Wrong

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As Shining Armor closed the door behind him, his nose and ears alerted him that someone had made it home before he had. His nose picked up the scent of fresh cut garlic, no doubts simmering in butter on the stove. His ears heard the melodic humming of the young woman who, as of late, had been spending more time in his place than in hers. He smiled as he dropped his gym bag and kicked off his shoes, making his way down the hall to the apartment’s small kitchen.

Just as he’d suspected, there she was. Her back was to him as she busied herself at the counter, peeling shrimp and tossing the shells into the nearby sink. Her luxurious purple hair was tied in a simple and practical ponytail, and she was clad in what he had come to call her ‘relaxation’ attire; an oversized t-shirt and a delightfully tight pair of yoga pants.

Taking in Rarity’s perfect posterior, Shining Armor reminded himself for the millionth time in his life to one day meet the person who had designed such a wonderful piece of clothing and shake that person’s hand.

He moved behind her, making no effort at being sneaky; he knew she’d heard the door. He pressed his chest to her back and braced his palms on the counter. He nuzzled into her neck and breathed in her scent. “Need any help?”

Rarity melted into him as she always did, audibly sighing as she did so. “I think I’ve got the handle on things here. How was the work-out?”

“Same old, same old.” He kissed her collarbone. “Making dinner? What’s the occasion?”

“I had a craving for shrimp Alfredo and was terrified that if I cooked for myself, I’d end up eating my weight in it.” She tilted her head to allow more access to her neck. “You’re my caloric salvation, darling.”

He chuckled as he kissed her again. “To save the damsel, I have to stuff myself with fresh made pasta? It’ll be a challenge, but I think I’m up for it.” He moved his face into her hair and breathed deep.

The past three months still felt like a whirlwind. The morning after he and Rarity’s clandestine meeting in the hot tub, he’d mustered the courage to text Cadance that he knew about her infidelity and that they’d discuss it further when he got home. He’d asked her to not talk to Twilight yet, and she’d agreed. She didn’t deny, didn’t rationalize. She only said that she loved him and she was sorry. He told her nothing of the hot tub, the shower, or the barely legal fashionista who’d shared both with him.

He’d sent one last text assuring her they’d talk when he got home… and then he and Rarity had spent the rest of the week fucking nearly every moment they were alone together.

On the morning that the girls were supposed to go horseback riding, for example, Rarity had come down with a mysterious stomach bug. Shining had valiantly offered to stay behind to take care of her, and the others were barely five minutes out of the cabin before he had her spread eagle on the kitchen table, the remains of his breakfast fallen and forgotten as he lost himself in another meal entirely.

Shining’s reward for his efforts in taking care of Rarity apparently resulted in his catching the same bug the very next day. Rarity insisted that she stay back from the girl’s planned hike in order to care for him as he had for her. It was the only right thing to do; she was quite clear on that. And Shining really did feel much better as he watched her ass bounce while she rode him into the couch.

When Rarity complained the next day that it seemed that she’d once again caught the bug, Twilight had enough and ordered the two quarantined from one another in order to let the thing run its course. The two had worked each other into frenzy through dirty texts and pictures throughout the day, and in the early hours, once they were sure the others were asleep, they’d barely made it to Shining’s car before the pants had come off.

So it had gone all week, and to their own surprise they’d succeeded in keeping their clandestine get-togethers secret from the rest of the group.

Except for Rainbow Dash, of course. She’d caught them going at it behind a boulder while the gang was hanging out at the lake. After giving Rarity a heart-attack by suggesting that her fashion-obsessed friend share her ‘new toy,’ she’d agreed to keep their canoodling a secret… for the time being.

When the time came he’d dropped her off at home with a simple wave good-bye. They’d agreed that while it had been a fun week, the chances of Twilight finding out increased exponentially while they were home. For the safety of all involved, they both decided to just leave it as a sweet memory.

A secret, as originally intended.

He’d met up with Cadance, and she had admitted to everything. She said it had been a mistake the first time, one wrought by good feelings and substances of a questionable legality, but after that… after that it had just become a bit of fun on the side. She claimed that she really did love him, but she was having trouble resigning herself to being a one-man woman for the rest of her life.

He’d told her he’d understood… even though he hadn’t.

They hadn’t really broken up yet. Not publicly, anyway. As they’d told a distraught Twilight, they were merely taking some time apart to ‘figure things out.’ Privately, they both knew that it was over. On the plus side, they hadn’t been fully living together yet, and she’d easily taken the few effects she kept at the apartment and handed him the key he’d given her. She’d even given him the ring back, seemingly her final sign of surrender.

And then, for a whole month, Shining Armor had lived alone. No dates, no hook-ups… No female involvement whatsoever that didn’t involve the occasional late night perusal of his favorite porn site.

And then, on his birthday, he’d received a text from Rarity.

They’d started chatting, just talking about the ins and outs of each other’s days. He was considering a new position at the recruiter’s office. She was looking at possible colleges. He told her about his attempts at getting a new Ogres and Oubilletes group together. She told him about the interpersonal drama of a gathering of female friends.

They never mentioned the cabin. Never mentioned any sort of lingering feelings.

A few days after the texting began, there was a knock on Shining’s door just around midnight. He’d paused his game and answered… and found Rarity on his stoop. Her back was to him, and he was rendered speechless at the sight of her. What little pale skin he couldn’t see was covered by a tight purple open-backed sweater, the same type he’d heard called by some of the younger recruits as the ‘virgin killer.’

She’d looked back at him, a look of such intense want and longing in her eyes that it took his breath away. “I know it’s late, but may I come in?”

He hadn’t said a word, just stepped back enough for her to enter.

She’d stepped through the threshold, kicked the door shut behind her, and rushed into his welcoming arms. They’d closed around her as their lips melded together, their tongues sloppily dancing, their hands wandering and groping. She’d backed into the door, pulling him with her and fumbling to pull down his pajama pants at the same time. She’d succeeded in freeing his raging hard on and wasted no time in pulling him to her, the sweater riding up just enough to reveal her lack of panties. He’d taken her against the door, each of them losing themselves in the moment of heat and need. At some point, he’d lost his balance while trying to change positions and fell back onto the hallway floor. She’d followed him down, not to help him, but to take him into her mouth and drive him to completion.

She’d swallowed the fruit of her efforts, and then looked up into his face, her pale face flushed, her blue eyes wide. “We… we need to talk.” She panted.

“…Yup.” Was all he could muster in response.

And so they’d talked. And then they’d fucked again. First there on the floor, and then on the couch, and finally they’d made their way to the bedroom just as the sun was coming up.

When he’d awakened, she was gone. She’d left a note on his phone explaining that she had errands to run, but wondered if he was doing anything later that evening.

That’s how it began, and it had progressed quite naturally from there. They texted every day and saw each other most every night. One day, he’d forgotten a package that needed to be mailed and had let Rarity swing by work to grab his key so she could take care of it for him. She hadn’t given the key back, and he hadn’t asked her to. Soon there was a second toothbrush in the cup by the sink, joined not long after by an assortment of other beauty products. The cleared space in his closet most recently reserved for Cadance now had a new woman’s fashion occupying the area.

They were dating in everything but name… but still they kept it quiet. They went to great lengths to only eat in at each other’s apartments, to go into the movie theater separately. They didn’t talk about doing it. They just did.

Twilight hung over their burgeoning relationship like a shade. Each was terrified by what would happen if, and when, the young scientist learned that one of her best friends was dating her older brother… and taking the place of the woman she was already considering a big sister.

But for now, here they were in the kitchen. They were happy…

…but they were hidden.

“Penny for your thoughts, darling?”

Shining Armor shook his head to clear it and kissed her scalp. “Just thinking how hot you look right now.”

“Is that so? Is it the shrimp coating my hands? Or the frumpy shirt?”

“…It’s mostly the fact that you’re cooking.”

She giggled. “Oh, you absolute chauvinist. What in the world do I see in you?”

“Well, as I recall, you said I was handsome.” He kissed the back of her neck. “And kind.” His lips moved to her shoulder.

“And built like a Greek god. Don’t forget that.” She shivered pleasantly as he kissed a special spot on her shoulder blade.

“How could I?” He slid down her back until he was kneeling before her spandex-clad ass. “And let’s not forget the most important thing.” He kissed one cheek, then the other, and slid his fingers along the waistband.

“And what’s that?” She whispered, her food prep stopped for now. She shifted a little, her legs parting ever so slightly.

“I’m the only man,” he hooked his fingers and slowly drew her pants down to her knees, “to ever make you cum in less than five minutes.” He grinned when he saw her lack of panties. Each hand gripped a pale cheek and massaged, pulling them apart to give him a glimpse of her pucker and the damp pink beneath.

“Careful, darling.” She breathed. “You’ll spoil your appetite.”

“Oh, I think I can handle a little snack before dinner.” He leaned forward, stuck out his tongue…

…and there was a knock at the door.

Shining Armor paused for a moment, and then started forward again. “Just ignore it. If it was something important, they’d knock twice.”

The apartment rang with a second series of knocks.

Shining Armor sighed heavily before standing, pulling Rarity’s pants back around her waist as he did so. “Don’t move.”

Rarity giggled and winked over her shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He kissed her cheek and quickly made his way to the front door. Whoever this was, he sure hoped they didn’t look down when they saw him. He was painfully turgid. He considered that his obvious tenting could be used to his benefit. Scare off whatever schmuck though his business was pressing enough to warrant two separate knocks by pointing at him with more than his finger, then rush back to Rarity to finish his afternoon snack.

Perhaps it was because her ass was at the forefront of his mind that he was so easily attacked.

As soon as the door opened, the woman pushed her way inside and him against the wall in one easy movement. Her lips crashed against his, and in his shock he quickly followed their lead. While one dainty hand practically clawed under his shirt and dragged nails across pectorals, the other quickly slid downward and plunged into his gym shorts, grasping and tugging at what it found.

The sudden caress on his cock was just the shock needed for Shining Armor’s rational mind to break through. His eyes shot open and were filled with a field of pink he knew all too well. He grabbed her slender shoulders and forcefully pushed his former fiancée away. “What…” He panted. Her kisses had always taken his breath away. “What are you doing here, Cadance?”

“I’ll tell you what I’m not doing.” She went for another kiss as her hands sped up. “I’m not ruining the moment by talking.”

Shining Armor barely pulled away in time to avoid another lip lock. He winced as she bit his lower lip instead. Again, he tried to push her away. “Cadance, stop…”

“Oh, what’s the matter?” She pushed her face to his chest and inhaled. “You know how hot it gets me when you’re all sweaty.”

“Cadance…”

“But if you’re really that worried, then we can just go take a shower. I’ll even wash your back just the way you like.” She smirked as her hands relinquished their hold on his dick so they could reach for his waistband instead. “But right now, I just really need this cock in my mouth.” She yanked down, exposing him to the air. She started to sink to her knees…

“That’s enough, Cadance!” He pulled her back to her feet and finally managed to hold her at arm’s length.

She cocked her head at him in confusion, her chest heaving beneath the suit she was still wearing. “What’s the matter?”

“What’s the… Cadance, why are you here?”

Her eyes flicked down at his exposed erection for a moment. She looked back at him and raised an eyebrow.

“I’m serious. You haven’t called or messaged me in weeks. Now you’re borderline assaulting me in my foyer.”

The look of heated want on her face melted into one of confusion. “Assault? You used to love it when I came at you like this right after work.”

“Exactly. I used to. Before we broke up.”

The sultry look returned. “Just because we’re on a break doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun. Haven’t you ever heard of friends with benefits?” Her fingers went to the buttons of her shirt and began plucking them open, one by one. “I’ve been thinking about you so much these past few days. Missing you. Missing your hands on me.” Her cleavage became exposed, her breasts rising and falling with every breath she took. “I had to touch myself in my office today. When even that wasn’t enough, I thought I’d surprise you. I knew that if I was this worked up from missing you, then you must have it twice as bad.”

“We’re not ‘on a break.’ That’s just what we told Twilight.” He tore his eyes from her exposed flesh and grimaced. “You could have at least texted you were coming over.”

“And ruin the surprise?” She spared another glance down at his throbbing manhood and licked her lips. “Speaking of surprises… I wasn’t expecting you to be so hard already. Enjoying a little post-workout video, were we? We can go watch it together, just like old times…”

“No.” He looked away. “The old times are over.”

Cadance finally gave up on the sexy act and pulled away with a huff. “Okay, this is weird.”

“Yes, it is.”

“No, I mean this. You’ve never been this resistant.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’ve always been the one guy that I never had to work hard at seducing.”

He glared at her. “Sorry I’m not being as easy as some of your other playthings.”

“Oh, here we go.” She rolled her eyes. “Can you please not be so dramatic? I thought leaving you alone for a few months would help you get over this whole stupid situation.”

“It did.”

“Ha ha, very funny.” She leaned back against the opposite wall. “Shiny…”

“Don’t call me that.” He looked away. “You don’t get to call me that anymore.”

“My God, can you just stop this?!” She nearly screamed. “I fucked up! I know that! I've told you how sorry I am. What do I have to do so you'll forgive me?!”

“You can't just acknowledge that you slept with someone else and expect me to just suddenly be okay with it.” He looked back at her with narrowed eyes. “If you felt so bad about it, then why didn't you say something after the first time?”

“I was going to!” This time it was her who looked away. “I was. Right after it happened, I swear. But... but I was afraid.”

“Afraid of me?”

“Afraid that you’d throw away an almost ten year relationship over a little sex!”

“I didn’t throw shit away.” He said. “You did. Because instead of coming to me after and saying sorry then, you went and fucked him over and over and over again. C’mon, Cadance; you’re not dumb. What did you think was going to happen when I found out?”

“I… I don’t know.” Her lip quivered. “I was dumb, and now look at where it's gotten me.” She shook her head. “You’re too good, Shin… Shining Armor. I mean, you saw those texts, and you still didn’t have a little revenge sex?”

Shining Armor froze. “What?”

“It seemed like the perfect solution.” She said, looking away. “I figured that if you went off into the mountains with those girls, you’d probably end up fucking at least one of them. Then you’d come back, confess what you’d done, and I could finally tell you that there was nothing to worry about, since I'd messed up the exact same way.” She shrugged. “It might be a dumb fantasy, but I thought that if you knew we’d both cheated, we could just… move on. Together, I mean.”

Shining Armor slowly blinked. “You… you wanted me to…?”

“Of course. Why else would I send you off into the wilds with six single young women? I know a thing or two about teenage girls. I knew the odds were pretty high that at least one would make a pass at you. Guess I was wrong.”

The smell of chlorine. The warmth of the water. The taste of her beneath his tongue. “Please. Not too far. It’s so cold…”

“But you’re just too good, Shining Armor. Too pure. You saw those messages and you still didn’t do anything.” She shrugged as she wiped the gathering years from her eyes. “Maybe I don’t deserve someone like you.”

The shower’s falling water. The curve of her hip in his palm. The ringing slap of flesh on flesh. “You’re the best I’ve ever had, Shining Armor.”

Cadance shuffled awkwardly before his intense stare. “I know you think I fucked this up, but I still love you. You know that, don’t you?”

He started from his recollection and met her eyes. “...Yes. I know. But this… this can’t happen anymore. I can’t trust you right now. Maybe not ever again. You understand that, right?”

She thought for a moment, and then nodded. “Maybe you’re right. But… we can still be friends, can't we?”

He offered a small smile. “Of course. Just, y'know, the kind without benefits.”

She pouted playfully. “How about one for the road, then? For old time’s sake.”

He chuckled as he shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

She finally returned the smile and held out her arms. "Can I at least have a hug?”

At the moment, so relieved was he at the dissipation of all the momentary tension, he didn't see anything wrong with that at all. He opened his arms and she stepped into them easily. “Sorry. I’m still at half-mast.”

“It’s okay. I don’t mind.”

“I, however, do.”

The two both jumped, albeit for different reasons. They quickly pulled apart and saw Rarity standing in the kitchen arch, her arms crossed, her eyes narrowed with an unidentifiable, but probably dangerous, emotion.

Shining Armor was suddenly very aware that his pants were still around his ankles. He hurried to pull them up. “I guess you heard all of that?”

“All? No. But I believe I heard enough.”

Cadance looked back and forth between the pair in confusion. “Rarity? But why are you… here?” The wheels in Cadance’s head began to spin as she put the clues together; Rarity’s casual attire, Shining Armor’s aroused state, Rarity’s lack of shock at seeing said aroused state…

It clicked, and she slowly turned to her now-ex. “When?”

