance opened her mouth to say something, but instantly, Princess Celestia raised a hoof and stopped her in her tracks.

“Niece, I am sure you have a lot of questions. It has, after all, been three years,” Celestia fixed her eyes on the pearl sun on her table as she said that, “but they will have to wait.”

But without waiting for her to stop, Princess Celestia looked up at Shining while he took his seat.

“Now, for those of us not in the know,” she gestured idly to Sunset as she said that, “would you mind explaining what happened three years ago?”

Shining glanced over at Cadance as she said that.

She’s not going to like this, is she? he thought dully, but in his years, he had learned that it was best to just rip off a band-aid. It stung like a bitch, but it was over quickly.

“Well,” he rested his elbows on the table, pressed his hooves together, and then rested his chin on them, “three years ago Cadance and I were still at Canterlot Academy, she was getting ready to graduate, and I had a full year to go. She was going to start working directly under Princess Celestia, and I was going to finish my final year and head off to West Hoof. Get on that two-year program to start training to become a Royal Guard.”

Shining did not fail to see Sunset glower at Cadance as he continued.

“We were dating at the time, and I thought--”

“At the time?” Cadance interrupted, her nervousness turning into no small amount of hurt. “Shining… are we--”

“You disappeared,” Shining kept his own eyes firmly fixed on the same sun Princess Celestia had stared at earlier. He didn’t want to see this. “You just vanished two nights after your graduation. You didn’t even say good-bye.”

He tried, he really did, to keep the bitter edge out of his voice as he said that. The memories of waking up one morning, showing up at the castle, and being told by Princess Celestia that his dear Cadie had left… you never really get used to the feeling of the bottom of your stomach dropping out, and this was probably the most potent time he had felt it.

“And worse, I wrote you letters,” he continued, trying to keep from snarling. “I hoof-delivered them to Princess Celestia, because I figured if anyone could get them to you, it was her. And she promised me that they did.”

He turned his gaze to Celestia, ho looked calm as ever.

“Did you lie to me, Princess?” he asked, managing, thankfully, to keep the accusatory edge from his voice.

“I did not,” the Princess replied quite lightly, before she turned to her fellow princess. “Did you read them?”

“I did,” Cadance answered immediately. “Of course I did! You wrote me three letters, and I read all of them!”

“Then why didn’t you write me back?” he asked, and this time, the snarl wasn’t hidden, the angry edge on full display, and his own glare matched Sunset’s, though his motivation was far different, as he turned to look Cadance in the eyes. “Cadance, I will admit before Princess Celestia and Sunset until I die, I loved you. I waited for a response from you, and it never came.”

“I… I…”

She was on the verge of tears.

“I wanted to,” she mumbled, but that hardly did anything to reverse three years of heartache and disappointment. “I really did, Shining! But…”

“But?” Shining arched a skeptical eyebrow, and he noticed Princess Celestia seemed to grow a mite sterner as well.

“I… couldn’t! I… wasn’t allowed to--”

“You weren’t allowed?” Princess Celestia asked, sounding as surprised as anyone. “I’m the one who told you the reasons for your mission, Cadance. When did I ever say it wasn’t allowed for you to have correspondence with your coltfriend? I even sent you a letter of my own telling you directly of that fact, as I recall.”

“You told me before I left,” she sounded like she was accusing Celestia now. “You told me I had to keep contact with non-affiliated ponies to a bare mini--”

“Niece,” Princess Celestia covered her eyes with a hoof in exasperation, “I would have thought you would have been the first to try and justify Shining as ‘affiliated ponies.’ It’s hard to get more affiliated than being a significant other.”

“You could have told me!” she retorted. Shining had to agree with that. Celestia could have been more clear about it if Cadance was telling the truth. “You could have told me to my face that it was okay to write to Shining!”

“It wasn’t just letters,” Celestia continued, sounding quite patient despite Cadance’s anger. “You had multiple opportunities to return to Canterlot, even briefly. I did not expect you to devote every second to this task. I expected you to take time off. Yet another thing I stated in my letter,” she added, giving her niece a meaningful look. “Cadance, I did tell you. I was explicit in my second letter, given your silence after all of Shining’s, and you said you read it.”

“I…” She choked up before she could finish that.

Celestia sighed. “Cadance, I won’t deny, I played a part in this by assuming you would have done everything in your power to stay connected to Shining, but you share some of the blame here.”

Shining chanced a glance at Sunset, and he was relieved to see she didn’t look sad anymore. If anything, she looked… pitying?

“You assumed that this mission I sent you on was so important that I would ask you to cut off all contact with the outside world,” the Princess sighed. “I suppose I should have expected this. You are hardly the first to overassume on that part.”

Shining’s first thought was his own sister at that. Sounded right up her alley to overthink something like that.

“Shining, Sunset, I have no more need for either of you. Cadance and I need to have a word alone,” the Princess said finally, giving them both a look. “Sunset, think about all of this. I will want to have a word with you about it tomorrow morning. Shining?”

Shining met the Princess’ eyes as he stood up.

“If you have any problems, any at all, don’t hesitate to come speak to me.”

What did she mean by that? What problems? he wondered, but he nodded all the same and started to trot out of the room.

“How long?” he heard from behind him, and he really didn’t like how hurt it sounded.

Cadie…

“How long what?”

“How long have you two been t--” she bit the end of that statement off and looked away.

“Only about a couple of weeks,” he assured her gently. “We just sort of… happened.”

“Take it from me, Princess,” Shining was rather amazed at how Sunset could go from wanting to disintegrate a mare to suddenly being as gentle as he had ever seen a mare be in mere minutes, “He’s not saying that to make you feel better. We just sort of hit it off after we met.”

Shining was devoutly thankful Sunset didn’t rub it in that “hitting it off” included sex in a bathtub.

That didn’t seem to help Cadance at all, but Shining knew it would definitely help. There was no reason for her to assume they had gone behind her back.

With that, Shining turned and continued out the door, with Sunset right behind him.

Out of the protected door, back into the hall, down the hallway, and into Sunset’s room they went, and once inside, they both hopped up onto her bed and lay on their backs, simply enjoying each others’ company and thinking about all that they had just talked about.

“So,” Sunset started, “that’s your ex-marefriend.”

“Yep,” sighed Shining. “That’s Cadance.”

He felt a hoof grab hold of his own, and he squeezed it gently.

“After Celestia and I have our little chat tomorrow, I think we’re gonna need a talk of our own,” she sighed. “About us, about her…”

“It won’t be so bad,” he smiled to himself. “Even though we aren’t dating anymore, I’d still love to be her friend. And if I’m honest,” he glanced sideways at her, “I think you’ll like her. Once she gets over us, at least.”

Sunset nodded, and then curled her back into him, in a little-spoon position. Shining instantly curled his own body around her to take the big spoon slot and slid a hoof around her barrel.

“It’s only the middle of the day, you know,” Shining reminded her, nibbling on her earlobe after he said it. “No need to sleep just yet.”

“I’m just resting,” Sunset protested, her ear twitching as he continued to nibble at it. “Getting frisky there?”

“You’re the one in heat,” he pointed out. “I thought you normally couldn’t stop thinking about sex.”

“After our last two sessions, my heat hasn’t been a big deal,” she shrugged. “I can feel it coming back, though, and I think it is close to the end of my season. Maybe one more rutting will end it.”

“I’m down,” Shining grinned.

“I’ll bet you are,” he could almost hear Sunset smirking as she said that. “I was thinking of doing something a bit more… special though.”

“You’ve got me excited already,” Shining leaned over and pecked her cheek. “Guess that means you want me to hold off for now?”

“Sounds about right,” Sunset slid out of his grasp and got up. “I’m hungry. Want to go grab a bite?”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” he nodded.

But even as they enjoyed a good helping of Donut Joe’s, Shining couldn’t help but shake his concern for Cadance. Everything was going to be awkward from here for the first few weeks.

Ah, but I’ve got Sunset. I think I’ll be fine, he thought to himself as he dug into a twisty-donut. She hasn’t let me down yet.

Fireworks *

View Online

The last few days of Sunset Shimmer’s heat season were the worst.

Not because of any difficulty in dealing with it. She had, after all, gone the last few years without a single lay and had to endure the entire two weeks give-or-take of her loins feeling aflame and her mind unable to think about much other than some stallion rutting her into the ground. She was able to cover up her own smell just fine, there were plenty of salves and ointments for that, but that never did anything to quell her libido.

Her problem this time, however, was that it had come back stronger than before. An annoying thing about a mare’s body going into heat this long is that, if a mare doesn’t get pregnant, it comes back worse. She had Shining on hoof to deal with it last time she had sensed it was coming back, so her heat was sated before it became a problem.

But that was before Cadance had shown up on the scene.

Sunset didn’t have any enmity with the alicorn, and Cadance didn’t appear to be holding a grudge about the fact that she was with Shining now, but the knowledge that his ex was back and that things were going to be super-awkward for the next couple of weeks kept Shining’s libido down, in spite of his flirting the afternoon Cadance had come back.

True to their mutual promise, they had talked at length about their relationship that night. They had talked about what they were, what they wanted to be, and now with her running around, what kind of an effect Cadance was going to have. So now, Sunset had a coltfriend, was committed to seeing how far this new relationship was going,

Sunset was rather grateful for her own private chat with Princess Celestia the next morning.

“You would do well to keep an eye on Shining Armor,” the Princess had cautioned. “Because of the way his and Cadance’s relationship ended, abruptly for her yesterday and without closure for him, I do not think their feelings for each other are anywhere close to gone. Certainly not hers, but there is a good possibility his are still there as well.”

“So what am I to do about that?” she had asked.

“Be understanding,” was the Princess’ answer. “Be there for him to confess to. I do not believe his loyalty and commitment will be a problem, but if you are not there for him, and she is, you will find him drifting back toward her.”

Thus far, it had seemed that this wouldn’t be a problem. Shining was spending pretty much all of his free time with her, and Cadance seemed to be respectfully keeping her distance from them as well. She was staying in a different part of the residential wing than her normal quarters, which were just down the hall from Sunset’s own, and the few times she and Shining had come across Cadance, Cadance had given them a cordial smile and found a way to excuse herself.

“Ugh,” she thought, her thighs twitching as a sudden flash of need swept over her, almost causing her to drop the book she was trying to prise out of the shelves of the Royal Library from her hooves.

Stupid heat, she thought as she managed to catch it in her magic before it could tumble down. If only I could use my magic…

Heat was always an annoying time for unicorns. Nothing was really stopping her from using magic, as she just demonstrated, but the constant distractions it provided could cause problems if she were doing more than simple telekinesis. And due to the unusual circumstances, Sunset had been warned to keep off magic entirely when her heats were at their peak except in reflex.

Before she could lose it due to another heat distraction, she took the book in her front hooves and climbed down the rather tall shelf ladder she was currently standing on. Books were a good distraction, but it seemed like the best ones were always put on the highest shelves and were the hardest to pry loose with hooves alone.

The library was almost completely devoid of ponies today. Obviously she was there, as was the librarian, but there also appeared to be a young lilac unicorn filly browsing the non-fiction section that Sunset had seen around before, but had never spoken to.

There were usually more ponies in here, but for whatever reason, they were the only three in here today. Such a shame. The library really was a beautiful place. Tall windows with rounded tops, massive shelves stuffed full of books, murals of different moments in Equestrian history, crystalline chandeliers lighting the room and glimmering with the lighting enchantments, and several paintings that were hung in here to display rather than the foyer.

And outside of one of the windows was the training ground, where unfortunately, Sunset wasn’t able to watch Shining train today. And unfortunately, that left her with nothing else to do but read in an attempt to distract herself from her heat, at least until Shining got off.

Then he’d be getting her off.

NO! Bad thoughts! she chastised herself. The last thing she needed to do was leave a mess for the poor librarian to clean up.

To the book! The book would keep her mind off. A Clash of Queens, by George R. R. Maretin. Apparently the show had gotten really popular lately or something. Whatever the case, she was down to read it.

“E-excuse me?”

She turned to where the voice had come from. The lilac filly was standing beside her, looking about as nervous as Shining Armor had when he had first shown up in her room those two weeks ago.

She couldn’t have been more than a couple of years younger than her, with rather gangly legs, a navy-blue mane and tail highlighted with a purple and a magenta streak, and the purplest eyes she had ever seen.

But her mane and tail were in disarray, her coat looked a mess, she was blushing furiously while she constantly shifted her back legs, and she smelled.

Sunset knew the smell of heat, and this filly reeked of it.

“S-sorry,” the filly recoiled as she saw Sunset wrinkle her nose. “I know I’m a m-mess right now.”

“Can I help you?” Sunset asked not unkindly, leading the filly over to the table she was going to read at and setting her book down.

“I, uhh…” the filly looked away awkwardly, “I n-need your help.”

“Oh? What kind of help?”

“M-my heat,” she admitted, her already-red face going even darker. “P-princess Celestia said I could f-find you here.”

“Princess Celestia sent you to me?” Sunset tilted her head. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Twilight Sparkle,” the filly answered. Finally, a reply without a stammer. “I’m another one of her s-students.”

That’s why she had seen this filly around! Sunset knew she wasn’t Princess Celestia’s only personal student, but she hadn’t gotten to work with any of her fellow proteges. And that would also explain why Princess Celestia sent Twilight to her, considering she was the most senior of the four apprentices, even though the other two of them were currently off in Mareis, Prance for something.

“I’m Sunset Shimmer,” she smiled at her younger counterpart. “Is this your first heat?”

