Chapter 1 - The Austerity of Love

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“Is that the last of them, Wisteria?” asked Princess Celestia quietly through gritted teeth. Her eyes were closed, and she could hear the clip clop of receding hooves on the marble floor, hear the opening and closing of the large throne room doors, and then there was silence.

‘I need a break…’ the alicorn thought to herself as she leant back into her throne and rolled her neck and shoulders, wincing when several tight muscles popped. She felt weary, the eight hour long day having felt like twenty, each minute had been a lifetime in itself. ‘I’ve hardly been working at a coal face,’ she chastised herself, ‘But I do need a break. Las Pegasus is good this time of year…’

Celestia allowed herself a smile at that. Las Pegasus was good any time of year. That was part of the magic. Her closed eyes tightened, and she imagined the west coast resort in her mind’s eye. Riding the Wild Blue Yonder rollercoaster, rock climbing the Applewood mountains, free fall sky diving, scuba diving the South Luna Ocean… all of those seemed an eternity away from the stuffy throne room.

‘But I can’t just go, can I?’ Celestia thought to herself sadly, ‘Not without a whole day’s worth of pomp and pageantry, ticker tape parades in my honour…’ Celestia hated it all, but she couldn’t get away from it, as much as she tried. ‘Oh well.’

Wisteria, an elderly Neighponese earth pony mare, stood quietly by her Princess’s side until she judged that the alicorn had concluded her inner monologue. Having been her attendant for fifty years, she knew by the minute shift in her expression, when that time had come. “Yes, your highness,” she didn’t bother to keep the amusement from her voice, “No more petitioners lobbying to reduce the carbon hoof print of the ethnically diverse disability access policy for single parent mothers.”

“Thank goodness for that,” Celestia sighed from the very bottom of her eternal soul, regretting that Las Pegasus never felt further away, “I have time for a quick snack before dinner.”

“Um,” the lavender coloured earth pony shuffled on her hooves, unwilling to be the one to add to her Princess’s already heavy workload when the end was so close, “I’m afraid there is a non-court item for you, your highness.”

Through a sheer act of willpower that bordered on the miraculous, Celestia maintained her serene façade. “Yes?” she asked softly, though internally she was screaming at the loudest her Royal Canterlot Voice could manage.

“This letter came in today, just a few hours ago, from the, um, Overlord of the Badlands.” Wisteria explained, holding the letter in her hoof.

That got Celestia’s attention. “Have you read it?” she asked, at last opening her eyes and turning her head to her attendant, whom she regarded with a fond affectionate smile, just so she knew the Princess didn’t hold it against her for adding to her day when cake was so close at hoof.

“No, your highness, it is sealed, and I lack the skill to break it without destroying the contents. The Royal guard said it is harmless, but enchanted, nonetheless. Only an alicorn can open it and it is addressed to you.”

That piqued Celestia’s interest all the more. Curiouser and curiouser! She was so intrigued that for a moment she forgot to speak good Equish, even in her thoughts. “Bring it to the dinner table, please Wisteria, I'm sure my sister will want to look at it too.”

In the sisters’ private dining room, seated at the round table, Celestia had the mysterious letter by her side and a thoroughly amused look on her face directed at the tired looking alicorn sat opposite her. “Did you sleep well sister?”

Luna, midnight blue alicorn and sovereign of the moon, blinked once, then twice and rubbed away the bags under her eyes before letting out an exhausted yawn. “We have...I apologise, I, have slept well, thank you sister.” She caught herself just a little too late from using the royal ‘we’. “How was your day?”

“Interesting, by which I mean, long, dull and incredibly boring,” Celestia giggled at her sister’s valiant attempts to wake up. To be fair to her, she had only had two coffees so far. She needed at least five before she was capable of taking the Night Court. “I only ask because your wife sounded quite, excited, earlier.”

Instantly, Luna’s dark blue cheeks turned a deep red colour as she blushed violently. “Octavia is...adventurous...” she said softly in an attempt to excuse her actions, “I ah, didn't realise we were that loud.” ‘Again.’

Celestia covered her mouth with a hoof, pleased to see that she still had the power to embarrass her sister after all this time. “You're not, I was making a guess since you two act like newlyweds every day. Kissing, cuddling, rutting like rabbits all over the palace.”

“Well, we have only been married a year,” Luna made no attempt to deny her sister’s claims as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat, “It is still new to me that we were able to marry at all. So many things have changed since my return.”

“Yes,” Celestia took a long sip of her imported Neighponese tea to cover her own blush, “They have and I'm sorry that I didn't make those changes a long time ago. For another matter, there is this.” The Princess skillfully changed the subject and lifted up the letter still sealed in the vellum envelope before slicing it open so that Luna could easily see from whom it was addressed.

“Things would not have been different, sister. We have been over this, many times.” Cocking her sister a wry eyebrow, Luna took a drink of her zebran coffee, one of the many – and more welcome - improvements since her return. “I see you have mail,” said mail was floated over to her and Luna took it in her magical aura. “Chrysalis!” she exclaimed after a quick but thorough magical scan, “Sealed and protected by powerful magic, too. It has been two years. Why now?”

Celestia nodded her head thoughtfully as she drained her fine china teacup of its contents. “I thought you would figure it out. My staff is scrambling to figure out who claims to be the ‘Overlord of the Badlands’,” she giggled, though there was no humour, “I'm more concerned as to why she still lives. Where is she getting the energy?”

Luna did not giggle, in the slightest. Her dour expression mirrored her sister’s mood. “I do not find it funny, sister. Why contact you now?” she asked again, getting a shrug by way of an answer, “I hope it’s not to declare a second war. The city has only just rebuilt itself after the last one.”

“My pardon, the day is long and my staff clueless,” Celestia apologized for her ill placed giggles and she followed up with a sigh, “None of them should be alive!” she exclaimed in frustration, “Twilight herself calculated that they shouldn't have lasted longer than a year. I've heard of no incidents where they may have infiltrated a village. That’s what I want to know from you, dear sister. What do your spies tell you?”

“I have heard nothing from the Night Watch regarding those...” Luna shuddered, “Things for a while. As per your orders, I've had permanent watches placed along our borders. There was a scuffle ten months ago, but that was a couple of rogue drones. My thestrals put them down on sight and destroyed the bodies. If they have managed to eke out an existence, it is beyond Equestria's territory.”

“Then, there is naught to do but open this,” having stalled enough, Celestia cast her powerful magic over the scroll she had taken from the envelope and the seal fell away, evaporating into the ether. “Cunning, yet simple to defeat,” she passed her judgement, “It does make me think this is from a changeling, as it has magic of all three tribes sealing it.”

“Well, what does it have to say for itself, sister?” asked Luna, curious as to the contents of the letter now it was open.

“Dear Princess Celestia, ruler of the Sun, I, Queen Chrysalis wish to meet with you at my hive to discuss the future of my race, come alone…” Celestia read aloud the contents of the letter until she reached the end, where she shared a look of concern with her younger sibling. “Of course, she wants me to come alone...” she sighed deeply, “I have the shields I need; she will not lay me low this time. Hmmm, Tap the solar seal. What do you think that means?” Celestia wondered out loud, though she did notice her cutie mark had been stylized on the bottom of the scroll.

“It could mean anything. I suspect, sister, it is a localized teleport spell. Activated once you touch your horn to it, it will take you to the Hive, wherever it is.”

“Hmm, you could be right,” Celestia studied the cutie mark at the bottom of the scroll, hating the way it seemed to mock her just by being there, “But that is rather powerful magic. I think it beyond Chrysalis. Maybe something simpler. You see these decretive arrows on the edges? Both sides point in the same direction instead of toward or away from each other like a standard compass.”

“I see them. Perhaps they are directions of some kind?”

“Do I just ignore this?” asked Celestia, her voice rising with her frustrations, “What if somepony or ponies are being held hostage?” she reached out with a hoof to tap her cutie mark.

“Stop!” Luna cried, her voice loud enough to be heard down the corridors, “Sister, wait!”

Celestia groaned, the toe of her hoof a mere hairs’ width away from touching the scroll, “I'm being foalish again, aren't I?”

“No, not at all,” Luna shook her head, “I am not suggesting you ignore it, you should go, just...go prepared.”

Again, Celestia studied the scroll. “I see no time limit, so you are right, of course. Some artifacts would help, but do I dare get Twilight involved in this?”

“Sweet Mother, no!” Luna gasped, almost choking on what was left of her coffee, “I fear Twilight would not be able to be objective in this matter, given what happened in the lower caves a couple of years ago. My Night Watch have been developing some artifacts, to aid them in their work. Since we know that only changeling magic works at the Hive, I implore you take some with you.”

Celestia nodded in agreement and set the scroll aside on the table before refilling her cup with more of her favourite tea, “That is wise, I would need something passive to see through their disguises, but so help me, if I see one pony in a cocoon, I swear I'm dropping the sun on them.” She threatened darkly, her features for the moment looking nothing like the serene solar ruler, then a thought occurred to her. “I have a broach, the one mother gave us, the one you have matches. It will allow us to keep in contact, but I don't know if it will work in her hive. Is there a way around that?”

“Actually, yes! One moment, please…” with a face that Celestia described as being as giddy as a filly from her school, Luna teleported away. Ten minutes later, she reappeared with a number of small gadgets held in her turquoise aura. “These are all mechanical, the Quartermaster of my Night Watch assures me. Nothing magic. Radio, fits under your torq.”

“Isn't that a magic in its own right?” Celestia asked as she levitated the small two way radio device and placed it under the golden ring around her neck. It was so small, it didn’t disturb the line, “Where is the receiver, and does it receive? That could be embarrassing if I'm in the wrong spot.”

“My engineers call it elastic-trickery...no, sorry, electricity. I have the other one to hear what you say. Now, here's an earring. It lets me see what you see on a computer screen!” she then passed her sister four new horseshoes that looked identical to the ones she always wore. “Put these on. you'll like these. Stamp your hoof and a blade shoots out covered in manticore venom!”

Celestia rolled her eyes, though her sister’s enthusiasm was rather infectious. “Why do I feel like I'm in a Sam Spade novel?”

“Laugh all you want,” Luna shot her older sister a deadpan look, “The blades can pierce a fully grown dragon hide. Now, if you have your armour, I think you're ready to go. The radio is also a locator beacon. Should you not return, I'll know where to go to get revenge.”

Celestia’s humour evaporated as quickly as it had appeared, and when she spoke, her voice was soft, almost inaudible. “You were not there when she laid me low the first time. I laugh to keep away the fear. I will do my duty, as I know you will do yours.” Then, she lit her horn and summoned to her an ornate suit of golden armour, one she hadn’t worn since the Second Griffon War.

After helping to dress her sibling in her armour, Luna stepped back and hugged her tight, “Mother protect you, dear sister. Should I not hear from you, I promise I will give them reason to fear the night.”

Now she was ready, and dressed for the occasion, Celestia tapped the cutie mark on the scroll with a hoof, instead of her horn, to see what would happen. The effect was immediate. The scroll rolled itself up and spun in the air to point in a direction based on the arrows. “I do not believe that is the direction of the Badlands,” Celestia stated, “But the Crystal Empire. There is much unclaimed territory between here and there.” She moved the scroll about in mid-air, but it returned stubbornly to point in the same direction.

“Well, nothing to it, but to do it, sister. Know I will be with you. I will see and hear everything you do.”

The knowledge that her sister would be with her in some capacity gave her the courage to go ahead with what she knew had to be done. “I think an unplanned visit to my niece is in order so I can conserve my magic. I'll take the train. I will let you and only you know where I exit when the scroll indicates I've reached where I need to be. I hope that when I finish the journey her location is not in the Empire.”

“I believe you are right. I also hope you don't end up in the Crystal Empire. Though, if you're going by train, take this,” Luna passed her sister a small golden horn ring. “Illusion buffer. You might get less attention as Sunny Day.”

“Is that wise?” Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow, “I was going to have Wisteria have my personal carriage attached with just two guards...” under Luna’s stern gaze, Celestia trailed off. “You may be right, but Sunny Day is for our fun times. Still, you are right.”

“I would prefer it be just us who know where you're going. If you have to teleport off the train mid-journey, nopony will miss a white pegasus from Whinnyapolis.”

“Wisteria has to know,” Celestia stated determinedly, “My personal attendant is far too smart, which is for my own good. I think will be gone for up to three days.”

Rather than draw out the conversation into an unnecessary argument, Luna chose to bow to her sister’s judgement. “Good luck and be safe.”

“Tarry a moment with me, please?” Celestia closed her eyes and lit her horn, activating the illusion ring that slid easily down her horn. When she opened her eyes, the armoured alicorn was gone, a demure white pegasus with a two tone yellow mane in her place. “Besides,” she said in an accent that was as far removed from Celestia’s normal voice as Manehatten was from Vanhoover, “I'm sticking you with my Friday schedule!”

“Does this mean I have to oversee the farmer's dispute, open the new museum and launch the newly rebuilt airship docks?”

A second bright giggle left the pegasus’s lips, “I don't think that’s on the schedule, but I'm sure Wisteria could squeeze it in, just for you.”

“Squeeze what in, your highness?” Wisteria asked serenely, as if she had been summoned to the dining room by the mere mention of her name. After all, a good attendant prided herself on being there when she was required, and Wisteria was the best attendant.

“We are among family here,” the disguised Celestia said, and Wisteria nodded, completely unruffled by the presence of the pegasus among them. “I'm taking an unscheduled leave of absence for a three day weekend. What will my sister have to deal with on Friday?”

Quick as a flash, Wisteria had the answer. “The Manehatten delegation is pushing for more autonomy, and the stone crafter's guild is seeking higher wages and a change to the membership rules. There is a school that needs to be opened, as well as the new wing of the Canterlot Royal Hospital. Plus the usual spat of petitioners.”

“Oh, joy, and here I thought all you did was smile and wave all day,” Luna giggled for once, suddenly wishing it was her that was going on the dangerous undercover mission to whoever knew where, “Fear not! I shall deal with it!”

Stepping forwards, Celestia gave her sister a much needed nuzzle, “Till my return, Lulu.”

“May I ask where you're going?” Wisteria enquired politely.

“Out. Somewhere north, Wisteria. I have a train to catch. Please let the kitchen staff know it was another wonderful meal.” And with that, the white pegasus trotted out of the private dining room.

Completely unruffled, like a good attendant should be, the elderly earth pony bowed respectfully to Princess Luna. “Your highness. I'm at your disposal if you should have any questions or needs. I do not mean to step on Miss Crescent Moon’s hooves.”

“I thank you, Wisteria,” Luna smiled gratefully, “Do not think your work goes unappreciated, nor do I think my own attendant will mind your help in the slightest.”

~ ~ ~

Princess Celestia, in her disguise as Sunny Day, had been on the Friendship Express steaming towards the north at top speed for several hours before she noted that the enchanted scroll was turning to the west. Taking that as her cue, she quickly made her way to a vacant bathroom where she had some privacy. “Luna,” she spoke into her radio as she shed her disguise, “I'm about just over half way to the Crystal Empire and the scroll is pointing west.” She studied the scroll, “I can't think of a better place to hide. I'm teleporting off the train a good mile and looking from there.”

“That's good,” Luna’s voice crackled in Celestia’s ear, “At least your fears for your niece are unfounded. There's nothing out there but uninhabited wasteland and tundra, as far as my sources tell me. You're almost at the northern borders of Equestria. No minerals, no ponies. Wear your armour, sister.”

Celestia smiled grimly, for she hadn’t taken it off since she had donned it back in the palace. “As the Element of Generosity is fond of saying, 'Dress to Impress'. I just hope the goo will clean off.”

“I hope it will not come to that. If it should, you are prepared.”

“I'll keep in touch as things develop, but I'm going to run silent for now, lest she have some detection magic up.”

“Very well. Mother protect you, Tia.”

Once she had teleported off the train, Celestia surveyed the grim terrain. It was indeed barren and uninhabited. Inhospitable, too. The rocky plateaus, the thin wiry decrepit trees and complete lack of anything comforting didn’t inspire the alicorn to want to stay where she was. Looking up, she sighed, because even the moon and stars seemed dimmer somehow.

This was a place where hope went to die.

Deciding on a course of action, Celestia teleported a few miles north and then back to where she started, and then she teleported to the south so she could triangulate where the scroll was pointing her. She soon figured out that her destination was at least a hundred miles to the west, which placed it roughly four hundred miles from the Lunar Ocean.

Celestia reported her position to her waiting sister and then she started teleporting closer in ten mile hops, each time she reappeared she was ready to fight, but no resistance was forthcoming. When she was twenty miles away from her target, she spread her powerful white wings and flew, staying low to the ground.

“I hear thunder and lightning,” Luna said with a very slight giggle, “I do hope you aren't getting wet out there. What do you see? There's definitely no civilization out there, it should be as barren as the mo...” Luna thought it best not to finish her sentence.

As the dark night sky clouded over, thunder rolling and lightning forking down to the ground, Celestia, wholly unconcerned, snickered, “You are showing wisdom, dear sister? That you didn't finish that. Nothing out here but frozen ground and a little snow. The weather is wild, outside the pegasi’s control.”

“Even I can learn, so Tavi says, anyway,” Luna responded with a snicker, “How much further now? I suspect this may be a wild cockatrice chase, but the communication was definitely from her.”

Celestia slowed her flight to a hover, “Well, having never been to a hive before, I see there is a large rocky outcrop and I do see an underground entrance. Figures that they would be underground like ants.”

“Now, now, no assumptions, sister of mine,” Luna chided her elder sibling in much the manner their mother used to, “Do not underestimate them. Again.”

Showing wisdom of her own, Celestia chose not to answer that. Instead, she flew forwards towards the large foreboding hole in the ground. As she got closer, she saw there were two gigantic carcasses and scores of dead changelings left rotting outside. Not only that, but chunks of the ground were missing, highlighted with lightning and a fine rain that started up.

It looked like the aftermath of a war amid the desolate landscape, death was everywhere, in the ground, on the surface and even in the air.

Dispassionately, Celestia surveyed the bleak scene through cold eyes. “We aren't the only ones with something against the changelings. Some kind of giant mole-like monster doesn't like them either.” Flying up to one of the dead creatures, she poked the carcass with a hoof, “Hmm, whatever they are, these mole monsters are magic resistant, and by the looks of it, one can take down dozens of bugs with ease.”

“Sounds like something from the Everfree Forest,” Luna said with a shudder. On her screen, she could see what her sister saw, and she didn’t like the look of the huge dead creatures. “Or something from the scary stories Starswirl used to frighten us with as foals.” As she watched the screen, a sudden flash of lightning illuminated the carcass - highlighting the exposed ribs, rotting organs, the dead fur – that was laying half out of a tunnel. Scattered all around it were smashed and crushed bodies of changelings that had tried, and failed, to defend their hive.”

“I'm going in, I think I'd rather face her than one of Starswirl’s scary critters.”

“Probably wise, sister.”

As Celestia walked up to the vast hole in the ground, more of a wound in the earth, a tiny changeling was just inside the entrance. “Halt...” the creature spoke in a voice that sounded as weak as it looked, “Who trespasses our territory?”

“Your territory?” Celestia was beyond amused. The changeling that stood before her wasn’t even half the size of those that had invaded Canterlot. It looked like it could barely stand on its hooves, let alone guard the entrance. ‘A hatchling?’ she mused to herself, “You are very much mistaken to think any of this land is yours.”

Gazing up at the white alicorn, the tiny changeling bowed before her magnificence. Easily four times his size, and looking resplendent as the dawn in her full battle gear, the difference between them was laughably wide. “You are the Princess!” he squeaked, bowing so low his muzzle touched the floor, “She said you would come!”

“Who said I would come?” Celestia asked imperiously.

“The Queen, Princess,” the changeling replied, still bowed low to the floor, “I am Blank Slate. I am to escort you to her.”

“Queen?” Celestia didn’t even try to keep the sheer contempt from her voice, “Of what queendom? I see nothing but wasteland here.”

“We are underground, Princess,” Blank Slate stood and turned, the small changeling coming up to just above the knee of the alicorn’s foreleg. Impatiently, Celestia motioned with her hoof for him to move along. Obediently, Blank Slate led his guest through the hive. The myriad tunnels and passageways were illuminated by sickly green glowing crystals, some glowing brighter than others.

Through tunnel after tunnel, Blank Slate led the way unerringly, past gaping open side passageways that once upon a time would have opened and closed, but now remained frozen in place. He led Celestia into a large cavern, a vast open space, one side of which was half destroyed by another dead mole creature. “Not much further, Princess.”

Although Celestia was at the ready with a shield spell and a pre-loaded stun ray, there were clearly no signs of life other than her guide and herself. They progressed in silence into another, even larger cavern. Looking around, Celestia noted that this had obviously been a nursery of sorts. She saw larger changelings laying dead in smashed cocoons, small hatchlings lay crushed, some reduced to green smears amid destroyed eggs.

“Tia,” Luna spoke in her sister’s ear, “Report please, sister, the camera has stopped working.”

Using her teeth to tap out a short coded message, Celestia replied curtly, “One bug. Small. Weak. Looking.”

“Keep me informed.”

“We are here, Princess,” Blank Slate announced after another thirty minutes of silent walking through tunnel after tunnel, each as deserted as the last. He stopped at a completely blank wall and he pressed his hoof on it, between two large glowing green crystals mounted in the rock. For once, there was a flare of magic in the otherwise dead Hive and the 'door' melted open, revealing the throne room beyond. “My Queen, may I present the Princess Celestia.”

The sole occupant of the throne room, Chrysalis was laid on her throne, seemingly asleep. Her room was actually luxurious, compared to the rest of the hive thus far. Faded tapestries hung from the walls, marble, though old and dirty, covered the floor instead of bare rock. The décor was reminiscent of the palace bedroom. “Leave us, Slate. Celestia, do come on in, won't you?”

Walking into the chamber, Celestia openly cast a spell looking for any of her little ponies’ life essence within range, which was roughly twenty miles, of her current position. Sensing the magic, Chrysalis scoffed and snorted, though she didn’t open her eyes. “Please, don't bother with the detect life spell, Celly, there's none of your precious little ponies here.”

Smiling sweetly, Celestia stepped further inside the chamber. Though she smiled, she piled upon the Queen’s black chitinous hide the sum of all the rage and hate felt by her whole being. If her chest had been a cannon, she would have shot her heart upon it. “True,” she said, a monumental effort keeping her voice even, “For you are still here.”

Chrysalis then actually opened her eyes, and when she looked at Celestia dressed in her raiment of war, a momentary look of fear flashed across her face. It was there for but a second, but it had been there. “Aw,” Chrysalis affected her best cocky tone, “You came dressed up in your Sunday best just for me? I'm flattered, really.”

“I saw you had a few visitors, so I dressed for them,” Celestia made an exaggerated show of looking around the throne room, “I don't seem to see any of them in here though.”

For a split second, Chrysalis’s green eyes twitched, a ghost of a tear there on her black cheek before it was blinked away, “Ah...you saw the maulwurfs. Pesky things, they are. Not dangerous on their own, but in groups... Ahem!” catching herself, she fluttered her gossamer wings and she flew from her throne. “Where are my manners, to my summoned guest? Would you like something to drink?”

Dangerously, Celestia’s eyes narrowed to slits. If looks could kill, then Chrysalis would have been reduced to ash. “Summoned, I think your lack of understanding Equestrian is showing. Nopony ‘summons’ Celestia!” she then casually looked around the chamber as if inspecting it for the first time, “My engineers report this area is rather useless to develop, but I do have an excess of toxic waste that would do us well to put underground…”

Chrysalis’s laugh was as demeaning as she could make it. “Oh please, Celly, we both know you're only here because you received my scroll. Besides,” she said as she walked over to her store and pulled out a wine bottle filled with a strange pink substance, “If nopony summons the great Celestia, then it pleases me to be the first.”

As she made her way across the marble floor, there was a definite limp to her gait that no amount of effort could cover up. Not that she didn’t try. “So, I summoned you here for a reason,” she stated, before levitating a glass of water over to her guest.

“If it is to readjust your attitude, I don't have the time. There are no ponies here, so there’s no need for me to be here,” Celestia declared as she dropped the glass and allowed it to shatter before turning on her hooves and walking out by the door she came in.

“Celestia! Wait, please!” Chrysalis cried, all trace of bravado gone like they were never there, “Hear me, please, I beg you!”

While Celestia did not turn around, she did stop, her muzzle twisted in a smile of satisfaction at the desperation in the changeling’s voice. Oh, how she had lived to hear that! “Why are you still alive? Twilight said you wouldn't survive a year, and it has been two.”

Fear laced Chrysalis’s voice, “The love spell charged me for a long time. Then, we fed off the native wild animals that exist out here,” the fear changed to a pleading tone, “Please...I wish to talk, parley, beg you, anything...we need your help!”

At last, Celestia turned around, a cold wrath on her face such as no living pony had ever seen, “I don't remember you knocking on my door two years ago for help.”

“Please! Look around!” Chrysalis dropped to her knees and gestured all around her with her forelegs, “My Hive is dead! My subjects are under siege!” she waved a hoof at her store of pink glowing bottles, “That's all the food we have, when they’re gone, we’ll starve! With every attack, the maulwurfs get deeper into the Hive, the last one destroyed the main nursery, help us, please!”

“I thought you all had died off,” Celestia said coldly, “Tell me, why should I help you now?”

“I don't beg for me, I beg for my subjects!” Chrysalis scrabbled over the dirty marble floor to prostrate herself before Celestia’s hoof, “I have less than two hundred left, under siege in the lower tunnels. One more attack by the maulwurfs and they'll be gone. Please, Princess, we need your love! Help us, or we'll die!”

“That didn't really answer my question,” Celestia looked down on the prone form of the Queen mere inches from her hoof like she would look down on an ant. It crossed her mind briefly that all she had to do was stomp her hoof and the blade would shoot out and end her problem. “Why should I care?”

Celestia lifted her hoof and prepared to deliver the cous de grace.

Her head was so close, she doubted if Chrysalis would even feel it penetrate her brain.

On the floor, Chrysalis’s horn glowed a pale green, “It seems I was wrong,” she said dejectedly, “All I sense is hate and contempt. Even if we could eat that, it's bitter and tainted.” Chrysalis pulled herself back to her hooves and she turned back to her throne, her head low and tail between her legs. “Where's the love, Princess? The compassion? I doubt there's any left in you to give.”

Celestia’s eyes went wide as dinner plates, “How dare you!” her powerful voice echoed around the chamber, “How dare you lecture me on compassion! I buried more ponies than I could count after that attack! That’s where my compassion went, in the ground along with the innocents you killed!”

Resigned to a slow, painful death, Chrysalis reached her throne and draped her thin body over it. “Yes, of course you gave it away. That’s why even ponies have forsaken you…” she didn’t see Celestia stood there slack jawed and stunned to the point of immobility, “You'd really allow a whole race die to sate your need for vengeance,” she sighed, “Then you are heartless, and not the salvation I hoped you were.”

‘I can't be my sister,’ Celestia thought sadly, ‘I can't give my love to just anypony, isn't that right Sunset?’ Celestia didn’t know why she had suddenly thought of her estranged daughter in that moment. But, stood in Chrysalis’s chamber, staring at her, the changeling looked back at her with the same mix of resignation, confusion, disappointment and defeat that Sunset Shimmer had given her before she had ran away from home and stepped through the mirror portal all those years ago.

‘Am I really about to make the same mistake again?’ the alicorn asked herself as she created a magic bubble around herself. She could see out, but Chrysalis couldn't see in. Sound could enter, but it couldn't leave. She needed counsel, and she needed it now. “Luna, I need you to send a letter to Twilight right now. Would she reform a villain that ponynapped her sister in law? I need the reply soon as you can.”

“I understand, Celestia,” Luna replied in her ear, “It has already been written and sent. I have been listening, after all. You think she's on the level?”

“Does it matter, sister? I'm dying on the inside.”

“No,” Luna conceded, “I do not suppose it does. Wait, the letter has returned. Twilight's first impulse is obviously no, but...it seems the young and impulsive Rainbow Dash is an influence upon her. Apparently, everypony now deserves a chance at redemption, sister.”

Celestia stared at the marble floor like she was hoping for a pit to swallow her whole. “I do hope that includes me. But how? We don't have the infrastructure necessary to accommodate over two hundred changelings into our society.”

“Apparently, Miss Dash points out that according to Daring Do and the Amulet of Wisdom, the fourth in the Labyrinth of Madness series, to err is equine, to forgive, divine.” Luna didn’t try to keep the amusement from her voice, “Ahem, as it happens, I know of somepony who may be able to help, though I am unsure of her trustworthiness.”

A snort left Celestia’s lips, “My life decision is being based on a fictional novel, now? Okay,” the alicorn forced her mind to work, “Contact this pony and have them checked as only you can. Then work logistics at your end. I need a cargo train at the point I left the tracks. At least twelve box cars, I will be retuning on that train. I hope to be at the tracks in ten to fifteen hours. It depends on whether or not things are as bad as Chrysalis says they are. If... If the one you contact is willing to send ponies to... feed them, then put them on the train. Add a boxcar for each group of fifteen if there are that many.”

“Consider it done, sister,” Luna’s usual severe tone softened somewhat, “Mother would be proud of you, because I, am proud of you.”

Strangely, that didn’t comfort Celestia in the slightest. “Then why do I think I'll never wash this off of me? Thank you for your faith in me sister, for now I even doubt if I truly loved you those many years ago.” At that moment, she was in doubt of a great many things.

When she dropped the bubble spell, Celestia saw that Chrysalis hadn’t moved an inch, but her bottle of pink liquid was a little bit emptier. What caught her attention the most though was the look on the changeling’s face. The look of one about to be executed who had accepted their fate.

And yet, in her moment of victory, of revenge on the creature that had hurt her, Celestia felt no such victory. She just felt empty, like her soul had been hollowed out of her body and the shell that looked like her remained. “Others have more faith in you than I do,” the shell spoke with a voice that sounded like hers, but still Celestia felt nothing, “We leave now, you need to get your... subjects to the rail line one hundred miles to the east. You, are under house arrest for the foreseeable future.”

In a somber melancholy fashion, Chrysalis was up from her throne, nodding her head. “I'll go and stand with them, one last time...” then, her brain actually processed what Celestia had said, “Wh-What?”

“We leave now!” Celestia roared in her Royal Canterlot Voice, stomping her hoof so hard into the marble that she shattered it, making a small crater that obscured the blade that shot forward.

“You...you're helping us? Truly?” Chrysalis was so shocked that her wide eyes didn’t see the blade or the alicorn retract it into her horseshoe. “House arrest...um, what will you do to me, exactly?”

“I will do what I must,” Celestia replied curtly, stepping towards the round opening in the chamber wall, “Others will do what they can. You will do what you're told. Or, you can stay here and I'll go. A few more lives will hardly be noticed to the weight that already presses down on my heart.”

Removing herself from her throne, Chrysalis limped over to Celestia and painfully, she bowed low to the floor, “I submit myself to you, and to whatever you say. Thank you, your highness.”

Celestia let out a derisive snort through her nose, flaring her nostrils, “You can thank me later. We have a hundred miles to go, and those mole things are clearly formidable. I don't know what will happen with your...subjects, or you, for that matter, but others believe I should try.”

It crossed Celestia’s mind, briefly, that she could just leave and nopony would be any the wiser. Las Pegasus was lovely this time of year…

Celestia sighed. Las Pegasus was lovely any time of the year, and she wanted to be able to look herself in the mirror tomorrow.

The sound of Chrysalis bursting out into a flood of tears shook Celestia from her reverie. The changeling sobbed and bawled as she sent a silent command to her few remaining drones to mobilize at the entrance to the underground Hive. “It...they...th-the m-maulwurfs…they destroyed a whole generation in seconds! I tried to fight them...it, nothing worked…” she felt the need to explain herself, to at least justify her failure to protect her people, but she just trailed to silence.

“We move.” Celestia’s harsh tone made Chrysalis stand up from the floor when what she wanted to do was curl up and cry, “I will do what I can to get them and you there. You will do what you must to get them there.”

Reaching up to her head, Chrysalis removed and placed her crown on the floor. Somehow, given the circumstances, it didn’t seem right for her to wear it any longer. “I present this to you. I have no need of it anymore. It is unlikely the maulwurfs will attack during the storm, but you are right, we should move.”

Celestia looked at the offered crown and she frowned like Chrysalis had just reached into her chest and put her heart on the floor before her. “That is a symbol of the past,” she stated and quickly, she moved forward and shattered it into pieces with her hoof. “It is a new beginning, it’s on you not to make this the start of another ending.”

With that, Celestia walked to the entrance of the chamber and through it into the tunnels beyond not looking or really caring if she was being followed. It was a deeply relieved Chrysalis that quickly gathered up her remaining store of love energy and followed Celestia out of the soon to be deserted and abandoned Hive, limping her way all the way to the exit, and whatever future awaited her and her changelings.

Chapter 2 - Love's Prison

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‘I need a break…’ Princess Celestia thought to herself as she felt the box car she was sat in rock and sway underneath her. The hastily chartered Friendship Express had been on the go for thirty minutes. Thirty long, long minutes of utter silence. The alicorn leant back into her seating pad that was a far cry from her throne and rolled her neck and shoulders, wincing when several tight muscles popped.

She felt weary, not the same kind of weary as when she had ended the Day Court earlier. This was a different kind of fatigue. Her very soul felt tired, like each one of her four thousand year existence was a lead weight dragging her down under the water, and she was struggling just to stay afloat. ‘Las Pegasus is good this time of year…’

Celestia opened her eyes and the fantasy of riding the Wild Blue Yonder rollercoaster, rock climbing the Applewood mountains, free fall sky diving, scuba diving the South Luna Ocean was replaced by the reality of the spartan box car. The atmosphere in said box car was so thick it could have been cut with a knife. Of the three occupants, not one had spoken after the curt, clipped greetings.

“For Mother’s sake!” Luna’s voice crackled in Celestia’s ear over the radio she still wore. She had obviously gotten bored of the continuous heavy silence and decided to do something about it. “Sister, this is Royal Ribbon, and she came to me with a plan ten months after the invasion. I put it on hold hoping that Twilight was right, and the problem would go away. She was wrong.”

Shaken by her sister’s irate voice in her ear, Celestia looked at the magenta unicorn seated to her right. “Luna says you have a plan. What plan do you have for this?”

Royal Ribbon jolted on her seating pad and looked nervously from Celestia to her left and Chrysalis seated to her right, the three in a rough triangle. She fiddled with her dark blue mane, stalling for time because she never thought she would be explaining this in front of Chrysalis herself! “Um, the goal of my plan is that the changelings would have no cause to invade us again.”

Chrysalis, who was seated in heavy bondage – a thick chain ran from a metal collar around her neck and was linked with manacles that ran to the floor of the box car, her hind hooves similarly manacled together - looked with her big green eyes from Celestia to Royal Ribbon. “I do not wish to invade anywhere; I wish only to save what is left of my Hive.”

“It was the need of our love, and, um, ah, our bodies that made you invade in the first place, right?” asked Royal Ribbon, the middle aged mare gaining more and more confidence with her distinguished audience the more she spoke.

“Yes,” Celestia sounded vacant, like she was somewhere far away, “The bodies...” In her mind’s eye, she could see them, smell them, hear them. It was as if she was right there in the aftermath of Heartbreak Ridge, the bloodiest single battle in the invasion of Canterlot.

“We needed sustenance,” Chrysalis replied to the unicorn’s question, “I did not invade for power, or glory, or to acquire your lands. I have tens of thousands...” suddenly the changeling sniffed back a tear and corrected herself, “I mean, I had thousands, of mouths to feed. Ponies are the most potent sources of love in Equestria.” She looked down, shamefaced, “The bodies...were an unfortunate necessity to survival.”

“It could have been any warm blooded creature, one of no intelligence, like the food animals for the griffons, right?” Royal Ribbon enquired, pressing on with her point, getting to the crux of her plan.

That shook Celestia from her morbid reverie. The solar alicorn blinked her eyes and she was transported away from the tattered remains of the Sky Trenches and the dead – pony and changeling alike – that littered the killing fields of Heartbreak Ridge, delivered from the moans of the dying begging for release and the clouds of flies that hovered around those that suffered no more back to the box car. “What are you suggesting, that we slaughter animals for her?!”

“But, your highness,” Royal Ribbon countered quickly, “We are doing that now for export to Griffonstone and the Dragon Lands, as well as for pet food around the country, what would be the difference?”

“While it is true we can sustain ourselves on any creature, Royal Ribbon,” Chrysalis said softly, the slight movement of her forelegs rattling the heavy metal chains she wore, “It helps if the creatures in question are sapient. Wild feral creatures do not produce strong enough love on a regular basis, if you get my meaning.”

Seeing Celestia glare hatefully at Chrysalis, the magenta unicorn waved her hooves for peace, “No, no, I meant for incubating the egg!”

“Oh, the eggs…” as she said that word, a single tear ran down Chrysalis’s cheek. Images of the thousands of smashed eggs in the nursery haunted her. Every time she closed her eyes she could see the shattered remains of her subjects, rotting where they lay in the Hive along with those accursed maulwurfs that had so easily decimated her home. “Yes,” she said in a hollow voice, “Any warm blooded creature can carry an egg, but it is better if the creature is one heavily saturated with magic.”

Royal Ribbon looked like the wind had been taken from her sails, “Oh, um, oh. so, it won't work at all, or it just takes longer?”

Scoffing, Celestia asked, “What are you driving at, Ribbon?”

“It takes longer,” Chrysalis replied, “And often the animal dies before the egg reaches maturity, I'm afraid.”

“So if we use means to keep the animal alive then it would work?” it was more of a statement from Royal Ribbon than it was a question, the unicorn running her idea through her head as she was saying it out loud.

“You want us to start death farms now?”

“It would be life farms, Princess,” Royal Ribbon corrected the alicorn without a shred of fear in her voice.

“Yes, Royal Ribbon,” Chrysalis replied, conceding the unicorn’s point, “If the animal could be kept alive, it could work.” She then took a deep breath, well aware that what she was about to say would not be all that popular, “We use ponies as incubators for our eggs because even when their bodies have been modified by the process, the natural magic in the pony keeps them alive and well until the eggs hatch. They also infuse the hatchling with a dose of love while they grow to maturity.”

“Fear, that’s what those ponies were experiencing,” the contempt in Celestia’s voice was corrosive, “I read the reports from the ground teams! They were begging to die!”

“I’m afraid I have to side with the Princess on that one,” Royal Ribbon shuffled uncomfortably on her seating pad, “I think you mistake the love of the caretaker for the love of the pony incubator. The animals would be loved too.”

Chrysalis shrugged her shoulders. “Perhaps you are correct, Royal Ribbon. I cannot say until it has been tried. I can only say what has worked best for us so far.” And, what had worked best for her was what she had always done since that day five hundred years ago when she herself had been hatched in the Hive to replace the former Queen.

“They feed off love,” Celestia pointed out, “How do you plan for that, Ribbon?”

“That’s the easy part,” the unicorn responded, “Breeding will be the big obstacle.”

As Celestia went slack jawed at what she was hearing, Chrysalis said, “Please, you equines are walking love batteries! You have so much, you could feed a whole clutch of eggs and not notice it had been taken!”

“Stolen, you mean!”

“But what if it was given, Princess?”

Celestia turned disbelieving eyes to the unicorn, “Who would possibly be ignorant enough to give their love to her!?” she asked with naked venom in her voice as she pointed a hoof at her captive.

Quietly, Chrysalis lowered her head to the pad she was sat on and her ears were pinned back to her head, “I am afraid Celestia makes a good point.”

Royal Ribbon though had yet another counter argument to the Princess’s point. Unlike the alicorn, she didn’t raise her voice. “Ponies will give a lot for peace. The ones I brought with me on this train prove that. Out of pain and suffering can come hope and joy.”

“That makes no sense!”

Chrysalis paid no mind to Celestia’s latest outburst, “Out of the strong came forth sweetness,” she said with a sad smile on her face, “A changeling expression.”

“Ribbon,” Celestia snapped, “Please stop speaking in riddles!”

Royal Ribbon then levelled an even, calculating stare at the angry alicorn. “How many terminally ill ponies are there, Princess?”

“I said stop speaking in riddles,” Celestia snorted, quickly approaching the end of her very short rope with this whole venture, “And what does that have to do with anything?”

“I brought thirty nine terminally ill volunteers with me from Canterlot, along with their families,” Royal Ribbon explained, “They wanted their last bit of time on this world with ones they love, and,” she looked pointedly at Chrysalis, “With the ones that could replace them.”

Celestia was absolutely stunned. In four thousand years she had never heard anything remotely like that. “What?”

Even Chrysalis was stunned. She lifted her head up from her hooves and stared blankly at the magenta unicorn. She had heard what she said, but it was the understanding she was having trouble with. “Did I hear you right? You have...volunteers, to be incubators, and my drones will take their identities?”

“It isn't the long term solution I would hope for,” Royal Ribbon conceded, “In this case though, you have the right of it. Unless what they are dying from would reject them as an incubator.”

Again, Celestia was transported back to the invasion, to the aftermath when she had walked the ruins of Canterlot with her generals. She had seen the burnt out nests, seen the remains of the ponies in the cocoons, the destroyed eggs all around that had hatched from the bodies. She couldn’t countenance that again. “You are sacrificing my little ponies to that monster!”

“No,” Royal Ribbon clarified, “They are sacrificing themselves for the future of their families.”

“There are no reasons they would be rejected as an incubator,” Chrysalis remarked, “But if I may ask, what was the long term plan, if that was not it?”

“I don't care what the long term is,” Celestia sprang to her hooves, her armour clinking loudly as the plates moved against each other, “I will not let a pony commit suicide!”

Serenely, Royal Ribbon smiled at the alicorn like a poker player would smile at an opponent before laying down a trump card. “But Princess, next month you were going to allow the assisted suicide bill pass for the terminally ill only. They are terminally ill, and this is assisted suicide.” Again, Celestia was left slack jawed and wide eyed. Before she could say anything, the unicorn pressed on, “Long term is population control. Which means breeding control. Many ponies die alone and often young. A changeling could replace that pony, which is why animals are needed for egg incubation.”

“Royal Ribbon, you have such a clinical description for such an emotional issue,” for once, Chrysalis had a genuine smile, “I like you. I assume you would have a register, a record of all the such breeding control?”

“Um, yes,” the unicorn admitted, a deep red blush colouring her magenta cheeks, “But it wasn't for the right reasons. It was for tribal blood line purity, back when unicorns were only allowed to marry unicorns, and the earth ponies were little more than slaves. Now it would be used to track those that volunteer to be incubators, and the number of animals used to be incubators. While the true identity of the replaced pony will not be revealed, as they are that pony now. Any deviation from the assigned pony could bring this program to a screeching halt and justify Princess Celestia's wrath.”

“I accept your terms, then, Royal Ribbon.” Chrysalis said simply. After all, what other choice did she have, realistically? Live under a regulated register or face a slow extinction. There was no choice. “I assure you, my subjects...” she snorted, as the term no longer seemed appropriate, “I cannot call them that any longer, can I? The changelings on this train, will obey any and all conditions you deem necessary.”

“What is happening right now?” Celestia asked to nopony in particular. She felt like she was riding the Wild Blue Yonder for the first time, and the car had dropped out from under her, taking her stomach with it and leaving her in free fall.

“What’s happening is Royal Ribbon and you have just saved what's left of my kind, Celestia.”

“I only had thirty nine, plus an additional fifty six family members,” started Royal Ribbon, “There are five cars on the train for the changelings, so I have eight in the first four cars and seven in the last. They are getting to know the changelings and finding the one to replace them. I'm sure all the ones in the car are getting the love they need. I also have five of my staff to give an even number of twenty ponies per car. There is three more staff in the passenger car.”

Chrysalis’s smile grew wider, and a calm she hadn’t known in many moons descended upon her. “I can feel them. I can feel all of them. I can feel the happiness, the love, it is...nourishing like I have never felt before...” the calm continued. While there wouldn’t be any Queens after her, she took solace that the changelings wouldn’t die with her.

“I need some time to think about this…” Celestia shook her head, unable to countenance the smile on Chrysalis’s face any longer.

“The passenger box car is nearly empty, and you can send my staff in here if you want to be alone?” suggested Royal Ribbon helpfully.

“You'd stay with her?”

Royal Ribbon stared back at the Princess, unflinching under her stern gaze, “I'm staking my future on this plan. I have nothing to lose staying here.”

“You have my word Royal Ribbon will be unharmed,” Chrysalis put in, “I'm not exactly a threat in these hoof cuffs and chains, am I?”

“Tell that to the dead!” Celestia turned on Chrysalis so fast it seemed like she was going to strike her down then and there, “Tell that to those who didn’t survive Heartbreak Ridge, or those who died defending Clover’s Gate or the victims of the Platinum Plaza massacre!”

With spit frothing from the corners of her mouth, Celestia stormed out of the car and in short order she had kicked out the few staff members in the adjoining passenger box car. “What in the nine levels of Tartarus, Luna!” she screamed into the radio.

“Royal Ribbon is a breath of fresh air,” Luna stated simply in her sister’s ear, a sight hint of amusement in her voice.

“She is obstinate!”

“I know,” Luna agreed, the amusement in her voice more than a hint now. She was pleased to see the unicorn hadn’t been cowed by her sister’s presence, “She doesn't back down, she doesn't apologize, and she doesn't care what my rank is. She lays it out like it is. We could use more like her, especially in Canterlot. I told you I disregarded this plan because we believed it wouldn't be needed. But, I never forgot her presentation to me. Or the way she presented herself.”

Utterly frustrated, Celestia snorted through her nose. It was obvious to her now why her sister would like this unicorn. She was her without wings. Just like Octavia. “Why go to you?”

“Because she believes in the public perception that I was not involved in the invasion, and I didn't see any reason to change her mind,” Luna said with a knowing smile that reached her voice, “Now, I suggest you drink some tea, and tell me you have a better idea. Other than just blowing the train up and killing them all.”

“That…is an idea...” with a deep sigh and no small feeling of disgust at what she had just said – more so because she was imagining passing it off as an accidental derailment – Celestia plopped down on her generous ass and reached for the tea that Royal Ribbon’s staff had been drinking. Hoping as she did so that her sainted mother would forgive her thoughts. The chief of which was, ‘I need a break…’

“Royal Ribbon,” Chrysalis spoke up as soon as Celestia had left the car, “May I ask you a question, while we are alone?”

However, they were not to be left alone for long as, before the unicorn could answer, the three ponies that Celestia had evicted from the passenger car entered, taking up flanking positions either side of Royal Ribbon, all three visibly shaken by their Princess’s mood. “Sure,” the magenta mare smiled, “They are part of my crew. You can speak freely.”

Chrysalis shifted on her seating pad and wished that the heavy manacles on her limbs weren’t quite so heavy. The collar in particular made it hard to keep her head up. She supposed that was the point. “Do you see me as a monster?” It was a simple question, but one she needed to know the answer to.

Looking at the changeling before her, Royal Ribbon sighed, because the simple question wouldn’t be getting a simple answer. “You have done some monstrous things, from an equine point of view. Yet, you didn't see yourself as a monster. Perspective,” she used her hooves when she spoke, “I know any creature can be like a monster, yet they are still the creature they were before they acted that way. Let's not split hairs. I want peace without genocide. Is that what you want?”

“That’s what I want as well,” Chrysalis had to lower her head. The chains were uncomfortable, but she could bear them. “There has been enough death. Even if we could use forceful means, I would not condone them. We are too weakened by recent events.”

Royal Ribbon was intrigued by that. She had seen the Princess’s report about the giant mole-like creatures that had been decimating the changeling’s home. They weren’t something she wanted to see in Canterlot any time soon. “Yet, I wonder, if your numbers were a million, would you say the same?”

“Yes, I would. I am no monster, Royal Ribbon.” Chrysalis had to make this pony see why she did what she did, that she had no choice, just like the manticore has no choice when it hunts and kills its prey.

“Time will tell,” Royal Ribbon said eventually after she had mulled things over in her head. In truth, she didn’t see Chrysalis as a monster. A victim of circumstance and perhaps of her own nature, but not a monster. “But I'll be honest, Population control is an important part of this to work. It may not be fair, but it will ensure all of your people will survive. What of the other intelligent races?” the unicorn asked, the question coming to her from nowhere, “Are ponies the only one you prefer?”

“Yes,” Chrysalis replied, “Dragons are too naturally magic resistant to make efficient incubators. Griffons have extraordinarily little love. Greed and jealousy aren’t all that tasty. Have you tried feeding on hate, jealousy, bitterness and greed? Ugh. No thank you. Minotaurs and Yaks...well, we haven't tried yaks. We ah, don't really like the extreme cold in the far north.”

Thoughtfully, Royal Ribbon nodded and stroked her chin, “We do have a plan to expand beyond Equestria’s borders, but we can shelve that for now, if it’s impossible.”

“They aren't impossible,” Chrysalis clarified, “They’re just harder to use, is all.”

Twenty minutes later, Celestia came storming back into the rumbling train car like a golden comet, fury seeming to radiate from her in almost visible waves. “I talked to your 'volunteers',” the Princess sneered at Royal Ribbon, “Have you brainwashed them?” she demanded, “Do you have them under a spell?”

Royal Ribbon turned an unconcerned look to the raging alicorn, “Is hope a spell?”

“Out!” Celestia screamed at Royal Ribbon and her three attendants, “Get out!” with her voice approaching Royal Canterlot volumes, the four ponies quickly scampered from the box car like their lives depended on it. Left alone with Chrysalis, Celestia rounded on her prisoner, “What did you know of this!?”

“Nothing, Celestia,” Chrysalis replied, completely unruffled by the alicorn’s raging temper that washed over her like a breaking wave against a cliff. Mostly because she was too exhausted, too tired and too hungry to care what happened to her at that point. “Look at me. You have me clapped in irons at your mercy. Do I look capable right now of a spell?”

“You had no forewarning of Ribbon's plan?” Celestia swooped down and with a hoof under the changeling’s chin forced her to look up into her furious eyes, “Isn't that what prompted you to write?”

Instead of shrinking away, Chrysalis scoffed in Celestia’s face, “I am a changeling, not a clairvoyant. I wrote to you after the first maulwurf attack a few months ago. I wrote again after the last one, the one that destroyed the nursery full of eggs and reduced my Hive down to two hundred.”

With a snort, Celestia shoved Chrysalis’s face away with enough force that a thin line of green blood seeped from her nose, “I shouldn't have come.”

“Then why did you?”

“Luna...” Celestia’s eyes went wide with a perceived revelation, “My devious sister, of course it was her! What hold do you have over her?” she demanded as she lit her horn and prepared a bolt of energy aimed right at her captive’s face, “Answer me, damn you!”

In the face of the threat, Chrysalis just responded with a hollow laugh. She had nothing else to defend herself with. “I have no hold over anything anymore, Celestia. I have no Hive, no subjects, no magic, no power. I am your prisoner, a slave to your will, because you hold my race in your hooves.”

With her horn lit and glowing intensely with the fury of the sun itself, Celestia stared at Chrysalis, daring her to try something, anything, waiting to see if she would try and steal any of her love to feed herself, to give her any excuse to strike her down.

Any excuse at all.

Chrysalis merely smiled, “You'll be staring at me for a long time, Celestia. I lack the power to take it. I'm starving, remember? If you want to feed me, you'll have to give it.”

“I have no love for you,” Celestia sneered before standing up to her full height and shoving open the train car door, “Guard, summon Ribbon and her cohorts back to this car. I will have the passenger car to myself.” On the way out, Celestia passed the magenta mare, “She escapes, it’s on your head.”

As Royal Ribbon and her staff fed and cared for Chrysalis on the journey back to Canterlot, Celestia herself was busy in her car. Talking it over with her sister via the radio, the alicorn ordered an internment camp to be built some fifty miles from the capital city, on the far side of Canterlot mountain so that it would not be visible from the city.

At Luna’s suggestion, select members of the royal guard would control entry and prevent snoops. The cover story for the construction to appease the populace, should one be necessary, was that it was 'Princess Twilight's new infectious disease lab’.

~ ~ ~

Six months later.

Royal Ribbon’s scheme had gone from strength to strength. By her own humble standards, the integration had been an unparalleled success. So much so that after the third anniversary of the invasion, she had been appointed the head of the Canterlot Invasion Veterans Association as well as the newly formed Changeling Integration Trust.

The latter being as well received as a bowl of cold vomit among the general populace.

After the first six months though, there were still twenty-eight changelings in the camp, Chrysalis among their number, from the ones incubated from the original thirty nine. Like she had predicted, Royal Ribbon had no issue finding those ponies that were terminally ill that were willing to check out on their own terms to let their family have them for a lot longer.

So far, of all those families that Royal Ribbon and her staff had approached, only a scant number had refused the offer. To her great delight, the vast majority of them had signed the forms on the spot.

On a particularly cold and wet winter morning, with snow capping the peaks of Canterlot mountain – and most of Equestria too – and with heavily leaden grey skies, Princess Celestia chose to make a rare visit to the changeling camp. “How many are the dead now, Ribbon?” she asked without any preamble or pretense at a greeting.

With a completely unruffled smile on her face, the magenta unicorn looked up from her computer screen where she had been working, coordinating the next year’s celebration of the anniversary of the invasion with her brother, Royal Pin, who lived in Manehatten. “Currently?” she checked her extensive database, “One hundred and eight have found new life around Equestria. So one hundred and eight, your highness.”

Stepping into the office proper, Celestia took a seat on the seating pad on the other side of the mare’s desk. “You don't fear me at all, do you?”

“I work with the terminally ill,” Royal Ribbon replied with a shake of her head, “Life is short, Princess. All you can do is put me in next for a replacement.”

Deeply, Celestia sighed. She’d had a day and a half already, what with dealing with a troublemaking pink unicorn in her school for gifted unicorns, and it wasn’t even noon yet. And here she was, in her favourite place in all the land. “What of Chrysalis?”

Royal Ribbon noted the way the alicorn said the changeling’s name and it irked her, it was like saying the name might invoke some ancient curse that would doom them all. Wisely though, she held her tongue. “She has her strength back. The ones running this place are dedicated in their pursuit of showing love to her.”

Celestia found she didn’t much care for the raised eyebrow look she was getting from the unicorn she had deemed obstinate and instead she looked at the office walls. Two were bare, one had a large window with an excellent view down the mountain and the last one, that was adorned with several dozen portraits of ponies. Ponies she didn’t know, ponies she would never know, dead who had gotten a second try at life. It was all getting too much. “You have no idea...” Celestia breathed.

“But I do know.” Royal Ribbon interrupted Celestia, her tone sharp but her voice never rising in volume, “I was there for the invasion, helping the battle mages in the defense of Clover’s Gate. I lost my coltfriend when he was killed in the massacre at Platinum Plaza., so Princess or no, don’t tell me I don’t know. I also know those that were destroyed with the chambers they were trapped in. That they were already dead. I don't. Ever. Want. To see that again!”

For a moment, Celestia was taken back by the quiet strength and resolve behind the unicorn’s words. “Where is she?”

“Unit One, just down the hall to the left, she’s the only occupant.”

“You will have to continue without her.”

Royal Ribbon opened her mouth to question what the Princess had said but, seeing as she was already on her way out of her office, she decided against it. “As you wish, your highness.” She went back to what she had been doing. The anniversary celebrations wouldn’t plan themselves, after all.

The walk down the hallway to Unit One wasn’t a long journey. Celestia’s hooves echoed off the white tiled floor as she navigated the pristine white hall. The door was a thick metal structure with a triple locking mechanism that to Celestia’s chagrin was unlocked, with a single window. Looking in, she saw that Chrysalis was laid back on the single bed in her unit, stretched out and apparently asleep. Above the bed were a set of chains and manacles bolted to the walls, but they aren't attached to her.

Without bothering to knock, Celestia entered the fifteen foot square room, though she said nothing, she merely noted the table by the bed and the toilet in the corner. Seeing Chrysalis appearing to be asleep, she closed the door loudly with a firm kick. “Who was that?” the changeling sat bolt upright, very suddenly awake, “Ribbon? Spearhead? Shieldwall...was that you?” When Celestia snorted, she looked around and got her answer, “Celestia. I'm honoured. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Instead of answering her, Celestia focused on the heavy manacles on the wall, restraints that not only were not in use, but looked like they hadn’t been used in weeks! “Why aren't you in chains?” she asked suspiciously.

“Six months of good behaviour earns you privileges, freedoms and pleasures,” Chrysalis answered as she rolled onto her front, facing her unexpected visitor, “Such as not being restrained, weekly issues of Vanity Mare and an extra fluffy pillow. I've been an exceptionally good little changeling in my prison, weren’t you told?”

“Three days ago, one of my staff died in a mountain climbing accident,” Celestia said, fighting the vindictive urge to blast that fluffy pillow into oblivion. “She had no next of kin. If you want parole, you will assume her identity and her duties immediately.”

Chrysalis was on her hooves in an instant, a look of glee on her face. “You really mean it? I will leave this cushy apartment…I mean, cell? I am to say goodbye to my two regular full meals a day and my own toilet?”

“On the train here you said you were a slave to my will.”

It bought a deep blush to Chrysalis’s chitinous cheeks to be so abruptly reminded of what she had said in her most desperate state. Still, she had said that. “I did say that, didn't I? That was six months ago, my dear Celly. But I suppose the statement is still true now as it was then.”

‘Let’s put that to the test then, shall we?’ Celestia allowed herself a calculating smile and she turned on her hooves before opening the thick metal door. “Follow,” she ordered simply and walked out, not looking over her shoulder to see if she was being followed or not. She walked back to Royal Ribbon’s office, where she dropped a portable drive on the table. “Play this for it to study. We leave in one hour.”

Royal Ribbon sighed as she watched the Princess walk out without sparing either of them another word or even a glance. “She’s in her usual mood,” the magenta unicorn sighed as she picked up and inserted the drive into her computer.

“Hmmm,” Chrysalis murmured thoughtfully, “It seems I am to be swapping one prison for another, albeit the one I’m going to will be a more gilded one,” she smiled and looked at the unicorn, “Whatever are you doing?”

“Sit there,” Royal Ribbon said, pointing to the seating pad opposite her desk instead of explaining what she was doing. When Chrysalis was seated, she spun the monitor around so she could see the screen. “This is the pony you are to become.” When she judged the changeling was ready, she hit play with a hoof.

“I confess that I am unfamiliar with this new pony magic,” Chrysalis said as she waved a hoof at the flickering computer screen, “But very well. Commence the magic device.” Royal Ribbon grinned broadly when she pressed play, she knew more than one pony who thought the computers were actually magic. Curious though, she did walk around her desk and look over Chrysalis’s shoulder.

For a long few minutes, Chrysalis stared intently at the image on the screen. Playing on a loop, the image of a middle aged pastel green earth pony mare with a curly dark brown mane and tail rotated so it could be seen from all angles. “Hmmm...she was not unattractive, was she?” she muttered to herself as she let the loop run several times.

“Let's see...” fully energized by the love energy she had been fed regularly the past few months, Chrysalis cast her magic, and, in a flash of bright green flames, she was gone, replaced by a near perfect copy of the earth pony on the screen. “Royal Ribbon, your assessment?”

The first thing the unicorn checked was the mare’s flanks to see if she had gotten the cutie mark right. She blushed hard when she realised it was of a white chamber pot. Before she could comment on the humiliating mark, Chrysalis interrupted her, “Wait...her flanks were rounder, her belly not so much...and her teats…wow!” With that, a glowing green aura surrounded her, and her body adjusted itself here and there, shrinking in places and filling out in others, particularly the flanks, ass and teats. They all grew substantially. “How about now?”

The hefty pair of swinging teats nestled between the earth pony’s hindlegs drew Royal Ribbon’s eyes away from the chamber pot cutie mark like a flame draws a moth. She marveled at them and it took all her self-composure not to worship at them. ‘How in the world was this mare, whoever she was, able to go rock climbing with those boulders?’ she wondered in awe. She could only assume, as she gave off her happy loving feeling, that she’d had a foal, or been a wet nurse. “I hope you enjoy your next life.”

“You will continue to see me, I hope?” Chrysalis asked, her voice changing slowly to match the mare she was impersonating, “I have grown extremely fond of your company, Royal Ribbon.”

“It may be some time,” Royal Ribbon replied, though the more she ogled those teats, the more she was determined to stay in contact, “I need the Princess to release me from the camp. My job is here.”

“Then I sincerely hope the time will be short,” the earth pony smiled warmly, “ May I give you a hug?”

“I'd be honoured,” Royal Ribbon beamed, then again, she would have been honoured if the earth pony mare had sat her generously proportioned ass on her face and rubbed those prodigious teats all over her body… but she didn’t say that out loud. That was an image for later. “Things are going well, Chryssie, with only one negative incident so far in six months. You…you know she will test you, don’t you?”

Smiling so wide it almost looked unnatural, Chrysalis hugged Royal Ribbon, her longest and most genuine friend, tightly. “I know she will, my friend. I would be greatly disappointed if she did not. But, I beg that you don't worry. No matter what she may do, I will not give her an excuse to reverse all we have achieved.”

Chapter 3 - Let Love Speak Up Itself

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Forty five minutes later, during which time Chrysalis had been getting accustomed to her new disguise, her mannerisms, the way she walked and the way she talked, a truly monumental grey earth pony stallion dressed head to hoof in golden armour knocked politely on the office door. “Ms. Ribbon,” he looked around, confusion on his face, “Where is Chrysalis?”

Royal Ribbon giggled like a filly who had just been told a really rude joke and she pointed a magenta hoof to the pastel green earth pony mare stood beside her. “She’s right here, as directed by the Princess herself.”

Smirking broadly, the transformed changeling made an exaggerated bow, so low her muzzle touched the office floor, “What, you didn't recognize me, Shieldwall?”

Shieldwall blushed so hard his grey cheeks turned a beautiful shade of red, not at his mistake in failing to realise the pony bowing before him was Chrysalis, but at the mare’s watermelon sized teats. He tried not to stare, but it was a battle he was losing. “Ahem, I-I'm to escort you to the palace. Follow me, ma’am,” he held the door open so she could leave ahead of him.

“Such a gentlecolt you are, Shieldwall,” for the first time in six months, Chrysalis walked outside. She would have preferred the sun, instead of the cold and dreary winter’s day she was greeted with, but she’d take it. She was outside, with the wind on her chitin… ‘Fur,’ she reminded herself.

Outside the changeling internment camp, there was a pegasus drawn carriage waiting for them. Shieldwall got in the back with Chrysalis by his side. At least with her stood so close, the royal guard pony couldn’t see her teats. Small mercies. “We can go, Downdraft,” he spoke to the white stallion at the head of the carriage, and it took of a moment later.

Chrysalis was thoroughly enjoying the view from the carriage as they flew around the side of Canterlot mountain. Looking over the side, she fancied she could see all of Equestria from where she was. “It was Hearts and Hooves day this past weekend,” she said just to break the silence, “Tell me, did you follow my advice with that mare you like?”

Shieldwall gave his travelling companion a sideways glance, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “You know, you are making it exceedingly difficult to not like you. A word of warning,” his smile faded, “I would be careful near the Princess. In answer to your question,” the smile returned to his face, “Yes, we have already been on two dates since then.”

Chrysalis matched his smile with one of her own, “I'm glad to hear it…” then, she sighed, “And yes, I know to be careful around Celestia but, thank you for the warning. I appreciate the heads up.”

“You're welcome,” Shieldwall beamed down at the smaller pony – that was nothing new. Almost everypony was smaller than he was – and he asked, “Did you get enough to eat today?”

“I did, thank you. Royal Ribbon was most forthcoming with breakfast.” Chrysalis then bumped her flank against the armour that covered his, “And your visits made my stay in the camp most comfortable.”

“It is okay for you to snack on our way, it will be about thirty minutes flight.” They did after all have to go around Canterlot mountain and hide where they had come from. Plus, the guard wasn’t sure when his companion would eat again.

As soon as she heard that, the earth pony’s blue eyes glowed with a bright green light. Energy from the stallion flowed into her and she took the opportunity for said snack, “Ooooh...you thought of your mare, didn’t you? That was delicious, Shieldwall.”

“So far we are so good, we’re not rushing anything. She needs to get used to my odd job hours.”

“Then, I wish you the best of luck, Shieldwall.”

“Thank you. Now for some silence,” Shieldwall’s genial easy going tone turned somber and solemn. It wasn’t a switch he enjoyed. “You need to get used to the treatment you're going to experience in the palace.”

Chrysalis stared straight ahead, watching where the chariot was flying. Below them she could just make out the very outskirts of Canterlot below the clouds. “It's not going to be a picnic on the nearest rainbow, is it?” she felt rather than saw the huge guard shake his head. Royal Ribbon’s warning came back to her ears as they flew on, but she remained silent, looking grimly at the palace in the far distance.

Presently, after a mostly silent flight, Downdraft landed the chariot on the ground outside the palace, inside the gates. “Follow me, please,” Shieldwall then led his companion – his friend - through main entrance and down the labyrinthine halls to a side room near Celestia's quarters. He was pleased to see that nearly every guard they passed on the way got a sore neck from staring at the mare’s teats. Not just him then. “This is your room when you’re off duty. Princess Celestia will inform you of your duties and your hours. Unless you are performing a task you will remain in this room. The door is not locked, nor can it be locked.” When he paused, the stern tone left his voice, replaced by a softer, more caring one. “Your chance to build up some trust.”

“I understand. Thank you, Shieldwall. I’m sure it’s a perfectly nice room.”

“I hope that eventually, she will allow you to put some personality into it. I wish you luck, my friend.” After giving the earth pony an affectionate nuzzle, the massive stallion turned and left her standing before the plain white door.

The earth pony stepped through her door and her jaw fell almost too the floor. “Mmmmm, a nice room indeed…” she murmured after a few long moments. There was a double bed with the thinnest comforter she had ever seen on it, a nightstand, a lamp, one empty bookshelf, and empty dresser and empty vanity. Fortunately there was a large window, with a plain white curtain, and a double door that led to a small empty balcony with another plain white curtain over door. There were no pictures on the wall. Even crappy hotel art would have broken up the endless ocean of white.

It was roughly just before twelve noon when Chrysalis had been shown her room. It was six hours later when her door was opened by none other than Celestia herself in the door frame. She saw the pastel green earth pony laid on the bed, staring up at the white ceiling. “You're here.”

“I am,” Chrysalis scoffed in the earth pony’s voice, “In my very own special room. Thank you.”

“Follow,” Celestia ordered simply and she turned on her hooves. Walking out and over to her own room, she knew she was being followed when she heard the clopping of hooves behind her. At her quarters, she held the door open for her maid, on either side of which stood an imposing guard clad in golden armour. Celestia shot the earth pony a nasty smile, “Bedpan will resume her duties. She has free access to my room.” The alicorn then spared ‘Bedpan’ a look, “Tidy things up. I'm going to dinner.”

With her orders given, Celestia walked off down the hall without so much as a backwards glance. Left alone with the two guards – who were both a lot more intimidating than Shieldwall ever had been, despite being smaller than he – Bedpan quickly scooted inside the Princess’s chambers. “Yes ma'am, doing clean up, ma'am!” she bowed and saluted to the empty room.

The room in question, while no doubt fine in all the white marble and gold décor, looked like it had just played host to a raging tornado, if the state of it was anything to go by. Chrysalis swore she could hear fading gloating laughter as Celestia headed to the private dining hall. “Hmm,” she mused, “I was right. No picnic on rainbows indeed…” she sighed deeply and decided to make a start on the tornado, starting with the bed.

While nothing was soiled, thankfully, nothing was where it should have been, either. Books lay scattered around the floor in a heap, with no clue as to where they went. Bedsheets were tossed against the wall, and there were a multitude of other things that needed attention.

Ninety minutes later, when Celestia opened her door following her meal, she saw that her maid had succeeded in making her bed and picking up the large pile of books, though of course almost none were where they should be. “Hmph…I didn't know I had such a lazy maid…” she commented as she closed the door and looked around.

“Pardon me, your highness,” Chrysalis bit back the rather snappy retort she wanted to respond with and instead she forced herself to be polite, “But your ‘maid’ did not know where your things went.” She was sure that was the whole point.

Celestia lit her horn and a second later, three hundred books were swept from the bookshelves and they landed back on the floor in haphazard piles. “Alphabetical order by author.” Next, she ripped the recently applied sheets from her bed like they had personally wronged her. “Military corners. I'm not going to look in my wardrobe to be disappointed. Colour variant with ultraviolet on the left and infrared on the right.”

With that, Celestia turned and left her quarters without another word. Stunned by what the Princess had just done, Chrysalis stood rooted to the spot like a cockatrice had petrified her. She stood with her mouth hanging open at the way her ninety minutes of hard work had been undone in literally seconds. Muttering - not quite under her breath – she restarted her chores, beginning with the books.

Princess Luna was busy getting ready for her shift in that day’s Night Court when Celestia stomped without ceremony into her private chambers. “Good evening, my dear sister,” Luna’s greeting was completely at odds with the look of thunder on her older sister’s face. Wisely, Crescent Moon decided that was the right time to take her leave, “Oh my, is something amiss?”

“Chrysalis is not rebelling!” Celestia stomped a forehoof into her sister’s floor so hard it fractured the dark blue marbled surface.

“Oh,” Luna placed a serene smile on her face as she magically repaired her floor, “Was that a job requirement I was unaware of?”

Somewhat annoyed by her sister’s rather irreverent cheeky tone, Celestia rolled her eyes, “I can't destroy a non-rebellion, can I?”

Shooing her sister aside so she could assess whether her floor was properly mended, Luna said, “Either you are not trying hard enough, or she is more concerned about her bugs than about herself.”

“Impossible,” Celestia snapped, “To have concern would require love. She doesn't have an ounce of love in her!”

“As you say, sister.” Luna replied, that calm about her an infuriating mirror to her sister’s bad mood, as she levitated her polished black torq over her head and then placed her crown just behind her horn.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It’s supposed to mean that I must go to my Night Court. I may have a petitioner tonight!” smiling in such a way that she knew her sister wanted to hit her, Luna hugged Celestia tight, “I leave her in your hooves as I know you will do what is right, even if you don't want to.”

Just like that, Celestia was left fuming, alone with her thoughts, in her sister’s chambers.

Meanwhile, back in Celestia's room, Chrysalis at last had all the books arranged alphabetically by author, she had the corners of the bedsheets and the comforter so sharp that they could have been classed as lethal weapons and the closet was organized just so. She was determined that the Princess wouldn’t be able to find fault this time.

Leaving Luna’s chambers, Celestia first went to the kitchens for some much needed tea and cake, as well as a great deal of personal reflection. After another ninety minutes, she returned to her quarters and she got the impression that Chrysalis had completed her work literally just in the nick of time, given by how she snapped to attention as she opened the door.

“Return to your room,” Celestia ordered curtly. Saying nothing more, she simply waited for ‘Bedpan’ to leave her sight.

Chrysalis though, did not leave. “I'm hungry,” she stated plaintively, and on cue her belly growled like she had a bear in there. A hungry bear. She hadn’t eaten since Shieldwall had given her the snack in the chariot, and it was catching up with her.

“GET OUT!”

About to respond with a yell, Chrysalis swallowed it at the very last moment when thoughts of her changelings and their wellbeing flashed across her mind, and instead, she bowed low to the floor. “As you command,” she said, making the three words as contemptuous as she could.

She got a surprise in her plain white room though. On her bed was a dark green earth pony with a light blue mane, smiling welcomingly at her. “Welcome home Bedpan, I hope the day wasn't too difficult for you?” as she spoke, she radiated care and concern like a small sun, “I'm part of Royal Ribbon's team.”

“It was...challenging,” Chrysalis dropped unceremoniously to the floor and gratefully, she absorbed the light meal. It was enough to take the edge off her hunger. “Then again, I was warned it would be.”

Still smiling, the mare slid from the bed and she lay on the floor next to the disguised Chrysalis. “My name is Bluegrass,” she draped a foreleg over Chrysalis’s back, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. All is moving forward with the program.”

As soon as she heard that, Chrysalis found herself crying. The act surprised her, because she hadn’t thought it was getting to her as much as it was. “Sh-She is t-trying to br-break me!” she managed to say in between her sobbing, “B-But I will not, I cannot give her the satisfaction, I know I can't, but if all the days are to be like this...” the seemingly insurmountable pressure was just too much, and she cried all the more.

“They may be worse,” Bluegrass said softly, which just made Chrysalis cry harder, streaks of tears ran down her cheeks, “I'm here at her sufferance. She could have ordered me away. Royal Ribbon fears the program may work well enough that you will no longer be needed.”

“I doubt I am needed at all,” Chrysalis wept. All her heart seemed to break, “My link to the changelings that came here was severed when we arrived. I can't feel them, or communicate with them, yet the program endures and is doing well.”

Bluegrass discovered, in that moment, that Chrysalis was an ugly crier. Her eyes were quickly red from the tears, her fur streaked, and snot was leaking from her nose. “Then it is up to you to remain needed,” she smiled warmly and used her hoofkerchief to gently wipe ‘Bedpan’s’ face, “That you hurt Celestia during the invasion is minor.”

“She seeks to torment me,” Chrysalis sniffed, taking the hoofkerchief and wiping her own face, “That much is clear, for what I did to her subjects.”

With a shake of her head, Bluegrass corrected her, “You embarrassed her in front of her subjects, her niece, and most of all, her student. She seeks revenge by embarrassing you more.”

“Well, there’s that too, I suppose,” Chrysalis conceded Bluegrass’s point, “How much longer are you permitted to stay here?”

“I must be gone before the sun rises.”

“Then, would you mind watching the door? I need to revert to my natural state at least once per day.”

“It would be best if I wait outside then,” Bluegrass said as she took the latest issue of Vanity Mare magazine from her saddle bag and placed it next to Chrysalis on the floor. “What I don't see, I can't say. and the door opens out.” She then left the room, and outside, she leant against the door.

“Mother bless you, Royal Ribbon,” Chrysalis sighed and relaxed. The magical green flames flashed, and in a second, she was herself once more, stretched out on the floor. “Aaaaaaaah,” she gasped like she had taken off a constricting piece of clothing, “That's better…” it certainly was a relief not carrying around Bedpan’s sizeable teats.

Bluegrass remained at the door all night until just before Celestia raised the sun, standing there like the most diligent of guards-ponies. Thankfully, nopony tried to enter. She took her leave when she said she would, dutifully not looking into the room just in case. Inside, in her new bed, Chrysalis slept like a hatchling all night, though she did wake up once, for long enough to muse that pony beds were really comfortable, before drifting back to sleep, cocooned in the comforter.

Shortly after sunrise, the door opened and Celestia stepped loudly inside the room. “Put his on and report to Ms. Spatula in the cafeteria,” she ordered before tossing a very skimpy maid outfit at the Chrysalis shaped lump under the comforter and leaving, slamming the door behind her.