Shining Armor blinked. “When what?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. When did this,” she gestured between the two. “Happen?”

Rarity opened her mouth to respond, but Shining cut her off. “Does it really matter?”

Cadance’s mouth dropped open as the last piece slid into place. “Oh. My. God. You unbelievable bastard.”

“Cadance…”

“You did fuck one of them!” Her gaze turned to Rarity. “And you've kept fucking her this whole time!”

Rarity raised one unamused eyebrow. “I fail to see how this is any concern of yours.”

Cadance glared. “I’m surprised at you, Rarity. Of all of Twilight's friends, I was sure that it would have been Rainbow Dash or Sunset Shimmer to make a move. But you? Isn't jumping into bed with someone else’s fiancée quite unladylike?”

“Oh, please.” Rarity scoffed. “You lost any standing you might have had the first time you transgressed, let alone all the times after that. Besides, didn’t I just hear that this was your plan all along?” She smirked. “You shouldn’t be offended when someone takes your meal when you offer it up on a silver platter.”

“Can we… not compare me to food?” Shining Armor offered.

“Hush!” The two women said as one before returning their focus to the other.

“You know, I always envied you.” Rarity leaned on the doorframe. “I was crushing on Shining Armor practically since the moment I started noticing boys, but he only ever had eyes for you. Can you blame me for finally taking my chance?”

“No, I suppose I can't. But I can blame you for stealing someone else’s man.”

“He stopped being yours the instant he found out about what you’d done. You said it yourself. You don’t deserve him.” She spared him a look full of love and adoration. Her eyes quickly cut back to the dean of Crystal Prep. “You, however, are a fool.”

Cadance chewed on her cheek for a moment. “You know what? You’re right.”

Caught off guard, expecting another retort, Rarity recovered quickly. “I... I beg your pardon?”

“You’re absolutely right. I was a fool. I should go.” She made for the door quickly and opened it. Just before she stepped out, something occurred to her and she looked back. “What does Twilight think of all this? I just had brunch with her the other day and she didn't mention…”

Shining Armor and Rarity stared at her, their expressions all the answer she needed.

“Ah.” Without another word, she was gone.

Shining Armor slowly turned to Rarity. “So…”

“Dinner’s almost ready.” She turned back towards the kitchen. “You should go shower first.”

He nodded and started for the bedroom.

“And Shining Armor?” She poked her head back out, concern etched into her face. “After dinner… we need to talk.”

“…Yeah.” He found himself looking towards the front door. “Yeah, I guess we do.”

Lovers

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Shining Armor closed the dishwasher, turned the knob to the ON position, gave the kitchen one final once over, and headed for the bedroom. Dinner had been satisfactory in the taste department, though the conversation had been a bit on the quieter side. He knew Rarity wanted to talk about what had happened, but the young woman clearly wanted to do so on her own time, on her own terms. That was fine with him. It wasn't like he was looking forward to it himself.

He found her right where he'd expected to. She was propped against the headboard on the side of the bed she'd claimed as her own once he'd given her the key to his place. She had changed into her familiar bedtime attire of a set of lilac pajamas, a subtle sign that she intended to stay the night. Her hair was up in her usual sleeping bun and her red spectacles were perched on the bridge of her nose. Her tablet was propped on her knees and she seemed hard at work designing some new piece. The pencil in her fingers practically flew across the paper in her creative frenzy. He recognized from her posture and the intent look in her eyes that he shouldn't say anything just yet. Designing was the way she de-stressed best, after all. Interrupting her emotional purge could be dangerous, as he'd found out the first time he'd attempted to make a move while she was in such a mood.

Instead, he stepped into the closet and changed into his own flannel pajama pants and a plain white t-shirt. That done, he walked towards the bathroom to continue his usual bedtime ritual.

Rarity's hands stopped suddenly, and she turned the tablet in his direction without looking at him. "Well? Be honest."

He stopped and took in the rough sketch's curves and flourishes. "It's... a dress?"

A pair of dazzling blues flicked his way dangerously.

"It's a very nice dress."

Rarity tried to maintain the serious look on her face, but found she couldn't help but smile. "Oh, you adorable moose." She sighed as she reached up and removed her glasses. "What a pair we are."

As she placed the tablet, pencil, and her glasses on the nightstand, Shining Armor decided that this was the sign that he needed to sit down. He sat heavily at the foot of his side of the bed and looked back at her. "So..."

She settled back on the headboard and hugged her knees to her chest. "So..."

They sat in silence, neither quite sure where to begin.

"Oh, this is ridiculous!" The pale beauty threw her hands in the air in frustration. "We knew this was going to come out sooner or later."

"I guess both of us were just hoping it would be later." Shining Armor shook his head. "The question is; what do we do now?"

"It all depends on Cadance, doesn't it? She's in control of the time-table now." She bit her lip. "Do you think she's going to tell Twilight?"

"Honestly? I don't know. I've never seen her like this." He looked at his reflection in the black screen of the turned off television set. "After what she told me? About the cabin, I mean? It's making me wonder if I ever really knew her at all."

"It does tend to sour the... romantic spontaneity of our initial affair, knowing that she intended for you to sleep with one of us from the beginning." She shook her head. "Imagine if someone else had come down to the hot tub before me. Would Fluttershy be sitting here now? Or Pinkie Pie?"

Shining Armor couldn't help but chuckle at the image of the bouncing pink party girl sitting in solemn reflection on his bed. "I don't think that would've happened."

"You sound so sure."

"Of course I'm sure. Do I really seem like the kind of guy who would throw himself at just any hot young thing in a bikini?"

"Cadance certainly thought so."

"Well then maybe she didn't know me very well either." He sighed and lay back on the comforter. "Maybe it's because she was the first woman I ever fell in love with, and I fell for her so young, but I never really found myself attracted to other women."

This time it was Rarity who laughed. "I call shenanigans, darling. You might be a gentleman, but you're still a man. And all men lust."

"Of course I lusted." Shining Armor laughed with her. "But there's a difference between lust and love." He stared up at the ceiling. 'I'm not gonna sit here and lie to you and say that if Fluttershy or Sunset or even Pinkie had come down and made a move on me that night that I wouldn't have had sex with them." He smiled. "But I guarantee they wouldn't be sitting where you are right now."

"Guarantee, hmm?" He heard her move and suddenly her face was beside his, her feet now pressed against the headboard. "So I really made an impression on you, didn't I?" She smirked as she cut her eyes at him. "What was it? The suit?"

"That. And that you told me that you loved me."

Rarity stiffened. "Yes... well. Confessions in the heat of the moment don't count."

"But it was true, wasn't it?" He turned and looked at her. "That you loved me?"

Rarity blinked slowly. Finally, she nodded in acquiescence. "From the moment I met you, I knew you were special. I'm hardly the first girl to crush on her friend's older brother. But you..." She bit her lip again. "You were something else. Something unexpected."

"I was?"

She looked away, and this time it was she who stared up at the ceiling. "I used to do this all the time when I was little, you know? Lay here on the bed and gaze up at the ceiling. My father put those cheap glow-in-the-dark stars up there and I would just lay there and stare up at them for hours. I would lose myself in them, imagining myself in the fairy stories and medieval romances my mother would read to me at bedtime. I know it sounds silly and old-fashioned, but I always dreamed of being one of those princesses in the stories, cursed with a sleeping spell or trapped in an impregnable tower. I wanted to be them, because the prince always came for them. The prince..." She looked back at him, the slightest trace of tears in her eyes. "...or the knight in shining armor."

His lips found hers in a tender, upside down kiss. They breathed in one another, and when they parted he rested his forehead against hers. "See that? That's why you're here."

She smiled as she quickly wiped her eyes. "I knew that I never stood a chance with you, of course. You were so devoted to Cadance… Honestly, it only made me want you more. I must confess that I had given thought to seducing you before that night, but I always managed to talk myself out of it. I knew it was just a girlish fantasy. I knew that if I ever did anything unwanted, you'd be gone from my life forever. And I'd probably lose one of my best friends to boot." She reached up and stroked his cheek with a finger. "That night in the cabin... I was just teasing myself. Getting as close to you as possible. I knew the best case scenario was getting you worked up just enough that you'd flee inside to... relieve yourself."

"You're such a tease." He chuckled, blood beginning to flow downwards as his mind flew back to that night.

"Of course." She rubbed her nose against his. "You wouldn't be the only one in need of relief in that scenario, you know. There I'd be, all alone in that big, hot Jacuzzi. Alone... and desperately horny." She added in a whisper.

“Babe.” Shining Armor groaned. "You're trying to distract me."

"Is it working?" She winked.

"Rarity."

"I know, I know." She turned away and threw an arm over her eyes. "I can't help it that I get like this around you. This has never happened to me before." She was silent for a moment. "Was it like this for you? With Cadance, I mean?"

He considered. "Kind of. But it's different with you."

"How so?"

"With Cadance, I felt like I was always under this tremendous pressure. Like I had to constantly prove that I was worthy of her. Deep down, I always felt like she was way out of my league... and that she thought that, too. Being with Cadance, whether we were out on a date or just relaxing at home... it was like a competition. I could never relax." He shook his head. "Even when we were in bed together. We could never just have a slow screw or a quickie before work. I had to give my all every single time, because deep down I believed that the one time I didn't give her the best orgasm of her life..."

"...She'd go and find it with someone else." She finished for him.

"And then she did."

Rarity's hand reached down and took his, interlacing their fingers. "When you told me, I knew that it was then or never. Whether the two of you worked things out or not, I knew that if I didn't take my shot then and there, I'd never get the chance again." She giggled. "In my wildest dreams, you never gave in so easily. I must be better at seduction than I ever realized."

"Don't get me wrong; you're really good at it. But in that particular moment... I just felt something. Here I was, reeling from everything, from my world being shattered, and trying to just... lock it away, deep inside me. And then suddenly here's this brilliant, beautiful woman offering to share herself with me. Offering to help me." He smiled. "So it made perfect sense to kiss you."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"After the week was over, after we'd managed to get everything out of our system... did you ever consider texting me? Or calling? Before I texted you, I mean?"

"To be honest with you? No." He felt her stiffen and tightened his grip on her hand reassuringly. "Mostly because I had to deal with Cadance. You have to remember; she was the first woman I'd ever had a relationship with. She was my first break-up. That was rough."

She relaxed slightly. "So if I hadn't wished you a happy birthday...?"

"I'd probably still be wallowing around, hating life." He traced his thumb down hers. "You helped me. Again."

"I had to do something. I hadn't been able to stop thinking about you since we'd said good-bye. I was running out of ways of cleverly asking Twilight how you were doing." She threw her arm back across her face dramatically. "I was going crazy! I couldn't sleep without dreaming of you. Your smile, your voice, your laugh..." She peeked out playfully. "The way you look without a shirt."

Shining Armor laughed.

"After yet another shower ended with me as a mewling, post-orgasmic mess on the tile, I said that enough was enough and sent you a simple happy birthday text. And you!" She lunged forward, snatched a pillow, and brought it back into his face with a liquid smoothness that impressed him even as he laughed. "You could have ignored me! Or just said thank you! Or any number of things. But no! You had to keep being the sweetest, most caring man I'd ever met! You just made everything worse. Because suddenly I'm not just playing with myself thinking about your muscles or how good your sweat tastes. Oh no. Now I'm thinking of romantic walks on the shore." She emphasized her point with another strike with the pillow. "Picnics in the forest!" Another hit.

"Shrimp alfredo and lazing in bed together?"

"YES!" She struck one final time before collapsing beside him, laughing fit to burst. "Frankly, it's a miracle I didn't come over a long time before I did."

"Why did you come that night? In that outfit?" He asked, tossing the pillow away before she could resume her assault.

"It was part of a fool-proof last ditch effort to get you out of my system completely. I’d asked Cheerilee to set me up on a date with one of her friends. Well, a date in the very loosest terms…"

"Miss Cheerilee?" He gaped at her. "Canterlot High’s librarian?"

"Oh stop. She's barely twenty two. We're good friends outside of school." She hugged herself. "I knew that if a one night stand with an older man couldn't break me of you, then nothing could. I put on that outfit so that he'd know my intentions right from the start."

"What happened?"

"I got to the hotel where we'd agreed to meet... and before I'd even killed my engine, I remembered that you lived only a few blocks away. I didn't even think twice. And..." She waved her wrist in a circular motion. "Here we are."

"Here we are. It's a total mess, but here we are."

The two stared at the ceiling together for a few minutes more, basking in the comfortable silence.

It was Rarity who spoke first. "I... I want this, us I mean, to not be a secret anymore. I want everyone to know. Let them judge how it began all they want. They'll just have to accept what it is now."

"And Twilight?"

"Oh, she's going to be upset. With both of us, mind you, but especially with me. There's no avoiding that. Even if we had come out right at the start, she would've been angry. But she's your sister and my best friend. She'll just have to learn to live with the fact that I love you." There. It was done. She'd said it at last. "I feel right saying that now. When I'm with you, I feel... I feel like I'm home. And I think that's what love is supposed to feel like, so... I love you. Damn everything, but I do. I know it's going to be hard, I know that it's going to change things with Twilight, but I don't care. I don't care if it's wrong or if it’s right... I just don't care. I can't keep pretending that I don't love you."

Shining Armor said nothing.

She turned to face him. "It's alright if you can't say it, now or ever. And if you think things will be easier with everyone if we just break it off, then I'll understa...!" He'd cut her off with another kiss, and she melted against him.

He broke away just enough to whisper "I love you" before kissing her again, punctuating each longer kiss with a small one. "I love your creativity." He said again as his hands grasped her cheeks and pulled her closer. "I love your caring."

Rarity inhaled sharply when she felt his tongue make contact with hers, and she responded in kind. "I love you." She moaned each time their lips split the slightest bit. "I love your sweetness." She kissed downward, kissing the crook of his smile, his chin, his jaw. Her feet pushed against the headboard, forcing her further down. "I love your strength."

Shining Armor mirrored her, kissing down the hollow of her throat, slowly sliding further up towards the head of the bed. The pair turned onto their sides as they kissed and licked their way along each other’s bodies, paying no mind if their lips were touching flesh or cloth. Their hands crawled across one another, grasping and stroking and pulling at whatever they found.

Shining Armor was taller, so he ended up reaching his goal first. After placing a perfunctory kiss on the waistband on her pajama bottoms, he easily hooked his fingers in the elastic and pulled them down her long, lithe legs. When they were down past her knees, she parted her thighs easily to reveal her already practically soaked slit. Shining Armor kissed her there just as tenderly as he'd kissed her above, gently tasting her arousal and groaning at the familiar bouquet that was purely and simply Rarity.

Rarity sighed at first contact, but refused to just surrender and allow herself to be pleasured while not reciprocating in kind. She nuzzled Shining Armor's erection through his pajamas, worshipping it with small kisses and licks. When her crafty fingers found the waistband and pulled the cloth down, she giggled when his thick cock practically bounced free from its confines and booped her on the nose. Literally salivating, she eagerly closed her mouth around him and hummed at the familiar taste of cock-flesh. Her tongue circled his tip lazily as she drew him back and forth in a languid, easy pace.

Side by side in a relaxed sixty-nine, the two lovers cherished one another, tasted each other. Shining Armor's hands caressed Rarity’s thighs and kneaded the firm but pliable flesh of her rear, used his grip to pull her pussy closer, allowing him greater access to her sweet nectar. He was addicted to the taste, to the tactile feel of this artistic goddess given earthly form.

Rarity's own hands grasped at the hard muscle of his ass, very nearly drooling at the feel, the texture. She'd fallen for a Renaissance statue come to life, she realized.

Shining Armor, still frightfully tense from his earlier state of arousal, was shocked to feel that he was already getting close to the edge. His hips began to pump of their own volition, and Rarity’s approving moan created an extra vibration in her hot mouth as he worked with her own movements to force just a bit more of himself towards the back of her throat.

Rarity's eyes rolled into the back of her head when she felt the tell-tale clench of muscle in her man's posterior muscles. She knew that tensing, knew what was coming. Her neck continued its slow bob along his cock, matching his small thrusts stroke for stroke, but her tongue began to spin faster, edging along the rim of the tip and flicking at the slit that would soon deliver her reward.

Shining Armor forced himself away from her quim and gasped, desperately trying to stave off the inevitable. "Rarity, I..."

Rarity pulled herself free of his dick for only a moment. Only long enough to gasp out a quiet "Give it to me" before again taking him as deep as she could.