“N-no, but it’s… why is it lasting s-so long?” Twilight whined, before she suddenly shuddered. “M-my heat season wasn’t supposed to las-st more than a f-few days.”

“Oh,” understanding flooded through Sunset. Right. She remembered her first “Celestine Heat,” as one of the older apprentices had called it. It had been a nightmare that first time, when she had no idea when it would end, and now here was Twilight Sparkle suffering through it as well. “Right. It’s good you came to me. I know why it’s lasted this long.”

“You d-do?” Twilight asked. She looked just pitiful. Her eyes were almost pleading on their own for her help.

“Yeah,” Sunset nodded, before swiping up the book and heading over to the check-out desk. “First thing’s first, let’s go get you cleaned up. You’re a mess.”

“I kn-know,” Twilight sighed. “I’ve spent the last two w-weeks cooped up in my tower.”

Eesh, it probably smells even worse in there! she realized. If it was anything like how the Dusk Quarter had smelled after her first Celestine Heat…

“Come on, Twilight,” she said as she stamped out her book at the desk and then slipped it into her saddlebag, which she promptly settled on her back. “We’ll go get you cleaned up, and I’ll get your tower smelling back to normal. then we’ll talk, alright?”

“A-alright,” Twilight nodded.

Twilight led Sunset to her tower, where Sunset drew up a warm bath in her bathroom, but took time to mix up a Soothing Salve from ingredients Twilight kept in a locked cupboard and then add it into the tub. Potions had always been her strong suit, and this was no exception. Once the bath had turned a pleasant shade of lilac, not too far off of Twilight’s own coat, she ushered Twilight in, told her to soak for several minutes, and get washed up. It wouldn’t do too much to actually quell the heat, but it would certainly leave her feeling a lot more at ease when she got out, and it would dampen her quaking.

Cleaning out the tower, which had to have at least half as many books as the entire library did, was a bit more difficult, but not too bad. Mostly it involved throwing open the windows, getting some air circulation going, and using a magic spell to force-cleanse the carpeted sections of the floor. At most, it took fifteen minutes. She did, after all, have a bit of experience when she’d had to do it to her room.

By the time she finished, Twilight was clambering out of her bathtub and wrapping herself up in a towel. Not only did she smell loads better, she seemed to be carrying herself with renewed confidence and she looked lighter. There was no slumping like she had been when she was embarrassed, and that alone did wonders.

“Thank-you,” she sighed as she wrapped a towel around her mane. “For all of this, I mean.”

“Hey, it’s no problem,” Sunset smiled cheerfully. “We apprentices look out for each other. Just bear in mind, this isn’t a permanent solution to your heat, though. It’ll come back. I just bought you a few hours so you can go find your coltfriend and get it taken care of.”

At the mention of a coltfriend, Twilight blushed again. “I… don’t have a coltfriend.”

“You don’t?” She was rather surprised. Twilight did look rather cute. Perhaps she swung the other way? “What about a marefriend?”

“N-no,” she shook her head. “Just me.”

“Oh.” Well, that wouldn’t be good. She’d have to endure another few nights before it went away. One of the few nice things about having to go through these Celestine Heats was that they were predictable, both in onset and length. Sunset guessed that’s what happened when one’s biological clock was attuned to a reigning sun avatar.

Wait a minute, a sudden thought had occurred to her. Maybe she doesn’t have to wait it out. I did promise Shining something special.

“Is there any way at all to get rid of it completely?” Twilight asked, drying herself off. “N-not permanently,” she quickly added, going a bit pink, “if that’s even possible, but… for the rest of this season?”

“Sadly, only one way,” Sunset answered, hashing out the plan in her head. “Only happens if a stallion… ah, cums inside.”

“O-oh,” her face went red again.

“I mean, sort of,” Sunset shrugged as she clarified. “Since most mares don’t have to worry about two-plus week long heats, it’s usually one and done, but for us, if we don’t get pregnant, it comes back, so we’re encouraged to take coltfriends and ah… well, you get the picture.”

“Does that mean you’re…” Twilight’s eyes shifted to Sunset’s belly.

Sunset snorted.

“Hardly! I take a Brew of Barrenness before my sessions. No pregnancy, so it comes back, but then my coltfriend and I knock it out again.”

“Oh.”

She kicked one of her back hooves awkwardly.

Wait… I know that look… Sunset thought.

Twilight looked deeply embarrassed by something, but she clearly looked like there was something she wanted to ask. She recognized it from the way she had felt when she had wanted to ask Shining if he wanted to help her out.

“Do you… want to join?” she chanced. “I did promise my coltfriend something special. He could help you beat your heat and then you wouldn’t have to worry about it again till next year.”

“I…”

To her credit, she didn’t blush any further. Rather, she almost looked relieved that she wasn’t the one to suggest it.

“I-I’ve never done it before--”

“I don’t think that would be a problem,” Sunset assured her. “You don’t have to. I just thought I’d offer.”

“Y-you’d let me join you and your coltfriend in…” she broke off, unable to get the word out.

“Sex,” Sunset finished, trying not to show her amusement.

“...s-sex, even though we only just m-met, just to help me beat my heat? Even though it’d be my f-first time?”

“Yeah,” Sunset nodded. “Like I said, you don’t have to. Just thought I’d offer.”

“I’ll d-do it.”

Yes!Shining, you are going to love this.

Sunset smiled sweetly at her. “Alright. I was planning on doing it tonight, is that alright?”

“The sooner we can beat it, th-the better.”

“Perfect,” Sunset nodded to herself, satisfied. “In that case, do you know where the Dusk Quarters are in the Residential Wing?” When Twilight nodded, she continued, “Be there at 6:30 tonight. I’ll take care of everything. In the meantime, I suggest drinking plenty of water. You need to rehydrate yourself after the last couple of weeks.”

“A-alright. 6:30 tonight, Dusk Quarters,” she recited.

“Yep. See you tonight, Twilight. I promise, you’ll love it.”

Shining hummed to himself as he trotted through the castle halls, making his way to Sunset’s room. Finally, the weekend! he rejoiced. No more having to worry about Sergeant Grit for a good few days, and there were two and a half whole days to spend with Sunset.

Another letter had been waiting for him at his barracks bed when they had gotten off. He had showered with his squadmates before he read it, but once he had, he was off.

Shining Armor,

Your presence is requested in the Dusk Quarters at 7:00 PM sharp. Come alone, and bring plenty of stamina.

--S

He hadn’t been all that tired after their training session today (Sergeant Grit had seemingly been going easy on them) but “bring plenty of stamina” was one of the few phrases in the Equestrian lexicon so powerful it could get a lame pony to walk again, and it had propelled him to the Residential Wing in record time.

Hopefully this would make up for the last few days. Ever since Cadance had gotten back, Shining could sense that Sunset had been off. The few times they had run into Cadance, no scene had been made, Cadance had excused herself cordially, and nothing had happened, but Sunset always seemed a bit insecure after.

Hopefully with this weekend, they could make progress toward getting rid of that insecurity. Though he could hardly blame her. If he had found out that she had dated some alicorn prince in the past, only to find that said alicorn didn’t think it was over and definitely wouldn’t just get over it immediately, he’d probably be a bit on the nervous side every time said Prince Charming ever showed up.

I mean, for starters, Prince Charming was an alicorn. If Sunset were in his position and told her squadmates that she was now caught between a regular old unicorn like him and the alicorn prince they had all seen smooch her, and that she preferred the unicorn, they’d probably laugh her out of the room.

Plus, Prince Charming was the Prince of Love, so he was always going to be better than Shining when it came to these things.

Then there was the obvious issue that Prince Charming and Sunset had no shortage of unresolved history, and they clearly were not over each other, and it still hurt just a bit every time Sunset saw Prince Charming, even before he gave a courteous smile and found his way out before she could even go talk to her and try to set things right...

“Sunset” sighed to himself. While it was definitely too late to go back to a regular old relationship with Cadance, and that was without even considering his new marefriend, he at least had hoped they could have remained friends. Maybe Cadance just needed some space for a while?

But then he came to and realized, he had walked clear past Sunset’s door and was now standing in front of the door to Princess Celestia’s room. At least, he thought it was Princess Celestia’s room. Why did she have to have a door that looked like everyone else’s?

With a groan, he turned around and practically galloped back to Sunset’s room. And once there, he took a moment to collect himself, raised a hoof, and knocked.

“Oh, he’s here,” he heard Sunset say, and he could feel his heart quicken at that. Had she gotten another mare? “Are you ready?”

Whoever the other pony in the room was must have nodded, because the door was bathed in the red glow of Sunset’s magic, and was opened up to allow him entry. Before it was even properly open, he gently pushed it himself and stepped in.

There they were, both on his bed, flanks faced toward him with their tails held aloft. Sunset, with her golden-streaked red mane, was wrapped up in red ribbon like a large birthday present, and was keeping her face determinedly forward, no doubt giving him a moment to appreciate his prize.

And then his eyes turned to the other mare, also adorned in the red ribbon, and--

“TWILY!?” he shouted in shock as the memory of her rump displaying her mare bits for the whole world to see burned itself into his brain and making him wish that he had as much brain bleach as could be found in the world.

He heard her gasp and saw her whirl around, mercifully removing that particular part of her anatomy from his gaze.

It was definitely her. He had just gotten an eyeful of his sister’s vagina.

No, scratch that, he had gotten an eyeful of his sister’s vagina, and Little Shining had dropped.

“Shiny!?” Twilight gasped and scrambled backward on the bed, almost kicking Sunset in the face as she looked over, confused by the sudden exclamations. Once at the back of Sunset’s bed, she seemed to almost try to press herself through the back, her face redder than Sunset's hair.

“What are you doing here!?” Shining asked, desperately hoping his boner would go away.

“Sh-she asked me here!” Twilight jabbed a hoof at Sunset “Said her coltfriend was going to--”

Her eyes widened.

“You’re dating her!?” she looked back and forth between them at lightning speed.

“Wait, you two know each other?” Now it was Sunset’s turn to look between the two of them in confusion.

“Yeah, she’s my sister.”
“Yeah, he’s my brother.”

“A-- ooooh,” a look of sheepish horror crossed her face. “Shit.”

“You didn’t tell me you had a marefriend!” Twilight’s embarrassment had disappeared and now she was getting off the bed to glare at him.

“I would have told you if I ever saw you!” Shining defended himself. “I haven’t seen you around in nearly three weeks! You missed our last two O’n’O sessions!”

She went red again and Shining didn’t miss how her tail suddenly flicked downward to cover her marehood up.

“I… I was in my tower the whole time…” she admitted, looking at the ground to hide her face. “M-my heat…”

Understanding flooded through Shining. “Ooooh. Right. Sunbutt heat.”

“S-Sunbutt heat?” snorted Sunset from her spot. “I like that. I’m gonna have to use it.”

“You didn’t know she was my sister?” Shining asked her, giving her a look that had “Really?” etched in every square inch.

“She never said anything about having a brother,” Sunset threw up her hooves defensively. “She said she was having trouble with her heat, asked me if I knew of a way to help her deal with it, and this was what I came up with! I told you I wanted it to be something special and this seemed like a good idea!”

“Just randomly propositioning mares for threesomes?” Shining asked, conveniently not mentioning Rainbow Dash propositioning him some time ago.

“Shining, trust me, if you could see how miserable she looked and smell how her tower smelled, you’d ask to help out just out of pity.”

“Wait,” Shining looked over at his sister, who was still blushing. It had now gotten even darker than the red in Sunset’s hair, and was now approaching the shade of red Sergeant Grit had when he was particularly pissed off. “How bad was it?”

“Y-you don’t want to kn-know,” Twilight stammered, turning her face away again.

“Take my word for it, Shining,” Sunset said, “she was miserable. That’s why I thought we could help her out.”

It was at that time that his mind decided to betray him. At the phrase “help her out,” his mind decided to feed him an image of Twilight on her back, in Sunset’s bed, with his cock pounding in and out of her at top speed.

The earlier image of her showing off her marehood wasn’t helping things, and Little Shining regaining his erect-ness

“Et tu?” he whispered, glaring underneath himself at his stallionhood, which seemed to bob as if to say “Fuck you, and fuck her already.”

“Outside of your cutie marks, you two don’t look much alike,” Sunset observed. “Are you two adopted? Because if you’re not biologically related, then technically it’s okay. And it’ll make it easier for you to take your mind off of… you know.”

“N-no,” Twilight answered, sighing. “We’re biological siblings. S-sorry, I ruined tonight…”

“No, no you didn’t ruin it!” Sunset assured her, jumping down to head her off before she could head for the door. “It’s my bad. I didn’t make sure you weren't his sister. I, uhh, let my hormones do my thinking for me to deal with the heat. Not to mention, I suppose I could have mentioned the name of my coltfriend at least once...”

At the mention of her heat, Twilight’s head drooped. “R-right. Guess I’ll just h-have to deal with it for a f-few more days.”

“No.”

Twilight’s head snapped up, and Sunset’ looked over her shoulder to Shining, surprise on both of their faces.

“Sh-Shining?” Twilight asked, confused. “No what?”

Shining swallowed. If what Sunset said was true-- and knowing her, it probably was-- his big brother instinct was taking over. And even though everything was telling him that this was a bad idea, he suddenly didn’t really care too much how Twilight was related to him.

She needed help. And he was going to do his damnedest to help her. And the mental images of himself and Twilight that seemed to be stuck on loop in his brain had absolutely nothing to do with that, no siree.

“I’ll do it.”