“Yes ma'am!” Chrysalis slowly extricated herself from the comforter and she saw the maid outfit tossed on the bed. Her first thought was that it was just like the ones she had seen in the pages of Vanity Mare. Her second thought, after she had transformed into Bedpan and as she dressed herself in the skimpy clothing, was that it was nothing like the ones in Vanity Mare. The outfit was so small and skimpy that it barely covered her ass and it showed off her bowling ball sized teats even more than just having them bare. “Oh well…”

In the cafeteria, Ms. Spatula was a generously plump purple earth pony mare with a curly straw yellow mane that refused to be combed into any shape other than ‘birds nest’. “Bedpan, um,” the old mare flustered, “Wh-Why are you wearing that?” not that she was complaining, the way the maid’s dress supported and pushed up and out her teats was just the sight she needed early in the morning. It was better than coffee.

“I was requested to by her highness Princess Celestia herself, then told to report to you,” Chrysalis couldn’t shake the idea that she had been set up, that her tormentor sought to humiliate and embarrass her.

“Far be it from me to argue fashion with the Princess,” Ms. Spatula shrugged her shoulders and pointed to a fully loaded food cart, “Take that cart to the barracks. It has a hundred breakfasts for the guards. After you deliver them, bring the cart back and you can have some yourself,” she ordered before turning back to her cooking and watching over the kitchen staff.

“The barracks, right…” ‘Bedpan’ giggled nervously, suddenly aware that she had no knowledge of the palace’s many halls, corridors and rooms, “Um, not to be a pain or anything, but they would be....where?”

Ms. Spatula, who was the absolute ruler of her domain, gave ‘Bedpan’ a narrow look, “Where they've always been, now get to it.”

“Right, I got it!” ‘Bedpan’ smiled a smile that was way too wide to be natural, as she took the stacked food cart and she tried to rack her mind as to the location of the barracks. It was years since she had been in the palace, and back then, she couldn’t remember ever going to the barracks.

Just then, by a huge stroke of luck, a white unicorn stallion in full golden armour happened to trot by. “Is that breakfast?”

“Yes!” ‘Bedpan’ squeaked, “Yes, yes it is, I don't suppose you could point me in the direction of the barracks, could you?”

“Hurry it up then, I'm hungry!” the guard grinned broadly, staring at the delicious smelling food rather than how ‘uniquely’ the earth pony was dressed.

Not quite under her breath, Chrysalis muttered, “I guess I'll follow you then,” and then she trotted off after the stallion, hurrying to keep up with him. Unfortunately, due to the speed she was going, her hefty teats popped out of the skimpy dress, although she didn't notice.

Chrysalis was led straight to the barracks dining hall, and as soon as she entered the large packed out room, she was greeted with a tumultuous round of cat calls and whistles from stallions and mares, until they saw that she was carrying food. Then their priorities changed in a heartbeat. It was all rather orderly as they emptied the food cart, if a rampaging herd of ravenous scavengers could be called orderly.

“I'll share with you if you sit in my lap, sweetheart,” one of the guard stallions leered at ‘Bedpan’.

“I'm more likely to poke her in my lap than yours,” a mare called out, garnering lots of laughter from the other guards.

The laughter carried on until a rather official looking guard, a large deep blue coloured unicorn whose stripes declared to all that he was a lieutenant, stood up. “Job done, maid,” he said in a voice as low as he was large, “Now get on out of here.”

“S-Sir, y-yes sir!” Chrysalis squeaked and, with cheeks blushing bright red, because she could taste the rampant lust in the barracks, took the cart in her hooves and performed a quick one eighty out of the barracks, her large teats swaying with each hurried step she took.

What Chrysalis swiftly came to realise was, she liked it. The attention she had just received, the free fast food, had made her feel good, made her feel wanted. Smirking to herself, she surreptitiously made her teats even bigger than they already were. If they wanted to look, she’d give them something to look at.

“Oh good you're back…” Ms. Spatula paused the moment she walked around the serving counter; her eyes wide as dinner plates when she got a good look at ‘Bedpan’. “Good gracious, dear, are you pregnant?”

“No ma'am,” ‘Bedpan’ parked the food cart and tried to rack her brain hard. The data file hadn’t mentioned anything about her disguise being pregnant, “Um, not the last time I checked.”

“Your teats look more like grapefruits than lemons!” Ms. Spatula openly admired the earth pony’s assets, “I'm sure the soldiers didn't mind though,” she added with a laugh, “Okay, go to the line and get a meal. After that you’re with...Water Drop!”

As a pale blue pegasus mare – presumably Water Drop - waved enthusiastically at the sound of her name, ‘Bedpan’ looked down and even she was surprised at how big her set had become. Her blushed deepened, realising that maybe she had made them too big. “Ha...ha ha,” she laughed awkwardly, “I guess the dress didn't stand a chance against these!”

With that, she walked over to the serving line to get some food and, once she had perused what she assumed were standard breakfast items, she made her choice. “Hello,” she greeted the pegasus with a smile, “Water Drop. I um...I'll have the...” she looked again at the food, and eventually she pointed to the pancakes, “A stack of those, please.”

“Sure thing, Bedpan, eat up and relax,” the pegasus served up a large stack of the pancakes and added a liberal amount of blueberries and chocolate sauce, “Clean up starts at eight thirty, and we have an hour and a half till the lunch line starts to get ready.”

“Hmhmm…” ‘Bedpan’ took her plate over to an unoccupied table and she sat, happy by herself, poking at the pancakes with a hoof, sniffing them and, when she was sure they weren’t going to attack, she lowered her head to take a small bite. “Oh...ooh mother these are nice!”

A few moments later and Princess Luna wandered into the cafeteria and to the line, “Inspection time, Water Drop! I'll have one of everything please.” Water Drop was used by now to the Princess’s ‘surprise’ inspections and she quickly loaded up her plate. Once she had her food, Luna sat herself down at Chrysalis’s table. “I'm surprised to see you here.”

“Princess Luna!” ‘Bedpan’ bowed her head respectfully to the dark blue alicorn, “I am sampling these,” she pointed to the pancakes on her plate, “They are not unpleasant.”

“I'm checking for quality,” Luna leant in conspiratorially, “Eating in the royal dining room guarantees quality. Eating here ensures the rest of the staff are also treated well,” smiling, Luna only took small samples from the food items on her plate.

“As you say,” ‘Bedpan’ took another sniff at the pancakes and she took another small mouthful, chewing it slowly like actual solid food was a new thing, which of course it was. “Do you um...you eat this often?”

“Here?” Luna asked as she swallowed her latest morsel, “Very random, but at least once in the month.” She then looked over the earth pony mare and she liked what she saw, “I see Tia has you dressed the part, but I don't remember Bedpan's teats being that big. Still, it’s a good look. Not sure if Tia will notice, but I did!”

The Princess’s salacious wink was not lost on Chrysalis. As a result, she produced a new and very deep red blush. “I went on the images that were supplied to me,” she glanced down, and she saw that yet again those teats had popped out of the maid’s dress. Blushing bright red, she put them away again, a gesture she realised was utterly futile. “You noticed?”

As she watched ‘Bedpan’ poke at her pancakes, Luna smiled and admired the maid’s pancakes. “I have an eye for that sort of thing.”

“May I ask,” started ‘Bedpan’, changing the topic rather skillfully, she thought, “What do you do with the food once you've chewed it?”

Luna blinked several times; sure she was being pranked. But, she saw no such thing in the look she was getting from the mare by her side, “Do you drink anything?”

“Oh yes, water, and a creature’s essences, if they are distilled into special containers.”

“There’s your answer then. You swallow it.”

“Oh!” ‘Bedpan’ wanted to facehoof right there. She felt so ridiculous! “Right, I see, it goes where the water goes.” She swallowed a mouthful of her food and went in for another bite. “May I ask a second question?”

Luna responded automatically, “You poop it out.”

“That was not going to be the question!”

Luna’s bright laughter resounded around the cafeteria, “Oh, well, go ahead and ask then.”

“You do not seem as hostile towards me as um, a certain pony is. Why?” As soon as the disguised changeling had asked that, she figured she had said something wrong, at least judging by the way Luna was staring at her in complete utter silence. After a few moments, she flinched and looked away, “I’m sorry, that was impertinent of me.”

The alicorn just smiled and held her scrutinous gaze on the earth pony. “I wasn't here to kill you the first time,” she said like she was discussing the weather, “And I don't have the desire to do it now. Royal Ribbon came to me with this plan months after your invasion. I didn't think anything of it as Twilight said you'd only have six months to live after the failure. You surprised us, and if you have that much will to live, then you can live with my sister.”

The Princess’s somewhat cold and clinical explanation left Chrysalis reeling. “Life finds a way; I believe the saying goes. Twilight is not wrong. By rights we should have expired by now, but we...I...did not.” As she thought about it, another thought crept into her head, “If this body turns your eye, might I ask what turns your sister's?” It might help her stay be a little easier, if she knew that.

Leaning in close to ‘Bedpan’, Luna covered her mouth with a hoof, “That would be cheating. Maybe she will let you know, or you may find out by accident. I'm done here. I still have a meal to eat with my sister. Do you want what’s left, or do I return it?”

Having become enamored of the solid food that these ponies ate, Chrysalis made her choice. “I’ll have it, thank you. I only ask because your sister is an exceptionally fine mare, with curves that others simply cannot hope to possess. She has occupied my dreams rather a lot, of late…” Luna found she had nothing to say to that. Getting up, she left the tray and trotted off, though she did stop at Ms. Spatula’s station and, after talking for a short while, the earth pony mare was left glowing from praise.

“Who am I kidding?” Chrysalis muttered as she ate the food that Luna had left her, “I have more chance with the sun itself than with her…”

~ ~ ~

At the end of an exceptionally long day in her court, Princess Celestia trudged her way slowly into her private chambers like the weight of Equestria was dragging her down, so slow and laboured was each step. What she saw when she entered her chambers immediately perked her up. ‘Bedpan’ busy dusting away was always a welcome sight, “I can tell you're not working very hard,” she said with a smile in her voice.

Wearing her black skimpy maid’s dress, and facing away from the door, ‘Bedpan’ decided to be naughty. While she held the feather duster in her mouth, the pastel green earth pony mare lowered herself to dust down low on the bookcase, lifting up her tail to show herself off to her Mistress.

After taking a long, long moment to admire the view of her maid’s white panties stretched over her wide round ass, panties that were perfectly molded to her puffy mound, and her large teats, Celestia walked up behind her. “You prove my point,” she said before thrusting a golden shod hoof between her maid’s hind legs. “If you were working hard, this would be wet, and dust would have stuck to these panties!” she rubbed her hoof hard over ‘Bedpan’s’ labia, “I'm most disappointed.”

“I-I'm s-sorry, your highness!” ‘Bedpan’ moaned and automatically she ground her crotch back into Celestia's hoof, dropping the feather duster in the process and letting out a very lewd moan as her panties dampened.

Smirking, the Princess pulled back the hoof she had been teasing her maid with and without warning, she applied two strong strikes to each of the earth pony’s ass cheeks, “Do not drop delicate equipment!”

“Aaaaaaah!” ‘Bedpan’ squealed, and much to her shame she felt the gusset of her panties get even wetter as her large ass showed the evidence of those two strikes in the form of hoof shaped welts, “I'm sorry!” she squeaked, and she hurriedly picked up the duster in her mouth.

Quickly, Celestia ducked down and she thrust her long horn between the earth pony’s spread open legs and used it to swat each heavy hanging teat. Before her maid could react, the alicorn pulled back. “Those seem to be filling up nicely,” she assessed those magnificent mounds, the impact of her horn making them drip milk.

“MmmmMPH Hhhhhmph!” ‘Bedpan’ mumbled around the handle of the duster she held in her mouth, and she responded in the only way she knew how, she spread her hind legs as wide as she could as her nipples and pussy all dripped like running faucets, readily showing of her arousal.

Behind her, Celestia followed up with two rapid spanks of her hoof to the earth pony’s ass, leaving behind two more red welts, “You are not dusting!”

“Aaaannmppph!” ‘Bedpan’ drooled around the handle in her mouth as she screamed and, trying to ignore the intense pain that was blossoming over her behind, she moved her head along the already perfectly clean lower bookshelf, her juices starting to pool on the floor under her spread open legs.

Watching her maid work, Celestia was pleased to see that those white panties were now so wet they were translucent. Just to make sure she was working hard, the alicorn applied two more smacks, this time targeting the thick flesh of her upper thighs, “Your tail is dropping!”

“Aaaah'm ooowwy!” ‘Bedpan’ cried, and even though she was sure her tail was doing no such thing, she flexed the muscles of her dock and hiked up her tail even further until it was practically laid over her back.

Watching the pastel green ass turn a darkening shade of red, and knowing it was she who had made it so, made Celestia start to drip her arousal onto the marble floor. Punishing her maid always made her so hot! Her smirk widened as she took a tissue in her magic, levitated it to a spot that had been dusted, right next to the earth pony’s head, and she incinerated it to ash. Then, she delivered two more smacks to each butt cheek. “You missed a spot.”

There was no way the poor maid missed the magic trickery, but before she could protest how unfair that was, her hind legs buckled under the harsh spanks, leaving her quivering on her knees, inner thighs glistening wet with her pussy juices. “Y-Yo-Your highness...” she whimpered on the floor, “Th-that's cheating!”

“Really, well,” there was a wide smile present in Celestia’s voice, “If you're going to be like that, I can just leave…”

“N-No please!” ‘Bedpan’ pleaded like she had just been told she would never have cake ever again. Once more, she had the feather duster in her mouth and she hastily started to dust the bit her Mistress had just dirtied.

“That's a good girl,” Celestia felt herself getting more and more aroused by the second, “Very good girl,” she then used her horn to run along one of her maid’s inner thighs and up under the panties just below the earth pony’s dock. Lifting her head up, Celestia watched those sodden panties go straight up the middle of her dripping slit. Then, after moments of holding it, she released the wedgie and watched the elastic snap back against her ass.

“MMmmMMMMM!” moaning like she was in heat, ‘Bedpan’ felt her pussy juices dripping all over her Mistress’s horn. This time, when the wedgie was released, it was her front legs that buckled, leaving her head on the floor.

“My, my,” Celestia couldn’t keep the condescending tone from her voice, not that she tried, “Such an ass in the air mare you are...” smirking, the alicorn used her horn to press the panties into the whimpering mare’s needy slit.

The effect of that was immediate. ‘Bedpan’ let the feather duster slip from her mouth, “Pl-Please highness...I need you in me please! I've been a good maid all day, please!”

“Have you now?” as she looked at the dripping wet mess that her maid had been reduced to, the playful tone left the Princess’s voice, replaced by a stern dominant one. She supposed she had teased her enough. “Middle of the bed, on your back now!”

“Yes your highness!” as quickly as she could, ‘Bedpan’ scampered over to the bed, clambered up and then she was on her back. Her massive teats had again burst from the flimsy little dress and she pointed her four legs to the corners of the bed.

Like a hunter stalking her prey, Celestia slithered onto the bed, crawling up and over her poor maid’s hind legs. Her powerful forelegs spread the earth pony’s hind legs even wider apart and, as her magic bound the mare to the bed, she lowered her head. “Now to sample your juice!”

“AAaaaAAAH yeeeeesssss!” as Celestia started suckling on a teat, ‘Bedpan’ arched her back, milk leaking freely from her heavy swollen nipple. In no time at all, the Princess savaged both teats until she had drunk her fill. Underneath her, thanks to her relentless assault, the earth pony was reduced to a moaning, mewling mess. “Pl-Please y-your highness, I need to cum, please!”

Sliding down the writhing mare’s body, Celestia used her teeth to rip off ‘Bedpan's already ruined panties. “That’s coming out of your paycheck…” she growled as she threw the garment onto the floor before diving into her maid’s furiously winking pussy muzzle first.

“Wh-What paaaAAAAAYCHECK!?” ‘Bedpan’ screamed aloud as she felt her Mistress’s muzzle touch her hot marehood. Instead of ripping an orgasm from her though, Celestia teased her sopping snatch with careful, skilled motions. A lick here, a nibble there. A well-placed slow breath with parted lips, her tongue dashing in a zigzag pattern across her glistening labia. A nudge of her nose against ‘Bedpan’s’ hood left it glistening and filling her senses with her aroma, just as it left the earth pony’s hooves wringing against the sheets in a rush of delight.

‘Bedpan’s’ blue eyes went crossed as she experienced the skilled, well-practiced tongue of her Princess against her puffy labia. She twirled and twisted her tongue, sent it darting back and forth across her glistening entrance, and all the while nuzzled her nose against her hood in a gentle search for her clitoris. Smirking at a job well done, Celestia chuckled against her sub’s pussy, purposely using the vibrations it caused to send her squirming all the more.

With her tongue weaving deftly back and forth across those rapidly glistening folds and with her nose nestled deep to her hood, Celestia decided it was enough teasing – if her mare’s pleading whimpers were anything to go by – and she switched from her tongue moving across her entrance to focus instead upon her clit, and since she was bound securely to the bed, Celestia moved her hooves upwards so she could grope her pony’s massive dripping teats. When she squeezed those huge mounds with a possessive, hungry grip, ‘Bedpan’ practically convulsed right on the spot, her blue eyes crossing and a long, lusty moan escaping her throat.

Celestia’s skilful tongue continued, drawing in the intense, glorious flavour of the earth pony’s marehood. The Princess slurped, kissed, nudged, and outright worshipped her mare’s pussy with everything she had. She deserved nothing less. ‘Bedpan’ was squirming by that point, her snatch soaked from her own excitement and her Mistress’s wet tongue, her cheeks taking on a tremendous blush as she crept closer and closer to the brink of her pleasure.

“Buck, buck, buck...yessssss, right there! Mmmmistressss!” the earth pony’s voice was so loud that she was easily broadcasting to the whole royal palace what they were doing and that she was reaching her peak. Her voice only went louder as Celestia tightened her grip on her heavy teats and shifted her tongue from her hood to her pussy, squeezing it in her muscular tunnel as deep as she could manage and dancing around her walls.

With her white nose buried against her pet’s hood, Celestia sent her tantalizing breaths of wet, hot air and with her tongue working so rapidly that the sounds of greedy slurping filled the air as an undercurrent to ‘Bedpan’s’ lewd moans, it was only a matter of time before the wet sweaty mare reached a fevered climax. “I’m...I’m going to…aaaAAAAAH I’m g-gon-gonna cuuuuuuuuuum!”

Moments later, and Chrysalis sat bolt upright in her bed in the darkness of her room. “Wow…” she gasped, images of her very vivid dream still in her mind. Then, two things hit her. One, the bed was wet, and she had woken up in a puddle, again, and two, her room was reeking of her arousal. “Oh...oh wow…”

“Oh...” that seemed to be all she could say as she slipped from the drenched bedsheets onto shaking hooves. Now she was out of bed, cold air hit her exposed nethers and that just made her wetter than she already was. Flicking on her light, she saw how large the wet patch was on the sheets. “Buck, that was...intense…”

Making sure she was fully transformed, Chrysalis pushed open her door, and she was greeted by a guard she didn’t recognize. “What do you require, Bedpan?” he asked in an even tone.

“Ah...I need Ms. Bluegrass, if she is available, and um...” the pastel green earth pony blushed deep red when the smell in her room seeped out, “A change of bedsheets. Again.”

“Ring the night staff for that,” the guard didn’t even try to not chuckle at the poor mare’s predicament, “I'll have somepony check on Ms. Bluegrass.”

“Thank you,” Chrysalis quickly closed her door, “I can't believe I did it again...” she muttered to herself as she walked over to the intercom on the wall and called the staff, “Hello, this is Bedpan, could I trouble you for some more clean bedsheets, please?”

“Be about five minutes, please have the soiled bedsheets ready for pick up.”

“Thank you,” as Chrysalis hung up, she thanked the mare on the other end for not pointing out that she had supplied her with fresh sheets every morning for the past two weeks. Working quickly, she pulled the soiled sheets off the bed and at least folded them up to make it seem a bit presentable. “It's getting to be every night...” fortunately, in just under five minutes, there came a knock on the door.

A last check to make sure she was disguised, Chrysalis opened her door and she had her laundry ready, along with a suitably deep contrite blush. A night maid and Bluegrass both stood there, both with wide knowing grins on their faces. “I can't come in so here is your fresh sheets,” the maid made the swap, and trotted off, only laughing when she was around the corner.

“I could have brought them,” Bluegrass beamed, “But that would’ve left you with dirty ones. May I come in?”

“Please do, Bluegrass!” Chrysalis dumped her sheets on the bed with a deep sigh. Pulling her into a tight hug, Bluegrass sat on the floor and when she ran a hoof tenderly through that curly brown mane, she felt the mare relax beside her. For a few moments, the disguised Chrysalis was content to just be held in the mare's legs. “It happened again…”

Bluegrass didn’t need to be told; a sniff told her it had happened again. “Do the dreams give you relief or just make you more pent up?”

“Relief, at first,” Chrysalis admitted, leaning her head on the mare’s shoulder, “But then when I wake up, I'm pent up and frustrated, because she can't bear to even look at me!”

“Is it worth it for what’s happening with your people?”

“Yes, it's worth it. Of course it’s worth it,” Chrysalis sighed, “I can take the way she treats me because of the success of the program.”

“Keep doing what you're doing then,” Bluegrass advised as her hoof stroked the sweaty mare’s neck down to her shoulder, “And maybe you'll wear her down. Do you need some cuddling, while I’m here?”

“Cuddling would be nice,” Chrysalis snuggled deep into Bluegrass’s side, imagining it was Celestia’s side she was using as a pillow, “I wouldn't say no to some mane pulling and spanking either, but cuddles will suffice for now.”

“Um, cuddles will have to suffice for now,” Bluegrass blushed, she had no intention of doing any of ‘that’ with the mare by her side.

Catching Bluegrass’s eye, Chrysalis just blushed harder until she resembled a tomato. “You don’t need to say it, I know I'm a kinky mare.” The changeling sighed deeply, “All I want is a tiny bit of love from her, just a bit…”

“I know you do,” Bluegrass held her close, “But you can have mine for now.”

Chapter 4 - Hold on to Love

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Three weeks.

It had been three weeks since Chrysalis had seen Princess Luna in the cafeteria, and two since her talk with Bluegrass in her room. While she was seated alone, disguised as Bedpan the scullery maid, and busy with her stack of blueberry and banana pancakes, she saw the alicorn fill up her tray with one of everything and make her way over to where she was sat.

“Is this seat available, Bedpan?” Luna asked politely, shaking the pastel green earth pony mare from her reflections.

“Of course, your highness, help yourself,” as Luna seated herself opposite ‘Bedpan’, the alicorn took careful interest what was on the mare’s plate. She was pleased to see in addition to pancakes, there was a generous helping of cheesy scrambled eggs, as well as a small bowl of oatmeal. “Is something wrong, Princess?” she asked as she caught the curious look she was getting.

Luna just smiled serenely, “Nothing, it seems you have the swallowing thing down now.”

“I've been practising, swallowing, I - I mean having things in my mouth…” ‘Bedpan’s’ blue eyes wide like dinnerplates and she blushed a beautiful red colour, and rested her head on the table, “Never mind what I mean…”

It was a good thing Luna had levitated up a mouthful of food, it allowed her to cover her mouth with a hoof to stifle her giggles, “Should I ask Royal Ribbon to swap out Bluegrass for a stallion?”

“No!” ‘Bedpan’ squeaked, and she tried to recover her composure, though she was squirming a little on her seating pad, “I've grown rather fond of her and the way she cuddles me.”

Smirking knowingly, Luna started to sample the food in front of her, “Erotic dreams do not fall under the category of nightmare…”

‘Bedpan’ hated the way the Princess left that sentence hanging in the air like that, “And yet I have the feeling you're going to tell me about mine nonetheless?”

“Oh, I didn't linger,” Luna’s smirk was so large it almost warranted its own zip code, “My sister doesn't like me to be in her dreams, and I wasn't in yours,” she finished with a wink before she made short work of her own cheesy scrambled eggs.

“What...” ‘Bedpan’s’ eyes widened once more, bypassing the dinnerplate stage and bugging out of her head, “Mistr...I mean, Princess Celestia was dreaming about me, like that, like I dream of her?”

The good natured, teasing smile left Luna’s muzzle and it was replaced with a deep sigh, “No.”

“Oh.” And just like that, Chrysalis felt like Equestria had been pulled from under her hooves and she was plummeting into an abyss, “I didn't think so. I mean, why would she?” she scuffed her hoof on the table, “It's been what, almost a month and she can't stand to be in the same room as me.”

“She fears what she might do to you,” Luna commented, feeling a great deal of sympathy for her. It hadn’t been all that long ago when she had been in a similar position to her, after all. “I thought you'd remain in the internment camp forever, then Bedpan went and died on a mountain climb.”

“Lucky me huh?” Chrysalis muttered softly, the blue eyes of Bedpan staring at the table as she wished she were back in that camp. “Look, I want her, Princess. For a moment, a glorious moment yesterday I thought she was going to spank me, but...she just screamed in my face and ordered me back to my room.”

“Being an alicorn grants us many powers,” there was an amusement in her voice, “But it doesn't give us the power to read minds,” she snorted, “Often not even our own.”

“So, what should I do?” the disguised Chrysalis threw up her hooves in frustration, “I've obeyed every humiliating degrading thing she's ordered of me, worn everything, no matter how ludicrously short, in the hopes she would soften towards me…” she trailed to a sigh.

“Didn't you once call yourself 'Queen'?” asked Luna after she had taken a few bites of her meal.

Slowly, Chrysalis nodded her head, “That seems like a lifetime away now…”

“We could be Queens,” Luna smiled, “But that is way too much responsibility. Princess is one of those 'shared' titles. You,” the lunar alicorn leant across the table and prodded the earth pony’s chest, “On the other hoof, are acting more like a drone than a Queen.”

“Are you saying I'm too submissive?” Chrysalis asked, slowly chewing the thought over as she chewed her scrambled eggs. “Or that I'm just mindlessly obeying whatever she orders?”

“Mindless obeying.” Luna agreed and then she helped herself to a long swallow of her steaming hot zebran coffee, “I'm sure she will tell you to do it a way you didn't, and then when you do it that way she told you to do it like you did the first time?”

“Well, yes…” Chrysalis answered, and as she did so, gears and cogs were whirring in her head, adding two and two together to make four. “Sometimes I've dusted the bookshelves several times in one session before. It is...beyond frustrating. Many are the times I've screamed into my pillow in my room.”

“At least your pillow returns a soft punch,” Luna chuckled, having eaten her fill, “Should I return this tray?”

“Yes please, Princess,” Chrysalis replied softly, “I'm sure she'll be calling on me any time now. Thank you, for the talk. You've given me much to think about.”

“Don't over think it,” Luna advised as she stood up to her hooves and held the tray in her magic, “But do try to be a bit more 'natural' and maybe she will respond. I'm not sure how, good or bad, so I'll show up for any major explosions.”

“Hmmm…” Chrysalis wasn’t sure if Luna was joking or not about that, but as she watched the alicorn walk over to Ms. Spatula, who was again glowing from the feedback about the kitchen’s efforts, she decided to get up and she trotted quickly back to her room. Her mind was buzzing with possibilities and scenarios running around in her head.

In truth, she reflected as she walked into her room and laid on her bed staring at the ceiling, she realised she was reaching the end of her rope with how Celestia had been treating her. More than once she had been reduced to tears in her room.

Thirty minutes later, there came a familiar knock on Chrysalis's door. Shieldwall’s friendly voice roused the room’s occupant, “The Princess is ready to receive you with today's instructions.”

Sliding from her bed, Chrysalis summoned the green flames and, once they had resided, in her place was Bedpan, the pastel green earth pony maid. She quickly dressed herself in the skimpy black maid’s dress and stepped out. “Very well, Shieldwall, let's go get it over with,” her heart wasn’t in it as she walked alongside the guard to Celestia’s door. After he had opened it with the medallion on his armour, ‘Bedpan’ spared the guard a smile before squaring her shoulders and walking into Celestia’s quarters.

When she stepped into the Princess’s room proper, Chrysalis saw that all the hundreds of books were scattered on the floor, and Celestia herself was sat at her desk by the large open doors that lead onto the balcony. “Somepony put them up on the shelves by author.” The alicorn didn’t bother to look at her maid, “They should be done by the Canterlot Royal Library system.”

Seeing the mess, Chrysalis closed her eyes, and counted to ten, three times. ‘Here we go again...’ she muttered, angry that her hours of work the day before had been for nothing. “Forgive me...but the day before yesterday they were arranged by the library system. Yesterday, you had me arrange them by author!”

For once, Celestia turned her gaze to her maid, a look of pure thunder on her usually serene visage, “Don't you dare talk back to me! Do it right and do it now!”

“Or what?” ‘Bedpan’ demanded as she watched Celestia turn to walk out the door. The way Celestia said nothing and carried on walking, opening her door, just served to annoy the frustrated mare all the more. She was sorely tempted to rip and tear at any book she could get her hooves on, but she barely managed to hold her temper. “I'll put them on the shelves in any way I please!”

At her door, Celestia paused and trained a look that could incinerate a mountain on the creature stood before her, “How dare you…I could have you resume your true form, take away your magic, and put you in stocks in the public square! My little ponies can decide your fate!”

In a flash of green flames, Bedpan was gone, and, in her place, Chrysalis was stood in her true form, looking just as angry. “Go on then!” she snarled, black lips pulled back over her fangs in a feral snarl, “Here I am! Why don't you just whip me and be done with it! Leave me a bleeding puddle, just get it out of your system!”

Only centuries of experience allowed Celestia to quell her inner fire long enough to address the guard standing outside the door. “Brass shield, please let Wisteria know to reschedule court today. Something has come up with my maid that needs to be resolved. No need to inform my sister about this…” she added in the most sinister tone she could muster.

“Yes, your highness,” Brass Shield saluted his Princess, “Should I let Ms. Wisteria in should she wish to enter?”

“Tell her it is at her own risk,” Celestia’s sinister grin grew deadly, “But of course my personal attendant can have access.” She magically closed her door and turned her full attention back to the changeling stood before her, “Finally you’ve said something I can agree with.”

“Well?” Chrysalis yelled back, “What's stopping you, or should I put the books away first?” she lit her twisted horn and she magically picked up several books at once, some upside down, some on their sides, and without looking, she jammed them in the nearest bookshelf, “Job done!”

Still smiling, Celestia magically pulled on of the upside-down books off the shelf and she slammed it with unerring accuracy into Chrysalis's chitinous ass. “You will do things my way and you will like it!” she declared; her voice full of furious authority as the book slammed into her ass again. “You will submit to me body and soul!” her voice rose as she hit her a third time, “Or I will end you here and now!”

Words were for the moment stolen from Chrysalis’s throat as sweet, sweet pain radiated from the chitin over her ass up through her body, leaving her drooling a little from both ends. “Yes Mistress!” she answered automatically, like she did in her dreams, “I’ll submit to you, Mistress!”

Celestia stalked towards the quivering changeling, the book held in her magic ready to strike, “Chin to the floor, back legs straight, ass in the air!”

“Yes Mistress!” obediently, Chrysalis lowered her head all the way down to the floor, very much aware that the current pose was showing off her lithe body and her dripping wet glistening marehood.

Behind her, Celestia dropped the book onto her bed along with her golden horseshoes and instead, she used her bare hooves to spank Chrysalis. “You will do what I say, when I say, how I say, and you will not question it. My little ponies would have your head on a pike, but I'll wear out your ass right here and now!” the raging alicorn punctuated every second word with a hard, stiff smack directly to the changeling’s rear.

Chrysalis didn't doubt the last claim that Celestia had made, though she was more focused on the pain – and the pleasure – spreading across her ass and her flanks. It was everything she had dreamed of! To get more of it, she spread her hind legs wide to better accept the spanking, and she lifted her tail to bare her rear end. “I-I u-understand Mistress!” she babbled, though all she could think was, ‘Oh dear mother it's happening!’

Each and every firm painful swat that Celestia delivered was making Chrysalis’s juices flow from her winking marehood down her inner thighs. Behind her, the alicorn was so focused on smacking that black shiny ass, that she didn’t notice the glistening wet trails of arousal until she spanked a thigh and the hoof, she pulled back was wet through. In utter horror, she backed away. ‘What have I done? What am I doing? To her!’ she thought frantically, “P-put t-the books on the shelf correctly!” her voice wavered as she scampered back like she had been burned to the relative safety of her seating pad by her desk.

Her eyes never left Chrysalis, or her upturned ass. Now her initial anger had faded, she didn’t know if to be aroused or disgusted with herself for what she had just done, and who she had done it to.

“Y-Yes Mistress…” Chrysalis, still in her presenting position, was slightly breathless with arousal, and it took a huge effort to move and to put the books back on the shelves the proper way, how Celestia requested, though her hooves were shaking and she was leaking like a running faucet.

At her desk, Celestia’s mind was a heaving roiling maelstrom. ‘I cannot want this abomination!’ she thought, trying to force anger into her mind, ‘I cannot want her…I will not…’ And yet, she hadn’t removed her eyes from Chrysalis’s wet marehood, and she couldn’t deny it was her that had made it so. Nor could she deny that she was getting extremely hot for that 'abomination', as she watched her obediently placing the books back in the correct order, her rear proudly displaying the array of spanks and slaps she had visited upon her.

As much as she was telling herself she didn’t want Chrysalis, that it just wasn’t right, that feelings for her were abhorrent, Celestia nonetheless remained in her room watching Chrysalis like a hawk until the last book was placed on the shelf. “You are dismissed for the day. If you wish to leave your room,” she said it before she knew what she was saying, “Shieldwall will escort you. You may leave the castle grounds but must be back before sunset.”

Still in a bit of a daze from the harsh spanking she had received, and from how wet she was as a result of it, Chrysalis bowed respectfully, “Thank you, Mistress, it would be nice to stretch my legs.”

Before she reached the door, Celestia stopped her with a loud cough, “As Bedpan.”

Chrysalis actually had to stop and look down, and even then, she was mystified to see that she was in fact herself and not her disguise. “Oh!” with an embarrassed blush, she summoned the green magical flames and in an instant, she was Bedpan once more. “I’m sorry, about that…”

Celestia simply nodded and watched Chrysalis go. When she was alone, she tried to calm herself with tea, but that didn't work as the tea grew cold and remained untouched, then the second cup went the same way as the first, as did the third. “I need some air…” she grunted eventually after four cups of tea went to waste.

Walking to her balcony, Celestia spread her wide powerful wings and she flew down to the royal gardens. Before she landed on her hooves, she was greeted by cello music, slow and verging on melancholy, drifting up from the inner part of the royal gardens.

Flying lower, Celestia observed that Octavia was stood in the private part of the royal gardens by the statue of a rearing pegasus mare. The alicorn smiled wanly, for she had mixed feelings about the mare the statue represented. Then, she saw the small array of cleaning and gardening equipment next to her on the grass. Carefully, Celestia maneuvered to land just outside that area and then she walked in. She said nothing while Octavia was playing, she was content to sit and listen.

After ten minutes, and only when the piece she was playing was completed, Octavia refused to pause a piece for anypony or anything, did the earth pony look up and acknowledge the company she had. “Princess, how nice to see you. Won't you come join me?”

As Octavia stowed her bow and put aside her cello, Celestia stepped closer. “How are things with my sister?” she asked just to start a conversation.

“Very well,” Octavia giggled brightly, “Better than things with my behind, at any rate. I was worried Lulu would be in a mood, luckily the only one she was in was a good one.”

Celestia took a moment to look at the statue, “It’s good that she can find some happiness.”

“I agree with you,” Octavia smiled and, once her cello and bow were secured, she joined the Princess at the statue, “It's Sky Dive's birthday today, you see. Lulu and I were out here all last night, having a party with her, or for her…you know what I mean.”

“Sky Dive was a feisty mare, as I recall,” Celestia smiled somewhat grimly, she remembered the mare and everything she had done.

Octavia burst out laughing at that. “Feisty is a word to describe her. Luna told me how they met, the way Sky swore at her for busting the cloud she was sat on. As I understand it,” the cellist shot the Princess a sideways glance, “You and she didn't get on very well.”

“They were both mares,” Celestia responded with a shrug of her shoulders, “It wasn't an example I wanted for Equestria.”

Out of nowhere, Octavia snorted a laugh, “Prehistoric social rules be damned!” she laughed, not caring one bit who she was with. “You and I have something in common, because when I first got with Lulu, I didn't get on with Sky either. I resented her in fact, the way Luna spoke of her all the time, practically beatifying her next to me.”

“I’m sure Twilight would say the only way past haltered is the magic of friendship,” Celestia started, giving voice to the things that were troubling her, “How do you do that if you don't want to be friends?”

In the gardens, with the noon day sun overhead, Octavia inched closer to the obviously troubled alicorn and placed her foreleg over her shoulders, “I learned to stop comparing myself with Sky. I'll never be her, just like she can never be me, y'know? I wasn't a replacement for Sky, Lulu loved me. So, to be happy, I got over it. I left the past where it belongs, in the past. That freed me to love.”

“What if Sky Dive stepped down right now from that pedestal and said, ‘Thanks for filling in, but you can move along now’?”

“Do you know,” Octavia barked out a laugh, “I had nightmares about that very thing happening? That she wasn't dead, merely frozen by a cockatrice? All I can do is trust Lulu when she set my mind at ease.”

“Who do I trust, Octavia?”

“Not who, what. You trust your heart,” Octavia placed her grey hoof on Celestia’s chest, “Because it's big enough to love not only your nation, and your subjects, but your somepony too. Love is the one thing truly infinite. It's how I know I won't be replaced, because I'm loved, just as Sky was and is. I love her, I love Lulu, you, my family. Love is everything, Tia.”

“Anger and hate have slammed that door shut,” Celestia snapped quickly. Who did this earth pony think she was, lecturing her? What in Tartarus did she know about anything? “There are things I don't want to love…” she thought immediately of Chrysalis and her wet marehood, “Things I cannot love…”

“Poppycock!” Octavia exclaimed, completely unafraid of the company she was with, “If that were true, and you had no capacity to love, you would not be Celestia. You would be some nightmare creature. Your sun blazes with love.”

“For my ponies, yes. Equestria, yes. But for that creature...that evil monster...”

“You speak of Chrysalis, I assume?” Octavia asked, pleased to see the looks of shock and outrage play across Celestia’s face, “Yes, Lulu told me all about her. And you and her. I don't believe she's evil any more than I believe you are. She is a creature of love, Tia.”

Suddenly, the anger that Celestia felt washed over her like a breaking wave, and it poured from her, unable to keep it in any longer. “She is a creature that devours love!” she exclaimed in temper, “That will do anything, even kill for her kind. That will even submit to my will for her kind. That...” as quickly as it had come, the anger went like a waning tide, and her voice was soft. “I hate the hate.”

“Everything she does is motivated by love,” Octavia said, unruffled as if the alicorn’s angry tirade had never happened, “Yes, she devours it, like I devour a hayburger, or you devour a red velvet cake, yet there is no shortage of burgers or cakes. Are the dragons evil? Or the griffons? They declared war twice. Are you evil for killing them to save your ponies?”

Suddenly ashamed of her outburst, and of her feeling for Chrysalis, Celestia looked away. “Am I negligent for not killing to save my ponies?”

“No,” was Octavia’s short and simple answer. “I think you are wrong to abuse Chrysalis. I'm not saying she doesn't deserve it, or that what she did was right, but this isn't about what we deserve. She is in your heart, however much you are trying to deny it.”

“I have been verbally and mentally abusing her to get her to snap,” Celestia felt like she was confessing her transgressions to her mother. Like she was four hundred again, caught in the act of some mischief, “To get a reason to destroy her, but today...today, I...” why couldn’t she just say it? “Your relationship with my sister has a physical aspect to it, yes?”

“Very physical,” Octavia agreed with an enthusiastic nod, “When words are not enough, Mistress Lulu uses her hoof, her cane or her paddle - often all three - to make sure my attitude is sufficiently adjusted.”

“What do you get out of being abused?” Celestia asked, “What does she get abusing you?”

Octavia didn’t answer for five whole minutes. She couldn’t, she was laughing so hard she was rolling around on the grass like she had just heard the funniest joke in Equestrian history. “Ti-Tia please,” she said, trying to get control over herself, “Mistress Lulu doesn't abuse me. She cannot because she loves me. When we play, I give her complete control, I give her my free will, because I trust her. Luna gets the thrill of the illusion of being in complete control.”

“I don't lover her!” Celestia snapped, stomping her hoof into the grass, “All I can do is abuse her.”

“But you do love her,” Octavia countered, wiping her leaking eyes on a hoofkerchief, “If you didn't, you would have dropped the sun on that train seven months ago and walked away. Stop listening to your head and what you should do. Politicians are in your head. Open your heart and trust it.”

When she spoke next, Celestia’s voice was so soft it was barely audible, “What if I don't want to?”

“If you really didn't want to, I don't believe we would be having this conversation. Forget what you should do. Put aside the Princess,” Octavia placed her hoof directly on the alicorn's beating heart, “What does Celestia want?”

“You're a musician, Octavia,” Celestia said as she stood up to her hooves, “Let's go back in time. Thank you for the talk, I'll leave you and Sky Dive to enjoy the rest of the day. I still need to organize my thoughts.”

Octavia simply smiled and with a nod to say she had understood the reference, she once more picked up her cello and her bow. As she watched the Princess spread her wings, she began to play one of Celestia's favourite pieces. “Have a pleasant day, Princess.”

As Celestia rose up into the early afternoon sky, the sounds of Le Carnaval des Animaux followed her until she couldn’t hear it any longer. Still, she carried on ascending, her goal the peak of Canterlot Mountain. Despite it being thousands of feet above her, she reached it in mere minutes, and she sat, perched on the single peak right at the summit.

‘All those millions of ponies below,’ she thought to herself as she stared across the whole of Equestria, ‘All of them falling in love, being in love, happy in love…why should I not have that?’ Do I not deserve it?’ she brooded there, like one of the silent statues she had left behind in the royal gardens.

And Princess Celestia did brood, like one of the silent sentinels of old, whose likeness was carved into the exterior of the city boundary wall that surrounded Canterlot. ‘How can I break her without breaking myself?’ she wondered, unfortunately the void had no answers for her. ‘She wanted what I was doing to her so badly, but do I want it as bad, or even worse?’

Deep down in her heart, she knew that Octavia was right. The knowledge didn’t make her thoughts any easier to live with though. “Am I hating her simply because I'm expected to hate her?’ It was of course the old problem that forgiveness doesn't excuse the one that hurt you but frees you of the hate you hold for them. Celestia had buried the hate she had for Chrysalis and the changelings when she thought the problem was gone. Now she and it were back, and the hate was the first thing to surface.

Celestia continued to brood in that same vein for the rest of the day, right up until it was time to set the sun so that her sister could raise the moon. With her thoughts still running round and round in her head like a foal’s playground ride, she performed her duty from the summit of Canterlot Mountain before she flew down for the evening meal she shared with Luna.

“Sister!” Luna looked up from her breakfast plate of three cheese scrambled eggs and Prench toast and greeted her elder sister with a warm smile as she flew through the window of their private dining room. “How was your afternoon on the mountain?”

“Not as mind clearing as I'd hoped,” Celestia ruffled her feathers and huffed, put out to be called out like that so quickly, “But the view was nice. To see the curvature of the planet, and to see the sun set and the moon rise…was nice.”

“Tavi told me of your conversation,” Luna smiled sweetly, “Captain Moonscar reported to me you were flying up high. Did you really brood the entire time?”

Celestia levelled a dirty look at her younger sibling, “I did learn from the best.”

“Touché,” Luna swallowed a mouthful of her food before piling some on a plate for her sister from the loaded serving tray on the table. “So,” she said as she filled a teacup for her, “What did your hours looking down at the country tell you?”

“How utterly lost I am!” Celestia groaned, before walking over and taking her seating pad. She wanted to bang her head on the table. Hard. “She humiliated me, and she killed my ponies, for what? Fear will gain no love. Nor does hate. But…”

“I did the same, as I recall.” Luna interrupted her sister, “Yet you forgave me, did you not? Forgiveness doesn't excuse what she did, because nothing can, but it does free you of the hate.”

“That is the rub, isn’t it?” Celestia muttered, moving the scrambled eggs around on her plate with no intentions of eating them, “I was beating her ass with my hooves and she was enjoying it. I had to stop because I was starting to enjoy it. I don't know if I want to let go of the hate.”

“Of course, she enjoyed it,” Luna scoffed like it was the most obvious thing in the world and her sister was blind, “She's as submissive as they come! There's nothing wrong with enjoying it. And of course, you want to let go, you don't want Daybreaker back any more than I want Nightmare Moon back. You just don't think you're allowed to love her, that’s your problem.”

Celestia felt physically sick. When did her little sister become so perceptive? “What will my ponies say if I show any love to that mo...to that creature?”

“That's what's holding you back,” Luna brandished her fork at her sister like it was a broadsword, speaking through a mouthful of eggs, “When you say 'what will your ponies say' you mean, 'what will the ministers and the nobles say'.” Unnecessarily, Celestia nodded, “No doubt there'll be uproar, outrage, rebellion!” she smiled, “Was it any different when we negotiated trade with the griffons after the second war? Or when we made peace with the dragons?”

“None of those embarrassed me like...” Celestia caught herself way too late. She had started to say it now, and her sister was staring daggers straight through her, “None of them embarrassed me like Chrysalis did. What can we gain from...I need to talk with Royal Ribbon. I see her reports, but I don't think I read them.”

Luna decided she had heard quite enough. “So, she gave you a bloody nose, just like Blacktalon the Executioner did at the Battle of Fillydelphia!” she exclaimed, “The only difference is those battles are out of living memory, and the invasion isn't.”

Celestia sprang to her hooves, “She laid me out in front of Twilight!”

Likewise, Luna sprang to her hooves, muzzle inches from her sister’s, “And there we have it, fillies and gentlecolts! Finally, we get the truth from the almighty herself! You lost a little face in front of your precious student. Grow up, Tia, you're four thousand, not four hundred!” then, her eyes went dangerously narrow, “Don't make me tell mom…”

Celestia tried to hold it in, but with the tension in the room between them all but tangible, with the both of them in combative postures, muzzles bared, she couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing, and then Luna followed suit, both sisters laughing until they cried. Once she had regained some control, Celestia said, “Well that won't be a first, would it?” then, she sighed, “I feel like a lost foal in this, and...I'm afraid of where I'll be when I find my way home.”

“If I were you, I'd be more afraid of ending up a bitter old mare living in a shed somewhere surrounded by a hundred cats,” Luna giggled and hugged her sister tight, “You won't know unless you try, but you won't get home unless you take that first step.”

“How do you know if you've crossed the line into abuse?”

“Because Tavi uses her safe word if I go too far, and I know when to stop.”

“Octavia talked to me of love, but I don't love her,” Celestia sighed, a sigh that seemed to come from the depths of her soul, “I just want to stop hating her. How, how did you and Octavia start?”

“It was a few months after we got together,” Luna smiled, because she remembered her first time with her wife like it was yesterday. “She had that tour of Equestria with the orchestra, remember? She was in such a state of nervous tension the first night she could barely stand up let alone play her cello. I took control where there was none.”

“Chrysalis welcomed my hoof,” Celestia looked down at the hoof she had used to rain such pain down on the changeling’s black hide, “She was leaking from both ends. I just...I wanted to hurt her, and I had to stop myself from really hurting her,” she added with a dark chuckle, “And go brood on a mountaintop.”

“Maybe she gets off on the pain?” Luna suggested before she went back to attacking her eggs, “She wouldn't be the first, nor will she be the last. Tavi gets off on me taking control.” She shot her sister a sly look and prepared to unleash the big guns, “I believe your daughter gets off on being turned into a pony by her partner?”

Celestia’s eye twitched at the mention of her estranged daughter. “Sunset is a big mare. She can get off on whatever she likes. I'm supposed to be the straight laced one with no kinks…” she let out another sigh, this one tired and weary, “I'm fooling nopony. I can but try.”

“Why don't you take a couple of days off and go visit Sunset?” Luna offered as she finally finished her plate and lifted up her mug of strong zebran coffee, “Breathe different air, get a different view on things, away from Canterlot and its baggage, you know, mend those fences you keep putting off?”

“You’d offer to take my schedule even after I know Wisteria told Crescent Moon Crest how packed it is?”

Luna shrugged and chugged her coffee, “Equestria won't burn if you're away for a few days. You could use the time off. And, if Equestria does burn, I'll have Twilight deal with it.”

“Time off would do me some good,” Celestia agreed, “But as tempting as it sounds leaving would not. I must face my fear, but at least I won't have the daily issues,” she leant in and gave her sister an affectionate nuzzle, “Thanks sis, I’ll let you know how I'm doing after a week.”

Perfectly straight faced, Luna said, “You just don't want to go and watch your little filly get reamed senseless by her world's Applejack.”

~ ~ ~

The next day, Celestia didn't call for Chrysalis – or Bedpan - at all. When she asked Shieldwall why, he just told her that the Princess was taking a personal day. She was however allowed to move about the palace as she saw fit. That suited her fine though, because the day before, when she had been allowed out, she had bought herself a book.

The day after that, just after seven in the morning, there came the familiar knock on Chrysalis’s door. “The Princess has requested your services,” Shieldwall announced through the door.

When Chrysalis opened the door, she was ready transformed into Bedpan with her flimsy skimpy maid’s dress on, ready to serve. “Ah, Shieldwall!” she beamed happily, “Such a joy as always!” unable to leave her new book behind, she took it with her as she trotted out of her room.

In her quarters, Celestia was seated at her desk writing. As had become the norm, her bed was unmade, there were a few books on the floor by one of the shelves and her breakfast tray was on the floor near the door. “Tidy up, please, Bedpan.”

Chrysalis blinked once then twice as she processed that. It was the first time Celestia had used the word ‘please’. “At once, your highness,” she smiled as she set her book down on Celestia's bed and she went to pick up the tray first from the floor, making sure to ‘accidentally’ present her ass.

While Chrysalis was working, Celestia did shoot her behind a surreptitious glance, but that was all she gave her, even when she noted the fact that her maid was not wearing her panties before she went back to her paperwork. She didn’t look at the unmade bed. Once the tray was taken care of, the disguised changeling started work on the bed, making her book jiggle as she tugged the sheets. “May I ask how your day was yesterday, your highness?”

At that, Celestia looked up from her usual stack of morning scrolls to see Chrysalis making her bed. She smiled broadly, because that was a good view. What puzzled her though, before she could answer, was the book she saw on the bed. She knew she didn’t leave one there, and she didn't see Chrysalis bring it in. Curiously, she magically lifted it up so she could read the title. “Fifty Shades of Hay.” Her voice was not impressed, “What is that book doing in my room?”

As she straightened the bed sheets, Chrysalis added an entirely unnecessary wiggle of her ass and she stood up, “Oh, forgive me, your highness, I was reading it in my room, I must have bought it with me."

“But why?”

“I thought it might give you some...inspiration.”

“A book burning inspiration,” Celestia facehooved. She admittedly knew little about the whole bondage thing, but she did know – from her sister’s many rants on the subject – that the book in question was utter trash. “That book is full of idiot ideas written by an idiot who has no idea what she’s writing about!” she sighed and shook her head, “Finish up and wait here when you’re done.”

“Is it that bad?” Chrysalis asked, before she realised Celestia was gone, that she was alone, and she was talking to an empty room as she picked up the book and placed it on the table. She quickly resumed her cleaning. “Hmm...I wonder what a good example of this type of literature is then?"

Twenty minutes later, and Celestia walked back into her room carrying three books in her glowing magical aura. “You really want to be a submissive, don't you?”

“I want to be your submissive, your highness,” Chrysalis clarified her position.

Saying nothing for the moment, Celestia looked to see if her maid was done with her chores for the day. She was pleased to see that everything was finished, and finished perfectly, though the bedsheets did have a wrinkle in the corner. “Lay on the bed with your hind hooves on the floor and your tail up high.”

The look on Chrysalis’s face was joy itself, and as soon as she heard the order, the disguised changeling scampered over to the bed and she laid herself over the foot of the bed with her hind legs apart and her tail up remarkably high.

After taking a long, long few minutes to admire ‘Bedpan’s’ ample teats, Celestia used her magic to lay out four books in front of the pastel green mare’s nose. One was the Fifty Shades of Hay book she had bought in, the others were The New Bottoming Book, The New Topping Book – both by Hardhoof – and a BDSM Beginner's Guide by Fig Leaf.

“I will now put this book to some good use,” Celestia took the hated Fifty Shades of Hay in her magic once more and she started beating Chrysalis's ass with it. “This book is full of lies and half-truths!” she declared, punctuating every other word with a sound, solid smack from the book that made the submissive pony lurch forwards with every swat.

“If a dom was like anything in this book you would not have the pleasure of pain, but the pain of death.” Celestia kept up her impromptu lecture as well as the steady rain of blows from the book, “It will turn your mind into mush and make you into the most useless bottom and worth less than any drone you've ever known.”

Prostrated on the bed, Chrysalis was definitely not ready for the steady painful spanking she was receiving from the one she loved. Each strike lit up her ass, turning it from a pastel green to a dull red and then to a brighter angrier red.

Chrysalis howled in pain with every strike she received, and by the time Celestia was done, the earth pony was reduced to a crying, drooling and leaking mess on the bed. “I-I'm s-sorry! Mistress I’m sorry! I didn't know! I didn’t know!”

Seeing the state she had reduced Chrysalis to, Celestia felt such a swell of power the like of which she hadn’t felt before. It was a heady rush. She wanted to hit her again, and again, and again. The more she cried and begged, the more the alicorn wanted to hurt her, to make her cry and plead all the more.

Instead, Celestia tossed the book back onto the bed with the other three. “And your education has been advanced. These three are my sister's. Do not damage them. Read them. I will quiz you in one week. Now fix the bed, you got it wrinkly.”

“Y-Yes Mis...y-your highness...” in a haze of pain and pleasure, Chrysalis staggered back to her hooves and very slowly, she fixed the bed. She had to go slowly, because every movement of her legs sent spikes of pain coursing up her spine and that was just from the frilly dress touching her flanks.

Ostensibly, Celestia went back to her paperwork but, every so often, she snuck a glance at Chrysalis as she worked. She took a great deal of pride in the fact she was walking funny, knowing she had caused it. She was also very much aroused by the way the skimpy maid's dress did absolutely nothing at all to hide her glowing behind or the glistening trail on her inner thighs and her large teats.

Something else occurred to Celestia in that moment. When she beat on Chrysalis’s ass, she found she didn’t hate her so much. Perhaps that was the answer. She wanted to be beaten, and she wanted Celestia to beat on her. ‘If that’s what it takes…’ she thought with a dark sinister smile, ‘Then so be it…’

When Chrysalis was finished, Celestia said, “You can have the rest of the day off. Read the books. There’ll be a quiz in one week.” She watched the earth pony leave and her dark smile deepened, picturing all the ways she could hurt that mare, and have her thank her for it and beg her for more.

Chapter 5 - Fool for Love

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Over the next two days, Celestia said nothing about the books she had lent Chrysalis. She did however find at least one thing wrong with her maid’s work, whether she did whatever it was on purpose or not, and that was all the excuse the Princess required to mercilessly spank Chrysalis for her ‘failure’.

On the third day, which was the same as the others, as a reward for taking her beating so well, Celestia gave Chrysalis out of castle privileges until sundown, her first in well over a week. The changeling spent a couple of hours in her room reading. She wanted to follow up on what she had learned, but she was unsure how to go about doing it.

At a loss for anything else to do, Chrysalis disguised herself as Bedpan and she decided some air would clear her mind. Out in the royal gardens, she heard the unmistakeable sound of a cello being played. Following the sound to its source, Chrysalis walked through the gardens, past the menagerie, where she found Octavia practising next to a couple of statues she didn’t recognise.

Quietly, Chrysalis stayed a respectful distance away until the grey earth pony mare had finished her work on her latest composition. “I seem to be missing three books,” Octavia said with a broad smile plastered all over her muzzle, “Know anything about that?”

“Please forgive the intrusion, Lady Octavia,” Chrysalis bowed her head as she stepped closer, and she picked up on the pleased happy emotions she was feeling, “I um, the Princess...Mistress...Celestia, lent me them to read up on.”

“So my wife told me,” Octavia smiled wider as she set aside her cello and placed it back in its case, “Questions?”

“I have many questions, Lady Octavia,” Chrysalis replied, “But hearing your wonderful music sent them fleeing from my mind.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere,” Octavia smirked, “Do you drink coffee? I can have tea brought out if you’d prefer that instead.”

“I have developed quite the taste for coffee over the past several months,” Chrysalis commented as she watched the earth pony walk over to a small marble table she hadn’t noticed before, “Along with a few more of your customs.”

“Good,” Octavia just so happened to have a second mug on the marble table just in case she had a guest. She poured out the zebran coffee from a hot pot. “Do you take anything?” she asked, adding cream and sugar to hers.

“Just cream, if you please,” Chrysalis added the cream when it was offered, “Music is one of the things I have grown fond of. Especially the style you play.” It was a sorry admission, but things like music and art had been sorely lacking in her hive.

“Classical spans all generations,” Octavia explained, “Lulu likes the more modern stuff as it is utterly new to her.”

Chrysalis shuddered at the very thought. “I confess I am not a fan of that...noise.” she noted the earth pony giggled at that, and she pointed a hoof to the closed cello case, “The sounds you make from that instrument are sublime. We didn't exactly have music back in....my old home. Not music you'd recognise as such, anyway.”

“You had something, though,” Octavia countered before taking a long sip of her coffee, “Do you miss it?”

“Sometimes. Some nights I wrap myself in my duvet tight, it feels like a cocoon.”

“I can't imagine what it’s been like for you,” Octavia sympathised, “Many ponies lost everything too. One can only move forward or give up and die.” She went quiet after that, both mares seemingly happy to sit in silence and drink their coffees. “Where do you stand with Tia?” she asked eventually.

“We…are on better standing with each other now than we were at the start of the week. She no longer abuses me like she did before.”

“Does...” Octavia paused for a moment, unsure how to ask what she needed to, what Luna had tasked her with finding out, “Does she discipline you at all?”

Turning on the grass, the disguised Chrysalis lifted the short flimsy skirt of her maid’s dress and with a degree of pride, she showed of her tanned rear. “The first time was three days ago, then yesterday and again earlier today.”

“It's a start,” Octavia conceded, “So back to the beginning, did you have any questions about what you read? I'm guessing you focused on the Bottom book over the Top book.”

“I did, as you correctly guessed,” Chrysalis took a moment to enjoy her coffee and to gather her thoughts, “The first chapter was quite informative, though it left me puzzled.” At that, Octavia simply nodded and waved her hoof for her to continue, “You see, the book went to very great lengths to communicate the necessity and the importance of a thing called the 'safe word'. But, Celestia has not mentioned this to me as of yet.”

That worried Octavia to a very great degree, though she tried her best not to let it show. She was information gathering, after all. “Has she disciplined you to a point you want her to stop, or does she stop before you want her too?” she almost didn’t want to know the answer.

“She stops before I want her to,” Chrysalis replied, a note of sadness in her voice, “Despite our slender appearance, we are sturdy creatures. Just as the pain starts to become really pleasurable, she just stops, just like that.”

Slowly, so as not to arouse suspicion, Octavia let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding in. “She has judged your tolerance and erred on the safe side. She doesn't want you to have control yet. A dangerous game, as the sub is the one that is really in control of any session.”

“Yes, that's what I read, hence my confusion on the matter.”

“If she had asked you for your safe word on the first day,” Octavia started curiously, “What would you have done?”

“I confess, I wouldn't have known the significance of such a word.”

“Now you do, knowledge is power. What will you do when you have power over Tia?”

“I will trust her,” Chrysalis replied confidently as she downed what was left of her coffee. “I have already declared myself her slave, now I can be a slave worthy of her.”

Octavia had to really try to fight back the bile she felt in her craw, not at what the changeling had said, but the carefree manner in which she had said it. It upset her, and she knew Luna would want to hear of this. “I'm not Lulu's slave, I'm her pet. A step up from slave, a step down from sub. I'm comfortable with my position. Can you leave the castle grounds today?”

“I can,” Chrysalis replied, entirely missing the troubled expression on the earth pony’s face. “I have been allowed to go where I wish today, why do you ask?”

“Shopping! Wait here while I put my instrument away.” Leaving Chrysalis musing on the equine fascination and obsession with shopping, Octavia took her leave. Ostensibly she was taking her cello to be put away safely, while she was gone, she took the trouble to inform her wife of everything she had learned so far.

Fifteen minutes later, after having filled in Luna, Octavia returned wearing a light-yellow sun dress and a large matching hat. “You are fine dressed as you are. Come along then, to the shops!”

Completely without any shame at all, Chrysalis got up from the grass where she had been waiting and, still wearing the scandalously short maid’s dress, oblivious to the way it barely contained her teats, followed after her. “Come along to where? When I went out before, I got as far as the bookstore a few blocks away.”

“This shop we’re going to is in the middle commercial district,” Octavia explained as she led the way through the royal gardens and through the palace, “While many nobles do shop there, they don't want it too close to home. The prices are such that even the less fortunate can afford some items.”

“Ah. Lady Octavia,” Chrysalis spoke up while she was being led through the capital city. Ponies of both genders and of all ages stopped what they were doing to stare – not at the extremely famous cellist – at the earth pony in the small maid’s dress. “I may not know a great deal about shopping, but I know it requires currency. Currency I don't have…”

Octavia snorted and waved away her companion’s concerns about money more than once on their trek through the streets. Eventually, she led Chrysalis to a store with a garishly bright neon pink façade and above it, in large letters, was Mi Amore Cadenza! The Mi A and C letters were bright gaudy red, while the other letters were a darker red. “And here’s our MiAC store. Let's venture in to see what there is to see.”

When Octavia motioned with a hoof that Chrysalis should go in first, the disguised changeling backed away, fear on her face, “I cannot go in there! If she recognises me, I fear there will be a most unpleasant incident…”

“Who?” asked Octavia, confused.

“The Princess,” Chrysalis explained, “Mi Amore Cadenza, of course!”

Without warning, Octavia started giggling like a filly and she had to take a moment to get it under control before she could speak, “It is named after her because she is the Princess of Love. She has told me every item in the store has been tested by her. In!”

“Oh…” Chrysalis couldn’t stop herself from being bustled inside, “You mean she isn't actually in here?” smirking, Octavia decided to wait and see the changeling’s reaction to what she saw once she stepped inside before she answered. Her smirk went wider when she saw Chrysalis’s eyes go very, very wide as soon as she was inside and her head seemed like it was on a swivel, trying to look everywhere at once. “Sweet mother above...”

“There’s at least one of these in any town in Equestria larger than ten thousand,” Octavia explained nonchalantly, “And more in the larger cities like Manehatten. There’s actually two in Canterlot, but I like the customer service in this one.”

“Wow...” Chrysalis breathed in awe, “I've never seen anything like this in my life!” as she walked further into the store, she had to make a conscious effort to stop her head turning a full three hundred and sixty degrees. Even though she could do that, she was disguised. Then, she came face to face with a row of very anatomically correct vibrators and her jaw dropped. “Oh my!”

“I think they have every sapient species,” Octavia ran her hoof over the rows of fake penises, which went up in size from the small diamond dog and went up through griffon, hippogriff, pony, earth pony, dragon and finally the largest, minotaur and yak, “Except for changelings, that is.”

“I don't think you'd want...'that',” Chrysalis blushed, and ‘Bedpan’s’ pastel green cheeks turned a deep red, “Ovipositors aren't exactly pleasing to the eye. Not like these...” she ran her hoof over the phallic objects, particularly the large and thick earth pony ones.

“One looks for things to be used on you,” Octavia informed her, “As few subs are allowed to please themselves. Also, look for things that you think might please your Mistress.”

“She would stop me pleasuring myself? Mmmm, I do like the look of these devices,” Chrysalis finally pointed to a white earth pony vibrator that was marketed as being sixteen inches long and three inches wide, the medial ring adding another inch to the width.

“This section is for vaginal stimulation. Over there,” Octavia pointed to the next aisle over, “Is anal stimulation. Then there are the ones you wear as a mare to be a stallion for your sub, be it mare or stallion.”

“Do you think she would like one of each of those things?”

Octavia laughed lightly, “The real question is, do you want her to use any of them on you?”

“Oh yes!” Chrysalis was so excited that she danced in place on her four hooves, an act which made ‘Bedpan’s’ magnificently hefty teats pop free of her dress, “Very much I do!”

“The store doesn't allow you to test drive anything and sales are final,” then, Octavia leant in close to the other mare’s ear and whispered in her most sultry of voices, “Pick out one of each then that you want to have inserted into you by your Mistress…”

“Very well,” with that, and her mind made up, Chrysalis walked along the aisles and she selected the earth pony sizes for the vibrator, the butt plug and the strap on she chose, all of which were white. “You know her better than I, is there anything you think she'd like?”

“Yes, but first things first,” Octavia walked over to one of the outer walls, where there was a huge variety of different spanking instruments hanging on hooks ranging from crops, whips, paddles and things that looked like they belonged in a medieval dungeon. “I rather like the crop, and the waffle bat is okay. Lulu likes the cricket bat, and I do, sometimes, try to avoid that.” Octavia pointed down low, “Down there is the more 'hardcore' items that we don't play with. Bull whip, chain flogger, and for something a bit more serious there’s the tawse and the cat-n-nine tails.”

“Pinch me, I think I'm dreaming!” Chrysalis’s eyes were wider than usual, confronted with all the different implements in front of her, “I think the chain flogger might be a bit much even for me, but these, definitely!” she picked up the tawse and the cat, along with a crop and a paddle, all of which were white in colour.

“To each their own,” Octavia commented with a shrug of her shoulders, “Down this aisle are outfits. I do like a tight-laced corset. You should only buy an outfit if she tells you to get one, as she will buy outfits she wants to see you in.” With that, she led her to another section. “Accessories.”

Octavia stopped in front of the selection of collars, there were also jewellery, and add ons to some of the outfits. “Oooh!” Chrysalis saw the vast array of collars and immediately she was drawn to a nice white one, “I like that one.”

Smirking, Octavia reached up with a hoof and she pulled down her trademark bow tie to reveal the dark blue collar hiding underneath, “Yes, I think white would be a good choice for you.”

“As that one is a good choice for you,” Chrysalis returned the compliment to the dark blue collar, then she saw the nipple clamps, “What is the purpose of those?”

“First of all, you can't have that collar,” Octavia took it and she placed it back on the shelf. Then, she took another, identical, white one and she placed that in the basket. “Do you know why?”

At first, Chrysalis looked completely confused, “No...all I did was touch it,” she thought about that, and then it dropped, “Is that why?”

“Yes,” Octavia was pleased that her companion had figured it out so quickly, “That is in the BDSM and Bottom book. You may not touch your collar unless it’s on you. Now, you can get permission to do so. Lulu lets me remove and put on my collar as she was concerned about my performance. As you see my bow tie holder is wider than the collar.”

“I see. Thank you, for correcting my mistake, Lady Octavia.”

When she satisfied her lesson had been learned, Octavia pointed at the variety of clamps. So those go on your teats,” she then indicated the rest, “Those up there go on your ears. Over there are bridles and tail sleeves. A short leash can attach the sleeve to a bridle so your tail will stay up. The light chains can attach to the ear and nipple clamps and to other things. So that it’s painful to move.”

“Yes! Those,” Chrysalis squeaked, she needed those, “I would very much like those!” she quickly picked up one of each of the clamps, a bridle, a tail sleeve, and the chains. Pointedly she ignored a leash called ‘The Tartarus’ that had three prongs on the end that were designed to attach to her nipples and clitoris. Maybe next time.

“And here we have a variety of ropes. I would wait till your Mistress introduces those to you. Not something a bottom would buy.” When Chrysalis nodded in agreement, Octavia took her over to another part of the store. “This is the book section and the video section. They even have mood music CD's.”

Picking up one of the little thin square cases, Chrysalis studied it intently, “Really? There's music on these little things?” she didn’t see how there could be, where would the musicians go?

“Yes, instrumentals, nature sounds, while that one has city sounds. I guess if you're out camping it lets you feel like you're back home.”

Chrysalis replaced the CD she had picked up, in favour of a nature themed one, labelled ‘Forest Sounds’. “I've never seen magic such as this.” There were other titles such as 'Surf', ‘Windy Day' and 'Songbirds'. “Yes, I think I like this one.”

Octavia then pointed to Fifty Shades of Hay, disgust on her muzzle, “Do not buy that book, unless you want to be very naughty. I don't know why Cadance lets them sell the thing in the store.”

“I ah, I know all about that,” Chrysalis shifted awkwardly on her hooves, for the memory of the beating she had received from Celestia using that book was still fresh in her mind. “Mistress caught me reading it. She let her displeasure be known.”

Octavia put a hoof over her mouth, though that did nothing to hide her giggles, “I'm sure she did. I think you have a good start. Now for me!” the grey earth pony declared, and she trotted back over to the paddle section and she selected a dark blue crop. “That should blend in nicely with my cutie mark,” she said as she placed it in the basket. “To the check out!”

“To the check out!” Chrysalis carried the basket and she walked with a bit of a spring in her step, imagining Celestia using all the different things on her back at the palace.

“Hello, Lady Octavia!” a chirpy young pale blue pegasus with a short white mane and tail greeted them with an easy relaxed smile, “I see you brought your maid shopping with you today.” She took a good long look at the maid’s gigantic teats that swung free of her dress.

“Good day, Dreamcicle,” Octavia greeted the pleasant young pony like she was greeting an old friend, “Somepony has to carry the basket. Put it on the counter, dear.”

Once the basket was on the counter, Dreamcicle started ringing up their purchases, a smile on her face, “White, are you sure you have the right one, Lady Octavia?”

Octavia leant conspiratorially over the counter and whispered in the pegasus’s ear, “I'm not the first line employer of my maid…”

At that, Dreamcicle's eyes went wide, “Oh!” was all she said to that and quickly she finished ringing things up, “That’ll be seven hundred and fifty bits with your discount.”

Nodding, Octavia took out her check book from a hidden pocket in her dress, “Please gift wrap the collar with your Celestial paper. The violet riding crop with your Lunar paper. The rest doesn't need wrapping.”

With well-practised hooves, Dreamcicle made quick work of the wrapping and she placed their purchases in a gaudy neon pink bag, a bag so pink it could be seen from space. “Thank you for shopping at MiAC. Have a pleasant and loving day!”

Outside the shop, Octavia paused on the sidewalk to adjust her wide brimmed hat, “Do you like donuts?”

“I do actually,” Chrysalis replied and, on cue, her belly rumbled so loud it drew the attention of two passing pretender ponies who shoved their noses so high into the air they couldn’t possibly see where they were walking, “I really like the ones with chocolate on top.”

Utterly ignoring the ponies like they didn’t exist, Octavia raised a forehoof, “To Donut Joes!” she declared like she was announcing a war cry, “You can carry the bag.”

“Yes ma'am, I have the bag!” Chrysalis giggled at Octavia's heroic pose and she walked by the cellist’s side through the busy streets. “Pardon me,” she spoke up after a few moments of silence, “But I have no way to repay you for the things you bought, Lady Octavia.”

“That’s not a problem,” Octavia replied with a smile and an affectionate nuzzle, “Are you saving up for something else?”

Not for the first time that day, Chrysalis blushed a very deep red, “No...I um...I mean, I don't have any currency to repay you with…”

“Oh, well,” Octavia caught sight of the earth pony scuffing her hoof on the pavement with a look on her face like she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her, “If you spent it all that isn't a problem either, but you really should look at doing a better budget.”

“Stop, please!” finally frustrated beyond her limit, Chrysalis stomped her hoof, and, under Octavia’s surprised gaze, she did a rather nervous four hooved dance, “I mean to say, I don't have any currency, because I haven't been given any! I wouldn't know where to get any!”

Not expecting that, Octavia blinked once then twice, “Okay…that calls for donuts and coffee, and then I will help you sort that out. All staff get a paycheck, or at least they should.”

“I-I'm not staff though, am I?” ashamed, Chrysalis rubbed her forehoof on her other foreleg and her ears slicked back as far as they would go. “I'm just there for her to play with, aren’t I?”

“Hmmm, I can't really say. I thought you were Tia's chambermaid?”

“Oh come on,” Chrysalis flopped onto her ass on the pavement, a look of utter despondency on her face, “You must know what's been happening, I'm not a maid, I'm her plaything!”

“Plaything, or whipping post?”

“Whipping post, not that I don't deserve it, I'll be the first to admit that, but...I tolerated it.”

“Why did she give you those books?” asked Octavia, who was saddened to see their happy shopping trip going so wrong so quickly, “Why were you excited about what you saw on our shopping trip?”

“Because I hope that at last the situation between us has changed…”

“That is a good hope to have,” Octavia lifted up Chrysalis’s lowered face so that they were looking at each other and then she placed that hoof on the disguised mare’s chest, right on her heart, “What is it you want out of this?”

“To have a purpose, a role to play, to be needed,” she smiled and sniffed back a tear, “I dunno, to be loved, and not just to be fed, or used.”

Giving her companion a nuzzle, Octavia continued on the walk to the donut shop. “I fear you have an uphill battle then with Tia, but it may well be a battle worth fighting for. Compare your first week to this last week. Do you think there has been progress?”

“Oh yes,” Chrysalis admitted, the ghost of a smile playing across her face, “That first week she could barely look at me. Today, when I was summoned to her room, she said 'please'.”

“Tia said she would quiz you?”

“Yes, she... I mean, Mistress, said she would quiz me at the end of next week.”

Octavia giggled, “Nice correction there. One day at a time is the best you can do. But for now, we will commiserate over donuts and coffee. It’s way too early in the day to use a tub of ice cream.”

“There is a time of day to eat ice cream?” Chrysalis asked genuinely as she followed Octavia into the donut shop. She hadn’t even realised they were at the shop, but she knew she was when she was inside, because she was assaulted by a flood of sweet smells and happy feels.

~ ~ ~

Three days after her shopping trip with Octavia, and Celestia had finally requested her presence again in her quarters. She had used all of her new white toys in the meantime, each time imagining it was the Princess using her like some lewd toy. All of them, that is, except the collar, which remained in the wrapping.

When ‘Bedpan’ walked into her Mistress’s room, she saw Celestia seated on the balcony having her morning tea and tea cakes. The bed was of course unmade, but the rest of the room was in good order. Two additions to the room was a low table and seating pad near her desk. “Did you finish your reading assignments?” asked Celestia, pointedly not bothering to look at her ‘maid’.

“Yes Mistress, I did,” Chrysalis set the MiAC bag she had been carrying the books in down on the floor by the low table and she placed the books on it.

At last, Celestia turned to look, “When did you get that bag?”

“Three days ago, Mistress,” Chrysalis replied quickly, adding a little polite bow for good measure, “Lady Octavia was kind enough to take me shopping.”

Paying that no mind whatsoever, Celestia launched straight into her quizzing, “What is the difference between a slave, a pet and a submissive?”

She knew this one! Octavia herself had told her this on their shopping trip. “A pet is a step up from a slave, a sub is a step up from a pet, Mistress.”

