Love Means Giving

“ATTEN-TION!”

There was a chorus of metallic clatters and the rumble of thick muscles bunching as the ponies of Celestia's Praetorian Guard all saluted, standing to attention for their captain. The white stallion paced back and forth before the assembly, his armour gleaming a strange tint of orange in the evening light. His eyes flicked silently from soldier to soldier, harshly appraising each and every one of them, looking for any stain, any spec of dust, any ribbon or piece of armour out of place. Finally he came to a halt before the final guard, staring him down, but the white pegasus did not falter. The captain smiled, his hard expression breaking into one that was soft and proud.

“Impeccable as always, stallions!” The company relaxed somewhat.
“Sir, thank you, Captain, sir!” the pegasus he had just stared down said. The captain saluted, and the company responded in kind, once again calling forth a chorus of clatters and clanks.

“To your posts, then,” the captain said, nodding sharply. “The day guard is getting antsy. Eager to return to their wives and husbands all, I'm sure.”

The pegasus, apparently the captain of the company, smirked. “I'm sure they're not alone in that, Captain.”

“What can I say?” he said, laughing as he shrugged. “Cadence spoils me. Now stop dawdling, soldiers, or you'll make HER upset with you – and you don't want that, now do you?”

“SIR, NO SIR!” the company bellowed, saluting sharply and marching to their posts, leaving behind a smirking Shining Armour. He shook his head, turning on his hoof. One thing was certain: if he didn't get home soon, Cadence would start to get upset with him.

Some months had passed since their nuptials, but Cadence's... appetite, was voracious as ever. She didn't desire his attentions every night, but he probably got more days off from guard duty than he did nights off from his wife. He was beginning to wonder if she would ever calm down a bit, or if this was simply part of being married to the goddess of love. The thought was not an unpleasant one.

Another benefit of being married to Cadence was that he no longer even had to leave the palace to return home. He would join his guards for meals in the mess hall and morning inspections in the barracks, but being married to an ostensible member of the royal family meant an apartment in the royal wing, the most luxurious in all the palace – which was saying something, given the palace's overwhelming opulence.

Shining Armour's steel-clad hooves clacked across the marble floor as he approached his apartments, drumming a steady beat as he took in the many tapestries and paintings, still beautiful and intimidating to a stallion of common birth. Before too long, though, his eyes fell upon the familiar double-doors to the apartment he called home.

“Cadence!” Shining Armour trotted through the doors, letting them swing shut behind him. “I'm home!”

“In here, darling,” he heard Cadence call from somewhere inside. “Take off your armour!”

Shining Armour laughed. A few weary nights of drifting into bed in a full suit of armour had prompted his wife to ensure he was always reminded just what the dummy near the door was for. His horn lit up, levitating the silver helmet off his head and letting his long mane fall free. Shaking his head gratefully, he breathed a sigh of relief as he removed the heavy armour piece-by-piece. Stretching happily for a moment, he basked in his newly-regained mobility and set off into the apartment.

“Where are you, Cadence?”

“In here,” his wife replied. This time, he was able to follow the sound of her voice to the bedroom. He smirked, guessing that she had another 'surprise' planned for him, and trotting eagerly in he found himself very surprised indeed.

Cadence was perched on the edge of the bed next to an open box labeled “Training Manuals”. Across the floor, dozens of books and magazines were strewn – some haphazardly, some neatly placed in stacks, as though Cadence had been organizing them. He only needed a cursory glance at the piles to see that this was, in fact, the case. For a moment, he was not certain whether to panic or to ask about her choice in categorizing them – he would have simply divided them into 'normal' and 'weird', but she seemed intent on individually defining every different kind of weird.

Every single magazine was filled with pictures of mares in various... classic positions, and the books were filled with descriptions of as much, albeit usually more creatively. Cadence, for her part, was peering at him rather pointedly.

“Um,” Shining Armour said, trying to think of what to say, but Cadence interrupted him.

“Oh I'm not mad,” she said. “I'm just astounded that I'm somehow not enough for you. I always thought you needed a break on those nights off.”

Shiny blushed faintly, grappling with the words. “Well that's not... no... I mean,” he stammered, “I haven't really... used any of those since we've been married, you know... it's just that when the butlers went through my stuff they brought... well, everything up. And I didn't want to get rid of them because, well...”

“You'd hate to think the forest used to make all these died in vain?” Cadence asked, gesturing to the rather broad collection. Shiny coughed and nodded sheepishly.

“S-somethin' like that,” he said. Cadence giggled, hopping off the bed and trotting over to him, magazine still in hoof.

“I said I'm not mad.” She lay a foreleg across his shoulder and nibbled at his neck. “You don't need to act so ashamed. Although I'm a bit disappointed you feel the need to lie to me.” She smirked, patting Shining Armour with the magazine she carried. “I doubt I'd have ever found out about your collection if I hadn't seen the corner of this sticking out today.”

Shiny coughed. “Yeah...” he said, “I, um... wasn't sure when you'd be done with your Aunts yesterday and... well...” Cadence giggled.

“I understand, darling,” she said. “I suppose I've just been spoiling you. Give a dog a treat one day, and he expects it every day, after all.” She waved her hooves and rolled her eyes in an exaggerated expression of exasperation, then smirked. “Still, colour me surprised... I never would have guessed you were into stallions as well. Must be tough being around those beefy soldiers in your guard all day.” She flicked the magazine open, flipping through pages and smiling as Shining Armour blinked.

“What?” he asked. “No, I'm not-” he peered into the magazine, blushing deeply as he realized just which magazine it was.