Sunset and Twilight just stared at him for a long moment. Shining couldn’t deny, the whole situation looked kind of ridiculous, since they were both still wearing the ribbon, but the situation Twilight was in didn’t really seem all that funny.

“Are… are you sure?” Sunset asked, looking at Twilight as she said that.

“Positive,” Shining dipped his head. “That is, if…” he trailed off to also glance at Twilight, who was chewing on her lip nervously, her face now probably inspiring its own shade of crayon color.

“I… I…”

“How about this, Twilight?” Sunset stepped between them while they just continued to stare into each others eyes, both of them with massive amounts of insecurity and indecision. “How about Shining and I go, and you watch to start off?”

Twilight’s eyes never left his, but she did seem to consider it.

“That way,” continued Sunset, “if you get into it and want to join in, you can.”

Twilight’s eyes shifted uncertainly to Sunset and back. But it was then that Shining noticed he was still standing in the door, and had been ever since he had realized that Twilight was the one in bed.

“Twily,” he said, stepping aside, to allow her out, “if you want, you can leave, and we’ll never mention this again. This never happened. But if you want to stay, I’ll help you out with your heat.”

“We’ll help you,” corrected Sunset, trotting over to stand next to him. ”I stand by what I said earlier, Twilight. We apprentices look out for each other.”

As Twilight continued to glance between the two of them nervously, Shining took the time to really survey her. It was always so strange, but having grown up around her, he had always taken her appearance for granted, if that made any sense. But now that they were older, now that he was a fully-grown stallion living on his own, and she now that was becoming a mare, he was finally able to see her for what she was.

And she was, in Shining’s humble opinion, beautiful!

Maybe it was whatever Sunset had done to help her prepare, but he had never really appreciated just how grown up his sister was, although that was partially to do with being around the future Alicorn of Love and thus his standards had been high.

Not to mention, she was, you know, his sister.

But now, he could appreciate that gorgeous shade of purple in her eyes, the simple yet elegant beauty in her mane, and how she was pleasingly skinny, but not in a skeletal way.

And oh shit, she had noticed he was checking her out.

“Sh-shining…?” she asked, glancing at the door. “C-close the door.”

As you wish, he thought, smiling to himself.

The door was bathed in pink and gently closed, before latching shut as well. As soon as it was closed, Sunset’s horn shone red, and a wave of magic flew out of her horn and coated the walls, molding to their shape, and then disappearing.

“Soundproofing charm,” she said, before trotting back to her bed and climbing on. “I think we’re going to need it tonight.”

Twilight’s uncertain gaze fell on Shining again as he trotted after his marefriend to climb up into the bed as well.

“I don’t…” Twilight mumbled, before taking a couple of tentative steps toward them.

“It’s fine, Twilight, it’s fine,” Sunset smiled gently. “There’s no pressure. If you would like to wait a bit, maybe watch Shining and I first until you feel comfortable joining in, that’s perfectly okay.”

“S-sure,” Twilight said, climbing up onto the tail end of the bed, whereas Shining and Sunset were more at the head of it.

That was all they needed to hear.

With that, Shining and Sunset caught each others’ eyes, and after a pause to appreciate the moment, they kissed.

As with every time he kissed Sunset, fireworks were exploding in his mind, and the connection they shared was almost as good as sex itself.

This is never going to get old…

It didn’t take long for Sunset to deepen the kiss, pushing into him and poking her tongue within his mouth. Rather eagerly, he opened his own mouth and sent his own tongue forth to meet hers in glorious combat! It was like every movie sword fight he had ever seen, with stabs, parries, and a gentle ebb and flow as one minute he was in control, and the next he had retreated and she had taken over.

But before long, she pushed in just hard enough to cause him to tumble backward, landing softly on the pillows with her on top, her mane falling around his face and tickling him lightly.

And at the back of his mind, he knew that Little Shining had to be standing tall, in full view of Twilight.

That thought alone made him smile. The absurdity of their situation was still very much there. Here he was, making out with his mare, with his stallionhood on full display while his sister watched.

Or so he believed.

All too soon, Sunset broke the kiss, but not before giving his lower lip one last nibble. Then, she leaned up to his ear and nibbled his earlobe, and then, she began to slide her way up him.

He could feel the heat of her marehood as it drew closer, leaving faint kisses on his coat and leaving the places it touched with just a dab of her essence, as she drew it closer and closer. Just as she had gotten up to his chest, she lifted herself up, finally giving Shining a view of his sister where she sat.

Indeed, Little Shining was standing tall for her, but her eyes were fixed elsewhere, past it. They were focused, with total attention, on Sunset’s marehood, but for the brief moment they flicked downward to look at him. And Shining could see that she was starting to breathe rather heavily.

A glance downward revealed that her vagina had grown very wet, and was leaving a spot under her.

And then she was gone, obscured by Sunset’s mound as it came down right at his chin. A glance upward showed that Sunset had her head raised skyward, and her eyes closed, ready and waiting.

And who was he to disappoint her?

Raising his own hooves up to her flanks, he pulled her just a bit more forward, and now she sat right on his muzzle, in perfect position.

As before, it began with a kiss, with Shining’s lips applied liberally to her lower ones, paying extra attention to her clit.

Thank-you for being patient with me, he thought of Sunset. Thank-you for teaching me this stuff.

And, like the earlier kiss, next came the tongue, pushing its way in, and beginning the battle anew. His opponent wasn’t there this time, but that didn’t stop him from sliding his tongue around just as before, licking up the essence that coated her walls and causing Sunset to moan above him.

While he was still far from perfect, and no doubt her heat was playing a factor in how much she enjoyed this, Shining had learned from their previous two encounters. He had learned the spots Sunset liked, and he had learned when best to go for her clit. He still hadn’t really gotten used to using his tongue like this, so it did tire out somewhat quickly, but as with their earlier make-out, ebb and flow were his friends.

Her thighs squeezed his head, and he smiled into her pussy. It had taken a couple of minutes to get her twitching, last time. Now, it couldn’t have been more than half that time. Either he was getting good at this…

Or maybe she likes being watched…

That thought didn’t kill any sense of progress, but it did motivate him even more.

Kinky mare… he thought. What else do you have in store for me?

He felt something warm envelop his dick, suddenly. It didn’t go very far down, but it was definitely noticeable. The suddenness of the action caught him off-guard, but he appreciated it all the same.

Wait a minute… he thought.

The warm thing pushed down even further, without even coming up, or using tongue. That definitely wasn’t Sunset. She wasn't this crude. In hindsight, Sunset was facing away from his dick anyway!

“TW--!” he shouted in shock as he could feel her throat muscles clench, gagging as she tried to force his rod down her throat.

Most of it was muffled, but Sunset got the message, lifting herself off of him and turning around to see her younger counterpart doing her damnedest to force Shining’s cock as far down as she could.

“Twilight! Twilight, stop!” Sunset gently pushed her back. As soon as his dick came loose, she started sputtering. “Deep breaths, deep breaths,” Sunset instructed, rubbing her back.

“S-sorry,” Twilight cringed as she saw Shining look down at her. “I-I just thought I c-could--”

“Twilight, honey, it’s okay,” Sunset soothed, forcing herself not to laugh. Twilight’s nervousness was rather endearing, Shining did have to admit.

“Yeah, it wasn’t… too bad,” he said, trying his best to help Sunset.

Sunset just gave him a flat look that said, in no uncertain terms, “You’re not helping!”

“I mean,” he changed course, “it surprised me but... “

“Twilight, ignore your brother,” Sunset chose to hug the younger mare instead. “You just need some practice, is all. Don’t try to do more than you’re able to or comfortable with.”

“O-okay,” she still wasn’t meeting his eyes.

“Here,” Shining slid forward. “How about you lie on your back?”

Sunset nodded at that, releasing the mare and gently easing her onto her back as Shining suggested it. Twilight didn’t resist, but she did try to cover up as she watched the both of them look down at her.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Sunset stroked her mane with the touch of a feather. “There’s no need to hide from us.”

Sunset indicated a dresser with her head, on which were a couple of empty potion vials, and a third that still had a potion in it, which was purple in color.

“Shining, be a dear and drink that, would you?”

Shining nodded, getting up from the bed, grabbing the vial, and draining it in one gulp.

Mmm, grape flavor, he thought. And not that awful medicine kind, either!

“What is this?” he asked, placing the vial back atop the dresser, next to the other ones. Meanwhile, Sunset and Twilight were divesting themselves of the ribbon, which Sunset casually tossed into a nearby rubbish bin.

“The other two were Brews of Barrenness,” answered Sunset, resuming her stroking, which was easing Twilight quite well. She had relaxed her lower legs, and Sunset was gliding a hoof along her belly, no doubt looking to warm her up before she turned Twilight over to him. “Don’t want any unexpected side-effects resulting from tonight’s activities, do we?”

The thought of a pair of children, one of his with Sunset and one of his with Twilight, filled his mind, though it was far from unpleasant. Unfortunately, he knew she was right.

“I guess not,” he shook his head. “What about mine?”

“A neutralized Philter of Fertility,” Sunset answered cheerfully. “Normally an aphrodisiac coupled with a sperm production enhancement mixture, I took the aphrodisiac properties out of it. Now it’ll just make sure you have plenty of ‘juice’ for the both of us.”

Shining grinned at that, and practically jumped back on the bed, landing right where he had been before.

Twilight looked down her body at him as he got down on his belly between her legs. There was pure desire in her eyes, coupled with a strange neediness.

She wants this! he realized. How long had she wanted it? Did this mean that deep down, she had fantasized about him? He would have been ashamed to admit before that he had spent a couple of nights fapping to her. It always left him feeling a lot more shameful than his usual sessions. But now that they were here?

Now, he didn’t care. She wanted it, he wanted it, and she was going to get it.

“Ready?” he asked, slowly prying her legs apart and revealing her treasure for him to see. It really was perfect. Puffy and very damp, clearly due to her heat and arousal, but it made him want to jump right in.

She nodded, her breath deepening as she lay her head back in anticipation.

As with Sunset, Shining started gently. After he got close and his breath tickled her marehood, she had shifted, so he knew she was going to be extra-sensitive tonight. The first thing he did was gently lick at her opening, causing her thighs to clench and her to let out a moan.

Shining smiled. She tasted sweet, like… grapes. Yes, the sweetness reminded him of grapes. Or maybe there was still some of that philter left over on his tongue, flavoring it. In any case, he wanted more.

He licked again, a bit more forcefully this time, and Twilight moaned again, a bit louder this time.

Where Sunset made noises for particularly pleasurable moments, Twilight seemed to be rather expressive in general. That or, again, the heat was just amplifying everything.

Still, he liked the sounds she made, and in a short time, his tongue had gone from licking outside to inside, and her yelps and moans had changed to reflect it.

Her essence was his nectar, her vagina his fountain, and lap and lap he did, never feeling tired of it. As with Sunset, he began to work his tongue inside of her, doing more than just licking aimlessly, and he was rewarded with Twilight suddenly crying out as he flicked at her clit.

Her sister, it turned out, liked to make noise. Not with words, but with sounds. Sunset would do the same, but far less frequently. Twilight, however, was a textbook screamer. When he would flick his tongue in a particularly-pleasing way, she would yelp. When he would hit one of her spots, she would exclaim. And when he sucked, she would gasp and hiss.

She was his instrument, he was her musician, and he played her. By the end of it, he wanted her to sing. And so, like he had with Sunset, he turned this act of intimacy into something resembling a dance, where he would go in, he would flick, twist, turn, lap, suck, and everything else he could think of, feeling her out and then going in when he knew he had hit a spot she liked. It didn’t take long at all before it never crossed his mind that it was his sister he was eating out. It was a beautiful mare, and she was making the most delightful noises.

“Sh-Shining!” Twilight yelped as she twitched. Shining took a moment to smile at the sound of his name, but then she cried out again, and that made him frown for just a moment. Was she faking it? he wondered, considering he hadn’t done anything to elicit that last cry, until he realized Sunset must be adding her own ministrations.

A quick glance up showed that this, indeed, was the case. She had taken to licking Twilight’s horn, the same way she did his cock. Her tongue glided along its spiralling length, before she took the end of it in her mouth and sucked.

Twilight almost screamed at that. Her back arched upward, pressing her sternum into the sky as far as it would go, and that only emboldened Shining to dive back in.

Their combined forces brought Twilight untold amounts of pleasure, and it was reflected in her howling and yelping. It only made Shining grin all the more when he felt her hooves push at the back of his head, urging him deeper.

The combination of their pleasuring doomed Twilight in mere moments. Just as he was certain she was nearing her peak, Shining felt himself be pushed back, much to his dismay, but the sight of why he was being pushed away proved this was the best course of action. Sunset had pushed him back, and she herself had retreated just a bit, using her hoof to stimulate Twilight’s horn.

Which was now glowing a bright magenta, the only warning Shining had of what was coming.

Or rather, who was coming.

With a scream of pleasure, Twilight spasmed on the bed, twisting and contorting in every direction her body would allow as the aura of magic spread to cover all of her. As soon as it had, Sunset withdrew her hoof quickly, slid up next to Shining, and just watched.

Once her entire body was glowing with her aura, Twilight came. With a scream, her thighs clenched shut, her twisting intensified, and her horn began to shoot a stream of stars that spiraled through the air before fading into nothingness. All while Shining and Sunset watched in awe.

Well, Shining mostly. Sunset looked satisfied by her handiwork, but not surprised.

“How’s that, Shining?” she asked, laying her head on his shoulder. “Fireworks.”