Shining Armor bit back a curse as his back seized. He felt his balls pulse, shooting their payload into his woman's waiting mouth.

Rarity somehow managed to hum, giggle, and moan all at once at the familiar salty taste of her man's cum as it hit her tongue. She swallowed reflexively, never stopping her easy, lazy blowjob even as she felt him tense once... twice... three times, each delivering a lesser load of semen. She ran her tongue over the slit, gaining a few lingering drops and earning her a quiet shudder of post-orgasmic pleasure from the object of her affections. She released her iron-tight grip on his ass and let his softening rod fall from her lips. "I trust that was worth the wait." She kissed his penis’ tip and smiled.

Shining Armor was momentarily at a loss for words. "I've... I haven't cum that fast since my first time."

"Flatterer." Rarity laughed airily. Her own sex still throbbed with want, but she was patient. She knew her own needs would be tended to in due time. "You needed that."

"I needed you." He surprised her by sitting up and quickly repositioning himself over her. "But you need something to."

"Oh, tosh, darling." She smiled with hooded eyes as he gazed down at her. "Giving is its own reward." Her eyes widened when felt his fingers caressing her heated core. "Of course, it would be rude to say no... Ah!"

Her playful banter was silenced when his index finger rubbed a practiced circle around her clit. "Shhh..." He leaned in close to her ear, playfully nibbling at her lobe. "Just lie back and let me make you cum."

Rarity was saved from letting out a very un-ladylike ‘yes, daddy’ by a shuddering moan as the older man above her began playing her pussy like a well-tuned harpsichord. She clenched at the comforter beneath her as he worked her towards her climax. It wasn't hard. Driving him to orgasm always tended to turn her on immensely. If there was one thing she should be thankful to Cadance for, she realized, it was the strength of Shining Armor's finger game. He was an expert at finding her clit and reading the writhes of her body, the pace of her breathy moans, in order to deliver her to a lightning fast climax, a long, drawn out, body-wracking orgasm, or anything in between in the spectrum of physical love. Whatever the mood called for.

Tonight, Rarity just needed to cum. And fast.

Shining Armor stared into the blue depths of her eyes, clouded with pleasure, and read her will as easily as a book. His fingers spun and squeezed at her bud, relishing every moan, every whispered curse. "Tell me when." He told her as he lowered his face to her still clothed chest, kissing and lapping at the hard nubs that poked up from the fabric like exposed nails.

"Al-almost...ah!" Rarity's teeth clenched and her eyes shut of their own accord as the first spasm struck. "Don't tease me tonight. Please."

“Anything for you.” He promised, his voice muffled as he coated her top in spit from his ministrations.

“Anything?”

He tore himself away from her breasts and looked into her eyes once more. “Anything.”

“Kiss me.” She commanded. She started cumming the instant his lips touched hers. The previous young men she’d taken to bed had blanched at the idea of kissing her after she’d brought them to climax with her mouth. But not Shining Armor. He took any opportunity to kiss her, no matter the circumstance. When she felt his tongue touch the back of her teeth, she arched up against him. Her hands beat futilely at the bedspread or grasped desperately at his shirt, his hair. She cried her orgasm out into his mouth and he gulped it greedily, never stopping his finger’s movements.

All too soon, he felt her begin to relax. He slowed his fingering accordingly, letting her ride out the last waves of her climax. He broke the kiss, and the two lay there panting together as Rarity got her wits back. “You good?”

“Darling, I’m spectacular.” She giggled breathlessly, her pale face ruddy with post-orgasmic blush.

He pecked her chin once before leaning in to rub his face in her hair. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She kissed his cheek. “But we do have a busy day tomorrow, so…”

“Right, right.” Shining Armor stood, pulled his pajamas back on, and stretched. He shook his head as she pulled her bottoms back up and reached for her phone. “Taking one of those post-sex selfies?”

She laughed as she rolled onto her stomach. “Just checking the networks, darling. Getting it out of the way so we can just cuddle.”

“I do enjoy cuddling.” He stepped into the bathroom and finally began the pre-bedtime routine. He’d just managed to finish squeezing the toothpaste from the tube when he heard Rarity’s gasp. He poked his head out and saw that she was still in the same position, her eyes glued to her phone. “What happened? Some celebrity die?” When she didn’t respond, didn’t even move, he started walking towards her. “Rarity?”

She turned to face him at last. She hadn’t removed all of her make-up yet, and twin trails of eyeliner ran down the pristine ivory of her face. Etched on that face was the most shattered, positively destroyed expression he’d ever seen.

He knew at once that he never wanted to see that look ever again.

“It’s… it’s Twilight.” She sniffled as she handed him her phone. When he took it, she buried her face in the blankets and finally let go, weeping and shaking.

Shining Armor stared at the text on Rarity’s phone. It was indeed from his little sister.

She knew.

And she was not happy.

Siblings

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"This is an odd choice of a meeting place." Shining Armor's bespectacled sister seated herself on the park bench beside her older sibling, making sure to keep enough distance so that he knew she was still not pleased with him. "Isn't the stereotype that you're supposed to ask me to lunch in a public place so I don't make a scene?"

"After reading your text to Rarity, I figured you'd make a scene wherever we were." He gestured around at the City Park, empty save for a few foraging squirrels and chirping birds. "Here you can get all of that yelling out of your system. Make all the scenes you want."

It had been three days since Twilight had sent the fateful message. Three days since she'd severed one of her closest friendships, citing as reasons various crossed boundaries and shattered feelings of trust. Three days since she'd refused to talk to her brother about the situation over text only to finally relent and agree to a face to face meeting... on the sole condition that Rarity stay as far away as possible.

Twilight Sparkle huffed as she crossed her arms and legs. "That text... you weren't supposed to see it."

"I wish I hadn't. Because the girl who said those things? That's not the Twily I know."

"Don't start with that!" She practically snarled at him. "And don't treat me like your little kid sister. You've officially lost that right now that you've fucked one of my friends."

Shining Armor was temporarily at a loss, having never heard his baby sister curse like that. "Okay. We'll talk as adults then. And as an adult? That was still a really shitty thing to do."

"No, you know what's shitty? Sneaking around with one of my best friends for months. That's shitty. Actually, you know what's even shittier than that?" She turned the full force of her glare on her brother. "Cheating on your fiancée. With a high schooler." She added.

"You say it like that and it makes me look like I'm some kind of creep. Rarity's eighteen..."

"It's optics, you absolute moron!" She rubbed her forehead in frustration. "Have you even considered what will happen if your job found out about any of this? Did that thought really never cross your mind even once?"

"Of course it did. It's one of the reasons we haven't gone public yet. Once Rarity graduates..."

"Oh, one of the reasons, he says. Just one. But not the main one." She gestured to herself. "I'm the main one, aren't I?"

"...Well, yeah. Because we knew you wouldn't take it well."

"What a shockingly strong prediction. Whoever could've guessed?" She stood up and began pacing, a common tic of hers when she was overwhelmed. She stopped and looked at him, sadness peeking through the anger in her eyes. "Why? Why did you cheat on Cadance? How could you do that to her?"

Shining Armor's suspicions about how Twilight had just suddenly found out about he and Rarity's relationship began to become more concrete. He leaned forward. "What did she tell you?"

"The truth. Which is more than I can say for you and that back-stabbing, lying little tramp..."

"Don't call her that. That's your friend you're talking about. Don't forget that."

"No she isn't!' Twilight finally exploded. "The Rarity I called my friend would never have tried to steal my brother from his fiancée. Oh, I knew about her little crush. A blind woman could see it. But I never suspected that she'd actually be so bold as to actually try and seduce you! Or that you'd be so morally repugnant as to just give in without a second thought." She shook her head. "I thought you were better than that."

"It wasn't like that." He looked at her imploringly. "What exactly did Cadance tell you?"

"That you two have been screwing around behind our backs since the cabin!" Twilight screamed, her glasses sliding down her nose. "God, I feel so stupid for not having seen it before. Those days that you two were sick and taking care of each other? You were just fucking the whole time, weren't you? Probably laughing about how dumb the rest of us were."

Shining Armor looked away. "It wasn't like that..."

"And that day at the lake? When you were 'studying geology?' She was behind the rock, wasn't she? You were fucking my best friend right in front of me. Do you just have no shame?"

"Twilight, please..."

"Was that the first time? Or had you two been planning the whole thing long before that? You being the chaperone was the perfect cover for your secret getaway, wasn't it?"

"It wasn't like that at all!" She looked at her desperately. "Twilight, you have to believe that neither of us planned for this to happen. It just did."

"When? When did it just happen?"

Shining Armor chewed the inside of his cheek. "The first night." He said finally. "I was in the hot tub. She came down, we started talking, and... And then it happened."

"In the hot tub?"

"No."

Twilight's eyes widened in sudden realization. "Oh my God! When Rarity was in the shower! You were there too and...?"

Shining Armor nodded.

Twilight shrieked and snatched at her hair. "This is a nightmare! This is a nightmare and I can't wake up!"

"Twily, please calm down." Shining Armor held out his hands in a warding gesture. "Cadance told you that I cheated on her with Rarity at the cabin. What else?"

"What else? Does there need to be more? Isn't that enough?"

"Please, just tell me."

Twilight started pacing again. "She told me that you'd told her that you wanted to take a break when you got back from the cabin. She said she was surprised, but she went along with it. Figured it was pre-wedding jitters."

Shining Armor snorted.

If Twilight noticed, she said nothing. "When you stopped responding to her texts, she went to check on you and found you, in bed, with the blue-eyed skank who used to be my best friend. After that, everything just fell into place."

Shining Armor chose to ignore the other lies to focus instead on the one big piece of info Cadance seemed to have left out. "Did she tell you that she cheated on me first?"

Twilight stopped pacing and glared at her brother. "C'mon, Shining Armor. My opinion of you couldn't get much lower, but you're really pushing it now. Even if that was true, which I very much doubt, that doesn't excuse what you did at all. Two wrongs don't make a right, do they?"

"It's true. Look." He opened up his phone to he and Cadance's old text logs and handed it over.

Twilight's eyes flew across the screen, speed-reading the past few months of texts. Her face became more and more pinched the further she read. She handed the phone back when she was finished, but didn't say anything.

"...She didn't tell you." A statement, not a question.

"What does it matter?" Twilight sniffed and looked away. "So she cheated on you, then you cheated back. That doesn't excuse..."

"Twilight!" It was the first time he'd raised his voice, and he hated how she flinched, "Please. Just hear my side of this."

"Why do there have to be sides?!" Twilight yelled back. "Why did Cadance feel the need to sleep with some other guy? Why did you and Rarity... why did any of this have to happen?! Why did she... and you... and... and..." She put her face in her hands and started sobbing and hyperventilating.

Shining Armor went to her and hugged her tightly, just like he'd done since they were children. She didn't resist, and he led her back to the bench. When she'd calmed down enough, he told her everything. About the texts, about the cabin, about everything that had happened up until the events of several days ago. He told her about Cadance's intentions for sending him on the trip in the first place and her finally discovering the truth. He told her about how careful he and Rarity had been, their internal agony at keeping the truth from everyone, and their ultimate realization of their true feelings for one another.

"Cadance made it sound like you two were just sleeping around behind everyone's backs." Twilight removed her glasses and rubbed them on her blouse. "The way you tell it, you and Rarity are..."

"In love. Yeah. We are." He put his arm around her. "You're gonna have to get used to that. Because now that you know, we aren't going to hide it anymore." He squeezed. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner."

"Why did you even hide it to begin with? Because you thought I'd flip out?" She withered under his stare. "Okay, so I still would've flipped out a little bit. But how can I not? This situation is so messed up."

"It is. But sometimes beautiful things can come from horrible ones. What Cadance and I did to each other? To you? It was wrong, but I've made my peace with that. I'm still your brother, aren't I?"

Twilight replaced her glasses and nodded.

"And Rarity's still your friend."

Twilight's gaze hardened and she looked away. "I don't know about that."

"Twilight..."

"It's different with you. You're my B.B.B.F.F. Nothing's ever gonna change that. Eventually I'm going to forgive you. But Rarity..." She shook her head. "How can I ever trust her again?"

"You have to find a way. And you will. Because she's your friend, and real friends always have to find a way." He looked into the clear blue sky, thinking of his girlfriend's eyes. "It'd be one thing if Rarity was just after me as some kind of conquest. But she's not. She loves me. The way she tells it, she's loved me for a lot longer than just the cabin."

"And you love her?"

He nodded. "I do. She's great."

"So you don't love Cadance anymore."

He paused. "Well... yes and no. Not really. There's a part of me that's always going to love her. She was the first one to capture my heart, to really show me what love is, what it can be. But what she did? And everything after? I don't think I could ever love her the way I once did. That well's been poisoned. And after the way she's handled all of this, I'm not even sure we could still be friends." He saw the concerned look on her face and smiled reassuringly. "But who knows? Maybe I'll find a way to forgive her for this, too."

Twilight took a deep breath and fell back on the bench. "This is just so messed up. Everything's wrong."

He raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Because this isn't how things are in Equestria."

Intrigued at the mention of the enchanted horse planet, Shining Armor leaned in. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I've talked to the other you and the other Cadance over there, and they're still together. They got married. They even had a baby. Since certain events over there tend to parallel events over here, I just thought that's how things would play out between you two. It's just... interdimensional stuff is weird." She let out a small laugh. "Maybe none of this would have happened if your love for each other had managed to defeat a hostile invasion."

He did a double take. "Say what now?"

"Oh yeah. The day of your wedding, the capital city was invaded by an army of love-sucking bug monsters that could shapeshift. That version of Cadance was even replaced by their queen for a while and she enslaved your mind. The whole nation was saved only because of the power of you and Cadance's true love."

Shining Armor blinked slowly. "I never, ever want to visit magic horse world."

The siblings laughed together, dissipating most of the tension. Twilight pulled off her glasses and wiped at her eyes. "So..."

"So... are we good?"

She considered for a moment. "For the most part. In the grand scheme of things, you didn't do anything really terrible. Just keep me in the loop from now on."

"Now there's just one more thing."

"What's that?"

"You need to talk to Rarity."

Twilight exhaled heavily and slumped. "That stupid text..."

"It crushed her, Twily."

"I was upset, okay? That doesn't make it alright, I know, but that's just how it is." She took a deep breath and sat up straight. "If you two are serious...?"

"We are."

"Then I have to at least try, don't I?" She managed a wink. "Otherwise Christmas is gonna be real awkward."

He smiled and ruffled her hair. "Love you, Twily."

"Love you, too." She punched his arm playfully and looked around. "Where is she?"

"What do you mean? You told me to come alone."

"She's hiding somewhere nearby, right?" She raised an eyebrow at the look on his face. "I know you, Shiny. You'd be so confident of getting through to me that you'd make sure she was close so we could try and make up here and now."

Shining Armor finally broke and smiled. "Alright, you got me. I did want to bring her, but she said she had a standing lunch she couldn't miss."

Twilight pursed her lips and checked her phone. "None of the girls said they were meeting her today." She caught his look and smiled reassuringly. "Don’t worry. None of them know… yet. I was hurt, but not hurt enough to start spreading things around."

Thinking of Cadance, Shining Armor made a small 'hmph' sound.

"Maybe it's a work thing?" She offered, putting her phone back in her pocket.

He shrugged. "No idea. She just said it was personal."

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

Rarity took a deep breath before she stepped into Tigano's. The Italian eatery was a bit on the pricy side, leading to a usually quiet lunch crowd. She spied the woman she'd arranged to meet here already sitting at a table near the back wall. She grimaced when the older woman gave a cheeky wave and a come-on-over gesture. Rarity made her way across the floor, set down her purse, and pulled back a chair. "Honestly? I'm surprised you actually came."

"Oh, Rarity." Cadance chuckled as she reached for a breadstick. "I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Rivals

View Online

The two women sat there, just staring at one another, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Rarity slowly sipped her complimentary glass of water while taking in Cadance’s… peculiar choice of ensemble; a rather strikingly teal dress with a matching short-cut jacket. Not what she’d expected her to wear when she’d asked her to this… summit. Yes. Summit seemed appropriate. Cadance finished crunching away another fresh breadstick as she apparently appraised Rarity’s much more simple violet sundress with some amusement.

The two eyed one another, stone faced, two gunslingers at high noon.

The waiter, a perky young man barely out of high school, stepped up, his tablet already open and pen at the ready. "Buongiorno, Donne! Welcome to Tigano's. Can I start you with something to drink?"