“Close, one exists at its master's whims, one plays at its master's desires, one joins in its master's fantasies. You said you'd be my slave, is that what you really want?”

Chrysalis was quick to nod her head, “Yes Mistress, that is what I want.”

“Have you no self-worth?” Celestia sighed and turned away from the pastel green earth pony kneeling at the table before her, “A slave is an object. If broken, it is discarded and replaced. I have no need of slaves. Too bad I got rid of Sombra, he needed slaves.”

Chrysalis didn’t know what made her do it, but in a flash of temper and a brighter flash of those green magical flames, Bedpan was gone, and she was stood in her true form, the maid’s dress having fallen to the floor in the transformation. “No, I have no self-worth!” she screamed into the alicorn’s face, not caring of the consequences, “For the first time in five hundred years I'm not doing the thing I was created for! For the first time, I have no purpose. I would dearly love to be your submissive, to join you in your fantasies, but…”

With the glint of a smile on her face, Celestia effortlessly interrupted the changeling’s tirade, “So you can fight back. Enough of that form, back to Bedpan.” Once more there was the bright flash of magical flames and Chrysalis was gone, in her place was Bedpan, though her already large teats were a few sizes bigger. “Now, empty the bag on the table by my desk.”

“As you wish, Mistress,” though she could have sworn the bag was empty, when she picked it up in her hooves, it was full of the MiAC things that had been in her room. She could only assume, as she emptied the bag out on the table, that Celestia had summoned them while she had been transforming. When they were out, she took the time to arrange the items by size rather than leaving them in a jumbled heap.

While Chrysalis was doing that, Celestia levitated the Celestial wrapped item to herself and she opened it, holding up and admiring the collar in the light. “Have you touched this?”

“No Mistress,” Chrysalis answered truthfully, “Lady Octavia advised me not to when she replaced the one I originally picked up with that one.”

“Submissives should look out for each other,” Celestia commented as she approached the transformed Chrysalis with the new collar held in her magic, but when she was closer, she took it in her hooves to fasten it around Chrysalis's neck. “You may not remove that, and it will always be worn no matter what form you might take.”

“Thank you Mistress, and I understand,” Chrysalis beamed and as Celestia returned to her balcony table, she sat on the seating pad on the floor, a wide smile on her face.

“What is to be your safe word?”

“Lime, Mistress.”

Without bothering to ask why she had chosen that as her safe word, not that she cared, Celestia nodded. “Make the bed.”

“Yes Mistress,” obediently, Chrysalis got up from the seating pad and she walked over to the large bed, purposefully angling her rear end at the Princess as she worked to straighten out the rumpled sheets. Seeing as she had no actual work, Celestia did admire the view. “Enjoying the show, Mistress?” she asked, purposefully keeping her tail up high to really show herself off.

“More working,” Celestia commented curtly, “Less speaking.” With her back to her Mistress, Chrysalis smirked to herself and she draped herself over the bed to reach the far end. While she did enjoy the show, the Princess was ready to intervene if she thought her plaything was dawdling.

“To the corner,” Celestia ordered once Chrysalis had announced she was finished. She had a hoof pointed at one corner of the room, the furthest away from the bed. As Chrysalis walked obediently to the corner and pressed her nose into it, her rear facing into the room, Celestia inspected her bed.

After a few moments, the alicorn’s smile grew wide, for in her eagerness to show off for her, one of the corners wasn't as neat as it could be. “I see you brought me four instruments of correction,” Celestia’s dark smile could have granted ponies nightmares.

“Return to the bed, drape yourself over it, hind hooves on the floor.” Celestia ordered simply and, when Chrysalis turned away from the corner, she saw the clamps, the chains and the tail sleeve were all held aloft in the alicorn’s powerful magic.

Chrysalis had to try extremely hard to restrain herself from scampering over the bedroom. Instead, she walked over as calmly as she could and she leant over the foot of the bed, her ass and her tail up high. Using her magic, Celestia wrapped the tail sleeve around ‘Bedpan’s’ brown tail and then she applied the clamps to the mare’s ears and, to complete it, she secured the chain from the tail sleeve to each ear, making it short enough to pull Chrysalis's head back.

“Now,” Celestia took a moment to fully admire the unfettered view of her maid’s wet marehood and her teats, “That does clear the target area.” she said as she took up the cat in her magic, “If I were to let you choose your instrument of correction, which would you choose?”

“Hnnnng...th-the tawse, Mistress,” Chrysalis wiggles her ass just a little, as if she were inviting the punishment and straightaway she felt the sharp tug of the clamps on her ears.

“You fail, my pet,” Celestia said almost emotionlessly and she swung the cat with unerring accuracy. The multiple strands came down at an angle, starting just behind the toilet cutie mark and along the mare’s ample buttocks. A few of the strands even reached between her thighs and reached her folds. Before she could react to that, Celestia swung the cat again, aiming at the opposite cutie mark. While Chrysalis was screaming from the intense pain, Celestia started to swing the cat just below and in front of the toilet cutie mark.

Her pet’s agonised screams were music to Celestia’s ears and finally, now she was causing pain to her old enemy, she felt herself getting very wet between her own hind legs as she wrapped the strands down on the mare’s abdomen and across her mammoth teats.

This, Celestia repeated on the other side, loving the way the cat left thin red lines in its wake on the pastel green fur. “You would have to had to have made a far greater mistake to warrant the tawse, but I'll keep it in mind for other infractions.” Celestia said as she delivered four more strokes of the cat. “Now you say, 'I welcome my correction'.”

“Aaah aaAAAH ooow!” Chrysalis danced on her hind hooves after the sixth strike, her pussy was swollen with arousal and her juices were leaking down her thighs, “Thank you Mistress! I welcome my correction, Mistress!”

Smirking behind her, Celestia applied four more deadly accurate strokes of the cat, “Now say it with feeling.”

“Gaaah oooOOOW!” Chrysalis hollered loudly, with tears at her eyes as she pulled hard on the clips on her ears in her agonised thrashing about, “I welcome my correction, Mistress!”

After that, another eight blows followed, each one making Chrysalis scream in pain, plead for it to stop and then beg for more. It was only when the punishment was getting so severe that the mare was flickering between Bedpan and Chrysalis’s actual form, that Celestia relented and she placed the cat back on the table. “Off the bed and face the table.”

“Oh...ooooh w-wow...” Chrysalis whimpered. As she staggered off the bed, she had been unaware that she was losing her control over the transformation. She was though walking a little funny thanks to all the cat strikes and the smell of her arousal was spreading around the room as she faced the table.

While Chrysalis was walking slowly across the room, Celestia made a big show of making a remarkably close inspection of the equine dildo, the butt plug and the strap on. She looked, sniffed and she even gave them a sensual lick to see if they were clean. Chrysalis blushed hard, because she knew they were clean, even though they had all been used, with the exception of the strap on. After doing her inspection, in which she noted they were all modelled after earth ponies, Celestia said, “You have not failed in this duty Now fix the bed correctly.”

“Thank you Mistress,” Chrysalis responded, the mare breathing heavily from the cat treatment as she walked back to the bed. She didn’t play around this time, and she hurried to smooth the wrinkles out she had made from thrashing on the bed.

When she was finished, Celestia used her magic to remove the chains and the ear clamps. She transferred the clamps to ‘Bedpan's’ nipples, with a single looped chain between them. Because her teats were so big, the loop and the ends of the chain just touched the floor. “Ms. Spatula should have my brunch ready. You may also bring a meal for yourself.”

Chrysalis let out a whimper of frustration when Celestia returned to her balcony table, because she had been so close to reaching her climax with the cat, only for those feelings to be receding. “Y-Yes Mistress,” she didn't even mind she was still wearing the tail sleeve; she was too aroused to care.

It didn’t take long for Chrysalis to return with her Mistress’s brunch on a plate carried on her back, along with her own plate. She learned she had to walk on the tips of her hooves, or the chain attached to her nipples would drag on the floor and pull on them. It was deeply frustrating because while the pain was welcomed, it was nowhere near enough to get her off.

“Put mine on the desk,” Celestia ordered as Chrysalis entered her quarters, “You eat at the table.” When she walked over to the desk to place her Mistress’s plate of an omelette, toast, Prench toast, fruit and coffee, she noted that all of her items had been moved to one edge of the low table, away from the seating pad. Except for the vibrator, which was missing.

That little mystery was solved though when Celestia walked around Chrysalis to get to the desk. She moved her tail aside so that it was obvious where the missing vibrator was. “Ms. Spatula did another fine job preparing my meal,” the Princess said appreciatively as she sat down to eat. “You may eat.”

Despite having a bagel with cream cheese topped with smoked salmon, and a salad in front of her, Chrysalis just couldn’t take her eyes off of Celestia's vast behind and the dildo that was all the way inside her. She had to shake her head and force herself to stop drooling. “Ahem, thank you, Mistress,” she sat at the table and delicately plucked at a mouthful.

In stark contrast, Celestia ate the way she ate in private, which was to say, face first, with no utensils and she was wolfing the food down. Watching, Chrysalis found that extremely hot indeed. She continued to watch for a moment longer before doing similar and getting stuck in headfirst herself. Once she was finished with the meal, Celestia said, “Pet, I need a napkin, your tongue will do.”

“At once, Mistress!” Chrysalis got up and from her empty plate and she walked over to the balcony, where she was presented with Celestia's messy face. While Celestia kept her mouth closed, to prevent unwanted kisses, Chrysalis enthusiastically licked her clean. When she was done, she looked in the mirror to see if the job was done right.

“You may now clean yourself. After that, I want you to fetch some flowers from Meadow Flower's shop. It is near the royal opera house. She should have the order ready.”

As Chrysalis stuck out her tongue and cleaned her own face, all the time she was still thinking of the time spent licking her Mistress’s face clean. “Meadow Flower. Yes Mistress.”

If Chrysalis thought catching the chain on smooth marble was a hazard, it was nothing compared to the nightmare of Canterlot’s cobbled streets. Every other step the chain caught on a cobble stone. Every other step made her gasp out loud as pain shot through her huge teats.

Even walking on the tips of her hooves didn’t help that much, as Bedpan’s huge teats bobbed and swayed and still the chain caught on the uneven surface. Although, what made that tolerable was the abundance of whistles and catcalls from stallions and mares alike. She did her absolute best to get as many looks as possible on the way to the store. “Ms. Meadow Flower?” she asked as she entered.

“My,” Meadow Flower, a lavender coloured earth pony mare who was well into her late middle age, greeted her latest customer with an easy-going smile, “You're a cute one, how can I help you today?”

“Thank you!” ‘Bedpan’ returned the smile with one of her own, and a pose that revealed more of her already impressive cleavage, “I'm here to collect an order of flowers for Princess Celestia, ma’am.”

“Ah, you must be Bedpan. I’ve got them right here for you,” the earth pony pulled out a tray from under the counter that had five dozen roses, twelve each of red, pink, white, yellow, and orange. Meadow Flower balanced the tray on ‘Bedpan's’ back. “There you go, have a great day!”

“Thank you ma'am,” Chrysalis made sure, as she walked, to be as careful as she could. There was no way she was dropping any of the flowers, “A good day to you.”

When Chrysalis returned to Celestia’s quarters, the Princess used her magic to levitate the flowers from her back to various vases around the room. “So, Bedpan,” she said, a satisfied smile on her face, “Are you disappointed that you didn't need to use your safe word today?”

“No Mistress, I'm not disappointed at that, it was a pleasure to serve you.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow at that, but she didn't refute the statement. In truth, she was disappointed. She was sure the humiliation of having to walk through Canterlot with the clamps and the chains on would have broken Chrysalis. ‘Oh well…’ Celestia reflected as she placed the strap on and the butt plug into the bag and she put that on Chrysalis’s back, ‘I’ll just have to try harder next time!’ “You will display those in your room, but you will not use them in any way. You may however, dust them up to twice a day.”

“I understand, Mistress. May I speak freely before I go?”

“Choose your words wisely,” Celestia said as she narrowed her eyes, “Or I will alter what I plan to do next.”

“I really enjoyed the walk to Meadow Flower's shop,” Chrysalis admitted, “Having all that attention from the ponies in the street was exhilarating. I just...” she shuffled her hooves nervously, “Um...I wish you'd have ah, hit me a little harder?”

“Maybe when I believe you deserve such a reward. Fail badly and you may find just how devastating my wing tip is…” Celestia left that threat hanging in the air as she motioned for her to open her mouth. Once Chrysalis’s mouth was open wide, Celestia used her hoof to pull out the vibrator and she put it in the changeling's mouth. Just to the back of the mouth, she doesn't shove it down her throat. “Close. You may orally clean that as much as you feel it needs. You will bring it back tomorrow, clean. Turn around.”

“Mmm,” Chrysalis nodded, “Aaaahm Ithreeth…” she held the toy in her teeth and turned around, blushing hard when she realised she was tasting her Mistress’s pussy juices on her tongue.

When she was turned around, Celestia carefully removed the tail sleeve. Then, with a dark, wide smile, she reached between ‘Bedpan’s’ hind legs and, without warning, she forcibly yanked off the nipple clamps by the chain. “You are free to go.”

Unfortunately, Chrysalis didn’t hear that she was free to go. As soon as the nipple clamps were ripped from her teats, a massive spike of pain shot up her body. She was so surprised by the intensity of the jolt of pain, that she came, squirting on the floor behind her and she dropped the toy from her mouth.

Smirking, Celestia caught the vibrator in her magic before it hit the floor. “You are a naughty pony. Clean that mess with your tongue before I slip in it.”

“Y-Yes Mi-Mistress...” when Celestia stepped back to make room, Chrysalis lowered herself on shaking legs and she licked up the puddle of her juices from the floor. When she was done, the Princess again placed the vibrator in her mouth, and she waved for her to go.

“Aaaank ooou Ithreeth…” Chrysalis drooled a little as she 'spoke' and quickly, she left the room before she could mess up a second time, although there was a wide goofy smile plastered all over her face.

~ ~ ~

At the end of the day, the shift change dinner came around and, as was the norm in the evening, Luna was the first one in, just as Celestia was the first in for shift change breakfast. “Good evening to you Tia,” she greeted her sister and looked up from her pancakes and cream, “Did you enjoy your off day?”

“I did, thank you Lulu,” Celestia smiled broadly as she sat at the table, “It was most enjoyable.”

“Tavi told me she had a delightful day shopping with your chambermaid,” Luna started as Celestia’s evening meal was placed before her by the waiting staff, “She even got something for me. The crop very much matches the colour of her cutie mark.”

“Octavia is an instigating pony, Lu, as are you,” Celestia nodded in thanks to the waiter, “I had a delightful afternoon playing with the results of that shopping trip.”

Leaning over the table, Luna 'sort of' lowered her voice in a conspiratorial fashion, “Is it true your chambermaid walks around with cock in her mouth?”

“It is certainly true,” Celestia winked proudly, “I put it there.”

“Go you!” Luna cheered on her older sister.

“I decided to take your advice and ah, loosen up, as you so eloquently put it.”

“That’s good,” Luna said as she shovelled in a forkful of creamy pancakes and swallowed, “You'll live longer. On another completely different note. Tavi talked to Wisteria, who talked to Raven, who checked in with me, because it was your day off, and I sent her to Gotcha in Pony Relations since it wasn't in my jurisdiction. So, Gotcha says he has been putting Bedpan's salary in her account and even gave her the increase when she changed from scullery to chambermaid. And, you can guess where this is going…”

Celestia groaned and looked away from her grilled fish steaks and salad, “I know, I need to make her aware she has money, that she has earned for her work,” she looked sideways at Luna, “Please don't look at me in that tone of voice, Lu.”

“Actually, you don't have to. Good savings plan that. You should know that the crown is paying her though. In case you want to change that.”

“We have a word for unpaid indentured servitude, Lu,” Celestia replied with an extremely deep sigh, “And I told her earlier that I didn't want a slave.”

“I do believe we fought a slave holder in the past. Again, you don't have to tell her, you can wait to see if she is brave enough to ask. Tavi only said the staff get paid, and Bedpan isn't sure if she is staff or not.” Luna then reached her hoof out across the table to her sister, “I will not push you on this. I have been where you are now. I was rather ugly about it and you are doing much better than I. Stay true to yourself and know there are those that love you regardless of what you do.”

“Am I a bad pony, Luna?” Celestia looked down at her sisters hoof touching her own, “In four thousand years, I have never sought revenge, not against Sombra, or Discord, or Tirek, but Chrysalis...”

“If there is any one pony you need to talk to, it’s Twilight. The wound is still way too fresh for Cadance, but maybe Twilight can talk about it. She watched Chrysalis lay you low, steal her brother, impersonate Cadance, and her friends turn against her when she tried to intervene. Then the last part you know about. If you clear the air with Twilight, then maybe you can forgive yourself.”

“Perhaps you’re right,” Celestia conceded her sister’s point, all the while wondering when she got so insightful. “All those other villains, it was never as personal as she made it. And yet, in spite of everything she did to Cadance, to Twilight, to me...she makes it awfully hard to hate her, Lu. These past eight months she has endured everything I've thrown at her. Lately, I wonder who the monster really is, or was...you know what I mean.”

“I do,” Luna nodded seriously, “As there is a monster in all of us. You have done well to keep it under control, but I fear that control is breaking. Maybe you need to let it out for a romp and let it peaceably return to where it rests. Just don't follow my path.”

Celestia shook her head vehemently, “I can't let Daybreaker return, Lu, not ever. I wonder what the ponies would say if they knew the truth, that I was scared to fight back against Chrysalis lest She take over again...” and yet, when she beat on Chrysalis, it gave the monster lurking inside her such a thrill, she wanted to experience it again.

And again…

“You cannot beat yourself up over something that didn't happen. Be real,” Luna squeezed her sister’s hoof as she spoke, “If you had used your full power then, the casualties would have been too high for you to bear. While many died that day, the city, and you, survived it.”

“I know, and I know you're right,” Celestia sighed, thoughts of beating Chrysalis until she was a bloody pulp flitting from her mind, “I would have destroyed half the city. I know. Knowing it doesn't make it hurt any less. I also know mother and father would be ashamed of the way I've acted towards her.”

“Mother, yes,” Luna shrugged, “Father? He had a more laissez-faire attitude.”

“Good point,” Celestia smiled softly, “I can still remember the feel of mother's hoof on my ass when I was younger. The way I've treated Chrys...she would have personally seen to it I didn't sit for a month.”

“Fear not, I'll not tell your former student that you are not practically perfect in every way,” Luna giggled brightly and finished her breakfast, “Now, I must be off to court. Seems my docket has increased.” She struck a most heroic pose, “Finally the ponies of Equestria realize I provide true justice!”

“Maybe they should know who it was who stole all the cookies from the kitchen jar on her midnight runs, and who constantly blamed her big sister for the theft?”

“Can't prove a thing!” Luna sang as she skipped happily out of their private dining room, “Laters!”

“Hmmmm...” Celestia mused to herself when she was left alone with her evening meal, “Perhaps I should go and see Twilight. What is there to lose at this point?”

Chapter 6 - Hate and Love

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Luna’s moon was high in the night sky when Celestia landed on the balcony of Twilight’s castle. She had guessed correctly and aimed for the library. Inside the library, which was one of the few rooms with any lights on, Twilight was busy reading Quasars and Cooking the Primordial Stew, while Rainbow Dash was engrossed in Daring Do and the Last Crusade.

Celestia was thankful that her landing on the balcony outside the library had gone unnoticed. The last thing she wanted right then was to cause a fuss among the guards and anypony still walking about. Happy that nopony knew she was there; she politely knocked on the window of the large door.

Hearing the knock, Twilight looked up. “Spike!” she called as she almost fell from the cloud she had been reclining on in shock at what she saw. “Did I have an appointment with the Princess tonight?”

“No,” Spike replied, poking his head into the library, “Why?” When Twilight simply pointed a hoof at the large door, Spike shook his head and walked over so he could let Celestia inside. “Good evening,” he greeted the alicorn with a polite nod of the head, “She should calm down in a moment. Care for some tea?”

“I'd love some, earl grey, hot, if you have it, Spike.” Celestia nodded her head to the young dragon as she stepped inside and ruffled her feathers after her flight, “I'm glad you are all still awake, I um, haven't called at a bad time, have I?”

Snickering, Spike pointed a thumb towards Twilight and Rainbow, who were sat on a fluffy cloud that the latter had wrangled into the library, “Don’t worry, they call this a date!”

“What!?” squeaked Twilight, while Spike scampered off laughing fit to burst.

Celestia giggled brightly, “I do apologise for coming unannounced. I'm afraid this couldn't wait.”

Lost in her book, Rainbow Dash was busy reading and she hadn't moved or even looked up at the surprise visitor. “Oh, of course, you're always welcome,” Twilight got up and embraced her former teacher, “Um, why are you here?”

Before Celestia could reply, Spike walked in carrying a tray with tea for Celestia and – strong - coffee for Twilight. He also set a mug of fresh cider near Rainbow and took his leave. Celestia took a seat on a vacant pad close to the cloud and she looked at her tea held in her magic. “Well, I suppose I should come out with it. It has to do with Chrysalis.”

Nursing her coffee, Twilight closed her eyes at the mention of that name, “The changelings should all be dead. I checked and double checked my math, but...I'm aware of what Royal Ribbon is doing. I did a fly by on that camp. I believed I had washed my hooves of it all. Does...Does she still live?”

“She does. Perhaps in spite of my best efforts,” admitted Celestia, though she looked away at the last few words. “She was in the camp for six months. For the past two, she has been my maid.”

Twilight was stunned to hear that, Rainbow though at last spoke up. “Not sure if that’s cool or not. Is she a good maid?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” asked Twilight, who had found her voice.

Rainbow shrugged, “Just saying, ya know?”

“She is an excellent maid, Rainbow,” in a more subdued voice, Celestia continued, “Twilight, she has endured every misery I can think to subject her to because she claims to love her kind.”

“Does she have a cool outfit?” asked Rainbow while Twilight suddenly went wide eyed and she facehooved, “Twi got me one. Barely covers my bits. It’s so awesome!”

“See for yourself, Rainbow Dash,” Celestia smirked and, using her magic, she created a glowing yellow likeness of Bedpan in her scandalously short maid outfit that only just covered her teats and ass for them to see.

“Tartarus, those tits are huge!” Rainbow exclaimed in sheer awe. The pegasus had to move her head back and tilt it to the side to see all of the image at once. “I have to wear a titty teddy.”

“You like it,” Twilight shot back, “It makes your teats look larger…” the young Princess actually stunned herself when she realized she just said that, and Rainbow Dash was laughing her head off on her cloud.

Celestia couldn’t help but laugh out loud, Rainbow’s humour was just too infectious. “This brings me to the real reason I am here. I have, over the months, developed feelings for her.” The alicorn didn’t feel the need to share exactly what those feelings were, or how she took pleasure in exploiting them.

“Heavy,” Rainbow commented as she took a long drink of her cider.

“How?” Twilight squeaked like a balloon with the air let out, “She...She's a monster!”

“Come on,” Rainbow snorted, “That was forever ago.”

Setting down her ‘No. 1 Princess’ coffee mug, Twilight hit her head with the thick tome she had been reading. “Second chances,” she sighed, “Sometimes it’s hard to be Princess of Worrying About Everypony’s Problems…I mean, Friendship.”

“You would do well to hit my head next,” Celestia grinned, “Believe me, I didn't want it to happen, Twilight. Indeed, these past months I have pushed and pushed her in the hopes she would rebel…” her voice went smaller and smaller, “Give me a reason to...well, she hasn't. And I cannot deny my feelings any longer.”

“You going to use her as a fuck toy?”

Twilight aimed a swipe of her hoof at her marefriend, which the pegasus easily dodged, “Dash!”

“Rainbow, I adore your language, crude as it is,” Celestia giggled, wisely leaving her tea for the moment, “No, is the simple answer to that. Octavia took her shopping, and on her return, Chrysalis presented me with a white collar for her.”

Suddenly interested, Rainbow Dash lifted her head, “Purple is a far better colour, just saying.”

“So, are you saying you love her,” Twilight asked, “Or that you no longer want to kill her?”

"I'm saying I care for her, I really do have feelings for her," Celestia smiled, and though she said that out loud, what she said to herself was, ‘I do love to hurt her, I really love to hurt her for my pleasure!'

Twilight slumped back on to the cloud, feeling the fluffy whiteness support her weight, “What do you want from me?”

“Duh,” Rainbow grunted, “Remember that time in Canterlot, at the wedding? You had a lot to say and it still stays with us today. Me and Pinkie are the only ones that let it go. She needs you to let it go, Twi.”

“What about Cadance?”

“I ah,” Celestia suddenly found the teacup remarkably interesting, “I have yet to speak to your sister in law. I thought I should come to see you first.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow agreed, “If you bomb here, no reason to go there.”

“Why am I the bad guy?” Twilight asked with a slight whine in her voice.

Rainbow Dash fluttered her powerful wings and she hovered over her marefriend, so she could give her a deep, lusty kiss, “You're not. You just need to choose to hold onto the hate or let it go.”

“Lulu said something remarkably similar to me, as did Octavia,” Celestia sighed a deep sigh that seemed to be dredged up from her very hooves and she slumped her shoulders, “I cannot hate her any longer, Twilight. I just can't.” And it was true, she didn’t hate her. When she was beating on her and humiliating her, she loved her power over Chrysalis!

“If you don't feed the hate it will die,” Twilight felt like she was giving one of her lectures to herself, “I'll back you up when you want to tell Cadance.”

“And?” asked Rainbow, who was still busy kissing Twilight’s muzzle.

“And I'll deal with Rarity and Applejack, and Fluttershy.”

“Thank you, Twilight,” Celestia breathed out, and some tension left her as well, “Your acceptance was more important to me than your approval, but I am pleased I have both.”

“If she hurts you...”

Rainbow Dash interrupted Twilight with a laugh, “Luna will drop the moon on her.”

Before she realised what she was doing, Celestia was again laughing out loud, “I think Lulu will have to get in line behind Octavia. She's rather taken Chrysalis under her wing, one sub to another.”

“Pretty cool feat for an earth pony.”

Celestia blinked and then she got Rainbow’s joke and she laughed harder, “Rainbow, how I wish you'd come to the court for a day. You'd liven it up no end!”

When Rainbow opened her mouth to say something clever, Twilight was ready with a raised forehoof and she closed it again, thinking better of it and she shrugged, “She’s still in training.”

“Or maybe I should invite you all to another gala?” smirked Celestia.

Rainbow muttered, “Lame…”

“Sure,” Twilight giggled, “I think Pinkie would love that.”

“And in the spirit of letting things go,” Celestia smiled mischievously, “Perhaps Octavia can be persuaded to finally speak to Pinkie Pie again.”

Rainbow immediately perked up, “I'd go to watch that!” she crowed as she did a loop the loop and landed back on the cloud.

Celestia laughed, “I fear Lulu would be the first to sell tickets. By the way,” she said as Rainbow went back to reading her Daring Do book, “Do you mind if I borrow the diary you use to communicate with Sunset Shimmer?”

“It’s in my bedroom. Just leave it when you're done. If she doesn't reply right away, I'll send a letter with Spike when she does.”

“Thank you, Twilight,” Celestia smiled and reached out with her magic to summon the diary to her in the library. “One more rift I need to heal,” she said as she wrote a long overdue letter to her daughter.

“I fear that is more on her than you,” Twilight said as she took the book back from the older Princess. “I've told her time and again she was forgiven. I guess if you let her know you forgave Chrysalis she may believe that extends to her too.”

~ ~ ~

The next day, just after eight in the morning, Chrysalis's door opened without warning and Celestia strode into the room. She saw Bedpan laying on her back on her bed, relaxing with one of her fashion magazines. Without saying a word, the alicorn cast a detection spell on the sex toys arranged on the shelf. She was pleased to see they had not been used.

“Hello and good morning to you, Mistress Celestia,” Chrysalis put down her magazine and she stretched on her bed.

Again, Celestia lit her horn and with a flash of magic, the strap on disappeared. “Put on your uniform,” she ordered simply, “You may bring the dildo to my room the same way you brought it here.” Without another word, she then turned and left the room.

Chrysalis had a little giggle to herself as she slid off the bed and she got dressed in her ridiculously small maid's dress, and for the finishing touch, she placed the white dildo in her mouth before walking out of her room. She gave the guards she passed a wink, and one easily embarrassed guard popped out of his sheath.

When she entered Celestia’s quarters however, Chrysalis was stunned to the spot by what she saw. The sight that greeted her was of the Princess stood in the middle of the room. She was wearing black latex socks on all four legs; a tight black latex corset framed her body and was accentuate by a black breast teddy. Completing the look was a pair of black panties.

Chrysalis was so shocked that her mouth hung open so wide that the dildo fell out and it would have hit the floor had the changeling not been quick to fumble for it with her hooves. From out of nowhere, a white riding crop administered two firm swats to each of her flank. “A clumsy maid you are,” Celestia smirked, “It didn't hit the floor, so I'll be forgiving this time.”

“GaaaAAH!” Chrysalis jumped in surprise at the swats to her rear, “F-Forgive me Mistress, I was unprepared for such a vision…”

Quickly, two more heavy swats landed on Chrysalis’s ass just above and behind her cutie marks, “No excuses. Now get to cleaning.” Order given, Celestia walked to her desk, but she didn't sit to do any work. She sat to watch ‘Bedpan’, the crop in her magic twirling next to her.

Now she was alerted to the mess, Chrysalis saw that the bed was unmade, there was a small pile of fifty books on the floor and it looked like some leaves had blown in through the open balcony door. “Y-Yes Mistress, thank you for my correction, Mistress,” ‘Bedpan’ started with the bed, as was her custom, taking great care as she did so to show off her teats as she walked around smoothing out the sheets.

When Chrysalis had her back to Celestia, the Princess skilfully used the crop to gently move the earth pony mare’s teats around and she lightly flicked the hard nipples. “Aaaaah!” the mare’s gasps as the crop flicked her were music to the alicorn’s ears.

It carried on this way as ‘Bedpan’ moved over to the pile of books, and she did so now with her tail raised up, showing off her glistening wet marehood. Like a hawk, Celestia watched her and she took great pleasure in toying and teasing her teats. That was until the maid paused for too long, in which case two deadly accurate swats were delivered to her ass.

The pile of leaves were left for last. With no other way, ‘Bedpan’ used her tail like a brush to sweep them out of the room and over the balcony. When she was finished with the three tasks, Celestia ordered, “Strip.” Quickly and obediently, ‘Bedpan’ removed the maid's dress and she folded it neatly on the bed, then she removed her shoes, places them under the bed. “Change to your true form.”

Of all the things Celestia could have said, Chrysalis wasn't expecting that. “Mistress?”

“Now.”

Chrysalis blushed, “Yes Mistress…” she summoned the magical green flames. They flashed up and a second later, the pastel green of Bedpan was replaced with the black chitin of Chrysalis, naked but for the white collar around her neck.

Walking up slowly, Celestia ran her latex clad hoof along the collar. “You can do some things right…” she left that hanging in the air as she used her magic to fasten the bridle that Chrysalis and Octavia had bought onto her face, and then she added the tail sleeve. The clamps were placed on the changeling’s ears, but for the moment there was no chain. “I think I can stand to look at you without the desire to kill you.”

“Um...” still blushing, Chrysalis found the white marble floor extremely interesting right then, and she wondered if that could be counted as progress? She wasn’t even sure how to answer that. In the end she just said, “Thank you, Mistress.”

Wordlessly, with her magic, Celestia pulled something out of her closet, which turned out to be a white corset designed for a pegasus, not hers though as the size was way too small, but it was very much Chrysalis's size. Working quietly, Celestia placed the corset on the changeling’s thin chest and then she tightly laced it up. Wisely, Chrysalis inhaled as the corset was being laced up, so that she had space to breathe, though not that much. With that done, the chains were added between the tail sleeve and the ear clips. “Yes,” Celestia said, stepping back to admire her work, “That’s a good look for you.”

“It...It feels good, Mistress,” Chrysalis had to remember not to lower her head or move it to get a better look at the corset, which she forgot at first and tugged on the clamps, eliciting from her a hiss of pain.

Just then, there came a light knock at the door. Ignoring it, Celestia moved to her balcony table and she sat. “That would be my breakfast. You will serve me, and you may use magic.”

Chrysalis though didn't move straight away, “I-In my current form, Mistress?” Celestia’s eyes narrowed dangerously and though she didn’t say anything, the white crop decorated Chrysalis's chitinous flank twice on each side. “GAaaAAAH i-in my form, Mistress!” Chrysalis squealed and danced as the crop slapped all around her thin black body, more so than it had when she had been Bedpan.

In the hall there was a trolley with covered plates, and only one guard, Shieldwall, to whom Chrysalis bowed and regretted it when the clamps tugged on her ears. “Th-Thank you, Shieldwall,” she took the trolley in with her magic and she turned, before closing the door. She then walked up to the balcony table. “Your breakfast, Mistress.”

Quietly, Celestia waited and watched the meal being served. She was looking for errors, even though she knew full well that Chrysalis may not know all there is to know about being a waitress. Naturally, there were errors. The changeling started with the pancakes, levitating them onto the table along with a cup of tea for her Mistress.

For every error she spotted, Celestia verbally corrected it and then she followed it up with a count, starting with one on the first and she counted forward with each error she corrected. All that, and she still enjoyed her breakfast. After the count reached ten, the Princess was finished. “Return the trolley to the hall.”

“Yes Mistress,” obediently, Chrysalis took the trolley with the now empty plates on it, opened the door and she pushed the trolley outside to be collected.

“How many errors were made in your service to me?” asked Celestia, twirling the crop in her magic.

“You counted ten, Mistress.”

“I will expect improvement,” Celestia stated simply, before she took the crop in her hoof rather than her magic. “Now face the bed and lower your head to the sheets.”

“Yes Mistress,” as she had been ordered, Chrysalis walked over to the bed and with her hind legs spread, she lowered her head down to the bed. Naturally, this pulled on the tail sleeve, which raised it up and gave her Mistress a clear view of her dripping wet marehood.

Held in a glowing magical aura, the tawse slid in front of Chrysalis's lowered muzzle. “You may kiss the instrument of your correction.”

“Thank you, Mistress!” Chrysalis then placed a long, loving kiss on the tawse, imagining it was Celestia's lips.

Once Chrysalis was in position over the bed, Celestia began the punishment. She did not hold back, she swung the tawse with all her alicorn strength, and with unerring aim she peppered the changeling’s rear end with strikes and slaps.

Each impact of the leather straps drew a long-pained scream from Chrysalis, each hit made her squirm and writhe, each blow made her juices leak down her black inner thighs until they flowed continuously and made a puddle between her hind hooves.

On the seventh strike of the tawse that hit straight across Chrysalis’s thighs and her marehood, the changeling screamed the loudest scream yet and that signified her loud and violent climax. Celestia did not stop. While Chrysalis was riding out her orgasm, she delivered two more hits with the tawse. As Celestia gave Chrysalis the ninth strike, she screamed out her safe word, “Lime!”

Because Celestia hadn’t been holding back, Chrysalis was reduced to a sobbing drooling mess on the bed. As soon as she heard her say ‘Lime’, the Princess stayed her hoof. While she was sorely tempted to carry on and deliver the tenth and maybe the fifteenth strike, instead she dropped the tawse and she ran her latex clad hoof lightly over her tortured ass, gently massaging the many welts.

As Celestia was, not-so-gently, massaging her ruined rear end, Chrysalis was busy ugly crying into the bedsheets. Snot mixed with tears and drool. It was not pretty to look at, and it was a sign that both mares had held nothing back. “Th-Thank y-yo-you Mistress,” she sobbed pitifully.

After having massaged her pet’s chitinous ass, an ass that was more welts and bruises than chitin, Celestia unhooked the chain, but she left the sleeve and the ear clamps on the sobbing mare. “Forelegs on the bed,” she ordered, indicating she was not finished yet, “And move forward till your hindlegs touch the bed.”

Still sniffing and sobbing, with the intense pain of the tawse reducing rapidly to a dull ache that throbbed across her ass, Chrysalis inched forwards until her hindlegs touched the foot of the bed, and then she placed her forelegs out in front of her. Once she was in position, Celestia pressed her nose under the changeling's raised tail. “I don't think lubrication will be necessary,” she said after tasting her arousal.

Celestia walked around the bed like she was stalking her prey and at Chrysalis’s head, she reared up onto the bed with her forehooves so that her pet could see the white strap on she was now wearing. When she saw that, Chrysalis suddenly stopped crying, realising what was going to happen next.

With a somewhat callous smirk on her face, Celestia stalked back around the bed and without ceremony, the alicorn reared up so that her forehooves were in front of Chrysalis's wings and she quickly thrust the strap on into her prey’s dripping wet marehood until it was hilted.

As soon as she was satisfied the large toy was nestled all the way inside her property, Celestia followed on the insertion with a series of hard, rapid, in and out thrusts that stretched out the changeling’s pussy. While she was busy moulding Chrysalis’s tunnel to take the fake cock, she lit her horn and magically created a feedback loop.

Now that Chrysalis’s pleasure was increasing her own pleasure, due to the loop, Celestia had but one thought. ‘I'm finally using her as she should be used…’ As she thrust into the mewling changeling again and again, Celestia didn't give off any love, but did give off a great deal of satisfaction.

Satisfaction, because she was finally rutting out her frustrations on that black ass.

By the time Celestia was finished, she had a rear hoof pressed down hard on Chrysalis’s head, keeping her pinned to the bed as she mercilessly fucked her soaking wet pussy like a cheap back ally whore. Chrysalis screamed out her two orgasms before she slumped onto the bed. “Oh...my...C-Celestia that was amazing…”

As she herself came, Celestia used the force of her magic alone to smack Chrysalis hard across her muzzle. It wasn’t a love tap, or a pretend slap, it was a firm, stiff smack, and Celestia had all her force behind it. “Owww!” the changeling whimpered and, as her green blood started seeping from her nose, she started sobbing again.

Tempted to hit her again, Celestia instead moved off Chrysalis and around the bed until she was facing the crying mare, her muzzle on the bed too. “You have made a grievous error,” she stated in a quiet, though nonetheless commanding tone, “One where I could send you away from me for a long time. Is that what you want?”

Chrysalis shook her head firmly, making the green blood seep quicker down her face from her nose, “N-No Mistress! I don't want to be sent away; I want to be with you!”

“Do not repeat that mistake again,” Celestia said coldly, “On the bed, and lay across the foot of the bed. I can use a hoof warmer.”

“Yes Mistress,” Chrysalis ignored her bleeding nose and she pulled herself up onto the bed and she laid across the bottom, like she had been ordered.

Once she was in position, Celestia moved up onto the bed and she rested her rear hooves against Chrysalis’s hard body. “Rest, pet. I will have need of you later.”

“Thank you, Mistress…” Chrysalis closed her large green eyes and subconsciously, her horn glowed with a soft green light and her body started to heal the nine tawse strikes as well as her broken nose. Celestia did notice that, but she did nothing to stop it, as she did give Chrysalis permission to use magic.

In a few moments, Chrysalis was snoring softly, her horn still glowing gently like a pulsing night light as her body continued to regenerate itself. Celestia used a spell to reinforce the changeling's sleep and ensure that she didn’t wake up until she wanted her to.

That done, Celestia moved off the bed and over to her desk. Even though she was off, Wisteria had sent her some items for her to review. Chief among them was a note from Luna 'Tia, the nobles are demanding to know where I hid your body. I'm debating to kick them off the edge of the city to find it. Enjoy your time off, but I'll be happy for your return' Reading that missive made Celestia snort a laugh and, after ordering some fresh tea, she annotated the items that had been sent to her.

~ ~ ~

After her paperwork was completed, Celestia did rest on her bed, but she was wary of the first stirrings of Chrysalis when she woke. A few hours into the afternoon, Chrysalis started to open her eyes. “Mmmmm…” her ears flicked and her eyes flickered, not quite 'awake' but she was getting there.

When she saw the changeling start to wake, Celestia left her bed and she moved quickly over to her desk, where she sat, “Bedpan, front and centre, now!”

The moment she heard the authoritative tone, Chrysalis was bolt upright, her eyes wide open. “Wha uuuh?!” she blinked and took in where she was, on Celestia’s bed, Celestia at her desk, and without thinking she changed to Bedpan and she slipped from the bed to stand in front of the desk.

“Get dressed.” Celestia ordered simply and, once the pastel green earth pony was dressed in her maid’s dress, the alicorn ordered her to follow her out of the room. As she walked behind her into the hallways, Chrysalis did wonder where they were going, unfortunately her guide wasn’t saying anything.

Fortunately, it was a rather sort journey down three short hallways. Celestia led ‘Bedpan’ to a corridor between her room and Luna's. As they approached the door, Crescent Moon stepped out with her mane wrapped in a towel. “Good day to you, Princess,” Luna’s personal attendant bowed respectfully before trotting off towards Luna's room.

Celestia then entered what was the royal baths and closed the door once the earth pony was inside. “Attend to me.”

Chrysalis looked around at the white marble baths with the gold decorations and she was quite lost. She guessed, correctly, that there was a specific order to things here, but she had no clue what that was. “Um...Mistress, is there an order you wish to be bathed in?”

Almost as soon as she said that though, Chrysalis found the bathing rituals weren’t that hard. The entrance where they were had a bench running along each side. She started to undress her Mistress, starting with her crown and then her breast plate. Then, she knelt and reverently, she slipped off the Princess’s horseshoes, one by one. She did spend a more than necessary amount of time removing the golden shoes and admiring her hooves before she herself got undressed.

Once they were both fully undressed, Celestia walked into the next room. Along the walls were hoof and magic held shower heads, six on each side to allow up to twelve ponies at once. Looking around, Chrysalis took note of the two shelves, one on each side of the showers. One was decorated with a moon, and the one Celestia walked to had a sun on it. On the shelves were various shampoos and conditioners for fur, manes and tails.

Thankfully, ‘Bedpan’ was very quick on the uptake, and she took one of the shower heads in her hooves, turned it to hot, and she carefully drenched Celestia’s white fur. Once her Mistress was completely wet, she replaced the shower head and reached for the fur shampoo from the sun shelf.

As soon as she was cleaned to her satisfaction, Celestia said, “You have done well, Bedpan. Clean yourself, order us some sake, and then join me in the bath.”

Celestia then walked into the next room, leaving a heavily blushing ‘Bedpan’ in the showers. She had a compliment from her Mistress! A genuine compliment! Excited, she cleaned herself, all the while glowing at the compliment she had received. After that, she ordered the sake and she walked on through to the next room.

In the actual baths proper, Celestia was reclining in the hot water up to her neck. She said nothing when ‘Bedpan’ entered, but she did lightly slap the water next to her with a hoof. The bath itself was large and it could easily hold twenty-four ponies. “Thank you, Mistress,” Chrysalis bowed and then she slid herself into the water next to her Mistress.

Moments later, an earth pony maid arrived in the baths with the sake and glasses on a tray, which she set just inside the door. After the maid had taken her leave, Celestia cast a spell to seal the room. “Serve us.”

“At once, Mistress,” ‘Bedpan’ got out of the bath and she walked to the tray and, holding it in her mouth, she bought it back to the waiting Celestia, where she poured it into the two glasses.

“You may take your true from, Chrysalis,” Celestia ordered when she was back in the baths. After the green flames had been summoned and they had receded, replacing Bedpan with Chrysalis, she continued, “I no longer desire to destroy you, but beating your ass is still high on my list of enjoyable things. Still you are doing better, then I think I am, too.”

“If I may, Mistress,” Chrysalis started and, when she was motioned to continue, she said, “I quite enjoy the way you beat my ass, as you put it. You are skilled with the crop and the tawse.”

“I may even show you my skill with the hoof,” Celestia said as she swirled her drink around in her glass, “Far better than my first try.”

“Again, if I may, you do have beautiful hooves, Mistress,” Chrysalis’s eyes keep flicking from the alicorn’s face to said hooves.

Slowly, Celestia sipped her sake, her own eyes closed. “Give me time Chrysalis, I need to be the master of me before I can truly be the master of you.”

“Time is the one thing we have plenty of,” Chrysalis commented as she took a sip of her own drink. She noticed there was a slight frown on Celestia's face when she said that. “Did I say something wrong?”

“Plenty of time,” Celestia repeated solemnly, “It’s not something I or Luna had considered for others. I guess time will tell…”

“Fun fact,” Chrysalis said after taking a larger drink of the sake, “Unless you take my head off, I'm as long lived as you or any other alicorn. But you knew that already.”

Celestia nodded thoughtfully, “Taking you as a partner never occurred to me.”

“And now?”

Celestia paused for two whole minutes, just to see what Chrysalis would do as she relaxed in the pleasantly hot water. When she did nothing, Celestia downed her glass and passed it to the changeling for a refill. “Now? Now I will give it consideration.”

Sighing happily, Chrysalis emptied her own glass and refilled them both. “That's more than you gave me the last time, remember?” she asked as she passed back Celestia’s glass. “You do recall four hundred years ago, when we were friends, we were in your bedroom and I confessed I loved you? You declared me an unnatural abomination.”

Again, the Princess frowned, “And what pony form were you wearing when you made that declaration?”

“Mistmane. I thought you'd appreciate the Pillar of Beauty.”

“This is you,” Celestia pointed a hoof at Chrysalis, “The you that nopony can see. Bedpan is unnatural. It’s how things are. It is for you to be unnatural, and for me to accept that.”

“Naturally unnatural…” Chrysalis chuckled, and she laid back in the water so it went all the way up to her jawline, “At least we have progress and you got rid of that silly same sex rule thing.”

“I can learn from my mistakes, can you?”

“Mistakes,” Chrysalis closed her eyes and sighed in the warm water, “What am I if not a catalogue of my mistakes, Celestia?”

“Such as the one you just made.”

Expecting another broken nose, Chrysalis flinched. But, no such blow came. “I thought we were speaking freely between us,” she responded, her eyes still closed, “I cannot tiptoe around on eggshells fearing I may say the wrong thing. I want to clear the air between us.”

“Few get to enjoy this room,” Celestia drained her second glass and placed it on the tray. “You claimed you submitted to me, would even be my slave. I have no need for slaves, but you have not yet earned the right to be my equal. The air is clear as I'm talking to Chrysalis, and you are talking to your Mistress. The day I allow you to take off that collar if you please is the day you will know there is something more.”

“Thank you, Mistress,” happy that for the moment there was no ill will between them, Chrysalis smiled and drained her glass. “I want to apologise to you, for everything that has passed between us. I know it's not worth much, but I never stopped loving you, Mistress.”

“Apology accepted. Now,” she turned her gaze to the changeling, “It’s time for Bedpan to return. I have an ass to beat when we get back to my room.” She watched as the green flames appeared and in an instant, Chrysalis was gone, and Bedpan was in the water. Celestia then got out of the tub and she walked back to the washroom where the fur drier was. “You may brush my coat and mane.”

‘Bedpan’ followed her Mistress to the washroom where, after the dryer had worked its magic, she selected the coat brush first, starting at Celestia’s neck and working down towards her legs. “Your fur is amazing, Mistress, so soft…”

Celestia had a hint of a smile on her face as she relished the feel of the brush rather expertly applied to her fur, “Sometimes change can be good.”

“Mmmmm…” Chrysalis agreed as she switched to a finer brush when she got down to her Mistress’s legs. “You know,” she smiled when she was down at eye level with her hooves, “I could worship these all day, Mistress.”

A chuckle escaped Celestia’s lips, “I believe that’s what you are doing now. You may continue.”

“Thank you Mistress,” ‘Bedpan’ tentatively placed a delicate kiss on the toe of Celestia's hoof. Though she didn’t break character, for a brief moment, a feeling of revulsion went through her mind, squashed almost as quickly as it appeared. Chrysalis sensed the quick switch of emotion, but she decided not to push her luck by fully worshipping those hooves, she just placed a single kiss on the sole of each before slipping on a shoe over each hoof. “Now for your mane, Mistress.”

A slight nod came from Celestia as her 'show the world' happy face was firmly back in place. Now armed with a mane brush, Chrysalis asked, “However do you cope with it blowing like it does, Mistress?”

“Easier to stay cool with it always fanning me.”

Entranced by the mane flowing in the ethereal wind, Chrysalis took her time with brushing it. “You don't like your hooves kissed, do you, Mistress?”

A soft sigh came from Celestia, “I guess my tell gave me away. It wasn't the act; it was the who. You will make the same mistake again, and again, until it is no longer a mistake.”

“I see…” Although she moved the brush along the alicorn’s body to her tail and she started to carefully comb it out, the movements of her hooves were stiff and awkward, not as free flowing as they had been with her mane.

“Time. You said we had enough time. It has been less than ten months since I wanted you dead, to a slight shudder. Be happy I no longer wish you dead.”

“You are correct, Mistress,” ‘Bedpan’ skilfully attended to Celestia's tail, “I am happy at that.”

“I doubt that,” Celestia said quietly, “More you are satisfied with what you have, and hoping for more. While I'm sure it will mean something to you, I'm happy at the moment.”

“I know you are, Mistress,” Chrysalis got up and, happy with her work with the mane brush, she set the brush back in its proper place before dressing her Mistress in her golden regalia.

“Get dressed,” Celestia ordered, “It’s time to return to my room. I feel the need to exercise my hooves.” Quickly, the earth pony got dressed in her maid's dress, giving plenty of emphasis on getting her large teats into the holder. Once they were both dressed, Celestia led the way and once they were back in her room, “I think you know by now. Forelegs and body on the bed. Rear hooves on the floor.”

“I shall assume the position, Mistress,” as soon as she was at the bed, she draped herself over the foot of it and then she spread her hind legs and lifted up her tail.

This time however, Celestia got on the bed, and she straddled Chrysalis’s body, only facing the opposite direction to the earth pony. “Back up three hoof lengths.”

“Yes Mistress,” Chrysalis had a brief moment of enjoying having Celestia’s fat ass on her back before she backed up. The three hoof lengths were just enough to allow ‘Bedpan's’ huge teats to swing free of the bed. Silently, the Princess lowered herself onto the earth pony’s back and she pushed her ass up against the back of her pet's head, pinning her to the bed.

“You used my name. Such a naughty pony you are!” Celestia used her forehooves, with the shoes still on, to deliver five spanks to each of her pet’s ass cheeks. Then, while she was screaming in pain, Celestia used her magic to remove a horseshoe so she could massage those hefty teats, “Are you still a naughty pony?”

After screaming her pain and agony into the bedsheets ten times, Chrysalis started to moan at the hoof that was massaging her large heavy teats. “No-No Mistress!” she whimpered as her hind legs wobbled, and for sure she was glistening and leaking between her hind legs, “I'm a good pony! I'm a good pony, Mistress!”

“I think you lack sincerity…” Silently, Celestia slipped the horseshoe back on her hoof and she proceeded to deliver five more firm stiff spanks to each of ‘Bedpan’s’ cutie marks and her rear end. With each strike, Chrysalis screamed that she was a good pony, as much as she could be heard under Celestia’s wide ass.

On the eighth spank, Chrysalis couldn’t contain herself any longer and, from the intensity of the pain alone, the changeling came, squirting on the floor behind her. Although Chrysalis reached her climax at spank number eight, Celestia didn’t stop until the tenth landed firmly on the welt covered ass cheeks. “You are so naughty for cumming first. It should be Mistress first.”

Smirking, Celestia used her magic to remove both of the shoes that covered her forehooves and she played with ‘Bedpan’s’ teats. Then, when she’d had enough of that, she backed up, forcing her pet's head down as she travelled over her head to the end of her muzzle and back over her ears. The alicorn was pressing down hard so she could feel her head and muzzle against her own wet marehood. “I will now use the bad pony, but the bad pony may not use her tongue.”

Still panting from her orgasm and from the intense pain in her ass, Chrysalis squeaked with a mixture of delight and humiliation as she felt Celestia back up over her head until she was looking at her Mistress's dripping wet marehood, “I-I'm sorry Mistress, I-I shouldn't have cum!”

“I said no use of your tongue,” Celestia snapped, “I will teach you pet!” the alicorn’s movement picked up speed as she used Chrysalis’s head to rub herself off. Reaching over, she used her hooves to grasp, squeeze, and jiggle her teats.

“MmmmMMMMM!” Chrysalis moaned and squirmed, though she made sure to keep her mouth shut that time, but she did make with many squeaks and whimpers, mostly from the hooves that were roughly groping her teats, but also from the humiliating position she was in.

While Chrysalis flared her nostrils in a futile attempt to breathe, Celestia did not ease up, not for a second. Adjusting her position, so that she was sat in front of Chrysalis, the Princess gripped her ears in her hooves, and she thrust her crotch back and forth over the earth pony’s muzzle.

Using her ears to hold Chrysalis’s head in place, Celestia found a new way to abuse her. Using her like a living sex toy was really turning the alicorn on and she didn't go more four minutes before she orgasmed with her pet's nose just where she wanted it to be.

When she came, Celestia’s cum squirted up Chrysalis’s nose, making her gasp open mouthed for breath, and then more of her cum flooded her face and went down her throat. Celestia though didn’t care one bit where her fluids went, as long as her pet didn't push out her tongue to sample her, which she did not.

In a rather futile manner, Chrysalis gasped for breath, effectively blind as her Mistress's fluids were gumming her eyes closed. Uncaring, Celestia smeared herself over the earth pony’s head and down the back of her neck. “Nice choice of mane conditioner,” she smirked somewhat cruelly before she climbed off of her fuck toy and she walked to her desk. “Face me.”

Even though she was utterly shameless, Chrysalis was still blushing up a storm from having her Mistress smear herself into her like that. As her eyes were gummed shut from the facial she had received, she found that facing her was a bit tricky, but after a moment she turned to face the sound of Celestia's voice.

“Open,” Smirking nastily, Celestia placed the white vibrator into ‘Bedpan’s’ mouth and she placed the strap on on her head so that the phallus was a ‘horn’ and she tightened the straps to keep it in place. “You may clean those in your room and put them back on display. After that, you may clean yourself. I will call on you again tomorrow.”

Chrysalis didn't speak, she hadn't been allowed. Instead, she bowed respectfully, and she blindly made her way to Celestia's door, showing how aroused she was to her Mistress on the way with a high raised tail. While she did watch, Celestia said nothing. Fortunately, Shieldwall was on hoof outside to guide the lewd mess back to her room.

A short time later, Celestia walked into the private dining room she shared with her sister and she saw that Luna was already there. “Did you enjoy your short vacation?” Luna asked as she looked up from her breakfast muffins and coffee.

“Did any nobles die?” asked Celestia as she took her seat at the small table.

“Nopony saw it so you can't prove a thing!” Luna shot back quickly and as she drank her coffee and Celestia sampled her cup of tea, they both shared a laugh.

“So, I used Chrysalis as a giant fuck toy today,” Celestia stated casually, though she did have to rub her thighs together because the memory of what she had done was getting her hot and bothered again.

“Was it fun?” when Celestia simply nodded, Luna – who assumed that what her sister had done had been consensual and above board - continued, “Don't let the toy sit on a shelf and collect dust.”

Unfortunately, Luna didn’t notice when a sinister expression crossed her sister’s face and when her smile turned dark and nasty.

Chapter 7 - Love's Future

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There were very few things that Sunset Shimmer hated in her life. One was people using emojis. Another was doing any kind of physical activity whatsoever, thanks to her illness. What she hated most though was the disorientating feeling of nausea she felt when she walked through the portal and stepped out of the mirror into Equestria.

As she stepped into Twilight’s crystal castle, she saw two very grim looking ponies where she was accustomed to smiles and hugs. “Twilight, auntie Luna,” she nodded to both of them in turn, “Well, you two look like you've lost fifty bits and found ten, what's up? Twi, your note said you needed help.”

“Chrysalis.”

Luna rolled her eyes at Twilight’s rather simple explanation. “More to the point,” she expanded, “Chrysalis is with my sister.”

“Yay!” Sunset cheered, but as she looked at the two ponies in front of her and the serious expressions on both of their faces, she quickly changed. “Boo? Um...actually, who is Chrysalis?”

As Twilight facehooved, Luna sighed and realised that her niece didn’t know who Chrysalis was. “She invaded Canterlot just over two years ago and killed a lot of ponies with her army.”

“She should be dead!” Twilight exclaimed, suddenly angry that her usually perfect calculations had apparently failed her for once, “The math added up!”

“So...boo then?” Sunset racked her brains but for the life of her she couldn’t recall ever hearing of an enemy that powerful before, and she had heard of them all. “What is she, reformed villain? Not reformed villain, what?”

“Not dead…” Twilight muttered darkly.

“Unsure, at the moment,” Luna stepped in, “But she sent a letter asking for Tia's help. I sort of pushed her into doing so.”

“Still don't know why you did...”

Luna’s deep sigh cut across Twilight and silenced the young Princess. The look she shot her made Twilight wish she were someplace else. “Does Fluttershy kill the manticore, the chimera or the cockatrice that attack ponies because of their nature?”

At that, Twilight cringed, because she had no answer to that, especially as she herself had been attacked by a cockatrice years ago and rescued by Fluttershy. “You're not playing fair.”

“Alright, so let's go with reformed for now, I mean, we've all been there, right?” she looked at her aunt who had the good grace to at least look a little bit ashamed, “Well, not you, Twi, but the other you that looks just like you, she nearly ripped a hole between our dimensions at the Friendship Games which would have destroyed both worlds…” her eyes went wide when she realised she was rambling, “So um, what's the problem? Is mom in trouble?”

“She,” Twilight nodded towards Luna, “Thinks Celestia loves her. I admit, Celestia told me she has feelings for her and cares about her, but fears she’s not doing well at it.”

Luna then loudly cleared her throat, “My sister doesn't know her own heart, but the path she’s on will lead to her own destruction.”

“Drama much...” muttered Twilight not quite under her breath.

Again, Luna sighed, “It’s a path I have travelled. I'm sure you understand that, Sunset.”

Sunset Shimmer did understand that. Very much so, given her own not so pristine past. “So...what? Is she hurting this Chrysalis? Saying she loves her when she doesn't? That doesn't seem like mom's style. What aren't you telling me?”

Now it was Twilight’s turn to sigh, “I don't have all the facts. Celestia can be very tight with information. I don't think she ever said she loved Chrysalis, but I know she’s playing mind games to break her.”

“That much is true,” Luna added, “Deep down she wants to destroy Chrysalis, but she needs a valid excuse to do so with a clear conscience. Her actions haven't broken the changeling yet.”

“Changeling?” that bought Sunset to a halt and made her think. She hadn’t heard that term in an awfully long time. “Chrysalis is a changeling? I remember reading about those when I used to break into the restricted section of the library. Amorevores, aren't they?"

As soon as Twilight sensed the opportunity for science, and for shared learning, she lit up like a Hearths Warming tree. “Yes!” she squeaked in eager delight, "And in different ways. They can...”

Unfortunately, before Twilight could build up a head of steam, Luna coughed, “Yes, she is a changeling. She impersonated Twilights foalsitter, Princess Cadance, during the invasion.” As Luna spoke, Twilight's science happy deflated, her train derailed.

“Aww auntie Luna, you killed Twi's sci-high! You did a bad,” Sunset giggled, mostly at the thoroughly adorable pout that the youngest ruler was sending her way. “And…Cadance? Mom's niece, Cadance? Cadenza the Love Butt?” she vaguely remembered the pink mare from her student days way back when, she remembered being sickened because all the stallions used to hang round her all the time.

“She imprisoned her and fooled my brother to marry her,” Twilight snapped angrily, “She turned all my friends against me!”

“She knocked out Tia right in front of Twilight too.”

“No fucking way!” Sunset exclaimed, “She decked mom? You're yanking my crank now!” There would have been a time, perhaps not all that long ago, when she would have paid good bits to see that.

Twilight shook her head, Luna said, “Tia was attending a wedding and not dressed for war. What does your history tell you of Fillydelphia and The Second Griffon war?”

Sunset cocked her head to one side, and she thought hard for a few moments. It had been a while since she had to think about Equestrian history. “Uuuuh…it tells me mom had to fight Queen Stormclaw the Bloody in single combat at the climax of the Battle of Franklin Bridge, and after mom won they had to literally rebuild Filly from the ground up.”

Twilight blinked as she tried to recall that bit of history. Ready, Luna said, “Six times as many ponies died in that war than in Canterlot with the invasion. Only difference is that war is a legend collecting dust in a history book. The invasion is fresh in the hearts and minds of ponies.”

“I get it. So, again, what do you need my help with?” asked Sunset, unsure why they had requested her presence in this matter, “If this Chrysalis is that bad, why isn't she banished, or imprisoned, or imprisoned where she's banished?”

As she spoke up, Twilight made air quotes with her front hooves, “Dance around the mill pond and sing happy songs. Yeah, Magic is Friendship…” she snorted as she put her hooves back down.

Luna pointed to Twilight, “What she said.”

“Wow,” Sunset rubbed the back of her mane and cocked an eyebrow at Twilight, “Cynical much? I’m glad I didn't encounter this version of you back at CHS, you'd have given me the damn crown.”

“As I said,” Luna interjected, “Still fresh in the minds and hearts. Chrysalis was near death's door. She traded her freedom to save her people. Now my sister 'owns’ her, and she really doesn't know what to do with her. If she keeps going down the path to find a way to destroy her, she will only destroy herself.”

“I won't pretend to like Chrysalis,” Twilight said, pointedly not looking Sunset in the eyes, “Not even a little. I can't kill her now either, and I don't want Celestia to fall over that cliff either.”

“Whoa…whoa, whoa!” stunned, Sunset actually had to sit down, and she dropped her ass hard on the floor of Twilight’s castle, “You used the K word. I've never heard you use that, not ever. Not with me, or the sirens, or with Wallflower. This Chrysalis really did a number on you, huh?”

“I was so angry!” Twilight nodded vehemently, “I... I killed a number of the soldiers in her army. Cadance and my brother banished those that survived. I really thought it was the end of them all. To die alone in the Badlands.”

“Yet life, and love, finds a way. Chrysalis sacrificed everything for her changelings, even her own freedom.”

“Alright. I'm getting it,” Sunset rubbed her chin with her hoof, “She hurt you all pretty bad, so much you can't all get your kumbayas out with a friendship song, so....what do you need me for?”

Luna and Twilight looked at each other then they looked back to Sunset. “Celestia's mind is telling her one thing,” Twilight started.

“Her heart tells her another,” added Luna.

“She doesn't know which to follow,” put in Twilight.

“I’m too direct to be helpful,” stated Luna, effectively excluding herself from the proceedings.

“I’m too indirect to be helpful,” Twilight said quickly, doing the same as the older monarch, “We thought that maybe you could help her chose which to listen to.”

“Let me get this straight,” Sunset looked incredulously at both the other mares, a rather large penny was starting to drop in place in her mind, “You want me, to go and talk to my mom, about not abusing this Chrysalis character?”

“You know me,” Twilight shrugged, “Princess of Second Chances, Reform, Friendship!”

“Tia has no shortage of blood on her hooves,” Luna said, her voice more even and reasonable than Twilight’s, “But all of it is justified. She lost her chance at adding Chrysalis's blood to those hooves under the guise of justice. Injustice will harm her more than Chrysalis ever did during the invasion.”

“Yes, yes, I get all that, but I say again,” Sunset said with a shake of her head, “You want me. Me. To go and talk to my mom. Mom. Who I ran away from, who I said could rot in Tartarus for all I cared. You want me, to talk to her?” This could not be happening, Sunset decided. It just couldn’t!

“Second chances, reform, friendship!” Luna giggled, all of a sudden the tension in the Portal Room seemed to break when she sensed the wayward mare’s discomfort, “I'm too close to the problem. Twilight dances around the problem. She loves you Sunset, never forget that. You bring a fresh perspective without the history of the invasion burdening you.”

“If she keeps doing what she’s doing it’ll hurt her,” then, Twilight added, “She will listen to you, Sunset.”

“Look guys, I tell it like it is, you two know that. I don't pull any punches, it's not my style. If I go see mom, I won't dance around the issue, I can’t promise I’ll make it better, but...I'll try not to make it worse.”

Twilight stepped up to Sunset and she placed a hoof on her shoulder, “I don't think you can make it worse than it already is.”

Likewise, Luna stepped forward and she placed a supportive hoof on Sunset’s other shoulder. “I prefer she listen to her heart, but she does need to choose. I think once you talk to her, you will see a lot more clearly than she sees herself.”

Helpfully, Twilight nodded, “I think she is lost as to what action to take. You know me. Take action and fix what action you take after the fact.”

“Alright, I can do this!” Sunset declared, but just then, her right eye twitched and her grin became slightly manic, “Just in case it goes sideways though, you do know how to reverse a statue spell, right? Because if I screw up, Discord might have a new neighbour in the royal gardens…”

“I don't think Tia has a cockatrice spell I her repertoire of spells,” Luna caught Twilight’s eye and they shared a mischievous wink, “But one never knows…”

“If that should happen,” Twilight snickered, “I’ll have your statue in my grounds. Pride of place!” after she had stopped giggling, she added seriously, “I can say the elements won't be turning you to stone, but you can hide out here if it goes bad.”

“Okay, okay!” Sunset squeaked, “So I'll just waltz into her room like I haven't been away for five years and be like, 'hey mom, what's up?'.”

“If you want introductions you can come to either breakfast or dinner with me,” offered Luna, feeling genuine sympathy with the predicament they were placing Sunset in.

“Dinner would be better,” Sunset recovered her composure and she giggled playfully, “And if you could stand in front of me the whole time, auntie, that'd be great...”

Grinning broadly for the first time since her good friend had stepped through the mirror, Twilight summoned a hoof band with her magic, and she tossed it to Sunset. “Wear that. Use it to call me. There’s nowhere I can't teleport to in the castle. I can even do a jail break if needed.”

“I mean, I know mom was cool and all when I came back for help over the memory stone incident, but that was a crisis. Mom wore her 'crisis face' then,” Sunset lowered her head. While it was true she had reconnected with her mother then, there were still gaping wounds between them that needed to be healed, and a lot of history that needed to be put to bed.

Twilight couldn’t help but giggle, “What, you mean like the one you're wearing now?”

Luna gave Sunset an exaggerated close up look before nodding her head in affirmation, “Yes, she’s very much Tia's daughter.”

“Oh sure, bully the new kid, why don't you?” Sunset snickered at the good-natured ribbing.

“Um, I learned from the best?” Twilight returned, making Luna shake her head and roll her eyes.

“I hope you can continue to see the humour in this after you meet with your mother,” Luna stated, shooting Twilight a look that dared her to say something funny again. “Dinner today, or do you want to catch up with the others of this world and do it tomorrow?”

“Nah,” Sunset made up her mind, “Today. Strike while the iron’s hot. If I'm still alive, I'll catch up with everyone…ugh, I mean, everypony, tomorrow.” The unicorn then smiled, as something crossed her mind that she just couldn’t pass up. “Hey, auntie Luna, can you do something for me?”

“If it is within my power.”

“Can you say, "No student parking in the faculty lot?" just once?”

Luna blinked and looked carefully at her niece. She was sure by the twinkling glint in her eyes that she was being set up for a prank, but she wasn’t sure. Still, it seemed harmless enough. “None that are students may park in the lot that is for facility!” she declared before laughing, “Are you recording this?”

“No, unfortunately. My phone won't work in this world,” Sunset said with genuine regret in her voice, because she really, really wanted to have that on tape, “But that will live with me for a long time.”

Luna laughed for another minute before her sternest demeanour fell across her face. One she reserved for the most detested of nobility and declared loudly, “No student parking in the facility lot! Happy now?”

“Very!” Sunset laughed louder and longer than she had done in a long time, “You have no idea how much the other you has yelled that at me!”

“Once is too often unless you flaunt the rules. Wait,” Luna narrowed her eyes dangerously while Twilight was busy rolling on the floor in laughter, “You are Sunset Shimmer, Of course you would!”

~ ~ ~

There weren’t many things in this world or her adopted one that made Sunset Shimmer nervous. Graduating from her mother’s school for gifted unicorns had been one such time, as had the time she had asked her Applejack out on a date, or the time she had dressed her as a pony girl for the first time.

This though, when she was stood outside the doors to her mother’s quarters, this was a whole new level of nerves the like of which she had never felt before. Could she really do this? The two implacable unicorn guards that stood either side of the doors weren’t helping much either.

When she realised she had lifted her hoof three times to push open the door and lowered it three times, Sunset let out a deep sigh. ‘This is stupid!’ she chided herself, ‘You’re Sunset fucking Shimmer! Pull up your big girl – big mare – panties and let’s do this!’

The mental pep talk worked. At least it allowed her to overcome her nerves enough to hoof open the door. She reminded herself as she stepped inside the room she hadn’t been in for five years that she had Twilight’s hoof band if necessary. Now she was inside, she squared her shoulders and marched up to her mother.

Princess Celestia was sat at her balcony table with a pile of scrolls. She hadn’t even looked up from her paperwork to see who had walked in unannounced. “Auntie Luna told Twi what you've been doing,” Sunset didn’t bother with a greeting. She knew her mother knew she was there. “Twi told me. She said you needed pulling back. So, what's up, mom?”

“Nothing is 'up',” Celestia replied, her muzzle still stuck in her scrolls, a quill held in her magic signing off on various petitions, “Maybe you could be a little more specific in your enquiry?”

At that, Sunset Shimmer snickered. That was all she had to say to her, after this long? “Mom, are you talking to me, or one of your flunkies? Okay, plain terms. Chrysalis. What the hell's your deal?”

“I've allowed her to live,” Celestia said as she at last looked up from her work and acknowledged the unicorn that was stood by her table, stood there like she hadn’t ever been away, “That was the deal.”

“Uh huh,” Sunset wore a deadpan expression, “And was abusing her for your entertainment part of the deal?”

Dangerously, Celestia’s eyes narrowed, “That is therapy.”

“Therapy for what?” asked Sunset as she lit her horn and levitated over a seating pad for herself, “And don't try giving me the angry eyes, mom, they stopped working on me years ago.”

“On her orders, tens of thousands died!” Celestia exclaimed angrily, “Therapy is for the ones I buried!”

“Auntie Luna and Twi told me all about that,” Sunset responded quickly, “About what she did to you. I get it. She hurt you, Captain Ahab, and you want to hurt her back,” she moved her hoof to place it on her mother’s foreleg, “But from what I hear, you're getting revenge on a creature that doesn't exist anymore. She's changed!”

Like she was scared her daughter’s hoof would burn her, Celestia moved her foreleg back out of reach, “No! She has not changed. I refuse to accept that!”

A deep frown crossed Sunset’s face. Twilight had warned her that her mother was on the edge, but she didn’t realise she was this close to jumping off into the abyss. “Do you accept that I've changed?” she asked, realising she’d have to go a different route with this.

“What?” Celestia asked, caught off guard, “Of course I do. It took you a while and outside help, but don't tell me there was no pain in the transformation.”

“Oh, there was pain alright…” Sunset found herself drifting back to that fateful moment at the Fall Formal, “Getting a rainbow laser to the face leaves a mark, y'know? You wanna see?” the unicorn turned on the seating pad and she parted the fur on her back, revealing two long scars where the demon wings had sprouted from her back. “You can see them better when I'm in the human world. Big scars down my back. They're a constant reminder what I did, what I came close to doing.”

Celestia reached out a hood to comfort her daughter, but she pulled it back at the last minute, and just nodded her head. “I'm beating change into her. I have a long ways to go, but I’ll get there.”

“Mom, you can't carry on doing this!” Sunset exclaimed, “Let me show you another way, please.”

The slightly deranged smile that crossed Celestia’s face was one her daughter had never seen before, except that one time, but there had been cake involved, but this one was chilling, “I like my way.”

“I like my way better, mom,” Sunset said as she held out her hoof. She deeply wished the others were with her. She could really use a Pony-Up and a Friendship Rainbow Laser about now. That’s how this stuff usually worked. Instead, she decided to play dirty. “After everything I did to you, to Equestria, do you even love me anymore?”

“Of course I do Sunset,” at long last, Celestia slid from her seating pad and she embraced her daughter right there on the balcony, “I never stopped loving you!”

“But, I was evil…”

“No,” Celestia corrected her, giving her filly an affectionate nuzzle, “You were misguided, not evil.”

Sunset hated herself for going this way, but she had to get through to her mother. She had to make her see. “Then evil wasn't in my nature?”

“No, Sunny, of course not,” Celestia hugged her estranged daughter close and it was like the years were melting away, “You simply acted out on what you thought you knew.”

“Other ponies said I was evil, there were people who said I was evil.” ‘Yeah,’ Sunset thought to herself, ‘Like Rarity after I ruined her at the Spring Fling...’ she quickly stomped on that dangerous self-destructive thought before it could take hold of her.

“They only knew what they saw. They didn't know you.”

Sunset knew right then that she had her mother where she wanted her. “And that is the sun calling the day bright, isn’t it?”

“What?” asked Celestia, thoroughly sideswiped.

“All you know about Chrysalis is what you saw. You don't know her at all.” Sunset Shimmer felt good she had gotten there in the end, although she thought a Rainbow Laser would have been quicker. But, that said, she could see understanding dawning in her mother’s eyes. “Now do you see, or do you want to go hunt that whale?”

Looking like she had been caught with her hoof in the cookie jar, Celestia looked away from the victorious look on Sunset’s face, “I don't want to know her. I...I can't break her…”

Sunset used both her forehooves to make her mother look at her. “You need to forgive her. Not for her, for you.” She leant in and gave the taller pony a tight hug, “If you keep hating her, it'll destroy you, mom.”

A deep sigh escaped Celestia’s lips, “I know. That started when I went to the Badlands. I think I'm dying day by day, and I can't escape.”

“I thought the same,” Sunset said in the hug, “Then my friends forgave me, even though I kept saying I didn't deserve to be forgiven,” she nuzzled her, “But the thing with forgiveness is, you don't get to decide when others forgive you.”

“I want to hate her. I want to end her. If she should just give me one tiny reason to do so, it would be over. She grovels like one of those spineless nobles.”

“Because she loves her people too much. She's endured it all because of love, and she’ll keep on enduring it, because of love. And she loves you, according to Octavia and Luna.”

Celestia scoffed, “There is no love in me.”

“Really mom? Do you really believe that?”

“You know, I would like to cry now,” Celestia looked like she was on the edge of tears as it was. Her eyes were watery, and her lips were quivering. “I-Is that okay?”

“That's okay, mom,” Sunset just tightened the hug she already had around her mother’s neck, “I want you to cry and I don’t want you to stop until you've let it all out.”

And the tears did come. Once they started, the flow was like waterfalls that cascaded down her cheeks and even flowed into Sunset’s mane. “I-I-I've se-seen so much death,” Celestia spluttered through her tears, “Life escapes me. The ones I love I drive away!”

“Not all of them,” Sunset stroked her mother’s ethereal mane that had, for the moment, stopped billowing and hung still. She was too polite to mention the fact that her mother cried ugly. Very ugly. One thing they had in common. “I'm here. Luna's here, Twi's here. Chrysalis is here, it’s not about death. Just don't be afraid to live.”