Shining snorted at that, but continued to enjoy the sounds of Twilight’s climax as she continued to writhe. It lasted several seconds, during which time Twilight’s cries would have alerted the entire castle but for Sunset’s earlier spell. It took some time, but eventually, Twilight’s glow faded, and she was left panting where she lay.

“Wh-what was…” she mumbled tiredly, “wh-what…?”

“Never had a hornjob before?” Sunset asked, scooting over and stroking her sweaty mane.

“Th-this is my first time doing anyth-thing like this,” she breathed, taking great gulps of air. “That w-was…”

“Pretty amazing, right?” Sunset asked, grinning. “I thought so. I’ve never had one done to me before,” she glanced back at Shining meaningfully, “but I’ve got time for that later. How do you feel?”

“W-wow,” was all Twilight could say to that, before a tired smile broke across her face.

“Deep breaths, Twilight,” advised Sunset, before leaning down and kissing her forehead. “Take a break. Feel free to rub yourself again while you get your energy back.”

As she rose up, she looked right at Shining with a predatory grin.

“But it’s my turn, now.”

Red magic covered him from head to hoof, lifted him into the air, and set him down where they had been a few minutes before. Sunset scooted toward him, giving Twilight plenty of room to breathe and recover, then turned her lower body toward him and flipped over on her back.

Shining drank every detail in. The way her mane was splayed on the bed, how she let her back legs fall sideways to reveal herself to him, and most especially how she drew her hooves down her body and spread herself just for him.

Little Shining certainly appreciated the quick show. It had to have been harder than diamonds by this point.

“Whenever you’re ready, Shining,” purred Sunset, fixing him with a half-lidded stare.

Shining grinned, and leaned forward to be on top of her. Their breath mixed as they locked eyes, her desire and anticipation just as evident as he figured his were.

He reached a hoof down to grasp his shaft, adjusting his head and leaning forward so that it pressed against her opening. When she felt it, she hissed, and he could sense her shift her legs further apart.

And then he pushed in.

Just like the last two times, she fit him like a glove. Or perhaps, he fit her. The wonderful wet warmth enveloped his head, and then began to continue to descend as he pushed further and further in. His medial ring took less effort to pass than before, and in a short time, he was hilted inside her, his hips resting comfortably against her’s.

“Aaah,” she sighed, letting her eyes drift shut as she adjusted herself once again to the feeling of him inside of her. “I missed this,” she smiled.

“Yeah,” Shining nodded, not sure what else to say.

She giggled a bit at that, reaching a hoof up to stroke his cheek, but when it came down, she began to push her hips into him, trying to get him going. He got the message.

With a slow, deliberate motion, he pulled back, even bringing his medial ring out, to leave just as much as he dared within her, and then he slammed himself forward, hard. A loud smack! filled the room, slightly muffled by their fur, as their hips collided.

“AH!” yelped Sunset, her eyes flying open from the suddenness of it, but she let them drift shut again as Shining began to establish a rhythm, pounding into her at top speed. His balls slapped against her butt as he hilted inside of her again and again, filling the air with the meaty slaps of their hips colliding, every few of them punctuated by a whimper from Sunset, or if he managed to hit just right, an outright cry.

Rather than simply leave his upper half to just sit there while his lower half did all the work, he took the opportunity to lick and suckle at her neck, with the occasional nip at her shoulder bone. She liked when he bit her ear lobe, but Shining had found a particularly sweet spot right at the crook of her neck and shoulder, and he intended to make liberal use of it.

Maybe he’d even leave a love bite this time, marking her as his mare for all the world to see.

The thought of her wearing such a mark added fuel to the fire that was his libido, and he sped up just enough for her to notice. As soon as he had gotten up to his new speed, she had wrapped her forehooves around his neck and held him there. Unfortunately, it was smushing his muzzle into her skin, which did make it a bit difficult to breathe, but a quick adjustment later, they were kissing with all the passion of their earlier moment.

Their tongues weren’t as coordinated this time around, so it was little more than jamming them together and rubbing them around to add to the moment, but it still made Shining swell inside.

She’s mine, he thought. Out of all the stallions in Equestria, she’s let herself be mine.

Too soon, it ended, but they did have to come up for air. And Sunset had been trying to hold in her coos and whimpers for the sake of their kiss. Shining, too, leaned back, so that he could watch her from above while he pounded into her, but a momentary curiosity overcame him, and he glanced over to Twilight.

She had her back propped up against the footboard of Sunset’s bed, her mouth was parted as she watched them, and her hoof was sliding up and down her folds.

She’s really getting into this, he thought, returning his attention to Sunset beneath him. I can’t wait for her turn.

But first, the mare beneath him.

“F-fuck,” Sunset grunted. Shining could see the warnings of an orgasm starting to appear on her face. She was biting her lip, her face was scrunched up, and she was leaning her head back and arching her chest into the air.

“Almost… there?” Shining breathed, leaning down to say it right into her ear.

She nodded. “C-close…”

As she said that, he could feel the warning signs of an orgasm of his own approaching. The subtle feeling of pressure starting to mount.

“M-me too,” he gasped, leaning back just enough to plant little kisses along her jaw, which only encouraged her to bare more of her neck for him.

“Ah, OH!” Sunset exclaimed, and he could feel it coming. Her walls were clamping down on him, trying to milk him for all he was worth.

“S-Sunny!” he shouted, feeling the pressure reach its peak.

“SHINING!” Sunset cried, grabbing his neck again and pulling him in for a kiss, just as they climaxed, her legs hooking themselves around his hips as he gave one final thrust, pushing his flaring head as deep within her as he could, and released.

Their last session had been a little over a week ago, so he was a bit on the pent-up side, and he was sure that the philter he had drunk was doing its part as well. He released spurt after spurt of his seed within her, continuing to rock his hips as he eked every last bit from his balls. He wanted to fill her. He wanted her so full, it dripped out of her while they slept.

After several seconds of bliss, Shining felt himself give one last contraction, and then he let himself down on top of her, to which she responded by curling her front hooves around him to hold him close, almost like what he had done to her in the bathtub.

“Aah,” he sighed, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“Tired?” she asked, the word slurring ever so slightly in her afterglow.

“Yeah,” Shining sighed. “Just need a minute to… rest.”

“I gotcha,” she replied, before craning her neck just a bit. “How about you?”

Shining looked up and over, where his sister was rubbing rather furiously at this point, her face scrunched up.

“Think she liked it,” Shining observed.

Sunset frowned for a moment. With a quick flash of red light, Twilight’s hoof was pulled away from her folds, much to her dismay.

“Wha-hey!” Twilight exclaimed, giving her an irritated look.

“Your turn,” Sunset said, reaching between them to push Shining off of her. As he felt his cock, which was still erect (no doubt due to the philter), slide free of her depths, he glanced down just in time to see a small stream of his semen start to trickle out of her and into her tail.

Twilight saw it too, and Shining could hear her draw a sharp breath of air in.

Relax, he thought, amused. Probably gonna be nowhere near that much.

"Here, lie back,” she leaned up to guide him down onto his back, with her less than a yard away. Twilight, however, had flipped onto her belly and was crawling toward him, her eyes glazed over and fixed on his cock and a hungry look on her face.

But before she got to him, she diverted course. With a rather quick movement, she leaned down and licked up some of his seed that was dripping from Sunset’s hole.

Shining felt his jaw drop.

Sunset’s legs twitched, but she made no effort to stop Twilight as the younger mare licked up a good amount of the dripping cum…

...and then swallowed.

If Shining’s cock wasn’t erect before, it sure was now.

“How does it taste?” Sunset asked.

Twilight responded by leaning back over and licking every last bit of his cock, cleaning it of the smeared cum from the both of them.

“Enjoying this, S-Sunny?” Shining asked as one of his own legs twitched when Twilight managed to get a reaction out of him with a forceful lick of his sensitive head. She definitely was going to need some work on her mouth technique. Perhaps, if Sunset was up for it, they could invite her back…?

“So hot,” Sunset breathed, grinning. That’s probably as close to a Yes as anything.

As soon as it had been licked to her satisfaction, Twilight finally retreated. And now it was time for her main event.

She was watching his cock, standing there, waiting for her. Unlike Sunset, who had eagerly gotten going, Twilight was staring at it with a large amount of trepidation.

“You alright, Twily?” he asked, feeling concern wash over him.

“I-I’m n-nervous,” she admitted, bowing her head to hide her face from him. “I-it hurts the f-first time, right?”

“Just the first time,” assured Sunset, nodding. “If it’s too much, just stop and wait, alright? Don’t hurt yourself.”

Twilight nodded, her breath getting heavier and more laborious. And then she started to crawl forward, her undercarriage brushing his cock as she went, until the two of them were within inches. She, however, was still looking back, as her magic enveloped his sensitive stallionhood.

“Ooh,” he cooed, as her warm aura covered his shaft and placed his tip right against her folds. He could feel the heat radiating off of them, and no sooner had she touched him than he had felt a trickle of moisture slide down his length.

Once she was in position, she turned to look him in the eyes again. His blue met her purple, and so much was exchanged in one glance. The nervousness, the desire, the anticipation…

And then she began to slowly work her way backward, sliding down onto him.

“A-ah,” Twilight moaned as she pushed her way down his length.

Good Faust above, she is tight!

It couldn’t have been more obvious that this was her first time. She felt much tighter than Sunset had, and it seemed to be taking more effort for Twilight to push her way in than it had Sunset.

Of course, Twilight was five years younger than him, and a couple of years younger than Sunset, and she wasn’t quite fully grown yet, so it was to be expected.

And then he felt a blockage. He hadn’t even gotten a full inch in yet, which left zero doubt for what it was.

The nervousness intensified in Twilight’s eyes, but Shining pulled her forehead down to his to press his against her own, letting her know he was right here, and that he would never hurt her.

She took a deep breath in, and then pushed.

“A-AH!” Twilight screamed, her eyes clenching shut and her legs faltering under her. Quick as he could Shining sat up a bit and caught her, thankfully only barely moving his shaft with all of the shifting. He held her in his arms, kissing away the tears as she winced and quivered from the pain. He didn’t care how long it would take, all that mattered was that Twilight was in pain, and he was going to be there for her until it had passed.

Sunset, meanwhile sidled over to lay down next to him while he held Twilight. Like him, her focus was on her younger counterpart.

“You okay, Twilight?” she asked gently.

Twilight, whose face was still screwed up in pain, nodded, before a tremor wracked her and she let out a quiet sob of pain.

“You don’t have to do this tonight,” Sunset said, her red magic conjuring a tissue to mop up the trickle of blood that had issued from her broken hymen. “If it’s too much, I have something for the pain--”

“No!” Twilight cried, her breathing just as labored as it had been before she had given Shining her virginity. “No, I want this,” she growled, gritting her teeth as she tried to fight her way through the pain. “I want this!”

Shining and Sunset exchanged a glance, but did nothing to stop her. She was pushing herself up and out of Shining’s grasp, slowly taking control again.

“Are… are you sure?” he asked her. “I… you know I’d never hurt you.”

“Shining,” Twilight said in a weak voice, bracing her front hooves against the bed. And then she pushed back again. “I w-want this.”

Shining groaned as he felt more of his shaft push into her, reaching deeper and deeper inside at an agonizing rate. Twilight just continued to push, trying to take as much of him as she could, before she finally came to rest against his medial ring.

“Don’t force yourself,” advised Sunset. “You’re young and still growing, so you aren’t going to be able to take as much as me. Don’t take more than you’re capable of.”

But Twilight seemed heedless to Sunset’s advice, instead pushing herself even harder, until Shining’s medial ring finally slipped inside.

“Mmph!” Shining grunted as it did, and Twilight continued to push herself downward, until finally, after a few more seconds, he felt himself push up against her deepest barrier. There were still roughly two inches to go for him, but he was impressed that Twilight, young as she was, could take this much. He could hilt himself inside of Sunset, as demonstrated only a few minutes ago, but he was sure there was still a bit of room to spare. With Twilight, however, assuming they did this again, he was certain she’d be able to fit all of him in a few years.

But Twilight still didn’t stop. She continued to try and force him deeper, trying to fit those last bits inside of her, despite the obvious pain on her face.

“Twilight, stop,” Shining reached out and grasped both of her front hooves in his before she could hurt herself. “I’m in as far as I’m going to be able to go.”

“No,” she shook her head. He could see that she had grit her teeth, and she was continuing to try to push her hips into his. “I can… I will…”

“Twilight, stop,” Shining finally flipped her onto her back so that he was the one in control. “If you keep going, you’re going to hurt yourself.”

Sunset leaned onto her side and stroked Twilight’s mane as she lay there. She really seemed to like doing that, he noticed. “Twilight, trust me, you don’t have to take all of Shining to be able to enjoy him.”

“But I w-want to,” Twilight insisted. “I want to m-make him feel good.”

“Sis,” Shining reached a hoof down to cup her cheek, “come on. With all your reading, I’d have thought someone would have mentioned that it’s not about how much you can take. It’s about who you’re sharing the moment with.”

Twilight finally relaxed against the pillows as he said that. “O-okay,” she replied nervously, looking down herself to the spot where they were joined. “I just… I w-wanted to make you f-feel as good as Sunset did.”

“Twilight, honey,” Sunset managed to contain a giggle, “I have practice. Don’t try to copy what I can do. Try to focus on what you can do that I can’t. I know you probably don’t know just what you can do, but…”

Her eyes flicked toward Shining for the briefest moment.

“Be you. Not me.”

“Sunny’s right, Twily,” Shining gave pulled back and gave a light thrust to punctuate the point. Twilight made possibly the softest “Ah,” that had ever been recorded, which only reinforced his point.