Rarity smiled easily at the young man. "Water will be fine for now. Thank you."

"Of course." He gave a slight nod and turned to Cadance. "And for you?"

"Chianti, please." Cadance wiped her hands on a napkin daintily and reached into her nearby purse. Out came her ID, and she flashed the same dazzling smile as the one in her photo.

"But of course." The server glanced Rarity's way. "Uh… are we drinking alone?"

Rarity's eyes narrowed at the woman across from her. "Just water. Please." Her eyes flicked at the menu before her. "But I will start with the salad. Caesar. Vinaigrette." She winked at the server. "Prego?"

"Certamente." The server bowed and departed quickly. Even he could feel the ambient tension at the table.

Rarity took another sip of water. "Wine for lunch? How very… tacky."

Cadance laughed airily as she eyed another breadstick. "I'm sorry you can't be tacky with me. What with being underage and all." She snatched the breadstick at last and bit into it with gusto. "This is a charming little place. A nice choice. There’s one just like it at the casino Shining Armor and I go to sometimes on the weekends. He's such a passionate blackjack player. Did you know?" She swallowed and smiled. "A shame that his new little girlfriend can't go out on the floor with him."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Cadance?"

"What do I want? It was you who arranged this meeting."

"Don't be cute with me.” Rarity snapped. “I know you told Twilight about Shining Armor and me. And I can tell from her text that you either fudged the details or outright lied about the nature of our relationship."

"I told Twilight what was important. If some information got lost in translation, then that's no fault of mine."

"You have no room in this situation to be so... so vindictive. What you did was childish and uncalled for."

"Oh, I strongly disagree. Dating Shining Armor behind his sister's back was what was childish and uncalled for."

"I know that, damn it all." Rarity glowered into her water. "And now that you've let that particular cat out of the bag, I may have lost my friend forever. So now, I'll ask once again; what exactly do you want?"

Cadance finished the breadstick and washed it down with a swallow from her own glass of water. "Simple; I want my fiancée back."

Rarity had to laugh at the audacity. "I'm afraid that ship has sailed, darling."

"Has it? I'm not so sure."

"Shining Armor is free to be with whoever he chooses to be with. I'm not going to pretend that what the two of you had was special, but it was you who chose to crumple it up and toss it in the garbage." She took a sip and smirked. "Likely along with the condom you used to cheat on him with."

Cadance's smile faltered for the first time since Rarity had sat down. "That was uncalled for."

"Agree to disagree." She made a show of checking her nails. "The fact remains; you broke his heart. And, unluckily for you, someone else was there to pick up the pieces."

"You have no idea what Shiny and I had... what we have. We're fated to be together. This? This is just a speedbump. All couples face challenges like this. We'll move past it and..."

"How many have there been?"

Cadance froze. "What? Speedbumps?"

"No. Men, darling. How many men have you slept with since you and Shining Armor began your little 'break?'"

Cadance gaped at the young woman. "Excuse me...?"

Her reaction was all the proof Rarity needed. "Because you're meeting one after this, aren't you? Or do you commonly put on such a nice dress and perfume combination to meet with a...?" She considered before snapping her fingers. "Goodness, am I a romantic rival? I always did wonder what it would be like to step into the pages of a romantic novella."

Cadance glared. "...it's not what you think. It's just sex."

"It's not ‘just sex’ to Shining Armor."

"He just has to get used to the fact that I have new needs now. He loves me. He'll understand."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong." Rarity pointed a finger. "If you'd done the very thing you're chastising me for not doing, if you'd been honest with him from the very start, then maybe, just maybe, he would have understood. You know the man just as well as I do, if not better. There's a very good chance that he would have found some way to... accommodate this new hunger of yours. That's what he does. He'd bend over backwards for the ones he loves." She smiled wistfully. "It's just one of the things that makes him so wonderful."

"He is wonderful. And that's why I want him back." Cadance leaned forward, pushing the breadstick basket to the side. "I'm not going to pretend that you haven't fallen for him. I mean, how could you not? He's the best. Dedicated, passionate, empathetic... and he's always been that way. We've loved each other for over a decade. The day he got down on one knee was the happiest day of my entire life."

Rarity looked at her evenly. "And yet you still cheated on him."

Cadance sighed. "You want to know the really fucked up part? I don't actually regret doing it. I just regret going behind his back about it."

Rarity flushed with anger. "That's horrible."

"Is it?" Cadance shrugged. "I don't expect you to understand. Or maybe you do." She smirked. "Shiny wasn't your first, was he?"

"That's none of your business."

"That's a no, then. He was my first, though, and I was his. We went through our entire adolescence as a couple. He was my first kiss, the first to see me, to touch me... It's all very romantic. But there was always this part of me that wondered if I was missing out." She leaned back and arched slightly, emphasizing her robust and well-developed form. "From the moment I blossomed, I started getting noticed. But I couldn’t really take advantage of it. I was a taken woman, wasn't I? It was improper to even consider straying from the bed of the one I loved. Still… those thoughts lingered. And then it happened; the perfect storm of circumstance; a good distance away from Shiny, a cute co-worker, and enough drinks to use as an excuse later." She shrugged. "So I gave in. I'm only human, after all."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this." Rarity shook her head. "You're so... cavalier about the whole thing."

"Why shouldn't I be?" Cadance’s eyes glazed over as she looked away. "Sex is wonderful. You know that. I thought I knew, but after that first time with Sunburst? It was like a whole new world had opened up. I had been missing so much. Shiny's no slouch in bed, don’t get me wrong, but after all these years? I know all of his tricks. All of his moves.” She held up a hand to stop Rarity’s next comment. “I wouldn't call him boring. Just… predictable. And variety's the spice of life, isn't it?" She stopped speaking when the server arrived with her wine and a fresh glass of water for Rarity. She watched him leave and openly leered at his retreating form. "Take that one for example. He's cute. Don't you wonder if he's submissive in the sack? Or maybe he has a hidden dominant streak. Does being a waiter give you amazing stamina? Or maybe he would be more receptive to a five minute quickie in the kitchen before anyone notices he’s gone?"

Rarity couldn't believe she was hearing any of this. "You're shameless."

"I'm liberated. I've discovered the secret to true love, Rarity. Your heart? That can belong to one and one alone. But your body? It's not in our nature to share it with only one. My one mistake in all of this was in not telling Shining Armor sooner. But this break we've been on? It's really shown me how lost I truly was. I know he'll understand. It's what he does. And he'll be happy. After all, I imagine he'll be quite receptive to the fact that he can also sleep with whoever he wants now. Just so long as he comes home to me at the end of the day." She sipped her wine and fanned herself. "Goodness. Is it hot in here?" She shed her coat, revealing the thin straps of her dress... and a strange dark splotch on her shoulder.

Rarity's eyes widened at the sight of it. "Is that… have you always had a tattoo?"

Upon closer examination, it wasn't a splotch. It was a round, layered black object topped with jagged edges and points. An abstract shape surrounded it in vibrant, very nearly neon green, and the wavy lines suggesting both dancing flames and a spread pair of wings all at once. Cadance smiled at it. "It's new. It’s a chrysalis. You know, the stage between caterpillar and butterfly? It's supposed to stand for metamorphosis. I don't know. I thought it was appropriate." She smiled as she brought the glass to her lips again. "And the guy offered to do it for free after I fucked him right there in the tattoo parlor."

Rarity slammed her palms down on the table and stood, fire in her eyes. "I'm not going to sit here and listen to another word of this. What I did was wrong. But this? This is monstrous. You're not just a fool, Cadance. You're a beast. You don't deserve someone like him."

Cadance didn't even flinch, didn't bother to look up, "Sit back down, Rarity."

"I will not. This was a mistake. I should've gone straight to Twilight and..."

Cadance giggled. "Oh, Rarity. Rarity, Rarity, Rarity." She looked up, a cat-like grin on her face. "Do you really think talking to Twilight is the worst thing I can do in this situation?"

Rarity froze. "What?"

"There's not a doubt in my mind that she'll forgive Shining Armor. Hell, she'll even forgive me, even after he tells her what I didn't. In time, I imagine the two of you will be bosom pals again. I've known that girl longer than you, since she was a toddler. I can read her like one of those books she loves so much. I know exactly what buttons to push. Turning her on you was easy because it was small. Think of it as a… warning shot. I needed you to understand what I was capable of." Her eyes flashed dangerously. "Now sit down."

Despite every instinct telling her to do the opposite, Rarity sat. The server arrived with her salad, waited a moment for them to order, and then finally left with haste once neither woman bothered to even acknowledge him. "You said you want him back."

"I do." Cadance placed her glass on the table and leaned forward, resting her chin on interlaced fingers. "But I'm not unfair. I can't stop you from loving him, I know that. But I can use his love for you to get him back."

"I don't follow."

"I'll share him with you, Rarity. It's as simple as that. Every inch of that muscly mass of his will be just as available to you then as it is now. The one difference is that at the end of the day, he comes home with me. His ring goes back on my finger, we sign the documents proclaiming us man and wife, and down the road? We even start a family. You don't get any of that. But, fair trade, you get to have him whenever you like. And who knows? Maybe we can arrange a threesome for his birthday." She cocked her head. "Doesn't that sound like a good deal?"

"No. Not at all." Rarity chewed her lip nervously. "But I imagine you knew I'd say that and have some way of convincing me otherwise."

"Now you're catching on." She sat back and fingered the rim of her wine glass. "Like I said before; telling Twilight was just the tip of the iceberg. Imagine what would happen if someone said something similar to someone just a smidge more important. Someone in his department, for example." She flicked the glass, making it ring in the silence of the still empty restaurant. "I don't imagine his fellow officers would look kindly on their co-worker dallying with a high schooler."

"An empty threat." Rarity sniffed. "I was eighteen that first night. He never even glanced my way before then."

"Oh, I know that. And you know that. And Shiny knows that. But just think about it for a moment. You saw Twilight's reaction when I... changed the story, just a little bit. What do you think the department's reaction would be if I did the same with them?" Her smile widened at the dawning realization in Rarity's eyes. "Maybe he was willingly seduced by a willowy seventeen year old that night at the cabin. That would be bad, but not unrecoverable. Not quite the same if accusations came forward alleging that there was something more insidious going on. After all, you've known Shiny since you were... what? Fifteen?"

"You can't be implying..."

"That he groomed you? No, I'm not implying it." She winked. "Yet."

"The... the charges would never stand." Rarity stammered, shaken at the implications. "He would..."

"Charges? Oh no, I wouldn't let it get that far. But the court of public opinion would judge him swiftly and permanently."

"How could you even threaten such a thing and still claim that you love him?" Rarity had to struggle not to scream. "You'd shatter his reputation, ruin his career!"

"Yes, I would. I'd destroy him... because I love him. I would tear down every pillar that supports him... until only I remain. Then, finally, he'd understand how much we need each other." She sighed dreamily. "We would probably even have to move as far away as possible. Somewhere no one could possibly know about his... transgressions. Far away from the judgmental stares, the broken public trust..." She picked up the glass and tilted it in Rarity's direction. "Far away from you."

Rarity's mind raced at the depth and danger of the threat. "Please... I can't..."

"Can't share him?" Cadance swirled the wine and brought it to her nose. "That's fine, too. All you have to do then is break his heart. Honestly, that might make it even easier for me to..."

"Goodness, do you ever shut up?"

Cadance looked at her sharply. "What?"

Rarity cleared her throat. "I asked you to kindly shut the fuck up for five minutes. When I asked you to come here, I didn't expect you to start ranting like a supervillain and not let me get a word in edgewise."

Cadance frowned. "Haven't you ever heard of respecting your elders?"

"Respect is earned, not given." Rarity reached out and pushed the salad away. Her appetite was long gone. "And I can honestly say that I have never met someone so undeserving of respect." She took a deep, calming breath. "You speak of being liberated, but it's just the opposite. You've become a slave to your own flesh. And please don't let me be misunderstood; I'm not judging you for who you choose to sleep with. I'm a modern woman, and if you get your rocks off by spreading your legs for any man with a strong jaw and a moderately sized cock, then more power to you, sister.” She briefly held up her glass in mock salute. “My issue, my very personal issue, is this idea you have about having Shining Armor as well. You don't just want to have your cake and eat it too. You want the whole fucking bakery." She glared at the pink woman who was darkening with anger. "And the saddest part of all this is that you can't see just how badly you've messed up. Like I said, if you'd gone to Shining Armor first, he likely would have found some way of working it out. But now? You've known him for so long, for so much longer than I have, then surely you must know that the man wears his heart on his sleeve. And that once you've injured it, you never get another chance with it."

"He'll forgive me." Cadance put down the glass. "We're fated. Meant to be. Twilight told me..."

"You keep saying that you're fated to be together in one breath, then talk of destroying him in the next." Rarity continued as though her enemy hadn't even said anything. "You don't love him. I won't say you never did, but now? Ridiculous. You want to control him, put chains on his heart so that it beats for you and you alone. But that's not love. Shining Armor loves me because he chooses to love me, and I love him for that. You talk about tearing down the pillars that support him until only one remains. Well, I'm telling you that even if you did that there would still be at least one standing there." She brought a hand to her chest. "And that's this piece of marble right here."

"The naive ravings of a child." Cadance sneered. "You have no idea..."

"No. I don't. But that's alright. I've got all the time in the world to figure it out. And, heaven willing, I'll have my love by my side to help me along the way. You want to threaten me? Go ahead. Do your worst. I admit that my happiness is borne from sin and I will happily pay the penance. But threaten Shining Armor again? Or actually go forward with that depraved little plan of yours?" She stood and leaned forward, satisfied when Cadance reflexively leaned back. She reached for the glass in front of her. "I will fight you with every ounce of my being. And I've gone toe to toe with interdimensional sirens and magical demons. Who are you compared to that?" And before Cadance could brace herself, she flung her arm forward and emptied her water glass all over the woman in front of her, dousing her hair and dress.

Cadance stared up at her younger rival, water dripping down her face. "You little bi..."

Rarity snatched the wine glass away and drained it in three long swallows. She exhaled in satisfaction. "Lovely vintage. I would've preferred to savor it, but oh well. Enjoy the rest of your lunch. I recommend the lasagna."

She turned to leave, but the server blocked her path. "Ma'am..." He started.

"My apologies for the mess. Dean Cadance of Crystal Prep will be paying." She glanced back before leaning in conspiratorially. "I really shouldn't be saying this, but that wine she ordered? I'm afraid that was for me. I don't know what your policy is for providing those underage with alcohol, but I simply must be honest." She looked back at the still dripping woman and winked. "It’s the best policy after all. Ciao, darling."

Head held high, a smile on her face, Rarity walked out of Tigano's and into the afternoon sunshine.

Friends

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The sun was beginning to make it's slow descent, signifying the start of evening. The last bell had rung at Canterlot High, the last student had long since departed. On the steps outside the main entrance, two young women sat in contemplative silence. Both were seniors, and thus had taken the option of missing school that day, especially since each had other matters to attend to. It was the younger of the two that, having finished her conversation with her brother, had sent the text that had led the pair here, to this mutually agreed-upon neutral ground.

They had another text to discuss. Amongst other things.

Twilight Sparkle sighed as she adjusted her skirt. "I guess one of us has to apologize first, right?"

Rarity let out a small laugh before shaking her head. "You've got nothing to apologize for. This is all my doing, after all."

"That doesn't excuse what I said. I should've..." She removed her glasses and fiddled with them. "I shouldn't have taken Cadance at her word. I should've come to you first before just... just exploding like that."

"It was quite surprising, I will admit. I had no idea you knew so many different variations of the word 'whore.'"

Twilight blushed. "Uh... I used my Thesaurus."

"Of course you did." Rarity shook her head. "Twilight, I... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner."

"It’s alright.” She paused. “I mean, it’s not alright, but I probably should've read the signs a long time ago." She smiled humorlessly at her glasses. "Even with these, I was blind to the whole thing. That's part of the reason I flew off the handle like I did. I don't like feeling stupid."

"You aren't stupid. You're the smartest woman I know. It's just that sometimes we can't see the truth of things even when they're right in front of our nose."

"Like Cadance?"

Rarity winced. "Yes. Like Cadance." Rarity was already wondering if telling Twilight everything Cadance had told her had been the right course of action. She'd gone to Shining Armor first, of course, and it had been him who had left the decision in her hands. It was her who had decided that she’d kept enough from Twilight for quite some time. "You believe me?"