“I don't know Sunset,” Celestia snivelled, tears staining her white fur, “I can try, but I'm afraid of what I'm capable of doing.”

“Like you don't deserve to be happy. She isn't scared of you, so you shouldn't be scared of you, either.”

“You don't understand…”

“So make me understand, mom. I'm not leaving till we sort this out.”

“I don't fear her,” Celestia admitted softly, “I could destroy her with a thought. But, if I even try to do as you suggest, what I fear is what my ponies will do. So much loss for so many…”

“I spoke with Royal Ribbon earlier,” Sunset replied equally softly into her mother’s ear, “She told me she lost loved ones at Clover's Gate, and friends at Platinum Plaza.”

“I...” Celestia stammered, “I find her difficult to understand.”

Sunset snickered, “Must be why auntie Luna likes her.”

“I've practically banished her to that camp,” Celestia spoke quietly, hating the sense of shame in her voice.

“Well,” Sunset giggled, “Banishment must've lost its sting then, because she's loving what she's doing over there.”

“A just cause,” responded Celestia, shaking her head sadly.

“A just cause that you're a part of, no matter how much you try telling yourself otherwise. C'mon mom, don't be afraid to love her.”

“I'm afraid to be loved,” Celestia felt like a foal at her mother’s side rather than the other way around, “I will take your advice Sunset. I can but try.”

“Well I love you, so boo!” Sunset giggled, “I dunno, have her be a unicorn, call her Firestar or Solar Wind or something and then Sunny Day can take her for a date. Somewhere nice and romantic, how about that?” after a long moment where her mother didn’t answer, Sunset said, “Gonna give it a try? Just...no barrel riding Neighagara falls, I know your brand of romantic.”

“Well, I can't go out with Bedpan, can I?” Celestia asked, drying her eyes with her magic, “I’ll have to think about it, Sunset. I will give it serious consideration. Your old room is still available, are you staying until this is resolved?”

Sunset was about to say no, but then she noted the tone of longing in her mother’s voice and she changed her mind. “I am. Somepony's got to keep you in line,” she kissed the alicorn’s cheek, “Oh, since I am staying, my AJ wanted me to ask if you'd allow her to marry me.” Might as well get that out the way while she was here.

“I don’t run your life, Sunset. At least not anymore. If you want my blessing, you have it. Are you proposing to her? If it is the other way, she should be the one asking me.”

“She would have come,” Sunset said with a relieved smile on her face, “But she has all these responsibilities on the farm, she can't just up and leave it. She'll be over soon though.” She then pulled her mother into another hug and she kissed her nose, “So, feeling better?”

“One day at a time, Sunset. One day at a time.”

“Hmhmm.” Sunset recalled saying exactly the same thing to the other Twilight. And Gloriosa. And Juniper. And Wallflower. And Adagio. It really did never end! “For the rest of this day, I'd very much like to cuddle you, if that's okay?”

“Do you want to sit at my hooves in court and hear all the exciting petitioners?” asked Celestia with a grin curling the corners of her mouth, “Or maybe start cuddle time at dinner and go from there?”

“Dinner, please mom, I beg you, don't make me sit through court. I swear whatever I did, court is way too severe a punishment,” Sunset giggled and tried hard not to laugh.

“Yes, you may escape!” Celestia declared in her most heroic voice, “The verbal arrows that I alone must dodge! Have fun,” she affectionately nuzzled her daughter, “And try not to wake up your aunt. But…don’t try too hard, hmm?”

“Aunt Luna will be safe from me. I'll go hang out with Octavia for a bit.”

~ ~ ~

“Well,” Celestia declared happily as she practically pranced back into her quarters, “I should do these half day courts more often.”

Sunset Shimmer, who had been reclining on her mother’s bed helping herself to a casual read of Advanced Pyromancy as well as a bowl of crystallised strawberries, giggled as her mother walked in. “I don't remember you ever doing half a day before, like ever!” It was certainly nice to see her smiling though. Her mother had done a lot of smiling in the two days she had been in Equestria. She wanted to see more of that.

“Lulu's return has helped,” Celestia chuckled as she levitated a couple of the strawberries from the bowl before Sunset could demolish them all, “At first I thought following her suggestions was rebellion, but now it is more a sanity check.”

“Hmmm, speaking of following suggestions,” Sunset used her magic to put the pyromancy book back on the shelf, she’d mastered the spells in there long ago, “Mom, I owe you an apology.”

“Oh?” Celestia popped a strawberry in her mouth and snickered, “Do I need a Twilight list?”

“Ha, ha.” Sunset’s magic nabbed a strawberry before her mother could get it, “I mean about the whole 'go and make friends' thing you were so hot on when I was a filly.”

“Did you really learn when you first got there?” asked Celestia, snatching one of the few crystallised fruits that were left in the bowl.

“Not when I first got there. Mom, I was such a nasty bitch. When I ran away, the last thing I said to you was, 'I don't need friends, I have power'.” Sunset sighed and lowered her head because that wasn’t the absolute last thing she said. “I was horrible. Who knew all I needed was to get rainbow lasered in the face to straighten me out?” she giggled softly, “Now I have friends. Really good friends. So, you were right. About the friends thing.”

“I will have to admit that I can be right now and again,” Celestia said with a smirk and stole the last strawberry in the bowl while Sunset hadn’t been looking.

“Once or twice, at least,” Sunset conceded, “So...Minotaur in the room time, are things better with you and Chrysalis?”

Chewing her strawberry, Celestia blinked once then twice, “Why do you ask?”

“Because I'm nosey. Hanging around with Rarity of any dimension gets you into gossip. And because I love my mom.”

Celestia quietly walked over and laid out on her bed next to Sunset. “I haven't seen her since Monday.”

“When you used her as a, and I’m quoting auntie Luna, a giant fuck toy?”

“Yes,” Celestia shifted a little uncomfortably on her bed, a faint red blush colouring her cheeks, “Not since then. You're here, and I'd rather spend what time I can with you. I love you too.”

“Aww,” Sunset rolled over and hugged her mother, it was then she saw that the strawberries had all gone. “I'm not judging, by the way, you should see the things my AJ does to me. A GFT is tame.”

Lightly, Celestia laughed, “Well the human you has some extra appendages over the pony you. Those fingers and toes. I bet you haven't horned your Applejack.”

“Oh trust me, I'd like to,” Sunset got a little closer, all conspiratorial, even though they were the only two in the room, “And I don't have my fingers and toes when we play. AJ has these hoof boots and gloves, and she calls me Shimmer. I make an awesome pony!”

“Pony,” Celestia shook her head, “They have equipment to turn you into a pony?”

“Uh huh. Hang on,” she used her magic to summon a few pages that had been taken from Twilight’s journal the day before. Pages that had pictures of her in her pony gear that had been printed and placed in her journal in the human world and taken from Twilight’s. “Look at these AJ took of me last week!”

Celestia looked at the several pictures on the pages. Her eyes widened at one of Sunset dressed in long boots on her legs that ended in hooves, gloves on her arms that also ended in hooves, a bridal with blinkers was on her head, a bit in her mouth. There was a red and yellow tail that was obviously coming out of her rear end and a bulge in her vagina that was so obviously a dildo kept in place by a rope harness that was tied in an intricate pattern across her body. Celestia’s didn’t blush, much, but she did stare at them for a long time. “I think you are kinkier than my sister.”

Sunset was utterly shameless, “That wide eyed look was my reaction the first time I saw a butt plug, mom.”

Smirking, Celestia’s eyes narrowed just a tad, “That’s what you get for snooping in my room.”

“Yeah, but imagine my greater surprise when I found you can put a ponytail on them!”

That prompted Celestia to look again at the picture and sure enough, the red and yellow tail was too low to be a real tail. “Seems like a rather happy surprise for you.”

“I love it, mom, I really do,” Sunset couldn’t quite keep the longing from her voice, “AJ's such a good Mistress.”

“Wouldn't you rather be the dominant instead of the submissive?”

“Oh no way! I love being taken care of! Giving up my free will, having AJ make all the decisions, being her good little pony, getting treats and rub downs?” Sunset could virtually feel her Mistress’s talented fingers rubbing her down after a day pulling the plow, “Sign me up for that!”

“She's never abused you?” asked Celestia protectively.

“Mom, no!” Sunset sat up and looked her mother in the eyes, mildly outraged she’d even suggest such a thing, “That's what my safe word's for. I mean, yeah she's pushed my limits sometimes, but that's what a good Dom does. The first time she hooked me up to a cart and rode it while I pulled was hard, and after a few steps I called it, but the aftercare was fantastic, because she’s a good Dom.”

“A good Dom...” Sunset had used that term twice, and Celestia had noticed.

“She's the best, mom. Sometimes she spends longer on the aftercare that we do on the actual session!”

“Is that what makes a good Dom?”

“Part of it, yeah,” Sunset responded, “What makes a good Dom is the love and care they have for their Sub, the way they nurture and encourage while pushing limits.”

“It always comes down to love.” Celestia spoke like it was a divine revelation. Octavia spoke of love. Luna had too, and now so was Sunset. “Well, I'm glad you're having fun with somepo…I mean, someone that is more than just a friend. Ready to go out on the town?”

“Oh, conversation over, okay then!” Sunset giggled at her mother’s non too subtle conversation ender, “I'm ready mom. We should have a girly shopping trip. Oooh! Twi told me Cadance gave her name to a sex shop. Can we go there?”

Celestia smiled broadly, “As long as Donut Joe's is on the list, we can start at MiAC.”

“Excellent!” Sunset pumped her hoof in the air, “I told AJ I'd bring back a souvenir!”

~ ~ ~

Celestia walked into the dean’s office of her school, and the mare behind the desk stood. “Greetings Ms. Pennant. I received your note and it stated there was a matter of some urgency.”

Pennant smiled, “Thank you for your timely arrival, Princess. I have an issue with one of the students.” Celestia just looked at her with that ever-present serine smile so she continued. “The mare is in the Platinum sorority and she flogged one of her fellow students!”

Celestia sighed inwardly. Of course, it would be that sorority. “Which noble house will I have to deal with?”

Pennant’s smile grew, “None, she is common born. Daughter of a Canterlot whore. She was found by the police with her dead mother, and due to that unicorn education initiative, she was brought here.”

Of course, Celestia knew the initiative, she was the one that wrote it over fifty years ago. “She passed the entrance exam?”

Pennant nodded, “She did, at the age of eight. While that is a late age to start, she was allowed to enter the school.”

Celestia felt like she was pulling teeth, “Hold old is she now?”

“Sixteen,” responded Pennant. “She makes no effort to fit in and doesn’t respect her betters. She is a nonconformist, and her instructors say she may be a powerful mage but has no true affinity for magic. This is just the latest in incidents I have against her. I want her out of my school, but I’m not authorized to do so. It requires your signature, Princess. I have the paperwork right here.” She holds up a small stake of papers in her magic for Celestia to take.

Celestia reads the top of the front page. Expulsion and below that was Inability to Conform. A list of grievances and what she assumed was supporting documents under the lead page. “Where is she now?” asked Celestia.

Pennant tossed her head, “The detention centre in the Codex building.” Celestia nodded, and to Pennant’s surprise she and turned to exit the office. She called, “Princess, the paperwork. I need you to sign it now, please.”

Celestia turned back to the Dean and took the paperwork in her magic. It promptly vanished. “I’ll get to it in good time, Ms. Pennant.” Celestia continued her way out of the office. She pretended to not notice the glare that Pennant gave her.

The Codex building was the most secure building on the campus. Very high-level spells to include spells that combat the dark arts were taught here. When Celestia entered the building, she could feel the outer wards that would prevent magic from entering the building and teleportation in or out of the building. At the entrance to the detention centre, Celestia passed through another ward. A magic dampening field. Only a class one mage could cast here. Therefore, it had no effect on Celestia. A stallion stood as she entered. “Greetings Princess,” he said. “Are you here to remove Mapper from the school?”

Celestia looked the stallion over, but could not come up with a name to match to the face, “Why would I be doing that?”

The stallion blinked, “Well, Ms. Pennant was rather instant that she be removed today, so I thought…”

“I see,” said Celestia, “and where would she go once I removed her?”
The stallion starred at her blanking as he tried to reason why she would ask such a question. “I suppose to her parents along with a justification letter for the expulsion. From there either to one of the lower schools or to the general workforce.”

Celestia wondered what had happened to her school. The one that Ms. Pennant claimed as her own. Maybe she should put Twilight in charge as Dean to see if the Magic of Friendship could turn things around. Then her age could be an issue, along with the noble attitude of Ms. Pennant and the like. One more straw piled on my back. I wonder if Luna will laugh when I finally snap. With her ever-present smile on her face she said, “I’m actually here to talk with the student.”

“Oh, um, well of course Princess. She is in room zero,” said the stallion with a bow.

Celestia’s eyes narrowed, “She is a class one mage?”

The stallion took a step back under Celestia’s gaze. “She has the potential. We didn’t want to take any chances, and that is why Ms. Pennant thought it best that you escort her out.”

Celestia didn’t respond as she moved past the stallion and down the hall. There were five doors on each side and a door at the end. That door had the number zero on it. She opened the door and walked in. Even she could feel the damping field. While she could overcome its strength, it would be a struggle. Inside was a pink unicorn with a brown mane. Red pony lips were on the unicorn’s flank. Bored magenta eyes turned to look at her. Mapper at first ignored the door as it opened, but the presence in the room would not be ignored. She looked up at her visitor. “Well, seems it must be serious this time as they have sent the big guns.”

“It is serious this time, Mapper.” Celestia sat down. “The number of incidents can no longer be ignored.”

The pink unicorn shrugged, “I’ve had a good run. Not bad for the daughter of a whore.” She looked the Princess in the eye, “I believe I can escape this ‘institution’ with a clear conscious.”

“You flogged a student!” Celestia said without raising her voice. “That is above and beyond all the stunts you pulled.”

Mapper laughed, “Oh, yes, my roommate, Wintergreen. We both rather enjoyed that.” She stifled a laugh as the Princess’s jaw fell open. “She saw me leave in my faux leather corset and panties to enjoy a night in Canterlot. When I returned, she had some of my toys from my toybox on the bed next to her. I told her she was a naughty pony for looking in my things.” Mapper smiled, “She challenged me to do something about that.”

“Then why did she turn you in?” asked Celestia.

“Where did you get that information, Head Mistress?” responded Mapper.

Celestia leaned back, “It is on your expulsion papers.”

Mapper nodded. “Someone in the dorm was using Peeper’s Eye to spy on me. I saw it and made sure to put on a good show. Wintergreen did squirm quite nicely. Later she told me that the Dean called her into the office and asked if I flogger her. She said yes and was dismissed without being allowed to say anything else. Security deposited me in here. I must say I’m honoured to be in class one detention.”

“Why would they do that?” inquired Celestia.

“They haven’t figured out my weight limit for moving objects,” answered Mapper. She saw the alicorn narrow her eyes. “Oh, why frame me?” Mapper laughed louder than before. “You’ve reviewed my record. I’ll never fit into the ‘sensibilities’ of this bunch of stuffed ponies with horns. To them, I should never be here. I’m so low born; an earth pony would have a better chance of entry into this school.”

“There is a reason you have that scholarship,” stated Celestia.

Mapper waved a hoof, “Yes, I can do research. I wanted to know why I was here, and it’s a law you wrote.” Mapper leaned forward, “Of course, following a law and obeying a law often go on divergent paths.”

“You flogged a student when you knew you were being spied on.” Celestia shook her head, “Why did you do something so stupid?”

Mapper dismissed the comment with a wave of her hoof. “In hindsight, it was silly of me. I thought they may have been spying to get themselves off. I really didn’t care because what mattered was Wintergreen. A dom never disappoints a sub. If I did, I wouldn’t be able to dom her again.”

Celestia thought about that for a moment. She reflected on where she was with Chrysalis at that moment. “Did Wintergreen really enjoy it?”

Mapper leaned back with a smile. “You know from my records I have a sadistic streak a furlong wide. Wintergreen was one of the closet masochists that was afraid to be crippled by a pony. She decided to take a chance with me. I do love the ones I dominate and bringing them pain till they surrender is the best orgasm ever. She was walking funny the next day, but the smile couldn’t be wiped off her face.”

“How can you love someone and bring them such pain?” Celestia trued wanted to know an answer to this.

“My mother’s lovers brought her pain every day, but I was not one to be shared,” reflected Mapper. That cost her, her life and most likely twisted my idea of what love is.” Mapper continued before Celestia could ask another question. “I have learned a lot about love, Head Mistress. Pain is real, happiness is false. Love is true power and hate withers before it.” She looked Celestia in the eye, “To discipline without love is nothing more than abuse.”

“What if you want to abuse a pony?” whispered Celestia.

Mapper turned away, “Then you would not be the sort of pony I’d want to associate with. I’m sure there are some in the school that would share such a philosophy. Just sign the paperwork, Head Mistress. I’ll not miss this place.”

Celestia stood up. “You don’t think I’m capable of abusing a pony?”

A soft laugh escaped Mapper’s lips. “I’m capable of abusing a pony, so anypony is capable of that. I simply choose not to. I choose to love.”

“Expulsion is to light a sentence for you. You will graduate this school and you will suffer while doing so. Another note said you were incapable of any magical affinity.”

The unicorn shrugged, “I have an affinity for pain and discipline. I can toss a building, but I allow the goddess to choose where it might land.”

“You should work on that then. Follow me.” Celestia walked out dispelling the magic dampening field. As she walked past the stallion at the desk she said, “This student will be returning to her dorm room. I will inform the Dean.” Mapper followed behind the Princess and didn’t waste an opportunity to stick her tongue out at the stallion.

Celestia was left with a lot to think about, both from Sunset and from Mapper. Could it really be that simple? Could she just…choose to love? She resolved to do better. Chrysalis deserved better. It was time for her to be better.

Chapter 8 - Love Story

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It had been almost two weeks since Chrysalis had seen Celestia. Almost two weeks and while she had continued to diligently clean the Princess’s quarters, the rooms had been empty by the time she got there. The first few days, it had been a surprise, then a disappointment, now she was expecting to find the rooms devoid of life. So it was, when Shieldwall knocked on her door this Sunday morning, she expected it to be the same.

Making sure she was fully transformed into Bedpan; Chrysalis opened the door with a big beaming smile on her face. She had a lot of time for the guard pony, and she considered him one of her few friends. “Good morning, Shieldwall!”

“It's seven in the morning on the weekend and I'm working,” the guard grumbled, though the smile on his face rather ruined the look he was going for.

“Yes you are, but that's only because your mare is expecting,” Chrysalis smiled, for she remembered back when she was cooped up in the internment camp when she first met Shieldwall when she advised him on his first date. Now he was expecting his first foal in a matter of months. “You haven't stopped smiling since you told me the news!”

“One more mouth to feed and extra milky dessert for me,” Shieldwall chuckled happily.

“I've never seen you so happy, my friend.”

“I’m sorry I can't share the happiness, ‘Bedpan’,” Shieldwall placed a heavy emphasis on the name, even going so far as to add a very knowing wink.

“That's alright,” Chrysalis returned the wink with one of her own, “You aren't my type.” Perhaps wisely, Shieldwall chose not to say anything to that, electing instead to just watching as the disguised changeling let herself into the Princess’s quarters.

Once she was inside, and the doors closed, Chrysalis got ready to do some cleaning. She was confronted by the usual unmade bed, and some books scattered haphazardly on the floor. She was also greeted, for the first time since Monday, by Celestia, who was having her morning tea on the balcony. “Good morning, Mistress!” the maid greeted her, and she clopped her hooves extra loud on the marble floor.

At first, Celestia did not respond to her maid’s presence, when she heard her hooves, she glanced up from her tea and she nodded silently before she went back to looking out over Canterlot, leaving Chrysalis frustrated. 'Mother's sake!' she grumbled under her breath as she got busy straightening out the messed-up bed, purposefully not doing her best work.

All the time that Chrysalis was working, Celestia never even glanced into the room to see what the changeling was doing. Never once did she check on her. Never did she pay her the slightest attention whatsoever. Deeply annoyed, Chrysalis decided she’d had quite enough of that. To get back at the distant alicorn, she placed three books on the shelves in the wrong order and upside down. “I'm done, Mistress.”

Then, and only then, did Celestia glance briefly into the room. “If you are satisfied with your work, then I will see you tomorrow, Bedpan,” was all she said.

Chrysalis smiled at the Princess, but internally she was fuming, and it was only through an act of will that she kept her voice even, “Might I go out, Mistress?”

“You may,” Celestia waved her away dismissively, “As long as you've returned before the moon reaches its zenith.”

“As you wish,” without another word, Chrysalis then turned and walked out, stomping angrily back to her room where she screamed pointlessly into her pillow for several minutes until her temper was spent. That done, she threw on a light-yellow sundress and a wide brimmed hat. “If I'm wasting my time,” she muttered in the hall, “I can waste it outside...”

After Chrysalis had taken her leave, Celestia finally took the time to thoroughly inspect her maid’s work closely. She saw that her bed had not been made right, and that a few of her books had been replaced upside down. Instead of being angry though, the alicorn clapped her hooves and skipped delightedly on her way to her breakfast.

Predictably, Luna was seated at their table when her older sister skipped in. The lunar alicorn looked up from her creamy chocolate pancakes and she grinned, “Somepony's in a suspiciously good mood today.”

“I am!” Celestia all but pranced over to the table she shared with her sister and she sat down to eat, “Chrysalis was extra naughty this morning!”

“Extra naughty?” asked Luna with a smirk plastered all over her face, “I'm surprised she hasn't lost her temper yet.” She paused momentarily to take a huge bite of what for her was her evening meal, “I do like the good mood though. It suits you.”

“I ignored her today,” Celestia explained, “And she did look like she would explode.”

“Just be careful how much further you push, Tia,” cautioned Luna as she reached out with her magic to summon her coffee to her.

“What would be a good mare for Sunny Day, do you think?” Celestia asked instead of answering her sister’s comment, “I mean what do you see in a mare, or what do you think I would see in a mare…” she paused, and her eyes went wide, “I'm rambling, aren't I?”

“Yes, you are, ever since Sunset had to go back home a couple of days ago, you’ve been rambling, but you are cute when you ramble, so I'll let it slide.”

Celestia pouted adorably and shot her sister a playfully outraged look before she summoned a cup of tea to her to hide behind. It had been a shame her daughter had to leave, but her Applejack had needed her. “It's been three hundred years since I went on a public date. The papers...”

“It won’t be you though, will it?” Luna pointed out, “It’ll be Sunny Day. Unless, of course, you were asking for a good mate for you. Which would be a different question, with a different answer.”

“Don't play coy, Lulu,” Celestia flashed an irritated look at her smirking sister, “You already know who the date is going to be and who it’s for. I just need to figure out what she should look like, Sunny is a pegasus.”

“You know,” Luna smirked ever more as she chewed and swallowed her food, “Equestria won't burn if Celestia went on a date,” she then held up her hooves at her sister's glare, “Alright, alright, what about a tall sexy unicorn?”

“While there are aspects of Bedpan I like,” Celestia shuffled on her seating pad, her own food as yet untouched, “Her height, or lack thereof, isn't one of them. I prefer tall, like that mare that Fancy Pants is always seen with, Fleur de something?”

“You mean Fleur De Lys,” Luna supplied the name, “Well, you have good taste, choosing a super model body to play with.”

“Hmm…I don't know,” Celestia mused, “She is rather thin, but she is nice and tall.”

“Tall enough that you can get Chrysalis to fill out some of the thinner bits to your liking.”

Suddenly, Celestia wore a faraway dreamy look, “Especially between the hind legs…”

Smirking once more, Luna leant in over the table like she was planning a conspiracy, “You do know you can get them to be as big as you like, right?”

“Not milk mare sized,” Celestia said with a smile that almost allowed for drool to leak from her mouth, “More like pregnant size. If Bedpan hadn't been a scullery maid, I might have noticed her when she lived. Oh well, that’s water under the bridge.”

“Hmmm…” Luna thought, “I think your theoretical mare would look good. Tavi's teats would look nice if they were a little bit bigger...”

There was a sudden flash of golden magic and a large room paint colour chart appeared, “Now for the coat!”

Startled, Luna jumped, “Jeez, warn a mare next time!” she giggled, having almost dropped her coffee mug, “A chart? Twilight would be proud of you.”

Not really listening, Celestia had has the purple section open, “Oh, do you think so?”

“I do think so!” Luna smirked, doing absolutely nothing to hide her giggles at her sister’s antics, “That's a nice colour there, the dark purple one.”

“I think Sunny would like that, too,” Celestia commented absently as she used her magic to run through the pages of the chart, “Mane colour. Something that would complement Sunny, I think.”

“Sunny's yellow, right?” Luna observed, “What about a gold yellow mane for your unicorn?”

“Yes, golden yellow,” Celestia agreed, “But it needs to be two tone She is a unicorn. I’m thinking some sort of white…” she continued to mutter about colours as she flipped the chart to the shades of white section.

“What about the pure white,” Luna offered, “Like ‘Rarity’ white?”

“Hmmm,” Celestia considered that but ultimately she shook her head, “I think I have enough white in my life. Oh this one!” she stopped at a shade she found appealing, “Cloud. It’s a sort of a silver white.”

“That works too, course, I'd go for a sexy dark grey, but that's just me.”

“I think you may be a bit biased.”

Luna giggled, “No, really?”

“Do you think a Trottingham accent would compare well with Sunny's?”

“I really do,” agreed Luna, “Sunny's northern, so a south eastern accent would be nice.”

“Now, location. I was thinking Les Règles du Soleil for dinner Monday night.”

“Really?” asked a surprised Luna, “All out to impress, huh?”

“What? It's a nice place.”

“I agree it's a nice place, Tia.”

A sudden doubt crossed Celestia’s mind, “Do you think opera would be too much?”

“No, I don't think so. Get a box seat, and you can have some 'fun' while you watch it.”

“I know how you feel about opera. I’m not sure I'm ready for a night club.”

“While I would happily swap my crown to watch you 'get on down',” Luna laughed out loud at the very image that entered her head, that of her sister attempting to dance, “I think the opera is a good choice. “Hey,” she started after a moment’s thought, “What's bought all this on, sis?”

Pointedly, Celestia stared at her younger sister, “Somepony tossed me into the Sunset.”

“Guilty as charged. Sorry, totally not sorry. It wasn’t just me,” Luna was only too happy to sell out her partner in crime, “Twilight was my willing accomplice.”

“Well,” Celestia conceded, “You did have to get the information to her. The Dean at my school went crazy too, frankly. There’s a problem unicorn there, but she went overboard on punishment. The unicorn is a sadist though and that got my attention. I haven't been doing this right,” Celestia admitted, “So I'm going to see if Sunny can handle being with her. If it works out, maybe the Princes of the Sun can find love with her too.”

Quietly, Luna walked around the table and she embraced her sister in a tight hug. A hug that lasted for a good few minutes. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that,” she said with a smile and an affectionate nuzzle of Celestia’s cheek.

Smiling, Celestia hugged her sister, “Just don't hold your breath. I will try, but she has to try too.”

“If she tries any harder, they'll be giving her a medal!” Luna laughed, “I'm just glad you finally have your head on straight in all this.”

“I'm going to put her through her paces tomorrow morning,” Celestia said with determination, “She was extremely naughty this morning. Then, I'll lay down the surprise.”

“Sounds like a plan, sis!” Luna then placed a forehoof on her sister’s chest. “Listen to this, and you won't go far wrong.”

“I hope you're right,” Celestia sighed, “I just couldn't live with myself if I destroyed her and her changelings. Now I need to see if I can live with myself if she is a part of my life.”

About to reply, Luna suddenly let out a huge yawn that spoke of a deep weariness. “Only one way to find out,” she said as she rubbed her eyes and yawned again, a desire for her bed and her wife at the forefront of her mind, “Faint heart never won fair mare, and all that jazz…”

~ ~ ~

It was late in the evening, after a full day of retail therapy in Canterlot, when Chrysalis found herself aimlessly wandering in the Royal Gardens. Aimlessly, that is, until she heard the unmistakable sounds of cello music nearby. She followed the sounds until she saw Lady Octavia stood by the statue of a rearing pegasus mare.

When she saw Chrysalis approaching her, Octavia stopped her warm up session. Not that she minded too much, she’d only just begun anyway. And she always had time for Chrysalis. “You seemed to be in contemplation, and I'm sorry if my music disturbed you.”

“Oh, good evening, Lady Octavia,” the disguised changeling responded with a deep morose tone in her voice, one she didn’t try to conceal, “It's me who should apologise to you, for disturbing your practise.”

“So formal,” Octavia giggled, though she did note the tone in which her friend spoke, “Do you wish to listen or talk?”

“Talking would be nice,” Chrysalis admitted, “Then again, so would being noticed, or seen even…”

With a sigh, Octavia put her cello away in its protective case, “It does upset me when my Mistress ignores me. Especially when I've worked hard to be naughty.”

“Tell me about it,” ‘Bedpan’ grunted in frustration as she laid down on the grass in front of the statue of the pegasus. “I haven't even seen Celestia since Monday. She was there earlier, though she may as well have been in Vanhoover for all the notice she took of me!”

Octavia got down on the grass and she nestled deep into the other pony’s side. “Has she ever told you about Sunset Shimmer?”

“Who?” asked Chrysalis curiously, for the name meant nothing to her at all, “And no, she doesn't even speak to me most times. I just get used like some sex toy then get told to come back tomorrow when she’s done with me.”

“Okay,” Octavia sorted her thoughts in her head, “I recommend you don't bring Sunset up. It’s a very personal matter for Tia, and she was a visitor she had this past week. Things went badly at her school too. Now, if you have a choice to leave, will you take it?”

“Oh, I don't know!” Chrysalis exclaimed as she threw up her hooves, “Where would I go? Where would I be allowed to go? Back to the camp?”

“There isn't really anywhere else, is there?” Octavia mused thoughtfully, “What is it you want from Tia?”

“She knows what I want, Octavia,” Chrysalis slumped back to the grass and she held her head in her hooves. “She knows how I feel about her. I want...I want her to either reciprocate or...if she can't, or if she won’t…I want her to stop using me.”

Supportively, Octavia draped her foreleg over the ‘earth pony’s’ shoulders, “How much more time will you give her?”

“A couple of days, I suppose,” Chrysalis admitted with a reluctant sigh, “No more than a week. I can’t do this anymore, I just can’t.”

“She will test you. Trust is not an easy thing to gain with Tia.”

“Oh, right,” Chrysalis scoffed, “Like she hasn't been 'testing' me for nearly a year now.”

“That may be so,” Octavia shrugged, “We've seen it and we have tried to intervene. One thing that will definitely get Tia to dig in is trying to push her.”

“I'm just sick of being abused, Octavia!” Chrysalis cried, at the end of her rope, “I've only stood it out of fear for the changelings in the program. But, I know I haven't been needed for that for months now.”

“There was a time when Tia thought it unlawful for same sex couples to exist,” stated as she hugged Chrysalis close, “I would say to you, give it time, but you already have. A lot has happened this week, if you feel the same on Friday, I'll find a better situation for you. There is that mare that helps you in the evening, and there is Royal Ribbon too.”

“Bluegrass has been a delight,” Chrysalis muttered softly, “The same with Shieldwall…” she scuffed her hoof at the ground, digging at the grass, “I'm sorry, I don't mean to be so maudlin, I just...I look at you and Luna, and I want that, what you have.”

“Lulu and Tia are not the same,” Octavia giggled, “Night and Day, you might say. You and I are not the same either. Your needs run a lot deeper than mine.”

“I suppose you're right. I just want...to be loved would be too much, cared for? Needed? I know why I want to be her pet. For the sense of purpose, to have a reason to be, you know?”

Octavia smiled, “I'm enjoying pet play. Then again, I enjoy Luna and everything we play.”

“See?” Chrysalis shot back, “You're so happy with each other! You have literally everything, next you'll be telling me you're pregnant.”

As soon as Chrysalis said that, Octavia’s cheeks coloured up in a huge, huge blush, a blush that went up to her ears. “Um, well , you see, when two mares get together. No one gets pregnant…”

“Life finds a way, that’s what Royal Ribbon says,” Chrysalis smiled, “And don't tell me for a second you don't want a foal. I saw you, when the primary school had the day trip to the palace and you, and Luna had lunch with them.”

“A mare can dream, can’t she?” Octavia asked, not even trying to deny what her heart genuinely wanted or to hide the intense blush that was now reaching her neck.

“So,” Chrysalis couldn’t help but tease, despite of her down mood, “Do you do want one, or three?”

“One would be nice,” Octavia admitted, “For now, anyway.”

“Have you shared your dream with Luna?”

Octavia shook her head, her blush lessening by the moment, “She has enough pressure as it is. I don't need to add to it.”

“Pfft...pressure,” Chrysalis snorted and laughed, “She'd move mountains for you, and you know it. Maybe she wants a foal too and is too scared to mention it to you?”

Octavia’s blush was replaced by a shy smile that wouldn’t look out of place on a teenage schoolfilly. “Maybe. I know I'm not getting any younger,” she then reached out and touched Chrysalis's hoof, “Stay strong. Give her a week.”

“You too, mention the foal thing, I mean. I'm sure you can get one of those nice thestrals Luna uses as her guards to do the deed with you.”

“Sometimes you presume to much, Chryssie,” Octavia wanted to scold her friend, but unfortunately right then, her blush had returned, and it had returned so much that her whole coat was almost deep glowing red. Instead, she hugged Chrysalis, “I'm going to practice, you're free to listen.”

Smirking, Chrysalis hugged Octavia like she was a long-lost sister, “Please, continue your piece. I do love your music.”

After two hours of playing, Octavia asked, “When do you need to be back in your room?”

“By midnight,” Chrysalis sighed once the music stopped, “I suppose I should be getting inside.”

“Maybe we can have a snack in the cafeteria. No need to disturb the sisters.”

“I could go for a snack, Octavia.”

“Then, my dear Bedpan,” the earth pony declared as she placed her cello in its case and balanced that on her back, “Let us adjourn to sample what the staff eats. Lulu says it keeps them on their toes.”

“Oh yes,” Chrysalis giggled, “Her random once in the month food inspection!”

“I think they eat better than she does at the royal table. Sometimes Lulu agrees with me.”

“Come on then, my friend, let's go and eat.”

~ ~ ~

The next morning, it was Bulwark instead of Shieldwall who knocked on Chrysalis’s door and escorted her, as Bedpan, to Celestia’s quarters. When she pushed open the large door, she saw that the Princess was sat at her desk and the room, for once was not messy. It looked exactly like it did when she had left the day before. “I told you yesterday,” Celestia spoke up, “That you could leave if you were satisfied with your work. If you still are then there is nothing for you to do.”

Chrysalis looked about the alicorn’s room. The bed sheets were in the state of disarray she had left them in. The books were upside down and out of order. She looked at the shoddy work she had done, and she felt a vindictive pleasure bordering on revenge at what she had left. “I'm satisfied with how I left it, Mistress.”

“I am not,” Celestia announced matter of factly, like she was discussing the weather with her sister, “So I guess it’s best to send you back to the camp.”

And just like that, the vindictive pleasure Chrysalis felt evaporated in a micro second.

“Wh-What...n-no!” very quickly, though she was hampered by Bedpan’s size, weight and her teats, Chrysalis scrabbled on her hooves over to the books and she frantically started to sort them out into their proper places on the shelves, “I'm sorry!”

“Stop!” Celestia’s Royal Canterlot Voice echoed through her rooms, stunning the ‘earth pony’ to rigid immobility. “What makes you think you can correct what you intentionally left in error?” she asked as she stalked towards the still mare, “Did you think I wouldn't notice?”

Chrysalis, who was paused with a book in her hoof, had at least the good grace to look ashamed. “Um...y-yes, I thought you wouldn't notice, Mistress,” she answered honestly.

“I did notice,” Celestia stated coldly, “And that is why I asked if you were satisfied yesterday. You seem to revel in shoddy work, and I don't need that in my castle.”

“I-I'll do better, I can do better!” Chrysalis squeaked in genuine fear now of being sent away, “It's just...this past week, you haven't been here, and yesterday...it was like you didn't care!”

Celestia glared at ‘Bedpan’ like she was an insect, as beneath her as an actual insect. “You're a scullery maid elevated above her station. Why should I care about you?”

Poor Chrysalis was at an utter loss. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go! “Bu-But...” she spluttered, “L-Last week...y-you...we, what we did...I thought...”

“You are here to serve me to the best of your ability,” Celestia couldn’t help but feel a savage pleasure in the desperate state she had so quickly reduced Chrysalis to, “I took a lot of time to correct you at the start, and now you disrespect me with...” she gestured with a forehoof at the bed and the book that Chrysalis was holding in her hoof.

“And what about you disrespecting me?” Chrysalis’s frantic desperation had lit a fire in the changeling’s belly. If she was going out, she’d go out kicking and screaming! “I love you! I wore your collar because I love you! I've given you my best because I love you! I was shoddy yesterday because I wanted your attention...b-because, I love you!”

It was only through a supreme effort that Celestia stopped herself from smiling. Fortunately, over the millennia of dealing with nobles and dignitaries, she had learnt to keep a cast iron lid on her emotions. “Do you feel any love from me right now?”

“No,” Chrysalis’s fire went out as quickly as it had ignited, “No I don't, Mistress.”

Celestia raised her voice. It wasn’t quite the level of the Royal Canterlot Voice, but it wasn’t far away. “You will do what I brought you here to do! If not, by Tartarus, I'll send you back to where I found you!” the alicorn’s eyes narrowed dangerously, “And I do mean 'exactly where' I found you. I'll be back in thirty minutes.”

Before Chrysalis could even think of responding, Celestia had swept out of her quarters and slammed the doors behind her. “Oh fuck...oh fuck…oh fuck!” Chrysalis spent the first three of the thirty minutes dancing in place while she panicked. Then, after slapping herself hard across the face, she began to work extremely quickly to get things rearranged just so.

After precisely thirty minutes, Celestia returned literally seconds after Chrysalis had finished tidying up her mistakes from the day before. “Stand on the balcony.”

“Yes Mistress!” Chrysalis hurried and she scampered over to the balcony that overlooked the capital city. You could also see Ponyville in the distance below if you looked hard enough, but she wasn’t looking.

While Chrysalis was stood on the balcony, Celestia made a big deal of inspecting her work. “Your attitude is no reason for you to not do exemplary work like this. I'm satisfied. Stand here,” she pointed with a hoof to the centre of the room.

“Thank you, Mistress!” relief that she wasn’t going to be sent back to the internment camp or worse, back to what was left of her hive – no doubt it was by now overrun with maulwurfs - she hurried back to the middle of the room.

Slowly, Celestia walked around the disguised Chrysalis and she made a series of pointless little adjustments to the maid outfit that really changed nothing, other than one adjustment that caused the mare's teats to fall out of the teddy. Then, she moved to sit at her desk facing her. “Remove your outfit and place it on the table,” she indicated the small table next to her desk.

“At once, Mistress,” quickly, the maid's dress was removed and Chrysalis folded neatly on the small table, along with the shoes which were placed under it.

Celestia had to stop herself smiling with glee. When the mare was undressed, the Princess made a twirling motion with a hoof and she watched intently as Chrysalis turned a complete circle before her. “Hmm,” she mused, “Can you make those grapefruits look more like lemons?”

“Yes Mistress,” Chrysalis summoned her magic and instead of the green flames, there was a green glow that surrounded her, and the large teats shrank in size.

Bending down for a good look, Celestia suggested, “How about plumper, can you be plumper?”

“Of course, Mistress,” again the green glow surrounded the earth pony’s body and seconds later, her belly was significantly rounder.

“Taller,” Celestia requested after another moment, “Maybe Luna's height?” there came a slight sigh from Chrysalis at the constant changes and she closed her eyes and again the glow came, and she grew taller by a couple feet. However, that wasn’t good enough for the Princess. “Plump doesn't look good with that height. Thinner, but not like one of those runway models. That is too thin.”

“As you wish…” Chrysalis grunted with the effort as she magically reduced her waist and belly, so that she was a little pudgier than Fleur, which was when Celestia held up her hoof for her to stop.

Smirking, Celestia got up from her seating pad and she walked around, then, from behind, she said, “Wings! Try wings.”

Chrysalis was panting ever so slightly as this time she summoned the magical green flames for the larger transformation, one that turned Bedpan into a pegasus. “Like that?”

“Hmmmm,” Celestia rubbed her chin with a hoof, she knew exactly what she was doing, and she was thoroughly enjoying making Chrysalis do all these changes, “If Bedpan had wings she probably wouldn't have gone mountain climbing. Dump the wings. Put on a horn.”

“I'm amazed she went mountain climbing with teats her size...” Chrysalis muttered not quite under her breath as she once again summoned the flames for a big change. The wings vanished and a horn grew on her head. “Whoa...” she winced, staggering two steps from the head rush.

Walking back around to the front, Celestia sat back on her seating pad and she clapped her hooves as an idea seemingly came to her. “Change your body to match that colour,” she pointed at a lime green pillow, “And your mane and tail to match that,” she then pointed at a burgundy pillow, “With streaks of that colour,” she indicated a grey pillow.

“Oh what the...” Chrysalis had a most fed up look on her face as she again summoned her magical green flames and she applied the changes that Celestia had requested. When they were gone, her coat was lime green, her mane and tail were burgundy with streaks of grey. She staggered and almost dropped to a knee, she was breathing heavy and sweat was on her brow.

Smirking like the cat who had all the cream, Celestia walked a circle around Chrysalis, “Has this little challenge proven to be too much for you?”

“N-No Mistress,” Chrysalis gasped, “It's just...so many changes...in such a short time…takes effort.”

“Putting forth effort should be joy in serving me.”

“Of course, Mistress.”

“That colour isn't doing it for me,” Celestia stated after her latest inspection was completed. She then walked to her closet for a silvery white and golden yellow scarf. Then, scarf held in her magic, she walked over to the curtain which had rich purple tassels. “Okay, I want your coat to be this purple and the mane and tail these colours.”

Looking at the examples of the colours, Chrysalis really had to force the change. She glowed green, but it was a dull lifeless green, not a bright glow, and her colours changed, her head spun, and she ended up flopped on her ass.

Celestia looked at the exhausted changeling sitting there, and she smiled broadly. “Thank you for reminding me. Missing just one more thing. Bring back the grapefruits.”

“Is...” Chrysalis panted hard, “Is...th-this necessary?” she asked as the green glow returned and it flickered once or twice, and only on the third try did her teats swell bigger.

“Yes,” Celestia nodded, “That is just prefect. Well done, Bedpan. You may return to your normal maid self and you are free for the rest of the day. You still have a midnight curfew,” Celestia then sat back at her desk. “Don't forget to take your outfit with you.”

“Wh-What?” Chrysalis’s eyes went wide as dinnerplates, “Th-That's it? I went through all that, and for what? 'You may return to your normal maid self and are free for the rest of the day?' What was the point of wasting all that energy!?”

As soon as she heard the outburst, Celestia lifted her nose and she looked down at Chrysalis like she wished she could look at the nobles in her court. “Who are you to demand an explanation from me?”

“I am Chrysalis!” she snapped angrily and stomped her hoof into the white marble floor, “And I'm sick of your crap! I am not a monkey performing for the organ grinder, I just want one bit of love from you, as much as I love you!”

For just the briefest of moments, Celestia’s expression softened, then it hardened again. “Do you think I would be seen in Canterlot with Chrysalis at my side?”

“As if!” Chrysalis scoffed, “You'd have to…” her eyes grew wide as a large penny started to drop in her head, “You’d have to choose...a...” that penny suddenly got bigger, “A form for me!”

As soon as Chrysalis had come to her dawning realisation, there was a flash of magic, this time from Celestia. When the blinding flash of golden yellow light had faded, the alicorn was gone and in her place was a pure white pegasus with a yellow mane and tail. “Well, hi there,” instead of a rich Canterlot accent was a regional Whinnyapolis one, “I'm Sunny Day, and it’s good to meet ya!” she held out a hoof in greeting, “Wayfair. I'll have to let you pick your own cutie mark.”

The look of utter disbelief on Chrysalis’s face was priceless to behold. “What...” it took the changeling’s brain a few moments to catch up with that her eyes were showing her, “What...” she looked the pegasus up and down, “What...” dumbly, she found herself bumping hooves with the mare, “Pleased to meet you Sunny…”

“Me too!” ‘Sunny Day’ beamed like her namesake, “Um, can you do a Trottingham dialect? That would go so cute with my Whinnyapolis.”

“Trottingham?” Chrysalis asked, having never been to the city herself, she wasn’t sure if she could. Then, she remembered that in another life, her drones had been there. And, through the Hive Mind, so had she. The former queen sifted through her memories and there it was, the way ponies in the south eastern city spoke. “Too bleedin' right I can, love!”

Just as suddenly as Sunny Day had appeared, so too did she vanish in a flash of light, to be replaced with Celestia. “Good,” she said once the illusion was dropped, “Now back to Bedpan, but don't forget this form.”

When the glowing green flames had receded and Bedpan had replaced the form of the purple unicorn, Chrysalis was very much confused. “What was...why?”

Celestia let out a long, deep sigh, “Some ponies I trust, and one I barely know, told me I was doing it wrong with you. This is a chance. I'm giving you a chance, and maybe a chance for myself too. Your guard will not be surprised by Wayfair in your room. You have an appointment tomorrow at noon,” the Princess giggled, “After Bedpan fixes the damage I do in here.”

“You were testing me…”

Celestia made sure to look Chrysalis in the eye when she spoke next. “I would have sent you back to the camp, or worse, back to some hole now full of those mole creatures. I was extremely disappointed when you left yesterday. Luna talked me off the cliff.” That said, she took a deep breath to steady herself. “As for Wayfair, I knew what I wanted before we started. I just wanted to push you.”

Chrysalis opened her mouth to retort but, as she did, she sensed something she had not felt from the solar alicorn before.

She felt hope.

There was no love, but there was hope.

There was hope, and it was thick in the air. It radiated from the Princess like light shone from her sun, it filled the whole room. Chrysalis extended her magic and she tasted the new emotion. ‘Oh...that's new...and it’s tasty!’ she thought, sampling the emotion as a food critic would a gourmet dish, “All I've ever wanted is a chance, Mistress.”

“Don't squander it,” Celestia’s cold tone gave way to a much warmer, more tender one that was bordering on affectionate. “Enjoy your day...Chrysalis.”

Chrysalis opened her hooves, but straight away she realised a hug might be too optimistic and she lowered them. Then, she realised she was blushing! “Thanks, u-um…thank you. You too, Mistress…” Celestia though had turned her attention to some paperwork on her desk.

Chrysalis, who was left in something of a lightheaded daze, made her way out of the Princess’s rooms and back to her own. She was so happy, so giddy, she barely noticed her hooves touching the floor.

Chapter 9 - Love Conquers All

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The next day, Shieldwall was a little later than normal collecting Chrysalis from her room so she could tidy up the mess that Celestia had promised she would leave for her. When she entered as ‘Bedpan’, she found that her Mistress’s room was empty, and she was confronted by the usual mess of an unmade bed, a hundred books scattered everywhere, and a dirty tea set left at the desk.

“A maid's work is never done...” Chrysalis muttered to herself and, this time when she got to work, she did it perfectly, paying particular attention to the books and the bedsheets. She had learnt her lesson from the day before.

When Chrysalis left Celestia’s suite, she was met by Shieldwall. “The Princess has requested that you be in your room at one p.m., Bedpan.”

“Thank you, Shieldwall,” she hugged her good friend tightly, “You have a good day.”

“It has started well,” the guard grinned as he was hugged. He leant into it and gave her an affectionate nuzzle, “Really enjoyed the down day yesterday. Picnic in the gardens!”

Standing back and admiring her friend’s beaming face, Chrysalis smirked, “Impending fatherhood agrees with you, Shieldwall.”

Shieldwall didn’t even try to hide the wide smile he wore on his face. “I haven't officially proposed yet. We have talked about our future, though.”

And just like that, Chrysalis’s eyes wide as dinnerplates, “I want an invite to the wedding when she says yes!”

“Oh, I'm sure you'll get that, Bedpan,” he grinned and indulged in another hug, “Enjoy the rest of your morning.”

“I'm sure I will, my friend,” buoyed by the news that Shieldwall had told her, Chrysalis skipped all the way to her room, and she tried valiantly to pass the time with her growing collection of Vanity Mare issues she had saved over the months.

At ten minutes to one in the afternoon, there came a polite knock on Chrysalis’s door, a knock that she knew did not belong to Shieldwall. That meant… “I'm here to escort Miss Wayfair to her one o'clock appointment,” Bulwark’s deep masculine tone announced.

“One moment, please!” Chrysalis concentrated and, after summoning the green magical flames, she assumed the form of Wayfair that Celestia had chosen for her. It was strange, when she looked in the mirror, to see a purple unicorn looking back at her instead of a green earth pony. Making sure the look was perfect, she opened the door.

“Follow me, please.”

“Right you are, mate,” Chrysalis, as ‘Wayfair’, said in her very best Trottingham accent, “Where are we going?”

“To your appointment,” Bulwark responded cryptically as he led the unicorn through a couple of unfamiliar halls to a room that Chrysalis had not been in before and he opened the door so she could enter. Although she couldn’t be sure, she was certain there was a mischievous smile on the guard’s face.

The room that ‘Wayfair’ found herself in looked like a fully equipped tailor’s shop, and she was positive she had stepped through a portal by crossing the threshold, but to where she couldn’t be sure. However, when she saw the white unicorn waiting in the room, where she was, was not a concern any longer.

“Hello and welcome,” the unicorn lowered her red rimmed glasses and studied the mare that entered her shop, “You must be Wayfair. Of course you are, you were expected. Please stand here,” she indicated a spot in front of her, “So I can get your measurements.”

Waiting for the newcomer to move to the slightly raised platform, the designer spoke up again, “My name is Rarity, and I was so pleasantly surprised when I received a missive from Princess Celestia to come here early to design two dresses. I do so love the opportunity to design for royalty. The Princess came in early today and I was filled with joy! Then she became a pegasus named Sunny Day. Oh well, I will not throw away an opportunity! Um,” Rarity finally paused for breath in her long monolog and she leant in conspiratorially, “Are you by chance, really Princess Luna?”

“U-Um...I-I um...th-that is to say, um...” Chrysalis spluttered, quite flustered not only by the unexpected portal journey but also by the unicorn and by the question, and she was wholly unsure how to react to all three.

“Darling,” Rarity laid a comforting hoof on the foundering mare’s foreleg, “It’s okay if you are, you don't have to say. I was just wondering if Princess Celestia was going out with Princess Luna in disguise to see the city without the scraping and bowing, or…” she lowered her voice, “Maybe the Princess has found somepony that has caught her eye!”

“We-Well,” Chrysalis struggled to compose herself as Rarity winked and went about collecting her measurements, “I can honestly say I'm not a Princess, but I am one who has caught her highness's eye, hence the disguise. This isn't really me, and I can't reveal that to you, I'm afraid.”

“Oh my!” Rarity paused and there were stars shining in her eyes, “Now that is some gossip I'll just have to dig into when I can. You are a statuesque beauty tough. I wish I could do something Neighponese, but the Princess requested neo-classical for herself and you. I hope you're okay with that. I do think yellow will bring out your pelt nicely and of course purple trim to complement the yellow in your mane, and just a hint of orange for that beautiful silvery white. Yes, I see it now, exceptionally good, you will need to be back here at five for the final fitting!. Have a lovely day, I do need to get to work.”

“Oh my, ma'am, you are quite the whirlwind!” Chrysalis looked on, blushing at Rarity in action, “You have everything you need to craft an outfit from just this one meeting? Now I know why you're in Vanity Mare so much!”

At the mention of Vanity Mare, Rarity froze, “Which issue? That latest one was just horrid! You make a simple hat as a joke and then it becomes the 'must have'. I was so embarrassed by that. The issue with my opening in Manehatten, now that was on to be proud of!”

“Yes, it featured the opening of Rarity for You, that's one of my favourite issues!”

“Oh yes, well, there were some things that came up, and...” Rarity caught herself before she could get too much into the discussion, “Oh my, darling. I really need to get to these two dresses, or I'd love to stay and chat. Maybe you could come to Ponyville, and we can have some tea?” she giggled, “Or, if it’s late enough some wine and a chat about fashion?”

“I believe I'd really like that, thank you for the invitation, ma'am,” ‘Wayfair’ stretched her legs now the tape measure was put away, “If that's everything then, I'll see you at five.”

Rarity had already turned back to her work, “Ta ta for now, darling. Five o'clock sharp!”

“Yes...ta ta...” still a little stunned by her lightning fast experience, Chrysalis stepped back out of the room and she was back into Canterlot palace. There were no guards, as they figured she could find her way back on her own. Smiling, she walked back to her room, in a bit of a daze.

Bulwark was standing beside Chrysalis’s room, at attention at his guard post when ‘Wayfair’ trotted around the corner. A wide grin was plastered all over his muzzle. “I see you survived the firestorm,” he snickered openly.

Smirking, Chrysalis bowed her head, “You could have warned me what I was going into.”

“Where's the fun in that?” responded the snickering guardspony.

“I'll remember that, Bulwark,” Chrysalis fired back, “When you want ideas where to take your coltfriend on your next date.”

“Too late for that!” Bulwark laughed, “You gave me good advice already.”

Chrysalis giggled on the way into her room, “This isn't over!”

~ ~ ~

At ten minutes to five that afternoon, there came Bulwark’s knock on Chrysalis’s door. “Reminder of your five o'clock appointment, Wayfair. Do you need an escort,” he asked when the purple unicorn emerged from the room, “Or are you good?”

Chrysalis shook her head and winked, “I know the way to the firestorm now, thank you.”

Smirking at his earlier private joke, Bulwark nodded but remained at his post. In the hall by the door that Chrysalis had used earlier, Sunny Day was stood waiting for her mare. “Well, hiya there. Right on time, don't ya know?”

“Well alright,” ‘Wayfair’ drawled, “I like to be punctual when a lady's waiting for me,” after giving her a welcoming nuzzle, Sunny Day walked through the portal door, but she left it open for her companion, who took a very deep breath and walked through the door.

“Welcome ladies!” Rarity greeted the two ponies like she was greeting her two best friends, “As you can see, your dresses are on the ponykins.” Sunny Day’s outfit was a black dress with chromatic accents and some gold trim. Wayfair’s was yellow with purple accents and gold trim. They were almost identical, but for the wing holes for Sunny Day’s wings. “Sunny Day, over there please and Wayfair over there.” Rarity directed them, “I just need you to try them on for the final fit.”

“Yes ma'am,” Chrysalis was only too happy to stand where she was directed. In position, Rarity did quick work with her magic to put the dresses on the two mares. She then had Sunny Day walk around and move her wings to make sure nothing bound them, and she had Wayfair do the same with walking around. There were no need for adjustments as she had got it right the first time.

“These are marvellous, Rarity!” Sunny Day exclaimed happily, “I think we can wear them out of here now.”

“These are absolutely amazing!” Chrysalis squeed in sheer delight, “I can't believe I'm wearing a genuine Rarity creation!” after all those months reading Vanity Mare, she’d never dreamed she actually be wearing something that could grace the cover designed by a pony who had graced the cover.

“Oh, pish posh darling, only my best for my clients!” Rarity positively beamed at the praise she was receiving.

“If any should ask,” Sunny Day said, “I'll be sure to let them know who created these masterpieces.” At that, Rarity’s smile went up to an eleven.

“Oh, absolutely, so will I!” ‘Wayfair’ added, making Rarity’s smile reach such a degree that her face was practically split in two. Then, Sunny Day walked out of the room and Chrysalis followed her out, all smiles a mile wide.

“She did a nice job hiding your teats from casual view,” there was a playful giggle in ‘Sunny Day’s’ voice, “But I know what angle to look to get a good view.”

“It's amazing!” ‘Wayfair’ added a purposeful jiggle to her step as she walked to make her teats bounce alluringly for her partner.

“She was quicker than I thought with these dresses,” the pegasus commented, “I have dinner reservations at seven that a 'friend' of mine made for us.”

“Alright then, love, I can't wait!”

Since she was leading the way through the hallways, and Chrysalis was walking behind her, the changeling couldn’t see the disguised alicorn close her eyes when she heard the ‘love’ comment, but there was a definite stutter in the emotions she sensed from her. Catching up with her, Chrysalis asked in a quiet voice, “I'm sorry. Would you like me to dial back my Trottingham?”

‘Sunny Day’ shook her head. “It's not you,” she responded slowly, “It's me. I'm trying to work this slowly. I want to have a good time with this whole night ahead of us, for both of us. My mind struggles with the smallest things that you can't be aware of, because I'm not telling you about them.”

“That's fair, and I understand,” still, Chrysalis was determined to dial it back just a little bit, “I want us to have a good time too.”

“The carriage will pick us up at the front gate at six fifteen,” ‘Sunny Day’ continued like there had been no interruption, “I hear the royal gardens are nice in the late afternoon. Care to visit them with me?”

“I'd love to, Sunny!” ‘Wayfair’ smiled broadly, “Sounds like fun, as long as we don't go in the maze. I have no internal compass at all.”

‘Sunny Day’ giggled on the way out of the palace, “I know the one who designed it so we should be fine.”

At the entrance, a stern looking guard stepped in front of them, “May I help you?”

It was ‘Sunny Day’ who spoke to the guard, “We are going to look at the gardens, I'm Sunny Day and this is Wayfair.”

When the guard checked his list, and after he had read it, the poor stallion’s eyes almost popped out of his head. “O-Of co-course ma’am…I-I’m sorry ma’am, forgive me, ma’am!”

Both the alicorn and the changeling giggled at the unfortunate guard’s peril, and they were still laughing when they walked into the gardens proper. “I'm not joking, Sunny, I really have no sense of direction. I only know my hooves from my heiny because they're attached to me.”

‘Sunny Day’ smiled, “I'm not going to use our first date to abandoned you in a maze. We can do that another day.”

‘Wayfair’ giggled, “Don't tease, I swear you'd have to send a search party in after me!”

“So, Fair,” ‘Sunny Day’ started breezily, “Luna told me of a conversation you had in the dining hall. Is there a type of food you like the taste of or don't like the taste of?”

“Well,” ‘Wayfair’ replied after a moment’s thought, “I'm not a fan of limes. But, I must admit I love the breakfast pancakes and scrambled eggs. The few times I've seen the Princess, it was at breakfast.”

“The place we are going to is Prench,” the pegasus commented as they walked across the well-kept grass towards the statues, “But with that information, I think you'll be safe.”

“Oooh Prench,” ‘Wayfair’ was genuinely excited, “I've never tried that before!”

“In that case, I'll not tease you about snails as the joke would be lost,” ‘Sunny Day’ then stopped at a statue. It was of a laughing draconequus, “This could have been your fate after the invasion,” while it was the pegasus that spoke, it was Celestia’s voice that came from her mouth, “Instead of expulsion.”

“A statue?” Chrysalis looked up at the statue with a mix of awe, wonder and more than a little revulsion crossing her face, “You'd turn me to stone? I thought only cockatrices could do that?”

“That's not the real Discord,” Celestia’s voice gave way to ‘Sunny Day’ once more as she explained, “When he was reformed by the Element of Kindness, the garden staff said he was missed by the pigeons. So they had a replica made.”

Chrysalis still shuddered, imagining all the ramifications of what Celestia was saying. “I'll say this for you equines, you are creative in your punishments…”

‘Sunny Day’ nodded, “I'll try to be more creative in mine, too,” she said with a most salacious wink.

And just like that, Chrysalis went from thinking about being petrified to being spanked and whipped, and a huge blush crept over her face all the way up to her ears, “I'm sure you will, Sunny. So, what things do you like, besides Prench food?”

“Classical music, opera, which you will experience after dinner,” Celestia replied, and then a wistful smile crossed her face, “Las Pegasus, the adventure rides, I am a bit of an adrenalin junkie. To shed the trappings of royalty that have trapped me in its grasp. Times like this, when I can be Sunny Day.”

“You make it sound like you're a prisoner in your own palace.”

‘Sunny Day’ wore the same stunned look that Celestia felt. Chrysalis had hit the nail on the head. “For a thousand years I was alone, a prisoner to expectations. Even now, with Luna's return, those chains are as heavy today as they ever were.”

“I get it,” ‘Wayfair smiled sympathetically, and she placed a hoof on the white pegasus’s shoulder, “Nopony ever sees you as anything other than the perfect Princess.”

Instead of removing the unicorn’s hoof, ‘Sunny Day’ just levelled her gaze on ‘Wayfair’. “Sometimes, it is hard to change minds that have set in stone what they think of a pony.”

Slowly, what she had heard sunk into Chrysalis’s brain and she blinked once then twice. “Amen to that. I suppose all one can do is change, and keep on showing they've changed,” she smiled warmly, “Would you please show me these other statues?”

“Of course, I’d be happy to.” ‘Sunny Day’ returned not just the smile, but the gesture with her hoof, “Of course your guide knew the pony before they became stone memories.”

~ ~ ~

At five minutes past six in the evening, ‘Sunny Day’ paused in the conversation she was having with her lover and she looked up to the sky like some alarm that only she could hear had gone off. “Pardon me while I set the sun,” she said as she transformed back into Celestia with her dress floating next to her. She lit her horn and the sun started its slow descent towards the horizon.

Watching with wide eyes, Chrysalis clapped her hooves as the Princess returned to being the pegasus, complete with the dress which flowed over her flanks, “If you'll pardon me for saying, that was bucking awesome!”

“Well, aren't you just the sweetest thing?” ‘Sunny Day’ beamed. She, and Celestia, was not above flattery, especially when it was genuine, “Come on, we gotta get moving to catch our ride.”

“Oh, right you are,” ‘Wayfair’ blushed as she caught up with her partner, because something crossed her mind, something she had always wanted to know. “If you don't mind me asking, what does it feel like when you do that? Can you feel the sun?”

Solemnly, the other mare nodded her head, “I am the sun, and the sun is me.”

“Wow...” ‘Wayfair’ exhaled slowly, “It's really a part of you?”

“In truth it is a part of Luna too,” explained the white pegasus, “It just is a spoiled child for her, as her moon is for me.”

As they walked together side by side through the gardens towards the main entrance to the palace, the disguised changeling shook her head in wonderment. “I can't begin to comprehend all that…it’s just so…vast!”

“I can't imagine a hive mind,” ‘Sunny Day’ shot her companion a sideways look in the growing gloom of the early evening, “If I could hear all these pony's thoughts all the time, I would commit mass murder.”

“How best to describe it?” Chrysalis wondered as she walked, then an analogy came to her, “The television I have in my room now, when it's not tuned to a station, it's static, white noise. But when you tune into a channel, it's clear. That's what it was like. There was a low-level static that was always there, and I could concentrate on a drone, any drone, anywhere, and it would be like I was seeing through its eyes like I was where it was.”

When they got to the carriage that was to take them to the restaurant, ‘Sunny Day’ held the door open so that ‘Wayfair’ could enter ahead of her, then she followed her inside. “Your drones were obedient,” she mused, “My ponies are the exact opposite of obedient.”

“They were obedient because the hive mind made them so,” Chrysalis explained simply, “My will, my single guiding will, was everywhere. Months ago, when you severed the link, I thought I'd go insane. My head has never been quiet in five hundred years.”

‘Sunny Day’s’ expression turned grim. “What is done is done.”

“And I don't miss it!” Chrysalis added quickly before she scooted over in the carriage and she tentatively nuzzled the pegasus’s cheek, “The past is what was. I'm focusing on what is, now.”

Almost straight away, ‘Sunny Day’ relaxed, “As am I,” she said quietly, holding ‘Wayfair’s’ hoof. “Our cover story for the restaurant and opera is we are visiting dignitaries for our respective cities. Trottingham for you and Whinnyapolis for me. That’s how we have the Princess table and box.”

Gratefully, Chrysalis held and then she squeezed Celestia’s hoof. She was so into it that she didn’t even see the disguises any longer. She laid her head on the white mare’s shoulder, “Trottingham dignitary. Got it. Hey, can I ask you something?”

“You can ask Sunny anything, but I'd be cautious about asking my alias something.”

“Well, I was watching the television in my room a couple of days ago, the fashion channel, and there was an advertisement, for Las Pegasus.” Chrysalis explained what she had seen, “I've honestly never seen anything like it! What's a 'rollercoaster'? It looked terrifying!”

‘Sunny Day’ laughed out loud, “In due time, you will see that horror. I guess you could compare it to being tossed from the city, with less injury,” she giggled, “Celestia wants to go there, maybe you will be able to go with her.”

“I'd love to!” Chrysalis and Wayfair had twinkles in their eyes at the prospect of that, “This thing, it went up, and down, down and around, and even a full loop!” as she mimed all these actions with her hoof, the pegasus nodded and was content to just listen to ‘Wayfair’ go on about it. “It was so exciting!” she gushed five minutes, “And I've never seen so many lights! On all the buildings...” she blushed, “Sorry, I'm babbling…”

‘Sunny Day’ squeezed the hoof she held, “It's okay. It’s nice to hear somepony talk about something with excitement instead of complaint for once.”

“It's hard to complain when you see all these wondrous things!” Chrysalis returned the squeeze and she added an affectionate nuzzle to Celestia's neck, “And when you know you can experience these things.”

A few moments later, and the carriage came to a stop in front of Les Règles du Soleil, one of Canterlot’s upmarket restaurants that not everypony got access to, thanks in no small part to Zesty Gourmand’s numerous recommendations, “We’re here.”

“After you, my lady,” ‘Wayfair’ smiled as a door stallion came and opened the carriage door.

Smiling broadly, ‘Sunny Day’ exited the carriage and she waited for her companion to join her on the sidewalk before she walked up to the steps, where a Maître D’ was ready to intercept them. “May I help you ladies?”

‘Sunny Day’ quickly spoke up for the two of them, “Table for Sunny Day and Wayfair, please sir.”

The Maître D’ checked his list and he saw their names were indeed on the list and he offered the mares a polite bow, “Of course, I do hope our fair city has made your negotiations easier,” he then motioned with a hoof for a stallion behind him, “Escort these ladies to the Princess Table.”

The summoned stallion bowed graciously to the two mares, “This way please.”

“Wow...look at this place, I love it!” the disguised changeling stared open mouthed at the very, very upmarket décor of the restaurant, from the imported wallpaper to the columns and the gilded artificial flowers, it was a vision!

‘Sunny Day’ smiled as she walked side by side with her partner to their table. “This is the oldest continuing restaurant in Canterlot. Probably one of the oldest in Equestria. Celestia dedicated it over eight hundred years ago.”

“No way...really? It's that old?” ‘Wayfair’ giggled, “I hope that eight hundred years doesn't extend to the fridge…”

“Ah, the good old days of hauling ice down from the peak to the city.”

“You know,” Chrysalis spoke up, looking everywhere around the restaurant at once, taking in all the details she could, “This is quite different to the restaurant Octavia took me to yesterday.”

“I'm sure it is,” ‘Sunny Day’ had the ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, “In truth earth ponies prefer a far less fancy fare to unicorns or even pegasi.”

“I believe it was called The Hayburger,” explained the disguised Chrysalis with a grin, “And she promised me a 'happy' burger,” she made the air quotes with her hooves, “I'm sorry to say she lied. It didn't taste happy at all.”

‘Sunny Day’ had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. “Yes, I'm not sure what happy tastes like, but the eating is supposed to make you happy.” She was giggling about that when the waiter appeared, then, after informing him they’d be eating the same thing, she ordered Tarte au Roquefort et à l’oignon carmélite to start, followed by Ratatouille and Cerises Clafoutis to end the meal. She then ordered a bottle of rustic Shiraz to drink. Once the waiter had taken the order and departed, she asked, “Do you speak Prench?”

Chrysalis caught the laugh in Celestia's eyes, and she joined in with a bright little laugh of her own. “I can, I've been exposed to the language.”

“No teasing you about snails then,” ‘Sunny Day’ huffed good naturedly.

“I'm sure there are a thousand ways you could tease me if you want to,” Chrysalis giggled as she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“Well, those ways will require testing!” ‘Sunny Day’ replied just as the wine arrived at their table. The white pegasus took a sample and, after it met with her approval, she nodded, and it was poured for them both. “I would describe this as peppery,” she commented, “But I’m not sure how that would translate to you.”

‘Wayfair’ helped herself to a small taste of the wine and her hesitancy was quickly replaced with a wide smile, “It tastes of pride, and accomplishment…” she paused and blushed, “And there was a peppery tint, too.”

‘Sunny Day’ could only laugh along with ‘Wayfair's’ proclamation. Then, the first course arrived and conversation ground to a halt while the two mares ate. While Celestia certainly enjoyed her food, Chrysalis was moved to tears by the extreme quality of the course once they were done. “Th-That...was beautiful!”

“I’m pleased,” Celestia wore a genuine smile that shone like her sun from the pegasus’s muzzle. “This place has good memories for me. They are old fashioned in their thinking, perhaps, but I can only blame the one it is named after for that. Still, the portions are the right size to please.”

“This is the best food I have ever tasted,” Chrysalis was in a form of heaven she had never known before, “There's so much emotion in every ingredient…it’s…completely new to me!”

“I'm sure Celestia will send a nice letter tomorrow,” ‘Sunny Day’ winked at her partner, “All about how the visiting delegates were immensely pleased by the food and service. Are you ready for the opera?”

“I am very much ready, Sunny. Opera is the classical type of music Octavia performs, right?”

“Sort of,” ‘Sunny Day’ conceded, “The music is background to the singing. Still, it’s very moving, so if you like Tavi's music, you'll enjoy the opera.” As they walked together outside the restaurant, they saw that the same carriage was waiting for them.

“I do so enjoy her music,” ‘Wayfair’ had a happy dreamy look on her face, “The way she plays...it's magical.”

“In that case I’ll need to take you to one of her concerts. Somewhere outside of Canterlot.”

“Believe me, I can't wait!” ‘Wayfair’ snuggled up to the white pegasus when they sat together in the carriage. The changeling could sense the tension that Celestia had on the brief ride to the restaurant was completely absent on the way to the opera. She could feel the happy in her partner and she liked it, it felt good so, she was content to sit in a wonderfully comfortable silence with her, the two mares snuggling and holding hooves.

They arrived a little early at the Royal Opera house, where they saw a line of ponies mingling outside on the sidewalk enjoying the pleasant evening. Sunny Day, with Wayfair in tow, bypassed them all and walked to the closed door where she showed her tickets to the doorstallion and they were let in.

Once inside, she naturally knew the way to the Royal Box. As she led the way inside the box, she said to an attendant, “Tenuta di Renieri Principe please,” in the box were eight seating pads, and the couple chose two in the middle. “This is one of the pleasures I love that Luna finds...sleep inducing.”

When ‘Sunny Day’ giggled, ‘Wayfair’ joined in with her bright giggles, “Even though she is with Octavia?” she asked as the disguised alicorn sat next to her, remarkably close on her left side.

As soon as she sat down, ‘Sunny Day’ wrapped her right wing around ‘Wayfair’, hugging her close. “There is a difference to listening to the music Tavi plays and listening to Tavi play. Octavia has learned to tolerate, and even enjoy the music Lulu likes.”

“And what's that?” Chrysalis asked, the mare only too happy to snuggle under the warm feathery blanket.

“Fast beats,” Celestia said with a laugh in her voice, “Loud instruments, and unintelligible words.”

“So...noise then?” The doors must have opened then, Chrysalis assumed, as the ponies that were waiting outside began to enter the theatre. Some of the other boxes now had ponies in them, which she noticed her companion was ignoring. But ‘Wayfair’ could tell they were trying to guess who was in the Royal Box. “It seems we have something of an audience.”

‘Sunny Day’ shrugged uncaringly, “I don't have to be polite, even though there are a few there that Celestia would enjoy conversing with after the opera. The rest of them are a reason Celestia would like a vacation.”

“I think I recognise a few of them, nobles from the court, right?” she asked, and she saw the pegasus nod in affirmation, “Ones that keep bothering you over the smallest thing?”

“So small one might say it is nothing.”

A naughty, mischievous thought occurred to Chrysalis at that moment, “Imagine the talk in the newspapers tomorrow if we kissed right now…”

As soon as she said that though, ‘Sunny Day’ flinched and tensed up on the seating pad. “’Wayfair’,” she said in a very strained voice, “I'm really trying here. Please, don't take away what I have so far. You have my wing. You hold my hoof. Don't...just don’t…please?”

Immediately, Chrysalis sensed that the tension that had gone had now returned. Internally, the changeling was kicking herself for her blunder, innocent though the idea had been. “Hmmmm your wing does feel so nice…” she purred in an effort to change the subject and, when she nuzzled her and held her hoof, Celestia did not push her away. “So, what's the opera about?”

“It’s in Istallion,” explained ‘Sunny Day’, who had again started to relax, “Not that you need to know the language to fully understand what’s happening. Tosca, it’s about love and betrayal when the Prench invaded Istalliona.”

“Ooooh,” Chrysalis smiled, and she hunkered deep into the pegasus’s side to watch the show, “I'm so looking forward to experiencing this!” Fortunately, while she didn’t understand the language, her companion was on hoof and she helpfully highlighted the star, a mare named Tosca in the play, and her lover, Cassenovilla, and the other male lead, who was Scarpia.

In the third act, Celestia went on to mention that Scarpia told Tosca that the guards would not have working weapons. When Cassenovilla fell and the guards left, Tosca would rush out only to find that the weapons worked and Cassenovilla was dead.

Chrysalis watched and listened with rapt attention, as Celestia narrated for her that at the end, Scarpia was ready to take Tosca for himself, and when they embraced, Tosca stabbed him to death. She then fled Istalliona using the letter of passage that Scarpia promised her.

“I do like the plays with a strong mare lead,” Celestia said with a degree of satisfaction when it was over.

“That was amazing...I have no words!” Chrysalis whimpered at her date’s side. Not only was she in tears, she was visibly moved by the performance. It wasn’t just the performance that was affecting her. The changeling had sensed thousands of powerful overlapping emotions from the audience as well as the stage.

Oddly, Celestia herself remained barely moved by the play, other than to feel a sense of satisfaction when the heroine had killed the protagonist at the end. Chrysalis on the other hoof could barely move from the sensory barrage she had endured. “I...” she gasped, “I need a moment...” she was physically shaking under the pegasus's wing, “O-Oh my...so much...feelings!”

‘Sunny Day’ responded to her lover’s distress by pulling ‘Wayfair’ in tighter to her body, “Operas are about emotions and evoking them,” she whispered into her ear.

“N-Not just the opera,” Chrysalis whimpered as she nestled deep under the wing for comfort, “Th-The audience too...so intense!”

“Then the actors did their profession justice,” Celestia smiled warmly, “I try to see a play as often as I can. I can't even get Lulu to come to the more warlike ones.”

“Please...please I beg you, bring me to more of these…”

While she had been comforting her overloaded lover, ‘Sunny Day’ noticed that some of the other boxes had not emptied, their occupants obviously waiting on them and what they were doing. “I think we have waited enough. Stay with me, as I'm leaving out the stage entrance.”