“I… I’ll try,” Twilight promised, though the omnipresent nervousness was there, naturally.

“How would you like me to go?” Shining asked, patiently refraining from any more thrusting until he knew what she wanted.

“Start… slowly,” Twilight answered, her eyes still glued to their conjoined nethers. “And….”

“And?” Shining pressed.

“Lean over me,” she finished, looking away again. “like… like you did with her.”

“Twilight, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Sunset assured her, smiling sweetly. “Really, you can trust us with anything you find you like.”

Shining didn’t add anything to that. Instead, he did as asked, leaning his upper body down, settling over her just as he had with Sunset, with his front hooves resting on either side of her barrel, and his head low enough to where their breath mixed.

“Like this?” he asked.

Twilight nodded, returning her gaze to his own. “Y-yes. Just like this.”

Shining smiled reassuringly at her, and then, just like before, withdrew just a bit and then pushed back in.

“Aaah,” Twilight sighed, letting her eyes drift shut. “Yeah, like that.”

So he obliged. He would withdraw slowly, taking just a bit more each time, and then just as slowly, push back in. Every thrust caused her to let out some sort of moan or sigh.. If this was how she sounded now, when he was controlling himself and going this slow, how was she going to sound when he picked up?

Unfortunately, things were thrown off when she tried to buck her hips into his in time. It didn’t kill the moment, but it certainly made thrusting a bit harder when he tried to go in but she would pull back and then push back in irregularly.

“Twilight,” Shining stuck a hoof on her sternum rather firmly to get her attention.

"I… am I doing s-something wrong?” Twilight asked, and Shining was alarmed to see that she looked scared again. Not nervous, like the last few times, but actually scared.

“Stop trying to push back,” Shining replied, as gently as he could. “You’re not in trouble. this isn’t being graded or anything, but let me do all the work, alright? You’re new to this and I want it to be as amazing for you as it is for me and Sunny.”

“I’m s-sorry,” Twilight looked away again, cringing at herself. “I just… I know first times are supposed to be awkw-ward, but I w-wanted to make you feel as good as you’re making me feel and it’s n-not working and…”

And unfortunately for Shining, she was off on one of her patented apocalyptic scenarios. Usually the only way to shake her out of them was with something a bit drastic, and he had just the thing.

Though will Sunny like it? he thought, giving her a glance.

She noticed. “What?” she asked, confused by his look.

“Sorry about this,” he said.

“Sorry about what?”

But Shining didn’t answer that. Instead, he simply reached a hoof around, turned his sister’s face toward him, and before she could react, he leaned down and kissed her right on the lips.

It wasn’t anything spectacular. He just needed something to calm her down, and the few moments of surprise granted by this would hopefully do it. Satisfied that he had stopped her, he started to pull back.

But he hadn’t even gone two inches when he felt her hooves take hold of his face and pull him back down, kissing him right back. And unlike his kiss, which had just been a simple plant of the lips, hers were moving.

She… she really likes this, Shining thought, feeling his eyelids drift shut, and beginning to return the kiss.

It felt like the first few times he and Cadance had kissed, when all they did was just work each others’ lips, but he had a feeling that it didn’t matter to Twilight. She even proved most receptive when he finally poked at her lips with his tongue, opening up and beginning the dance. Once that happened, he started to thrust again, which added hums to the mix.

If he were honest with himself, she definitely needed work here too. The entire area around his mouth was covered with her saliva in seconds as she continued to deepen their kiss, and her tongue was just sort of being thrust into his mouth and rubbed against his own.

She’ll learn, he thought, before letting his mind go blank again as he picked up pace.

After several blissful moments, they finally broke apart when Shining hit a spot inside of her that finally made Twilight cry out.

But when she tried to resume the kiss, she accidentally brushed his horn with her own. And, like it had when Sunset had stimulated it, it triggered her climax.

“AH! AAAAAH!” she screamed, tensing up and glowing once more. Her eyes clenched shut, her face screwed up, and her breast arched toward the ceiling. Within her passage, her walls were now clamping down on his cock, and her spasming legs were squeezing it even tighter every half-second.

And Shining could feel it now. The pressure he had felt earlier with Sunset was back, and it seemed to be coming even more powerfully than before.

“Shining!” Sunset exclaimed, reaching out to try and pull him back, but he had crossed the point of no return and there was no way of backing him off safely.

As Twilight’s horn began to shoot off stars while she writhed beneath him, Shining continued to thrust, feeling them grow more and more erratic as he teetered on the edge.

“Twilight!” he finally cried out, his cock flaring as he let loose inside of her in what felt like the single most powerful orgasm he had ever experienced.

Every stream of stars that issued from her horn coincided with a spurt of his seed within her. It felt like it had to have lasted an endless amount of minutes. His orgasm just seemed to stretch on and on as he sent rope after rope into her waiting womb…

Until he could feel it dying down as he finally reached empty, thrusting a few more weak times and pushing out just a trickle or two more of his semen. Underneath him, Twilight was still in the throes of her own climax, her face still completely screwed up as the orgasmic bliss continued to ravage her, and her horn continued to shoot stars.

Without pausing to consider his own safety, Shining leaned back down and kissed her once more. thrusting his tongue to meet her own without waiting, and caressing it gently as she reflexively clutched at his back.

This moment… this wonderful moment… it felt no different from the times he and Sunset kissed during their sessions. The same passion was there, and deep down… deep down, Shining could feel that same feeling. That same… whatever it was that had been there with Cadance and was there with Sunset.

And all too soon, she came down.

As she did, he separated from her to give her some breathing room, though she did try to chase him like before. However, unlike last time, he didn’t try to go any further, and just rested his forehead against her own and let their breath mix as they both took great gulps of air.

“So, how was it?” came Sunset’s voice from his left.

Twilight didn’t say anything. Or perhaps she couldn’t. She was completely and utterly exhausted, her mane with a light glisten from the sweat within it, and her eyes barely staying open.

“Did you enjoy it?” Sunset asked again. To that, Twilight managed a weak nod.

“I definitely enjoyed watching you two,” Sunset stroked Twilight’s mane with a hoof. “And if you want, I’m definitely okay with doing this again.”

“I… think… I’d like that,” Twilight managed with a slight whimper as Shining shifted beneath her, his cock still buried inside her.

“Welp, you’re clearly exhausted, and I’m a little on the tired side myself,” Sunset slid herself under the covers of her bed and held up an opening for them as well. “How about we end the evening with a nice long sleep?”

Twilight nodded again, and Shining took that as his signal to start pulling out of her--

“W-wait!” one of her hooves caught his own, stopping him.

“Twily?” he asked, pausing before he could extract himself.

“C-could I…” her blush, still present from the last several minutes, deepend somewhat. Shining, however, caught her meaning.

Sliding his hooves under her shoulders, he scooped her up into his arms, flipped them around so that he was on his back and she was resting on his belly, and then managed to slide them both into the waiting opening in the bed’s comforter.

“Aww, you two look just adorable like that,” cooed Sunset.

Shining let out a tired chuckle, but Twilight, it seemed, was letting herself fall asleep without waiting.

“Let me get the lights,” Sunset said, her red magic dimming all of the artificial light fixtures in the room.

As soon as the room went dark, Shining relaxed his head into the pillow behind him. What a night, he thought. Who’d have thought an hour ago that he’d have had a threesome with his marefriend and his sister?

Or more, that he had enjoyed being with his sister just as much as he had with Sunset?

With that thought in mind, he leaned up and kissed Twilight’s forehead through her mane. Just a little gesture of affection. He was with Sunset; if Twilight wanted to do more of this, he was very okay with it.

Though they’d have to be careful considering how quickly rumors could spread and how devastating an impact they could have in the capital of Equestrian culture. Still, they’d worry about that later.

“Love you, Shining,” Twilight mumbled sleepily, so quietly he was almost sure he didn’t hear it, before he felt her head rest on his ribs.

With one last smile to himself, he draped an arm around Twilight, leaned his head sideways to touch Sunset’s and let sleep overtake him.

Helping Everypony's Relationship Dynamic

View Online

“What is this?”

A familiar white hoof pushed a rather large tome into Twilight’s vision, blocking her access to her most recent read that morning. It wasn’t hard to recognize. She did, after all, know every book in the library and her own tower.

“I believe, Shining,” Twilight answered lightly, slowly pushing it aside to return to her own, “that this is what normal ponies call a ‘book.’”

“I know what a book is, damn it,” Shining growled, “”but what I want to know is why it had been stuck in Sunset’s bed this morning. What was that for!?”

“I should think it was obvious,” Twilight turned a page idly. “It was for you to read.”

“Any plans on not being smart with me today?” Shining demanded, his white hoof practically shoving her book out of her own, down onto the library table. “Look at me, Twily.”

Twilight did, giving her brother a cool gaze as she did. “I was reading that, Shiny,” she said.

Contrary to her expectations, Shining didn’t look angry. He only looked mildly irritated at worst, truth be told. And he was staring at her suspiciously.

“Twilight, no more games,” he sat across from her at the table. “Why did you leave this book on Sunset’s bed last night?”

“Did you even read it?” Twilight asked, feeling no small amount of exasperation. Honestly, what did ponies even do with books if not read them?

“We wanted to know why it was left on her bed,” Shining answered.

“Yes, as you’ve told me three times now,” Twilight replied airily, before sighing. “Fine. Shining, what is the title of that book called?”

Shining looked down at the book in question, with its green hardback cover, and slid his eyes across the words printed on its front.

“‘Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Herds, But Were Too Afraid To Ask’,” he recited.

“Yes, Shiny,” Twilight smirked. “Tell me, have you ever read about herd dynamics before?”

She just felt so light today! After the amazing events of the night before, she wanted nothing more than to prance and leap all around the library, but unfortunately, she couldn’t because that would lead to some awkward questions. That didn’t stop her voice from showing off her newfound confidence and joy. She hadn’t stuttered once since the night before, her heat appeared to be completely gone for the year, and she just couldn’t keep her mind off of the amazing things Sunset and Shining had done with her.

“I’ve never even heard of herds before,” Shining replied, before he winced. “You set that up, didn’t you?”

“Maaaaaybe,” Twilight’s smirk widened. “Didn’t know you liked puns, Shiny.”

“Okay, what’s going on?” Shining asked, giving her an amused look. “You’re different today. I haven’t heard you stutter, you suddenly seem oodles more confident, and I don’t remember you ever being this teasing.”

“I just feel great today,” she practically sang, taking the opportunity to stretch.

“Anyway, back to herds,” Shining steered the conversation back where he wanted it, “what’s all this about herd dynamics?”

“Alright then, let me be brief,” she pressed her hooves together and rested her chin on them. “Herds are like traditional marriage, only less binding and capable of including more than two ponies. You don’t see very many herds in Canterlot due to how traditional this city has the tendency to be, so I can’t really give you a good example of one that exists, but…”

Shining’s look of irritation had changed to one of interest by this.

“...say you and Sunset and… a hypothetical mare not based on a current living pony named Starlight Glimmer,” she gave her brother a meaningful look, “decided that you all wanted to be in one large relationship. Each pony loved the other two equally. They couldn’t get legally married, but by invoking a herd dynamic, they would have the same legal protections and privileges as those that are married, with a few alterations.”

“Twilight, are you asking if you want to form a herd with me and Sunset?” Shining asked.

Twilight, however, chose to continue as if she hadn’t heard.

“Now, let’s say Sunset found another mare she liked,” she continued. “If you and Starlight decided you both liked her, this new mare would become a core member of your herd. If not, Sunset could keep this mare as her…” what was the phrase again? “...I think it’s called ‘auxiliary’ herd? We’ll go with that.”

“Twilight, let me ask again,” Shining gave her a very pointed gaze, “are you asking to form a herd with me and Sunset?”

“No, Shining, I’m actually not,” she huffed, irritated that he wasn’t giving her ample time to explain. “Not yet, anyway.”

Shining blinked.

“‘Yet?’”

“Let’s face it, Shiny,” Twilight sighed, “I loved last night. I really did. And I know you and Sunset did too. But unfortunately, we live in Canterlot.”

“What’s wrong with living in Canterlot?” Shining asked, confused.

“Perhaps it would be best if I were the one to answer that, my faithful student.”

Twilight felt all the blood drain from her face. From behind a bookshelf stepped none other than Princess Celestia herself, looking down at the both of them with a gleam of mischief in her eyes.

“Hello there, Private Armor,” the Princess smiled at Shining, who grinned back and waved.

“Morning, Princess.”

“H-how much of that d-did you hear?” Twilight asked, mortified. How was Shining not terrified out of his skin right now!?

“Enough,” answered the Princess, giving her a rather meaningful gaze. “As I have told your brother several times by now, however,” she turned to glance out one of the windows, “the personal relationships of my subjects are no business of mine.”

Twilight glanced rather nervously at Shining, who gave her an encouraging smile and a nod. “She kinda figured out Sunset and I a few days ago. I guess it makes sense she’d figure this out too.”

“You’re not… mad?” Twilight asked her mentor. Celestia also gave her a gentle smile.

“My opinion doesn’t matter, Twilight. Though I feel it is worth pointing out,” and here her voice got conspiratorially-low, “that if I of all ponies were to act judgemental towards others for having feelings for their siblings, or for acting on them, I would be one of the greatest hypocrites in all of Equestria.”

“W-wait,” that could only mean… “...you have a sister?”