"I have to admit it, I... I don't want to." Twilight hugged her knees to her chest. "Cadance has been there my entire life. She was my first friend, my mentor. The things you said she told you, what she threatened to do to Shining Armor, that's so utterly divorced from the woman I know that it doesn’t seem real. I want to believe that you're lying, trying to make yourself look better." She sighed. "But..."

"…But?"

"But… I've already made one emotionally driven mistake recently. I'm cold to all this now. Distant. I'm able to look at this whole situation logically. And after seeing those texts on Shining Armor's phone, after seeing the look in his eyes when he mentions you, and after you telling me that Cadance mentioned our talks about Equestria? As much as I hate to admit it, it all comes together and makes perfect sense."

Rarity let out the breath she'd been holding. "I'm glad. That you believe me, I mean."

"You're not off the hook. You know that, right?"

"I know." Rarity looked at her friend for the first time. "I really am sorry for keeping everything from you. We should've just told you after that first night."

Twilight blanched. "Uh, maybe not then? I'm less upset about the screwing each other silly in the cabin than I am about the two of you secretly dating these last few months." She shrugged. "It just would've been nice to know that my best friend was dating my brother."

"You wouldn't have reacted well."

"No, I wouldn't have. But I still had a right to know."

Rarity dipped her head. "You're right, of course. And I know I've done terrible damage to our friendship by keeping it from you. I just... I don't want you to hate me."

Twilight reached out and put her hand on Rarity's shoulder. "I don't hate you. And I know you weren't lying to hurt me. That... kind of softens the blow, I guess?"

Rarity sniffled as she reached up and put her hand on Twilight's. "I was so afraid I'd lost you forever when you sent that message."

"I'm sorry I sent it." Twilight said with a squeeze. "Let's just... If you and my brother are going to keep being a thing...?"

"I believe that's our intention, yes." Rarity smiled as she quickly wiped her eyes before her eyeliner could start running.

"Then it's going to take some getting used to. I can't promise that I'm going to feel normal about it, at least not for a long while. But ultimately... it's none of my business. You're adults, and you clearly have it bad for each other." She smiled and gave the pale shoulder another squeeze. "Just keep me in the loop from now on.” She eyed her levelly. “And keep the PDA around me to a minimum."

The two laughed and hugged, their friendship repaired for the most part (as most deep friendships are usually able to do without that much effort) and they enjoyed the fading sunshine and frolicking fauna around them for a brief while longer.

"Where's Shining Armor now?" Twilight asked as she checked her watch.

Rarity could feel her good mood beginning to deflate. "He... he said he had to talk to Cadance. Alone."

Twilight sighed heavily and lay back on the step. "Cadance. God, what happened to her? It's like a switch flipped. The things she said to you..." She poked her head back up. "Wait. You said she has a tattoo now?"

"You haven't seen it?"

"No. Admittedly I haven't seen her much since the break started, but whenever I did she was wearing sleeves. What did it look like again?"

"It was a horrid little black thing, surrounded by green wings, or light, or something-or-other." Rarity's nose wrinkled in disgust as she recalled the image. "She called it something. A cocoon? No, that wasn't it..."

Twilight dove for her bag and pulled out a number of notebooks. She scanned the covers until she found the one she was looking for and started flipping through the pages. "Was it a chrysalis?"

Rarity snapped her fingers. "That's it. A chrysalis." She noticed Twilight staring hard at something on the page she'd stopped on. "What's that?"

"These are all the notes I took on Equestria. During my last trip there, I mean."

Rarity's eyes widened at the number and thickness of the books. "All of those are notes?"

"I was very thorough." She said like it was the most natural thing in the world to have a practical dissertation about another dimension in her bag. She pointed at the page. "This particular notebook concerns the lives of my alternate self's family. According to Princess Twilight, the monster that enslaved my brother's doppelganger’s mind? The shapeshifter that almost took over the nation while disguised as Princess Cadance?" She turned the notebook so Rarity could read. "Her name was Queen Chrysalis."

Rarity read the beast's description and nodded. "The color scheme mentioned does seem to match the image on Cadance's tattoo. But I don't see..."

"This is it! This is the key!" Twilight tapped the page with her finger rapidly. "Certain events in our two worlds have always coincided. The deaths of Applejack's parents, Rainbow Dash winning a big race as a child... but certain events can't happen here specifically because they relate to Equestrian magic."

"I'm not following." Rarity again gave a concerned look at the notebooks. "Twilight, why did you write down so much about Princess Twilight's family?"

"Because..." Twilight faltered. "Because I needed to know. I needed to know how everything turned out. Time works differently between our worlds. Here, you're about to graduate high school. In Equestria? You're the head of a burgeoning fashion empire."

"I still don't see what this has to do with..."

"I told Cadance about the wedding."

Rarity froze as Cadance's words echoed in her mind; “We're fated. Twilight told me...”

"I told her how it was her and Shining Armor's love for each other that defeated the changelings. That no matter what, in any universe apparently, they were fated to be together. She was over the moon when I told her."

“I’m sure she was.” Rarity's gaze hardened. "Twilight, please. Speak plainly."

"Isn't it obvious?!" Twilight's eyes held a familiarly manic glint. "Some latent Equestrian magic must have infected Cadance and now the events from over there are actually happening over here! Queen Chrysalis doesn't exist in our world, so the magic turned Cadance into her. That's why she's changed so much." She stood and grabbed Rarity's hand, trying to pull her to her feet. "C'mon! We have to get the girls and... and..."

But Rarity hadn't budged. She stared at Twilight, an unreadable expression in her eyes. "Twilight..."

"What's the matter?" Twilight pulled harder. "It makes perfect sense! Remember Juniper? And Gloriosa?"

"All too well." Rarity winced as she recalled their encounters with the magically over-powered young women. "And that's exactly why I don't think that's the case here."

"What?"

"Twilight, I know you're grasping for something, anything, to rationalize this, even if means using the irrational to do so, but you just told me that you'd managed to believe me by using your logic, not your emotions. With all those we've previously dealt with, the magic altered their physical appearance in some way. Made them taller or created new parts of their bodies... all much more apparent than the simple cosmetic change of a little tattoo."

"But..." Twilight gave another tug, weaker this time.

"Furthermore, their corruption became stronger over a period of hours, days at the most. Cadance first cheated on Shining Armor months ago."

"It could be a new version, something we haven't encountered before!" Tears were beginning to gather behind Twilight's glasses. "Why else would she do the things she's done? Threaten you and Shining Armor like she did?"

"Perhaps she's always been this way, deep down I mean. Remember, she told me that she harbored these desires for years before acting. The people we love can change, darling, and not always for the better."

"But the tattoo!" Twilight almost screamed in desperation. "It can't be a coincidence!"

"It very well could be." Rarity offered as soothingly as she could. "Or maybe your belief that certain events in our two worlds coincide could be factual, and this is how our world managed to reconcile the events of that one without the involvement of magic or monsters."

"But then... if Cadance only acted on her desires because I told her that she and Shining Armor were fated, then that would mean..." Twilight fell to her knees and looked to Rarity with tear-filled eyes. "That would mean that this is all my fault."

"Twilight!" Rarity gasped. "No!"

"Yes!" Twilight dropped the notebook and hugged herself. "None of this would have happened if I hadn't told Cadance what I did! I ruined them! I ruined her! I ruined everything!"

Rarity grabbed her friend and hugged her close as she began to weep in earnest into her shoulder. She let her cry out the worst of the fit, rubbing her back and soothing her as best as she was able. When the sobs finally began to subside, she pulled her away from and examined her face. "Goodness. You're a fright, darling."

Twilight sniffled. "Napkin?"

"Of course." She reached into her purse and produced a tissue with all the flourish of a magician. Twilight took it gratefully and set to work cleaning herself up. "Let me make one thing as clear as I can; the apparent destruction of your brother and Cadance's relationship is no one's fault but their own."

"But..."

"Let me finish." Rarity held up a finger. "I love your brother, but he's just as guilty. From what he's told me, there were always some underlying issues between them that they never faced, never worked out. He had some, and so did she. It was their failure to communicate that led to their downfall. Not you, not me, and not some notebook full of predictions from a land of magical ponies."

Twilight sniffled again as she placed her glasses back on her face. "...I guess that makes sense."

"I know this must be agony for you. Cadance has always been there for you. She settled into the role of sister long before Shining Armor popped the question. Seeing her like this must be horrible, and all of this coming to light so quickly must be exhausting."

"It is." Twilight agreed, standing and brushing the dirt from her knees. "I always thought I was lucky that my parents never divorced like so many do. I guess this is what it must feel like." She snorted and gave Rarity a side-eye. "Except in this case, you're the wicked step-mother."

"Say what you will, but the old girl always had tremendous taste in fashion." They shared a laugh as Twilight sat back down beside her dearest friend. "As far as Cadance goes, who knows what the future holds? I suspect that, in time, she'll settle down. She may even go back to being some version of the woman she used to be."

"She might." Twilight agreed. "But her and Shining Armor won't." She took a deep breath. "Because he's in love with you."

"Yes."

"And you're in love with him."

"Deeply."

"And that... that's not going to change?"

Rarity considered before giving a little shrug. "I can't pretend to know the future, Twilight. We love each other now, and in this moment I can't see that changing. But I imagine that's how he and Cadance felt up until a short time ago. But I can promise you this." She took Twilight's hands in hers and looked her full in the eyes. "I promise you that while we are together, I will take care of him and love him with all of me. That you are still my best friend. I promise that I will never abuse your trust ever again. And should anything happen down the road, I promise that I will still be your friend, no matter what."

Twilight smiled. "Thank you. I'm... I'm happy that you found someone you love so much."

"As am I, darling. As am I."

"Now, with all that being said..." Twilight's grip on Rarity's hand tightened as she closed her eyes.

Rarity shrank under this new look. "What now?"

"I appreciate that you and Shining Armor want to make yourselves public. However, I don't think now's the best time."

Rarity caught on quickly. "You want us to wait until after graduation."

"It's just a few months."

"That’s true, I suppose. But what about the girls? I mean, Rainbow Dash knows about what happened at the cabin, but the others... Surely you can’t expect me to…?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Of course we're going to tell the girls. No big secrets between friends. It's just the rest of the world we need to watch out for."

Rarity thought about for a moment, then nodded. "Agreed. Alright. No public dates until I graduate."

"Or private ones." Twilight muttered.

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?" She narrowed her eyes at the suggestive look in her friend’s eyes. "Twilight Sparkle, you are pushing the limits of our newly reconfirmed friendship if you think you can try and intrude on my..."

Twilight started laughing and waved off the incoming assault. “Okay, okay. It was just a suggestion.” Something Rarity had said finally made it to her brain.

Rarity tried to remain stern, but it was a fruitless effort. A small grin split her lips, and then she was laughing, too.

It felt good to be laughing with her friend again.

"Wait. What was that about Rainbow Dash?"

"Oh. Ah, well, you see... It's a bit of a funny story..."

Exes

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Just as he raised his hand to knock on the door, Shining Armor was struck by a sudden rush of unreality. How many times had he stood on this porch, right in front of this door? How often had he reached out a finger to compulsively touch a petal of the daisy mounted on the doorbell (the one that he'd never been able to fix, no matter how many times he'd tried) as though to remind himself of its plasticity, it's unrealness? How could it be that he was standing here now, after everything that had happened, for what would most likely be the very last time?

He took a breath to steady himself, then knocked three times.

"Just a minute!"

The sing-song voice that called from within, despite everything he'd seen and heard these past few months, made part of Shining Armor's heart leap at the sound. He stood stock-still and stared hard at the white wooden door, willing himself to be calm, to be steady, to be sure.

He saw Rarity’s face in the door’s paint, smiling at him and offering unconditional support...

The door swung open, and his ex-fiancée’s face took Rarity’s place. Her eyes widened at the sight of him. "Shiny? Why didn't you call?"

He took in her robe clad form and still wet hair, evidence of a recent shower. "I... I can come back if this is a bad time."

She rolled her eyes and stepped to the side. "It's not like you've never seen me in my bathrobe, Shiny. Come on in."

He hesitated. "You want me to come inside?"

"You came to talk, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Well, we're not going to talk out on the porch. My neighbors have enough to gossip about already." She walked away from the door, back down the way he knew her bedroom was. "You can make yourself a drink if you want one.” She called back. “I'll be out in a minute."

He watched her go, ashamed that his eyes still fell to the swell of her backside as she strolled away. He stepped in and closed the door behind him once she was gone and he heard her hair-dryer start running. The house’s decorations were just as he remembered from his last visit. He tried not to look at all the framed pictures of the two of them in the hallway and quickly made his way to the living room. Her wet bar was off in the corner, and he poured himself a shot of whiskey in an attempt to calm his nerves. He tossed the drink back, breathing easy at the familiar burn travelling down his throat.

"I know it's your favorite." He heard her say behind him. "I made sure to keep it in stock. Just in case you came by."

He smiled ruefully. "Do you want anything while I’m here?"

"My Shiny. Still such a gentleman." He heard her giggle as she made for the love-seat. "I'm good for now. Thank you."

He turned and started when he saw what she'd changed into. "Cadance..."

"What?" She reclined on the small couch, now clad in what he knew was her (and once upon a time, his) favorite little black dress. She'd managed to dry her hair to perfection in record time, and she winked at him with the eye not covered by a stray lock of pink and yellow. "I know it's not much, but if you'd given me a call ahead of time..." She sat up and patted the cushion beside her in obvious invitation.

Shining Armor didn't take the bait. He walked instead to the room's recliner, completely opposite the love seat, and sat. "How are you doing?"

She sighed at his attempt to distance himself and reclined once again. "Better. Now that you're here."

He grinned without humor. "I heard you had an… interesting lunch."

Cadance's demeanor visibly changed. Her eyelid twitched slightly. "Interesting is the right word for it. I don't know which part was more interesting, to be honest with you. Maybe it was the glass of water being splashed in my face? Or maybe it was having to explain to management that the dean of the most exclusive private academy in the city was, in fact, not providing alcoholic beverages to minors." She shook her head, a mask of over the top sorrow appearing on her face. "That Rarity has a real maturity problem, Shiny."

He snorted. "That's rich, seeing how you’ve been acting lately."

"You know what? I think I will have that drink now." She stood and headed for the wet bar, purposely exaggerating her steps, knowing that his eyes would be drawn to her hips. "I imagine she told you some ludicrous story about our encounter. Is that right?"

"She did, actually, but I wanted to make sure I got both sides of the story this time. Before I flew off the handle." He leaned back deeper into the recliner, forcing his eyes to stay trained on the back of her head. "Unlike my sister."

Cadance looked back with a pout as she made herself a martini. "Please don't be mad at her, Shiny. She was upset. I mean, how could she not be? Her best friend was sneaking around with her big brother, after all."

"I'm not here to talk about her. I'm here to talk about us. You and me."

"My favorite subject." She purred as she poured her drink into a glass and turned. "Let's talk about us. Particularly the three of us." She sipped. "So… what did she tell you?"

His eyes flicked to her shoulder. "Well, first off; she told me about your new addition there."

"Oh, this?" She glanced at the insectile tattoo. "Do you not approve?"

"My approval shouldn't really matter to you anymore."

"Au contraire, Shiny. Your approval remains everything to me."

He paused, gathering his thoughts. "Rarity told me… that you threatened us. Threatened me, specifically."

Cadance laughed into her drink and shook her head. "Oh, of course she did. Pray tell; how exactly did I threaten you? I can't wait to hear it."

"She said you would go to my department heads and tell them that I was involved with a minor." His eyes narrowed. "That you'd even hint that I had been grooming her."

"My God, I could always tell she was a little drama queen, but this is just too much." She finished her drink and turned to make herself another. "I wish I could say that I was surprised, but that would be a lie. I've been working around girls like Rarity since I started at Crystal Prep. She's hardly the first to become obsessed with an older man. Most of the time they outgrow these crushes and move on, but Rarity? She actually got a bite of the one she was obsessed with. And now that she's gotten a taste? There's nothing she won't do, nothing she won’t say, to keep you to herself." She looked back with concern in her eyes. "She needs help, Shiny. Especially if she's willing to tell lies like that." She glanced at the rows of bottles. "I think she might also have a drinking problem. She downed that wine like it was nothing and..."

"Cadance. Enough."

She turned and found him glaring at her with such wanton anger that her first instinct was to flee. She quickly overcame the urge and offered her most sympathetic look. "I thought you came to hear my side of this. If you were really going to take that little slut's word as gospel, you wouldn’t have come here."