“I-I'm with you…” ‘Wayfair’ asserted as she got up very slowly and, on shaking hooves, she walked carefully, allowing herself to be led along.

Now they were moving, ‘Sunny Day’ made a beeline to the back passages avoiding nearly all the patrons on the way. A stallion did try to intercept them, but he was stopped by a stage pony from entering the back area. Outside, the carriage awaited them. Inside, Celestia was frowning. “Sunny Day is becoming too recognizable. When I do use her, it’s like today, to have some fun and anonymity.”

Chrysalis, who had by then recovered from the experience in the theatre, nuzzled the pegasus’s cheek, “I can see the appeal of Sunny Day.”

“How long can you remain as Wayfair?”

“As long as is required,” answered Chrysalis after a moment’s thought, “I was in my other form earlier today in my room.”

“Good, because Sunny Day would like Wayfair to spend the night with her.”

“In that case, Wayfair would love to accept the gracious offer, and spend the night with you.”

“Thank you, I-I'm…I’m trying, Chrysalis,” Celestia sighed and she nuzzled the unicorn, “I really am. I need to get to a point where what I did with you last week won't be detrimental to both of us. I still have a strong desire to beat your ass, but only for myself with no thought to you. I…I really need you to hold me tonight.”

“I can do that,” Chrysalis returned the affectionate nuzzle, “I'd love to hold you, and nestle into those beautiful wings of yours, ‘Sunny’,”

“I would like that too, so very much.” Moments later and the carriage stopped and let the two mares out inside the palace’s main gate. The guards that were on duty did not slow the pair down as they walked inside. ‘Sunny Day’ led the way straight to her rooms.

When they were in the room and the doors were shut, Chrysalis lit her horn and the unicorn’s body was surrounded in a green glow. “I’m just locking ‘Wayfair's’ form for while I sleep,” she explained to Celestia’s questioning look.

Nodding, ‘Sunny Day’ flapped her wings and hovered into her bed. “If you want my wings around you, you'll have to be the little spoon.”

“Little spoon coming in!” Chrysalis hopped onto the bed and she curled up, her back to the pegasus. She noted, as she got comfortable, that the underlying tension that had been there since she had offered the kiss now drained away completely.

Within a minute though, the door opened, and Luna put her head through. “Tia, I was told you...” she saw that her sister was in bed with her lover and she bowed her head. “My apologies. Nothing that can't wait until breakfast. Good night.”

When Luna took her leave and closed the door behind her, Chrysalis noted – and it was worthy of note – that the tension in Celestia that had ebbed away stayed away during the unexpected interruption. ‘Sunny Day’ gently kissed the back of the unicorn’s head. “Good night, ‘Wayfair’.”

“Mmm…” while Chrysalis did note it, she decided not to make a big thing of it, “Good night, ‘Sunny’.”

Chapter 10 - The Rules of Love

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The next morning, ‘Sunny Day’ climbed out of the bed she had shared with Chrysalis. In the dark, she saw that the changeling was still in Wayfair’s form. She smiled to herself as she changed back into Celestia so she could do her duty and raise the sun.

Alone in the bed, Chrysalis started to stir, not that her partner had tried to be quiet about getting out. “Hmm...” she murmured and opened her eyes in the dark and then, all of a sudden, it was all bright and sunny. More to the point, it was sunny straight into her eyes, obliterating any chance of staying asleep, “G-Go-Good morning…”

“It is,” Celestia agreed, the alicorn chose to stay in her own form as she stepped away from the balcony, “It seems all you need to do is make the bed this morning.” She then used her magic to open the door which she knew Wisteria was standing behind. “What’s on my schedule today?”

Before she replied, Wisteria looked around and she saw ‘Wayfair’ getting out of the bed. Quickly surmising what had gone on the night before, the elderly earth pony mare turned her full attention to Celestia. “You have the usual spat of moans, groans, and complaints. There are two items of note. The finance minister has the castle budget with the planned two percent raise. He needs you to verify that is still a go. Here is the spreadsheet.” Then, the attendant’s smile wavered, “Lord Cumquat wants a second air ship dock built for use by the nobles only.”

Celestia caught the slight frown on her attendant’s face and she smiled in sympathy. From Wisteria, that frown was a full-blown rant. “Isn't he the only one with an airship, which I think is docked in Baltimare?” when Wisteria nodded, she continued, “I want to see Minister Coin Purse first so I can have a cost share to hit Cumquat between the eyes with.” At that, Wisteria bowed her head politely, glanced over at the unicorn making the bed and she took her leave, leaving the Princess looking over the finance spreadsheet.

Once she was done making the bed, ‘Wayfair’ walked over to where Celestia was sat at her desk reading the spreadsheet she held in her magical aura with a smile on her face, “That looks incredibly boring and dull.”

Since Celestia's horn was already lit, the first ‘Wayfair’ knew that the Princess had done anything other than hold the spreadsheet was when a book from the shelf slammed into the unicorn's ass, twice. “I beg your pardon?”

“Gaaaaah, jeez!” ‘Wayfair’ exclaimed, and she jumped an inch into the air with the force behind the unexpected slaps of the book, “I-I mean, th-that's very interesting, Mistress!”

Smirking, Celestia followed up the heavy smacks with a light love tap of the book on the mare’s purple ass, and then it fell to the floor. “No, you’re right, it is boring, but right now, I'm not Sunny Day. Always know your place. It seems a book needs shelving.”

“You’re right,” Chrysalis conceded as Celestia went back to studying the spreadsheet, “I'm sorry Mistress,” she bowed low to Celestia's hooves and she picked up the book in her mouth and carried it back to the shelf where it had come from.

After a brief look over the details of the spreadsheet, Celestia deftly modified the raise value to two point five percent. That done, she signed the document and teleported it to Wisteria's room. “Breakfast time!” she declared once her work was done, “Come along Wayfair.”

“Yes Mistress,” as Celestia got up from her desk, ‘Wayfair’ carefully fell into step behind her Mistress, the unicorn mindful of her place.

“As Bedpan.”

“As you wish, Mistress,” Chrysalis summoned the green magical flames and, just as the bedroom doors were opened onto the hallway beyond, Wayfair was replaced by Bedpan.

When they got to the Princess’s private dining room, Luna was already in the room enjoying what for her was an evening meal before she retired to her own quarters. “How nice of you to invite your maid to dine with us,” she nodded and greeted her sister and the earth pony scullery maid with a polite smile.

Quietly, Celestia nodded to a waiting servant in the room and they quickly added a place setting with Bedpan's cutie mark. “You, of all ponies, would agree that she is eating no better here than in the dining hall.”

Luna again nodded her head, this time to her sister’s comment, “I would have to agree with that.”

It was only when Celestia was seated at her usual place that the disguised Chrysalis sat at the place that been made for her. “Thank you Mistress,” she then bowed her head respectfully to Luna, “Good morning, Princess Luna.”

“Morning it is,” Luna responded with an easy, relaxed smile, “As my moon has vanished and a burning ball of gas has arrived in its place.”

“I'll make sure nopony nibbles on your cheesy moon while it’s away.”

Luna shot her older sister the look of one who had heard the same joke a million times, a look that just made Celestia giggle all the more, “Thank you for that, oh dear sister of mine.”

Sat between the two alicorns, Chrysalis looked mystified for a moment, before she realised she had to speak up. “Forgive me, Mistress, may I ask the Princess a question?”

“You may,” answered Celestia, “But remember your place.”

Respectfully, ‘Bedpan’ bowed her head. “Thank you Mistress,” then, to Luna, she asked, “Princess, did I hear correctly, is your moon really made of cheese?”

Luna had no choice but to cover her laughter with a hoof while with the other hoof, she waved at her sister, who noisily cleared her throat. “Ah, yes,” Celestia blushed slightly, “That would be my fault. About eight hundred years ago, a poet named Haywood looked at the reflection of the moon in water and thought it was a wheel of green cheese.”

“And from that,” Luna said after she had finished laughing, “Legends are born.”

“Oh...” Chrysalis’s blush put Celestia’s to shame. Her whole face was bright red, mostly at Luna's laughter. “I see, I apologise for my ignorance, Mistress.”

Luna waved her hoof, dismissing Chrysalis’s worry, for it was nothing. “I think my banishment would have been much tastier if it were true.”

“Something we can finally tease each other over.”

That was news to Chrysalis. “You were banished, Princess Luna?” Almost as soon as she said that, she realised it wasn’t any of her business and she hushed up, staring intently at her plate of food that the servant had just placed in front of her, “Pardon me for speaking out of turn, Mistress.”

Disbelievingly, Luna and Celestia looked at each other and they had a whole silent conversation between themselves before Celestia found her voice. “Right, it seems my maid is lacking in pony history.”

“Understandable,” commented Luna, “After all, it isn't everyday conversation outside the palace.”

“Bedpan, would you learn better with a tutor or by reading books?”

Chrysalis wasn’t expecting that kind question from Celestia. She had been expecting a harsh smack to her ass cheeks. This was something of a relief. “With a tutor, Mistress,” she replied, still looking intently at the table, obviously really worried she had crossed a line and upset both of the Princesses.

“Which of the academics do I trust with this?”

Luna was right there straight away with an answer, “Perception has done well bringing me up to speed on the modern era. I trust her discretion considering how much embarrassment I've had in learning.”

“Could you head that up, please?” asked Celestia, to which Luna simply nodded that she would.

Chrysalis though was still looking at the table like it might hold the secrets of the universe if she stared at it hard enough. “Thank you Mistress, thank you Princess, for helping me to learn.” Fortunately, both of the alicorns seemed to consider the matter finished. As she returned to eating, Chrysalis heard Celestia talk about the raise for the staff, and she heard Luna agree.

Over a mouthful of cheesy scrambled eggs, Chrysalis heard Luna beg her sister to move Cumquat to her Night Court, and she heard the older mare say she would think about it. Sat between them, Chrysalis breathed a little sigh of relief that she was still alive and sat in the dining room and hadn’t been removed to somewhere awful, and so she was happy to try and be invisible.

“I'm glad your night went well, Lulu,” Celestia said presently after they had all finished eating, “I wish you a pleasant rest, as much as Tavi will give you.”

“You should have my problems,” Luna smirked, “May the death count in your court be low.”

The two sisters then shared a laugh and they stood up from the table. Luna left the dining room and Celestia turned to ‘Bedpan’. “My court should be over at four p.m. this afternoon. Sunny Day is going to take Wayfair shopping. You are free until then.”

“Thank you, Mistress,” Chrysalis bowed again and as Celestia left the dining hall, the changeling was only too happy to take her own leave and retreat back to her room. After what had just happened, she found she really needed her alone time.

The normalcy of what she had just witnessed and been a part of was most…unexpected.

She wanted more of that.

~ ~ ~

At precisely four in the afternoon, ‘Sunny Day’ walked into Chrysalis’s room without bothering to knock and she saw Chrysalis lounging on her bed in her natural form. She took a long few moments to admire her lithe body, slender yet so strong at the same time. She shook her head in an attempt to banish such thoughts. She failed, but she wouldn’t admit it. “It is time for Wayfair to go shopping.”

“Of course Mistress!” while she had been lounging with her eyes closed, she knew who was in her room by her scent, the sound of her hoof steps and of course, the sheer amount of power she radiated. Like her sun, her aura shone with power. When the green flames had receded, Wayfair was on her hooves, “I'm ready Mistress.”

‘Sunny Day’ nuzzled ‘Wayfair’s’ cheek before standing, “Good!” she then turned and led the way out into the hallway, chatting airily as she headed out to walk to the shops. “Celestia did enjoy watching you make the bed, but she thinks some sexy garments like Bedpan has is a must.”

“Thank you Mistress, it was a pleasure to serve her Highness and to make the Princess's bed,” ‘Wayfair’ thought for a moment as they walked, “I would love something sexy to wear for you, Mistress.”

Smirking, ‘Sunny Day’ gave ‘Wayfair’ a hip bump, “We're friends, don't ya know?”

Walking along by ‘Sunny Day’s’ side, the disguised Chrysalis had a long, long moment to think and to gather the intricacies of the various identities and relationships that were currently in play in her head. “Too right I know it!”

Once they were out of the palace, ‘Sunny Day’ moved away and towards the shopping district at a happy canter, “Let's get you something that will make Celestia drool!” she giggled, “Maybe you'd like to see me in something sexy too?”

Grinning, Chrysalis sped up to run beside Celestia, “Well, I wouldn't say no to either of those things, Sunny.” And it was the truth, too. It was soon apparent to Chrysalis that the area she was being led to was full of high end shops, and it was definitely not towards the MiAC that Octavia took her too. This was for upmarket nobles. “Oooh...I haven't been to this part of town before!”

‘Sunny Day’ soon led her partner to a shop that was labelled 'Canterlot Boutique'. “I have it on good authority this is the place to shop.”

As soon as they entered the store, a tall slender unicorn was ready to greet them. “Welcome to Canterlot Boutique where Time, Love, and Couture are yours!” she exclaimed in a Trottingham accent that was just the same as Wayfair’s was.

“Sassy Saddles!” ‘Wayfair’ let out a loud squee of delight that she was about to meet one of her fashion icons. “I've seen you on the fashion channel!”

“Oh my!” Sassy Saddles moved in for a hug while ‘Wayfair’ was busy doing a four hooved happy dance, much to ‘Sunny Day’s’ amusement, “It’s always nice to meet a fan.”

Chrysalis was only too happy to hug her icon, once she had stopped dancing, “I am such a fan!”

After five long minutes, Sassy Saddles let go of the hug and she stepped back, but she kept a hoof on her new favourite customer's shoulder. “What can I do for you mares today?”

“My friend's bought me here to get something sexy!” Chrysalis gushed with excitement.

“Ah, of course, you've come to the right place!” Sassy Saddles clapped her hooves together, “Our line of lingerie is right over here.”

“Maybe the back room is more what we are most interested in,” spoke up ‘Sunny Day’, like she had come here many times and ordered the same thing every time.

If Sassy Saddles recognised the pegasus, or her alter ego, she didn’t show it. “Well,” she corrected herself, her smile never wavering, “We can skip to the main course then. This way, please. Is there a particular fetish line you are interested in?”

“Ah...” at a loss, ‘Wayfair’ turned to ‘Sunny Day’ for direction. “You know my Mistress, what would she like?”

“Eh,” ‘Sunny Day’ shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, and pointed to the purple unicorn, “For this one, the over the top sexy maid. Myself, I think the over the top sexy teacher.”

“Okay, I see it,” Sassy Saddles nodded, she could see the two very different styles in her head, “Do you have a colour preference?”

“Well,” the pegasus started thoughtfully, “She is purple, and her Mistress is white. For me, I want the CSfGU school colours.”

Sassy Saddles laughed brightly at that, “Well that teacher one is rather popular. As for my number one fan, I think bright red is the colour for the maid gear.”

“That sounds good to me, Sunny!” ‘Wayfair’ smiled, more than happy to bow to ‘Sunny Day’. As she knew nothing at all about it, she was thankful she was with somepony who did.

For a moment, ‘Sunny Day’ was lost in thought, wondering if her former students had both had the same idea at some point, “Oh, yes, I agree, bright red would be fine. Model!”

Chrysalis recognised that as her cue, “Did somepony call for a model?” she asked in her absolute best sultry voice, adding in a completely unnecessary but very sexy little pose, a pose that did not go unappreciated by a certain white pegasus.

“I think you'd be perfect to model this!” Sassy Saddles exclaimed as she got together the various parts that she needed for the maid’s outfit. Chrysalis, for her part, was only too happy to allow Sassy to dress her in a matching corset, fishnet stockings that went on all four legs, a breast teddy with cut outs that showed off her nipples, G-sting panties and a lacy head piece. “A collar is included, but you could always wear it under the collar you have,” she said as she added a feather duster, “Even though you're a unicorn, I think most find mouth dusting is the sexiest.”

“Yes,” ‘Wayfair’ smiled, the mare thinking back to the time she had used her own tail as a brush for the pile of leaves, “I would agree with you, Sassy.” Her smile grew wider when she looked down at her new attire, “I love this! All of this!”

Once she had ‘Wayfair’ dressed, Sassy Saddles turned her attention to ‘Sunny Day’. “Now for you, I can give you two looks in one. Will you model for me?” when the pegasus nodded that she would, the fashionista got to work. “While the standard uniform is for unicorns I,” she paused to open a drawer, “Have some tailored for pegasi. First, we have the stern teacher look. School colours are purple and silver. The shirt is a bit shorter than standard, and the vest fits over it.”

Chrysalis watched Sassy Saddles dress her lover. A bow tie was fitted after the shirt and vest, and she noted that the skirt was ridiculously short, surely much shorter than the standard. More importantly, the panties were little more a thong. The stockings on her rear legs were a sheer purple and they attached to a garter belt. Her forehooves had cute silver shoes. “Sunny, I have to say I love that 'stern teacher' look. You rock it so hard!”

“But now with some minor adjustments we get the ‘slut teacher’ look,” Sassy Saddles then demonstrated this by undoing the bottom buttons of the shirt and then she tied the ends together. Then, she unfastened the bow tie to a loose knot so that it was hanging down. She took off the skirt and rolled up the waist to make it even shorter than it was before, and she made sure her tail was under the skirt. “And there you have it!”

“What do you think, Wayfair?” asked ‘Sunny Day’ as she posed in front of a full length mirror. She liked what she saw.

Chrysalis liked what she saw too. She was staring open mouthed at the transformation before her. “Oh...oh my...oh...” unconsciously, her tail was hiked way up high and she was aware that the scent of her arousal was being broadcast around the back room.

After taking a deep sniff, ‘Sunny Day’ laughed, “One to get the homework done and one if it is done well. I love it Sassy, and I'm glad you serve the non-unicorns. Now, time for some of the sexy sleepwear you have out front.”

Using her magic, Sassy Saddles helped both mares get undressed so she could package the clothes separately. Back in the front of the store, she walked over to the sleepwear. “Here’s our casual loungewear lingerie. With the robe you could greet somepony at the door. Over here is our sensual line of lingerie. I would say the breast teddy is a must for you, Wayfair. Without the cut outs.”

Looking down, Chrysalis was reminded of the fact that ‘Wayfair’ was blessed with teats the size of cantaloupes. She caught ‘Sunny Day’ ogling her and then she was reminded why they were that size. “Yeah, I definitely need the breast teddy with these girls!”

“Sensual for both of us, please,” requested the pure white pegasus.

Having already put the colours together in her head, Sassy Saddles quickly pulled out an emerald green set for Wayfair and a dark navy blue for Sunny Day. “Would you like to try them on?”

“You betcha!” ‘Sunny Day’ shot her lover a ‘look’, “I need to see if I get a rise in that one's tail!”

“Hey no fair!” Chrysalis pouted, though there wasn’t much feeling behind the pout, “My tail hasn't gone down from last time yet!” It was true, too. It was like her tail was tied up, preventing it from lowering. The pegasus just giggled as Sassy Saddles helped her get dressed into the dark blue lingerie. “Damn it!” sure enough, the changeling’s tail was way up high, yet again.

When Sassy Saddles moved in close to dress Wayfair, she whispered, “Pose with your left hind leg back and the right one forward,” as soon as she was finished dressing her, Chrysalis made sure to pose just how she had been told to, with added bedroom eyes for good measure.

The pose the unicorn had adopted accented her already massive teats and showed them off to their fullest. It was obvious, from the way ‘Sunny Day's’ tail flagged up high, that she was enjoying the show. “Yes!” she clapped her forehooves together excitedly, “Yes, we’ll take these as well. Let's get them packaged!”

~ ~ ~

‘Sunny Day’ and ‘Wayfair’ galloped into Celestia’s quarters like a pair of teenagers on their first date. As soon as the large double doors were closed, the pegasus rushed over at top speed to mess up the bed, “Put on the maid outfit!” she squeaked excitedly, before yanking out hoof-fulls of books at a time and scattering them on the floor, “Put it on, put it on!”

“I can do that, Mistress,” ‘Wayfair’ grinned as she used her magic to put on the bright red maid’s uniform they had bought from Sassy Saddles. As she was doing that, ‘Sunny Day’ was seated breathlessly at the desk, toying with a white riding crop held in her left wing.

“You look good enough to eat!” ‘Sunny Day’ took a long moment to drink in the sight of her lover before her, it was a view she liked, very much. “Now to see how well you perform,” she said, taping the tip of the crop on a forehoof.

“Yes Mistress!” ‘Wayfair’ lowered her head as she walked over to the fallen books and she took special care to put them back on the shelves in exactly the right order. Although she did shake her ass to entertain her audience while she worked.

As she was bending down to pick up the last few book, Chrysalis sensed a mild disappointment from ‘Sunny Day’ in how 'good' of a job she was doing. Smirking, ‘Wayfair’ knew just what to do. When picked up the last few books, she 'accidentally' knocked several previously replaced books back onto the floor with her tail, “Ooops!”

As soon as she saw the ‘mistake’, the disappointment that ‘Sunny Day’ was feeling switched immediately to excitement. She was quickly in position to deliver four strikes with the riding crop, “I have such a naughty maid!”

The first thing that ‘Wayfair’ noticed was of course the strikes of the crop. The second thing was that they were not delivered with the same destructive force Celestia had used in the past. “Th-Thank you for my correction, Mistress,” she smiled as she placed three books back on the shelf but the last book she placed somehow hit two already there and they fell too. “Oh, bother!”

When the books fell, so too did the crop. After four more well aimed strikes directly to the unicorn’s already red rear end, ‘Sunny Day’ whispered into ‘Wayfair’s’ ear, “Am I making you nervous, my pretty maid?”

“AAh...aaaAAH y-yes Mistress... th-that must be it...” ‘Wayfair’ whimpered as the eight accurate strikes had left behind little welts all over her behind. Not only that, but she was dripping wet between her hind legs and she was for real fumbling with the books held in her hooves.

Smirking, ‘Sunny Day’ used a wingtip to ‘help’ keep her pet’s soaked through panties shoved deep inside her marehood almost to the point of a wedgie. “I may have that effect on others…” she smiled as she licked up the inside of her pet’s ear.

The effect of the hot wet tongue was immediate. “N-Na-NaaaAAAAH!” ‘Wayfair’ moaned, and her forelegs buckled. She almost crumbled to the floor, and would have, were it not through an act of will to keep herself standing.

Appreciative that her pet had remained standing, ‘Sunny Day’ rubbed the crop over the unicorn’s welt covered ass and she whispered as she replaced the last two books, “You still the bed to do. Can my pretty maid finish the job?”

“Y-Yes Mistress!” with the books seen to, ‘Wayfair’ hurriedly scampered to the bed before ‘Sunny Day’ could so viciously attack her ears again. Unfortunately for her, the pegasus moved with her, behind her, in striking distance.

“AaaaAAH j-jeeeeez!” ‘Wayfair’ moaned and squeaked adorably, because the crop had found a new home, wiggling deep in the unicorn’s wet folds. As a result, she struggled to even grip the bedsheets in her hooves let alone move them.

Behind the unicorn, ‘Sunny Day’ pulled the crop away and she gave her pet’s marehood several light taps. “Did a day of shopping sap your strength?” she taunted her as she tapped the crop against the unicorn’s hard clitoris, “You are slowing down…”

“HNNNNNNG...” ‘Wayfair’ moaned desperately when she felt the crop move back between her dripping folds, “I-It is haaa! Haaaa! Di-Distracting, Mistress!” the unicorn tugged the bedsheet over one side and then she moved around the bed to do another corner.

This time, ‘Sunny Day’ didn't follow her pet around the bed, but she did commit to memory the sight of her glistening wet inner thighs and her flagging tail. When she was on the other side, ‘Wayfair’ was treated to her Mistress licking the crop. “I hope it tastes nice, Mistress,” she snarked as she tugged over another corner and straightened it out.

“You had better hope it does, my pet.”

‘Wayfair’, blushing hard, quickly made her way to the last corner of the bed and she straightened it out, so all four corners were sharp and defined. “Done, Mistress.”

She might have been finished, but the pegasus was not satisfied. “There is something terribly wrong with the bed, pet.”

“What's that, Mistress?”

“You're not on it.”

‘Wayfair’s’ blush returned in full force. “And how would you like me on the bed, Mistress?”

‘Sunny Day’ knew exactly how she wanted her pet presented. “On your back, your head near the bottom of the bed.”

“Yes Mistress!” as quickly as she could, ‘Wayfair’ got up on the bed as she had been ordered, helpfully she had her hind legs spread wide apart in readiness.

Now her pet was in the desired position, ‘Sunny Day’ could see just how far she had pushed the panties in with her wingtip earlier, so far that they were no longer visible between the mare’s folds. She then got on the bed facing the head with her groin just above the unicorn's head. “If you cum before me, I shall punish you most severely. You may not use your hooves.”

With that said, the dominant mare lowered herself down onto ‘Wayfair's’ muzzle in a sixty nine position and then she leant down to work on the unicorn’s bountiful teats, biting, sucking, and even flicking them with a hoof.

As much as she tried her best to get ‘Sunny Day’ off, ‘Wayfair’ was soon lost to moaning and mewling underneath her like a mare in the midst of a desperate heat, and, mere moments later, she came first, squirting her orgasm all over the bed between her hind legs.

Positioned on top of the writhing squirming unicorn, ‘Sunny Day’ was not in the 'squirt zone' but she was granted a noticeably clear view of it. Smirking, the pegasus ground her own wet pussy against her pet’s muzzle, so much so that she felt her nose and lips enter her snatch. She no longer held back on her orgasm and as part of the ‘punishment’, she began to savage her pet’s teats with much harder bits and stronger, painful flicks with a hoof.

“AaaaAAH mmmMMMM!” ‘Wayfair’ squealed up into her Mistress's pussy as sweet pain from the bites rocket up her body, swiftly bringing on a second climax as she worked hard to give ‘Sunny Day’ her first. However, when the pegasus simultaneously bit her left nipple and smacked her clit, the agonised pain ripped her mind from her plans. “Lime!”

As soon as she heard her submissive lover use her safe word, ‘Sunny Day’ ceased in the savaging of the beautiful teats before her and, now with the intense pain fading, ‘Wayfair’ was able to bring her Mistress over the edge with all her ability. When ‘Sunny Day’ came, she lifted her head high to give voice to her pleasure. After a bit of panting, she said, “My naughty maid has made a mess of my bedding…” she then crawled off the bed. “Strip and follow me.”

“I-I'm sorry Mistress…” the exhausted ‘Wayfair’ slid from the bed and she carefully stripped off her clothing, wincing at the few bite marks on her hefty teats and the many crop welts on her ass cheeks.

Once she was devoid of her clothing, ‘Sunny Day’ proceeded to lead the way to the royal baths. She knew exactly what she wanted to do next. “I'm in need of pampering, my lovely, perfect pet.”

~ ~ ~

On their marital bed, in a fit of deep passion, Luna and her wife were moaning each other’s names as both of their wet marehoods were giving each other wet, sloppy kisses down below. Their rear legs were grinding and pressing together, their forehooves pushed against the ends of the bed, and their tongues hung out of their mouths.

"Is your sister going to walk in on us again?” Octavia asked slyly as Luna began to get more and more dominating in her grinds and presses.

"She might…” Luna commented just as slyly in return as Octavia submitted to the Princess’s advances. "You know she needs all the pointers she can get…”

“Hey! Lulu that’s not funny!” Octavia pouted, with all her willpower momentarily stopping what they were doing with a strong hoof pressed to her marefriend’s chest.

Blinking her turquoise eyes, Luna realised she’d overstepped the mark just ever so slightly. “Tavi…baby…I promise Tia won’t walk in. She’s busy with Wayfair.”

And, like that, Octavia wasn’t thinking about Celestia, or anypony else for that matter. “Oh…Oh goddess, L-Luna! Keep going, I'm gonna, I'm gonna!" She screamed at the height of her pleasure.

"Keep going!" Luna all but commanded as she was reaching her orgasm. "I want you to cum with me!"

Octavia didn't complain, the cellist loved it when her Luna got all dominating; it was a sort of turn on. Tilting their heads back in pleasure, both mares let out an orgasmic scream as they both felt shocks of pleasure shoot through them. Their orgasms spent, Luna and Octavia fell back onto the soft bed. Within a couple minutes, the two lovers were embracing each other in a gentle cuddle, their bodies still soaked in sweat and passion.

"That was amazing." Octavia cooed against her lover's body. "I love you so much, Lulu."

"I love you too, Tavi." Luna cooed back, nuzzling against her love's body. It wasn’t many ponies that she allowed to be so familiar with her. Three, in fact, and she was snuggling with one of them right now. The other was in her private quarters at the other end of the hall and the third, her most trusted hoof maiden, was having the night off. But, her tone was a little more mono-toned than usual.

"Are you okay?" Octavia asked. "What's on your mind?" when Luna stammered, it didn’t take Octavia long to guess the problem. "You still want to find out who that missing pony is?" Octavia finished Luna's thought. "I know how much finding Sky Dive’s descendent means to you. If you want, I could help."

"I...I can't..." Luna said, a small bit of sorrow in her voice. "I failed her, and it's up to me to find him. I'm close, I just...I just don't know what to say."

"I know you'll think of something." Octavia smiled, supporting her love. "Also, there is something I wanted to talk about." Luna didn't answer but the expression she showed told Octavia she wanted her to continue. "What do you think about us having foals?"

The question was not a sudden one for Octavia Melody. The earth pony mare had seen how well Luna interacted with the foals in Ponyville during the last Nightmare Night festival. Indeed, it had been her idea, with some ‘encouragement’ from Celestia and Crescent Moon, her attendant, that had gotten Luna to attend. Seeing how well her lover had been received by the populace of the town, and how well Luna had done, only served to make Octavia a little broody.

And Chrysalis hadn’t helped either.

In her thirties, she was acutely aware that while Luna was ageless, she herself was not.

~ ~ ~

Following Octavia’s request, the subsequent couple weeks had been an extra bit of stress for Luna. The ongoing search for Sky Dive's descendant, in addition to now thinking about foals and how they would possibly go about doing it, made the Princess of the Night a little too distracted and worried to even focus on her own Night Court, let alone do anything else.

Thankfully, Princess Celestia was supportive, she made every effort in helping Luna organize the paperwork and the court, she even went so far as to take care of the moon on her sister’s behalf.

As for her search on the lost heir, Luna was close. She knew it was one of her guards now. It had to be! But which one? But tonight, such concerns had to wait. Tonight, Luna and Octavia were going to again discuss the idea of foals.

Sitting in the private chambers of her suite, Luna awaited Octavia's arrival. Octavia had previously made it clear – all week in fact, over breakfast, dinner and supper and every other opportunity she had - that she wanted to discuss everything tonight. Luna couldn't refuse her lover, even with all her stresses and worries, Luna didn't want to miss any time with her wife. But, after a few short moments, her wait came to an end. A knock at the door woke her from her thoughts.

"You may enter." Luna called to the door. She knew whom it was by the cadence of the knock. The biggest surprise was that her wife and pet had bothered to knock at all.

The ornately carved midnight blue marble door opened, revealing Octavia, looking oddly more ravishing and slightly more flushed than usual. But, she was not alone; besides her was one of Luna's personal elite Lunar guards.

Moonshine was the stallion’s name. He was a bat pony with a coat the same dark blue as the Princess he protected. His neatly shaved mane was a light grey, his cutie mark was a crescent moon with a pair of white wings; but what really drew Luna's attention was his sparkling bright blue eyes.

"Moonshine?" Luna commented, her head cocked to one side, "Octavia's escort wasn't necessary, but I thank you."

"My pleasure Princess." Moonshine bowed his head. "I was ordered by Princess Celestia to escort Lady Octavia to your chambers and to guard the door to ensure nopony is to bother or interrupt you two."

Before Luna could ask, Moonshine saluted smartly, lest he be reported to Captain Moonscar for dereliction of duty and he left the room. Looking Octavia over, Luna saw more and more that Octavia was strangely more aroused and trembling than normal. "Uh Octavia?" Luna asked, suddenly detecting a scent that was unmistakable. "Are you by any chance in…"

Octavia suddenly leaped at Luna, not giving her a chance to finish her sentence, her earth pony strength pressing her to the bed; but not before her mouth pressed against Luna's. "Heat? Yes!" Octavia continued her oral assault on Luna's mouth, soon moving it to her neck. Luna wanted to struggle a little, but deep down, she was enjoying this; her body shivered in the excitement and pleasure Octavia's mouth was giving her.

"Y-You shouldn't be here." Luna reluctantly commented. "If you're in heat, then…"

"I don't care!" Octavia said, interrupting Luna's comment with yet more wet kisses, and her hoof moving down to Luna's nether regions. After a couple seconds of rubbing, Octavia giggled in Luna's mouth. "It seems somepony is getting wet."

"I-It's not like that." Luna blushed, finally getting Octavia off. "Octavia. I love you, but a foal. I mean how could we do that? We're both mares."

"A donor." Octavia suggested, thinking remarkably clearly in spite of her heat. “I think I even found the perfect candidate.”

"Candidate?" Luna's turquoise eyes widened, and her ears drooped at the thought of some other pony mating with her marefriend. "Who could possibly be a suitable donor?"

"You can come back in." Octavia called to the door. The door opened, revealing Moonshine stood at perfect attention.

"Moonshine‽" Luna asked. "But why?"

"Princess Luna..." cautiously, taking a hesitant few steps forwards, Moonshine began his explanation. "I just wanted to tell you something. When I was a little colt, back when you were sealed in the prison of the moon, I was told by my mother that if I were to ever meet you, I was to tell you this; It was the night before the Celestial Day Celebration. She was enjoying your night and you were busting clouds when you two met."

"W-w-what did you say?" Luna asked, the world seems to halt around her. No living pony, with the exception of her sister and Octavia, knew the circumstances of how she had met Sky Dive. "H-How do you know this?"

"Because you were good friends with my ancestor...more than good friends…" Moonshine answered, bowing his head in deep respect. "I was always told that you and Sky Dive were the ‘closest of friends’."

"You..." Luna dropped to her knees, the tears wouldn't stop flowing. "After all this time...you were right there...and I never knew...I'm a horrible Princess and a worst friend...I couldn't even..."

"It's okay Lulu," Octavia hugged the still crying Luna close. "From what you told me, Sky forgave you, she always loved you, just as I love you now."

"Princess." Moonshine presented himself, showing off his more toned body. "I was ordered by Princess Celestia to help with Lady Octavia's consummation. But only if you wish it to be so."

"You mean..." Luna looked at Octavia, then back to her guard, then to Octavia again. "You want him to be the father?"

"I want you to be the parent." Octavia said, hugging Luna tighter. "Who better to impregnate me than your old lover’s descendent?"

"But, but…such an idea. I mean, how I could ever…" Luna's words were interrupted by Octavia's kissing mouth.

"I know this is a lot to take in all at once." Octavia said. "I'm sorry I'm rushing your choice. We don't have to do this tonight if you don't want to."

Luna sat there for a moment, her mind was going crazy from the thoughts and revelations. Here was her marefriend, offering to get pregnant with the child of the descendent of her past love's bloodline. The very idea was almost a mixture of too good to be true yet too bad at the same time. How could Luna allow this? But looking at Octavia, how she cared for Luna, how she was willing to put her own needs behind Luna's. Wiping the last of her tears away, Luna nodded her head, kissing Octavia back.

"You may proceed." Luna spoke gently to Moonshine, though she quickly recovered her composure, she did not want this to be an order. This was not the times of the harems, after all. "Moonshine, if you are willing, only, if you are willing, I would very much like you to consummate with Octavia. You would please us greatly if you were to impregnate her this night.”

"Yes Princess." Moonshine nodded. "I shall fulfil my role as donor and once my task is done, the foal will be yours and Lady Octavia's, though if it pleases you, highness, I should like to be present and involved with the foal’s life." Luna didn't say anything else; she merely nodded her approval – the very last thing she wanted was a faceless nameless donor - as she slid around the large sumptuous bed to nestle in alongside her marefriend’s head, getting ready to give her kisses and encouragement as was needed.

Octavia remained on the bed, leaning back to give Moonshine some room on the bed. As strange as it was knowing what was to come, Luna felt an odd sense of arousal from this situation. She has read that some couples would do something like this, sharing with another pony to spice things up. Her niece, Cadance had taken great lengths telling her all about it. She just didn't know how to approach Octavia about it. But here she was, about to watch Octavia be rutted by another pony; even more kinky, to get impregnated by another pony.

"How would you like me to proceed, my lady?" Moonshine asked softly, staring as Octavia raised herself to show off her already glistening wet marehood. It was obvious that despite the focused look on his face, Moonshine himself was aroused; his stallionhood was already out of its sheath and was quite large for a stallion of his age.

"Just put it in." Octavia stated, her heat making her blunter due to her desperation than anything else. She wiggling her rear provocatively towards the guard. As aroused as she was, Octavia was never too into stallions. Heat though, could do strange things to a pony. "What are you waiting for…ahh!"

Smiling, Moonshine saw that Octavia was wet, but not wet enough to take in his full girth. So instead of trying to hurt her – he was painfully aware his Princess was right there – Moonshine leaned in and starting licking at Octavia's slit; lubing her up for his eventual intercourse. Despite her affections towards Luna, Octavia was feeling incredibly good from the guard's practiced tongue. The way he was stroking her labia and just inside her entrance, as well as lapping up her juices, it only made her wetter.

For a moment, Octavia looked at Luna. The moment Octavia and Luna's eyes met, the feeling that her love was watching her body being played with by somepony else sent a new shiver through her body. This shiver made her needy marehood squirt out an early orgasm.

Seeing her beloved mare have her first climax of the evening, and the connection they held with each other's lingering gaze, Luna bent her neck and gave Octavia a deep passionate kiss, wasting no time at all in sliding her tongue into her mouth.

"Are you alright, Lady Octavia?" Moonshine asked, hoping he hadn't been too rough on her.

"I-I'm…I’m fine." Octavia gasped around Luna’s kiss, she tried to compose herself, but she was just too horny to really relax. "Just shove that…dirty…big…sexy… oh, just rut me, please!"

"Yes my lady." Moonshine said, placing his forehooves on Octavia's rear, before thrusting his large cock into Octavia's tight puffy marehood. Though she was by no means a virgin, having been subjected to Luna’s fun collection of toys over the past year, an actual cock on a real enthusiastic stallion was an altogether different proposition to a dildo, however skilfully it was used.

Seeing her wife struggle to take the bat pony’s length – and girth – Luna decided once again to delve her tongue straight into Octavia’s mouth, while, after a devious thought the lunar alicorn lit her horn and with a subtle little spell she sent rippling vibrations through the grey earth pony mare’s breasts and nipples.

With the heat-addled mare now dripping wet and whimpering due to the Princess’s timely intervention, Moonshine went back to his duty, pulling out half way; only to thrust back inside Octavia's slit to the hilt, burying himself inside her.

Moonshine continued his bucking; going teasingly slow at first and making sure to slowly widen Octavia's marehood so he wouldn't hurt her. While this was going on, Luna continued to kiss her marefriend’s lips as well as magically caressing her breasts. It was still too much to take in at once. To think that the descendant she was looking for was right there all this time.

Moonshine was not only one of her guards but was also the one who was almost always stationed to guard her chambers and even escort her around the castle. The pony she spent so long searching for was right there. After feeling that her muscular tunnel was wet enough to take more, the bat pony stallion started to roughly pound against the mare, maintaining a firm pressure on her hips while Octavia quietly moaned with delight. The sound of his groin slapping against her echoed throughout the room, followed by his growing grunting and the Octavia's moans of ecstasy.

Eventually, after who knows how many minutes, Moonshine began to feel himself coming to a climax, his movements were getting faster and faster as he built up to his release. Below him, Octavia had already lost herself to the pleasure of the stallion's broad shaft, her eyes were rolled upwards, and her tongue was soon drooling out of her mouth while her face rubbed against the soft bed.

With a final thrust, Moonshine's hips lurched forward as he painted Octavia's insides with his thick spunk, relishing in the feeling of his ejaculate filling her up to the brim and plugging her entrance; as well as this act being finally over. Slowly, Night released himself from Octavia's tight body, finishing off by covering her curved back and rump with the rest of his seed.

"I hope I fulfilled my role." Moonshine commented moments later, when he was able to speak, though he was still a little short on breath from his orgasm, seeing how much he came inside Octavia; a small bit of pride filled him when he saw a little of his cum was trickling out of her.

"You did excellently," Luna commented as she finally broke her long-held kiss she had shared with the grey mare before her voice filled with uncertainty. "Ah, you...I…please, join us on the bed a while longer, my most faithful guard." The next hour or so was spent in this manner, all three ponies snuggling and cuddling together on the Princess’s huge bed.

"Moonshine…" Luna said ever so gently, putting her speech lessons with Fluttershy to good use now, causing her guard to lift his head from Octavia’s inflated belly, "Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I...I'm sorry for what happened to her."

"Thank you Princess," Moonshine commented, he didn’t need to ask to whom she was referring. He knew. "I know she would have loved to see you again." He at least had the good grace to look away from his Princess, lest he witness her tears.

"One more thing," Luna said, addressing the stallion while looking deep in her lover's eyes. "When the foal grows old enough to ask questions about their origin. We'll tell them of you. We would like you to be involved, should you wish to be.” The stallion had got up from the bed, his duty now performed, though he staggered a step as he continued towards the door unable to think of a reply.

"Thank you for making my wife happy," Luna added as she watched Octavia's eyes grow wide. The stallion left the room with a smile on his face and quietly closed the door. Luna looked Octavia over until her focus stopped on her slightly inflated belly. "Do you think it worked?"

When they separated Octavia smiled and looked down. She ran a hoof over her belly. "I believe it did," She said to answer the earlier question then looked back up into her lover's eyes, "What should we name it?"

"If it's a colt...Dusk Melody." Luna considered, feeling Octavia's warm sweaty body close to her.

~ ~ ~

Two weeks later, Octavia had a tight grip on Luna's hoof as they both sat in Dr. Quincy's office. The doctor, a rugged old earth pony stallion who looked like he might have been young during the First Griffon War, was busy looking over a report. Beside her, Luna wore a smile, but she was trying hard to hid it from her wife. “Hummm, yes, I see. Hummm…”

“What?” Octavia sat simmering on her seating pad, her temper rising by the second, “What does Hmmm mean?”

“I'm just trying to interpret the results to be sure,” the earth pony stallion adjusted his glasses as he stared intently at the paper in front of him on his desk.

“What's to interpret!?” Octavia snapped, “I'm either pregnant or I'm not!”

“Um, well, there is ah, some. ah...” the poor doctor trailed off to silence as Luna snorted out a barely contained laugh.

“What!?” Octavia was incredibly pleased for the medical pony’s sake that she didn’t have her cello. If she had, then the doctor would be the one needing medical aid. “There's what?”

At an utter loss, the doctor blinked and looked at Luna for help. Fortunately, Luna gave him a slight nod. When he saw the nod, the doctor was so relieved he visibly sagged in his seat. “Well, the Princess swore us all to secrecy and we are not do divulge the results to anypony.”

When Octavia looked to her wife, Luna gave up trying to conceal her giggles and she burst out laughing. The cellist rolled her eyes at the snickering alicorn, “You are such a filly!”

“Me?” Luna laughed innocently, “I thought you wanted a filly, or colt as it may be.”

Octavia turned her ‘I’ll hit you with my cello’ look to her wife, “At this point I'm worried he's going to tell me I'm having a cragodile!”

With a perfectly straight face, Luna looked Dr. Quincy in the eyes, “Is that a possibility? They are such cute critters!”

“U-Uuum, ah no?”

Luna swiped her hoof in the air, “Awwww!”

Frustrated, Octavia facehooved and she shook her head. “I swear, you are such a foal! Tell me, doctor, please?”

The elderly stallion looked pleadingly at Luna once more. This time, the Princess took mercy on the poor pony. “Doctor Quincy, I hereby exempt Lady Octavia from the list of nopony is allowed to know the state secret as to whether or not she is indeed pregnant.”

Finally, like he had been granted a stay of execution, Quincy breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, well then, yes, Lady Octavia, I am pleased to be able to inform you, you are pregnant.”

“Pregnant…” Octavia’s eyes widened, “I-I'm pregnant...” her wide eyes grew wider and wider as the news settled in, “I'm pregnant!”

“Careful,” Luna laughed out loud, “That is a state secret!” she smiled as wide as her wife’s eyes with her legs open for a hug.

Without a second – or first – thought, Octavia leapt into Luna's waiting legs, “I'm pregnant! I'm pregnant!” the overjoyed cellist danced like a mare half her age in her legs and then she skipped to the doctor and hugged him tightly, “I'm pregnant!”

Smirking broadly, Luna shot the doctor a knowing look, “And now we know who the filly really is here.” Wisely perhaps, Quincy raised his hooves, not wanting to get involved in that at all. “Love, shall we tell Tia and Moonshine?

“Yes!” Octavia squeaked, still lost in the throes of her celebration, “Oh yes! We must tell them immediately!” she danced her way back to Luna and she peppered her muzzle all over with kisses that covered her whole face until it was a wet mess.

“Maybe we can tell Twilight, so she can send a note over to Sunset. I'm sure she would love to know she will be having a cousin.”

“Yes, we must tell them all, wow...yes!” Octavia pumped the air with a hoof, “I’m pregnant!”

“I do so love my stoic cellist showing some emotion,” Luna smirked as she escorted her wife out of the doctor’s office, “It’s quite refreshing.”

Chapter 11 - Changing Love

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For the second morning in a row, Chrysalis lay alone in her room. Yesterday, she didn’t see Celestia at all. This wasn’t necessarily an unusual turn of events, so she didn’t allow it to worry her all that much. On the contrary, she found she was, for once, comfortable with her own company. Not that she was completely alone, not when she had Sassy Saddles on the Fashion Channel.

Outside Chrysalis’s room, Princess Celestia was stood immobile as a statue, like she had been for the past several minutes, with her hoof pressed against the door. After making up her mind, answering some internal struggle, the alicorn knocked politely, something she had never done before. “Wayfair?”

“Princess?” hearing the knock, and the use of her alter ego’s name, Chrysalis transformed herself into the purple unicorn, “Do come in.”

Given permission, not that she needed it, Celestia pushed open the door. The sombre look on her face drew the sole occupant’s attention instantly. “I'm afraid I've received some bad news. My Chambermaid, Bedpan, has died in a mountain climbing accident. They are bringing back her remains and there will be a service at noon in the chapel tomorrow. Do you wish to attend?”

Momentarily confused, Chrysalis sat up on the bed and paid attention, not in the least because she knew full well that the real Bedpan was dead and had been for almost a year. She eyed the Princess warily, wondering what she was plying at. “I'd love to,” she answered eventually, her mind racing along several scenarios all at once.

“Thank you,” Celestia visibly breathed a sigh of relief, “Now I need to find a replacement. Is there anypony you could recommend?”

The loaded question – and it’s meaning – was not lost on the changeling. “I've learned how to keep your room in order, Mistress. Wayfair can take her place.”

Now, Celestia smiled. It was a genuine smile that reached her eyes and lit up her face. “The pegasi do say there is a silver lining in every dark cloud. You have given me some good news this day. I'll have Wisteria work up the details, and I'll meet up with you before the service tomorrow. Good day, Wayfair.”

“Good day, Mistress,” when she was alone in her room once more, Chrysalis resumed her natural form and she laid back, looking up at her ceiling. Celestia had left her with a lot to think about from her short visit. If there was going to be a service, then Bedpan’s death was going to be made public. Where did that leave her? It was clear that the Princess still wanted her around, because of Wayfair’s existence.

Yes, Chrysalis was left with a lot to think about, and precious little answers were forthcoming.

The next day, at noon on the dot, the service for Bedpan began in the Celestial Chapel not far from the palace in the Noble Quarter of Canterlot. It was officiated by an elderly unicorn stallion, a Priest of the Celestial Order, who looked so old that a strong breeze would have finished him off.

Chrysalis, who was appearing in her guise as Wayfair, approached the plain simple closed coffin and she placed a hoof upon it, paying her respects to the earth pony she never knew, but who, in death, gave her a second life. To say it was an odd sensation, was a great understatement.

“She was an earth pony,” Celestia spoke up beside her maid, “They will cremate her. After sunset, a small plaque will be placed in the vault, and at sunrise tomorrow her ashes will be scattered over my personal flower garden.”

“A good memorial for her,” Wayfair commented, though her words were thick with tears and choked with emotion. Again, it was odd. She had never mourned a pony before.

“She will be hard to replace,” Celestia said as she too placed a hoof respectfully on the coffin, “But I know you'll do your best. Wisteria told me you filled out all the forms. I look forward to your service.”

“I will do my best, Mistress,” Wayfair replied. Strangely, she felt she owed it to Bedpan to do the best job she possibly could which, on reflection, was ridiculous.

When the disguised changeling returned to her room, she found the familiar sight of Shieldwall waiting for her. “Greetings, Ms. Wayfair,” he bowed politely, “I understand you'll be the new chambermaid. Bulwark and I have been assigned as your personal guard and either one of us will accompany you should you leave the castle. If you ever have need of us you can ask the guard unit in the hall. I do need to collect Ms. Bedpan's personal effects. Welcome to the service in the castle.”

“Thank you, Shieldwall,” Wayfair smiled a little sadly as she entered her room and she came out with the scandalously skimpy maid’s outfit that she had worn for so long. It was like a torch was being passed as she reverently passed over the dress to the guard. “Bedpan spoke highly of you; I hope we can be as good friends as you two were.”

“I'm a guard first,” Shieldwall nodded and smiled. Of course he knew who Wayfair really was, just like he had when Chrysalis had been Bedpan, but appearances had to be maintained. “But I'm sure we can be friends too. It’s easier to guard some pony that cares for you. Makes that job easier.”

Chrysalis, and Wayfair, smiled a relieved smile. “I'm happy to hear that, Shieldwall.”

~ ~ ~

Later in the day, Celestia again knocked on Wayfair's door. Chrysalis knew it was the Princess by the sound of the knock. It was as familiar to her as a signature. “Come in, Mistress.”

“Please join me for dinner tonight,” Celestia said as she opened the door, “I would like to introduce you to my sister. Her wife will be there too, and she is really wanting to meet you.”

Chrysalis had to really fight to suppress the roll of her eyes. All this posturing for the sake of appearances was getting too much for her, but at the same time, she knew not to fight it. She knew Celestia was, in her own way, moving forwards, however agonisingly slowly. “Thank you Mistress,” she said politely, “I'd be honoured to join you.”

In the Princess’s private dining room, there was already a setting for four at the table. Luna and Octavia were there when Celestia walked in with Wayfair at her side. “Good evening everypony,” the solar monarch greeted them, pointing to the seat opposite Octavia for Wayfair to sit, “This is my new chambermaid, Wayfair.”

“I'm pregnant!” Octavia exclaimed, not giving the newcomers time to sit down.

“My wife,” Luna snickered, earning herself a well-aimed raspberry from the cellist, “Ever the stoic one.”

“That's amazing news, Lady Octavia!” Wayfair beamed as she took her seating pad and got herself comfortable.

“Formalities, please, Lady Octavia.”

“What,” Octavia objected to Celestia’s statement, before turning a justifiably confused look to her wife, “I've known Wayfair for months!”

Luna merely shrugged at Octavia’s questioning look. “My sister is all about formalities,” she commented with what she thought was a well-earned shake of her head, “And I have long since stopped arguing with her.”

“Fine,” Octavia conceded, also seeing the futility of arguing with the Princess. “It is good to meet you Wayfair,” she held out her hoof to shake the chambermaid’s, then she added, “Oh, and I'm pregnant!”

While Celestia was seating herself, the disguised Chrysalis giggled behind her hoof. She was only too happy to play along, “I'm pleased to meet you too Lady Octavia, and congratulations on your pregnancy.”

“Now she has accepted the position of chambermaid,” Celestia started as she began to eat her meal, “I'm sure the two of you will be seeing more of each other.”

Luna looked up from her own plate and she nodded to her older sister, “It was very good of you to place Bedpan's name in the vault.” At the mention of the deceased pony, Celestia just looked down at her food for inspiration she just knew wasn’t going to come.

“I'm sure we will, Mistress,” Wayfair looked incredibly happy at the prospect of spending more time with the accomplished cellist.

Octavia gave the purple unicorn a knowing wink, “I look forward to an audience for my practice.”

“Oh,” Chrysalis, who was more than happy to play in character, smiled, “I've heard you play the cello, Lady Octavia.”

While Octavia rolled her eyes, it was Luna who fortunately spoke before her wife could blunder in with all four hooves and ruin the well-staged game, “She does, and I do so enjoy her playing.”

“You enjoy watching her play,” Celestia levelled a ‘look’ at her sister.

“That is what I said.”

Laughing politely, Wayfair said, “I'm looking forward to your playing. Trottingham tastes at the moment are,” she shuddered, hesitant to even mention the word, “Rap...”

Luna opened her mouth, but quickly, Octavia was there to raise a warning hoof before her wife got too carried away and revealed things that didn’t need revealing. “I enjoy all music,” she said eventually.

“Some more than others,” Octavia supplied, “But she does.”

Wayfair snickered, “That was diplomatic of you.”

At that, Celestia giggled, her mood greatly improved. “Tavi saved you from listening to my sister's rap.”

“Oh, she's good at it,” Octavia stepped up to defend her wife, “But not at the dinner table.” She smirked as Luna gave her a gloriously playful pout.

“I have to agree with you, Lady Octavia,” Wayfair giggled, “I'd hate to detract from this amazing food!” the other three agreed with her and then they got down to enjoying the meal. “That was amazing!” she declared, sitting back on her seating pad with a large happy smile on her face once she was done.

“It was,” Celestia agreed when she herself was finished, “I'm for bed myself. I'll see you tomorrow, a few minutes after sunrise in my room, but you're free for the night if you wish to stay up longer.”

“Thank you, Mistress,” the unicorn respectfully bowed her head, “Until sunrise, then.”

Octavia at least had the good graces to wait until Celestia had left the dining room before she turned to Luna and asked, “Really?”

“Closure.” Luna simply explained, as if that was that and the matter was closed. “How are you doing,” she turned her attention to the new chambermaid, “Well, I suppose we may as well keep it constant, Wayfair?”

Chrysalis found the question an interesting one, to say the very least. “I won't lie, your highness,” she spoke truthfully, “This past day has been quite...well not confusing, but...it’s been strange.”

Luna could well appreciate how odd and strange the day had been. Chrysalis had been Bedpan for a long time, and now she had seen her laid to rest in the chapel. “Sunny Day does enjoy her time with you,” the alicorn decided to focus on the future rather than the past, “It will take longer for Tia to do so.”

“Just don’t get the two of them confused,” Octavia added helpfully.

“Bedpan's death got you out of the camp,” Luna pressed on, “Now her death has moved Tia forward in life. For a minor scullery maid who, in normal circumstances, should have passed unnoticed, she is now in the hall of honour.”

“That mare has done a lot for both of you,” observed Octavia, “And yet she never met either of you.”

“Time for my Night Court brief,” Luna, somewhat reluctantly, swallowed the last of her strong coffee and walked around the table to kiss her pet before leaving the room.

“Guess what?” Octavia squeaked as soon as they were left alone together, “I'm pregnant!”

Now that some of the second hoof pressure from the two Princesses was gone along with them, Chrysalis giggled at the cellist’s enthusiasm, “Can I please rub your belly?”

Instantly, Octavia leapt to her hooves and she bounded around the table so fast that Chrysalis swore she had teleported, “Yes!” she squealed in utter delight, “Yes! Yes!”

Chrysalis found Octavia thoroughly and absolutely adorable! Wisely, she didn’t say that. “I've heard it can be lucky, doing this,” she smiled as she placed her forehooves on the earth pony’s belly. Of course, her belly was flat, but Chrysalis could easily imagine her big and round.

Octavia reared up onto her hind legs to give her friend better access to her belly, “Because of my tease of a wife, I only found out two days ago. Being just over a month along, there’s not much to feel yet, but I'll take the luck.” She could have allowed her to feel her all night long.

“You know what?” Chrysalis smiled warmly, “Given everything that's happened, and how close I was to walking out, I'll take the luck too.”

“I'm a bit of a night owl now,” Octavia started, sighing as she loved those hooves feeling her like they were, “But I don't have to get up for breakfast. Sunrise comes early.”

“Do you mind if we hang out for a bit?” asked Chrysalis, who wasn’t ready to head to bed just yet, nor did she feel up to going outside.

“Not at all,” Octavia was only too happy to hang out with Chrysalis, she found her delightful company. “I usually listen to music and read till the Night Court is over. Then I keep Lulu from executing some noble that upsets her. We could listen to music or watch a movie?”

Chrysalis was quick to suggest her most recent favourite of the ‘moving pictures’ as she still sometimes called them, ‘The Mare Wears Prada’, though Octavia insisted on what she assured her friend was an old time classic, a movie entitled 'Those Daring Young Colts and their Jaunty Jalopies'. Octavia's need for speed and fun won, and they settled down in her suite to watch the movie.

~ ~ ~

The next morning, there was no summoning knock at Chrysalis’s door, but after so long, the changeling knew enough not to need one. At the right moment, she changed to Wayfair, who had quickly become her ‘uniform’ of sorts, donned her maid’s outfit and she walked to Celestia’s room. On the way there, she met a pretty young maid who she didn’t know pushing the morning tea cart.

After knocking politely on the Princess’s door, and getting the command to enter, Chrysalis held the door open for the earth pony maid so she could enter with the tea cart ahead of her, then she walked in and closed the door. The maid quietly placed the cart near the table on the balcony and took her leave. “Join me,” Celestia said when she was sure they were alone. She pointed a hoof down at a pegasus who was wearing Celestial Order robes, “They’re about to put Bedpan to rest.”

“Thank you, Mistress,” Chrysalis stepped up to the balcony and, when she was stood beside Celestia, she found she had a grandstand view of the scene below, which she watched with a sombre look on her face.

“I've allowed Royal Ribbon to leave the camp,” started Celestia as she watched the priest scatter the ashes over the flower beds in the solar alicorn’s part of the garden, “She released the last resident yesterday. I would have never met Bedpan, but through her and you. She deserves this honour.”

Before she knew what she was doing, Chrysalis – and Wayfair – had started crying. “I-It...It's strange. I was her for so long, to see her scattered like that, it's...just strange.”

Celestia nodded and even went so far as to put a comforting wing over her crying maid. “I wonder how it must feel for your changelings. To know the pony before they die, and then to be them.” Once the priest had completed his solemn task, the Princess sat down, and she pulled a crop from under her other wing. “You may serve the tea.”

When she had finished crying, Chrysalis wiped her eyes and she turned away from the balcony to the tea set. She knew this game. Like the last time, she would serve, her Mistress would count the mistakes, and punish her accordingly. “As I say, it's strange, Mistress,” she commented as she got to serving the tea. “We do not usually assume a single form for so long, not like now. The danger is the changeling can become lost in the assumed identity.”

Celestia nodded quietly as she watched Wayfair's every move like a great, white, four legged hawk. “Ribbon says that is part of the plan.”

“That is why I return to my natural form for at least an hour each day,” Chrysalis said, making the tea and placing the fresh steaming mug before her Mistress.

“I've not asked Ribbon about that out there,” Celestia said thoughtfully, for she had noted two mistakes made by her maid, “Nor am I sure I want to know. The program is working. There have only been two issues to date. One minor, the other...”

“I'm guessing the other wasn't as minor as the first, Mistress?” Chrysalis sighed, “I assume Royal Ribbon took care of it?”

“It was a vehicle fatality,” Celestia explained, “It was a mess, but she and others kept it suppressed. For the family though, to lose somepony twice. Ribbon couldn't do anything about it.”

“Oh,” Chrysalis’s sombre mood returned, “I see, yes I can sympathise with the family.”

“You may serve yourself,” Celestia said after she had her own tea. “I counted two errors. Your time for soaking the leaves was about two seconds too long, and you should stir in the sugar for a full minute. Much better though than your first performance.”

“My apologies, Mistress, I'll endeavour to do better next time,” Chrysalis smiled and served herself, all the while promising internally that she wouldn’t actually do better. Where would the fun be in that?

“I'm sure you will.” Celestia smirked, for she was sure one thing was for certain, that her maid would not do better. “Enjoy your tea, then you may start on the room. I'll be having breakfast with my sister, while you may use the staff cafeteria when you're finished. I will want to see you later after court for corrective action.”

Chrysalis caught the naughty wink that Celestia gave her on the way out and she immediately wanted it to be the end of the day already. “I look forward to it, Mistress,” she bowed her head respectfully, “I do hope the court won't sap your energy too much and adversely affect your ability to deliver my corrective action.”

“You should hope that the petitioners don't have me looking for a creative way to destroy something…” Celestia finished her tea and stood, “Till this afternoon then,” She ran the crop warningly along Wayfair's flank before tucking it back under her wing and then she left the room.

“Mmmmm…I cannot wait till this afternoon...” Chrysalis smiled to herself in anticipation of the punishment to come before actually making a start on the business of cleaning of her Mistress's room. Once she was done, and with a free day ahead of herself, the changeling decided to head on out to the royal gardens.

When Chrysalis reached Celestia’s part of the garden, she saw the team of gardeners were watering the plants to ensure the scattered ashes sank into the soil. Chrysalis walked up and stood by the plants; head bowed in reflection. “Good bye, Bedpan.”

After a few moments of her reflection, and of the working ponies not talking to her, Chrysalis heard the unmistakable sounds of a cello warming up from the direction of the Sky Dive statue. Quietly, she said, “It was a pleasure and a privilege to be you. Rest well, Bedpan.”

Distracted by the sound of the cello, Chrysalis made up her mind to walk over. The closer she got; she could tell that the music Octavia was playing was extremely maudlin. She could even taste the sadness in the air. “How incredibly sad,” she commented as she stood before the cellist.

“Since I've been with Lulu,” Octavia said as she looked up from her cello, “This is the third time ashes have been scattered, and the first ones for Tia's garden.”

“May I ask who the others were?”

“Bleak, one of Luna's night guard,” Octavia explained as she set aside her instrument, “Dived on an explosive device. Luna didn't think she was really at risk, but his efforts saved several others in the area. The most recent was Black Void, one of her, um, ‘operatives’. All I know is, she thought her worthy of the honour.”

“I see,” Chrysalis mulled that over in her head, “So the scattering of the ashes is considered an honour for the deceased.”

“Yes,” Octavia said, joining Chrysalis in sitting on the grass, “But it takes others, like the family to agree to such a thing. Now a plaque in the vault is the more common means of honouring a pony for their service to the crown.”

“I must confess I find this all strange,” Chrysalis scuffed the grass with her hoof, “We don't really have death rituals.”

Unconsciously, Octavia shuddered, “Do I want to know what you do with the dead?” she really did, but at the same time, she had seen her share of horror movies and she really didn’t. “We do have many different rituals depending on tribe and location.”

Chrysalis shrugged, “Well, when one of us dies, the body decomposes extremely quickly, in a matter of a day, if not hours, as the magic in our bodies leaks out. If we were to die in the hive, this magic and the body would be subsumed into the structure of the hive itself.”

“Okay,” Octavia let out a deep breath that she was totally holding, “That's not as morbid as I was thinking, and I'm sorry I thought that.”

Smiling, Chrysalis laughed softly, “There is no need to apologise, Octavia.”

The earth pony mare snorted at that, “Thank you for not asking. Lulu tells me that funerals should be happy occasions. A celebration of a life lived. Let me play for you. Behooven Sonata number nine.”

“Please do. I find myself in need of cheering up,” Chrysalis was only too eager to hear Octavia play. She was a magician when it came to her instrument. “I have never mourned anything's passing before. However, I grew quite attached to Bedpan.” As it turned out, the piece was a very upbeat piece, and before long, she was moving her head and hoof to the beat.

When she was finished, Octavia asked, “How was your morning?”

“It was very nice,” Chrysalis smiled at the memory, “I served my Mistress her tea, where I totally accidentally on purpose made two errors which I will be happy to pay for later after the Day Court is concluded.”

“Sometimes it is good to be naughty,” Octavia chuckled knowingly, “Lulu should be asleep by now, so I'm going to go and join her. Enjoy your day,” she leant in remarkably close, so that just in case anypony else was nearby, they couldn’t hear, “Chrysalis.”

Chrysalis nuzzled her friend, “Enjoy yours, Octavia.”

~ ~ ~

Later that afternoon, a new guard, a particularly large and very intimidating looking earth pony mare knocked on Chrysalis's door. “The Princess has returned to her room, ma’am.”

Chrysalis, disguised as Wayfair, opened her door and she had to think for a moment what the new guard’s name was. Then it came to her. “Thank you, Miss Steel Shoe,” she beamed, totally not intimidated by the fact the mare looked carved from stone, “I like what you've done with your mane today.”

Steel Shoe blushed, which on a mare her size looked utterly adorable, because most of her mane was hidden under a golden helmet, “U-Um, thank you…”

“You're welcome!” the disguised Chrysalis smiled warmly at her as she walked past in her maid's dress. She got the impression that not many ponies paid Steel Shoe a compliment like that, and the mare deserved to feel good about herself.

In her room, Celestia was sat at her desk, ostensibly studying some paperwork. As soon as Wayfair entered, she looked up. “I spent a lot of my time training Bedpan, but I thought you'd be far easier to train.” There was a carefully measured note of disappointment in her voice, “The seeping time I could almost forgive, but that smile you had on your face while stirring the sugar, no training can correct that.”

“You are right Mistress,” Chrysalis said with a bow of her head, “It was unforgivable.”

“Forelegs on the bed and tail up high,” Celestia ordered, “I shall see if I can find forgiveness for your errors.”

“Yes Mistress!” Chrysalis hurried over to the bed and, like she had done so many times before, she bent over, and she placed her forelegs out in front of her. At the same time, she lifted up her tail and spread her hind legs wide to show herself off.

Behind her, Celestia took the time to admire the purple unicorn’s exposed marehood and ass offered to her on a silver platter. “Since it was only two errors, I'll limit myself to two instruments, but your input would be welcome as I have four to choose from. Crop, tawes, whip or hooves. Your choice, pet.”

“Hooves and whip, Mistress.” Chrysalis made her choice, not that it was a difficult one. “You said the tawes was only to be used if I had committed a serious infraction of your rules.”

Smiling warmly, Celestia ran a horseshoe clad forehoof over Wayfair’s upturned ass cheeks. “Well spoken pet, now to warm you up. Don't lose count, or I'll have to start over from one.” The Princess then removed her golden shoes and placed them near her desk. Without further word or warning, the first strike from a descending forehoof landed soundly on the purple mare’s buttock.

“I underst...” Chrysalis’s sentence was interrupted by the first strike, a strike that hit her ass hard, making the mare lurch forwards on the bed from the sheer force of it! “AaAAAH o-one, Mistress!”

Strike after strike landed, sweet pain exploding across Chrysalis’s jiggling buttocks as she danced about, her body striving to avoid the blows even as her mind screamed and whimpered for more, always more. The alicorn’s hoof burned from the force of delivering such a spanking – really, having her over her lap, at least, would have been easier – as Celestia ran the count up to ten.

One, two, three, Chrysalis screamed, and she counted. It was a cycle the two fell into quickly; slap, scream, count, repeat. By the time they reached five, Chrysalis was hopping from hind hoof to hind hoof, squealing and moaning with equal parts pain and pleasure, but there was no denying just how her pussy so easily dripped down her inner thighs, the juices of her arousal standing out starkly against the purple of her legs. Chrysalis moaned and panted and turned plaintive eyes on her Mistress whenever she dared to stop to take a breath.

At the eighth strike, the changeling reached her much needed climax, screaming out the number eight so loudly that the Princess was thankful her rooms were soundproofed. While she was still riding the high of her orgasm, Celestia struck her for number nine, which the quivering unicorn stumbled on, but just in time she remembered to count.

On the count of ten, Chrysalis’s hind legs were barely able to keep her up. The mare’s whole body weight was slumped on the bed, a growing puddle of her cum spreading on the bedroom floor between her open hind legs. “That covers the minor infraction of the infusion time,” Celestia said with a degree of satisfaction, “Now for the wilful disregard to mixing in the sugar.” She lowered herself and whispered in Wayfair's ear, “I do like my sugar, sweetness.” She reached for and picked up the cat-o-nine tails that Chrysalis last remembered was in her room. The one she, herself, purchased. “Do try to keep count you naughty, naughty maid.”

There was a noticeable tremble in Chrysalis’s voice, “I-I'll t-try, Mi-Mistress…” in truth, the quivering submissive didn’t know how she was going to be able to count. She was in such a state that her marehood was starting to think for her, the blood leaving her brain and going there instead.

With the wicked looking flogger held in her magic, Celestia swung it with unerring aim at her pet’s already warmed up ass. When Chrysalis began to scream, Celestia laughed and swung all the harder. At the fifth such strike, she moved her target zone from her ass to the unicorn’s heavy, swinging teats.

Celestia was a virtuosa musician, the crop and Chrysalis her instrument. She played them both as Octavia would draw her bow across her cello, so too did Celestia draw the cat across her pet’s vulnerable body. On the tenth strike, she swung it so the many strands wrapped around her waist and hit both teats in one swing.

When the cat-o-nine tails reached Chrysalis’s marehood for the first time, when the many strands hit her puffy, engorged labia, the pain lover climaxed again. On the sixteenth strike, when Celestia swung the flogger in such a way that the strands hit not only her pussy but her clitoris as well, Chrysalis came a third time.

On that third time, the vastly overstimulated mare abandoned the counting, for her brain was well and truly scrambled, and her hind legs were quivering so hard that were it not for the bed, she would have been in a crumpled mess on the floor.

With the count at sixteen, Celestia stopped, even though she planned to go to twenty. There was little point, if her toy couldn’t count. However, that didn’t mean their session was at an end. She herself had not cum. Yet. “I fear my forgetful maid needs some other form of punishment…” she let that hang ominously in the air.

“S-So-Sorry M-Mistress...” Chrysalis whimpered on the bed. She was sweaty from her ordeal, the fur on her face was matted with her tears. Her rear end was lit up with bruises from the alicorn’s hooves as well as numerous welts from the cat.

Celestia then moved around the bed so that her pet could see the disappointment on her face and then, she made two items appear in front of her. One was the white strap on that had been in Chrysalis’s room, and the other was an exceptionally long, very thick anal plug that she had definitely not bought. “At least I can use you to lube this toy up.”

Enveloped in a glowing yellow aura, the anal plug moved from Chrysalis’s view. Seconds later, she felt the tip of it insert itself inside her sopping wet vagina, where Celestia pumped it in and out of her. “O-Oh...ooooOOOH b-blessed Mother!” she wailed, feeling the anal plug thrust in and out of her very well lubricated tunnel and her juices leaked all the harder down her inner thighs.

All too soon, the large anal plug moved from that hole to the purple unicorn’s tail hole and, with a stiff, solid thrust, she forced the toy deep inside Chrysalis’s anal cavity. Once it was seated, she revealed a feature of the plug. Amid the mare’s screams, Celestia proceeded to inflate the plug inside her until Chrysalis’s scream went up two whole octaves. Too late, the dominant alicorn found herself wishing she had recorded this session. She’d have to remember for the next time.

Once she was happy that the anal plug was not coming out unless she allowed it, Celestia magically pulled the straps of the stallionator up her hind legs and, when she had it secured in place, she walked behind her drooling pet. “You're still conscious,” she said like it was an affront to her, “I'll have to do something about that.” Without further ceremony, she reared up, mounted Chrysalis and thrust the whole toy inside her all the way to the hilt.

While there had been a hearty scream from Chrysalis following the insertion of the anal plug – due to her having not taken anything in that hole before – there was a fresh scream of, “M-Mi-Miiiiiiiiistresssss!” as she felt the alicorn force the long, exceedingly long, faux cock deep inside her.

Slamming forward with hot, hard thrusts and caring nothing for any semblance of foreplay, Celestia was thoroughly enjoying herself. Chrysalis had a wet willing hole that was worth jamming her dick in - there was no other debate that needed to happen before she fucked them both into a state of bliss. Each slam of her hips sent a lewd wet noise through the air that was thick with both their arousals, but it was hard to hear over the sound of frantic flesh clapping to flesh, not to mention the depraved, slutty moans that started to pour from Chrysalis’s throat.

Even with Celestia’s dominating forehoof pressed down on her neck to keep her in place, the disguised changeling wasn’t having any trouble making one Tartarus of a scene.

“Hmmmm, listen to yourself, you naughty, naughty maid!” Celestia grinned and thrust forward hard enough to lodge herself down to the very base of the plastic cock she wore, like she was trying to force as much as she could inside her pet. Her hips rolled from side to side as she felt Chrysalis’s pussy grind against her shaft, teasing the walls and seeing just how far she could jam herself forward before used her safe word. “I bet everypony in the palace can hear you moaning like a hungry slut!”

And if it hadn’t been for the magic that soundproofed the rooms, that taunt would have been absolutely true indeed.

Lost in the lustful throes of rutting her pet, Celestia resumed slapping forward. She pulled her faux prick back only to lunge back in as deep as she could manage once more, making Chrysalis squeak in between her taunts. Chrysalis was thrown into spasms of pleasure as Celestia started to jam forward harder and harder, lunging herself down to the base just as she tightened the grasp of her hoof a little further on her throat.

Celestia kept up that same frenetic pace for several long minutes until, after three or four particularly deep and savage thrusts of her hips that drove the moulded dick right into Chrysalis’s cervix, the alicorn came with an Equestria shattering scream of pleasure that almost deafened the mare underneath her.

The battering of her cervix proved to be too much for Chrysalis to take. As Celestia was holding her in the hilted position, she choked out her safe word, “L-Li-Lime…”

As soon as she heard that, Celestia responded like ice cold water had been doused all over her fire. Instantly, she released the pressure of her hoof on the unicorn’s neck, and at the same time she magically deflated the anal plug. She slowly, carefully, pulled out of her pet’s dripping marehood but she did leave the plug where it was. The gape of her stretched pussy was a sight to behold. “I do hope that my maid will do better serving the tea tomorrow.”

“I-I-I'll d-do better, Mistress…”

Tenderly, now the session was over, Celestia assisted Chrysalis with getting off the bed. “Open your mouth,” she ordered her gently. All weary and sweaty, Chrysalis obediently opened her mouth and then her Mistress inserted the short end of the stallionator, which tasted of herself, in her pet's mouth so that the long end hung under her chin and down her neck. “You may take the anal plug out whenever you wish. Make sure both are clean before you report in tomorrow.” Then, Celestia affectionately nuzzled the side of Chrysalis's neck. “You are dismissed to do as you please.”

“Thank you, Mistress,” was what Chrysalis tried to say, instead, thanks to the toy she held in her mouth, it came out as a tired slurred murmur that barely resembled any known language. Once she had gone, Celestia inspected the bedsheets and, after deciding they were clean enough to sleep in, the alicorn went back to her desk by her balcony to do some work until she was due to meet her sister for her evening meal.

Staggering her way back to her room, Chrysalis discovered there were no guards at her door anymore. She barely made it inside when fatigue caught up with her and she crumpled on the floor in a heap. An exhausted sigh left her lips before her magic at last faded and Wayfair’s form melted into that of the former Queen. There she lay for most of the rest of the day, sleeping to get over what she had just experienced.