“I do,” Celestia nodded, before turning to stare wistfully out of the window up to the sky. “I have not seen her in a very long time, and I miss her dearly, but I know we will see each other soon. And perhaps…” she shrugged, “...pick up where we left off, so to speak. So you see,” she turned her eyes back to Twilight and Shining, “you will hear no admonishment from me about your evening activities.”

“Did you find out by listening in, or…?” Shining queried.

“Sunset took all the precautions,” Princess Celestia strode toward their table and took a seat with them, “but the air was thick with magic when I retired to my room for the night. Her’s… and Twilight’s.”

“O-oh,” Twilight felt herself blush. Right. Her… what did Sunset call it? A “horngasm?”

“And of course your own, Private,” added the Princess. “It was rather easy to put two and two together. Now, if I recall, you were discussing herds?”

Twilight and Shining looked at each other for a moment.

“She left a book on them in Sunset’s room,” Shining tapped the one in question. “I wanted to know why. And what does living in Canterlot have to do with this?”

“I will start with the latter,” the princess slid the book toward herself. “As you are well aware, Canterlot is a very traditional city. While things have certainly gotten more progressive elsewhere, tradition remains deep-seated within Canterlot. As a result, you will not find many herds here in this city.”

“Um, okay,” Shining looked more confused now. “But why does that matter?”

“Canterlot’s traditionalism matters, Shining, because it would affect how you would want to go forming your herd, should you choose the route that includes your sister.” She sounded quite patient with him, which Twilight was thankful for. Sometimes her brother could just be so thick, but he never meant badly by it. “Relationships between brother and sister have long stopped having a biological impact due to the prevalence of magic, but the traditional taboo still exists, as far as marriage is concerned. Due to herds being much more fluid than marriages, that isn’t the case, and seeing siblings within the same herd, while uncommon, is not considered taboo.”

Shining’s eyes lit up with understanding.

“Oh!” he exclaimed. “But because Canterlot is as traditional and gossipy as it is, I can’t just add Twily to a herd immediately, because then rumors will spread, right?”

Celestia smiled and nodded. “Exactly, private. There is law against public insults. If someone were to publicly insult you, due to your status as a guardspony, they would have insulted the entire brotherhood of guardsponies, and thus would make themselves many enemies. And were someone to insult Twilight, or Sunset, they would have insulted me by proxy, and thus would have to answer to me for the slight. But despite that, there is no law that can prevent gossip, or prevent your reputations from suffering.”

“Wouldn’t having Twily in the herd at all cause them to spread anyway?” Shining asked.

Celestia shook her head. “Not necessarily. Were you to have a herd with more than just yourself and Sunset in it at the time you decided to add Twilight, it would appear to the outside that the other mares of your herd wanted to add her. Or at least, it would be unchallengeable to those wishing to do harm to you or your reputations. But if it were just you and Sunset forming a herd, it would raise suspicions that the herd was formed just so you could bed your sister.”

“Oh,” Shining said.

“And that is why Twilight is suggesting this book to you. Am I correct, Twilight?”

Twilight smiled and nodded at her teacher. “Yep!”

“So, if this is the path you choose to tread,” Celestia pressed her hooves together under her chin, “Speak with Sunset first. And when you do, tell her to speak with me about it as well.”

“Yes ma’am,” Shining dipped his head.

With that, the Princess stood up and trotted out, humming something to herself as she went, leaving Twilight and Shining to stare after her.

“Did she just butt in on a conversation about sex?” Twilight asked.

“Yep,” Shining answered.

“You don’t seem terribly surprised.”

“Nope.”

“Did she do it to you too?”

Sort of,” Shining shrugged. “She broke the ice between myself and Sunset with ‘How long have the two of you been having sex?’ After that, this was rather tame.”

“Anyway, she basically said it better than I could have,” Twilight’s magic coated the book and shoved it back into Shining’s hooves. “You and Sunset should still read it.”

“Hang on,” Shining frowned, “she mentioned that it needed to be more than just me and Sunset if we wanted to make this a thing.”

“She advised it, yeah,” Twilight dipped her head, “which was what I was going to tell you myself before she came in. Herd history is rather fascinating. Did you know that Braytish King Henry VIII was the one who invented the concept of the herd?”

“Uh, no,” Shining started to slowly back away. “I, uhh… do you really have to lecture me about history now?”

“It’s relevant, I promise,” Twilight assured him, marking the book she had been reading before and closing it. “Basically he wanted to divorce his wife, but he wasn’t allowed to, so he decided to introduce the concept of herds, so he could bring in any mare he wanted with his wife’s, and later, herdmates’, approval. It also proved to have the side-effect of being a way of dealing with the high mare-to-stallion ratio among the Equestrian race.”

“Twily, stop,” Shining facehoofed. “I just want to know what you mean by that.”

“By what?” Twilight tilted her head.

“By needing to bring in more than just me and Sunset.”

“Oh. I think that should be obvious,” she placed her forehooves neatly into her lap. “If you want to go the herd route, and you want to include me in it, you need more mares in your herd than just Sunset.”

She tapped her chin thoughtfully.

“Maybe when Cadance gets back, you can try to recruit her.”

She almost didn’t notice the slightly-pained look that crossed his face. Almost.

“Are you still sore about that?” she asked.

“No,” Shining shook his head. “It’s just… she is back.”

“Wait, what?” Twilight leapt to her hooves. “The best foalsitter in all of Equestria is back from her little trip, and you never told me!?”

“You were stuck in that tower of yours the whole time!” Shining raised his hooves defensively.

“Where is she? I’ve got to go say hello!”

And without waiting for an answer, she dashed off.

Shining sat alone in the library for several minutes, processing all that he had learned.

So, Twilight wants to join a herd with me and Sunset.

Ugh, why did this whole romance stuff have to be so complicated? First it was just him and Sunset, and then Sunset was letting him go after other mares, but now Cadance is back to muddy the waters, and his own sister had the hots for him and they’d had sex the night before.

What would Mom and Dad think? he thought, letting his chin rest on the table Twilight had been reading at, before he noticed her book was still there.

Should probably take this back to her.

So he did. Or rather, he tried to. Unfortunately, her tower was locked when he visited.

He supposed he could leave it on her doorstep, but then he remembered the weather team had scheduled light showers that afternoon, and if a page so much as got even a molecule of water on it, she would have given him an earful, quite possibly for several hours.

Shuddering as he remembered how much she had yelled at him after the Pony of Liberty incident, he turned around and trotted back into the castle. Clearly there was only one other solution, and that was to give it to Twilight directly.

Which meant he would be in proximity to his ex-marefriend.

He gulped. Hopefully, she didn’t hate him.

Unfortunately for Shining, he had never visited Cadance’s room like Twilight had. Cadance had always been the one to meet him at Mom and Dad’s house. As such, he had no idea where he was going.

Fortunately, some of his fellow guards knew the way and pointed him in the right direction. Cadance’s room was in the same wing as Princess Celestia’s room and the Dusk Quarters, naturally, but Cadance had apparently moved out of it and to a different floor, presumably to distance herself from Sunset in light of her’s and Shining’s relationship.

It wasn’t hard to find. But when he did, he found the door cracked open and could hear Twilight’s and Cadance’s voices from within.

Shining didn’t want to eavesdrop, he really didn’t, but he just couldn’t help himself, as he let the book slide out of his grasp and he sat against the wall.

“--and I’ve been living in that tower ever since!” he heard Twilight chirp happily. No doubt she was telling Cadance all about what happened over the last three years to her.

“I always joke with Auntie about how you were one day going to live in a library, and now look,” snickered Cadance. “Your own personal tower of books.”

“Living in a library would be pretty nice,” Twilight sighed dreamily. “Just think of all the books! Hours and hours of reading and time all to myself! Maybe even a library inside a tree!”

Shining felt a smile tug at his face.

“You know, you seem to have really come into your own since I left,” Cadance said. “Last time I talked to you, you had that stutter you were trying to get over. What happened?”

“Oh, this and that,” Twilight replied airily. Shining was intensely grateful she didn’t spill the beans.

“‘This and that’, huh?” Cadance asked, and Shining cringed. Of course the alicorn of love could figure that out. “Alright, who is he? I want to meet him.”

“He’s uh…” and here Shining could hear the nervousness in her voice again. “H-he’s not here right now.”

“I just want to know his name, Twilight.” Shining could visualize the teasing grin on her face as she said that. “Did he help you with your heat? Is that it?”

“Pr-retty much.”

Cadance sighed happily. “You know, I’ve heard there’s a lot of things getting a special somepony and making love with them will fix. Confidence is most obvious, and you’re oozing it compared to how you were when I saw you last. Was it last night?”

“Y-yeah, it was.”

“Twilight, this isn’t an interrogation. If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to. I’m just teasing you.”

“I kn-now. I was just… I wanted to talk to you about something else while I was here. Something… private.”

“Oh? What juicy secrets do you have for me?” Cadance asked conspiratorially.

“W-well, it’s about my brother.”

There was a long pause. Shining could have heard a pin drop on the carpeted floor.

“Are you mad at him?” Twilight asked nervously.

“No,” sighed Cadance. “He didn’t do anything wrong. It’s… it’s my fault honestly. I took what Auntie wanted me to do so seriously I didn’t allow myself to act rationally, and now.... now he’s with that Sunset Shimmer mare.”

“Have you met her?”

“Yeah. She seems… nice. I mean,” Shining visualized her waving a hoof vaguely like she used to, “I haven't exactly spent what you’d call ‘quality time’ with her, but she doesn’t seem bad. Why do you ask?”

“Well, we are both Princess Celestia’s students, so we’ve spent some time together.”

“How much time, exactly?” Cadance asked. “I don’t remember Auntie’s apprentices doing much cooperative work. You’re all usually on your own private curricula.”

“She helped me out with my heat this past season.”

“Was this before or after you got a coltfriend?”

“I, uhh…”

Shining felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. He knew that tone. That was the tone of voice Twilight always took when she was about to spill.

“...I n-never said I had a coltfriend, did I?”

Again, pin drop.

“Have you been sleeping with Sunset Shimmer?” Cadance asked. She didn’t seem mad, strangely enough. More… amused? That seemed like the right word.

“Uhh… sort of?”

Everything fell silent again. But then, Shining could almost hear Cadance put two and two together.

“Noooooo,” Cadance exclaimed. “No, don’t tell me…”

“Yep,” sighed Twilight.

“You and…?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“With her there?”

“She kind of arranged everything.”

A wet trickle at the nape of his neck got his attention. He didn’t realize he had been sweating, and quickly pawed it away.

“Twilight, I don’t need to tell you how dangerous that is, right? For you and him? And Sunset Shimmer for facilitating it?”

“No, you don’t,” Twilight answered. “We had a nice talk about it this morning, and I already have a solution in mind.”

He could hear shuffling.

“Oh damn, I left the book in the library,” cursed Twilight. “Mind if I go retrieve it real quick?”

“Sure,” Cadance replied. “I’ll just sit here, freaking out about how my ex-coltfriend is sleeping with two mares, one of which is his own sister, while I only just officially broke up with him mere days ago. Any way fate can twist the knife further?”

That rhetorical question was answered by Twilight trotting out the door and turning to head to the library, only to freeze when she saw him there.

For a long, heartstopping moment, they just stared at each other, Shining on his haunches and Twilight frozen in surprise.

“Twilight? What’s up?” asked Cadance, trotting forward. And once she stepped out and saw who Twilight was staring at, she too started to stare at him.

“Umm,” Shining got to his hooves and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, before offering Twilight the book she was after. “You f-forgot your library book.”

Twilight, however, did not take the library book she had been on her way to get ten seconds before.

“In,” ordered Cadance, in a deathly quiet voice, backing up and jabbing a hoof inside her room.

Shining had never before appreciated just how well Cadance had taken after their mother. He supposed she’d have to if she’d been able to keep a good eye on Twilight while she was a foal.

That was the dreaded Whisper of Grounding.

Only now, he was sure he’d rather be grounded for months than be here for this.

But before he could flee, Twilight’s horn glowed and Shining felt something grab his tail and yank him inside, the library book flying out of his hooves as he did.

Cadance’s room was pink. Her bed was pink, her carpet was pink, her walls were pink, the throw rug between her door and her bed was pink, the ceiling was pink, even her desk was pink!

“Why is your room so pink?” he wondered aloud.

Cadance hopped up onto her bed, snorting. “It’s not pink, it’s lightish-red.”

Shining was about to retort that there already was a color for lightish-red, and it was called pink, but Twilight picked him up with magic and slammed him down on his back on Cadance’s bed.

This is a really nice bed… he thought as he bounced at least six inches up before coming back down.

“So,” both Cadance and Twilight were glaring down at him now, “eavesdropping, were we?” Twilight asked, scowling at him.

“:I haven’t been dropping no eaves, Twilight, honest!”

Twilight snorted. Inwardly, Shining smiled. While his literary repertoire would never be as good as Twilight’s, he could still drop a mean Coltien reference every now and again.

“What did you hear?” Cadance asked, glaring down at him.

“Uhh… I plead the fifth?”

Cadance looked over at Twilight, who just shrugged. With a groan, she let Shining up.

“Why were you listening in, Shining?” she asked.

“I, uhh, I didn’t mean to,” Shining immediately responded defensively. “I just… you really did forget your book, and I was gonna bring it to your tower, but the door was locked, so I came here, and the door was open and… well,” he tossed a hoof lamely.

“I mean, we did need to talk about that,” Twilight noted, sliding off the bed and trotting out to grab the book that had been left out there. “You, me, Sunset, and Cadance.”