The thunderclouds in Shining Armor's eyes darkened. "Don't call her that."

She sashayed towards him. "You have to call a spade a spade sometimes, my sweet-heart. I know you're blinded by those supple young curves right now, but soon you'll see I'm right." She put the glass down on the coffee table and leaned over him. "I know that I've been bad, but are you really going to throw away everything we were, everything we are, just because of a little canoodling?"

His eyes appeared to soften and he did not retreat from her initial advance. "It was more than a little..."

"We can work this out. I know we can." She gave him her best smoldering gaze and leaned in further to press her advantage. "We can get through anything so long as we're together. You and me? We're destined. Fated. Our love can move mountains." She brushed her cheek against his, letting him get a whiff of her perfume, the one she knew was his favorite. "I've missed you." She whispered huskily. "None of them could ever compare to you. You know that. You're the best I've ever had." She brushed her lips against his ear and felt him shiver. "Make love to me now. And later? We'll get this all worked out. I know we will..."

His hand moved from the armrest. "And Rarity?"

"I know you've come to love her. Maybe we can make her a part of this. Would you like that?" She felt his hand moving down and knew she'd won. She braced herself for his first touch, made herself ready to climb into his lap. "It can be the three of us. I know we could work something out if we put our minds to it. But right now, it's just you and..."

"Yes, I would. I'd destroy him... because I love him. I would tear down every pillar that supports him... until only I remain. Then, finally, he'd understand how much we need each other."

Cadance froze solid at the sound of her own voice. She pulled back and stared in disbelief. "What the...?"

Shining Armor's smile was pitying, his eyes sad, as he held aloft the digital voice recorder he'd pulled from his pocket. "We would probably have to move as far away as possible. Somewhere no one could possibly know about his... transgressions.” The voice of past Cadance said from the small black rectangle. “Far away from the judgmental stares, the broken public trust... Far away from you." He hit the STOP button and lowered his arm. "Rarity's a lot smarter than you or I give her credit for. This was in her purse the whole time."

As realization dawned on Cadance, fury began to bubble up into her throat like vomit. "That little bitch."

"Hey, you tied your own rope with this one." He waved the recorder at her. "You were practically bragging."

"You... you just sat there and let me..." She sputtered like a tea-kettle about to boil over.

"I wanted to hear your side, like I told you." He put the recorder back in his pocket and crossed his arms over his chest. "I wanted to see if you wanted to start being honest with me. Looks like you weren't."

"Honest? You want to talk to me about being honest? You lost the high ground there when you started banging jailbait behind my back."

"You're right. I wasn't being honest either. But at least I'm trying to get better." He raised his eyebrows. "Are you?"

"Don't you dare talk down to me!" She pointed a finger at him. "You're no better than I am. You think just because you've been slipping between the sheets with only one girl then that somehow makes you better than me? Well it doesn't! You wanted this break! Everything that's happened since is of no consequence to what came before."

"Oh, I agree." Shining Armor leaned forward. "Now, are we going to talk like rational adults about this? Just this one time?"

Cadance threw her hands in the air and turned away. "What could we possibly have to talk about at this point? You've already made up your mind and..."

"GODDAMMIT CADANCE WILL YOU JUST TALK TO ME!?" He roared as he stood.

"WHAT FOR?!" She screamed back. "I DON'T NEED TO LISTEN YOU TELLING ME AGAIN HOW THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!" She pointed at the door. "WHY DON'T YOU JUST GET OUT, GO STICK IT IN YOUR LITTLE WHORE, AND KEEP LAUGHING ABOUT HOW YOU TWO GOT ONE OVER ON ME?!"

"BUT IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT!" He yelled so loudly some of the framed pictures on the wall shook. "IT'S not... It's not your fault." He collapsed into the chair and buried his face in his hands. "It's... it's mine..."

Cadance's chest heaved as she watched the man she'd always considered the love of her life beginning to shake. "What are you talking about?"

"For all the time we were together, I've always felt inadequate. Like I wasn't good enough for you. Eventually, it got to the point that I was doing everything in our relationship not because I loved you, but just to make sure you wouldn't leave me. Because whenever I imagined life without you, I got scared. I started to define myself by my relationship with you." He looked up at her, eyes red. "I'm sorry. I’m so sorry I never said anything."

Cadance was shaken by the look of devastation in his eyes. "But why didn't you ever tell me any of this before?"

"I should have. That's what I'm trying to say. Maybe if I'd been more honest with you back then about how I was feeling, then maybe we wouldn't be in this situation now." He put his face down again. "I did this. I fucked us up."

Cadance slowly sat down on the couch beside the chair and reached out a hand to rub his back. "It's... it's okay, baby." She chewed the inside of her cheek. "Believe me; I never thought you were beneath me. Not even once. If anything, I always thought I was the lucky one."

Shining Armor sniffed loudly and sat back in the chair, wiping his eyes. "Thank you. That's… that’s nice to hear.” He coughed. “Admittedly, it would've been nicer to hear before the rest of this happened." He looked at her, a look of such intense sadness and loss in his eyes that she just wanted to hold him. "Why didn't you tell me about..."

"...about?"

"Y'know." He gestured at her. "Everything. What you wanted?"

She pulled her hand back and looked away. "I... I guess I was afraid. Afraid that you'd judge me."

"You've known me since we were kids, Cadance. Does that really sound like something I would do?"

She sighed. "I don't know. I feel like I don't know anything anymore." They sat together, listening to the sound of the clock on the wall. "Where did we fuck up so bad, Shining Armor?"

"Who knows? Years ago, maybe?" He looked away. “Too long ago for us to fix it, I think.”

"We're done, aren't we?" For the first time since she'd considered the idea, the words didn't taste so poisonous on her lips. Still bad, understand, but not quite so awful.

He nodded. "Yeah. I... I can't trust you anymore. With anything. And that fucking sucks." He looked back at her, trying to see past the lies and the deceptions. Tried to see the woman he had always dreamed of sharing his life with. "I loved you. So fucking much. Never forget that."

"I know." Her voice broke as she put her arms around herself, suddenly feeling very exposed in her tiny dress. The hurt in his voice broke her heart, and for the first time in months she remembered what she'd had and understood the depth of what she'd done, the extent of what she'd now lost. "I loved you, too. I still love you. I’ll probably always love you. You… you were always enough for me." She felt the tears coming and turned away. "I'm so sorry I never told you about any of it."

Shining Armor watched her and swallowed hard. "You know the worst part of all this is?”

“What?”

“After what you did when I got here? I can't tell if you're being sincere anymore."

Cadance said nothing as the tears began to fall in earnest.

He stood and patted his pocket. "I'm not going to lie to people anymore. Not you, not my sister... not anybody. So you can believe me when I tell you that no will hear this recording unless you do something incredibly stupid." He closed the distance between them and looked down at her. His heart ached as she shook with the building tears. "I want to believe you, I do. I want to believe you're sincere. And maybe, one day, you and I can be friends again. But for now? It’s best that you stay away from Rarity and me." He leaned down and, before he could stop himself, he kissed the top of her head. She stiffened briefly, then looked up at him. Her eyes swam with tears, need, and regret.

For a single instant, one last, fleeting beat of the heart that had once been hers, he wondered what it would feel like to kiss her. One last time.

As if reading his mind, her eyes closed and her lips puckered.

He leaned down, their lips a hair's breadth apart...

The clock struck the hour, filling the room with musical chimes.

Shining Armor stopped. "...Good-bye, Cadance." He whispered. And then he left, gone in an instant. The door closed behind him with a final thud that seemed to echo in the emptiness he left behind.

She sat there, her eyes closed, until the chimes had finished. She waited until she was sure that he wasn't coming back. She waited to see if she'd wake up soon. She sat there until the hour struck once more. Then, as though some spell had been broken, she seized the martini glass from the table in front of her and hurled it at the wall of photos in the hall with a cry of anguish. The glass in one frame shattered and mingled with the glass of alcohol when it struck, and the whole thing fell to the carpet, picture and all. Cadance curled herself into a ball on the couch and shrieked as she cried. She wept her soul out as she finally accepted the truth that he was gone.

The picture, a simple selfie of her and Shining Armor on a hike somewhere, stood upright for a moment, then fell face-first onto the pile of broken glass.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Shining Armor made it home without much incident, and was not at all surprised to find all the lights still out. He’d figured that after the day they’d had, Rarity would likely want to spend the night at her own place. He kicked off his shoes and headed straight for the bedroom, more exhausted than he'd been in all his life. He opened the door...

...and found Rarity waiting for him on her side of the bed. She was reading a paperback by the light of her bedside lamp. When he entered, she put down the book and removed her spectacles. She spoke not a word, only smiled and held out her arms.

He crawled onto the comforter and into her embrace, falling limp against her. She stroked his head lovingly, played with his messy blue hair, and he found himself being lulled by her body heat and the steady beat of her heart. "How was your day?" He asked her, his voice muffled by her chest.

She laughed lowly and kissed the top of his head. "...Swell." She reached over and turned out the light. "I got my best friend back."

"That's good." He was glad it was dark now. Now she couldn't see as his eyes flooded and his voice cracked. The kiss on his head, a mirror to the one he’d given Cadance, was the breaking point. "I... I lost mine."

She held him as he finally let go of everything he’d been holding in all day. She never let go as the broken heart within him finally gave up it's last, desperate ghost. She said nothing as he wept and sobbed and shook with the raw power of saying good-bye to the only truth you've known for over a decade.

She held him tight, and she kept on loving him, until he finally fell asleep in her arms.

Right

View Online

Several Months Later

"Say cheese!"

"Cheese!" The seven young women in blue robes and four pointed hats held each other close as a number of friends and family snapped a few final group shots. The crowds, just moments earlier thick on CHS’ football field, immediately began thinning out now that the graduation ceremony was finished. With a few more hugs and affirmations of celebratory plans for the evening, the assembled friends began to depart with their respective families in tow.

Twilight Sparkle, the valedictorian sash about her neck, had just finished bidding Rainbow Dash good-bye when she found herself pulled into a crushing bear hug. "Shining Armor!" She gasped. "I can't breathe."

He didn't say anything. He just squeezed her tighter.

Twilight smiled... and felt a telling wetness on her shoulder. "Can you not get liquid pride all over the robe, please? It's a rental."

He pulled away quickly and wiped his eyes. "Sorry. Your speech was really good, that's all." He took her in, trying to figure out where the toddler who had used to follow him around incessantly had gone. "I'm proud of you, sis."

"Thanks, B.B.B.F.F." She hugged him again, a bit less tightly this time.

"Am I interrupting?"

The familiar voice gave the siblings a start, and they turned to find Cadance standing nearby. She was dressed in her familiar suit, and she looked at them with a smile on her face and uncertainty in her eyes. "Cadance?" Twilight asked. "What are you...?"

"You didn't think I was going to miss your graduation, did you?" She held out a hand. "I know a hug is probably out of the question, but would a congratulatory handshake be okay?"

Twilight pulled away from her brother, ignored the offered hand, and embraced her old mentor with no hesitation.

Cadance tried to not to cry as she returned the hug. "Congratulations, Twilight."

"Thanks." Twilight pulled away and gave the older woman a once over. "How have you been?"

"Good." Cadance nodded, pointedly looking only at Twilight and not at her brother. "Keeping busy. Crystal Prep is expanding and that's taking up a lot of my time." She smiled. "How about you? Any plans for tonight? You only graduate high school once, right?"

"Timber and I are going to the thing at Applejack's. Most everyone else is going, so that's probably going to be fun." She snapped her fingers. "Speaking of; I saw that jerk sneaking off earlier. Probably has some big romantic surprise planned. I better go find him." She hugged Cadance one more time before looking back at Shining Armor. He hadn't moved an inch since Cadance's arrival. "You okay?"

"Yup." He replied, his tone even.

Twilight was unsure. "Alright. Well… will you tell Mom and Dad I won't be out too late?"

He smiled at her, but his eyes never left Cadance. "Sure. Have fun."

With a last careful wave to the pair, Twilight started making her way across the football field to find her boyfriend.

The ex-lovers eyed each other carefully. "Hey." Cadance said finally.

"Hey." Shining Armor returned. "You, uh... you look good."

"You look great." She clasped her hands in front of her skirt. "You look... you look happy."

"I am." He breathed easy. "Are you? Happy, I mean?"

"I'm getting there." She reached up and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"That's good."

The two faced each other over the looming abyss between them. Each wondered who would throw the first rope... or if the time was even right for ropes at all at this point.

"I should probably get going." Cadance looked around at the few remaining people. "Big budget meeting in the morning." She hesitated before adding, "And I have a date."

There was no malice in the admission, Shining Armor knew, and he smiled gently. "That's good. I really am glad you're doing okay. And I know it meant a lot to Twilight that you came today."

"I wouldn't have missed it." She shuffled her feet awkwardly. "So... do we shake hands? Wave?" She put two fingers to her eye brow and stood straight. "Salute?"

Shining Armor laughed as he considered. "Side hug?"

"Side hug would be great." She met him halfway and wrapped her arm about his shoulder.

He mirrored her, momentarily terrified that this was a mistake, that even this minor touch would set off a series of emotional explosions... but, no. There was a slight nostalgic pull, but nothing he couldn't handle. He gave her a squeeze. "You take care of yourself."

"You too." Cadance smiled as she started to walk away. "I'll see you around!" She called back as she headed for the parking lot.

He watched her until she was gone, then let out the breath he'd been holding. He took another deep breath... and smelled a familiar perfume approaching. "You watched the whole thing?"

"Just the side hug." Rarity wrapped her arms around her boyfriend and nuzzled her face into his back. "That was very mature. For both of you."

"We've got a long way to go." Shining Armor turned and returned her embrace. "But let's talk about you. Have any plans with your folks?"

"They're actually going straight to the airport from here. Sweetie Belle has an interstate recital in the morning."

"You weren't invited?"

"I love my sister dearly, but I've already heard the entire concert ad nauseum since her room is right next to mine."

"So..." He kissed the top of her head. "What did you want to do?"

She looked up at him with hooded eyes. "Well, I did have a few ideas..."

"Oh, that's definitely in the cards." He kissed her forehead. "But isn't there anything else you want to do first? Dinner, maybe?" He thought back to what Twilight had said. "Isn't Applejack throwing a party?"

"A shindig, darling. When the venue is a barn, it's called a shindig." She smiled. "And I suppose we could make an appearance." She rubbed her face against his chest. "But if we're heading that way, I'll need to go home first."

He glanced at her robe. "Need to change?"

"Change implies that I'm wearing something underneath this dreadful thing." She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Which, for the record, I am not."

Shining Armor's mouth was suddenly very dry. "I'll drive."

"Capital idea, darling."

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The sun had set by the time they pulled into the impromptu parking lot in the field closest to the Apple family's huge red barn. Shining Armor pulled the keys from the ignition and adjusted his jeans for the umpteenth time in the past hour. "You said they were going straight to the airport."

"Well, how was I supposed to know Sweetie would forget her retainer?" Rarity gave her make-up one last once over in the mirror before flipping the sun-visor up. "Trust me; you're not the only one feeling tense right now."

Tense was the wrong word for it. Rarity had been teasing him through his jeans the entire way back to her house, ignoring his pleas to give him a sympathy handy or even a little road-head. He'd been making ready to pounce on her the moment they pulled into the parking lot... until he saw the SUV still in the driveway.

To her credit, Rarity had only taken half an hour to get dressed. But that was still a half hour he'd had to sit in the living room across from her father. Hondo accepted that his daughter was an adult and could date anyone she chose. It didn't mean that he had to be happy with her dating someone five years her senior, however. He was cordial, but distant.

Shining Armor's constant shuffling to hide his persistent erection probably didn't help matters.

"We could've at least stopped somewhere on the way here..." He grumbled.

"Not after I made myself look this good we couldn't." Rarity gestured at her ensemble. Her long legs were wrapped in a sinfully tight pair of blue jeans and her upper half was covered by a custom red blouse that left her midriff exposed. She opened the door and went to step out. "I so hope they've busted out the cider already. I'm parched." She looked back and saw that he hadn't moved. She playfully rolled her eyes. "If it's bothering you that much, dear, I could always give you a hand now."

He didn't respond to the entendre. He just looked up at her. "This is it."

"What is?"

"This is the first time we're going out in public. Together." He took a breath. "The first time people will know."

Rarity smiled as she leaned in and kissed his cheek. "And it's about time, too."