Later that day, when they met in their private dining room, Celestia sat across from her younger sister with a wide smile on her face. A smile that had been there since she had rutted her pet into oblivion. When Luna enquired as to the cause of her sister’s good mood, Celestia replied, “I think I'm starting to figure it out.”

Hearing that, Luna simply responded with a smile.

Chapter 12 - Love, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Canterlot

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The rest of the week for Chrysalis – and for Wayfair - vanished in a daily routine of maid duty. Every morning was the same; change the linens, make the bed, re-shelve the books, dust the ornaments and clean the floors. Wednesday and Friday had the added bonus of tea that needed serving.

Little did Chrysalis realise that this particular Friday would be slightly different. As Wayfair entered her Mistress’s rooms, she saw – not Celestia, but Sunny Day - standing on the balcony with a tea set and a coffee pot next to her on the table. “Hey there,” Sunny Day turned to her with a welcoming smile on her face, “It's good to see you this morning. I got you some coffee, unless you really want tea?”

“Sunny!” Wayfair beamed a wide genuine smile, “Aren't you a sight for sore eyes! I ain't seen you in a long while,” the purple unicorn crossed over the room and she nuzzled the pure white pegasus, “Coffee works for me.”

Graciously, Sunny Day poured a generous coffee for her good friend and then she poured a tea for herself. “I’ve been busy being a Whinnyapolis delegate and all,” she giggled, and looked out into the room, “That Princess you work for sure can make a mess, can’t she?”

Playing along, Wayfair giggled behind her hoof like a filly on a first date, “You're not wrong, Sunny, but you know? I like the way she makes a mess.”

“I’m not sure I'm cut out to be a maid,” Sunny Day shrugged her shoulders, “But to each their own. Do you think you can get away for a weekend?”

Just as she had started to magically clear away the atrocious mess left in the bedroom, starting with levitating the books back onto the shelves from whence they came, Wayfair paused and thought about it. “A whole weekend? I'm sure I could get some time off, what did you have in mind?”

“That can wait,” Sunny Day smiled and walked over to her lover and kissed her horn, cancelling the unicorn’s magic. “I don't think there'll be a surprise inspection. Tonight is the tour group out of Manehatten. A play called 'Best Little Whorehouse in Canterlot' and tomorrow is a good Opera Carmare. I got us a room in town to get away from this palace.”

“Sweet!” Wayfair cheered, “Count me in for that, Sunny, that sounds like an awesome couple of days!” she was so excited that she clapped her forehooves excitedly as she carefully set the books on the shelf she had picked up and left the rest.

“It's a date!” exclaimed Sunny Day just as excitedly as the unicorn, “I'll stop by and pick you up at four this afternoon. Pack a double overnight bag. You do need to look good at the play and at the opera.” Then, she leant in close and whispered, “Bring some cool toys for us to share too.”

When the pegasus winked salaciously at her, Wayfair giggled, “Oh, don't you worry, I've got some cool toys I know you'll love!”

That sorted, Sunny Day clapped her hooves, “Well, I’ll leave you to your work. See you this afternoon!” she hugged Wayfair tightly and, before she left the room, she gave the mare a most affectionate nuzzle. Alone in the Princess’s quarters, Wayfair – Chrysalis – was left to sit and ponder what had just happened.

She had a date. An actual date. Not just a rut and a good night.

This was a date!

~ ~ ~

Later that day, at four in the afternoon on the dot, there came a knock at Chrysalis’s door. A second after the first knock, Chrysalis, who was already in Wayfair’s form, magically opened her door. The purple unicorn was all dressed up and made up, ready to go out. “I’m ready!” she practically sang the word, thoroughly excited for the weekend ahead of her.

“Let's go then,” Sunny Day smiled, her overnight bag balanced on her back, “I’ve got a taxi waiting for us.”

“After you, hun,” Wayfair walked out of her room, carrying her bag with her held in her glowing magical aura. They hadn’t gone more than a few steps when a thought occurred to her. “Hey, Daydream, d'you mind if I carry my lady's bag?”

Sunny Day smiled warmly at her lover, “Sure thing, sugar.”

Wayfair blushed, for the smile that the white pegasus gave her warmed her heart and soul like the sun warmed her body. “It'd be my pleasure, babes,” she easily extended her magic to allow her to carry the second bag beside her own in her magical aura.

Outside the palace, both mares entered the waiting taxi, “We're going to the hotel first to drop off the bags. The play is at seven so we can get a bite to eat. Your choice.”

“I would love a quick bite,” Wayfair playfully wiggled her eyebrows at her lover, “And some food sounds like a good idea too.”

Sunny Day rolled her eyes in a good natured fashion, “You're just going to have to wait on dessert, hun.”

“I can wait. Would my lady grant me a kiss for now?”

As the taxi began to move, Sunny Day looked up to the roof of the vehicle with a hoof to her chin, apparently deep in thought, but with a sly smile spreading over her face, “How about I loan you one,” she said presently, “Then you have to pay it back!”

Without further ado, the pegasus kissed the unicorn full on the lips, making her eyes go wide, then a second later, she smiled into the kiss. When it was eventually broken, she licked her lips, “I believe I should now repay my debt, huh?”

Smirking, the pegasus held up a hoof, “With interest.”

“With interest…” Wayfair left that hanging in the air as she leant in to kiss her lover, and in doing so, she skilfully used her tongue to explore the pegasus's mouth. At the same time, she hugged her in her forelegs and her hoof gently stroked one of the mare’s ears.

The disguised changeling could feel it was all going very well indeed right up to the moment that her tongue entered the pegasus's mouth and then, she felt an intense worry crop up in her. As soon as she felt the change in emotions, Wayfair gently pulled back, concern on her face. “Too much interest, Sunny?”

Sunny Day gently moved her head alongside Wayfair's and she soothingly stroked the unicorn’s ears. The fact that she had taken the time to ask if she was alright warmed her heart, “Paid in full,” she said softly, “But I'm not one to be in debt.”

“Hmhmmmm noted,” Wayfair purred as she nuzzled Sunny Day's ear and she affectionately stroked the mare’s other ear, “I do love your hooves on my ears…”

“Fancy that?” Sunny Day smiled, giving her lover her absolute best bedroom eyes, “I do love my hooves on your ears as well. You know, your hooves feel nice too.”

“I'm glad to hear it!” Wayfair then extremely gently caressed Sunny Day's ears from the base all the way up to the tip, and Chrysalis was pleased to see that her research on equine erogenous zones had not been a wasted endeavour.

When the taxi stopped at their destination, Sunny Day reluctantly disentangled herself from the unicorn’s legs. “It’s time to check in,” she said, though she did move her head back to give a light kiss to her lover’s nose while the cabbie opened the door for them to get out. “You still have our bags?”

Caught by surprise, Wayfair coughed and blushed, then she remembered what she was supposed to be doing and nodded, her cheeks bright red. “Yes ma'am, I have the bags, right here!” to demonstrate, she hefted them up in her magic.

As it turned out, the Canterlot Inn was a four star stable. When they entered, Sunny Day walked straight over to the check in counter, where she got the keys to their room. “Room two zero four is us…” she led the way to the elevator and laughed teasingly, “Oh, I don't know if they have these all the way out in Trottingham,” she giggled as she pushed a button next to some doors that opened with a 'ding'.

“I know Trottingham is behind the times, but we have recently heard of this strange invention called an elevator,” Wayfair rolled her eyes and giggled, “Most of us even have electricity and indoor toilets too!”

Stepping into the elevator, Sunny Day couldn’t really argue that point, because Canterlot’s streets were still lit by antiquated gas lights. “I do miss the outhouse.”

“I don't,” Wayfair shuddered in the elevator car, “It was always covered in spiders, or worse.”

“Spiders?” questioned Sunny Day with a raised eyebrow, “I'll have to let Lulu know to keep Harry under wraps…” she giggled as she opened the room door with her card key so that Wayfair could enter ahead of her.

“Oh wow, what a nice room!” the purple unicorn walked in and tried to look everywhere at once in appreciation. The first thing she noticed was there was only one bed. It was a pretty big one, but still, there was only one. “One bed huh? Adventurous!”

“Frugal, more like,” Sunny Day sprang into the room and jumped up on the bed like an overgrown filly. “Bonus! It's comfy.”

Jumping up onto the bed next to her lover and Mistress, Wayfair let out a joyous giggle, “That just means we get to snuggle more!”

“That we do, but somepony not a million miles away should be picking our dinner spot.”

“I can do that!” Wayfair squealed in mid-bounce, a thought coming immediately to her mind. “I have it on good authority that the Hayburger is the place to eat at.” She was taking a hunch that this wasn’t the date to go super high end cuisine. Judging by the smile she received, she had played it right.

“I do like a frugal mare,” Sunny Day said approvingly, “There is one near the theatre, unlike the opera house, then I get to pick tomorrow's meal.” She then slid off the bed. “Now, the challenge is to not mess up my dress eating.”

The pegasi’s giggle gave Wayfair an idea, a D/S idea that on the surface would look innocent. “I can help with that. Feeding you would be quite hot, Sunny.”

“That all depends on if you're an even messier eater than me. I'm willing to chance it!” Sunny Day was all smiles as she led the way from the hotel to the Hayburger joint. The walk to the diner wasn’t an awfully long one. Once they were there, the white mare proceeded to order a half pounder burger and a super-size fries with a vanilla shake with an apple pie dessert. Wayfair opted for a three quarter pounder burger with a large chocolate shake, cheesy fries and a large ice cream. That met with Sunny Day’s approval. “It takes a lot of energy to fly, I guess that goes for horn use too?”

“It does,” Wayfair replied as the two mares walked over to an empty table and sat down, “And well, I like being curvy. Curvy requires burgers and ice cream.”

That was a philosophy that Sunny Day could well agree with. “I like curvy,” she said with a wink just as a waitress on roller skates bought their food over on a large tray.

“Me too!” Wayfair took deep breath of her food and took great pleasure inhaling the aroma of her very unhealthy food. “I love having something to hold on to,” Wayfair then paused, because she noted Sunny Day looking pointedly at her now unwrapped burger and then at her. She got the hint. “If my lady would allow me the honour of feeding her?”

As Wayfair lifted the burger up in her magic and offered it to her, Sunny Day opened her mouth and she took a big bite, chewed, then swallowed. “Now,” she sighed contentedly, “This is the life.” The rest of the meal went very well. Wayfair fed Sunny Day and then she would feed herself, until they had both eaten their fill. At the end of it, the unicorn dutifully cleaned her Mistress’s muzzle with a napkin, “Well true to your word,” Sunny Day smiled, “Our dresses are not messed up. It's good to have magic. I still would have rather used my tongue to clean your muzzle.”

At that, Wayfair simply raised an eyebrow and she pointedly looked around them at the families - and the foals in the families – eating in the diner. “I’ve heard that early education is good for foals.”

Both mares shared a good natured laugh as they exited the Hayburger for the pleasant chill of the late evening. The gas lamps had been lit, bathing Canterlot in an otherworldly glow, “I think you'll like this show,” Sunny started to explain, “The lead mare is a rising star from Manehatten,” she then lowered her voice, “Tia has actually met with her parents.”

“Really? I've never been to Manehatten…” Wayfair thought for a moment, suddenly intrigued and interested, “Who is the star, and why would Celestia meet her parents?”

“The mare's name is Thespian,” explained Sunny Day, a fond smile crossing her muzzle, “Her father is Baron, and he owns a lot of land plus he’s the CEO of the Manehatten Times newspaper as well as some other publications. Her mother is Snowfall, and a nice pony to have tea with. I think she is as big a snoop as my sister, but I'd never say that.”

“Huh,” Wayfair pondered that as they walked along the sidewalk to the theatre. Owning land had never been an interest before, neither had newspapers. There had only ever been the Hive, with her in control of it. “That’s cool. I mean it, too. That really is cool. So, what's this play about, and what role does this Thespian play?”

Sunny Day playfully rolled her eyes, “I thought the title would say it all.”

Of course, Wayfair knew the play was called ‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Canterlot’, but that didn’t necessarily mean she knew what the actual play was about. “You never know,” she started in her defence, “It could have been one of those new ironic titles, like the play, Trifles.”

“Brothels haven't always been legal in Canterlot,” carried on Sunny Day, though she appreciated where Wayfair was coming from with the Trifles play. “Mona got one when the owner left. She’s in good with the guard, but a snoop reporter found out about the illegal activity and tries to get the place shut down.” As the pegasus spoke, they meandered pleasantly through the darkening streets, “The whole thing is a musical. I thought you might like to experience one.”

For a few moments, Wayfair was distracted by the gas street lights that burned a few feet overhead. They were like thousands of fireflies trying to hold back the darkness of the night. “Is that one where they sing all the time instead of talking, or just sing when there are songs?”

“In this, they sing when there are songs,” clarified Sunny Day, “But I warn you, there ae a lot of songs. Opera is where they seem to sing all the time.”

“Ah yes,” Wayfair grinned, “I see the difference now. I like opera, a lot more than I thought I would, so I'm sure I'll like this too.”

“It is a fun romp, so I hope you do!”

“I do like romps,” Wayfair gave Sunny Day a very suggestive wink, “And they're always fun.”

“I do hope so,” Sunny Day then, when they reached the theatre, dug into a cleverly hidden pocket of her dress for the show tickets, which she gave to the ticket taker at the door who allowed them to enter. “Being 'delegates' we got some real good seats.”

“Sweet!” Wayfair walked through the many classical columns that bordered the façade of the centuries old theatre, “I love being delegates!” she then whispered on the way in past the lobby, “Maybe sometimes we should actually do some delegating?”

“I believe I delegated some hooves not too long ago,” Sunny Day giggled as she led the way through the entrance lobby and up the stairs to the vast auditorium.

“I remember,” Wayfair bumped her flank to her lover’s own, before she was singularly amazed at how big the inside of the auditorium. It was even bigger than the grand ballroom in the palace. “You can delegate them again, any time you want…”

“I’ll have to check my schedule to see if I'm free this evening,” Sunny Day said as she negotiated the stairs and the rows of seats, some of which were already filled out. “For now we should get our seats.” Wayfair liked the sound of that, and to show it, she had a pronounced prance in her walk, a walk that showed off her naturally large teats to her partner.

Once they were seated, and the auditorium full, the play started. When it was in full flow, Wayfair took note of two important things. Once, that the play itself was very campy, and two, Mona – the lead - had teats like her own. That, and the outfits she wore showed them off very well. Then again, all the mares were in some very sexy costumes.

Watching the show, Wayfair was rather taken by the raunchy costumes the cast wore and, more particularly, the way the costumes showed off just enough fur, the way they looked like they'd fall off at any moment but were in fact quite sturdy. She knew from watching the fashion channel that it was called ‘titillation theory’.

When the intermission came, Sunny Day leant across in her seat, “So,” she started, “Do you wanna go to the bar, or chill right here?”

“I can chill here, Sunny, if that's alright with you.” Wayfair was comfortable where she was. Especially with the white wing draped over her back like it was.

“Totally,” Sunny Day agreed quickly, “It isn't true we Whinnyapolans have to drink all the time…” she paused for a moment like she was reconsidering her statement, “Maybe just a lot of the time!” after a burst of giggles, she asked, “Liking the show so far?”

When Wayfair replied, in a whisper that was not a totally quiet whisper, she said, “I'm not a big drinker, alcohol doesn't agree with me.” She then smiled, “I totally love the show. It's the right kind of camp fun!”

Hearing her lover’s comment to alcohol, Sunny Day tilted her head curiously. “Not at all, or only a little at times?” she asked, “You seemed fine with the wine.”

“Pardon me,” Wayfair chuckled, “I meant to say that the hangover after too much alcohol doesn't agree with me.”

“Okay,” Sunny Day understood what the unicorn meant, “I get that. I won't push it on you, but sometimes a good wine does make a meal. Other times, a good shake makes the meal.”

After joining in with her lover’s giggles, Wayfair asked, “How are you enjoying the show?” then she snuggled up close to her partner, remarkably close.

“Seeing all those dancing mares dance like that is making me hot,” commented Sunny Day with a look on her face like she was thinking of something way ahead, “I look forward to getting back to the hotel, but we are not leaving early.”

Once the play had ended, and the cast had taken their final bows and the curtain had fallen, Sunny Day stood and stretched her legs. “I'm ready to go back to the hotel. I do hope you remembered to pack the sensual lingerie we bought.”

“That,” Wayfair winked as she too stood up and stretched, “And I bought a few other things I know you'll like.”

“Did you enjoy your first musical theatre?” asked Sunny Day as they made their way out of the theatre.

“I did, a lot,” Wayfair nuzzled as she walked along with Sunny Day, she walked with her rear touching the pegasus’s, “I really enjoyed the company too.”

“So did I,” the white pegasus shivered as they left the theatre, because evening was long gone, taken over by the cold chill of night, and nights on Canterlot Mountain were cold. “Sunny isn't known here, so I'm sorry we couldn't go backstage.”

“That's okay, really,” Wayfair wasn’t disappointed in the slightest that they weren’t going backstage, she was more concerned with what was going to happen back in the hotel. That was taking all her attention, and rightly so. “I've had a great time with you, Sunny.”

“Let's continue to have that great time,” Sunny replied, and the two mares made the short trot back to the hotel they were staying at for the weekend. Fortunately, at that time of night, there weren’t many other ponies around on the sidewalk to slow them down. As soon as they entered their room, Sunny Day started to undress herself. “I want to start with some no pain fun.”

“That sounds good to me, hun,” Wayfair said before using her magic to remove the dress from herself. She watched Sunny Day don the sensual lingerie they had bought from the front of Sassy Saddles's shop and get on the bed, then she followed suit and dressed in her own lacy underwear set.

While Sunny Day toyed with her smallish teats, the purple unicorn strutted up and down the hotel room, showing off her body for her appreciation. And she did appreciate it, a very great deal. “You are one beautiful unicorn, Wayfair.”

Smirking, Wayfair seductively made her way onto the bed, “I'm a lucky unicorn, to be with such a beautiful pegasus.”

“Please lie on your back,” Sunny Day ordered after soaking in the unicorn’s genuine compliment. She was pleased to see that she was obeyed immediately when the purple mate laid on her back with her hind legs spread. Once she was in position, the pegasus moved on top over in the classic sixty nine position. “First to cum wins or loses?”

On the bed underneath Sunny Day, Wayfair found that gazing up at her lover’s beautiful marehood, she didn’t really care either way. She was a winner already! Still, she thought it best to stick with the traditional. “Loses babes.”

“Fast and furious it is!” without further ado, Sunny Day dived down on Wayfair’s delicious looking marehood with her mouth while she used one of her forehooves to play with the unicorn’s huge teats. The other forehoof went straight to the purple mare’s inviting tailhole.

She made no effort at all to lower herself onto Wayfair's waiting muzzle.

“AaaaAAAH aaaAAAAH buuuuuuck!” Wayfair screamed out loud, not caring one little bit if the walls were soundproofed or not. As she felt the pegasus’s tongue lash over her glistening wet labia and clit. She wailed and moaned in frustration as she tried without success to reach Sunny Day's marehood.

Although Wayfair tried, she couldn’t reach the pegasus, so she resorted to using her magic to pull Sunny Day’s crotch down onto her face so she could attack her slit with her tongue. But, the pegasus doubled her efforts and ultimately, Wayfair came, losing the game.

After her victory, and while Wayfair was riding out the sheer bliss of her climax, Sunny Day at last lowered her ass down onto the unicorn’s face, were she ground down hard on her muzzle so she could get off too. Underneath her, Wayfair was acutely reminded of the Giant Fuck Toy incident, and she enjoyed being used as such to pleasure her Mistress.

After Sunny Day – and by extension, Celestia – had reached her orgasm, the pegasus lifted off of the heaving unicorn's muzzle. “Could you please change to your true form?”

“Of course, Sunny,” Obligingly, the changeling summoned the green magical flames and in an instant, Wayfair was gone, replaced with Chrysalis, in the lingerie.

Kneeling over her, Sunny Day stared between Chrysalis’s spread open hind legs. She stared at the hard shiny black chitin body, she stared at the numerous holes in her legs and at her glistening wet green inner folds. She wanted to dive into that pussy, but after a couple of nervous swallows, she knew she couldn’t do it. “Please change back to Wayfair.”

Once more, the green flames came, surrounded Chrysalis and, just as quickly as she changed before, she was Wayfair. She ran a forehoof along Sunny Day's hind leg, “Better?”

As soon as Chrysalis was gone and Wayfair returned, Sunny Day took a long slow lick through the unicorn’s moist folds and then she kissed the hard clitoris. “You have your own beauty in your true form, but I'm not ready yet. I-I’m sorry…”

“Sunny,” Wayfair moaned long and low, “Hmmm Sunny…you don't need to apologise, I understand…”

“Thank you,” situation saved, Sunny Day calmed herself and prepared to move forwards, “Now for the forfeit since I won. Please order us a dessert via the room service. I'd like a sangria with that, but you may have a drink of your choice. When they knock, I want you in the middle of the room pretending to pole dance.”

“Ooooh,” Wayfair liked the sound of that, “Just like they did in the play! I can do that, Sunny!” the unicorn smiled to herself, knowing that she had to take it slow and not push too hard. After all, Sunny Day had said that Chrysalis was beautiful in her way, and that for her was a win! When she ordered from the room service, she ordered an extra-large banana caramel cream dessert, with extra cream, sangria and beer.

Just ten minutes later and there came a knock on the door. Wayfair was ready. She knew what she had to do, and, in the middle of the room, she pretended to do the sexiest pole dance she could think of. “Enter!” called out Sunny Day from the bed.

The waiter, a pleasant looking old earth pony stallion, pushed in a trolley and the first thing he saw was the dancing Wayfair, and he suddenly found he had something to look at on his rear hooves. “Um,” he blushed, aware he was about to commit a social faux pas, “Do you want me to leave the trolley or set up the table?”

“Table please,” Sunny Day knew exactly what she was doing as she watched Wayfair dance, and the mare’s hefty teats flop from her silken lingerie.

The poor waiter almost ran into a chair pushing the trolley to the table, because he wasn’t looking where he was going. He was half watching his job and half watching Wayfair. Finally finished, the waiter look to Sunny Day, who was on her side with a hoof thrusting between her open hind legs. “F-f-finished, ma’am!”

Somewhat reluctantly, the white pegasus slid off the bed and she moved past the transfixed stallion to get fifty bits for his tip while her unicorn danced. “Thank you for the service,” she graced him with a smile, “We both appreciate it.”

The earth pony stallion gratefully took the bits and then he bowed to Sunny Day and then to Wayfair who was still dancing. “It was my pleasure, good mares.” And he meant it too. It wasn’t every day he was greeted to a sight like the one he saw moments ago. As he took the tip and the trolley, he didn’t try any longer to hide his erection. With it slapping his belly, he took his leave.

“Tia could have never done that,” remarked Sunny Day when they were alone once more. “Life is good. You may stop with the dance, but just know that I was enjoying it as much as he was.”

“Hmmmm, I was enjoying it too, Sunny,” Wayfair smiled as she performed a twirl and a bend at the waist to show of her marehood to finish her dance.

“You may feed me dessert, and I shall feed you, but first!” Sunny Day declared, removing her lingerie, “There’s no need for a laundry bill.” Following the pegasus’s lead, Wayfair likewise removed her nightwear. “Get on the bed and we'll get started,” she said once they were both naked. She then moved the creamy banana dessert to the bed; she poured her wine into a glass and the beer into another glass.

“Yes ma'am!” obediently, Wayfair hopped up on the bed, ready on her back.

Sunny Day then spread a bit of the creamy dessert on Wayfair's teats and then she took her sweet time eating the dessert from her impromptu platter. “Wonderful choice of dessert,” she licked her lips, tasted the banana and caramel mix while Wayfair whimpered in sheer pleasure.

Dessert lapped up, Sunny Day moved to the table for a drink of her wine, then she went back to the bed. “Your turn, but I warn you, if you use my wings as a dinner plate you best know how to preen afterwards.”

Getting up, Wayfair snickered, “I think that might be best left to the next date,” she winked and then she used her magic to spread a generous amount of the creamy banana dessert carefully on the pegasus’s wing joints, right where the limbs met the body, then she proceeded to slowly and sensuously lick it off.

Naturally, there were lots of shivers and pleasured moans from Sunny Day while Wayfair was doing that, and more than one time where she laughed because she was being tickled, but she didn't stop the unicorn. Once she was done, she kissed the pegasus’s nipples, “Okay cutie pie, you're up!”

Ruefully, Sunny Day stretched her wings and she noted that her feathers were untouched by either dessert or lips. “Well played,” she conceded, before she struck back, escalating their little game by slathering dessert on Wayfair's horn from the tip all the way down to and on her head. She then deepthroated the horn and moved in a full circle so her tongue could reach all of the cream.

While Sunny Day was busy licking, chewing – gently - and swallowing the cream from the unicorn’s horn, Wayfair was busy making lots of pleasured mewling noises. When the pegasus began suckling on her horn so hard that it might come off her head, Wayfair arched back, and she began to leak profusely from her marehood. “W-Wo-Wow...” she lay cross eyed on the bed.

Taking another drink of her wine, Sunny Day smirked at the heavily panting unicorn, “Is the challenge accepted?”

As she felt the other mare’s weight back on the bed, Wayfair grunted, “Uh huh...” Once she had sufficiently recovered from her extremely near orgasm, she gathered up a healthy helping of the dessert and she smeared it, banana, caramel and cream, up the entirety of the leading edges of the pegasus’s wings. When she started to suck it off, she added nibbles and licks to the sensitive limbs.

Wayfair was aided in her efforts by an impressive wing boner and before she was done, she had reduced the pegasus to a moaning, drooling mess on the bed. “Hmm,” the unicorn made no effort at all to keep the satisfaction from her voice, “I think somepony enjoyed that.”

On her front on the bed, Sunny Day barely moved. “Just give me a minute to get my wings back to my sides…”

Wayfair took the opportunity to have a celebratory swallow of her beer. “Take your time.”

As it happened, the ‘minute’ took four minutes. “Okay,” she said once she was able to move again, “Well I guess it’s main course time for me. I thought my horn job would have done it,” she then took half the remaining dessert and she spread if from Wayfair's dock to just above the folds of her marehood. She followed that up with an assault from her lips, teeth and her tongue, covering all the surface between and including both holes.

There was no way that Wayfair could endure all that. Mere minutes later, along with a shaking hind leg, the unicorn reached her climax with the three S's - scream, shake and squirt. Now it was Sunny Day’s turn to wear a victorious look on her face. “Dessert with a bonus dessert and a show!”

Sunny Day continued until Wayfair was thoroughly clean from her tail all the way to her belly. That was enough to draw another climax from the unicorn, who laid on her back panting hard with her legs spread wide apart. The pegasus just continued until her clean-up was done, with no complaint of Wayfair making more of a mess. “Th-That was amazing…” she breathed and after a short time, she got up, “I believe it's my turn?”

“I'd take bows for the final curtain,” Sunny Day said as she took a last sip of her wine before getting back on the bed, “But I'm sure you'll do what you can to upstage me.”

“We'll see...” Wayfair slathers what was left of the banana caramel cream dessert all over the pegasus’s crotch from her tailhole up to her teats. Then, she got down low and she started to eat the white mare’s asshole like it was the dessert, while at the same time she magically massaged her wing joints.

“Cheating!” screamed Sunny Day, “Y-Yo-You’re cheating! It’s sooooo good!” the squirming screaming pegasus reached her orgasm in under a minute and she got to enjoy three more out because Wayfair did not let up. The unicorn moved from the pegasus’s tongue polished back door up to her marehood, where she delved right in to the sopping wet tunnel with tongue and teeth, at the same time she extended her magic from the wing joints out to the primary feathers.

When she came for the fourth time, Sunny Day was utterly spent, and she went limp and boneless on the bed. Slowly and lovingly, Wayfair kissed her way up the pegasus’s tired body from her marehood to her neck, where she cuddled her close to her.

“Thank you for a very entertaining evening,” Sunny Day practically purred in Wayfair’s legs, “I think I'll sleep in tomorrow…”

Behind her, Wayfair kissed her lover’s ears, “I think that's a good call, Sunnybuns.”

Chapter 13 - True Love

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After waking up early the next morning, Sunny Day became Celestia for the amount of time it took her to raise the sun and then she changed back. Seeing that she had not woken the sleeping Wayfair, she decided to snuggle back under the hotel bedsheets with her lover. Eventually, a couple of hours later, the purple unicorn began to stir. “Hmmmmm…” she cracked open an eye and smiled, for she found herself in the small spoon position enveloped in Sunny Day's wings and hooves.

Seeing that Sunny Day was still sleeping, if the snoring was anything to go by, Chrysalis – as Wayfair enjoyed the feathery cocoon for a few more moments and then she kissed the insides of the mare’s primary feathers. A very sleepy pegasus then asked, “Has food arrived?”

Wayfair, who did not move from the feathery blanket, replied, “I don't think so.”

“Then I should still be sleeping,” and with that, Sunny Day went back to sleep, although the snores that came from her were the fakest snores that a pony could make.

Giggling, Wayfair said, “How silly of me!” she then got out of the incredibly warm and extremely comfortable feathery nest and she called the room service to request breakfast be sent up to them. Rather pointedly, there came another fake snore from the pony shaped mound under the bedsheets. “Breakfast is on its way,” Wayfair then laid on the bed behind Sunny Day and she pressed her hefty teats to her back and her muzzle into her neck.

In the fifteen minutes until the food arrived, the 'sleeping' pegasus snuggled into the nuzzle and she pressed backwards against her lover’s hefty teats. “You are exceptionally cute when you're asleep,” she smiled and kissed the pegasus’s neck.

Sunny Day waited for the knock on the door before she spoke, “I'm exceptionally cute all the time. And exceptionally hungry a lot of the time.”

“I can't argue that,” Wayfair snickered as she got up and answered the knock at the door. The arrival of breakfast – blueberry pancakes, Prench toast, cheesy scrambled eggs and steaming hot fresh coffee - was enough to get Sunny Day out of bed and to the table. “Least I know what can get you out of bed now,” the purple mare snickered.

“Careful,” Sunny Day winked, “That’s a state secret.” She sat on the seating pad and watched as Wayfair presented the food to her and gave her a polite bow. “I would like you to please join me for breakfast. Looks like there’s enough for four. Me, myself, and I plus you.”

“I'd love to, Mistress, thank you,” Wayfair sat at the table and looked over the array of food. There certainly was a generous amount of it.

“Well,” Sunny Day mused as she made a start on her scrambled eggs, “It isn't noon yet, and my next activity is after dinner, so you can choose what you'd like to do and lunch.”

“Hmm...” Wayfair covered her moment of indecision by making a dent in her small stack of blueberry pancakes, “What is there to do in Canterlot, that's not MiAC, clothing stores, hayburgers or theatres?”

“There are parks, museums,” Sunny Day’s voice was thick with her food as she chewed, then winked, “A biological warfare camp on the other side of the mountain…”

The purple unicorn mulled that over for a moment, then an idea came to her. “I did see something that caught my attention on Night Club row the other day.”

“Something that is open during the day?”

“Hmhmm,” Wayfair then demolished several slices of her Prench toast as she cast her mind back, “It was a two story affair with like, a casino, with shows, an arcade and an adult play section and it was called…” she tapped her chin with a hoof, “Trixie's Place.”

“Cheater!” Sunny Day spluttered, “That was for our after dinner activity!”

“Oooh!” Wayfair smiled and tucked into her food, she didn’t want the scrambled eggs to go cold, “I’m sorry if I spoiled the surprise, it's just...that building sticks out like a neon warning beacon, you really can’t miss it once you see it.”

Nodding her head, for she knew just what the mare meant, “It’s a new entertainment centre that is extremely over the top. Trixie Lulamoon is a showmare who is on a comeback from some past mistakes.”

The subtext was not lost on Wayfair or on Chrysalis, either. “On the comeback from some past mistakes, huh? That sounds familiar,” she commented with a giggle.

“Her biggest mistake was challenging Celestia's student, so yeah, she’s a lot like you,” while she was sniggering at her own joke, Sunny Day leant over the table and gave Wayfair a cheese and egg flavoured kiss straight to her lips.

“Mmmmmm…” Wayfair didn’t care the kiss was flavoured. She leant into the kiss and she was happy to hold it for as long as is possible, which unfortunately wasn’t as long as she would have liked it to be.

“Do sports interest you?”

“Like Buckball?” asked Wayfair, to which the white pegasus nodded, “I've seen it advertised on the TV sometimes while I’m watch the fashion channel, Buckball I mean. It looks...interesting?” In all honesty, it looked to her like any other sport, several ponies running around in tight clothing chasing a ball.

“Okay,” Sunny Day reached a wing out for her phone. “Wisteria?” the white mare spoke with Celestia’s voice, “Can you get tickets for two dignitaries to today's buckball game? Okay, one p.m., got it, thank you!” she put away her phone and she wore a smug look on her face, “It's good to know the Princess.”

“Such an abuse of power,” Wayfair giggled, “I like it. I like it very much.”

Once the breakfast was complete, a feat that itself took some considerable time – there was a lot of it – Sunny Day leant back and contentedly patted her noticeably rounder belly. “We still some time. Let's take a walk through Noble's Park. It’s pretty and usually empty in the morning.”

“I'm with you, Sunny, a walk would be good to get rid of the breakfast calories,” unfortunately for Wayfair, the burp she let out was rather loud and extremely pronounced, and one she couldn’t hope to hide. Fortunately, her lover saw the funny side of said burp and emitted one of her own that rattled the windows.

The walk to and through the park was a most pleasant one, thanks to the sun being high in the sky and not a cloud to obscure it. Playing the guide, Sunny Day pointed out a couple of landmarks along the way and in the park, most notably Clover’s Gate, which could be seen from the park. “Now,” she said on the way out of the park, “Time for a light lunch. Anything strike your fancy?”

Wayfair surveyed the array of eateries available to her, from an open-air café and a couple of street food vendors. She saw ponies eating at the café and she made her mind up. “That!” she pointed a hoof to what had caught her eye. “Café Diem, I see they serve food.”

“It’s not Donut Joe’s,” Sunny Day passed her judgement, “But I suppose it will do.”

“C'mon, let's be adventurous and try the something new!” Wayfair was practically dragging the white pegasus along like an exuberant foal ‘encouraging’ her mother to hurry to the toy store.

Giggling at her partner’s enthusiasm, Sunny Day followed from the park and across the road to the – for Canterlot – unusual café. “Alright, but I do want to sit outside.” After a nice relaxing lunch, the pegasus suggested they go to the stadium. The game, as it turned out, was Appleloosa Buffalos vs Vanhoover Canucks, the sign of which Sunny Day looked at with a wry smile, “I have to root for the northern team, so you get the southern one.”

“Um...” Wayfair was suddenly presented with the fact that she knew absolutely nothing about sports. “That would be Appleloosa, right?” she giggled at the mare’s roll of her eyes, “Go sports!”

Smirking at her marefriend, Sunny Day stopped at a shop by the stadium to get a hat and pennant for herself and one the same for Wayfair, in the respective team’s colours. “I usually cheer the clock at these events,” she said as she made her way inside, “But now I will cheer for Vanhoover!”

“Go Appleloosa sports!” Wayfair immediately donned her oversized novelty Buffalo shaped hat that made her feel like a yak and, when they reached the seats, she enthusiastically waved her flag, “So,” she leant in to her partner, “This game, they have to get the balls in those little baskets, right?”

“Yeah,” Sunny Day replied, she was confident in that much at least, “And both the pegasus and the earth pony have to touch the ball to score. The unicorn has to fake the opponent where the ball is going and still move the basket in time to catch the ball.”

“I see,” Wayfair thought she saw, and she kind of did, but the nuances of the sport eluded her. “And when that happens, they score a goal, a point? A...win?”

Sunny Day had to laugh. She didn’t laugh at Wayfair, more she laughed with her, because she knew exactly where she was coming from. “The team with the most points when time runs out wins. The team you have has a better record, but they are one of the founding teams for the sport. Apparently.”

Wayfair blushed hard as the stands around them began to fill with fans wearing the colours of both teams, blue for Vanhoover and orange for Appleloosa. “Sorry, I um, we don't have many sports where I'm from…” she decided to leave it at that.

“Sports are a way for ponies to escape day to day life,” Sunny Day commented, “Long ago they were a lot bloodier. Now they are rather peaceful.”

“Oooh,” Wayfair understood, “You mean like training for combat and that became sports?”

Sunny Day smirked, and her ears and feathers perked up now that the stadium was nearing its capacity. The buzz from the assembled crowd was starting to get to even her, “Some sports are still like combat training. Rugby and Hoofball, for instance.”

Wayfair was about to reply to that, when she saw the teams being led on by their respective mascots. A rather comically proportioned shark for the Vanhoover Canucks and a similarly outrageous looking buffalo wearing a headdress as big as it was for the Appleloosa Buffalos. She let out a huge cheer as the teams took to the pitch, a cheer that was way louder than all the ponies near her, making them look at her. “Um,” she shrank in her seat, “Was that wrong?”

“Nope,” Sunny Day sighed as the tutting ponies turned their attention to the pitch where the referee was about to start the game, “Just the typical Canterlot crowd. Prim and proper at all times.”

“In that case,” Wayfair giggled and readied the big orange foam hoof with ‘number 1’ on it, “I'll be sure to be as loud as I can!”

“Please do,” Sunny Day found Wayfair’s boundless enthusiasm extremely refreshing, such a difference to the restrained crowd around them. She decided for once to cheer loudly when the game started, and her team got the ball. Next to her, Wayfair was on her hind hooves waving her foam hoof with abandon when the Buffalos scored the first point.

Ninety minutes later and when the game ended in a draw, with both teams scoring fifteen points each, Sunny Day and Wayfair left the stadium in high spirits. They found themselves aimlessly wandering, with no destination in mind. Their wandering bought them to Platinum Plaza, where the pegasus insisted on taking her marefriend to the museum. “Almost all the museum items are from Celestia’s solo reign, but some Lulu stuff is starting to appear.”

The real reason Sunny Day bought her to the museum was that she wanted Wayfair to see the art that came from the Changeling Invasion. “I show you this to not punish or accuse,” as they were alone with the exhibits, the pegasus spoke with Celestia’s voice, “This is the challenge you need to overcome some day in the future. Earlier I pointed out the art from the Second Griffon War, and today there are griffons in our city.”

“I see…” with Chrysalis’s eyes, Wayfair looked at the paintings, the carvings and, what caught her attention the most was a ten by seven foot diorama, a perfect scale replica of a devastated Canterlot after the days long battle, complete with ruined buildings, ponies and changelings modelled in fighting poses.

Seeing that Wayfair was struggling, Sunny Day nuzzled her cheek, “This was all that Tia could see. She is now looking beyond this as she had eventually looked beyond the Griffon Wars. Time though never hurries its pace.”

“I wish I had known a better way, back then,” Chrysalis was extremely grateful for the nuzzle as she looked intently at the tiny scale figures on the model streets, those forever in a fighting pose and those that had fallen in the fighting. She read aloud the dedication plaque, “Created and donated by Captain Starbright, in memory of Heartbreak Ridge'.”

Extending a wing over the unicorn’s back, Sunny Day held her tight, “Tia wishes she knew a better way to end the second Griffon War. A third party found a better way. A way which...I have learned to accept.”

“And now I'm better,” Wayfair nuzzled Sunny Day’s cheek, “Now I’m with you.”

“Come on,” Sunny Day gently steered the unicorn away from the diorama after what felt like an eternity. “Let’s get back to the hotel, we need to get ready for this evening’s activities.” Wayfair didn’t offer any resistance as she was guided by wing and by hoof back to the hotel. “Super sexy maid outfit for you,” declared the pegasus when they were in their room, “And I think I'm going with the slutty teacher look.”

“Yay!” her mood suddenly improved, Wayfair clapped her hooves excitedly as she lit her horn and magically dressed herself in the sexy maid’s dress she had packed, “You do rock that slutty look so hard, Sunny!”

When she was dressed in her teacher’s outfit, Sunny Day flashed her ass at her lover, “My skirt isn't too long, is it?”

“What?” Wayfair tried and then gave up trying to get her teats into the cut out teddy she wore, “No way! I can see your Sunny buns, so it's just right.”

“I have these for each of us,” Sunny Day said once they were both dressed in their alluring, sexy clothing. She passed Wayfair a long purple cloak that went all the way to the floor and she draped a white cloak over her own shoulders. “The taxi should be here soon, so we can go wait in the lobby.”

Wayfair was about to object to the cloaks when the reason behind them became clear to her. Instead, she hung it around her shoulders and over her back. “These are good thinking,” she said as she used her magic to make sure her hooves were covered, “We don't want to give the taxi driver a nosebleed.”

When they got down to the lobby, they found the taxi was waiting for them, so they wasted no time getting in. “Trixie has had a hard life too,” commented Sunny Day, her thoughts turning to the showmare as the taxi started moving, “She challenged Celestia's student and failed.”

“Hmm, I remember you saying yesterday. So,” Wayfair paused to snuggle into the pegasus’s right wing, “What, she just marched into Ponyville and announced she was challenging her to a fight?”

“More or less,” hearing it said like that, it was almost funny. Almost. “The first time was a misunderstanding, but the second time she had possession of a dangerous artifact beyond her control. Now, she’s working to regain her reputation, and living. And she’s doing well at both.”

“Sounds like a mare who hasn't let life beat her down.”

“Nope, not at all.” Sunny Day treated her contemplative marefriend to an affectionate nuzzle, “When we get there, the ground floor is foal friendly. Arcades, magic shows, and she even has seminars for schoolcolts and fillies to attend. It has established her in the city. The first and second floors are off limits to foals, and you will soon see why.”

Giggling, Wayfair returned the nuzzle with one of her own, “Let me guess, is it because they're all dressed like we are now?”

“Most will be,” Sunny Day agreed with a nod of her head, “There’ll always a few new ponies checking things out. Some of the arcade games are fun, if you want to try any.” She shot her partner a sly look, “I would recommend against the bouncy castle dressed like this.”

When she heard that, Wayfair spluttered out a laugh, a laugh to which the pegasus joined in with, heartily, “I think you're right. Things wouldn't be covered up for very long, would they?” she had to admit, even sat in the back of the taxi, her things were struggling to remain covered.

“Funny thing is,” the white mare mused ruefully, “It would be okay if we had nothing on at all. And, here we are!” They could tell they were at the right place. The two storey building was lit up like a giant Hearths Warming tree, so much so that Wayfair was sure it could be seen from Manehatten.

The next thing Wayfair noted, after the garishly decorated neon building, was the large gathering of ponies, zebras and griffons outside. Several families were leaving, as it was only early in the evening, but there were still a lot of young ones present. “Oh my…” the unicorn hadn’t blinked in what seemed like forever, “It looks so...bright and well, in your face!”

“Trixie is an illusionist,” said Sunny Day as they got out of the taxi, “And she uses modern science for most of her act. As a magic using unicorn, she’s apparently still weak in that area.”

“So...” Wayfair had to struggle to get her brain around that, “Hang on...she's a unicorn, doing illusions, but she doesn't use actual magic?”

“Her skill with magic is limited, so, for the most part, that is true,” Sunny Day clarified as they joined the line and made their way inside the brightly lit building. The marquee of events were listed on the inside, and that caught the pegasus’s attention, “She does have a show at seven thirty, if you'd like to start with that?”

“Oooh I see, I get it,” Wayfair struggled as soon as she set hoof in the ground floor of the building, this time because of the bright lights, the sounds of the arcade machines, the sounds of the users of said machines – both cheers and boos – and the excited squeals of many foals running around, “And yes, please, I want to see her show.”

“We can get a light meal while we wait,” offered Sunny Day, “Or I can see if I can beat you at an arcade game. In case you're wondering, Tavi can often beat Celestia, so there’s hope for anypony.”

Lost amid a vast sea of noise and lights, Wayfair cast her gaze around the arcade machines and eventually, she saw a game that she thought looked like a great deal of fun, “That one!”

Sunny Day looked where the unicorn was pointing, and her heart sank a bit. Why did it have to be Dance Dance Revolution, of all the infernal games she could have chosen, it had to be that one! “Lulu rules that stupid game. While I'm up for the challenge,” she thought quickly to get out of it, “Our garb will be exposed as we dance around.”

“Hum...” Wayfair tapped her hoof to her chin, “You're right. You chose, Sunny.”

“Tia is tired of Tavi beating her at that racing game,” the pegasus led the way over to the Mareo Kart machine, “But Sunny is not yet tired of Wayfair beating her.”

“Then let's have a go at the racing game, Sunny Buns!”

“If I win, you're Wayward,” Sunny Day giggled as they joined the short que to the game.

“If I win,” Wayfair giggled and bumped her rear into her marefriend’s and hugged her, “It'll be a miracle!”

Despite Sunny Day’s insistence that it was a simple game, Wayfair still had not played a video game in her life. It took her several moments to get the hang of steering the car on the screen. Once she had that down, she had to get to grips with the fact that somethings she ran over gave her bonuses and other things were penalties.

For a brief, all too brief, glorious moment, Wayfair was in the lead, then Sunny Day hit her with something that sent her kart spinning in a circle and like that, she had lost. “Your driving has left you wayward dear Wayfair,” the pegasus giggled as they got up to make room for next pair waiting, “Hitting the turtles is bad, but the stars are good. Coins give you points. I don't know what all the food items do, you'd have to ask Tavi for that.”

“Wow!” Wayfair squeed excitedly, even though she had lost, she was so excited she was dancing on her hooves, “That was so fast! How can anypony know what they're doing? It was a blur!”

“Don't ask me,” Sunny Day chuckled, savouring her rare win, “I usually avoid everything and count myself lucky if I make it to the end. I'll take you up to a dance after eleven. They close the ground floor to the outside, but open it to the second floor.”

“Mmmmm I could do a dance with you, Honey Buns.”

“You just want to see me shake my flank,” Sunny Day remarked, knowing it was absolutely true. “But I want to see you jiggle your beautiful teats. It's a date! Now, on to the show!”

Trixie Lulamoon, to Wayfair’s very great surprise – and delight - put on an exceptionally good show. Even though her hat covered her horn, there were times when she moved it and the disguised changeling could tell that she wasn't using actual magic for the magic.

A high level magic user such as herself could sense when a unicorn uses their horn, and this mare, to her credit, was not. After one particularly skilful illusion, where Trixie made miniature buckballs go inside two cups she had on a table, Wayfair whispered, “She's really not using magic! Look how skilled she is!”

“Sadly, that was the problem with her first encounter with Tia's student,” Sunny Day replied, her voice covered by thunderous applause, “Twilight's friends made fun of her for not using 'real' magic.”

“But...” Wayfair was distracted when Trixie placed her hat on the stage, then lifted it to reveal a small display of indoor fireworks that erupted to a chorus of ooohs and aaaahs, “Couldn't they see the mare’s skill?”

“It is possible to be blinded by what you know,” Sunny Day softly nuzzled the unicorn’s cheek, “And not see what you see.”

“It takes a lot to open those eyes, huh?”

“Want to try and get her autograph?”

“Yes please! I'd love it!”

Not for the first time, Sunny Day giggled at Wayfair’s enthusiasm. Although, the appreciation of the showmare’s skill was something the pegasus could understand. “The autograph is free,” she whispered, “But the merch that she will sign is not. Would you like a poster for your room?”

“Yes!” Wayfair did a little happy dance, before her marefriend led her from the seating pads over to the merchandise stands, where the mare wearing a replica Trixie hat was happy to sell them the poster, but she did ask them nicely to wait until the foals had gotten their autographs first.

“Welcome,” Trixie greeted them after the show, “I hope you enjoyed the Great and Entertaining Trixie's show tonight?”

“It was amazing, ma'am!” even though all the foals had already had their autographs and photo opportunities, Wayfair was just as excited, if not more so, than any of them had been.

“Thank you, thank you,” Trixie was genuinely flattered as she took the offered poster and turned it around to face her, “And to whom should Trixie make this out too?”

“To Wayfair, please ma'am! Honestly,” the purple unicorn squeed, “I've never seen magic without magic before!”

“The art of illusion is to leave you guessing where the magic come from,” Trixie stated before she signed the poster. Although she took the pen in her mouth to sign it, Sunny Day could tell that the showmare’s horn was lit under the hat, and that the pen never actually touched the poster. Nonetheless, a fancy signature with a 'glad you enjoyed the performance, Wayfair' was left behind on the picture.

“I agree,” the pegasus said graciously, “You have really found your place among the magicians, Trixie.”

“It’s good to have fans that can appreciate illusions. Thank you,” Trixie returned the poster to Wayfair and almost immediately, the adult behind her in the line was ready for their autograph.

“That was so cool!” Wayfair squealed in foalish delight, “I got her autograph! This will look awesome on my wall!”

“It totally will,” Sunny Day then cast her eyes upwards to the floors above, “Are you ready to go upstairs?” when the unicorn nodded her head, the pegasus led her to the stairs. After an ID check, they were let through the doors of the first floor. A desk just inside the doors had a standard waver for them to sign. Then, with that done, they were in.

The majority of the floor was taken up by a vast dance floor with tables dotted around the outside for the patrons to socialise. Wayfair could see that almost all the ponies already there were wearing something, and everything was sexual in nature to a greater or lesser degree.

While her marefriend was staring at the ponies, doms and subs alike, Sunny Day trotted over to the cloak room to put away their two cloaks. “Ready to party, my pretty maid?”

“Y-Ye-Yes Mistress,” Wayfair was shaken from her staring, particularly at a dominant unicorn mare who was using her submissive earth pony stallion as a seat, “I am more than ready to party!” she couldn’t wait to get in on this action.

That was what Sunny Day wanted to hear. She pulled an old style wooden ruler from under her wing and, after showing it to her pet, she placed it back. “We shall see. Fetch me a merlot from the bar, and something for yourself,” she then pointed to an empty table near the wall, “I'll be there.”

“Yes Mistress! At once, Mistress!” Wayfair turned and trotted off to the bar, making sure to keep her tail up high to give a good view of her goodies along the way, not just for her Mistress, but to anypony who cared to look. And a few of the doms did look. At the bar, she thought the drinks were a little overpriced, but the staff were friendly. “Hi mate,” she addressed the bartender, “Can I please have a glass of merlot for my Mistress and I'll have um...a pint of stable hopper beer, please.”

The stallion, whose name tag read, Last Drop, inclined his head politely. “Of course. I do hope our place is up to your high cleaning standards,” he smirked at his joke as he poured the glass of wine, “Bottle of beer, or in a glass?”

Wayfair giggled, joining in with the humour, “It's amazing! Um, I’d like a glass, please sir.” Last Drop dutifully poured the bottle into a glass and he placed both glasses on a tray. Wayfair paid the one hundred and fifty bits and she took the tray in her mouth so she could carry it over to her Mistress at their table.

Waiting and ready. Sunny Day pointed her ruler at the table, “Please clean that and the seating pads with your tail.”

“Hmhmmmm!” even though she was still holding the tray in her mouth, and even though she was completely sure the pads and the table were clean already, Wayfair obediently turned and wagged her tail first over the table and then the pads. There was a little drool on the tray by then, but she was more concerned with the few eyes now pointed at her.

Appreciatively, Sunny Day played with one of Wayfair's ears with the ruler, “You're doing a very good job swishing that dust away.”

“Mmmmmm th-thank you Mistress!” Wayfair, having drawn the attention of those nearby, flicked the ear that the ruler had been playing with. The attempt to speak put more drool on the tray, something she noted when she carefully placed it on the table.

Thankfully, Sunny Day didn’t interfere with that delicate manoeuvre. “Your merlot, Mistress,” the unicorn presented the glass and bowed her head.

“I've never really been a beer drinker,” Sunny Day said as she took her merlot and sipped it, “They do serve good drinks here.”

“A Trottingham staple, Mistress,” Wayfair said after she had taken a drink of her beer.

“This is where the real money is made,” Sunny Day remarked as she sat on her seating pad, “Drinks, snacks, and the private rooms rented by the hour.” She lowered her voice so that Wayfair had to lean in to hear her, “There are about eight nobles in here that I recognize. None of whom cause Tia any problems. Look around you and see if there is something you'd like to try.”

Gently sipping her beer, Wayfair had a good long look around at the assembled crowd. The subs being used as seating pads and / or tables did appeal to her, but not today. Hoof worship was definitely on her list, but she kept on looking and thinking. “Have you ever considered watersports, Mistress?”

“Um, no,” Sunny Day shifted uncomfortably on her seating pad, “But I'm game to try new things. I think that would require a private room with a shower.”

“I would have to agree, Mistress. While we're on the subject, is there anything you'd like to try?”

“Over there,” Sunny Day pointed to two tables away with four ponies sat around it, “Both those couples are doing public humiliation. That stallion sub is drinking his wine from a dog dish with the Mistress's hoof in the dish. She is pouring the wine down her leg and he is lapping it up. That unicorn mare is using her horn to stab hors d'oeuvres and feed them to her Master.”

When Wayfair couldn’t stop looking at the scene, Sunny Day was given an idea. “Wait here,” she got up and, at the bar, she chatted with Last Drop, then she returned to the table wearing a satisfied smile. She lifted up her wine glass in a wing, “Please wait before you drink any more beer.”

Moments later, two waiters and a waitress came over carrying a pie pan, a chocolate fondue and a variety of chopped fruits and a towel, which they placed on the table and left. Sunny Day pointed a hoof at the towel, “Please clean my right forehoof.”

“Of course Mistress,” even though she was a unicorn, Wayfair didn't think to use her magic. Instead, she dropped to her knees and she took the towel in her mouth, her Mistress’s hoof in hers, and she cleaned that hoof with the same diligence she used when polishing the royal silver.

Once the pegasus’s hind hoof was shining and clean, Sunny Day moved the pie pan from the table to the floor. There, she put her hoof in it, and then she poured what was left of Wayfair’s beer into the pan. “You may drink as needed, but I do like my fruit fully dipped in chocolate. Horn delivered, of course.”

“I understand, Mistress,” though she was looking down at the pegasus’s submerged hoof, she lit her horn and, after dipping a piece of fruit completely in the melted chocolate, she floated it in her magic to Sunny Day's mouth while she remained on her knees.

Without warning, the wooden ruler smacked each of Wayfair’s ass cheeks twice, with a loud crack! That drew more than a few interested stares. “You have made an error by using your horn. I want you to spear a piece of fruit, dip it in the chocolate and then present it to me to be eaten.”

“Aaaaa...mmph!” Wayfair squeaked, then she ended up muzzle first in the pie tin, her lips pressed against Sunny Day's hoof thanks to the smacks to her ass, which stung like the dickens! “S-Sorry Mistress, I understand for next time, Mistress.”

“Still hungry…”

The smacks from the ruler got a lot of attention, and the ponies on the tables were looking and whispering to each other, wondering what was going to happen next. Wayfair loved it. “Of course, Mistress!” the unicorn blushed with deep, deep embarrassment as she speared two pieces on her horn and she dipped those - plus her horn - into the chocolate. Cheeks bright red, she presented her horn to her Mistress's lips.

Fully aware of the watching audience, Sunny Day made a big deal of slowly removing the fruit with her lips and tongue, and a lot of necessarily unnecessarily loud sucking noises. “Well done, pet. Do take the time to stay hydrated, but do keep up on my snack delivery.”

Wayfair noted, in the periphery of her vision, a griffon dom at a nearby table with a unicorn sub had just had a chocolate fondue delivered. That made her so proud! “MmMMmmmm!” she murmured on her knees. She had her tail well up and flagging, obviously aroused and when she lowered her head down to lap at her beer – purposefully getting Sunny Day's hoof too - those nearby could see just how aroused she was.

After five such deliveries of fruit, Sunny Day took a piece in her wingtip, which she dipped in the chocolate and she presented it to Wayfair. “Do make sure the feather is clean too, pet.” With her muzzle dripping with beer, the unicorn delicately plucked the fruit from the pegasus's wing tip. Swallowed it, and sensuously sucked her primary feather clean. “Very well done, pet.”

Almost on cue, another fondue was delivered to a table with two pegasi, and they started feeding each other in the same way. Glancing side to side, Wayfair smirked at Sunny Day, then winked at her, communicating via pointed nods to the tables copying them why she looked so proud. That done, she went back to her beer, and her Mistress’s hoof.

Sunny Day enjoyed the feel of the tongue on her hoof for five minutes. Then, when she judged she hadn’t been fed in a while, she gently tapped her pet’s nose with the ruler. Thanks to the tap, Wayfair knew how long to leave before serving her again. “Pardon me, Mistress,” she got up and speared two pieces of fruit on her horn, covered them in chocolate and presented them to the waiting mare.

The white pegasus found she was enjoying providing a show at removing and eating the fruit. Being the centre of attention was something she liked, a lot. Wayfair could feel Sunny Day’s happiness, and she in turn felt a great degree of pleasure, satisfaction and pride at being the source of the happy in her Mistress. With more gusto, the unicorn noisily slurped from the bowl to make a better show of it, as she did too with serving Sunny Day her fruit.

When she noticed the beer in the bowl running low, Sunny Day ordered a refill for them both. “Last one pet,” she said as she poured the Stable Hopper into the pie pan, “Then we will move on to other activities.”

After taking another piece of chocolate covered fruit from her lover’s wingtip, Wayfair thanked her Mistress and she made a great show of tongue cleaning the pegasus's primary feathers, before returning to her lap up her beer.

As she was served the last piece of the fruit, Sunny Day proceeded to make a great show of the hornjob to remove it from her pet’s horn. In fact she was practically fellating it when a blushing waitress came over to their table. “We here at Trixie’s would like to thank you for your patronage,” Grass said, “But we do request that overtly sexual acts be done in a private room.” She then removed the empty fruit platter and the fondue fountain before scurrying away.

Cheekily, Sunny Day got in one last lick to Wayfair’s horn, and she delighted in the fact she had reduced the unicorn to a quivering trembling horny mess of one very aroused mare. “I…I-I think t-that's us told, Mistress…” she panted on her knees.

“To be fair, I was pushing the policy,” Sunny Day said as she finished the last of her merlot, “Do finish your beer pet and clean my hoof. I'm curious as to what beer pedicure has done for me.”

“At once, Mistress,” Wayfair lowered her head to the beer filled tin and lapped it up like the best most well trained puppy, all the time tongue lashing the white mare's hoof.

After a full two minutes of hoof worship, Sunny Day lifted her pet’s head up. “I do think we should move on before the waitress comes back over.” When Wayfair stood up, she was greeted by a thunderous round of applause from the surrounding tables.

Smirking, Sunny Day led the way to a side desk. “My maid needs instruction. Do you have warded rooms?”

Clear Horizon, the attendant unicorn, looked up from his paperwork. “Is your pet a class one mage?”

“No,” Sunny Day replied, even though she was sure and certain that the disguised changeling was such a mage.

“Then, yes we do,” Clear Horizon beamed, “The hourly rate is two hundred bits.”

Sunny Day dutifully placed a bag of four hundred bits on the desk, “If we run long will we be interrupted?”

“No ma’am,” Clear Horizon shook his head, “You will just have to pay for any extra time when you leave. If you should only use an hour, you'll be refunded your deposit.”

“Thank you,” Sunny Day inclined her head politely.

“Room two one zero is yours,” the stallion waved them towards the room they had booked, “Enjoy your stay at Trixie's Emporium.”

As they walked into the room, Sunny Day felt the magical dampening field that would have scuppered a lesser magic user, but it had no effect on her illusion, nor did it affect Wayfair. “I doubt this would stop a class two mage, but it is an effort.” The slutty teacher then pulled out some fake glasses and she put them on her muzzle to complete the ‘look’. “Such a naughty pet you are, what with all that moaning in the common room.”

“I couldn't help it, Mistress!” Wayfair protested, but not too much, “Your lips on my horn...the ponies watching me...you had me so aroused!”

Sunny Day shushed her with the flat of the ruler to the unicorn’s lips, “Face the other way and lift your tail.”

“Yes Mistress,” obediently, Wayfair turned around and she lifted up her already flagging high tail so it was resting on her back, showing off her marehood all puffy with arousal and leaking her juices on to the floor between her spread hind legs.

Behind her pet, Sunny Day administered a light slap to the unicorn’s ass cheeks with the ruler then she turned it sideways, dragging the edge between the unicorn’s dripping wet folds, ending with a love tap to her hard exposed clitoris. “Turn back.”

The ‘gentle’ tap to her clit was enough to make the aroused unicorn whimper with barely supressed need. The smell already in the room attested to said arousal, and she turned around. Once she was facing her, Sunny Day made a big show of licking the glistening ruler. “My, oh my, you are quite aroused, aren’t you?”

“Y-Ye-Yes Mistress, I am, Mistress!”

“Stay perfectly still, pet,” Sunny Day ordered, before she walked around her submissive, running a wing softly over, under, and all around her. She purposefully made sure to spend extra time with her primary feathers in Wayfair's wet marehood. “Taste for yourself your arousal, pet.”

It was only through a supreme act of will that made Wayfair stay perfectly still during the extremely thorough feathery inspection. When she was offered the feather, she obediently sucked it clean. Once her feather was cleaned to her satisfaction, Sunny Day got on the bed, “I'm a slutty school teacher. Use me, pet.”

“Only too happy to, Mistress!” Wayfair purred as she crawled onto the bed and between the pegasus’s open hind legs, where she kissed her way up her white inner thighs. Smirking, the unicorn took the flimsy material that was the mare’s panties in her teeth and ripped them off in one smooth motion. “Much better.” Now with unfettered access, she kissed all around her exposed mound.

The disguised changeling could sense her lover was giving off a great deal of satisfaction, the ripping off of her panties spiked it. Wayfair then used her hooves to spread Sunny Day's hind legs further apart. Leaning in, she slurped her tongue all the way from her tailhole to her clit. Sighing happily, the pegasus moved a hoof to rest on Wayfair's head just above her horn. “Can the student teach the teacher?”

“We'll see, Mistress…” Wayfair replied, kissing very gently around Sunny Day's labia to tease her. Then, she slid her tongue deep inside her wet muscular tunnel, where she swirled it around her inner depths. Going with the flow, the pegasus allowed the ruler to drop out from under her wing and onto the bed. When she judged her marefriend was sufficiently warmed up, she adjusted her position so she could scissor her.

While Sunny Day did provide some resistance to Wayfair moving her head, once she was in position, she turned her attention to the rear hoof presented to her, and she gathered up the ruler in her forehoof. “You are a sexy mare, Mistress,” Wayfair purred as she started to grind her crotch down.

Jolts of pure electric pleasure shot through Sunny Day, who ground right back, determined to give as good as she got. After just a few short moments, the unicorn began panting hard, her intense arousal bringing her to the edge quicker than usual. It was then, when she was close to reaching her orgasm, that the pegasus slapped her hind hoof hard with the ruler. “OoooOOOW M-Mistressss!”

“Teachers should always lead the class,” Sunny Day smirked, ruler held ready to slap her pet’s hoof again, “My student needs to try harder.”

Whimpering a pained, “Y-Yes Mistress…” Wayfair started to grind her pussy again into Sunny Day's crotch with renewed vigour. This time though, she used her magic to vibrate the pegasus’s wings and nipples. If her Mistress wanted to cum, then she would make her cum!

As soon as she felt the vibrations pulse through her sensitive wings and feathers, Sunny Day dropped the ruler again. When she felt the magic vibrate her teats and nipples, she arched her back under her lover. Then, as Wayfair slid their clits together, she screamed her climax to the heavens. She rode rides out her first orgasm and started to push back and go deeper in the grinding.

“MmmmMMMMM fuuuuck yes!” Wayfair moaned and screamed as she was bought up again to the point of her climax. This time, her Mistress didn't stop her, and nor did she let up on the vibrations. It was a good thing too, because the pegasus was happy to go for two. After Wayfair had her one, she kept on scissoring her, but she stopped the magic.

Without the magical assault on her wings, Sunny Day found she could think again. She brandished the ruler in her wing and she played a drum solo of love taps on the unicorn's hefty heavying bouncing teats. The added pain from the ruler on her teats was enough to give Wayfair her second climax. “Fuck...th-that was amazing!”

Underneath her, Sunny Day was a panting mess of fur and feathers. “I agree, you get an A plus for the class.”

“Wo-Wohoo!” a tired Wayfair panted, and she fell on her side on the bed, facing her Mistress, a happy smile on her face. Sunny Day then moved closer so she could start snogging her face off. The sweaty unicorn was only too happy to indulge in that, and she held her in her hooves as she made out with her.

“I have so needed this for a long time…” Sunny Day smiled, lovingly kissing the purple mare’s lips.

“Hmmmm,” Wayfair grinned, “We're so cumming here again, Sunny Buns.”

“I'm even willing to overlook the insufficient warding that should have saved my wings,” she grinned widely and winked, knowing full well that the wards in the club were nowhere near strong enough to stop Chrysalis’s magic, to say nothing of her own.

“I’ll admit it was a dirty move,” Wayfair winked, “But it made you cum!”

“That it did,” Sunny Day ruefully agreed, “And I didn't say you couldn't use magic.” She then leant in close and kissed her marefriend’s lip, “I'll have to be a stricter teacher next time.”

Without apology, Wayfair returned the kiss, “I'm a resourceful maid.”

“Change into your true form, please.”

“Yes Mistress,” the changeling summoned the green magical flames and, in a flash, Wayfair was gone, and Chrysalis was laid in her place wrapped in Sunny Day’s legs. Sunny Day looked into green eyes that had been blue and she moved her head forward slowly for a light kiss. With her lips still on Chrysalis's, she said, “Back to Wayfair please.” When the flash of magic had died away, Wayfair was the one receiving the kiss, which deepened until they separated. “I’m getting better, but I still need some more time, okay?”

Wayfair smiled warmly and kissed Sunny Day's nose, “We have all the time in the world, Sunny.”

The pegasus sighed. Chrysalis always said that, every time without fail. “I'm ready to go back to the hotel, and I want to be the little spoon tonight.”

“Good thing I'm in a big spoon mood, huh?” the unicorn gave her marefriend one last hug and a nuzzle before getting up off the bed.

Getting up as well, Sunny Day placed the ruined pair of panties in her school jacket so that they hung out. “These are coming out of your salary, my pretty maid.”

“Meh,” Wayfair shrugged as her Mistress waved off any attempt at a refund at the front desk, and she giggled, “Totally worth it.”

At the top of the stairs, Sunny Day paused, “Is the arcade downstairs adults only now?” when the mare at the counter nodded her head, the pegasus shot a sly look at her lover, “Did somepony challenge me to Dance Dance Revolution?”

“You know what?” Wayfair returned the sly look, “I'm feeling lucky after my loss on the racing game. Let's do it.”

When they started playing the game, Wayfair soon found that Celestia really had four left hooves, which was why she spent her time doing the greetings at the Grand Galloping Gala, so she didn't have to dance. Sunny Day discovered that, as they played the game, that Wayfair was only a teeny bit better than her. Where she was four left hooves, Wayfair was four right hooves.

Eventually, after several rounds of dancing, it transpired that Wayfair won, but only by a couple of games. Pleased, Sunny Day did a happy dance, “I wasn't embarrassed!” And she hadn’t been. Luna usually trounced her unceremoniously at that game. It was nice for once to play against somepony as bad as she was.

“That was so much fun!”

An exhausted and sweaty Sunny Day leant against Wayfair for support, “It was, but I'll let you keep the win one out of one.” In taxi on the way back to hotel, she said, “The fruit and chocolate was a nice snack. How are you doing? You hungry?”

“A little, yes Mistress,” almost as if on cue, the mare’s belly rumbled loudly, “I could use a snack.”

“I do hope you are looking for food,” said Sunny Day as she affectionately nuzzled her mare, “The hotel kitchen is open late, so we can do some room service before we go to bed.”

“I am looking for food,” very wisely, Wayfair chose not to say 'which' food she was looking for, lest she upset the mare inside the pegasus, “So kitchen food is good with me.”

A smirk crossed the pegasus’s muzzle, “I'm sure they prepare it with love and devotion, maybe more so than that happy meal you had the other day.”

Wayfair joined in with Sunny Day’s sudden fit of giggles, “You remembered!”

“Yes I did,” the smile on Sunny Day’s face was a warm and genuine one, as was the kiss that she gave the unicorn, “And I'm happy I did.” The two mares made out in the back of the taxi. One kiss became two, and three, the third was a long, long kiss, with hooves caressing each other’s ears. They didn’t even notice the vehicle move, and they didn’t notice it arrive at the hotel. They were snogging together until the driver had to toss them out.

Once they were in the hotel, Sunny Day scampered across the empty lobby to the elevator like an overgrown filly. Chuckling, Wayfair gave chase after her, giggling all the way. Inside, they made out all the way up as they were alone in the elevator. When they got to their floor, they fell out of the elevator still snogging, managing to make a couple of stuck up ponies snort in alarm.

Thoroughly ignoring them, Sunny Day opened their door, “I want a Maretrainian salad,” she said, “And do that pole dance again, please.”

“You got it, Sunny Buns!” Wayfair picked up the phone and she got to ordering. She requested two of the Maretrainian salads, a merlot for her marefriend and a beer for herself. Just in time, as the knock from the waiter banged on the door, Wayfair started to dance in the middle of the room.

Sunny Day bade the waiter to enter, and as it happened, it was the same earth pony stallion from the day before. Wayfair gave him a very sexy wink as she danced, and he did a better job of staying focused as he set the food on the table. The pegasus again slid off the bed and gave him a one hundred bit tip this time. “We are such naughty mares,” she said when they were alone.

“Yeah we are,” Wayfair readily agreed, “And I like it.”

Sitting at the hotel room’s table, Sunny Day enjoyed her salad and her wine, which she lifted up her glass in a salute, “I’m glad you remembered.”

Wayfair lifted up her beer in a return salute, “I know what my Mistress likes.”

“I had fun today.”

“I really enjoyed today too, Sunny.”

As they were sat together, quietly enjoying each other’s company, Sunny Day found herself reflecting on how she had been acting as a dom, and, after a great degree of soul searching, she had to admit to herself that she was still being selfish about it. Looking at her empty plate, she made up her mind, “I'm going to draw you a bath.”

Wayfair – and most importantly, Chrysalis’s - ears perked up, very much alert, when she heard that. “Mistress?” This was certainly new to her. She had bathed Celestia several times before, but this was the first time ever that Celestia had offered to bath her.

“I'll be just a moment,” Sunny Day smiled over her shoulder and then she trotted off to the bathroom. Wayfair was left alone, sitting on the floor of the hotel room. She had her head to one side, thinking back to the books she had borrowed from Octavia.

After running the hot water for a bit, Sunny Day called out, “You can come in, the bath is ready.” Getting up, Chrysalis slowly walked into the bathroom like she suspected a trick, because she remembered the abusive months. But, once she was in the bathroom, she smiled broadly and her fears vanished when she saw the pegasus sitting at one end of the tub with room in front of her.

Not only was it hot water, it was lavender scented bubbly hot water, and her Mistress had drawn it for her! For her! She hissed a little as she slid in, the water rising to her chest, “Mmmmm the water's looooovely, thank you!”

When she was in the water, Sunny Day used a grooming brush to clean Wayfair's purple coat. “I wanted to talk about our session at Trixie's.”

Practically purring at the feel of the brush in her coat, the unicorn’s ears perked up, suddenly alert, “D-Did I do something wrong, Mistress?”

“No,” Sunny Day spoke softly, “You were the best sub, but was I the dom I should be? Talk freely Wayfair. It's been two years and I think this is the first time I've just wanted to talk about us.”

Wayfair let out a deep breath, “I really enjoyed it, Mistress. Making me drink the beer from the tin with your hoof in it was so humiliating, and so hot!”

“What about my smacking you?” the pegasus asked cautiously, “I still worry I'm losing control. You don't use your safe word very often.”

“Because I don't need to,” Wayfair shuddered happily when Sunny Day brushed out a tangle in her fur, “Smacking my hoof was a surprise, but I loved the way it hurt.”

“I'm happy to know that.” And she really meant it, too, “I want to do this for the both of us. I've been told it is the sub that initiates play, and the sub that stops it. Do you think you have that power?”

In the water, Wayfair thought about that for a moment. A long, very long moment. Ultimately, there was only one answer, and both mares knew it, too. Chrysalis decided in the end that honesty was the best policy. “Not until recently, Mistress.”

Celestia greatly appreciated how honest her marefriend was being with her. Her respect for Chrysalis went up a good few notches then. It gave her the confidence to ask the next question. “And the times I have you change to Chrysalis and then right back to Wayfair?”

“I...” the unicorn lowered her head, but, as her mane was being ever so gently brushed for her, she found the courage to look up, into the other mare’s eyes. “I would like it if I was myself for longer, Mistress, but...you say you need time.”

“Change, please.” Without a moment’s pause, the magical green flames consumed Wayfair and a split second later, she was Chrysalis, and the brush suddenly slid off smooth black chitin instead of purple fur. Sunny Day continued to clean her, and now she took care to clean the changeling’s wings with a soft cloth. “I am working on it. But…” in a flash of magic, the pegasus changed to Celestia and the added mass sent some bathwater over the edge, “Is it possible for us to talk like Sunny and Wayfair?”

“I don't see why not, Mistress,” Chrysalis shivered with nerves as Celestia cleaned her shiny gossamer thin wings. Her extremely delicate and fragile gossamer wings.

After she had finished with the wings, Celestia moved onto Chrysalis's long, turquoise mane. “I...I still think there is something between us. Something that is there between Sunny and Wayfair. I call it formality.”

“I agree there is a formality, Mistress,” Chrysalis smiled broadly, a smile that showed off her sharp white teeth, “But that's progress.”

Using her powerful magic, Celestia lifted Chrysalis up so she could clean Chrysalis’s undercarriage and she inspected her submissive’s ass, “I wonder at times if formality is how I am, or if I can even be informal.” After seeing no damage, the alicorn used the soft cloth on the changeling’s rear.

“I suppose it's hard to shake habits that are millennia old, Mistress,” commented Chrysalis as she was inspected, and a thought occurred to her, a thought that she was sure went a long way to explaining Celestia’s attitude, “May I ask a question?”

“I said you could speak freely,” said Celestia as she caringly cleaned her marefriend’s intimate areas with the cloth in her hoof.

Chrysalis giggled, for the cloth was tickling parts of her that the sun didn’t illuminate, “That you did. Okay, did you always know you were going to ascend to alicornhood, and rule the sun?”

“From birth, no,” replied Celestia, who wondered where her lover was going with this, “But I learned at a very young age what Luna and I were destined for. Our foalhood was stolen from us for the better of the whole.”

The changeling looked quite saddened at that, because like the alicorn before her, she had been shaped from hatching to fulfil a role in her society. “All those centuries of duty and expectation and such, it's no wonder you worry you can't be informal.”

“I was taught that duty comes first, second and third. I was taught well, and I carried out my duties. Sometimes one must make sacrifices for the greater good.”