“Wait, what?” both Cadance and Shining stared after her, confused, before turning to each other.

“Did you know about this?” Cadance asked.

“Twilight’s been very secretive today, so no, I didn’t,” he replied honestly, before screwing up his eyes thoughtfully. “Though she did leave that book on Sunset’s nightstand after… uhh…” he trailed off, again aware of exactly what he was about to talk about to the last pony he wanted to talk about it with.

Cadance, however, blushed a bit when he realized just what he was going to talk about, and looked away.

“You know, I can’t help but notice that Princess Celestia’s more cunning side has rubbed off on Twilight,” he said, hoping to change the topic.

“Does that surprise you?” Cadance asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Honestly? Yeah, a lot,” Shining answered, letting his head fall backward into Cadance’s incredibly-comfy bed. “You should have heard her last night.”

Cadance blushed rather furiously.

“O-oh,” Shining realized what he’d said. “Sorry. I mean before that. She picked up a stutter after you left, and it was at its worst last night. That filly is so awkward when she’s in an unfamiliar situation…”

“I don’t know about that,” Cadance tapped her chin and glanced at the ceiling thoughtfully. “You never got to foalsit her. She’s really excitable when you get her on a subject she’s enthusiastic about. But unfamiliar things, yeah, I can understand that.”

“And where is she, exactly?” Shining glanced toward Cadance’s door. “It does not take that long to go get a library book that I just left outside the--”

But before he could finish his statement, there was a sudden burst of light, and something heavy tumbled onto the bed, landing right on top of Cadance.

“Oof!” Cadance gasped, topping over underneath the heavy shape. When Shining turned to see who it was, he was startled to see Sunset there, lying on her back on top of Cadance, eyes wide, mouth thin, and looking as though she had no idea what had just happened.

“...the buck was that?” she asked, not turning from the ceiling. “Where am I?”

“My… room…” grunted Cadance from underneath.

“Oh! Sorry!” Sunset scrambled up, allowing Cadance to right herself. As they both got into more comfortable positions, they noticed just who it was they were meeting.

“Princess,” said Sunset in an emotionless voice, sidling closer to Shining subtly as she did.

“Sunset,” Cadance inclined her head. “What was that?”

“You tell me!” Sunset exclaimed in exasperation, tossing her hooves into the air. “One moment I’m, lying on my bed doing some reading, and the next thing I know, I hear my door open and poof, I come crashing down on you!”

“That was me,” Twilight came trotting in, smiling sheepishly, the library book in her telekinetic grasp. “Sorry. I’m still working on fine-tuning teleporting others.”

“Okay, spill,” Cadance shut the door behind her and locked it. “What’s going on?”

“Shining is already aware of my plan here,” Twilight sat on her haunches, her tone entering “Lecture Mode™” as she set the book aside.

“Wait, ‘plan?’” Shining’s train of thought came to a screeching halt. “You said nothing about a plan.”

“Well, it wasn’t an actual plan then, but it is now,” she grinned.

“Twilight wants the three of us to form a herd,” Shining interjected before she could get started. “Then after we’re a herd, you two can invite her in, and that way all four of us end up happy.”

Twilight’s grin slid into a pout. “Some ponies just have no sense of dramatic build-up.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Cadance stared at her, mouth agape. “You want the three of us to what now?”

“Fuck it, I’m down.”

Cadance’s and Shining’s gazes snapped to Sunset, who looked rather indifferent. When she noticed they were staring-- even Twilight looked surprise by this--, looked thoroughly non-plussed.

“What?” she asked, looking between both of them. “Shining knows I don’t mind him going after other mares if I’m alright with it . And uh, well…” she tossed a hoof lamely at Cadance, “he’s not exactly over you.”

Cadance’s shocked look turned to Shining. “And you’re okay with this?” she demanded.

“She wears the saddle in this relationship,” admitted Shining meekly.

“Not immediately,” Sunset added. “I think we can give this a try, I think it’s a good idea and everypony wins, but…” she grimaced and gave Cadance an apologetic look. “Just… not right now. I don’t know anything about you other than you broke my coltfriend’s heart. Not to mention that first impression we got a few days ago.”

Cadance winced. “Yeah, I agree.”

Twilight observed the proceedings with interest. “I didn’t expect both of you to be open to the idea like this.”

“You leave Canterlot for a few years, and when you get back, everyone’s completely different,” Cadance remarked softly.

“Welcome to my world,” Shining replied. “Just a few weeks ago, everything was nice. Then suddenly I get into a relationship with Sunset and everything gets turned upside-down.”

“You love it though,” Sunset smirked at him.

“I didn’t say I didn’t,” Shining retorted with a smirk of his own.

“Alright, fine,” Cadance seemed almost defeated as she sighed. “We can… try it, I guess. Whenever you feel ready, that is.”

Twilight let out a tiny squee as she observed the proceedings.

“Excellent. Project HERD is a go!”

That caused everyone to stare at her.

“What?” Twilight looked confused. “It stands for ‘Helping Everypony’s Relationship Dynamic.’ It’s the perfect acronym.”

“The acronym isn’t the problem,” Cadance sighed patiently. “I’ll handle this,” she told Shining and Sunset. “And I need some time to think about things.”

Twilight pouted again as they left. “But I haven’t gotten done explaining the intricacies of Project HERD yet!”

“You’ll manage,” Cadance assured her as the door opened, allowing them to exit. “Time for some filly talk.”

As Sunset and Shining trotted out, with the door shutting behind them, Shining was trying to wrap his head around the past 36 hours.

In short order, he had gone from just him and Sunset to having sex with his sister and now being involved in a plot by said sister to pair all three of them together with Cadance.

“Is my romantic life ever going to be normal?” he whined aloud.

Sunset snorted, and gave him a playful bump. “With a family like yous, I doubt it. But if it means that much to you, how about just you and me tonight?”

Shining felt a grateful smile cross his face as they neared Sunset’s room, which it turned out was not as far fro Cadance’s room as he thought. “That sounds nice, actually. A refreshing change of pace.”

“Cool. But for right now, you can help me clean my sheets. We made quite a mess last night.”

“Sure thing, Sunny,” He nodded as they trotted inside.

“And I reserve the right to make more of a mess on them before we clean them,” Sunset added, giving him a sultry look as the door shut behind her.

“Have I mentioned I love you yet?” Shining asked as the lock clicked.

“You can say it as many times as you like,” Sunset replied, before they spent the next several minutes making absolutely sure the sheets needed cleaning..

Performance at the Park [OS]

View Online

One of Shining Armor’s days off found him wandering around Canterlot all by his lonesome.

The last few weeks had been rather hectic, with Sunset’s heat, that encounter with Rainbow Dash, the return of Cadance, and so on. Knowing his luck, that was far from the last uneventful thing that was going to happen to him, so days like today were more than welcome.

Sunset and Twilight had both gone with Princess Celestia to San Franciscolt for some apprentice business, leaving him here, and Cadance in charge of the castle. And with Cadance in charge of the castle, she was kept busy, meaning that Shining Armor’s free days had to be spent alone.

It wasn’t terribly often that he got an afternoon on the town these days. Which meant he was looking forward to enjoying himself immensely.

The day started off well enough. He had gotten breakfast at Donut Joe’s, just like old times. Future Shining was probably going to be puking them up during training tomorrow, but that was Future Shining’s problem.

As he trotted about the streets of Lower Canterlot, licking the leftover glaze from his right hoof, he found one of the many posting boards around the city. He needed something to do, and this was probably the place to find it.

As he took his place next to the several ponies looking at the large board, stuck on a random street stand, the multitude of multicolored bulletins all stood out to him. There was a hoofball game that afternoon at Canterlot Stadium. There was an advert for a Wonderbolt Tryout at the Derby Grounds in a few days’ time. There was even some kind of poster with a giant black equal sign talking about something to do with cutie marks and equalization, but it was just so poorly organized and dull that Shining ignored it almost immediately.

But crammed away in a corner, on a crumpled sheet of paper, pinned to the wall, and depicting a poorly-drawn stick pony with a blue triangle on its back and some kind of hat…? Whatever it was, it got his attention.

“‘Scuse me,” he said, squeezing his way through the crowd until he made it to the corner of the board.

COME ONE, COME ALL! TRIXIE’S MAGIC SHOW! 12:00 PM AT CANTERLOT PUBLIC PARK

A magic show, eh? Sounds interesting, he smiled. He hadn’t been to see a proper magician in years. Not since Twily was little.

With a relaxed, sigh, he pushed his way back through the crowd and started a leisurely trot toward the park. It was only about 11:15 now. Maybe he’d get to see who this Trixie was.

Rather surprisingly, as he trotted into the large expanse of grass, trees, sidewalks, and stone fencing, the park was almost completely devoid of ponies. Which on a Saturday was almost unheard of.

Frowning, Shining trotted into the park, searching for this “Trixie” mare. It seemed likely she was at the stage, preparing for her show. The signs pointed to a rather underused corner of the park, over a hill, past a grove of trees, and toward the west end. Said stage was a simple wooden construction, with a backdrop hanger, curtains, some simple flood lights controlled by a switch box on the side, and a few seats for an audience. What wasn’t a part of the usual arrangement was a large wooden dais that had been put up, with several magical props sitting around.

There was a top hat, a small black wand, the box that undoubtedly contained the dummy legs for the “Saw a Pony In Half” trick, several decks of cards, and a long cloth.

But on the stage, currently pacing and apparently hyperventilating, was a light blue mare, with pale blue, almost white mane.

“Okay, Trixie,” Shining could hear her saying to herself. “It’s just some m-minor stage fright. That’s all. Y-you’re going to nail this show. And then you’ll go on to be the best magician in all of Canterlot!”

Despite her mantra, she didn’t seem to be getting any more confident. Nor did the seats seem to be filling. But then again, it was only 11:20.

“Are you Trixie?” Shining strode forward.

“GAH!” the blue mare leapt about a mile in the air, twisting and turning in an attempt to see who was talking to her.

Reflexively, Shining’s horn glowed pink and the flailing mare was caught in his aura, allowing her to straighten up, regain her composure, and be lowered to the ground.

“Th-thanks,” the mare said, bowing her head as her cheeks went very pink.

“No problem,” Shining smiled politely at her. “Are you Trixie?”

“I… I am, yes,” Trixie nodded. “I guess you are here for the m-magic show?”

“I am, yeah,” he smiled politely. Taking the opportunity to look around, he noticed that the stage wasn’t even close to being set up yet. The show wasn’t supposed to start for a while, but wasn’t there supposed to be a lot more equipment set up than this?

“Sorry about the mess,” she apologized, her head sinking. “I, uhh… it’s hard to set up by myself.”

“No problem,” Shining smiled encouragingly at her. “I can probably help you out, if you’d like.”

The mare brightened. “Y-you would?”

“Sure!” Shining nodded. “What needs to go where?”

“W-well,” that seemed to just confuse Trixie more, as though she didn’t know what needed to go where first, but it didn’t take her long to order her thoughts.

“L-let’s start with the lighting,” she said.

With that, it was almost like doing several inane tasks for Sergeant Grit. However, these could all be performed by one stallion, and his “sergeant” was considerably more nervous about the whole affair. She had him hang special fixtures from the lip of the overhead cover, which she explained would add some pizzazz to her spells when she fired them off. She had him prepare several fireworks fixtures to go on her command. She even had him prepare several typical magician’s tools, such as vanishing cabinets and the “Saw a Pony In Half” box.

It didn’t take long before the stage had taken shape and the curtain had been closed. And not a moment too soon. Apparently several ponies had seen her advertisements, and now there were several of them eagerly awaiting the show. There were several foals, but just as many adults, probably parents taking these foals to see this show.

Meanwhile, inside, Trixie was panicking.

“Everything okay over there?” Shining asked as he finished peeking outside and turned to see her hyperventilating.

“No everything is not okay!” she snapped, eyes wide. “I d-didn’t prepare for this many! I was expecting maybe one or two, not twenty-seven!”

“Trixie, calm down,” Shining instructed, kneeling down in front of her, just as he had done for Twilight many times during her own episodes. “Take a deep breath, okay? In… and out. Just like that. Now again.”

Little by little, Trixie got herself back under control, though she still seemed to be a bit terrified.

“Wh-what if I mess up? My magician career will be over on my very first performance,” she whined, burying her face in her hooves.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Shining ordered, feeling his own inner drill sergeant start to shine through. “Trixie, stand up.”

Perhaps it was the bark of his order, but she complied immediately, seeming to forget all of her fear to stare up at him in surprise.

“Repeat after me, okay?”

Trixie nodded weakly.

“‘I am great.’”

“I… I am great.’”

“‘I am powerful.’”

“I am powerful.”

“‘I can do this.’”

“I can do this!” she seemed to be gaining confidence at each syllable.

“Say it again,” Shining ordered, internally pleased at the progress.

“I am great. I am powerful! I can do this!” she recited.

“One more time,” Shining grinned, and Trixie grinned right back. “Maybe in third-pony!”

“Trixie is great! Trixie is powerful!” she was shouting now, her voice no doubt carrying beyond the curtain outside, which had gone rather quiet. “Trixie will do this!”

At once, Shining threw the lever that opened the curtains, and the lights shown down. But rather than shine down on a timid mare with no idea what she was doing, the lights shone down on a mare that oozed confidence, who had conjured a cape and a hat, both covered with stars, and was staring at the audience with the smug sort of swagger of a performer, ready to wow their audience.

“Behold, the Grrrrreat and Powerful Trrrrrrixie!” she shouted, horn glowing pink and fireworks going off to the side.