He matched her smile and reached for the handle. "Cider's not the hard kind, is it?"

"Don't spoil our first time in public as a couple by being a narc, darling."

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

It was just under an hour later, and Shining Armor had finally consumed enough cider to get a decent buzz going. The walls of the barn thumped with the sound of heavily remixed music, generously provided by Vinyl Scratch at the booth she always seemed to keep near her person. The floor of the barn was packed with the graduates and their invited guests. Despite Rarity's assurances to the contrary, the assembled youth had pegged Shining Armor as a potential narc almost at once, and most had made no effort to speak to or engage with him from his spot on the wall. Rarity had left him there not long after their arrival with a kiss and a promise to return shortly. Aside from a passing Big Macintosh continuously replenishing his beverage every so often (always with a respectful nod that seemed to sympathize with being an older guy amongst all the rest), he hadn't said a word to anyone since.

He'd scanned the crowd a few times looking for Rarity, or any other familiar face for that matter, but the dance floor was so tightly packed and the dancing so energetic that it all just seemed like one huge multi-colored blur. His eyes had briefly found Twilight trying to suck off Timber Spruce's face while they danced, but he'd quickly looked away from that. Not that he was in any position to judge his sister. There were just some things siblings shouldn't see.

The current song ended and seamlessly blended into the next, a familiar raunchy jam from two decades earlier that raised a cheer from the crowd. Those coupled up on the dance floor began to sway and grind on one another in tune with the scintillating beat, and the room seemed to get even hotter than it had been before. Shining Armor took another long draught of cider and tried to ignore the surge of lust that came from watching so many youthful bodies rubbing against one another. He scanned again for Rarity and breathed a sigh of relief when he finally spotted her approaching through the crowd. Her pale face was flushed and sweaty, and she grinned at the sight of him. "Having fun?" He asked when she'd finally managed to reach him, having to yell in order to be heard over the music.

She nodded energetically. "I'm sorry I left you waiting so long."

"Where'd you go? I didn't see you anywhere."

"I was up at the house." She took his cup and took a drink, sighing in relief. "I had to put the finishing touches on Flash's birthday present."

He raised an eyebrow and used his thumb to wipe away a bit of foam from the corner of her lip. "What are you getting him?"

"Oh, a card or something." She took another drink. "It was Sunset's gift to him that I was helping with. I designed it for her after all."

Shining Armor blinked slowly. "A dress?"

Rarity rolled her eyes. "What goes under the dress, dear-heart?"

It clicked in Shining Armor's head and he smirked. "Oh. Gotcha. Lucky guy."

"If you think he's lucky, you just wait until you see what I've cooked up for your birthday."

Imagining Rarity in the most scandalous of lingerie nearly took Shining Armor's need over the breaking point. "Ready to get out of here?"

"You cad! Ready to spirit me off to bed without even the decency of asking me to dance even once." She crossed her arms and put on an exaggerated pout.

Shining Armor couldn't help but laugh at the display. He held out his hand. "Alright. One dance."

The widest of grins broke across her face as she tossed the cup away, grabbed his arm, and pulled him into the thick of bodies. The smells of sweat, perfume, cider, and other questionable substances blended together into a thick and intoxicating cloud that surrounded them and penetrated them all at once. Once they were nearly in the center of the undulating masses, she pulled him close and wrapped her arms about his neck. His hands fell obediently to her hips and got a good hold as she began to swivel and grind her pelvis against his. They moved together to the music, the sweat beginning to flow in earnest and soak them both.

For one single instant, Shining Armor's fears and reservations about what others might think of his pairing with Rarity returned, and he tore his eyes from the dancing beauty in his hands to glance around.

Not one soul was even looking their way.

"Darling." Rarity took his chin in her hand and forcefully turned his face back to hers. "It's alright. Just dance with me."

The last of his fears dissipated with her following kiss, and he surrendered to the reverberating beat and the warm, wiry flesh in his arms. She broke the kiss and spun around in one fluid movement, bending slightly at the waist without missing a single gyration. She looked back and wiped a stray lock of sweaty hair behind her ear. "Enjoying the view?"

"More than I can say." He tightened his hold on her hips and pulled her denim-clad ass tighter against his crotch, the friction rapidly building him to full mast. One hand reached up to caress the exposed skin of her lower back as they continued their dance.

Rarity leaned back until her back was to his chest and reached around to entwine her hands in his messy blue hair. She gasped when he lowered his face to her neck and began nipping and licking at any flesh he could reach. She could feel the hardness through his jeans and she skillfully adjusted her grinding until his erection was nicely nestled between her cheeks.

Shining Armor groaned at the new sensation as she hot-dogged him, cursing the few layers of fabric that separated their sexes from each other. His hands abandoned her hips and slid smoothly up her stomach to cup her breasts, openly caressing them, unmindful of the faceless horde around he and the woman he loved.

Rarity dragged her tongue along his cheek as she pulled his head further down. "I'm tempted to let you fuck me right here in front of all these people." She whispered hotly once his ear was within reach.

"I'd probably do it, too." Shining Armor licked another bead of sweat from her neck. "Car?"

"Too far. Come on." She pulled away from him and once again grabbed his hand. She pulled him through the crowd, unmindful of the song reaching its climax and the ensuing cheers as the next track began. They hurried to the barn's entrance, dodging a number of other couples who had already retreated to the barn's darker, more quiet areas for passionate make-outs and more than a few blowjobs and fingerings. They made it out into the cool night, but instead of heading for the parking lot, Rarity pulled her boyfriend to the left, ducking around the barn's wall. Safely hidden in the darkness, she grabbed his shirt and shoved him against the wood before proceeding to acquaint herself with his tonsils.

Shining Armor met the kiss in kind, wantonly groping at her breasts and ass before grabbing her shoulders and spinning, forcing her into his place on the wall. He pressed himself against her, pinning her, and slid his hand up her shirt to delightedly confirm her lack of bra. His thumb ran over her rapidly hardening nipple, and he relished when she inhaled against his cheek.

Rarity hummed in need at his touch and ran her hands past the hem of his shirt, grasping and squeezing his flexing pecs. Her well trained digits travelled south and went to work on his belt, undoing it and unsnapping the fly of his jeans. She broke away from his kiss and sank to her knees, pulling his pants with her and exposing his rock hard cock to the chill air of the night.

Shining Armor's momentary taste of the cool air on his dick ended when Rarity took the whole thing into her mouth with no preamble. She hummed, creating a pleasant vibrating sensation that made him groan. His hands pressed themselves against the vibrating barn wall as she began to bob, one hand massaging his thigh while the other gently played with his balls.

Rarity pulled herself away from her favorite toy and ran her tongue in a circle around the tip. "My hair's already ruined." She hissed before taking him deep once more.

Taking the familiar hint, Shining Armor grinned and moved his hands from the wall to her luxurious purple hair. This had always been Rarity's greatest taboo, her most secret kink. If she was already letting him play with her hair, then he knew he was in for one hell of a night. He got a good grip at her roots and began to move her back and forth, helping her to take his turgid length that much deeper.

Rarity moaned in approval as she began to cede control. Her hands proceeded around his hips and gained a grip on his firm ass, preparing herself for what she knew as next. She squeezed, the signal she knew would tell him what she wanted him to do.

At the sign from below. Shining Armor gathered himself and increased his pace, going from assisting the blow job to actually fucking his girlfriend's face. His erection hit the back of her throat, and she gave a choked moan as he hit the spot over and over again. He tightened his grip on that silky soft hair and pulled hard as he yanked her further down his rod, deep throating her with every stroke.

While one hand continued holding onto Shining Armor's ass for dear life, Rarity's other flew down to her own crotch and quickly unsnapped the button. Her fingers dove past her panty-line and immediately to her dripping snatch. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head at the twin sensations of her fingers on her clit and her boyfriend's cock in the back of her throat. This was what Shining Armor could give her that no other man had been able to. He was kind and caring when needed, the absolute gentlest lover she’d ever had.

But sometimes Rarity just wanted to get rocked, and he could do that too.

As if to prove her point, he yanked his cock free and she gasped in order to refill her desperate lungs. She'd barely had a chance to recover when he forced her to her feet, spun her, and forced her against the barn wall again. He bit at her exposed shoulder-skin as his hands roughly shoved her jeans and panties down to her knees. She felt him prodding at her pussy and eagerly widened her stance to give him better access, placing her palms flat on the wall.

Shining Armor reached down, grasped his cock and rubbed it along her sopping entrance. "Is this what you want?"

"Mmm-hmm." She swiveled her hips just like she'd done on the dance floor, trying to catch him in her honeypot. "Are you going to make me beg for it?"

"Not tonight." He leaned over her and nibbled at her earlobe, earning him a wonderfully girlish squeal. His hand reached down, took hold of his length, and ran it home easily in her wonderfully wet and warm depths. He groaned at the initial insertion. "Fuck, baby. You're so wet."

"Put it to good use." She moaned at that wonderful feeling of being whole, of being complete. "Don't hold back."

Shining Armor obeyed, driving his cock into her fast and hard. Rarity cried out as he took her, the wet sounds of their coupling masked by the still pounding music from the other side of the wall. One hand pulled her shirt up enough that her breasts fell free and he grabbed the bouncing mounds of flesh, tugging and tweaking at her nipples. The other found its way between her legs, easily finding her clit and rubbing it at the same pace as his thrusts. Shining Armor threw himself into his girlfriend with abandon, giving her every inch of him and then some.

Rarity whipped her head around and grit her teeth like an animal as she was taken against the wall like some common strumpet. She couldn't give back to him if she'd wanted to. All she could do was stand there and take it, something she was more than happy to do at the moment. She felt his balls slapping her ass and knew he as all the way in, knew that she was taking every inch of the man she loved. She let him take her, let him ride her towards her rapidly approaching climax.

Shining Armor's thrusts became erratic and that much quicker. He added more force, knowing that he was nearly there. The hand groping her breasts shot up and grabbed her hair at the root, and he pulled as he fucked her that much faster.

Rarity screamed as she came, not that anyone could hear it. The overwhelming pleasure from below mixed with the pain in her scalp to form a perfect cocktail of climax. As the wave rushed through her and her knees started to give out, the man behind her didn't stop even once. He just continued to have her, his prodigious strength now holding her up more than her own legs were.

Shining Armor felt her go jelly-legged and knew that now was the time. He looked down at the small of her back and prepared to paint the alabaster skin with another shade of white entirely. He worked towards the finish line..,

"Are you sure this is okay?"

"No one's back here. C'mon, let's just... OH MY GOD!"

His sister's familiar voice stopped Shining Armor's climax cold. He pulled out of Rarity at once and hurried to pull his pants up. Unfortunately for Rarity, she hadn't quite gotten the feeling in her legs back, and she fell against the barn wall with a thud, fucked far too well to care that they'd been caught. Shining Armor peered at the intruding teens in the moonlight. "Twily? What are you..."

"Ah ah! Stop right there." She held up one finger and pointed accusatorily. "Do not ask questions you don't want the answers to." Twilight inclined her head at the young man beside her. "Say 'Hi,' Timber."

Timber Spruce, caught between the opposite emotions of arousal and fear, smiled uneasily at his girlfriend's older brother. "Uh… hi?"

Twilight noticed Rarity slowly regaining her footing and shook her head. "Having a good time there, Rarity?"

Under normal circumstances, Rarity might have defused the situation with a witty remark. In her current state, however, she satisfied herself with a simple thumbs up.

Twilight nodded. "Well. Seeing as how this area has been claimed for the time being, we'll just be going." She grabbed Timber's hand and pulled him away. "C'mon, Timber. We're going up to Applejack's room."

"...Won't she be mad?"

"At this point, I'm too horny to care."

Shining Armor grimaced as he turned back to his girlfriend. "Well there's something I never want to hear my sister ever say again." He watched as Rarity pulled her pants back and up and her shirt back down. "You, uh, okay?"

Rarity gave him the side-eye while she reached up and adjusted her hair. "You let me fall."

"Sorry about that." He grinned with embarrassment. "I didn't mean to."

"You let me fall." She repeated.

"Uh... I love you?"

Satisfied with her appearance for the time being, Rarity faced her boyfriend head on, her arms crossed over her chest. Her eyes flicked down to his crotch. "You haven't cum yet, have you?"

"No?" He answered with a hopeful note at the end.

She sniffed and started walking away. "Let's go."

He started after her, noting her path towards the car. "Where are we going?"

"Why, home of course." She looked back, a smirk betraying her true feelings. "So we can finish this without interruption."

He grinned and quickened his pace.

Her eyes sharpened. "That is, of course, after you make it up to me for letting me fall."

Shining Armor gulped, his mind already racing at what she might have in mind.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

A trail of clothes lay on the floor of Shining Armor's apartment reaching all the way from the front door to the bedroom. Shining Armor himself, now nude, lay flat on the comforter. His throbbing manhood was painfully erect and pointing directly at the ceiling. His hands likely would be on it now, trying to tend to the pressure, were they not pinned by his head by a pair of stark white knees. The lean thighs attached to said knees squeezed the sides of his head as he dutifully tended to the very wet womanhood planted squarely on his face.

"That's it." Rarity cooed as she lovingly ran her fingers through his hair with one hand. The other held tight to the headboard as she slowly ground her pelvis against her boyfriend's writhing tongue. "Go deeper..."

Shining Armor inhaled against her clit, breathing in the heady scent of her that only served to make him that much harder. His chin was already soaked with her juices, and he delighted in the way it slid along the cleft in her legs as he ate her out. He obliged her request by sticking his tongue farther inside, treating the luscious pink like an ice cream cone.

"Good boy..." Rarity moaned and gasped each time he managed to strike a new spot inside her. "Are you sorry for dropping me against that filthy barn wall?"

"Mmm-hmm." Was all Shining Armor could muster, what with his mouth being full and all.

"Would you like me to turn around and tend to that big, hard problem of yours back there?" She glanced back at the turgid cock and licked her lips.

"Mmm-hmm." His hips unconsciously pushed upward, begging for some kind of attention.

"Well, I'm sorry to tell you that's not going to happen." She giggled at the feeling his disappointed noise made on her pussy. "No, you've made enough use of my mouth tonight, I think. Here's what's going to happen instead." She released her holds and cupped her breasts, kneading the ivory flesh lewdly. "I'm going to fuck your face just like you fucked mine earlier."

He groaned in need. God, she always sounded so hot when she started talking like this...

"I'm going to ride that tongue of yours until I cum in your mouth. Once you've drank it all down, and once I'm good and wet, then, and only then, will I replace that wonderful tongue of yours with something a bit harder." She shuddered when his nose bumped against her clit again. "Do we have an understanding?"

"Mmm-hmm!"

"Good." She reached down and grabbed good handfuls of his hair in both hands. "Now let me see those pretty eyes of yours while I ride you."

Shining Armor opened up his baby blues wide as Rarity, true to her word, yanked his face hard against her quim and started full-on humping his mouth. He lapped at her like a man dying of thirst, trying in vain to somehow match her strokes.

"Just like that..." Rarity panted, her hips continuing to pick up speed. "Rub your face in it…" Her mouth hung open and a line of drool fell from her lips as she stared down at the face of the man she loved. The thrill of dominance she felt only served to hasten her need for orgasm, and soon her hips were a blur of motion.

Shining Armor gave up on trying to keep up and simply went along for the ride, holding his breath and burying his face in her pussy, his tongue stuck out as far as he could. His face was struck by flecks of girlcum as she rode him ever-harder, ever-faster. He heard her whining moans becoming higher pitched and knew she must be near the end. He waited until just the right moment... before opening his mouth wide and closing it over her clit.

Rarity came with a choked cry, and she arched as his tongue spun rapid circles around her love button. Her hips locked in place and she felt herself pour out all over her man's face, coating him in her fluids as her latest orgasm tore through her.

Shining Armor released her and drank greedily of what she gave, relishing the tart, almost citrusy flavor of her juices. He could never get enough of this woman, he knew. Her taste, her touch, her smell... it was everything to him now. He knew now that such obsession with a woman couldn't last forever, but still; he could not imagine a day would come that he could ever tire of this, his goddess.

His Rarity.

Rarity collapsed forward and barely caught herself with the headboard. Her hair was a tangled mess, and it hung about her head like stray strands of Spanish moss. A single bead of sweat ran from her scalp, down her nose, and finally dripped down between Shining Armor's eyes. "Was it..." She tried to catch her breath, her hips aching with exertion. "Was it good for you?"