“Then,” Chrysalis mused, “We are each other; it seems.”

“In terms of goals maybe, but I think our methods differ.” Then, Celestia thought of something, something she had been rather curious about for some time, ever since the invasion and again since Chrysalis had been part of her life. “Does changing your form grant you healing?”

“It does, Mistress,” Chrysalis agreed with a nod of her head, “Just like I can command the molecules in my body to change shape, I can use the same magic to heal a wound. It's just reorganising the atoms.”

“I will have to make a note of that should I want to show off my markings on you,” Celestia found that idea rather appealing, “If you changed back would they still be gone?”

“They would, but I can make them reappear as easily as they heal. Light wounds like welts and scars heal without thinking about it. More severe wounds require the body to shut down for as long as is necessary.”

Moving forwards in the bath, Celestia wrapped Chrysalis up in a tight body hug. “When I got you out of that camp I was hoping for any excuse to end you. It would have ended me too, only I'd still be alive. Now I want more but my mind drags me back to that day,” she affectionately nuzzled the changeling’s ear, “How much longer will you give me?”

“As long as it takes,” Chrysalis said, nuzzling the alicorn's ear, “I can feel you changing. Hate became hope became happiness,” she wrapped her forelegs around Celestia's shoulders, “You are worth waiting for, Mistress.”

Celestia gazed lovingly into Chrysalis’s big green eyes, “I will try to be a fair Mistress, but if I turn harsh let me know, and if I turn soft let me know. I am enjoying being your Mistress, but it is no fun if you don't enjoy it too.”

“I promise, Mistress, you'll be the first to know,” Chrysalis gazed into Celestia’s ageless eyes, eyes that were heavy with time and the things she had seen, but also soft and kind. Eyes she loved. “It's taken me a while to know what I like. I like the humiliation play like we did tonight, and when you spank me, the endorphins just feel so good!”

“It’s a start, Chrysalis. I no longer think you are something you are not,” Celestia licked all the way up Chrysalis’s ear, “I think we could be something more, and I admit that scares me a little. I don't like being scared, but it’s a fear of my own making.” She licked the other ear and whispered, “A clever unicorn named Clover the Clever said ‘fear has a large shadow, but he himself is small’”

Chrysalis then shuddered at the slow sensuous lick to her ear, “I would be honoured to share that fear, and conquer it in the sharing.”

“When I figure it out, I'll share it,” Celestia said before lighting her horn and changing to Sunny Day in a flash of golden magic, “I believe I'm to be the little spoon tonight, yes?”

In a flash of green flames, Chrysalis became Wayfair once more. “You just want to feel these teats all night long,” she said with a dirty wink.

“I don't have any complaints about that, for sure,” Sunny Day got out of the bath, helped Wayfair out of the tub, then she gave a towel to Wayfair and used hers to dry her lover.

Wayfair dried off Sunny Day, just like she was being dried, “Thank you, for the bath,” the unicorn nuzzled and kissed the pegasus’s ear, “I want you to know I appreciated it. It meant a lot to me that you did this for me.”

“I appreciated playing with wings other than my own,” Sunny Day kissed her lover’s lips and then she led them both back to the bed, where she climbed up onto the bed with her back to the middle. Wayfair quickly got on the bed and she hugged Sunny Day tight, pressed her teats into her back and kissed her ear. “Hold me close lest I fall. Good night, Wayfair.”

“I have you, Sunny,” Chrysalis squeezed her marefriend tightly, “Good night.”

Chapter 14 - A Love Earned

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Celestia woke up the next morning to raise the sun, but to her great surprise, she saw that Luna had already taken care of it for her. So, with her morning duties taken care of, she became Sunny Day and woke her sleeping lover and they went down for breakfast.

After a breakfast of scrambled eggs and pancakes, and with full bellies, Sunny Day and Wayfair took their bags and left the hotel. Trotting back to the palace, the purple unicorn was at first happy to just enjoy her company and the pleasantly warm morning sun. “You know,” she said presently, unable to be quiet for long, “That was a fantastic weekend!”

“I really enjoyed it,” Sunny Day started, then her smile wavered ever so slightly as her mood fell, “Now back to the hum drum life of a Princess and the inanity of the Day Court…”

As they crossed the cobbled streets towards the towering palace, Wayfair gave an over dramatic sigh that a certain fashionista in Ponyville would have been proud of, “Ho hum, back to the hum drum of a Princess's maid for me…”

Sunny Day’s smile reaffirmed itself on the white pegasus’s face, which meant the unicorn had been successful with her sarcasm. “I've heard you’re a pretty maid,” she responded with a tease, “And sometimes you’re a good maid.”

Giggling, Wayfair said, “Sometimes I’m good, but when I'm naughty, I'm really good.”

“That you are Wayfair,” Sunny Day agreed, walking in through the palace gates, ignoring the guards that saluted her, “That you are.” At the entrance to Celestia's rooms, the stopped and gave Wayfair a most affectionate nuzzle, “I'm going to be out all next week, up north dealing with yaks. I know you'll do your job, and thank you ahead of time for it.”

“Thank you, Mistress,” Wayfair returned the nuzzle with one of her own, making it last for as long as she possibly could. “Please, come back safely.”

Following the extended nuzzle, Sunny Day reluctantly entered her room, at which stood the usual two guards who saluted their disguised ruler. Wayfair stared at the closed door for a long, long time before she turned and walked to her room. For the first time in a long while, there were no guards there. The first thing she did was to pin up the signed poster of Trixie on her wall.

A few hours later, just after eleven, there came a knock on Chrysalis’s door. The changeling had been relaxing on her bed in her natural form watching the fashion channel, and she wasn’t expecting a visitor. Not only that, but she couldn’t place the knock and she didn't hear any hoofsteps. Justly concerned, she turned into Wayfair and sat up on her bed. “Come in.”

The door opened to reveal Royal Ribbon, a very smiling, happy looking Royal Ribbon. “My oh my, you've gotten a lot taller, Bedpan,” she said with a laugh as she walked in and shut the door behind her.

“Royal Ribbon!” Wayfair squealed in sheer delight. The last pony in the world she had expected to see was stood right there!

After a long loving hug, Royal Ribbon stood back to admire the changeling’s current form. It was a lot taller and slimmer than Bedpan had been, she reminded her a lot of the fashion mare Sassy Saddles. “It is good to finally see you again. First the camp, then I got pregnant. Oh,” she paused, realising she had been rambling, “Should I bring her by sometime?”

Somewhat stunned, the changeling returned to her natural form in a flash of green flames, “You have a foal?”

“I do!” Royal Ribbon danced happily on her four hooves, “She will be one month old in two days. We picked the name Four Step. I think she will be a dancer.”

“That's amazing!” Chrysalis wrapped up her old friend in a tight hug that threatened to cut off her circulation, “Congratulations, Ribbon!”

“Thank you. So,” Royal Ribbon said when she was at last released from the hug and she felt blood flow return to her extremities, “It’s Wayfair now, hmm? It’s been such a long time since you left the camp. Are you doing okay?”

“Yeah,” Chrysalis sat down on her haunches, a complex look on her face as she internally went through several emotions, “I'm not gonna lie, it's been a rocky road, but now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” she then giggled, “And I’ll offer you a load of other clichés too.”

“I'm really happy for you,” Royal Ribbon embraced her friend, “I get letters from our success stories. To a one they all want to know if you are okay. I guess losing that hive mind was hard for a lot of them.”

“It certainly was hard for me. So, very, incredibly hard,” Chrysalis smiled grimly, before her smile softened, “Tell them...tell them, I'm okay.”

“I have, and I do, every time I get a letter,” Royal Ribbon replied, “But now I can say it with more confidence. Also, we have found bears are working as incubators. There was a little resistance but they are the largest wild animal that isn't sapient.”

“That's good to hear, really it is,” Chrysalis found her spirits greatly lifted at the good news, “You have done such good work with the camp and the changelings, beyond anything I could have wished for all that time ago back on the train.”

Royal Ribbon placed a hoof on Chrysalis’s shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly, “Nothing is without cost, and you're paying the heaviest price of all. Princess Luna told me about Sunny Day. Is it enough for you?”

“It is,” Chrysalis replied truthfully, “Because more and more I'm starting to see the pony beneath the illusion. She just needs time, and time is one thing we both have plenty of.”

The unicorn accepted that, “I'll keep working things at my end. I’m out of the camp and I live full time in Canterlot now, and my brother has moved to Canterlot from Manehatten. Oh,” a sudden thought came to her, “My other brother's wife will soon give birth. They’re going to call her Cyclone. Somepony for Four Step to play with.”

Chrysalis let out a deep, deep sigh that came from her soul, “Truly, I wish I could thank you properly. Just saying thank you doesn't seem enough. All this,” she gestured vaguely with her hooves to encompass everything around her and the whole country, “To think, it all started when we met on that train.”

The unicorn laughed, “You know, I didn't think that meeting would happen. I went to Princess Luna with this plan three months after the invasion.” She shook her head, banishing all this from her mind, “All water under the bridge.”

“You're right,” Chrysalis agreed, “We are here, and not there.” She then hopped up onto her bed where she got comfortable, “So, you are an aunt and a mother. You must tell me all about your filly! I want to know everything!”

“I can do better than that,” Royal Ribbon jumped up on the bed beside her friend and fished into her saddlebag with a hoof, “I have photos!”

The showing of the foal photographs took the best part an hour – Royal Ribbon had four complete albums of her young filly, her husband, her brother Tropical Storm and very pregnant sister in law, Monsoon - and then, after the last picture, it was be time for Royal Ribbon to head home. “Those were adorable!” Chrysalis clapped her hooves happily, “Next time you come, you must bring her with you!”

“I will!,” the unicorn gave Chrysalis a hug, “I'm rooting for you. Till next time,” at the door, she paused and she passed over a business card, “My number and address are there, if you want to stop in sometime.”

“You can count on it!” Chrysalis gave her a tight hug and nuzzle before she saw her out. Thinking quickly, she transformed into Wayfair and she walked with her to the gates of the palace.

~ ~ ~

Following Chrysalis’s visit with Royal Ribbon, the changeling had a quiet three days. She did her work in the mornings, relaxed in the royal gardens at midday and spent her evenings at the theatre. On the fourth day though, she got a pleasant surprise. The knock at her door was very familiar to her. It was one she recognised immediately. “Come on in, Shieldwall!”

The door opened and in stepped a Shieldwall who was smiling so wide that his smile seemed wider than his head, “Guess who the proud papa is?” he asked before he was even fully inside.

Chrysalis gave her excited friend an amused smile, “Is it you?”

“You're good at guessing games!” Shieldwall embraced his good friend in a tight hug, “Will you be here this Saturday?”

“I shall be,” Chrysalis replied when she was able to speak. Even without his armour, the earth pony stallion was still an earth pony. Large, powerfully strong and built like a brick outhouse. “Am I to have a special visitor?”

Shieldwall caught the amusement in the changeling’s voice and he gave her a friendly wink, “I was going to bring the little one to visit the palace. One month isn't too young to start his guard training.”

“You are quite right,” Chrysalis giggled, “I can't wait to meet my future guardspony.”

“Victory Gate and I were thinking of a picnic in the gardens,” explained Shieldwall, “He's a colt and we are still working on a name. I was thinking Portcullis, but she thinks it unwieldy, and she’s leaning toward Cold Iron. He’s grey and he does have a silver mane.”

“May I suggest Damascus?” offered Chrysalis from her admittedly short catalogue of names, “I understand it has many layers and makes for a strong keen edge.”

Unexpectedly, Shieldwall’s brows furrowed deeply, “Isn't that a Saddle Arabian name? I'm not sure I could even do that.”

All of a sudden, Chrysalis was unsure and wishing she hadn’t said anything at all. “I'm sorry, really don't know, Shieldwall, sorry…”

“That's okay, who knows what name the colt may end up with?” Shieldwall’s good nature returned and he gave the changeling a reassuring nuzzle. “Saturday, gardens, eleven in the morning. Bring an appetite and be prepared to be climbed on by a one month old.”

Nuzzling the large stallion, Chrysalis giggled, “Thank you for the forewarning, my friend, I still can't wait!” She saw him out of her room and she went back to her television. Saturday came very fast though, almost as if time was being messed with. Celestia was again absent, this time she had an engagement over in Manehatten. Disguised as Wayfair, Chrysalis was in the royal gardens at ten forty five in the morning. She was going to wear a dress, but she decided against it.

At five minutes past eleven, Shieldwall arrived in the gardens accompanied by his wife, Victory Gate and his small colt, who was laid on his mother’s back. “Wayfair!” the guard stallion exclaimed when he saw her, “I'm glad you made it!”

“My, this is one you speak of?” Victory Gate smirked at the unicorn, giving her an appraising once over, “She does have the makings of a good mother.” Shieldwall saw his wife pointing to his friend’s hefty teats, he gave her a pronounced eye roll and took the picnic basket from his back.

“You must be Victory Gate,” Wayfair offered her a hoof, which the powerfully built guardsmare duly bumped, letting Wayfair know she was not to be messed with, “Shieldwall speaks very highly of you.”

“Aye,” Victory Gate shot her husband a wry look, “And well he should, lest he experience the cold ground for a bed.”

Wayfair burst out laughing, “It's a pleasure to finally meet you.”

Very carefully, Victory Gate lowered herself to the ground, “I think it’s the wee one you really want to see,” she smiled over her back and, as she tucked her legs under her, the little colt was awake and looking all around at the strange gardens.

Beside her, Wayfair sat herself down, “Oh, he is just precious!”

Not far away, Shieldwall was busy preparing their picnic when Octavia walked – waddled – her way into the garden. “Lady Octavia!” on reflex, the earth pony guard snapped a crisp salute, while his wife bowed to the First Mare as best she could while on the ground.

The disguised Chrysalis bowed her head to the very large, very pregnant cellist, a smile on her face, “Nice to see you two again.”

Octavia, who was thoroughly hating being eight month’s pregnant, rolled her eyes at Wayfair’s joke. “I love him greatly, but I wish there was a bit more distance between us.”

“When you see the little one,” Victory Gate spoke up with earned wisdom, “You'll forget all the troubles before.”

“My Lulu has flittered off to Manehatten with her sister,” Octavia sighed dramatically, “And I heard there was a picnic. Room for one more?”

“Of course, Lady Octavia.”

Octavia huffed as she sat herself down next to Victory Gate and Wayfair, “Enough of that Shield, this is a picnic!” she smiled at the little colt who was crawling over his mother’s back, “Quite the handsome colt you have Victory.”

“Why thank you, Octavia,” the new mother giggled, “It’s such a relief he's not using my bladder as a buckball anymore.”

Wayfair snickered at that, “You do good work, Shieldwall.”

“I must say,” started Octavia, who rolled to her side to relieve the pressure on her vastly swollen belly, “You're acting quite restrained today, Wayfair. You’ve gone over a full minute without giving me a belly rub.”

“I'm sorry, it comes from trying to look in two places at once,” Wayfair gave up on her doomed to failure effort and she rectified her mistake, reaching out and placing a hoof on the earth pony mare's rounded belly. “I wonder if he'll say hello today?”

On cue, the colt kicked at the hoof like a buck ball champion, making Octavia gasp in pain and Victory Gate wince in sympathy, “Ouch, I felt that from here!”

“Good morning to you too, Prince Dusk,” Wayfair giggled and shook her now aching hoof, “Good thing I'm a unicorn. Guess I’m not going to be using that hoof for a while!”

Everypony gave Wayfair a good natured laugh as she shook her hoof. Victory Gate reached over, “My turn!”

“Haven't you had enough, love?” asked Shieldwall as he laid out the array of sandwiches and salads that they had prepared for the picnic.

“On the inside, yes,” Victory Gate answered her husband, “But now I'm on the outside.” She placed a hoof on Octavia’s round belly, a look of longing on her face.

This time, instead of kicking straightaway, Dusk moved around inside his mother and then he kicked, getting the strange hoof and Octavia’s bladder at the same time. Wayfair, looking elsewhere, was busy making cooing noises to the colt who, on wobbly legs, came over to see what the adults were doing. “On no,” she said in a deadpan voice, “I'm being climbed on, please help…”

“Alas,” Octavia snickered as the little colt crawled up onto Wayfair’s back, “I foresee your doom.”

Shieldwall laughed at his friend’s ‘misfortune’, “I did try to warn you.”

“As doom goes,” Wayfair shrugged, “This isn't so bad.”

“Ya ever think of having your own, Wayfair?” asked Victory Gate, who was still laser focused on feeling and caressing Octavia’s belly. She didn’t see her husband take on a guarded look, nor did she notice the darkened look on Wayfair’s face.

“I’m not sure there is a stallion worthy of her,” Octavia said before either of them could speak up and put their hooves in their mouths, “You took Shield out of the game, Victory.”

Chrysalis’s green eyes came through momentarily before she regained control and they reverted to Wayfair’s blue, though her face still dropped. She was thankful for Octavia's intervention, it gave her time to think of a reply, and not the hundreds of thousands – even millions - of drones she had personally created over the years. “Perhaps, Victory, maybe there's still time for me yet.”

“Nay meant to push you,” Victory Gate said apologetically, “I can say this one will have a sibling.”

“I believe in what you say, love,” Shieldwall said in an over loud whisper that they all heard.

Victory Gate shrugged, “He just enjoys the trying part.”

“Don't worry about it, Victory-eeeeeek!” Wayfair eeped a little as a set of tiny but strong hooves gripped her mane and pulled on it as the little colt climbed up, intent to see what was up there.

“I do believe I enjoyed the trying part too,” Octavia snickered.

“Food’s ready!” Shieldwall announced loudly now he had the spread all served up on plates. The colt on Wayfair must have heard his father, because he was moving south to see if there was a snack for him.

Wayfair giggled as she felt those tiny hooves going south, “Victory, I do believe your colt is hungry, if his current direction is anything to go by.”

“Aye,” Victory Gate smiled ruefully, “He's like is father in that respect. Pass him this way and I'll hook him up.”

“Like father like son?” Octavia giggled at Victory Gate’s nod as Wayfair very carefully passed him back to his mother. Once he was attached on her teats, the colt proceeded to drink his fill and fall asleep.

Octavia looked on enviously as Shieldwall set the plates in front of her and the others, “I can't wait till Dusk is doing that…”

~ ~ ~

It was a full week later when there came the very normal sound of Sunny Day knocking on Wayfair's door. What Celestia had hoped would have been a quick royal visit to Manehatten had quickly swelled into a week-long event. Not that she minded too much. Duty had to be done, but she was eager to spend time with her marefriend.

“Come on in, Sunny!”

Sunny Day hoofed open the door and she entered with a small saddlebag packed and ready. “I have my school uniform packed!” she sang happily.

Wayfair clapped her hooves excitedly. She knew what that meant. “Another trip to Trixie’s!” she squealed in delight, “I'll pack my maid outfit. I guess we will be able to get some arcade time in first?”

“You have guessed correctly, my clever maid!” Sunny Day hoof bumped the purple unicorn, “Let us go have some much needed fun together.”

As Wayfair quickly packed her maid outfit into her saddlebag, she had to agree that she needed the trip to Trixie’s. It had been two weeks since the last one, and she had been missing her marefriend. “With you, it’s always fun. Maybe this time, I'll get to beat you in Mareo Kart,” she giggled, “I'm bound to win sometime!”

“Maybe if I could beat you at that dancing game!” Sunny Day replied, before trotting out of the maid’s room and through the palace’s hallways to catch the taxi.

Wayfair had to trot to keep up, “You came close the last time, after we started dancing in your room.”

“And then you started using your sexy distraction techniques.”

“Says the one that couldn’t control her wing tips when she’s racing.” They both shared a laugh at that, neither of them denying that they blatantly put the other off. In the taxi, she said, “I think we both won when we told Luna and Octavia we weren't competitive so it didn't matter who won. Their faces! Priceless!”

Sunny Day snorted a laugh into her hoof, “Priceless indeed. Some ponies take it way too serious.”

“You're so right, Sunny,” Wayfair snuggled up tight and close under her marefriend’s white wing. She practically purred with contentment, for it had been a long two weeks and she had missed this!

Sunny Day was only too happy to keep Wayfair comfortable and warm in her feathery embrace until they arrived at the brightly lit night club. “Which should we do first, Mareo Kart, Dance Dance Revolution, or the bungie pull?”

“I'd rather play fall asleep under a wing,” Wayfair reluctantly disentangled herself from the pegasus’s wing and got out of the taxi, “Buuuut...let's go try the bungie pull.”

“We could always skip the games and just go upstairs?”

As tempting as it was, Wayfair shook her head, “No, we always do the arcade first. Gets us warmed up for the fun upstairs.”

“Bungie it is!” Sunny Day declared heroically.

“Alright! So...” Wayfair paused at the inflatable bungee run and tried to get a handle on the rules. “In this game we have to run away from the wall, and the cord around our waists pulls us back, right?”

“Don't forget you have to place the bean bag in the centre to see who wins.” After three games, Sunny Day ended up winning two to one, resulting in them both collapsing in a sweaty giggling mound of fur and feathers. “This is going to be my lucky day!”

Unfortunately, Sunny Day’s winning streak didn’t last very long. She lost the Dance Dance Revolution competition due to Wayfair's hefty dancing teats. She did win Mareo Kart though, because while her hooves operated the controls, her wings were all twitchy over those previously dancing teats.

Not that Wayfair minded the overtly twitching feathers. Not where they were currently twitching, anyway. “Oh no,” the unicorn snickered, “It seems your wings have foiled me again!” she giggled, “Whatever am I to do?”

“Sorry,” Sunny Day coughed in a totally unconvincing manner, “Not,” there came that cough again, “They are just so hard to control when I'm excited, you know that.”

“Just like these teats of mine,” Wayfair lamented playfully, “When I dance, they seem to have a mind of their own.” As well as the ability to defy gravity, but that was another issue.

“I guess we could tightly wrap our wings and teats to prevent that?” Sunny Day suggested, then a second later, both of them together yelled, “Nooooooo!” like they were Costner in The Bodyguard before collapsing on each other in a fit of laughter.

Wayfair, still laughing, pointed upwards with her horn, “Upstairs time?”

Sunny Day nodded and kissed the tip of her marefriend’s horn, “Totally upstairs time.”

“I love it when you say that,” Wayfair smiled and she kissed Sunny Day's cheek, then she took the lead up the stairs to the first floor, her tail held up high and her teats on full display for her Mistress to admire.

And, admire those teats she did. All the way up to the landing. “Today, I want you to put on your panties, but only those, and no magic use till we are in the room.”

“Yes Mistress,” Wayfair reached with a hoof into her saddlebag and she pulled out the pair of white panties, her favourite pair, with the sun logo on the front, and she slipped them up her hind legs with just her hooves until they were stretched across her butt.

Sunny Day admired the view a moment longer before she found them a table near the dance floor. “Fetch me a sweet white, your drink bowl and what you want to drink out of it, pet.”

“At once, Mistress!” Wayfair turned and obediently she trotted off to the bar.

Last Drop looked up from cleaning glasses and he smiled broadly at the oncoming mare. He knew he was in for the show of the night now for sure. “Good evening to you, Wayfair. What's today’s game. Oh,” it was then he saw what she was wearing, “Nice panties.”

“Today's game is a mystery, Mr last Drop,” Wayfair gave the bartender a knowing wink, “But my Mistress would like a sweet white, I'm allowed a Stable Hopper and my water bowl, if you please.”

When Last Drop placed the items on the bar, he couldn’t help but notice that the unicorn wasn’t using her magic, “Um, you need a tray for that?”

“If you'd be so kind, Mr Last Drop, I'd appreciate it,” Wayfair leant in close and she whispered, “I'm not allowed to use magic yet.”

“I understand,” Last Drop smirked as he placed the drinks and the bowl on a tray, “Back or mouth carry?”

“Mouth,” Wayfair winked, “My jaw muscles are very strong.”

“Just remember,” Last Drop smiled, “Sex in the private rooms.”

“Yes sir,” Wayfair took up the tray in her mouth and she carried it back to Sunny Day, who was waiting at their table by the dancefloor.

Sunny Day was sat on her seating pad tapping a hoof along to the electronic noise that passed as music. A few ponies were occupying the dance floor, looking for all the world like they were having seizures. She swept the bowl off the tray with a wing and she placed it on the floor between her hind legs as close to her crotch as she could get it. Then, she poured the beer into the bowl. Lastly, she took a sip of her wine. “Nice choice, now do keep your hind legs straight when you drink, my dear pet.”

“Yes Mistress,” Wayfair stood and she made sure to keep her hind legs straight as she bent at the waist to get to her bowl full of beer. She grunted a bit with the effort, because her large teats were getting in the way, but she eventually managed to lower her muzzle down to the floor.

Sunny Day was loving the show her marefriend was giving her, especially when she had to widen her stance because of her teats. Looking around the room, the pegasus took note of who was and who was not watching. It pleased her to see that more than half were focused on them. “Are you game for something different tonight?” she asked when Wayfair stood up.

After adopting a very wide stance, and having to use her forehooves to not overbalance, Wayfair stood up and, with a very wet muzzle, she sat on her pad. “I am, Mistress.”

“I read this article, about what you asked for the last time we were here, and it may be a little iffy out here.” Sunny Day hated the way she was suddenly rambling like her nerve was failing her, “I will try it before we go to the room, but how you feel matters to me. You can safe word out or just say no, okay?”

Wayfair, who was by now very much intrigued, urged her marefriend on with a motion of her hoof, “Go on, Mistress, I understand.”

“Keep yourself hydrated,” the pegasus ordered with a gentle smile, “After all the dance competitions between us, I don't care how I dance anymore. Tonight, we will dance together.”

Reminded of her beer in the bowl, Wayfair again did the wide legged bend at the waist and when she had drank her fill, she stood. “I'd like that very much, Mistress.”

And dance they did. Since neither of them was a particularly good dancer, they were quickly given plenty of space on the dancefloor, mostly to save the other pony's hooves. Wayfair personally couldn't care less how bad they both were, she was just happy to be dancing with her one true love. For every two dances they shared, they went back to their table for a drink break.

Once they had danced their eighth dance, Sunny Day had downed two large glasses of wine whereas Wayfair had been made to make her one beer last until they were done. When the bowl was at last empty, Sunny Day lifted herself up a bit and moved forward.

In position above the bowl, the dominant pegasus sighed, closed her eyes, and after releasing her bladder, she allowed a stream flow from her urethra. When she judged there was roughly two ounces of urine into the bowl, she sat back, eager to see what her pet would do.

As she watched her marefriend and Mistress fill her bowl, Wayfair’s eyes went wide as dinnerplates. She looked from Sunny Day to the bowl and back again three times, before she bit her lip and stood up. She looked down at the bowl, at the liquid in it, and she trembled. This was everything she had asked for!

Still trembling with anticipation, the unicorn bent at the waist. When her nose was less than an inch away from the bowl, she inhaled deeply. She savoured the smell of her Mistress’s pee, then she stuck out her tongue and began to lap it up. When Wayfair had finished, the pegasus said, “My turn. Kiss me, my pet, and you can use your tongue.”

“Yes Mistress,” with her tongue still wet, Wayfair leant in close and she laid a hot passionate kiss on Sunny Day's lips, her tongue sliding into her mouth.

Sunny Day did enjoy the tongue battle but, after she smacked her lips, she shook her head gently. “So, okay if we don't do that again?”

“I have no problem drinking your nectar, Mistress, but we don't have to share it if you don't like it.”

“It didn't taste like wine to be sure,” Sunny Day snickered, that taste still on her tongue. “We can do it again some other time, if you like. I thought the article a bit strange, but the fetish seems to have a following.” She then kissed her pet’s lips, “At first I didn't think you'd do it. You surprised me.”

“Then, I'm pleased I can surprise you, Mistress,” Wayfair bowed her head, “I've wanted to try that for a while now, so thank you.”

“I think it is time to let the school teacher out,” Sunny Day said after another kiss, then she whispered in her pet’s ear, “Magic is allowed in the room.” While the pegasus trotted off to get a room for an hour, Wayfair practically skipped to the room. Inside, Sunny Day quickly put on her slutty teacher uniform, glasses and all.

“I will never ever get tired of seeing you in that outfit, Mistress,” Wayfair openly ogled her slutty teacher, from her micro mini skirt, to her tight short shirt, to her red rimmed glasses. It was a truly magnificent sight.

Wearing an amused expression, Sunny Day held her wooden ruler in a wing and she tapped a forehoof with it. She knew what she wanted. “Chrysalis, front and centre.” She pointed the ruler to the middle of the room, right where she wanted her.

Obediently, Wayfair lit her horn and, in a flash of green light, she was gone, leaving Chrysalis stood in the private room. Walking forward, she stood at attention in the middle of the room. Sunny Day then sat back on the bed and spread her hind legs. “I'm still a bit damp down there. Clean me up, please pet.” Chrysalis bowed her head and stepped forward, her forked tongue lapping reverently at the pegasus’s wet marehood. At the first few licks, Sunny Day jumped and moaned, “That tongue is magic…”

“Hmm mMMmmmm…” Chrysalis lapped all around Sunny Day's dripping labia, then that magic tongue entered her, swirling all around her wet muscular walls. The squirming pegasus used a wing to hold the ruler against Chrysalis's horn to keep her in place. Smirking to herself, the changeling pressed her muzzle further into her Mistress's crotch, and she magically vibrated her clit while her tongue worked.

After just five minutes of that, Sunny Day reached her first orgasm of the evening, and the ruler left the back of Chrysalis’s horn and instead it slammed into her pet's ass. “Deeper!” Chrysalis, duly encouraged, used her changeling magic to extend her already long tongue, making it go deep into Sunny Day's tunnel, lapping right at her g spot.

The more Sunny Day got off, the more the ruler crossed Chrysalis's ass. The smacks weren't really that hard, and they were a bit erratic. Still, the stinging pain drove the changeling on to pleasure her Mistress. In addition to the tongue, a cone of magic suddenly entered the white mare’s ass, which immediately began to vibrate in time with the magic at her clit. Her second climax hit her like a freight train and the ruler flew from her wing. “Time!”

As soon as she heard that, Chrysalis stopped what she was doing, and she crawled up onto the bed beside Sunny Day. “How was that, Mistress?” she purred silkily into her ear.

The white pegasus was a panting, sweaty mess. After about five minutes, she had recovered enough that she could speak. “Okay,” she said determinedly, more to herself than to Chrysalis, “I'm going to see if I can do it today. On the bed, on your back, ass near the edge, pet.”

Chrysalis was all hopeful as she laid on her back and spread her hind legs wide apart. It was going to happen! Sunny Day rolled off the bed to the floor and she stood looking over her pet’s true body with determination. With a sudden move – before she could stop herself - she had her mouth on the changeling's glistening wet snatch and her wings were darting over her black chitinous body, running into holes and over the gossamer wings.

“MMmmmm yeeeesss!” Chrysalis moaned, leaking quite profusely into the pegasus’s mouth, “Mistress!” she felt the mare’s tongue going at a furious pace, thrusting in and out of her, while her feathers roamed all over her body. After a few minutes, Sunny Day bought her hooves into play on Chrysalis's ass. “Mmmmm Mi-Mistress I-I'm g-go-gonna cuuuuuuum!”

That just made Sunny Day go faster. She picked up her pace even more until, a moment later, Chrysalis screamed as she came hard, showering her Mistress's face with her juices. Spent, she laid back slumped and panting, staring up at the ceiling. The pegasus slowed down, but her wings keep caressing the changeling’s hard body. After Chrysalis had calmed down, she pulled away, “I did it!”

“Y-Yeah...you did it...” Chrysalis stared up at the ceiling cross eyed and breathing hard.

Slowly, Sunny Day crawled up next to Chrysalis, kissing her hard black body every inch of the way. “Back to Wayfair please. I need some furry snuggles after all that.” Without a word, the green flames returned and she was Wayfair once more. Sunny Day nuzzled into the unicorn’s neck. “Once I was working it, I forgot about what you were, other than the sub I wanted to please.”

“It felt amazing, Mistress…”

Sunny Day giggled, “You felt amazing. Did I keep control of my hooves?” '

“You did, and it was...wow!” Wayfair nestled herself deep into the pegasus’s comforting embrace.

“Okay,” Sunny Day snickered, “It was hard to pound your ass with my head between your legs.”

Now it was Wayfair’s turn to giggle, “I promise it was wonderful, Mistress.”

“It has been a long ride since that first day on the train,” Sunny Day said solemnly into her marefriend’s ear, the pegasus holding her gently but securely from behind.

“It has, hasn't it?” Wayfair agreed, though for the moment she was happy to lie where she was, “While the journey may have not always been an easy one, this destination has been worth it.”

Celestia placed a loving kiss on Wayfair’s ear, “I no longer hate you.”

“Hmm…I love you…”

“I know,” Celestia said softly, “We each accept what the other gives. Let's cuddle until our hour is up then we can go back. You can help me mess up the bed so my maid has something to do tomorrow.”

“Sounds like a plan, Mistress,” Wayfair hoped the hour would last a great deal longer than that. This was the best feeling she’d had for a long time.

~ ~ ~

Several hours after their visit to Trixie’s, Sunny Day was laid in Wayfair’s legs, both mares asleep in Celestia’s comfortable bed. Without any warning whatsoever, the door to the Princess’s room was slammed open before it was time to raise the sun. “Tavi is giving birth!” Luna screamed at the top of her lungs, then she ran out of the room and the door closed itself.

“What in Equestria was that?” asked Wayfair, who had not moved an inch.

“That was the Princess of the Night,” Sunny Day replied, a gentle smirk in her voice, “It seems Tavi has gone into labour at last.” She then got out of the bed and she changed back to Celestia. “We should have time to clean up before we go down to the infirmary.”

“Uuuuugh...what time is it?” Wayfair opened her eyes and in the darkness of the bedroom, she looked at the clock, and let out an anguished gasp when it told her it was two fifteen in the morning. “Why can't foals respect good timekeeping?”

Lighting up her room to flush her marefriend out of bed, Celestia snorted and laughed, “It's Luna's foal, so it is. You can sleep in, but I'm going to go to wash, and then go to the kitchen for a snack.”

As tempting as that suggestion was, Wayfair shook her head. “I'm awake now, I'm up...” slowly, she got out of the bed and staggered a little to the bathroom. “I need food…” the two mares shared a quick functional shower just enough to wash off the ‘sleep’ smell and they were off to the kitchen. Celestia hadn’t bothered to get dressed. “Excited?” the unicorn asked, “You're going to be an aunt!”

“Again.” Celestia said simply before she entered the kitchen and paused to recall the night staffs names. “Crème Brule, status?”

Crème Brule inclined her head respectfully to her Princess. “She’s still in labour, your highness.” Then, without wating to hear what the alicorn wanted, she pushed a plate of shortcake covered in strawberries and cream, adding a second plate for Wayfair.

“Thank you, Crème, I need these so badly!” Wayfair took her plate in her magic and after she had sat with Celestia at a table, she asked, “Again?”

Once she was seated, Celestia nodded. “Cadance is my niece, you may remember her?” the alicorn enjoyed the look of shock on her lover’s face before she continued, “Blueblood is my nephew, I hope you don't remember him.”

Wayfair was so stunned she almost choked on her shortbread and strawberries, “Wh-Whaaaa sh-she w-what...”

Celestia didn’t mean to giggle. She didn’t mean to laugh. She still did both. “Try not to breath while you eat. Black tea for me, Crème, and a creamy coffee for my maid, if you please.”

When Wayfair spoke next, it was with a very tiny voice indeed. “No wonder you hated me…”

Gently, Celestia used her hoof and she lifted up Wayfair by the chin until she was looking into her eyes. She stared deep into those blue eyes until she saw the green that lay under the surface. A green she had come to love. After a creamy strawberry kiss, she said, “I don't hate you anymore.”

Wayfair was only too happy to return the kiss, which was just as creamy and full of strawberries, “I know.”

Another twenty minutes passed in which time Celestia and Wayfair enjoyed more dessert and drinks, a bat pony guard entered, looking harassed. “Crème, oh, your highness. You’re here. The doctor says it will happen within the hour.”

“Very good,” Celestia gave the Night Guard a smile of thanks before he went on his way, “We will be along shortly.” When Celestia finished her tea and Wayfair had drank her latest coffee in an attempt to wake up, she led the way out of the kitchen and down to the infirmary. “Let's go see a new life come into the world.”

“I can’t wait,” Wayfair had a smile on her face, despite the inequine time of day making her wish she was still asleep. In the waiting room was a Night Guard bat pony stallion and Crescent Moon, Luna’s personal attendant. Wayfair let out a yawn that split her head, “Good morning…”

“Good morning Crescent,” Celestia looked and sounded more awake and alert than Wayfair did. She looked at the guard and inclined her head politely, “Moonshine, I do think you played an important role in what's going on.”

Wayfair found herself leaning slightly on Celestia, not that the latter minded. “Congratulations,” she said after another yawn.

“Think of her as you'd think of Lulu at eleven in the morning,” both the bat pony guard and the attendant laughed at Celestia’s joke.

“I am perfectly awake,” Wayfair grumbled good naturedly, “Just not as awake as I'd like to be.”

Fifteen minutes later, and the elderly Doctor Quincy entered the waiting room from delivery room one. “Greetings to you, Moonshine, it's a colt. All of you can come in, but I’ll ask you all to please keep it quiet.”

“I have a colt!” Moonshine, who had until then been stoic, looked stunned and then he did a four hooved happy dance, “I have a colt!”

Granting Moonshine the honour, the Princess motioned for the stallion to lead the way. She was happy to follow with Wayfair at her side and Crescent Moon bought up the rear. Moonshine walked into the delivery room, all smiles from ear to ear.

In the delivery room, an exhausted Octavia had her new-born pegasus colt along her body and he was already sucking on a teat. In a quiet voice for her, Luna said, “Let me introduce Dusk Melody,” she waved a hoof to the midnight blue pegasus.

“He is awake,” Octavia sighed, her voice heavy with fatigue from her exertions, “So you don't need to be walking on egg shells.”

Moonshine looked down at the colt. His colt. A colt he had created with Lady Octavia at her request with justified in his eyes. “He looks very handsome.”

Celestia had to agree with that. “He does.”

Very gently, Moonshine stroked his colt's head, “He's a fine colt,” his voice was thick with emotion, “And he'll be a fine stallion.”

“How are you doing, Tavi?” asked Celestia, now stood by the earth pony’s side.

“Not too bad, after passing this watermelon of a colt through my downstairs...”

“My hoof should recover too,” put in Luna, earning herself a loud raspberry from her tired wife.

Wayfair snorted out a laugh, “I still can't feel mine from when he kicked me.”

In a sense of fairness, Octavia gave Wayfair an equal opportunity raspberry before Celestia asked, “Is this the first of a set?”

“Time will tell,” Octavia replied while Luna merely shrugged, “But I'm in no hurry to do that again.”

While the others talked, Moonshine had spent the whole time stroking Dusk's head and his charcoal grey mane. Nothing else existed for him in the room but his son. “He's perfect…” the colt must have heard him, because he fluttered his wings, which were already larger and more well developed than what was considered normal for a new-born pegasus.

Celestia chuckled, “Have fun pegasus proofing your suite.”

Luna waved off her sister, “He can’t get into anything that can't be replaced. I will make an effort though to keep him out of your cake cubby.”

“And your moonshine cubby?” responded Celestia with a giggle.

“My shine does a body good,” Luna remarked, to which Octavia rolled her eyes. She didn’t have the energy for a third raspberry.

Moonshine ruffled his leathery dark blue bat wings. “I would of course volunteer myself for flying lessons.”

“I can think of nopony better, Shine,” Octavia affirmed, struggling to keep her eyes open.

“Congratulations all around,” Celestia beamed like the proud aunt she was, “Now, I'm back to sleep until I need to raise the sun.”

“I can take care of that, sister.” Luna said with a smile, “I'm going to declare today a public holiday for the royal birth.”

“Okay, I can get behind that. Crescent,” Celestia addressed Luna’s attendant, “Can you pass that to Wisteria, please?”

While Crescent Moon nodded she would, Wayfair yawned again. “Congratulations to you, to all three of you.” Another yawn left her. “Bed now?” Fortunately, Celestia nodded, gave her new nephew a nuzzle and walked out with her marefriend by her side.

Chapter 15 - Love, Freely Given

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Luna entered the breakfast room and she saw Celestia already at the table. “Good morning to you, sister. How fare you this day?”

Celestia smiled at her sister and responded while Luna sat and piled food on her plate. “Sunny Day is happy, and therefore I am happy. I no longer dislike the changeling, and I do find her easier to tolerate.”

Luna was surprised by the admittance but tried not show it. “I’m happy that you are finding happiness in your life. Does this mean love is not far off?” The change in her sister’s expression let her know she had crossed a line. “Pardon, sister. I speak only for myself. Do forgive me.”

Celestia sighed. “You did dance on a nerve, sister. I fear I’ve forgotten what love is. Even with your example and seeing Twilight blossom. I…I need time.”

Luna nodded and focused on her food. Time is a luxury alicorns had. Few others could enjoy that luxury, but she knew in this she could push no further. A change of topic was needed. “You are aware that the fifth anniversary of the invasion is at the end of the week?”

Celestia gave her sister a polite eye roll, “Of course I’m aware of that, sister.”

“Good,” continued Luna. “You will attend the memorial service at Platinum Plaza then.”

“I will not,” responded Celestia. “I’ll give my annual address from the audience balcony as I’ve done every year.”

“No,” said Luna. “You will attend the memorial service. Crescent Moon has given the full itinerary to Wisteria. There will be no annual address. You need to be with the ponies at a time like this.”

“Are you running my schedule now?” asked an irate Celestia.

Luna was unphased by her sister’s ire, “Yes, when I need to, I shall. Enough banter, and I’ll cut to the chase. A certain pony we both respect came to me with a plan for the anniversary. She told me she was going to coordinate it with the pony in charge of such affairs, and just wanted to give me a heads up, as they say today. The next day the pony in charge came to me with the plan fleshed out and requested that you attend. I hope you understand why she didn’t come directly to you.”

Celestia didn’t have to think long about that. “Royal Ribbon is in charge of the Canterlot Invasion Veterans Association, and it isn’t the first time she has gone to you instead of me. Who is this other ‘mysterious’ pony?” Luna responded with an eye roll. “Twilight?”

Luna smirked, “Good guess, sister, but no. One of her friends. I believe Twilight briefed all of them on what is happening with a certain changeling.”

“The element of generosity does love to put her nose where it may be bitten off.” Celestia pushed away her plate, “Fine, I’ll go, but I don’t see why I need to be there. I can provide the moral support my ponies need from the balcony, instead of on the ground.”

“Because, dear sister, this isn’t for your ponies. It’s for you.” Luna stood up from the table. “I bid you a good day and I go to let my little colt and my not so little Tavi tuck me into bed.”

Celestia had to admit that motherhood agreed very nicely with her sister. It reminded her a lot of her own daughter. While the estrangement between them had ended, she did miss Sunset dearly. She too got up from the table. There was some time for Sunny Day to enjoy a bit of Wayfair time before court, and she was going to make the most of it.

~ ~ ~

Celestia was sat at her desk deep in thought when Wayfair walked into the room, naked as she had been for the last few weeks. She carried her outfit with her, and she ever so slowly dressed herself in the very skimpy maid outfit knowing full well that Celestia enjoyed every moment of it. “How may your maid serve you today, your highness?” asked Wayfair.

Celestia looked at the maid and then her room. “The usual today, my good maid. I do have a lot of paperwork here, and I may not be as observant as I normally am. The onus is on you if you should be naughty and hope to escape my wrath.”

“Such a thought never occurred to me, your highness!” Wayfair looked at the mess in the room. A third of the books were on the floor. ‘Twilight must have been over last night.’ She started with the bed and it was even messier than usual, and the sheets stuck together. She pulled it all off for laundry to discover a well-used dildo under a pillow. Now she was upset that Celestia would do such a thing without her. She shoved the dildo off the far side of the bed to the floor and gathered the linen for the service to pick up.

Wayfair returned from the pantry with fresh linens and remade the bed. She kept in mind to keep her ass facing Celestia with that thin bit of cloth run through the valley. With just the right amount of jiggle she could feel her teats fall out of the tiny teddy that was holding them. Wayfair would then have to stop her work and use a hoof to adjust the teddy to contain its treasure. With the bed made tight enough to bounce a bit on, she turned her attention to the books.

It was times like this she was glad her given from was a unicorn. Wayfair used her magic to arrange the books based on their Starswirl decimal system to make shelving easier. When an opportunity arrived she did swap two books. The 609 and 906 as a simple clerical error. After all it would be easy to confuse ‘Technologies used to Record History’ with ‘Historical Perspective of Technologies’.

That job done; Wayfair looked around. She saw the dirty tea service on the balcony and went to collect that. In the little side kitchen, she cleaned up the service and returned it to the side table where it belonged. She then turned her attention to Celestia. “Your maid has completed her cleaning. Do you have any other task for her, your highness?”

Celestia transformed to Sunny Day. “I’m most disappointed, Wayfair.” With a wing she flipped a switch on the wall next to her desk. A tile in the centre of the room rotated to reveal a large eye bolt in the floor. Sunny Day took a two link chain from her desk and walked around Wayfair and back behind the bed. She tossed the dildo to its centre. “If you had mouth cleaned that I might,” Sunny Day paused as she walked past the shelves and with her wing tipped two books out onto the floor. “Have been more lenient for you dishonouring my books.” She clipped one end of the chain to Wayfair’s collar and forced her head to the floor to clip the other end to the bolt. “You have been a very naughty maid.”

Wayfair tried hard to keep the smile out of her voice, “I’m sorry Mistress!”

“Not yet,” said the stern voice of Sunny Day. She moved around her sub to the desk and took a cricket bat out of the drawer. “You soon will be.” Sunny Day held the bat in a wing and swung for the boundary line.

Chrysalis in her Wayfair disguise was happy to get any attention at all from Celestia in her Sunny Day disguise. Being naughty didn’t always guarantee a response, but today she had all of her Mistress’s attention. The friendship and more recently, the love, they developed over the time with these two disguises only emphasized her love for her Mistress, even if it wasn’t reciprocated. Endorphins flooded her mind with each stroke of the bat.

Celestia as Sunny Day wailed away at her sub’s ass with the bat. The smell of her arousal and moans of ecstasy drove her onward. It wasn’t until the moan changed to a yelp of pain that she stopped. Chrysalis would never use her safe word. She looked down on the mare and could see green blood where she had broken a welt. Sunny Day retreated back to her desk and resumed her true form.

Celestia cast a quick healing spell to stop the bleeding and teleported the short two link chain back to her desk. Wayfair remained with her head on the floor blubbering. The alicorn turned back to the paperwork on her desk to take her mind of the mare behind her. She didn’t get far before Celestia heard the mare stand.

“I’m sorry Mistress,” Wayfair was able to get out between sobs. She turned to face Celestia but kept her head down.

“I know,” said Celestia. “I know.” She turned to look at Wayfair. Once again, she went too far. After all the training to ensure that Wayfair would be a good sub, none of the training seemed to teach her to be a good dom. “Do you know what tomorrow is?”

Wayfair was taken by surprise by the question. Tomorrow was Thursday, but there is no way Celestia meant that to be the answer. She thought hard about what tomorrow would be. The closest she could come to would be in a few days. It would be the anniversary of when Celestia came at her request to the old hive in the north. “I’m sorry Mistress, I’m unsure what tomorrow means.”

“It will be the fifth anniversary of your invasion of Canterlot,” said Celestia in a calm voice. She watched the mare cringe under what she must have thought was an accusation. “I’m attending an event at Platinum Plaza. You will accompany, but not in this form.”

All kinds of scenarios ran through Chrysalis’s mind. Had she done something wrong? She didn’t think so. Would this be her end, when Celestia finally turned her over to the ponies she harmed? Would Celestia make an example of her to those who think they can defy the sovereignty of Equestria? Nothing good could come from this, and now she feared for the changelings she abandoned almost two years ago.

Celestia watched the gamut of emotions run across the mare’s face. She tried to bolster her own resolve. “Wayfair is known to accompany Sunny Day. She cannot accompany me to an event. While I enjoy your current form and build, you will have to become another pony to be with me.”

Wayfair dared to look up at Celestia. She remembered when Celestia put her through her paces to take on this form. It was a huge breakthrough to be seen with her, even if Celestia herself was in disguise. When Celestia said she would never be seen in public with Chrysalis. “I will take on any form you command me to, Mistress.”

Celestia reached into her desk and pulled out three paint colour samples. “I’d like your body to be this fire brick colour, and your mane and tail to be this fire orange with streaks of amber. Your cutie mark will have three wavy lines above each other in gold and your name will be Solar Flare. Everything about your current form and build will remain unchanged.”

Chrysalis studied the colours and her body was enveloped in a green glow. “Have I pleased you, Mistress?”

Celestia studied the pony in front of her. “Please make your eyes the blue of my sky.” She watched the green glow come over the other pony’s face and when Solar Flare opened her eyes all about her was perfect. “You have pleased me. Thank you.”

Solar Flare smiled brightly, “It is my pleasure to serve. When do we depart?”

“My chariot will pick us up at nine thirty in the morning. You will join me and Luna for breakfast. Wear that gown Rarity made for you. I’ll be wearing my full combat regalia.” Celestia looked away, “I’m sorry.”

One more confusing item to a very confusing day. “Pardon me, Mistress, but what could you possibly be sorry for?”

Celestia’s voice was subdued. “I’ve still not given you the love you desire.”

Chrysalis thought just how much she desired that love. Knowing she would maybe never receive it. “I love you Mistress, and I have grown to value your friendship over these years. That means more to me than words can say.”

Celestia nodded. She was happy that the changeling could accept what she could give. “This is your form now. As for Wayfair, I’m not sure as to her status. I will see you at breakfast tomorrow. Rest, but you have freedom of movement. Your personal guard will escort you to where you wish to go.”

Solar Flare bowed low and walked out of the room. Neither guard on either side of Celestia’s door said anything. When she reached her room Shieldwall gave her a questioning look. “Greetings, Shieldwall, I’m whatever pony Celestia desires me to be. For now, and the foreseeable future I am Solar Flare.” Shieldwall bowed and opened her door. “You are my personal guard?” continued Solar Flare.

“Bulwark or I, madam,” the guard responded, keeping up the appearances. “How may I serve you?”

“I wish to go shopping in about an hour. Maybe you’ll find something you’d like to purchase for yourself, or for Victory Gate.” Solar Flare winked at the stallion and entered her room. She let the door close behind her.

~ ~ ~

Luna entered the dining room after raising the moon. “Good eve to you, sister. I’m pleased to see you have a new companion about the palace.”

Celestia shook her head ruefully as her sister sat down. “The rumour mill surpasses all of my expectations. I’ve only known Solar Flare a day, and already all the newspapers are full of who she might be, where she’s from, what does she do…”

Luna filled her plate from the selections. “I think the paparazzi can always be counted upon in times of need,” the lunar alicorn smiled, showing no signs of foal induced sleeplessness. “If you seek my approval, you know you have it.”

Celestia nodded. “I’ll be going to the service tomorrow with Solar Flare. She will be at breakfast tomorrow.”

Luna looked up from her plate, “Tia?” The question remained unasked as she could see the answer written on Celestia’s face. “Whatever may come, you have my full support.” With her sister’s nod, they both returned to their meal.

~ ~ ~

Chrysalis rolled out of bed before the sun. She was going to be seen in public with Celestia. After two years when she first submitted to the solar monarch, it was finally coming together. She giggled and wondered how many thought that this was part of her plan for world domination. There was only one thing she wanted to conquer, and it was the mare that had already conquered her.

Putting on the gown was easy since Celestia let her keep the shape of Wayfair. Chrysalis had no fashion sense other than what she had gleaned from the fashion channel and noted in the mirror how the dress looked against a different coloured pelt. That wasn’t for her to worry about since her Mistress ordered her to wear it.

As she exited the room, she passed Bulwark who fell in behind her. “Must you follow me everywhere?”

“Welcome to your new life as a Princess Consort, ma’am,” answered Bulwark. “We can give you some privacy in a shop or restaurant once we ensure it is safe. Also, if you have no plans to leave the castle grounds you can request that we don’t follow you.”

Solar Flare nodded. Her new life. She was officially a Princess Consort! ‘I do hope that is the case. It has been a hard two years.’ She entered the dining room to find she was the first in. There were three settings at the table, and one had her new cutie mark for a placemat. She took her seat and waited.

Luna and Celestia walked in together. Luna was the first to speak as she sat down, “You must be Solar Flare. It is a pleasure to finally meet you.”

Celestia said nothing as she rounded the table to affectionately nuzzle Solar Flare before she took her seat. It was all Solar Flare could do to hope the brick red fur hid her blush, but it wasn’t to be.

Luna smiled, “Sister, was the red tinge in the young mare’s ears your idea?”

“Indeed, Luna,” responded Celestia warmly, “Or it was after I nuzzled her.

The rest of the breakfast went smoothly for Solar Flare. The only real difference between the food here and the cafeteria was she didn’t have to wait in a line. “I’m unsure why you inspect the cafeteria, Luna. This food is as good as theirs.”

“And that is why I inspect,” stated Luna. “Tia, your petitioners have been transferred to me. Please try to enjoy your day and mingle with those at the service.”

Celestia smiled, “If any are brave enough to approach me, I will be happy to converse with them.” She looked over at Solar Flare, “Please accompany me to my room.”

Solar Flare stood with Celestia and followed her from the room. She turned to look at Luna who remained at the table. The alicorn was looking back and winked at her. The blush returned with force as she quickly followed after her Mistress.

After Solar Flare closed the door, Celestia removed her normal regalia and summoned her combat regalia. As she watched the princess dress, she could sense the powerful magics imbued in the armour. Celestia looked intimidating and dangerous. Solar Flare wondered what it would be like to be spanked while Celestia wore that.

Celestia turned and looked at Solar Flare, who fidgeted in place. “This armour predates much of history. I last wore it during the Second Griffon War.”

“I imagine my invasion would have been short lived if you wore it to the wedding,” commented Solar Flare in a low voice.

Celestia rolled her eyes, “Not exactly wedding attire. Plus, it’s too powerful for me to use in the city. Works fine in the field though where collateral damage would be limited to the enemy.” Celestia moved to the exit, “Now you can see what my ponies think of your invasion.” She knew that Chrysalis was following in her disguise. In truth, Celestia was also interested in what her ponies thought of the invasion now that five years had passed.

~ ~ ~

The carriage ride to Platinum Plaza was a quiet one. It was not a place Celestia visited very often, if at all. There was an array of seating pads forming a semi-circle in front of a stage. Behind the stage was a statue of three life sized ponies. One from each tribe. Celestia knew the plaque on the base of the statue by heart. ‘In Defence of Our Nation’ There were no names because too many had died in this plaza to list all the names on one statue. The museum dedicated to the invasion was located at Clover’s Gate. Another place Celestia only visited once at the dedication. The carriage stopped behind the crowd and Celestia stepped out followed by Solar Flare.

She knew she would draw many eyes to herself. Celestia always did. Now the eyes looked on in awe as to how she was dressed. She knew a few would look on in anger that she wasn’t dressed this way when the invasion happened. Few remembered there was a wedding that day, and none would understand what would have happened to them if she were wearing this armour.

Celestia saw her seating pad was front centre and there were two pads at that spot. The organizers assumed she wouldn’t be alone. She wasn’t surprised that Rarity was there, but mildly surprised that all six of the Element Bearers were there seated in the front right. She had two choices to her seat. Left and across or right and across. No point in avoiding Twilight at this event, so she started off the right.

Solar Flare stood just behind Celestia and looked over the crowd. She knew these ponies were here because of what she had done. She doubted any of them could understand why she did it. It was all she knew to do. What she was trained for because, out of the strong came forth sweetness. She hesitated for a moment when Celestia started moving. There were so many emotions running through the crowd. Love for the lost wasn’t overly sweet, and the anger and grief even less. A fear she didn’t know she had materialized as she looked over the crowd. Solar Flare quickly caught up with Celestia hoping for some protection from those that would truly end her.

As Celestia rounded the corner she saw Fluttershy and Applejack. The first had a slight smile, while the latter had a frown. Neither of them spoke. Next was Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle. The pegasus wore a knowing smirk on her lips while her student stared open jawed. Celestia couldn’t blame her as she was witnessing thousands of years of history in front of her. After that couple was Rarity and Pinkie Pie. The pink pony was the first to speak, or at least she tried to.

“When do I plan…” said Pinkie Pie before Rarity quickly ran a hoof across her lips. It was as if they were zipped shut. Pinkie Pie’s smile turned into a slight frown, but her ears stayed up.

“Greetings, Princess,” said Rarity. “Who is this fine mare with you?”

“This is my companion, Solar Flare,” said Celestia.

“Companion?” blurted out Twilight, who then realized that all attention was now turned on her. “Of course, of course. Um, forgive me. Maybe we can speak after the ceremony?”

“I would like that, Twilight,” responded Celestia. “I best get seated so that I don’t hold things up.” Celestia moved past the Element Bearers and toward her seat. She saw three ponies on the raised stage. Royal Ribbon and another mare and stallion. Celestia took her seat and Solar Flare sat to her left.

As soon as she was seated, Royal Ribbon moved to the centre podium. “I welcome you all to this fifth anniversary of the Changeling War. Our guest speaker today is Brass Bell, a veteran of Clover’s Gate.” Royal Ribbon returned to her place on the stage.

Celestia searched her thoughts to remember that day. Brass Bell was one of the hundreds – thousands – of ponies she gave out the Equestrian Cross to. He was in the reserves which were never thought to be called upon to fight in a real battle. It seemed Royal Ribbon was taking this event seriously if she had picked him to speak.

“Greetings to you all,” lead off Brass Bell. “I know for many of you the wounds of that war are still fresh and bleeding, but I want to tell you that living a life of grief is not living at all! I know those that you loved would not want this from you. How do I know? I lost my wife in that war. She didn’t die in battle. She died as an incubator, and it was one of our own that released her from that Tartarus. I understand grief, but I also understand that living life is the greatest thing we can do in life.”

Chrysalis, in her disguise, could feel the waves of emotions around her as the stallion spoke. She was certain the words were directed at her for the loss of his wife. Nopony would ever understand why she did what she had to do. She lowered her gaze to the ground in front of her hooves, not even daring to glance at Celestia next to her.

“Today I want to speak to you of forgiveness,” continued Brass Bell. “Don’t misunderstand that forgiveness relieves the guilty of the consequences of their actions. Forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting what they have done. Forgiveness is to release the hate from your own heart. To make room for love to enter your life. It is too soon you may say. I say it is never too soon to heal.”

Years of self-training kept Celestia from fidgeting in her seat. It seemed she had underestimated Royal Ribbon. She had chosen this speaker to talk to just one pony, herself.

Brass Bell continued his speech, “Let’s go back to the Griffon War. It was just over nine hundred years ago. Many died on both sides in that war, but honestly, we only care about our losses. Not the enemy’s losses. Our Princess is here today to remember this fifth anniversary. She led our forces to victory in the Griffon War. When it was over, we offered forgiveness to the griffons. We restored normality with their kingdom.”

Celestia well remembered both wars, particularly the second one. She wore the armour she had on now to lead the Equestrian forces. She also remembered it as the First Griffon war, not the Griffon war. Something Brass Bell was going to remind her of in a moment.

“Just under two hundred years ago we had to rename the Griffon War to the First Griffon War, as the Second Griffin War occurred,” said Brass Bell. “Does that mean our forgiveness was worthless? No, it does not. Many died in the second war, yet again, Princess Celestia led us to victory. Again, we forgave the enemy and reopened relations with them. I said earlier that forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting. Even today we stay vigilant. Today we have the Element Bearers in attendance.” Brass Bell pointed them out to his left. “They have added one other item to the mix. The Magic of Friendship. Here in the audience are griffons. Griffons fought alongside me at Clover’s Gate. Griffons died in the defence of Equestria against the changelings. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing that if someone thought to start a Third Griffon war, that no griffons came? Forgiveness, vigilance, remembrance, and most of all friendship.” The stallion paused to let that thought sink in, but then he looked directly at Celestia and continued, “I would go back even further, to the Lunar Rebellion.”

Celestia froze on her seating pad and her eyes narrowed. How dare this stallion go there? Who did he think he was? The desire to crush him under her hooves raged through her being. A supreme act of will stayed the stallion’s execution.

“Many died in that war, all around our world,” spoke Brass Bell. “The victor sits with us, and more importantly, the loser sits at the palace right now, watching over us. Princess Celestia forgave Princess Luna. What happened will never be forgotten by her. Yet she remains vigilant today, and her forgiveness of her own sister should resonate with us all. There is more than friendship, there is love. I don’t expect any of you to change overnight. Five years is such a short time. I can only ask that you open your hearts to the idea that there is room for forgiveness, and to replace the hate with love. I will always love my wife, but I understand she would remind me there is room in a heart to love abundantly and that my living means more to her than her own death. Thank you.”

Chrysalis trembled next to the raging inferno beside her. Such raw emotion showed her a fear she never really understood. All the other emotions around her faded to nothing.

The rage in Celestia drained away as quickly as it had come. The stallion knew how to play the audience and it seemed he knew how to play her too. His speech over, silence was all that was left among the ponies. A silence she didn’t want to break. Then, the disguised pony next to her began to clap her hooves. Celestia joined in and soon all the ones gathered for the event did likewise.

Chrysalis felt the rage fade along with her fear. Then she felt hope, which was far tastier than rage. She was moved by the stallion’s words. When he finished, she felt relief and started to clap her hooves as one did for a good performance. Celestia and others joined in and Chrysalis was pleased.

Royal Ribbon moved back to the podium, “Thank you for attending this service. A reminder that at sunset there will be a gathering beneath the spot where the sky trenches were located. The First Pegasus Brigade will have refreshments and food available. Many veterans will be there to share their experiences that day. Also, the Changeling War Museum by Clover’s Gate will be open until midnight. There you can find the list of names of those that died during the war. Please come and sign the guest book and you can leave tokens in memory of those lost. Thank you again for your attendance.” She along with the other two moved off the stage to mingle with the crowd. None of them approached Celestia. The Element Bearers in front of her did draw her attention.

Twilight Sparkle looked at Celestia and then at the pony next to her mentor. “You hurt me that day. You took my foal sitter and friend captive. You lied to my brother. You struck my friend and mentor, Celestia, down. What hurt me the most is without charm or spell you turned my friends against me.” Twilight was not doing a good job holding back her tears. “I just want to say that I forgive you for all that. I trust Celestia to be vigilant. I trust you to not throw everything away and repeat what you did.” Twilight quickly turned away and walked off. Three ponies followed with her.

“Solar Flare,” said Rarity, “The gown you’re wearing is beautiful, and I’m sure it was made by a pony of quality. Still, if you stop by my shop, I’m sure I could make something just as exquisite, and a colour more suited to you.” She turned her attention to Celestia, “Princess, so avant guard with the armour. Such a powerful presence, but then you, darling, are a power presence with nothing at all.” She then moved a hoof symbolically across Pinkie Pie’s lips.

“So, when’s the party?” exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

Celestia was taken back by the unexpected question, “Pinkie, I don’t think today is such a good day.”

“Of course not silly,” retorted Pinkie Pie. “Today is a day for quiet parties. To share and remember those lost over dinks and light food. I can do those parties, but that is not the party the two of you need.”

Celestia blinked. There was much she understood over her extremely long life, but Pinkie Pike continued to confuse her as much as it did Twilight. “Give me a month, Pinkie. I’ll let you know when and where.”

“On my calendar,” said Pinkie Pie. Rarity walked off with Pinkie Pie bouncing alongside her.

“What do you feel,” asked Celestia still facing straight ahead.

Chrysalis, as Solar Flare, spoke up, “There’s a mix of emotions in the air, so many it is hard to…to…” she turned to face Celestia, “I…I feel love.”

More importantly, she felt where that love was coming from.

“In public, you, Solar Flare, will be my companion. In private, Chrysalis will be my companion.” Celestia turned to face her former enemy and she smiled a true and genuine smile. “It’s good to let go of the hate. I can now give you what both of us want.” She stood and Solar Flare quickly stood with her. Celestia moved to the carriage with the pony beside her. Along the way she acknowledged the bows and greetings but didn’t stop. Once the carriage door was closed, she placed a wing over Solar Flare. “Thank you for sending me that letter.”

Chrysalis didn’t respond, she was still taking in the love freely given to her. A love she never thought she would receive.

Chapter 16 - The Trial of Love

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Princess Cadance was reclining on a chaise out on the balcony of her crystal palace. It was a pleasantly cool evening, not too cold, not too warm. Just right, thanks to the Crystal Heart’s protection. The alicorn laid back and looked over the city. Her city. Her empire.

The lights from the thousands of houses lit up as the sky got darker and darker, one by one mirroring the night sky above. A full Flurry Heart was at her belly sleeping. It was a peaceful scene, a beautiful tableau. Still, she was ill at ease. She always was this time of year.

Mi Amore Cadenza hated this time of year. Shining Armour knew his wife hated this time of year. It wasn’t exactly his favourite, either. He walked out onto the balcony and stood beside her, a strong, reassuring hoof resting on her shoulder. “I love you.”

Cadance had heard him say those three words hundreds, thousands, even countless times, but every time they made her heart skip a beat. “I know,” she spared her husband a thankful smile, “It's just a bad day, that’s all.”

“Tomorrow is our fifth wedding anniversary,” Shining Armour squeezed his wife’s shoulder, “We can have Sunburst and Starlight watch Flurry so we can go out to celebrate.”

If it was possible, Cadance’s mood darkened even further, shadows clouded her sculpted features. “Today is an anniversary too.”

“Five years to the day that Twilight believed in you and rescued you.” Shining Armour smiled and nuzzled the alicorn’s cheek, “She can't hurt you or anypony else anymore. Twily told us so.”

“I know it’s been five years, Shiny, and I know she’s long gone, but it still haunts me.” She then made room for her husband, who laid on the chaise with her, with their sleeping foal between them.

“I know.” Shining Armour didn’t have to say anything else, because in truth, what had happened still haunted his nightmares too. Being controlled by Chrysalis wasn’t something he easily got over. The paranoid part of his brain still heard her poisonous whispers in his mind, even though that was impossible. Or so his therapist assured him, anyway.

“Thank you,” Cadance caught the haunted look in her stallion’s eyes and she hugged him tight to her, “Going out tomorrow would be wonderful.”

~ ~ ~

Two days after her anniversary and Cadance was sufficiently recovered from her festivities – her hangover had resided – that she was at last able to resume her duties. On this Sunday, the Princess of Love approached her special room. Lighting her horn, she lowered the protective wards to the well-guarded room.

This was the very upper most level of the crystal palace. There were no guards up this high in the spire. It was engineered so that only she could get through the door now below her. The last thing she wanted was Flurry Heart finding a way into this room.

Once inside the vast circular room, she raised the wards on the entrance to give her privacy. Letting Shining Armour in that one time had been such a mistake. He was such a nerd, just like his sister. It was a good thing she loved him.

Her very presence activated the room. One wall had images of nearly two thousand cutie marks. A large majority were organized on the left side with red lines between two, and a few red triangles for three. Red lines of true love. Then there were the yellow lines of friendship, which could bloom to true love if things worked out well. She really tried to not nudge those couples too much, but she was the Princess of Love. The one triangle with two red lines and one yellow one still worried her a bit. Many green lines were on the board too, but those were just friends and unlikely to progress beyond that.

Then there were the blue lines.

The ones she was personally invested in. Her Aunt Celestia had several of those blue lines attached to her cutie mark. Wisteria came to her mind, but then the red line between that mare and her husband would require a suggestion of palimony on her part.

Not that she wasn’t above such a thing, but even she knew when not to meddle.

Now that Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash were a solid red line, she could bring the full force of her talent to work on her Aunt. She decided that mare deserved love, and that she would find it for her. She cast her spell of looking for love and focused on the alicorn's cutie mark.

Maybe her heart had finally given in to another.

When the red line appeared she was almost shocked enough to drop the spell. Her own joy held the wards intact as she followed the line from Celestia's mark to see where it would lead. Strangely, it led to the dustbin. The spell popped and Cadance was left staring at the round metal waste basket.

She never emptied it.

Only things that went in there were the cutie marks of the ones that passed without ever knowing true love. It was a bin filled with sacredness. Cadance was mystified. “Who in Equestria could she have possibly fallen for? A ghost? The father of her daughter? This makes no sense at all…” The Princess sat down on her haunches and stared at the bin then she upended it.

Not all inside there were cutie marks.

There were names also. Not every creature had a cutie mark. Even on her board were names. Griffons, minotaurs, and even a few dragons and yaks. She scattered the pieces on the floor. She then conjured some fortifying tea for herself so she would have the strength to cast the spell for a second time in one day. There was a reason she only visited her once a week, but this was too important to pass up.

After an hour she cast the spell again, this time focusing solely on Celestia's sun. The red line reappeared and ended on one of the papers on the floor. Cadance levitated the scrap up and she almost died from shock. Chrysalis. The name that haunted her soul. The powerful spell and the wards around the room ended as Cadance fainted away.

When Cadance woke up, she found herself in a place she hadn’t seen in five years and if she never saw them again, it would be too soon. Looking around, she was in no doubt she was trapped in the crystal caverns far below Canterlot palace.

Only now in the many reflections, it was Chrysalis and Celestia taunting her.

“Mi Amore Cadenza,” Princess Luna stepped forth from the shadows, radiating the whole caverns in a luminescent blue light, “It’s not like you to have nightmares.”

Cadance stared all around with wide scared eyes, but under the bright blue light, the mirrors and the taunting reflections in then faded to nothing. “A nightmare, but...was it real?”

Drawing upon her vast power, Luna closed her eyes and she felt the nightmare all around them, created by the younger alicorn’s sub conscious and given form and power by her fears and insecurities. “Do you mean, is your Aunt really dating Chrysalis?”

“Please,” Cadance pleaded, “Please say it’s not so, please?”

“I could lie to you,” Luna began with a sympathetic smile, “But I think you want the truth. The truth is…” the lunar alicorn paused for what felt like an intolerable amount of time before she spoke again, “Yes. My sister is in love with Chrysalis.”

“The line was red, but...” Cadance felt like she had been poleaxed, she refused to believe her ears, but she knew Luna wouldn’t lie, not to her. “If you know, then she is of her own free will?”

Solemnly, Luna nodded her head. “Celestia is under no mind control. Chrysalis is not capable of it any longer.” The older alicorn then smiled and she placed her broad powerful wing over Cadance's shaking shoulder. “If anything, it's my fault they are together.”

Though she was grateful of the comforting wing draped over her, there was one thing she had to know. “Does Twilight know about this?”

“Celestia went to Twilight about this many months ago,” Luna assured her, “I am however unsure if Twilight knows everything that has gone on. I myself was unaware their relationship has developed this much until yesterday.”

Cadance shook her head. She really wanted to disbelieve what she had heard, but try as she might, there was no getting away from it. “I think I need to wake up.”

“Then wake!” Luna lit her horn and cast her magic. As the caverns deep under Canterlot began to fade away to nothing, she said, “I trust I'll be seeing you in Canterlot soon…”

Slowly, Cadance opened her eyes. She lay where she had fallen following her faint, on her side on the floor of her ‘Shipping Room’ as her husband had dubbed it. She had been out well over a couple of hours. Shining would no doubt be worried.

“Cady!” a very worried looking Captain of the Royal Guard greeted her as she opened the magically protected door that only responded to her magical signature, “You’ve been in there a long time! What happened?”

“I need to go to Twilight now!” exclaimed an extremely harassed looking Cadance. She didn’t care that her usually styled mane looked like it had been pulled through three hedgerows, or that her coat looked in similar condition.

“Is something wrong?” asked Shining Armour anxiously as he tried – without success – to smooth out his wife’s mane. “Is she breaking up with Rainbow?”

“What?” Cadance was so thrown by the unexpected question that she had to think what the issue at hoof actually was. “No! It is worse than that. Aunt Tia is with Chrysalis!”

“Hahaha...good one, Cady!” Shining Armour didn’t believe that for a second. “What's really going on? You can tell me if they're getting divorced, I can take it…” he trailed to silence when his wife gave him #1 'husband is in trouble' glare. He knew that look. It was the look he usually got when he forgot a birthday present. “No way...she's really with Chrysalis?” again, he noted the glare and he shuddered. “Let's get Sunburst to sit for Flurry and we can get the train.”

Grimly, Cadance nodded. “Let me get one last nursing in while you pack an overnight bag for the both of us.”

~ ~ ~

After almost two full days travelling on the Friendship Express, the multi coloured steam train at last arrived at Ponyville station in a billow of white steam and a scream of brakes. The three thousand mile journey from the far north had not been the most pleasant one that Shining Armour had ever had. “You've been quiet this whole trip, Cady.”

“Thank you for not pushing,” Cadance gave the powerful stallion an affectionate nuzzle, then she helped him levitate their bags, “Let's see your sister and what she thinks of this. I'm really angry, but I have it bottled up. I need to vent and I don't want to vent on you.”

“I'm with you, you know that, Cady, always.” He nuzzled her cheek and then they disembarked onto the station. It was a measure of how comfortable the residents were with royalty now that they weren’t mobbed for pictures. “Let’s hear what she has to say before blowing up.”

“I don't want to blow up at all,” the pink mare retorted, “But I do need to decompress. I need facts, because my magic only gives me truth.”

“Come on then, love, let's go see Twily,” Shining Armour led the way through the streets towards his sister’s castle. The streets were dark, thanks to it being late in the evening, “Facts are her thing, you know that.”

When they reached the large crystal castle at the centre of the growing town, Cadance and Shining Armour walked through the front door without knocking. Setting hooves inside, they were greeted by Rainbow Dash, who was wearing a cute little maid’s dress and carrying an empty silver tray in her hooves. “Hey, you guys!” the pegasus greeted them as she flew down the stairs.

“Where’s Twilight?” asked Cadance, dispensing with the pleasantries.

“Mistress is up in the public library,” Rainbow Dash replied, taking a beat of her wings backwards defensively on the back hoof, “Why, what's up?”

Without bothering to reply, Cadance set a determined look on her face and trotted on past the blue pegasus on her way up the stairs behind her. “Issues with Celestia,” Shining Armour supplied on behalf of his wife.

“If I hear raised voices, I'm coming up, get me?”

Shining Armour shrugged his large shoulders, “You may as well come along,” he said as he moved towards the stairs, “It involves Chrysalis.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash set the silver tray down on an ornate sideboard and flew after the unicorn, “I'm coming with.”

Up in the public library, Twilight, on her own thanks to the lateness of the hour, had her nose in several books at once held in her magic and she was making notes in three pads with a dozen quills all working independently of each other. Cadance, after coughing twice and getting no response, she raised her voice. “Twilight! We need to talk, now.”

“Gaaaah!” caught by surprise, everything that Twilight Sparkle had held in her magic dropped to the floor. Papers flew in all directions, books clattered and ink spilled in a growing dark puddle. “C-Ca-Cadance!” she exclaimed, “Wow, you're here. Is Flurry with you? I want to play with my favourite niece! Shiny, you're here too! That's great, just great! You didn't even send a letter, yes, great!”