“The trills were a bit much there,” Shining couldn’t help but observe of her new moniker.

“Are you ponies ready for the show of your lifetimes!?” she asked, throwing her cape aside and revealing her, ready to go.

The audience cheered in response, which seemed to only add to her confidence.

And it was a downhill coast from there. Trixie seemed to be the type of pony who just fed off of the crowd. With every cheer, her grin would broaden. With every “ooh,” she should play up the mystery of her next trick even more. With every gasp, she would increase the dramatics.

And in no time at all, they were eating up every word she said, on the edge of their seats. Even the adults were transfixed by some of her card tricks.

Shining had seen those tricks before. They weren’t necessarily the hardest to do, but the flair with which she did them made it all the more entrancing.

“And for my final trick, I am going to call out my handsome assistant!”

She flourished to the side, where he was waiting, having dutifully wheeled things out or taken them back as she had asked. Now, he trotted out to meet her, a little puzzled by what was coming. She had done everything.

No, she hadn’t sawn a pony in half yet.

...uh-oh.

“My final trick will be sawing this handsome pony in half!”

The foals all gasped in horror. The adults’ eyes widened, and Shining could only stare stupidly as Trixie’s horn shone pink again and something hit him from behind, scooping him up and nestling him inside.

He was now effectively trapped in the box, feeling his hooves stick out the other end.

Wait a minute, where were the dummy’s legs at?

...uh-oh!

“You forgot the dummy’s legs!” he hissed to her as she trotted around, conjuring a magical saw right in front of all of them.

“I’ve done this trick plenty of times, relax,” she smiled sweetly down at him. “It seems my assistant is a bit nervous. Let’s give him some encouragement, shall we?”

Shining could only gulp as the crowd cheered and Trixie brought the saw to rest on the divider.

But before she started to saw the box, she swooped down and gave him a long kiss, right on the mouth. Shining could now only blink just as stupidly as before, until she backed off. “For luck,” she whispered as the crowd started to “D’awww…”

And then she began to slice.

...UH-OH!

Goodbye Sunset, goodbye Cadance, goodbye Twilight, I’ll remember you all in heaven, Shining thought miserably to himself while he watched the saw descend closer and closer toward his midsection…

...except wait a minute. It was cutting right through him and he didn’t feel a thing.

“What’s going…?” he asked, just staring right ahead as best he could, given his rather obstructed view.

“And… BEHOLD!”

Trixie yanked the saw free and pushed both halves of the box away, sending Shining’s top half wheeling away a couple of meters, and his bottom half-- which he could still feel-- the other direction.

The crowd instantly gasped, with some children outright shrieking in fear.

“Someone call a doctor!” one stallion screamed.

“You are a doctor!” a mare shouted back.

“Dammit mare, I’m a doctor of music, not a doctor of medicine!” he retorted.

“Have no fear, my fine audience!” Trixie called over the rabble, which had grown rather large. Word must have gotten out. “My lovely assistant here is perfectly fine, see?” and with that, the boxes were turned to display their sawn halves.

Shock gave way to confusion.

“A magical spell, passed down through the Lulamoon family for generations, that allows me to separate one pony from another! Shining, be a dear and kick your legs for me, would you?”

Shining did as he was asked, and kicked his lower hooves. They did still feel intact. His butt was still very firmly planted on the wooden surface of the box. And over across from him, he could see his legs moving up and down just as he kicked.

Whoa… this mare is good.

“And now, I will put him back together again!” Trixie announced, wheeling the box halves back together again, before covering the sliced section with her cape.

“One!” she shouted, drawing the foals to the edge of her seat. “Two!” The adults could only watch with rapt attention. “No, no, I fear it is beyond me,” she swept a hoof up to her brow, milking the dramatics for all they were worth, “but I must!” finally bringing in the big finish.

“SHAZAM!”

Her horn shining and a bolt of lightning lancing off if it and hitting her cape as it covered the box. Shining felt as if electricity were shooting all through him. Trixie swept the cape off of the box to reveal it was completely whole once more, and she even popped open the top, allowing Shining to step out, whole and unharmed.

On shaky legs, Shining returned to solid ground, doing his best to keep himself breathing normally despite the fear from moments ago.

The crowd erupted at once. The foals were stamping on the ground, the adults were cheering, and Trixie, through it all, couldn’t stop beaming. Just knowing how mere minutes ago, Trixie was hyperventilating and afraid everything would fail, and now seeing her on top of the world, Shining couldn’t help but grin too.

As he stepped away, Trixie’s magic pushed the cart away, leaving the two of them alone on the stage, as the faces in the crowd cheered for them both. Trixie took his hoof in hers, raised it up high, and then brought it down and the both bowed, the crowd cheering all the more. And then, as they stepped back, her magic threw the lever, and down the curtain came.

It was over.

For one long breathless second, they continued to listen to the cheering outside, before Trixie squealed and practically jumped up on him.

“DIDYOUSEEMETHATWASAMAZINGICAN’TBELIEVETHATWENTSOWELLTHANKYOUSOMUCH…!” she screamed into his ear, before letting go and falling onto her back, eyes half-lidded and a dreamy smile crossing her face. “I can’t… can’t believe it…”

“Come on, now,” he helped her stand up. “We gotta pack it up, right? Not to mention, we gotta go celebrate.”

“Y-yeah,” she nodded, now sounding very breathless. It sounded as though all the work was all catching up to her. “I don’t live far from here… just a small little apartment.”

“Here, I’ll get all the stuff,” Shining said, and his magic quickly brought down all of her gear, disassembling it and stowing it neatly in a cart she had hidden in one of the corners.

“...and when I nailed the magical sawing, it was like… poof!” she threw her hooves out from her head as she continued to lay on the ground, still basking in her glory. “Everything was spectacular!”

“You nailed it,” Shining praised, now using his magic to lift her up and place her atop the cart, where she continued to relive the past several minutes of her glory, babbling away as he navigated through the city toward her apartment. Several ponies that had seen the show congratulated the two of them as they made their way around, with Shining giving them a polite wave, and Trixie still babbling away and giving out the occasional instruction on where her apartment was as he got closer.

Until, finally, he found it. A small flat not far from the park, into which he wheeled the cart with Trixie on it, before setting her down on her bed where she continued to stare dreamily up at the ceiling.

It was a modest flat. Her bed was just a rather large mattress set straight on the ground, there were a few typical apartment fixtures like a kitchen section, but otherwise, it was rather small. Just a studio. Shining had to wonder what she did for a living if this was what she could afford and showmareship was her hobby.

“Well, that was a lot of fun, Trixie, but I had some errands to run today,” Shining said, starting to make his way back to the door, smiling at the mare still laying down on the bed with a dopey grin on her face. “Keep it up, I’m sure you’ll go far.”

But before he could step out, her door was bathed in pink magic and was shut, locking with a click. He had forgotten to light any candles or lighting fixtures, so now the only light filtering in was through the windows, which were currently hidden behind tilted blinds. It was dark, but not so dark he couldn’t see.

“You can’t go yet!” Trixie suddenly squawked as the door clicked. “I have to give you your rew-ward!”

Reward?

“You don’t need to reward me, Trixie,” Shining chuckled.

“No, no, I insist,” Trixie replied a bit more forcefully. “Without you, m-my show would have been ruined, but with you helping me, I did everything better than usual! I want to reward you.”

“Umm, okay,” Shining just decided to accept it, whatever it was, and sat down on the bed. “Reward me with what?”

“Reward you with… m-me.”

Shining just stared down at her. She was still sprawled on her bed, her mane everywhere around her head, but she was looking up at him with that same, excited smile she’d worn when she had bowed to the crowd.

“I’m sorry, say what now?” Shining asked, his tone guarded.

“Look,” Trixie sat up, now sitting next to him on the bed, “what you did for me today… it means a lot. Like I said, I think I would have completely bombed without your help. And as you can see,” she gestured around her sparse apartment, “I don’t really have all that much. So I’d like to… to reward you with something I can give. Something I think you d-deserve.”

Shining stared at her, and she stared back. biting her lip nervously.

What did I do to deserve all of these mares? he thought to himself.

And then he just sort of shrugged, and slid back onto the bed to sit against the wall.

“Well, alright then,” he smiled at her. “If you’re sure.”

“The Grrreat and Powerful Trrrrixie has never been more sure of anything,” she smiled, the smile now turning rather predatory as she tossed her cape and hat away, and crawled beneath his legs, where his sheath was exposed for her to see. “Trixie will put on a good performance, just like you helped her to.”

And with that, she gave his sheath a long lick. Shining could feel his breath hitch. While not quite as sensitive as what it concealed, it was still a bit on the sensitive side, and it wouldn’t take long for Trixie to coax his cock to come out to play.

Indeed, it didn’t take long. A few short licks later, and out it poked. She observed it for just a moment, before smirking up at him and then diving right in, taking what little had exposed in one quick gulp.

“Ugh!” Shining grunted, clutching at the sheets as more of him pushed out and back into Trixie’s throat while she bobbed herself up and down.

She’s… decent, he thought. Certainly not quite as good as Sunset was, but she was doing her best, and her enthusiasm made up for it. It kind of reminded him of how Twilight had done it before she had bitten off more than she could chew.

Once he was fully extended, she slowly slid her lips up his shaft, sucking it as she went, before finally coming off of it with a satisfying pop!

“Impressive,” she observed, staring down at his spire, standing tall and proud. “A worthy sword for the Great and Powerful Trixie’s cavern.”

Shining scrunched his face up at that. “Uhh, that line’s not you.”

Trixie shrugged at that, seemingly indifferent to his critique. “Trixie had to try it once.”

With that, she lifted herself up, aligned Shining’s cock with her folds, and brought herself down on top of it.

“Are you ready?” she gave him a half-lidded, sultry smile.

“As ready as anyone,” Shining said back, restraining his hips from bucking upward reflexively.

On seeing his struggle, she smirked, and then allowed herself to lower down, inch by agonizing inch as she took him into her.

Like Sunset, like Rainbow Dash, and like Twilight, Trixie’s depths were still some of the most amazing things he had ever felt. While she was a bit less tight than either his sister or marefriend, she was still tighter than Rainbow had been. But regardless, she certainly knew how to work her hips and thighs to her advantage.

As she slid herself up and down, she would occasionally give his dick a squeeze with her thighs, sending a jolt of pleasure up his spine as it stimulated a sensitive spot. Other times, she would roll her hips to add a little bit of movement on the X-axis in addition to the Y, which managed to hit a few spots that he normally didn’t feel with Sunset either.

She’s definitely done this before.

“Oh fuck yes,” she sighed, her breathing starting to get heavy as she started to pick up the pace. It hadn’t been terribly long; maybe she was pent up. “Oh yeah!”.

But all too soon, she seized up, her thighs squeezing him hard, and screamed “OH FUCK YEAH!” as she came.

What amazed him was that despite her seizing up, she still tried to continue bouncing on his lap. She really was taking this whole reward thing rather seriously.

As she came down, she stared down at him with half-lidded, tired eyes, her mane glistening with sweat.

“I’m gonna m-make you scream my name,” she promised breathlessly, before suddenly redoubling her efforts, her butt meeting his thighs with meaty slap after meaty slap. “You’re gonna scream the Great and Pow-oh!-owerful Trixie’s name!”

For whatever reason, Shining was kind of liking this more dominating side of her, and he started to feel his orgasm approaching, deep down.

“You’re gonna--fuck yes!-- gonna jerk yourself off to-- ah!-- to Trixie every night for the rest of your life!”

She was now driving herself up and down with reckless abandon, and Shining could feel the end approaching, feel the pressure at the base of his shaft as it raced upward, leaving him ready to explode.

“T-Trixie,” he grit his teeth, trying to hold it in.

“DO IT! GIVE TRIXIE YOUR GREAT AND POWERFUL CUMSHOT!” she screamed. “SAY MY NAME!” she added, before driving herself down into his lap one final time, sending him over the edge.

“TRIXIE!” Shining shouted, finally feeling himself go over the edge, and exploding inside of her.

Bliss. Pure, white bliss, all around him. He could barely see. All he could do was feel, feel the undulating in his dick as it shot rope after rope of his cum deep into her, feel her continuing to slide up and down, further stimulating his sensitive shaft and trying to eke out every last drop.

“Ugh,” he groaned as the whiteness in his vision faded, and he finally came to. Trixie was still sliding up and down, though she was doing so far more slowly, trying not to overwhelm him. Down underneath, he could see his cum leaking out of her pussy and trickling down his dick as she went. “Th-that was…”

“Magnificent,” Trixie finished for him, grinning down at him. “But that was only Act 1. Prepare yourself, Shining Armor, for there are still many acts to go!”

“J-just give me a minute,” he sighed. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. For now, anyway. “Gotta… recover…”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Stallions,” she sighed, before slowing to a stop, with him still inside of her.

“Y-you know,” Shining grinned, “I think my sister would really like you if she ever met you. She’s always been a big f-fan of magicians and performers.”

“Your sister sounds like a mare the Great and Powerful Trixie should keep an eye out for,” she smirked. “If she’s anything like you in bed…”

“You have no idea,” Shining sighed, before taking a deep breath. “So, what was that about Act 2?”

Trixie brightened at that, and in no time at all, the two of them were performing their way through the rest of that particular five act play for the rest of the afternoon.

Shining Armor's Sexual Shenanigans

by The Masketta Man

Post-Training Workout *

Ten Seconds Flat [OS]

The Return

Fireworks *

Helping Everypony's Relationship Dynamic

Performance at the Park [OS]