He laughed into her, and she squeaked from the sensation on the swollen and red lower lips.

"To be honest, I'd like nothing better than to mount you and ride you into the sunset." She flipped her hair back and smiled sadly. "But if I move my hips at the moment, I might screEEEEAM!" Her surprised cry morphed into a giggle as Shining Armor finally gave up the facade that she'd been holding him down at all. He sat up, sending her falling backwards, and he scooted back at the same time to avoid a painful collision with his erection. She hit the comforter still laughing and folded her arms behind her head. "And look at that; you've gone and dropped me again."

Shining Armor chuckled as he reached for his discarded jeans and used them to wipe his face. "So I have. How shall I make it up to you this time?"

She winked. "How about a show?"

Shining Armor rolled his eyes and struck a generic bodybuilder pose. "I don't know. Do you have a ticket?"

"To wha..."

"TO THE GUN SHOW!" He overdramatically roared as he changed poses and flexed his arms and chest.

Rarity snorted and burst out laughing at the display. "Stop! Stop! I'm seduced already!"

"Are you sure?" He shifted into a third pose, comically bulging out his eyes along with his pecs. "Because I can keep going."

"Darling, I am already positively aflame. If you don't take me now, I shall simply burst!" She held out her arms. "As, likely, will you."

"Fair point." He fell on top of her, and they laughed together until their lips were otherwise occupied. The feel of her thigh against his length made his breath catch in his throat, and he forced himself to part with her to look down into her eyes. "I love you."

"I know you do." She whispered back as she reached down and took hold of him. "Now show me."

He let her guide him inside, and they both gasped at the first moment of joining. She wrapped her arms around his chest and held on as he plunged inside fully, her breath leaving her in a single forced hiss. She was molten on the inside, smooth as silk, and he wanted to stay inside her forever. Instead he drew back until only the tip remained, savored the moment, before slowly filling her all over again. All the while they stared into one another's eyes.

Blue on blue.

White on white.

He made love to her slow and sweet as sugar, relishing each thrust, each withdrawal, each repetition. Her legs wrapped around his waist and squeezed, desperate to pull him that much farther in, trying for all the world to truly make them into one being. He maintained his pace and rhythm, not because he felt he had to. Because he wanted this to last for both of them. He shifted his knees and used them for leverage, and she cried out passionately as he struck some deeper part of her again and again and again.

His bent down to kiss her, and their tongues caressed each other as if they were lovers as well, dancing as they had danced not long ago. Their hearts beat together, their sweat flowed and ran and mixed until neither was sure who was hotter. Alabaster skin flushed red, and they broke the kiss to pant and breathe in each other's air.

Shining Armor felt the rush and tensed. "Where...?"

"Inside." The answer came in one breath with no hesitation.

Shining Armor wanted to pause, but his body would not be denied the orgasm it had sought since that afternoon. He had always pulled out, every single time. He continued to thrust even as he asked "Are... are you sure?"

"I want you to cum inside me." She moaned, and squeezed her legs around his waist as if to tell him that he no longer had a choice in the matter. "Right... now."

She flexed her inner walls around him and he was lost.

"Fuck...!" He gasped and moaned at the same time as he came harder than he had in ages. It felt like liters of semen were pouring forth and filling the willing woman beneath him. His muscles locked as another pulse took him, and every inch of him flexed with the intensity of the orgasm.

Rarity felt the warmth flow in and she bit into his shoulder as the very idea that she was being filled, truly filled, by the man she loved for the very first time drove her over her own edge. This was the moment, the culmination, that she'd dreamed of for so very long. The special moment in time where they two finally joined in every sense, where a part of him was now a part of her... and would remain there even after he withdrew.

It was everything she ever dreamed, and more.

Shining Armor collapsed onto her, and Rarity relaxed her death grip on him. They lay together, panting and gasping, as his cock slowly wilted and slid out of her. With one last burst of strength, Shining Armor managed to roll onto his side and stare up at the ceiling. There were practical questions he wanted, needed, to ask. Was she on birth control? More importantly, could they do this every time they had sex from now on? But his voice just wouldn't come. He was too spent.

Rarity rolled onto her side and draped herself across her man. She held him tight as their hearts at last began to return to their normal rhythm. She rubbed her face against his sweat streaked chest and whispered, "I love you."

Shining Armor was still beyond words, but he responded the only way he was able; by wrapping his arm around her and returning her embrace.

Here, in their bedroom, away from the world and its judgments and its challenges, they could lay together like this. Here they could eat and sleep and fuck and live to their heart's content, no matter what anyone wanted to say.

Here, beyond anywhere else, they knew that what they had was just purely and simply...

...right.

Epilogue

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Some Time Later

Shining Armor sipped his cocoa and breathed in the cold mountain air. The full moon beamed down on him, the biggest light in a sky full of stars. Of all the things he loved about coming up here, the view was definitely in the top five. You just didn’t get skies like this in the city. Only when he came up to the cabin could he look up into the sky and truly feel the enormity of the universe above him. He felt small… but in a good way.

He heard the sliding glass door open and close behind him, and he turned to find an unexpected sight. “I thought you were going to bed.”

“And waste a night like this?” Rarity took a deep breath and sighed in contentment, pulling her robe tighter around her to shield her from the cold. “Besides, I knew you’d be taking a late night dip and I thought I’d join you.” She tilted her head towards the nearby hot tub, already bubbling and steaming in the chill air. “Unless you’d rather soak alone?”

He took another sip and shook his head. “You know, we only got into this mess because you couldn’t let me soak alone.”

“It’s incredibly dangerous to hot tub alone, darling. The heat might go to your head and you could drown.” She winked and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I’d never forgive myself if I let something happen to you.”

“It means so much that you care.” He put his mug down on the railing and leaned back. “I take it Gawain went down alright?”

“He fought me, of course. He’s your son, after all.”

“Hey, don’t forget; you’re the one who wanted him.”

She ignored the comment and pressed on. “You simply have to have a firm hand with these things.” She looked back at the way she’d come and smiled. “Besides, I knew his little body couldn’t stay awake after the drive up here.”

“He did pretty well, I think. What with this being his first trip up this way and everything.” He was tempted to go in and check on the little guy, but he knew that chances were that he’d wake him up, and then his plans for a midnight soak would be ruined. “This is kind of a double first, isn’t it?”

“How so?”

“It’s the first time we’ve been up here without the others, and it’s also the first time we’ve been up here with him.” He smiled. “Do you think he’s going to have fun?”

“He’s going to love it. All those trails? He’s going to be in puppy heaven.” She looked back at her boyfriend and shook her head. “Something tells me we won’t have any trouble getting him into the kennel tomorrow night.” She stretched luxuriously, feeling his eyes upon her. “Now, as for tonight, I believe I’ve spent quite enough time just standing here and freezing.” She started for the tub, undoing the sash of her robe.

Shining Armor’s leering of her backside was interrupted by the buzzing of the phone in his pocket. He reached for it, ready to read the incoming text.

“Darling, I think you might find what’s over here to be infinitely more interesting than your phone at the moment.”

He looked up to find that she’d let the top half of the robe fall down to the small of her back, revealing what appeared at first glance to be an unbroken field of white. He smiled. “Breaking out the old suit? Feeling nostal...” His words faded as she let the robe fall the rest of the way off, exposing her bare backside to the night.

Rarity looked back with hooded eyes. “Suits just get in the way sometimes. Wouldn’t you agree?” She gracefully slipped into the steam and turned, the pink of her nipples standing out like beacons in the hot tub’s light.

The phone slid back into the pants pocket the instant before the pants hit the deck. Shining Armor made his way over to the tub, pulling his shirt over his head. He smiled down at her as he reached for the waistband of his boxers. “Room for one more?”

She said nothing. Only extended her finger in a ‘come hither’ motion.

Shining Armor kicked the last of his clothing away and joined his girlfriend in the bubbling waters. They came together and sank into the warmth beneath, the warmth that barely measured up to the heat between them.

Steam continued to rise from the tub, fading into the peace of the tranquil night sky.

Author's Afterword

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Author's Notes:

I first broached the idea of a sequel to 'White on White' on April 24th, 2020, in reply to a comment. At the time, I figured it would be a one and done, two chapter clopfic follow up. I enjoyed writing the dynamic between Shining Armor and Rarity, and I wanted to catch up a few months later, maybe see where they were relationship wise.

The structure remained the same for the most part from that initial conception to the writing of the first chapter (Wrong). I was stuck for quite some time on the confrontation with Cadance. It just wasn't flowing right. It didn't feel natural. The main important piece of the narrative (that Cadance had always intended for Shining Armor to sleep with one of the girls) was the only part that really fit into the rest of what had come before. I got so frustrated that I even toyed with the idea of cutting the thing entirely. Instead of being interrupted, Shining Armor indeed gets his "post-workout snack," and then heads for the shower. Smash cut to after dinner, and he mentions seeing Cadance at the gym which would then lead to the conversation about defining their relationship and ensuing coitus.

Around this time in the writing process I started speaking to dirty little secret about his own upcoming sequel. I showed him the Cadance confrontation and he said it looked good to him. So I revised it for the umpteenth time and finally declared it 'good enough.'

(Fun Fact: DLS and I briefly flirted with the idea of releasing our sequels simultaneously. Given that he writes for a living and I... don't, this obviously didn't happen. Additionally, the fact that Flash Sentry and Sunset Shimmer are an item now comes, via a mention in 'Lily Lake,' indirectly from my story 'Surrender.' Meaning, of course, that I now have two separate EqG adult content universes. Bonkers.)

Valentine's Day approached and I felt the need to post something. Even though I had no timetable on when the next chapter would be done, I decided to go ahead and publish the first half of 'Wrong and Right.'

Fast forward to May, and thanks to some recent changes at work, suddenly I'm able to write more. A lot more. After finishing my entry into the Incest is Wincest's Mother's Day Contest (whose middling reception still confuses me, by the way) I decided to crack down and finish 'Wrong and Right.'

BLAM! I blitzed through that chapter. Halfway through I was astounded. I hadn't pumped out that many words in so short a time in ages. There was just one problem.

The story was telling me there was more to come.

A lot more.

This has happened before, of course. 'Lost in the Night' began as mere notes and was a finished story in two hours. I had no idea 'Kiss Me' would end with Mac and Cheerilee getting back together until my pen wrote the words. I knew how Cozy Glow and Flurry Heart's fight would end in 'Story's End,' but as to how the fight would go? I just let those two go at it with me as the reporter in the corner furiously scribbling notes.

The story told me that there was too much hanging in the cliffhanger with Twilight's text. This wasn't something that might wait for months, even years, until I was goaded into writing yet another sequel. This had to be told now. More than that, there were answers that needed to be found that weren't addressed in the original concept. Specifically; why was Cadance acting so differently?

It was halfway through writing 'Siblings' that everything clicked. It was like goddamn lightning. Suddenly I knew every single line of the next few chapters. I could hear the characters talking in my head. I'd find myself driving down the road and reciting entire monologues (especially Rarity's in 'Rivals.' I adore that "you want the whole fucking bakery" line.)

The words flowed out of me like a dam had burst wide open. What had begun as a simple, throwaway clopfic had ballooned into something more; a veritable soap opera of sorts. The best drama I'd written since the glory days of the Continuity. It was a joy to go to work, bang out a chapter with little to no challenge, then come home, do a little editing, and then just post it.

I felt like a real storyteller again. I was telling a story that I wanted to tell because I wanted to tell it. No contests, no requests. Just me and the written word.

Magic

Now let's talk about the elephant in the room; Cadance. Specifically my decision to combine Cadance and Chrysalis in the world of EqG and make one of my favorite characters into an outright villain.

It's been long established that before the portal got a significant uptick in use, there was little to no magic in the world of EqG. There were the Dazzlings, of course, but beyond them? Nothing. The natural follow-up to that idea is that if certain events paralleled in Equestria and EqG, how would they compensate for events that required vast sums of magic? In EqG, Vice Principal Luna obviously never became a moon monster and was locked away for one thousand years. So how would the universe balance the equation?

That was the initial thought that led to what eventually came to be. Since Chrysalis. Like most of the non-pony creatures, seemingly doesn't exist in EqG, then how could the events of a Canterlot Wedding come to pass? Simple; they couldn't. Not easily anyway.

For example, if you want to use standard EqG rules, you could tell a story wherein Chrysalis is a woman pining for Shining Armor who uses some leftover Equestrian magic to take Cadance's form and tries to steal him away on their wedding day.

For a moment, that was going to be somewhat similar to how things would play out in 'Wrong and Right.' Cadance was going to be infected by Equestrian magic, thus creating a separate Chrysalis persona (signified by the tattoo.) The only problem with that idea? It didn't feel true to everything else. If Cadance isn't in full control of her faculties, but Shining Armor was, then doesn't that make him the more guilty party in this whole situation? Wouldn't that change the entire narrative? I'd already gone to great lengths in 'Lovers' to justify Shining Armor and Rarity's relationship. Wouldn't it be disingenuous to just turn around and have Shining Armor go back to Cadance after all that? Or the flipside; wouldn't that make him just the biggest asshole if he stayed with Rarity after finding out that the woman he'd loved all his life had been corrupted by Equestrian magic?

Sorry, but I think I've had my fill of writing Shining Armor as the Prince of Sinners. I owed the old boy a happy ending for once.

Side note, but to all the folks who keep pounding the polyamory drum on these stories? It's not going to happen. Nothing against it, but I don't know enough about the lifestyle to accurately portray it.

Ultimately it came down to who this story was really about, and that was four characters; Shining Armor, Rarity, Cadance, and Twilight. If there was anything magically wrong with Cadance, then it would almost definitely need the appearance of the rest of the Main 7. Excepting the waiter at Tigano's and Timber Spruce, no character besides the featured four has a speaking line. That's to emphasize what this story's main conflict is.

'Wrong and Right' is a story of love lost and found. It's a story of forgiveness. It's a story of four broken people finding themselves again. You don't need magic to create conflict when the human heart is already so complex. There's not always a happy ending for everyone. Sure Shining Armor and Rarity got their happy ending, but they had to be tested. They had to be challenged. When Shining Armor breaks down at the end of 'Exes,' it's not just because he’s lost his fiancée. Cadance was more than that. She was his best friend, his everything. To find happiness with Rarity, he had to let go of a part of himself.

That scene, by the way, was another time where the story told me where it needed to go. Originally it ended with Rarity saying "Swell" and the two falling asleep (that dialogue exchange is lifted from "Jaws," by the way). But the story told me no. This is the moment where Shining Armor lets himself break. He wouldn't let himself cry in front of Cadance. He's got his shield up then. He can't allow her to see that softer side of him anymore. It's only when he's safe in Rarity's arms that he lets himself go.

Twilight is the least emotionally damaged of the four because of two factors; her youth and her still present introversion. I purposely made her more easily emotionally swayed than Rarity because of those two factors. This is a Twilight Sparkle still coming to terms with the ways of the world, and she definitely learned some hard truths in this story. Rarity might be just a little older, but she’s what some might call an ‘old soul.’

As with most of my better works (and yes, I do count this as one of my better works) I put a sliver of my heart inside. Cadance's reasons for cheating are much the same as my ex-girlfriend's were. We were fairly serious, and I was talking marriage. She told me that scared her and she fled into the bed of another man. I was crushed, not just because I saw the rest of my life with her at the time, but because she'd been my best friend before we started dating. The idea of this level of betrayal destroyed me, and I didn't have another relationship (excepting one notable but ultimately unfulfilling one night stand) until I met my now-wife.

Additionally, the moment where Shining Armor kisses the top of Cadance's head is a direct mirror to the final time I met with my first girlfriend a year after we last saw each other and we discussed where things had gone wrong between us. For years after, I wondered what life would have been like if I'd kissed her when she looked up at me. As the years have passed, I wonder less and less.

After I'd finished 'Right,' I made the choice to go back and remove the Porn tag from the story. 'White on White' is porn. This is not. This is something special to me now. Writing this was an experience for me. It reminded me of the joy of storytelling, and I'll be forever grateful for that.

On a final note, there is always the question of a sequel. In this case, I don't see any further visits to Shining Armor, Rarity, and their surely adorable puppy Gawain. I like that I've left them where their story began, together in a hot tub high in the mountains. I don't know how their story goes from there, but I'd like to think they still have many happy years together.

I put these two together, I put them through the ringer, and now I’m making the choice to leave them be.

It is, I believe, the right thing to do.

-Jade Ring
6-13-2021