“Chillax, Twi, it’s exactly as bad as you think,” Rainbow Dash snorted and she got comfortable on one of the small clouds she had bought into the library so she could enjoy the show.

As he watched his sister’s eye start to twitch in that tell-tale ‘Twilynanas’ way, Shining Armour whispered to the pegasus, “Not cool, dude.” To that, the mischievous mare started to giggle.

“Aunt Tia,” Cadance cut straight to the chase, “Tell me everything, Twilight.”

“Celestia!” Twilight squawked like she had just sat on cold ice cream, and she giggled, her eye twitching again, making her look more than a little crazy, “Not much to tell! No, definitely not!” the youngest Princess was working herself up into a state, “Except she's dating Chrysalis, 'the' Chrysalis, who's alive, totally alive, when she's not supposed to be!”

“You know what I'm the princess of?” asked Cadance in a deadpan manner.

“Sex?” put in Rainbow Dash, equally as deadpan as the pink alicorn.

As Cadance facehooved, Shining Armour said, “She is very good at it,” which just made Rainbow Dash laugh so hard on the cloud she was sat on that she was about to pass out.

With a loud harumph, Twilight shot Rainbow Dash a particularly nasty look that just made the laughing pegasus laugh all the harder. She gave up on that and turned to her old foal sitter. “Cadance...she ought to have died!” she cried desperately, “I was sure they'd all die, then she went and wrote to Celestia for help!”

“That much Luna already told me,” said Cadance grimly, “She didn't know that Tia had fallen in love with the changeling. I'm really angry right now, and need to do something with that anger.”

“I'm really sorry Cadance,” Twilight flinched reflexively back from the other alicorn. She could sense the sheer amount of magical energy within her, powered by her raging emotions which were roiling like a storm about to break, “I should have told you about this when Celestia first came to me.”

“Is it real!?” Cadance demanded with a stomp of her hoof that fractured the crystal floor of the library.

Twilight didn’t want to admit it, lest Cadance treat her face like the floor of her castle, “It's real. Very real. Celestia took her in disguise to this year’s fifth anniversary memorial of the invasion. She told my friends and I that she loved her.”

Such rage and anger burned in Cadance, such a burning fury she had never felt before, not even when she and Shining Armour had cast out the changelings, “I need to break something, now.”

“Not my Daring Do collection!” Rainbow Dash, thinking of the important things, was prepared to fly to her Daring Do room to protect her things.

“Battle room, now. Noting in there that can't be replaced,” Twilight then lit her horn and she teleported both Cadance and herself out of the public library to a room that Shining Armour had never heard of.

“What?” the confused stallion asked, wondering what had just happened.

“Battle room,” Rainbow Dash explained, “Nothing big. Ever since Tirek, Twilight has been doing some combat mage training, and she is totally awesome at it!”

“Okay,” Shining Armour didn’t sound reassured by that at all, “Cady can get feisty…”

“I don't need to know what you do in your bedroom.”

~ ~ ~

Two hours later, in what was now the very early hours of the morning, Cadance and Twilight reappeared in the public library where Rainbow and Shining Armour were waiting for them. “How was the Danger Room?” asked the pegasus with a wry smile.

Shining Armour was distracted from the visage of his dirty, sweaty wife with her coat all knotted and tangled by what Rainbow had just said. “You call it the Danger Room?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow replied, “Just like…” the two then spoke in unison, sharing a nerdy hoof bump, “X-Mares!”

“I-I…” Twilight panted hard from one of the most intense workouts she had ever had, she was just tired and worn out looking as Cadance, “I didn't know love magic could be so forceful…”

“Shiny is the Captain of the Royal Guard,” Cadance said after she had finally caught her breath, “And thought I should be trained after what happened five years ago.”

“And now?” asked Twilight, who used her considerable magic to make herself and Cadance look somewhat presentable again.

Cadance sighed deeply as Twilight’s magic cleaned and smoothed out her pink coat, before it started to work on her multi coloured mane. “Aunt Tia is in love and it has been a long time,” she said finally when she looked like herself again, “Time for me to move on and confront her, don't you think?”

“I definitely think you should!” Twilight exclaimed in agreement, while Rainbow Dash and Shining Armour were still hoof bumping and nerding out over the X-Mares reference.

“Shiny,” Cadance pulled a very heroic pose, “To the train!”

“Not as cool as the Lovemobile,” lamented Shining Armour, “But okay, my love.”

“We should so get her a Lovemobile for Hearths Warming, Twi,” Rainbow Dash smiled, secretly scheming to do just that as she watched the royal couple depart the castle, “That'd be so cool. Something bright pink, with her mane colours in stripes down the sides.”

“Right…” Twilight wasn’t listening. She summoned some paper and a quill to her and began to write furiously, “Spike!”

“What did you do now?” grumbled the dragon in question as he slouched still half asleep into the library, wondering why he was awake at this appalling time of day.

Twilight didn’t answer him straightaway. Instead, she finished scribbling out the fast note, “Send this to Celestia, now!” she roughly thrust the note to spike, who, after a judgemental roll of his eyes, took the note and sent it off in a puff of dragon breath. When the message was gone, Twilight sank down to her haunches in shock, “Cadance knows about Chrysalis…”

“We should go out onto the balcony so we can watch Canterlot,” Rainbow Dash grinned, “No matter what happens, at the very least, it should be a show to remember.”

~ ~ ~

Over in Canterlot, Princess Celestia was sat in a room adjacent to the throne room, engaged in her morning pre court meeting with Wisteria, completely unaware of the drama that was about to unfold that day. “There’s the usual smattering of complaints, your highness, but the stone mason guild is concerned about the amount of steel being used in construction these days.”

Celestia let out a deep sigh, “Progress in a quagmire…” she could already feel a migraine forming in her head at the thought of having to navigate and mediate this particular minefield, one of many. Just then, the note from Twilight appeared in front of her. She took it in her magic and read it. Then she read it again. On the third reading, she wished that the stone masons were the height of her problems. “Wisteria, when is the next scheduled train from Ponyville?”

“Why do you ask, your highness?”

“Cadance is coming to visit.”

“Um,” Wisteria caught the forced look on her Princess’s face, a look he had learnt over decades to decode. Whatever was coming, it was going to be bad. “You do know she has a private train, right?”

“Oh,” Celestia thought quickly, “Please cancel my court or postpone to tomorrow what can't be cancelled. Tell them it’s an emergency in the Crystal Empire, and I have to consult with Cadance.”

“Of course, your highness,” Wisteria, well-practised at dealing with royal emergencies after all her time working with the family, “Might I enquire as to the nature of the emergency?”

“My marefriend!”

Wisteria blinked once and then twice while she let the enormity of that sink in. “At once, your highness,” the elderly mare bowed respectfully as Celestia promptly left the room.

On her way to her room, Celestia informed her guard captain that Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armour were on their way and that she should have an escort from the train station and should be admitted to her room as soon as she arrived.

With that done, the Princess then trotted off to wake up Luna, or she hoped dearly that she hadn't gone to sleep yet. In her room, Luna was reclining on her chaise by her balcony reading one of her favourite BDSM books for light reading while Octavia was resting on their bed with Dusk at her teats.

Celestia knocked softly on the door, in case anypony – she was thinking of Dusk - should be awake. “Door's open sis,” Luna said softly, knowing immediately who was at her door. When Celestia entered, she looked around to see where Octavia was. Reading her book, Luna didn’t look up. “She's asleep. Being a new mother and a walking milk factory is tiring her out.”

Once she was over by her sister’s balcony, Celestia passed Luna the note she had received from Twilight. Luna scanned the missive telling her that Cadance knew about Chrysalis and that she was on her way. “Ah,” was all she had to say to that, “At least she's taking the train and not portalling over.”

“I'm just glad she can't teleport that far,” Celestia huffed quietly, “There’s no point in hiding this, but I thought you should know if things go badly.”

“What's the phrase these days? Oh yes,” Luna set her book on advanced Neighponese rope and suspension techniques down at her side, “I have your back, Tia.”

“Then just watch where you horn is when you come charging in.”

Luna giggled quietly at that, before she got up and hugged her fretting sister close. “I don't think you have anything to worry about. She went to Twilight first. If she was really that mad, she'd have come here directly and confronted you.”

“There is talking about Chrysalis and then there is seeing her,” pointed out Celestia, as she have her younger sister a hug and a nuzzle, “I figure I have roughly thirty or so minutes. May as well use that time to prep my marefriend.”

“Your good point,” Luna conceded, “Good luck with Cady, and shout if you need help.”

Leaving her sister’s rooms, Celestia stopped by the kitchen to have a large chocolate fountain along with a selection of sweet cut up fruits on sticks sent to her room. Then, with a somewhat heavy heart, she trudged to her own room, where Chrysalis was lazily whiling away her morning. “Solar Flare!” Celestia said loudly as she entered, “I'm so happy to see you!”

Chrysalis, who was in her natural form, looked up from her latest issue of Vanity Mare magazine that she had been reading on Celestia's bed, “Mistress!” she beamed, “It's been literally four hours, I'm pleased to see you too!”

“Yes, Solar Flare,” Celestia danced on her hooves in a futile attempt to get rid of her nervous energy, “I'm happy to see Solar Flare!”

“Alright, I get the hint,” Chrysalis transformed herself into Solar Flare, the tall brick red unicorn. “What's wrong?”

“Everything, or nothing,” Celestia fretted, “Or I hear Tartarus is a nice vacation spot this time of year!”

“Mistress, breathe,” Solar Flare adjusted herself on the bed so she was on her front with her legs tucked up under her, “You're making no sense. Tell me what’s wrong.”

Heavily, Celestia sat at her table and held her head in her hooves, “Maybe you remember my niece?” the disappearance of the smile on the changeling’s face, replaced with great concern, told her she did. “Surprise!” the alicorn declared, “She'll be here in a few minutes to visit us.”

“Is it too late for that villa in Tartarus?” asked Solar Flare without a trace of humour, “Maybe we can get one with a good view, maybe a pool?”

A moment later and there came a knock on the door. Celestia bade whoever it was to enter, and the staff bought in and quickly set up the chocolate fountain on Celestia's table. “Thank you,” the staff then bowed as they exited the room, leaving the Princess to sigh, “Well, that is one item off the list. Cady is a colossal chocoholic.”

Solar Flare giggled nervously, “As if you wouldn't be muzzle first in that too.”

“Be honest,” advised Celestia, “That is the only advice I can give when dealing with my niece. And remember, I love you.”

They were interrupted by another knock on the door. A guard, a new one, judging by his state of unease. “Highness, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza's train has arrived at the station. She is ten minutes out.” Celestia thanked him, and he closed the door behind him.

“Be honest.” Solar Flare took a very deep breath to calm her rampant nerves, “I can be honest. I can do that.”

“We can do that,” Celestia said as she moved over the room to the bed, where she gave the unicorn a loving kiss, “Together.”

Solar Flare held Celestia tight and in the hug, she gave her a kiss of her own, “I love you so much, Mistress.”

The minutes passed by and Celestia used that time to do her calming exercises so that when the inevitable knock on the door came, she was at peace. It was a shame the same couldn’t be said for the unicorn by her side. “Enter.”

A guardspony entered the Princess’s room, “Your highness, may I present...”

Entering behind the guard, Cadance cut him off sharply. “She knows who I am, and she knows I’m coming.” She pointed back out the door with a wing tip, “Go keep Shiny busy.” As the guard scampered quickly out of the room, Cadance looked at the two mares on the bed and she focused solely on the unicorn. “Are you...”

“Cady,” it was Celestia who spoke up, not Solar Flare, “I'd like you to meet my companion and lover outside the castle, Solar Flare, and my companion and lover inside the castle, Chrysalis.”

Solar Flare bowed her head respectfully, though her heart was pounding a tattoo on the inside of her chest, “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza,” the changeling then summoned the green magical flames and she transformed back to her natural form. “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza,” Chrysalis bowed her head low.

Standing at the foot of the bed, Cadance gave Chrysalis such a look that seemed to penetrate her very soul. She held that searing unblinking glare for what felt like an eternity before she looked across at her Aunt. “I'm still very unhappy with what you did to me and Shiny.”

“I know there is no apology I can make that can atone for what I did,” Chrysalis said softly, glad that the younger alicorn was no longer looking at her so intently, “But I am truly sorry.”

When she heard that, Cadance relaxed a little, “I was told changelings could only take love and not give it.”

“That's what I believed as well,” Chrysalis spoke softly but firmly, “However, I've learned a lot these past years.”

Cadance then took note of the white collar that Chrysalis wore around her slender black neck. Of course she knew the significance of the collar. She knew what it meant to wear such a thing. “Are those lessons you wanted to learn?”

Chrysalis wanted to lie, particularly with Celestia at her side. Not to spare her own blushes, but to spare her Mistress. But, she remembered what Celestia had said. Be honest. “Some lessons were forced upon me,” she tried to be diplomatic, “But regardless of their source, I learned them. I...changed.”

Sensing that she was speaking truthfully, Cadance was satisfied. However, there was one thing that remained to be seen to. Her own satisfaction. “I demand restitution.”

“Oh,” Celestia’s eyebrow raised up and there was a faint hint of amusement in her voice, “And what restitution would you demand, niece?”

“I'm happy to submit to any punishment you see fit, Princess Cadenza,” on hind sight, Chrysalis was perhaps a little hasty with that statement. ‘Any punishment you see fit’ could cover a whole load of bases, and that only occurred to her after she said it.

Again, Cadance turned to Celestia. “She's your marefriend, what would you do?”

Celestia stroked a hoof down from Chrysalis’s shoulders all the way over her back to her toned black ass, where it lingered for longer than was necessary. “I find a good spanking works for me.”

“Works for me, too.”

“Her safe word is Lime,” Celestia lovingly nuzzled Chrysalis’s cheek, and whispered, “You have nothing to prove to me.” The solar alicorn then slid off the bed and she walked over to her closet. There, she took out a crop, tawes, Cat o’ nine tails, and a feather, which she set out on her desk. “Your choice, Cadance.”

“Nice selection,” Cadance said as she looked over the implements of correction set out before her. It was with a degree of satisfaction she noted the MiAC logo, her own cutie mark, on them. “I can wield a crop to be sure, just ask Shiny. For now, this chocolate will go stale if we don't enjoy it.”

“May...”

“All of us,” said Cadance, cutting across her Aunt.

On the bed, where she hadn’t moved, Chrysalis dared to have a glimmer of a smile at that, “Thank you, Princess.”

“Chocolate cures many a thing,” Cadance actually smiled, “If there is any left you can try and cure your ass in the fountain.” After munching on a chocolate dipped strawberry, she asked, “How did you manage to survive this long?”

“Well,” started Chrysalis after she had helped herself to a chocolate cover piece of pineapple, “It is because of you.” When she was shot a stunned look, she continued, “You used your love magic to evict us from Canterlot, and it was so abundant. We had extra to store as liquid love, but that was nearing the end when I first wrote to Mistress Celestia.”

To say that Cadance was stunned to know she was the reason that the changelings didn't die as Twilight had thought and predicted they would. But Chrysalis wasn’t finished. “When I say it was nearing its end, I mean, the stores had almost ran out when the maulwurfs started to attack.”

“A magically resistant mole creature,” explained Celestia, who had two pieces of chocolate apple slices in her magic, “Like a Bugbear, only bigger and tougher.”

“Hmhmm…” Chrysalis’s green eyes took on a haunted look for a second, “We had to use the stores of love energy to bolster our defences, but they still broke through into the hive. We couldn't repair the damage before the next one attacked, and so on...” she shuddered, “So many lost…”

“Enough talk,” Cadance declared shortly, cutting across Chrysalis. She wasn’t there to force her to relive what was obviously a very traumatic experience. “Time to move onto the punishment phase of my visit.”

“I usually have her drape herself over the bed,” said Celestia with a smirk as she enjoyed a cherry and a pineapple chunk, “Gives her something to fix when we’re done.”

“Works for me,” Cadance shrugged and, as she stood up, she rolled her shoulders and allowed her muscles to pop while Chrysalis got up and assumed the familiar position over the foot of the bed. “Shiny likes how well I use a crop, let's see if you do.” The former pegasus warmed up with a few practise swings of the crop, allowing it to swish through the air so that Chrysalis could hear what was coming.

Walking behind the prone changeling, Cadance was determined to enjoy her alicorn earth pony strength as she wielded the white crop, aiming first at Chrysalis’s lower thigh, up to her hips and across her back finding a new spot for each strike.

Chrysalis found herself letting out an almost rhythmic stream of squeaks and soft yelps as Cadance brought down a steady pace of firm slaps from the crop. She was intensely aware of a heat growing in her rump as the swats found themselves landing over her entire backside. Every inch of her rounded chitin was fair game to the younger alicorn.

Any spot that could be made to jiggle was swatted into making the involuntary action. Chrysalis’s playful squirms became honest wriggling as the sore heat in her ass became more noticeable with each impact. The yelps got a bit louder but seemed silent compared to the sound of the most recent crack delivered to her rear end.

“Do you regret saying you’d submit to whatever punishment I saw fit, yet?” asked Cadance silkily as she dragged the well swung tip of the crop over Chrysalis’s left ass cheek, “Or are you exactly where you want to be?”

Another swat landed and Chrysalis duly screamed out. Either the pink mare was steadily increasing the strength of the strikes or her behind was fully tenderized. A solid crack landed and Chrysalis buried her face into the bedsheets to muffle her reaction. The changeling squeaked when she felt a hoof firmly grip her mane from behind and Cadance pulled her head up. Eyes wet with tears met the headboard of the bed and her rump received another stroke.

Chrysalis screamed again and Cadance bit her lip when she met Celestia’s gaze. Both dominant mares were getting off on the screams, moans and gasps that the submissive changeling was making for their pleasure. “I want your mouth free at all times,” Cadance said firmly, before giving another strike of the crop. Maybe next time, I’ll gag you, but for now, I want to hear you sing…”

“Yes, Princess!”

Another hard strike landed on Chrysalis’s chitinous ass; an ass already lit up with twenty deep red welts. “Good” Another strike landed and was quickly followed by another. “Besides” Cadance continued as she gave another blow. “I love the sounds you’re making. Shiny makes sounds like these, only girlier.”

Chrysalis merely gave a meek nod of her head as she felt her tight posterior receive another rain of steady swats from Cadance and her crop. The Princess alternated between cheeks, spreading out her love over the entire bottom. Chrysalis openly yelped and groaned as the treatment continued. Every sound smack seemed as audible as a gunshot and all of her reactive cries belted out with what felt like equal force.

When Cadance reached thirty strikes with the crop, she set the instrument back down on Celestia’s desk. She could tell that the changeling was enjoying the pain, a lot, if her a moaning and drooling-from-both-ends was anything to go by, not to mention the growing puddle of her arousal on the floor between her spread open hind legs.

Cadance wiped a foreleg across her brow, “Okay, now I'm warmed up.” She placed a hoof on Chrysalis's ass. “She's warmed up, too. I haven't tried a tawes since I approved their sale in my stores.” Stepping behind the changeling again, she was determined to savour this.

With a resounding smack, the tawes impacted upon Chrysalis’s already tenderized ass, sending a flash of white hot pain coursing up her spine and flooding through her body. “I’m sorry!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, grateful that the rooms were soundproofed.

Smack! The tawes swung again, and again, each smack sounding like a cannon blast against Chrysalis’s bruised chitin. It burned! The leather strips wrapped across her behind in a painful caress. Smack! It fell again and again, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

As she heard Chrysalis scream she was sorry, Cadance came, her orgasm squirting out on her Aunt’s bedroom floor. She committed this scene to her memory to enjoy again later. She lifted up Chrysalis’s tail that had lowered in an attempt to protect her roasted derriere, and used her magic to hold it up. To punish her for that indiscretion, she swung the tawes. Smack! Smack! She targeted the parts of her ass already warmed up by the crop.

“I’m sorry!” she screamed as Cadance began striking from the left and right. Smack! Chrysalis almost flew up the bed with the force of the slap. Only her death grip on the bedsheets kept her in place as that last strike landed squarely between her legs.

Smack! Chrysalis couldn’t hold back the shout of pain as the leather ends snapped against her anus. Smack! “I-I’m sor…” Smack! Cadance didn’t even let her finish before she hit her again. The tawes fell in quick secession and then there was silence. Tears streamed down her face. “I’m sorry!” she cried out.

Cadance was beside her on the bed, nuzzling Chrysalis’s tear stained cheek. Celestia was at her other side, nuzzling and kissing her lover’s face. “Now we both know you are. I think you’ve learned your lesson, now to reinforce the lesson.”

The pink alicorn swung the tawes with all her might, aiming for the meatier bits of the changeling’s upper hind leg and ass. On the twenty fifth stroke of the tawes, Chrysalis came from the sheer amount of pain in her rear end. By the time Cadance landed the thirtieth blow, Chrysalis was a shaking and quivering mess. Her moans and screams of pleasure and pain had all blend into one mewling noise.

Cadance though was not satisfied. Despite her best efforts, the changeling had not used her safe word. That just would not do! “Well,” she said as she laid the tawes down on the desk, “I guess it will have to be the old fashion way.”

“Wh-Whaa...w-what...” Chrysalis was left wondering what could possibly be next. She couldn’t see Cadance behind her facing away from the bed, putting her weight on her font hooves. She couldn’t see Cadance, but she felt it when the Princess kicked out with both rear hooves. They hit Chrysalis square on her tortured ass cheeks. “Ooooooow!” she screeched in utter agony, her hind legs buckled, binging her to her knees in the puddle she had created, “L-Lime!”

As soon as Chrysalis used her safe word, both Cadance and Celestia cast spells designed to check for severe damage. Thankfully, much to both mare’s intense relief, they found none. “I used to hate you, but Shiny said I needed to let that go. Now I find out I saved you. Restitution has been paid in full, and I forgive you,”

Cadance moved up alongside Chrysalis on the bed and she whispered loud enough for Celestia to hear. “Should you ever hurt my Aunt, you'll wish she dropped the sun on you. I know what can kill you, for I'm the Princess of Love, and you are not the only creature that can drain love. I'll leave you a dried up husk, and still alive, at least for a bit. Long enough to suffer.”

With her warning given, Cadance got off the bed. “Shiny and I are going shopping in the city, and we’ll take in some entertainment. See you at dinner!”

“I'm proud of my niece,” Celestia purred into her marefriend’s ear as Cadance trotted out of the room, “And I'm proud of you, Chryssie.”

Utterly spent, Chrysalis was laid half on the floor, half on the bed. She was used up and exhausted, but Celestia calling her ‘Chryssie’ gave her a wide smile, “Sh-She's scarier than I remember...”

“Not all of us relish our darker side,” Celestia said as she helped Chrysalis up onto the bed proper so she could snuggle with her, “Trust me, you don’t want her to let Heartbreaker free.”

“Th-Thank you Mistress,” Chrysalis took the warning to heart as she slumped into the snuggle and her horn started to glow. Under her subconscious magic, her battered hind quarters started to heal the damage dealt out to them.

Seeing that her lover was already starting to heal herself, Celestia hugged her mare closer to her. She was going to help the process along, but she thought better of it. She was happy that the deed had been done, and that what could have been a disaster had been mitigated. “Chrysalis?”

“Mmmmm?” came a tired, exhausted grunt.

“You may call me Celestia, or Tia as you feel led to do,” Celestia said softly, waves and waves of pure love radiating from her very soul, “Mistress is fine during our playtime, and Princess is fine when it seems wise to do so.”

Hearing that, Chrysalis actually opened her eyes and paid attention. “I...I can use...I can call you by your name?”

“Yes my love, you can.”

Chrysalis blushed as the implication of that sunk in. Celestia had said, way back when in the royal baths, that when the time came she could use her name, they would be equals. “Celestia,” she smiled, liking how the word felt on her tongue, and she turned and kissed her lips.

“I do hope Chryssie is okay for me, Chrysalis?”

“Of course it is,” Chrysalis’s smile broadened, “Um, what do you think to Celly?”

Affectionately, lovingly, Celestia kissed the changeling’s lips and let the waves of love she was giving off speak for her. “That would be a very private name. Even Lulu doesn't call me that.”

The sheer amount of love that Celestia was giving off made Chrysalis erupt in a deep, deep blush. Her healing was greatly accelerated by the love energy, and she could feel it in every fibre of her being. “That's why I asked, it would be ours alone.”

Just as lovingly, Celestia ran a hoof around the collar that adorned her pet’s neck. “This is a symbol of our relationship. I've told you I don't need a slave, but I'm happy with you being my pet, or just submissive to me when we play. I told you that you may not remove this symbol. Like Lulu did for Tavi, I give you permission to remove it, or put it on,” she paused to kiss Chrysalis’s lips, “But always know where it is should you give me cause to put it on you.”

“I...I can take it off?” that was a real shock to Chrysalis. In terms of everything that had happened that day, this was the biggest thing. The changeling lit her horn and she unbuckled the collar. She held it in her hooves and looked at Celestia’s loving eyes. “That's the first time in two and a half years I've not had this around my neck.”

Affectionately, Celestia nibbled Chrysalis's bare neck, “Just don't lose it.”

Chrysalis giggled and she placed the collar back where it rightly belonged, buckled around her neck. “In that case, I think it should stay where it belongs.”

The joy that Celestia felt knew no bounds. “I can think of no public outing where it would be inappropriate to wear my symbol around your neck. Just know that you can take it off like in the shower or at the spa.”

“Thank you, Celly,” Chrysalis kissed her lover, “I want you to know, the significance of this has not been lost on me.”

“I can be what you want, Chryssie. I can be what I need. I'm at peace with us. It has been too long since I've had a lover,” Celestia spoke from her heart, “Please talk to me if I should ever go astray, and I will make sure you know if you do, too.”

The smile on Chrysalis’s face was almost impossibly wide, “I can feel your love, Celly, it fills you, all of you…”

“Rest and heal now, my love,” Celestia tightened her hug, “We still have dinner with my niece and her husband will be there too.”

“Mmmm rest...” Chrysalis’s eyes started to get heavy, “I could use some rest...” her green eyes closed and a split second later, she was sound asleep in Celestia's strong, safe, loving embrace.

Chapter 17 - The Generosity of Love

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Three months after Princess Cadance’s somewhat impromptu visit, and Celestia was fast asleep in her room, being as she usually was, the big spoon to Chrysalis. Not that Chrysalis objected to that in the slightest. The changeling had quickly come to love the little spoon position, especially when she had a sexy pony snuggling her.

At six in the morning, a time she recognised automatically, Celestia opened her eyes and lit her horn. Without moving from the bed or from her marefriend, as if she would want to be separated from her, the alicorn raised the sun just as the moon began to descend. “I need a vacation,” she purred softly into her pet’s ear, “Do you want to go with me?”

Chrysalis shifted ever so slightly on the bed in Celestia’s legs, her favourite place to be, “Where do you have in mind, Celly?”

“Las Pegasus,” Celestia said gently in her lover’s ear, “It’s good this time of year, Chryssie.”

“Don't you always say Las Pegasus is good any time of year?” asked Chrysalis, wearing a broad smirk on her muzzle that spread into her voice, she still didn't turn around, happy to lay where she was.

“I do say that,” Celestia said smugly, “So my statement is true.”

Chrysalis was unconvinced, “Will you big spoon me in Las Pegasus?”

Smirking herself, Celestia knew what to do to bring her lover around to her way of thinking. The Princess licked deep into her changeling's inner ear, “I'm not always the big spoon now,” she adored the squirming whimpers Chrysalis made, “Does my pretty maid need some big spoon time?”

“Nyaaaaaaah!” exclaimed Chrysalis as she writhed playfully in her Mistress’s strong legs, “Th-Tha...hhmmm that would be nice, Mistress!”

Satisfied, Celestia disentangled herself from the changeling and she slid off the bed, where she stretched her legs until her muscles and joints popped. “Now for the fun part,” she sighed, “Getting my sister to take over while I’m away.”

Chrysalis pouted at first, when she was left alone on the bed. Then, propping herself up on a foreleg, she grinned, “I'm sure Lulu would love the chance to sleep in court. I hear she hasn't been getting any lately.” She chose to omit what she thought she wasn’t getting ‘any’ of.

“Naughty,” Celestia giggled as she smoothed the bed head out of her flowing ethereal mane, “Should I tell Tavi that?” she was still chuckling at the extended pout she received from her marefriend when there came a knock on the door. “Enter!”

Bowing respectfully, Wisteria entered her Princess’s chambers, “I have your schedule for the day, your highness.”

“Thank you, Wisteria,” Celestia spared the aged mare an affectionate look, “But first I need a three day weekend starting Friday.”

For a long moment, Wisteria blinked, letting the possibilities sink in, “I remember the last three day weekend you asked for,” she said, looking pointedly at Chrysalis lounging on the bed.

“You’re not far from the truth,” Celestia admitted, “I would like a penthouse room for me and Solar Flare in Las Pegasus, I trust you to choose the hotel.”

“Oh,” Wisteria sighed, letting out a breath she had been holding in, “The holiday plan. I'll have to dust if off, I think it is over ten years old…” she trailed off to silence, because Chrysalis was laughing so hard. The ancient mare herself was unaffected by Celestia's glare. Instead, she passed the papers to her, “Your schedule, your Highness.”

“And?”

“And I will gather what you need,” Wisteria didn’t bother to try and hide the victorious look on her face, she was just happy that after so long her Princess was finally having a break! “Will it just be the two of you?”

“I don't think my sister wants to go to Las Pegasus with Tavi and a five month old Dusk,” replied Celestia a little sarcastically, pleased to see her attendant was smiling along with her.

To that, Wisteria simply shrugged, “I should have an itinerary of choices for your approval by the end of court.”

“Thank you, Wisteria,” after Celestia had thanked her, the old mare took her leave, and then Celestia sat at her desk to look over the schedule she had been given. Her heart sank looking at all the various dignitaries, petitioners and other minutiae before her. “I really need this break…”

“I like her,” Chrysalis said once they were alone, “She's old enough that she treats you like a pony,” she then crawled off the bed and up to the desk, where she placed a loving kiss on her Mistress’s lips.

“That’s why I like her, too,” Celestia returned the kiss, grateful of the one she had been given, “You do know what you need to do when we are outside the hotel room?”

With a deep sigh, Chrysalis nodded her head. “Solar Flare is looking forward to her vacation away with her royal lover,” she tried her best to banish that sigh away where it belonged, “She is also prepared to smile for the paparazzi and pose for their photographs.”

“But inside,” Celestia said sympathetically as she hugged Chrysalis tightly, “You'll be my cute little love bug!” she held her breath, waiting to see what the changeling’s reaction would be to the new special pet name. She hoped she would like it.

Chrysalis felt her heart melt and just like that, she fell in love with Celestia all over again. Although, to be honest, she fell in love with her every day. “And I would very much like to be a humiliated and degraded cute little love bug!”

“I still haven't found something that you'd safe word out to avoid,” Celestia licked Chrysalis's nose, a wink saying she was determined to find out what that would be, “As cute as you are, the world isn't ready for you yet. Cady's acceptance has gone a long ways, but, I'm sorry.”

“Oh, there are a few things I would say Lime to,” Chrysalis replied seriously, “But I know you wouldn't even think to do them. Time for breakfast?” when Celestia nodded, she made a long, forlorn, overly exaggerated sigh, “Let me get my make up on.”

After watching Chrysalis transform into Solar Flare, Celestia kissed the brick red unicorn’s lips, “This makes me love you no less, just as your true form makes me love you no more.” The alicorn then put on her fake public smile, “I've played this charade for longer than you. Then, that is why I want a vacation, but I want it with you.”

“If you ever give me that fake smile again,” Solar Flare said with a serious look on her face, “I might just say Lime and not let you play while we're away.” She then wrapped her slender forelegs around Celestia's shoulders, “You don't need to do that with me, love, not ever.”

While the smile was fake, the genuine smile could be seen in the alicorn’s eyes, “I know love, but I've played the game for so long. Forgive me if it slips across now and again.”

“Forgiven!” Solar Flare kissed Celestia’s nose before she turned and flicked her tail over her lover’s snout, “Come on then, my love, to breakfast! I could use seconds.” She meant it too, because the love from her Mistress had already filled her up and nourished her.

“To breakfast!” Celestia caught her up in two strides and lightly she bumped their flanks together, “And we can see how my little sister is faring today.”

As it turned out, Princess Luna wasn’t faring all that well, if her bloodshot eyes and the very dark rings around them were anything to go by, to say nothing of the tangled mess that was her mane and the knots and tangles in her coat. It would be kind to say she didn't look her best, sat at the table. “Good morning sister,” Celestia didn’t bother to keep the chirpy happiness from her voice, “Where’s your wife?”

Luna turned her weary eyes towards the sound of her sister’s voice but she didn’t really see her. She had been trying for the last five minutes to spear a creamy waffle with her fork. She failed. “The colt is always hungry,” she huffed, “Always. Tavi is trying to get some sleep in.”

“Good morning, Luna,” smirked Solar Flare, “You're looking...alive.”

“I need a vacation,” the lunar alicorn grumbled into her half eaten food, food that had so far eluded her clumsy attempts to eat it, “But the experts tell me it will get better in another two or three months.” Time that couldn’t come quick enough.

“Speaking of vacations…”

“I know,” Luna interrupted her older sister and pouted like a filly who didn’t want to eat her greens, “Wisteria briefed Crescent and Crescent briefed me. I hope both of you have fun, just know that I will be enjoying mine when the three of us can get away from here.”

“Thank you, Luna,” Solar Flare walked up and hugged the exhausted Princess, “We do appreciate you stepping in. I'll send you a post card,” she giggled, “I know how much you like the post.”

In spite of her deep fatigue, Luna smiled when she was hugged. She was at the right degree of tiredness to appreciate a well-timed hug. “Even Tia can get a few things right now and then,” she admitted, getting a raspberry from her sister, “The old pony express was all we had. I like what we have now.”

“She does a lot of things right,” as soon as she spoke, Solar Flare realised what she had said and she blushed hard, her cheeks turning a crimson purple colour.

“Tia, your partner shows wisdom,” Luna hugged the disguised changeling before giving her a nuzzle, “Tavi says the same about me, and I hope she will say the same about Dusk, too. Enjoy your court and keep the body count low,” she shot Celestia a sly look, “Or don’t, I can make any deaths look like accidents.”

~ ~ ~

The almost day long train ride from Canterlot to Las Pegasus was one of two different stories from two different perspectives. In the royal carriage at end of the Friendship Express, Chrysalis – disguised as Solar Flare – was busy comforting a fretting Celestia.

The closer the train got to their destination, the more the Princess was building herself up into a state of frenzied nervousness. “Ooooooh!” Celestia danced on her hooves for the umpteenth time, “I just know somepony is going to blow this up into some big ta do!”

Next to Celestia, laid out on the long comfortable chaise, Solar Flare set down her fashion magazine – again - and rolled her eyes at her fretting lover. Again. She truly hated seeing her marefriend in this state. “Just think about riding the Wild Blue Yonder. Or the runaway mine cart ride,” offered the unicorn, “Or the five hundred foot high zip line.”

“I'll try,” Celestia slowed her fretful dance, but she didn’t stop it completely, “But politics is my eternal shadow.”

“Don't let it get you down, my love,” Solar Flare said kindly as she got up from the chaise and she started to massage her marefriend’s shoulders, “We aren't even there yet.” The unicorn then winced, because she felt just how tense Celestia’s muscles were.

Celestia quietly enjoyed the massage for a long time, only giving the occasional moan of pleasure and a sigh of bliss. Damn, daaaaaamn if her lover wasn’t the absolute best thing ever! She was melting into the carriage’s floor when Chrysalis was done. “Hold me,” she said softly, “I'm going to take a nap.”

“You're lucky I love holding you,” Solar Flare waited until Celestia was laid on the bed and then she snuggled up to her and wrapped her lover up in her long legs. As they laid together, the changeling could feel the tension that Celestia had been creating for herself melt away as she fell asleep. Even though she was sleeping, she can still feel the love radiating from the alicorn. “Silly pony,” she smiled, lovingly stroking the Princess’s mane as she slept, “All that worry and stress...”

Three hours later, the steam train arrived at Las Pegasus station. Solar Flare looked out the window and she saw the royal trifecta waiting for them. The paparazzi were there, the royal guard were present and there was a chariot there for them. If she had a bingo card, she’d have won. “Celly…” she purred, before giving her a deep lick in her ear, “We’ve arrived, my love.”

Slowly, reluctantly, Celestia opened her eyes. She didn’t want to, because her marefriend was so comfortable. Sadly though, she got up and shook herself off. “First order of business is to get some real cuddle time, then I'll find something embarrassing for you to do.”

“You'd better!” Solar Flare walked off the train first so as to draw the press’s attention from the alicorn who came out a few moments later. They stayed for almost half an hour taking pictures and speaking with the assembled public, before the guard began to clear the crowd away.

With Celestia now at her side, they walked the short distance from the station to their hotel and casino on the Las Pegasus Strip. Much like Trixie’s Place, only far bigger, the bottom two floors were all bright neon, loud noises and gambling machines and games. “I'm going to look around,” Celestia said after soaking in the atmosphere, “You will walk beside me, but backwards. If anypony asks why, you will say 'I'm not worthy to look upon the Princess's beauty' and I'll have a wing over your back. You'll have to trust me to not lead you astray.”

“Ooooh,” Solar Flare smirked, for it was obvious that the casino was packed with ponies, griffons, minotaurs and there were even a few dragons dotted about the gambling machines, “That sounds like a fun game, Mistress,” she giggled, “It's a good thing I trust you.”

Once Solar Flare had turned so that she was facing the other way, with her right pressed to Celestia’s right, the Princess draped a wing over her flank just as she had promised. Then, after a brief look around to see what attractions and games were available, she decided to play some of the low cost slot machines.

Most of the ponies they passed just bowed and got out of the way without objection, though with the ‘rear view’, Solar Flare could see all of them talking behind Celestia's back in furtive, excited whispers. A lot of them, even the griffons, pointed at the two of them, but not a one was brave enough to ask a question.

As she walked backwards with complete and utter faith that Celestia would steer her right, Solar Flare giggled softly to herself at all the creatures in the casino staring openly at them. “Oh, Champaign,” she heard her Mistress say at her side. She could feel the alicorn use her magic, and then she was moved in a tight U turn so that the waiter with the Champaign was in front of her.

“Oh,” the dumbfounded waiter spluttered, caught at a loss as to what Celestia was doing, “Uh, y-your highness…” he stammered, looking a good deal confused at what had just happened, “What...”

“I'm not worthy to look upon the Princess's beauty,” said Solar Flare without any shame at all, remembering what she had been told to say.

“While that is true,” Celestia said kindly, “I do hope you got yourself a glass.”

“I did, thank you, Mistress,” Solar Flare held up a glass of the Prench drink in her magical aura to show she had indeed taken one from the waiter.

Satisfied, Celestia walked on past four rows of coin machines, each seemingly brighter and louder than the last, until she arrived at a card table and where she got some chips. There were six ponies and two griffons all around the table engrossed in a game of blackjack, each with a varying pile of chips at his or her side. They had been there not five minutes when a mare who had just lost her round asked, “Why are you facing away from the table?”

Chrysalis couldn’t help but have a little giggle to herself as she played her Mistress’s game. “I'm not worthy to look upon the Princess's beauty,” she replied to the mare, who by the look of it was losing all her money. ‘Oh Mother this is so humiliating...’ she thought to herself, ‘And it’s arousing!’ no sooner had she thought that than her tail twitched upwards for a split second. She kept it down, just, but she had shown herself off.

“I just like to keep her best face facing forward,” said Celestia quickly, earning herself a gale of laughter from the card players at the table. The laughter made Solar Flare blush bright crimson red and she tried to cover it with a sip of her drink, only for her tail to rise up a little higher but to come down again just as swiftly.

“Aw, that was so sweet,” Celestia’s broad smile lit up her voice, “She just showed you her smile!”

On cue, the Princess’s remark drew more laughter from the card players, making Solar Flare choke a little on her drink in her magic. The humiliating laughter made her tail flag upwards, sending her scent noticeably around the table which only made her blush harder.

“Well, that is my cue to move on to another event!” Celestia beamed around at the ponies and the griffons, at the stallions who had emerged at full mast from their sheaths and the mares who were ogling her pet’s exposed crotch, “Good day to you all.”

Amid a chorus of ‘Good Day Princess’ from the ponies at the table, Celestia led her marefriend away from the table. Walking backwards, Solar Flare could see them waving at her and blowing kisses her way. She could only imagine the view she was giving those at the back of her. “Th-Thank you Mistress,” the need and arousal evident in her voice.

“You are most welcome, my pretty companion,” Celestia led them both to an elevator and, as she levitated the room key up to a reader and selected the penthouse, she wondered what she would have to do to get her pet to use her safe word. She was sure that little session would have done it.

In the elevator, Solar Flare still had her tail up like she expected to be mounted at any moment. “That was a fun game, Mistress.”

As the elevator reached its destination, Celestia turned around and she dragged Solar Flare with her into the hallway. “I'm sure we will find some more fun ahead of us,” the Princess snickered, leading her lover into the room directly across from the elevator, one of only three rooms on that floor, to the left and to the right. “You may now stop being glued to my side.”

“Thank you, Mistress,” Solar Flare turned around and looked at the room which looked for all Equestria like it belonged in one of the royal palaces, “Is this the penthouse?”

When her pet pulled away, Celestia quickly pulled her back close to her with a powerful wing for a moment, then that wing folded against her side. “Yes, it’s named the Princess Suite for some reason,” she giggled playfully.

“Gee, I can't imagine why!” Solar Flare giggled, still taking in the massive finely appointed suite, “It's huge! I've seen houses in Canterlot smaller than this!”

“You live in the palace,” said Celestia with a roll of her eyes, “So do I. Some things I can't avoid, but the perks can be nice.”

“Hmmmm I do love those perks…” the unicorn let that hang in the air as she walked in front of Celestia towards the large wide panoramic windows to admire the view. On the way, she flagged her tail up over her Mistress's nose and she kept it up to give her a view she would like.

“And there's that pretty smile again,” Celestia adored the way her submissive partner kept her tail high up. She was sure she was smiling from both ends. Under the circumstances, it was the least she could do to lower her head and place a loving kiss on that beautiful nether smile.

“Hmmmm my, Mistress, in front of the window?” Solar Flare moaned softly as she looked out of the window, “The Las Pegasus Strip will get another show at this rate…”

“The windows are mirrored,” Celestia commented dryly, “You might catch a couple of pegasi checking out their makeup. The room is soundproofed too, on the safe side.”

“You know...” Solar Flare gave voice to the teeny tiny voice that was whispering in her ear, “That's almost a shame, the thought of putting on a show like that...” as she voiced the little devil in her, the brick red unicorn began to drip her arousal between her hind legs, showing what she thought of that.

“Even I draw a line with what the papers can have,” Celestia grinned behind her pet, before shoving her muzzle deep into the unicorn’s dripping marehood and working with her tongue to plug the leak.

“Mmmmm y-you oooOOOH!” Solar Flare’s moans rose in volume the more she felt the alicorn’s skilled tongue swirl its way around her inner walls, “You h-have t-to admit...the fantasy is nice…”

“Keep looking out the window,” Celestia ordered, not looking up from the vision of Solar Flare’s flexing tunnel – why would she? This view was better than any out the window, “It’s too bad this side isn't mirrored as well.” She added, before using a forehoof to caress and grope her pet’s large heavy teats.

Obediently, Solar Flare remained looking forward, staring out at the view at the many casinos, hotels, and the huge fairground that sprawled out far below them. She spread her hind legs to give her Mistress better access to her teats, while she moaned and leaked all over Celestia's face.

Celestia found she grew bored of looking at the brick red rear end. She wanted something more. “Here,” she purred into her pet’s depths, “You can be Chrysalis when it’s just us in the room.”

“Thank you, Mistress,” given permission to change, Chrysalis summoned her magic and in a flash of the familiar green flames, Solar Flare vanished, leaving Chrysalis stood in her wake. Mirroring her arousal, her long turquoise tail was up high and her gossamer wings were fully extended.

Meanwhile, behind her, Celestia was going to town. With her head placed firmly between her ass cheeks, the alicorn had no escape or reprieve from Chrysalis’s dripping marehood, and that was just the way she liked it. She savoured the sweet, addictive taste of her pet's pussy, her eyes all but rolled back in her head from sheer satisfaction.

This was what Celestia lived for, to drive her tongue repeatedly in and out of her submissive lover’s snatch, to rip moan after pleasured moan from her sexy, slender body. She lived to own it, to claim it, to force her to make that beautiful music.

Celestia reached up with her magic and she grabbed onto Chrysalis’s hips, pulling her closer and wriggling her tongue deeper and deeper into her pet's pussy. Chrysalis let out a shaky, shuddering breath and she ground her hips down onto her Mistress’s face. Almost as enthralling as Celestia's tongue was the power she had over the changeling. With just her tongue, her magic and her hooves groping her green belly ridges, the Princess was making her lover scream her name over and over.

Under such treatment, Chrysalis didn’t last ten minutes. With a shuddering, breathy, almost animalistic groan, the changeling came hard, her body tensing against her Mistress as she quivered with pleasure. Behind her, Celestia dutifully lapped up Chrysalis's juices, not willing to waste a single drop of the nectar that had been ejaculated over her muzzle.

Even though Chrysalis had just climaxed, Celestia was not done. She looped her forelegs under Chrysalis’s bottom as the changeling slumped to the floor of the suite and rolled to her back. Holding onto her hips, the Princess circled her eager tongue around her lover's marehood in a maddening path, zigging here, zagging there, and spiralling around in shorter and shorter trails, but never quite reaching the place she knew her pet desperately needed attention more than anywhere else. Chrysalis lifted her ass up in the vain hope of pressing against Celestia's face, but the alicorn held her firm against the floor.

Celestia gazed longingly across the curve of Chrysalis's belly with a seductive look on her face before she swept her nimble tongue along the edge of her pet's engorged labia. With exasperating deliberation, Celestia traced around the edge of the changeling's swelling marehood until she completed the circle of warm saliva with a kiss. Sweat glistened across Chrysalis's forehead and her hard clitoris jutted out again, yearning desperately to be touched before retreating from the cold air.

Willing to oblige, Celestia flattened her wide tongue and she dragged it across the bottom of Chrysalis's throbbing heat and up along her silky folds in a slow, agonizing massage, inching closer and closer to the peak of her valley, until that wonderfully skilled tongue swirled around her clit in a dance of pure pleasure. Chrysalis let out a lusty moan as Celestia took the sensitive bulb between her lips and massaged it with a warm wet hug before letting it retreat inside.

Celestia planted her lips around Chrysalis's aching swollen entrance, then she slipped her tongue inside, and rolled it against her opening, pulling another moan from Chrysalis's throat. Celestia glossed her lips with the shiny juices that poured from the changeling’s pussy before she sank between her quivering thighs and lapped up her dripping slit and flooded her with warm sensual energy.

Once again Chrysalis's engorged clit popped out like a flower begging to be watered in a drought, and without hesitation, Celestia swept her wet tongue across the sensitive nub, causing Chrysalis to let out a long delirious moan and unfurl her gossamer wings against the carpeted floor.

Determined to take a second orgasm from her marefriend, Celestia went above and beyond and sucked the changeling's pulsing pearl into her mouth and caressed it between her velvety lips. Chrysalis's eyes rolled back and she trembled from the absurd amount of pleasure pouring into her slender body. Coherent thought evaporated into thin air, the only thing that mattered was Celestia's tongue massaging the bottom of her clit, the bottom of her world.

Celestia took Chrysalis into her mouth with confidence and set her nerves on fire. Chrysalis wiggled her butt and strained against the floor as the flames of her lust roared higher and higher into a roaring wildfire. Celestia couldn't hold back her enthusiasm any longer and she moaned into the slick heat between Chrysalis's quaking thighs, and the sudden vibrations pushed the changeling over the edge into a churning river of erotic energy.

Reaching her second climax, Chrysalis stiffened and gasped and squeezed her eyes tight as her pussy rippled in wave after wave of hot ecstasy, and through it all, Celestia clutched her bucking hips and swirled her tongue with abandon across her throbbing clit.

“Woe is me,” Celestia purred into her pet’s snatch after she had ridden out her orgasm, “I'm so very horny. Horny, and unsatisfied, so unsatisfied…” she then staggered over to the bed and collapsed upon it.

“Oh wow...” Chrysalis breathed, riding out the wave of her climax. Once she was able, she heaved herself up to her hooves and she crawled on her front over to the bed, where she pulled herself up onto the sheets.

On the bed, Celestia laid on her back, with her hind legs spread wide, her wings flared out and she was muttering sadly, “Woe is me, oh, woe is me!”

Chrysalis had to shove a hoof into her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Such a thing would have completely ruined the moment though. But, it had to be said, her Mistress was never going to win any acting awards. “It seems you're all hot and bothered, Mistress…” she purred, crawling closer and she blew over the alicorn's mound.

“I’m so lonely…” Celestia moaned tragically – her ‘acting’ being the only tragic thing about it – and she lifted a hoof to her forehead, “So unattended…”

“You poor, poor thing, whatever can a sub do about that?” she asked overly sympathetically, then she moved in muzzle first and proceeded to eat out Celestia's hot pussy like it was a four course meal. Which it was, served up to her on a silver platter.

As soon as she felt her changeling’s tongue lash over her hot sex, Celestia began to moan and her hips gyrated to meet Chrysalis’s face. “I do hope some love bug won't need remedial lessons…”

While she was busy eating Celestia’s perfect pussy, Chrysalis lit her horn and used her magic to levitate over the white stallionator to her, making sure the alicorn didn’t see it, “Some love bug has learned well from her Mistress,” she shot back

“Hmmm…” Celestia moaned, her hooves caressing Chrysalis’s long turquoise mane, “I think a practical exam is required.”

“Good thing I've been studying then,” Chrysalis smirked as she magically affixed the toy to her crotch with the little part inside herself and she slid up beside her Mistress, for once in the big spoon position.

"Give it to me," Celestia begged when she felt the flat anatomically correct head of the faux cock press against her marehood, "I need this, Chryssie, I need you."

Chrysalis moulded herself against Celestia's back and she lined up the flared head against the Princess's slick pussy, pressing in, spreading her apart, and making her gasp with sheer pleasure. Chrysalis pulled out and left her empty and whimpering from the withdrawal.

The desperate need under Celestia's tail dissolved for several sweet seconds as Chrysalis pushed back inside, barely past the head, as if she was tentatively exploring her. "More," Celestia demanded. She humped back with her butt and found an exhilarating rush as the silicone shaft sank inside her. Chrysalis gripped Celestia's sides and held her in place, her own strength coming to the fore as she withdrew and left her again with nothing. Celestia cooed and shivered from Chrysalis’s teasing, each withdrawal only made her need more ferocious.

Chrysalis’s hot breath swept across Celestia’s neck as she worked her hips and teased her Mistress's desperate groove, occasionally diverting to the side and leaving a sticky trail as she rubbed across her thighs and bottom. With every thrust that drew closer to Celestia's throbbing desire she couldn't help but swish her ethereal tail and make little frustrated moans.

Deciding she had warmed her up enough, Chrysalis pushed past Celestia's entrance and plunged deep inside, reducing her to a shuddering wreck as her pussy stretched with sublime pleasure. Instead of falling into a monotonous and predictable pattern, the changeling swivelled her hips and pressed the lovely length against the Princess’s muscular walls. A series of shallow strokes preceded a sudden deep thrust that opened Celestia all the way and made her gasp with sheer pleasure. Without missing a beat, Chrysalis delivered several quick thrusts to her deepest limit.

"Oooh by my sun! Right there!" Celestia cooed. "I want it deep, nice and deep…"

Chrysalis pulled out in a slow, agonizing retreat that left Celestia feeling unbearably empty. Just when she couldn't stand that for another instant, Chrysalis advanced with a wiggling thrust and she bottomed out to the hilt before grinding against her Mistress’s clitoris. Celestia groaned from the surprising movements and the return of that wonderful full feeling.

Upping the game, Chrysalis used her magic to vibrate the silicone stallionhood. She sent shock waves through the foundation of Celestia's burning dripping marehood. The vibrations were like an all-encompassing massage, and the undulating head rubbed against Celestia's deepest sweet spots and brought her perfect pleasure.

At this most crucial of moment, after a couple dozen deep and firm thrusts, Celestia’s first orgasm heralded its approach with a familiar rush of tingles swirling around the tip of her clitoris, and another round of Chrysalis's enthusiastic thrusts would soon free them and send the sparks deep inside her.

That was just her first climax. She had been given two, so Chrysalis decided to return the favour. While her Mistress was still moaning in bliss, the changeling adjusted their position so that Celestia was on her front and she was mounting her like a mare to be bred. She used her knees to nudge Celestia's hind legs even further apart, her slender weight bearing down across the Princess’s upturned rear before pressing against her back. Celestia's legs sprawled out behind her onto the edge of the bed and rendered her completely vulnerable, and she rubbed and teased the head of the strap-on along her slippery crease.

Once she had determined that she was wet enough for what she had in mind, Chrysalis wrapped her forelegs around Celestia's chest and enveloped her sweaty white body. As soon as the head of the vibrating stallionhood slid inside the alicorn's needy pussy, Chrysalis drove forward with deep thrusts, insistent thrusts, her tempo increasing into a dizzying crescendo, a wild, spirited pumping that stretched Celestia's deepest depths.

Celestia was in a whole new level of heaven. Never in her long life had she been mounted and completely fucked like was right then, not even by Sunset’s father. She found she was addicted to Chrysalis's deceptive strength draped across her back, to those wonderful feelings bubbling up inside her she no longer had to stifle and pretend didn't exist. She was lost in the way Chrysalis kissed her hard on the neck, grazing flesh with her fangs, nibbled her ears aggressively, and held her in a tight grip she couldn't escape.

"Scream for me, Celly,” Chrysalis said, deep in the alicorn’s ear, “I want all of Las Pegasus to hear you, I want them to hear your moans. I want your subjects to know exactly what kind of mare their Princess is!”

Celestia rocked forward with each glorious thrust. "I want to show them everything!” she screamed, even though she knew full well the room was sound proofed, “I want them to see what a dirty mare I am!” she knew no such thing would ever happen, but right then, to be surrounded by a crowd watching as Chrysalis fucked her into the bed…

A roaring wildfire consumed Celestia, and from deep in her chest came a pleasured whinny that turned into a silent squeal. The magical feelings from her clit and her hot spot blended into a mind obliterating pleasure that quaked from between her legs and sent her wings sprawling to either side, more useless than ever. Celestia thrashed and shook and whimpered from the onslaught and almost broke free, but Chrysalis kept her pinned to the bed and she rammed her inner depths with even more frenzied thrusts that slapped against her white rump with loud, lewd wet smacking noises.

"Yes, yes! Fuck me!" Celestia begged, pushing the sound proofing of the room to its limit as she raised her ass up higher. "Pound my pussy, Chryssie! Pound my dirty pussy!"

Hearing that, Chrysalis redoubled her efforts and plowed into Celestia with increasing zeal and she ignited a blazing chain reaction that rushed from the base of Celestia's ethereal tail into her chest and limbs. The multiple orgasms and their aftershocks came faster and faster and her cum exploded like a thick syrup that squirted out in endless torrents, each pulse more mind blowing than the last.

Not done, Chrysalis threw herself across Celestia's back and sank inside her to the hilt. She gasped and cried out with shouts that resounded across the penthouse suite, and Celestia joined her in a moaning duet and surrendered to waves of ecstasy that rocked the very core of her hot throbbing marehood. The intensity of their passion left them both utterly exhausted.

Chrysalis rested her muzzle in the crook of Celestia's shoulder while they gathered their wits and caught their breath. In those tender moments nothing needed to be said to prove what they meant to one another, but the changeling couldn’t help herself. “So, Mistress, how did I do on my exam?”

“Y-You…Hmmm…y-you get an A plus,” Celestia sighed happily after having been so thoroughly mounted and fucked into oblivion, “Now…aaah…I'm the little spoon. We have a dinner reservation later at seven, and a show to follow. Tonight is burlesque.”

“Little spoon it is, Mistress,” Chrysalis rolled back to her side and Celestia followed the motion, the two of them laying together as they had started. With the stallionator still in place, the changeling pressed her chest into her lover’s back, happy to lay there as they both fell asleep.

Hours later, in the early evening, Celestia woke and she wiggled her plush hips back against Chrysalis, delighting when she felt the fake stallionhood between her legs. “Changelings don't have teats, do they?” she asked, somewhat out of nowhere.

“We do not,” Chrysalis didn’t question where the out of the blue question had come from, “I’m sorry Mistress.”

Maintaining the embrace, Celestia twisted in Chrysalis's hooves and kissed her lips, “I'm not,” she placed another soft and tender kiss on the changeling’s muzzle, “After all I know I'll see some lovely teats when we walk out of here.”

Chrysalis giggled, certain that she loved these periods of snuggling more than the sex that preceded them. “I'll have to add a little extra bounce to my step then, make them jiggle for you.”

“I'll need to get you dressed,” said Celestia, thinking ahead to what she had planned for them, “Solar Flare please.”

“Seeing as you asked nicely,” Chrysalis kissed her lover’s nose and, in the flash of green flames, she transformed into Solar Flare, still tangled in the Princess’s legs.

Once they were both stood beside the bed, and Celestia had used her magic to remove the strap on from her submissive’s crotch – she wasn’t going that far to humiliate her – she levitated a red squishy foam ball the size of her hoof out of a bag. When she squeezed it, there was revealed an opening. The Princess slid it onto Solar Flare's horn, roughly halfway down. “The key to this game is that you don't know it is there, and you will not acknowledge it even exists.”

When Celestia pointed to the large ornate mirror, Solar Flare could see how ridiculous she looked wearing the ball on her horn. “Oh my goodness!” she giggled behind a brick red hoof, “It looks like one of those red noses I’ve seen ponies wear on Red Nose Day!”

“You do know if it gets to be too much, you have a way out,” Celestia said softly as she affectionately nuzzled her marefriend’s cheek, “Right?”

“Don’t worry,” Solar Flare assured her, “If it gets too much, Mistress, I shall say Lime faster than you can squeeze one.”

“Then let’s go to dinner,” Celestia smiled, for she had her plan ready for the evening, and so far it was going smoothly, “Have you read up on burlesque?”

Solar Flare cocked her head to one side, “The dictionary says burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects,” she giggled, realising she had sounded so flat during that little recital, “I bet it's more lively than that?”

“I will be one of the objects of ridicule,” commented Celestia, “So I do hope they do a good job.”

“You will?” Solar Flare asked, “I'm surprised at that.” And she was, very much so. Of all the ponies to allow themselves to be set up or lampooned, Celestia was the very last one she would ever have thought to do it, given her prim and proper public image.

“Wait until you see it,” Celestia winked, “It should be a fun night.”

“Now I'm intrigued,” Solar Flare smiled, for her marefriend didn’t seem to just be allowing it to happen, it was as if actively encouraging it! “Am I to wear anything else, Mistress?”

“You're wearing more than me. No,” Celestia caught herself and laughed, “Wait, you have nothing on just like me!” consciously not wearing her usual regalia – she was on holiday after all – the Princess opened the hotel room door.

On her way out of the hotel room, Solar Flare smirked, she winked and then she walked out the door first, keeping her gait a little wide to purposefully show off her large heavy teats. “I knew I'd have a walk with a view,” Celestia grinned, happy to admire said view.

“If you don't like it,” Solar Flare remarked, “I can always hide them, Mistress.”

A bare hoof came down playfully on the unicorn’s brick red ass cheeks, not enough to hurt, but enough to remind her of her role. “Sounds like somepony is pushing her naughty zone,” warned the Princess.

“I’m sorry Mistress,” Solar Flare carried on walking towards the elevator with her usual wide gait and her tail ever so slightly up to give Celestia the best view she could.

“Hmm, I can feel just how sorry you are,” Celestia giggled, “Not.”

After the two mares exited the elevator on the ground floor, the casino, a late middle aged summer green pegasus stallion from nowhere said, in an obnoxiously pretentious Canterlot accent, “Excuse me, why do you have a ball on your horn?”

“Whatever do you mean, sir?” asked Solar Flare, playing the game like her Mistress had ordered of her, “There's nothing on my horn.”

“But…” the stuck up pegasus was instantly confused, “But…ma’am…” he spluttered, pointing a wing tip at the unicorn’s horn.

“I’m sure I don't know to what you are pointing,” Solar Flare hated herself right then for sounding like the most upper class stuck up Canterlot socialite that the capital city had ever produced, “I assure you, there's nothing on my horn!”

The stallion just stood and stared open mouthed while Celestia moved on ahead towards the dining room. Giving the pegasus a snort, the disguised changeling stalked off beside her Mistress with her head in the air. Presently, Celestia stopped in front of the Maître D’, an earth pony stallion with a neatly trimmed greying beard. “This is my guest.”

“Very good Princess,” the pony said in a manner as stiff as the black jacket and starched shirt he was wearing, “I'll...” he glanced at the unicorn and paused, eyes wide, “Um, I…” he blinked several times, unsure if he was being pranked or not, “Your table is this way.”

“Thank you, sir,” Solar Flare walked alongside her marefriend, acting like nothing was amiss. Unfortunately, the other diners noticed. To a pony, they stopped eating at the presence of the Princess, and more than that, Chrysalis noted that more than a few of them were pointing at her and not at Celestia. The disguised changeling paused for a long, long moment and she stared at those pointing at her then she blushed and hurried to her seat.

“Sometimes it is nice to not be the centre of attention,” Celestia smirked as she took her seat at the empty table.

Wearing a blush that was as deep red as the ball on her horn, Solar Flare sat opposite her marefriend, “I'm pleased to be your lightning rod, Mistress.”

Celestia could tell by the tone of the unicorn’s voice that she was no such thing. If her guess was right, she wasn’t enjoying this at all. “You may order what you wish. In case you want to try it, they do have fish available. I'm having the tofu curry.”

“I believe I'll try this,” Solar Flare said after she had perused the menu for a moment, “A steamed salmon and vegetable rice bowl, Mistress.”

After a passing waiter had taken their orders and departed with a smirk on his face, a mare at a nearby table who had a bit too much wine in her leant over and made her presence known, “Princess Celestia, is your staff so clumsy they have to wear a horn cover?”

“Pardon?” asked Celestia, who was delightfully oblivious.

The tipsy mare then made a big show of pointed her hoof at Solar Flare, whose blush was deepening by the second to a nasty crimson, “That big shinny ball on her head! Has she ever horn stabbed somepony I think...”

“I wonder what on earth that was about?” asked Celestia as innocently as she could as another waiter tried to discreetly escort the drunken mare out of the dining room and to somewhere quiet where she could sober up.

Solar Flare’s blush deepened ever more so that her cheeks and her even her ears resembled a crimson / purple tomato. It wasn’t bad enough that the mare had embarrassed her like that, but she had been so loud that a number of other tables were now pointing at her! “I-I'm sure I have no idea, Mistress. Drink making her see things I suspect…”

Celestia could see the embarrassment building in her pet. Just as she thought it might. “I'm sure you're right, my love.” Then, a unicorn waiter came over carrying their food in his magic, which he set down in front of them. Celestia had ordered stuffed mushrooms, and the tofu curry, with a full bodied merlot to drink.

After placing Solar Flare’s order down, the waiter found himself unable to tear his eyes away from the big red ball adorning her horn. He stared so much that the unicorn flicked her ears back to her scalp. “Is there something wrong with what I ordered, sir?”

Caught staring, the waiter hastened to pour Solar Flare the frizzante prosecco she had ordered to go with her meal. “U-Uuuum…Um, ah, no ma'am, your wine!” no sooner had he poured both glasses out than the stallion turned and galloped away, tears of laughter in his eyes.

Solar Flare looked around the dining room and to her dismay she saw a lot of the ponies were busier talking, pointing and looking at her than they were eating. When she focused on one table, they suddenly felt the need to look somewhere else and eat. “I suspect our food must be better than theirs,” she said with an upset huff.

“Is there something wrong, my little love bug?”

Calming a good deal, Solar Flare pointedly focused on their table and nothing else. “No Mistress,” she said in a very small, humiliated voice, “I'm fine, thank you.”

A unicorn stallion who was sat behind Celestia, but who Solar Flare could clearly see, placed an orange on his horn and the ponies at the table burst out laughing. He then took it off, but the mocking laughter continued as the poor mare’s blush returned in full force, reaching all the way up to the tips of her ears.

The embarrassed changeling shot a quick glance around at the other tables, where she saw another unicorn, this time a mare, with a tomato on her horn, but held in her magic so that it wouldn't leak. The earth pony across from her had a paper horn and crown, and the others at the table were pointing at her and Celestia, laughing and taking pictures.

While most of the laughing diners had moved on to just ignoring the two of them, being far more interested in their food and their conversations, Solar Flare stared down at the table and let out a little sniff, though tears slid down her cheeks. She couldn’t take the ridicule any longer, “Lime.”

The second she heard the sacred safe word, Celestia’s horn lit up briefly and the squishy red ball vanished into thin air. “I was wondering what I'd have to do to get that word out of you, my love.” She leant across the table and first she kissed Solar Flare’s cheeks, drying them instantly, then she kissed her lips. “Are you alright?”

All the noise around her in the dining room went silent, but Solar Flare didn’t notice. Nodding her head, she suddenly forgot all about the other diners and she just melted into the kiss, wishing it could go on forever and ever. Once the kiss was broken, the Princess leant back and the waiter came over with fresh drinks. “I do feel bad for those that tried take a picture and found they got nothing,” she said once she was sure her lover was happy, she lifted up her glass, “To us.”

“To us, Mistress,” Solar Flare, with her tears and her insecurities kissed away, lifted her glass. “That...was an unpleasant experience,” she admitted, “It wasn't the same kind of humiliating like we did earlier, or like we do at Trixie's.”

“I'll note that mocking is on my short list for when you're really naughty.”

Solar Flare leant over the table and she kissed the base of Celestia's ear, whispering, “Thank you, Celly.”

“Let's enjoy this meal and then you can see how they mock me,” Celestia smiled broadly as she started to eat.

“You're right, let's enjoy it,” Solar Flare smiled as she lifted up her fork and took a mouthful of the fish, “Besides, a bad mood would spoil this lovely food!” truth be told though, she still couldn’t believe she was going to go to a show where Celestia would be mocked.

“True,” Celestia agreed, before she turned her full attention to her food. The two then ate in silence, each comfortable in each other’s company. Is was a good meal that they both enjoyed. “I reserve the right to pick our dessert after the show,” said Celestia once they were finished.

Solar Flare considered that for a moment before she nodded in agreement. “I'll give you that right.” Getting up, the unicorn walked with her marefriend side by side from the dining room through the casino to the auditorium where the burlesque show was due to start. They managed to get good seats for the show, down in the orchestra area. “I must admit, from what you've told me, I'm looking forward to this show.”

The show started a few moments later, with the first act being a unicorn mare. The burgundy pony had her yellow mane done up in a high pony tail, and she strutted onto the stage wearing nothing at all. A spotlight highlighted her, and a stereo played some loud bump and grind music. As the mare danced on the stage, she lit her horn and pieces of black paper flew towards her and stuck to her fur. By the end of her performance, all that could be seen of her were her lips, teats, crotch, and horn.

As the mare took her bow and departed the stage, Solar Flare was one of many who applauded enthusiastically, though she was not entirely sure what to make of what she's just seen. Seeing her confusion, Celestia leant in close and whispered, “Reverse striptease. Note what was left uncovered.”

“Oh...oooooh, I see!” Solar Flare understood it, she got the performance and her eyes shone, “That was rather clever!”

“Ah,” Celestia whispered, “This next one will be most interesting…” Two earth pony mares, one dark blue and one white, both with fake wings and horn and crown came out. Each mare had a paper taped over their own cutie marks, one with a rough drawing of a crescent moon and the other with a sun.

Suddenly, Solar Flare found herself paying a great deal more attention, and she had one eye on Celestia, gauging her reaction to see if was alright to laugh or not. The mares on stage didn’t make it easy either. The mare playing Luna was whining about nopony appreciating her night in a pitch perfect impersonation of the Princess it was scary to witness.

If the mare portraying Luna was good, then the mare playing Celestia deserved an acting award. She strutted around the stage and in a parody of the Princess, she said that her sister was just being silly and ponies love her night.

‘Luna’ responded that all the ponies did at night was dream that it was day. The two actresses shared a lot of back and forth in that vein. It was clear to Solar Flare that they had a great deal of actual chemistry with each other that made the act work, especially when the mare playing Luna cried out, What if the night was forever, would they love it then? Only for the ‘Celestia’ to respond with, ‘But I love your night!’

The act was nearing its end when ‘Luna’ declared, “Oh, really?”

‘Celestia’ shot back with an equally over the top, “Really!” that came very close to a Royal Canterlot Voice as two stage ninjas dressed all in black rushed out and one placed a moon paper on ‘Celestia’ and the other put a sun paper on ‘Luna’.

“That's good to know,” ‘Luna’ exclaimed, “You can be the night and I’ll be the day. Enjoy night court!”

“What,” the ‘Celestia’ squeaked as she realised she had been fooled, and her acting sister happily trotted off the stage, “Wait, I didn't mean that!” she then gave chase after her, to the audience’s thunderous applause, hoof stomps and whoops and whistles.

Nopony was laughing and clapping louder or harder than the real Celestia, who was clapping and cheering louder than half the others combined. “Now…” she said once she had her breath back and she slumped in her seat with a smile all over her face, “That was different!”

Solar Flare was laughing out loud and clapping her hooves in appreciation of the performance, “That was so funny how they swapped the cutie marks!”

“Earth pony magic,” Celestia commented wisely.

The next skit was a comedy sketch, set in an old time corner store. An earth pony was playing the role of storekeeper and a pegasus was the customer. The whole thing revolved around one stallion asking the other for four candles and the storekeeper thinking he wanted fork handles. When they were done, fifteen minutes later, Solar Flare was laughing so hard she was almost peeing herself.

“How can they turn two words into a fifteen minute joke?” she asked, her sides aching and eyes watering from the sheer force of her laughter.

“It is the absurdity that makes it funny,” commented Celestia, who herself had a wide smile on her face, “I'm glad you enjoyed yourself.”

“Oh wow, did I ever enjoy it!” Solar Flare snorted out a laugh as she thought again of the joke, “Fork handles! No, I want four candles! Ha!”

“Are you ready for dessert?”

Still chuckling, the unicorn nodded her head, “Yes, I'm ready.”

“Hold on tight.” When the unicorn had a tight grip of the alicorn’s foreleg and shoulder, Celestia cast her spell and she teleported the two of them several miles away to the top of a tall hill that looked down on the bright lights of Las Pegasus on one side and a large lake on the other. A red and white chequered blanket with a pot of Celestial Coffee and a large bowl of Tiramisu waited for them. There were two cups for the coffee but no spoons for the dessert. “I'd like to share this dessert with my special love bug.”

When she reappeared on the hill, Solar Flare had a horrible moment of nausea from the teleportation that made her stagger but she got over it pretty quickly. “I-I...whooo...I think I can do that...” she gasped and, after a few deep breaths to keep the contents of her belly where they were, she transformed back into Chrysalis once again.

Once Chrysalis had transformed, Celestia sat next to her on the blanket and draped a foreleg around her shoulders, “You did a good job controlling your anger in the dining room.”

A little sheepishly, Chrysalis smiled and nestled into Celestia’s embrace, “I was foolish to get so angry and upset in the first place, Celly.”

On the contrary, Celestia didn’t think her marefriend was foolish at all. “I know how foolish anger can be, Chryssie.”

“I also knew you were there looking out for me,” Chrysalis smiled and kissed the alicorn’s cheek.

“But I wasn't the one to end it,” Celestia said softly, with a great deal of affection in her voice, “I was watching over you, but you had to step up to end the game.” She kissed Chrysalis’s lips, “You did, I’m proud of my pet and I love my marefriend.”

“I know,” Chrysalis snuggled up real close into Celestia's side, allowing her body warmth to heat her up and guard against the slight chill of night that came from the North Luna Ocean, “I love you too.” The two mares then turned their attention to their dessert, which was consumed by a simple sharing mouth to mouth, with drinks of creamy coffee. “Mmmmmm…” the changeling purred, “I do love the way you serve dessert.”

“Sometimes the simple ways are the best,” smiled Celestia, before she looked up to the stars that Luna had created for that night. As usual, ninety nine per cent of them were unchanged, but there were a number that were different, Luna’s personal flair to her nightly creation. “What do you know of the stars my sister so much bemoans about?”

“Well...” Chrysalis began, also looking up at the night sky, “Before I began my lessons that you recommended, I confess I knew very little of Lulu's stars, other than they were pretty. Now I know a bit more about them.” She pointed a hoof to the four red stars in the middle of the sky, “I know those are the Midnight Stars. Luna creates one for every lover she’s ever had.”

Celestia nodded solemnly, “She blames me for the constellations. She says I was too lazy while she was gone. I rather like them though, and she tends to keep them. Let me show you the stars.”

“I know she changed them one time and all the stargazers stormed her court to complain,” Chrysalis giggled at that, “Lead by one Twilight Sparkle.”

The Princess sighed, “The truth is simple, I’m not very artistic, and controlling the moon and stars is as difficult for me as moving the sun is for her. And, well…to be frank, I had other things to think about following Lulu’s absence than painting the sky anew every night.”

As they both looked up at the night sky, they saw two shooting stars race across the sky. Brighter than all the others, the larger of the two stars shone a bright yellow while the smaller was a luminescent green. “Thank you, sister,” Celestia whispered, her eyes watering at her sibling’s priceless gift.

“From my studies,” said Chrysalis, “I know it’s traditional to make a wish when you see a shooting star.”

Celestia turned away from the night sky and she looked deep into Chrysalis’s big green eyes, “I wish to spend eternity with the one I love. I wish to wake up every morning with my special love bug. I wish to love you every day, Chrysalis.”

Chrysalis held Celestia’s hoof and stared up into her large eyes, “And I wish to love you, to worship you as my Mistress and to adore you as my marefriend. I wish to be your pet and your lover, until the end of time.”

As they embraced and kissed, as the stars soared across the sky overhead, Celestia and Chrysalis were each other.

We Are Each Other

by Dusk Melody

Chapter 1 - The Austerity of Love

Chapter 2 - Love's Prison

Chapter 3 - Let Love Speak Up Itself

Chapter 4 - Hold on to Love

Chapter 5 - Fool for Love

Chapter 6 - Hate and Love

Chapter 7 - Love's Future

Chapter 8 - Love Story

Chapter 9 - Love Conquers All

Chapter 10 - The Rules of Love

Chapter 11 - Changing Love

Chapter 12 - Love, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Canterlot

Chapter 13 - True Love

Chapter 14 - A Love Earned

Chapter 15 - Love, Freely Given

Chapter 16 - The Trial of Love

Chapter 17 - The Generosity of Love