This magazine was not like the others, whose pages were filled with mares everywhere from merely cute to almost as drop-dead gorgeous as his wife, their models ranging from stark naked and presenting themselves for the world to see to trussed up in all sorts of silks, laces, leathers and other materials that are generally not mentioned in polite company. Rather, the choices of outfit and pose in this particular magazine were almost pedestrian– as far as fetish went.
No, what made this particular magazine unusual, and embarrassing, was that it did not contain pictures of mares, but of stallions. Well, colts, really. Small, feminine colts, with long manes and eyelashes, slender limbs and pert, perky rumps. Colts in skirts and dresses and panties and mare's lingerie. Nevertheless, colts. Stallions.

Shining Armour's blush had turned crimson, and he covered his nose with a hoof. “No, I... I, that is,” he stammered, “t-they, uh... th-they don't count!” he blurted, drawing a laugh from his wife.

“Don't count?” she asked, attempting - unsuccessfully - to stifle her giggling. “Oh please, go on!”

“H-how could they?” Shiny defended, pointing to the magazine as though it would do anything but damn him further. “I mean, look at them, they're all marish! Some of them you can barely tell they're colts at all. And I mean, they're even wearing mare's clothing! Half of them aren't even... up, or anything, they're just sort of presenting their... um... their...”

“Their what, darling?” Cadence pressed, leaning against the flustered stallion.

“They don't count,” he said again. “They look like mares.” Cadence sighed in exasperation and shook her head.

“Then why,” she asked, “did you not just buy another magazine full of mares?”

“B-because,” Shining Armour looked down, pawing at the ground. “It's sort of... there's, I mean, role reversal, and there's dominating, and...” He shuffled his hooves awkwardly, his eyes flicking upwards and back down every so often, as though he could hardly bear to look at his wife. She smiled at him, tilting his chin up with a hoof and laying a kiss on his nose.

“Oh, sweetie,” she cooed, “I said I’m not angry. I don't care if you like stallions too... you still chose me.” she smirked. “Given the caliber of your guards, I'm flattered, actually.” She found herself rolling her eyes, though, as Shining Armour merely harrumphed and pouted. She knew better than anypony that sometimes love can have trouble being honest with itself. She knew what was coming.

“I'm not into stallions,” Shiny said. Cadence sighed, hugging her husband and giving him an affectionate peck. It's not like it mattered right now, anyways.

Then, though, she got an idea. A nasty idea; a wonderful, nasty idea. She leaned back, placing a hoof on his chest and smirking at him. “We'll see,” she said.

Before Shiny even had time to question what Cadence meant she had pushed him over, shoving him onto his back on the floor, scattering a nearby pile of magazines. Then she threw herself on top of him, pressing her lips into his and wrapping her forelegs about his neck. The stallion faltered for just a moment, but quickly kissed back. Though she might have taken him off guard, this was not the first time Cadence had ignored their oversized bed in pursuit of lovemaking. He merely wrapped his hooves around her waist, settling in for the ride.

Like most mares, Cadence was more than a fan of foreplay. Unlike most mares, she was rather greedy in her love of it, and had a rather wide definition of the term. Her tongue snaked into Shiny's mouth, prodding his own to try and draw it out while at the same time pressing her hips between his haunches to call something else out. Both responded exactly the way she wanted, Shiny's tongue poking into her mouth in kind. The stallion savored the taste of her, like sweet candy. It played around his own, poking, prodding, curling about, tasting the insides of his teeth. His fur bristled, and he shuddered slowly as Cadence rubbed herself against his emerging stallionhood, an action that only seemed to drive the mare on further. Caressing his mane, she pressed her face against his. She broke the kiss for air what seemed like minutes later, both ponies gasping for breath, but Cadence did not pause for long. After one final kiss on the mouth her affections strayed elsewhere. His jaw, his collarbone; she buried her face into the stallion, who merely leaned his head back to expose himself for her.

The nature of their lovemaking was unusual and unpredictable. There was rarely a leader, each pony merely moving for what they desired and accommodating the other. Some days one was more accommodating than the other, but rarely did one 'take charge', though each had at some point or another. Shiny tried to contemplate what it was that had made his wife so overeager that she would take the reigns tonight, but he found it difficult to think at all as Cadence had her way with him.
She kissed his face and neck, held him tight in her hooves, toyed with his member betwixt her deft haunches, even swatting at his rump with a few flicks of her tail. She seemed poised to strike every sensitive spot she had ever found on him, and find a few more while she was at it. He nickered with pleasure as she nibbled at his collarbone, a pleasure so great he failed to notice that the weight on top of him was beginning to grow steadily heavier. Nor did he notice the limbs around his neck slowly growing bulkier, and he was only vaguely aware of them sliding down his back. Indeed, soon he was not so much holding Cadence as she was holding him, but of course he was much too preoccupied with the passion of her pressing into him, a strange new strength fueling her kissing and writhing. All of these things he only noticed when he felt something prod between his legs.

“Nnn?” he asked dumbly, one of his eyes peeking open. The poking feeling moved further and further up his haunches, finally coming to rest nestled up against his balls. He opened his eyes a bit wider, peering down to see what it was, and was snapped back to reality by what he saw.

His wife was gone, though there was a very similar pony in her place. Still an alicorn, still pink with yellow and purple streaks in its mane, but not his wife. Not a mare. Where Cadence had once been a stallion now lay, and for whatever similarities there may have been he was very distinctly different. His mane may have been streaked with yellow and purple, but it was not worn long. Instead, it was cut in a loose, messy mohawk, vaguely reminiscent of a more handsome guard’s cut, with a short-cropped tail to match. He may have been an alicorn, but the wings were thicker and bulkier, his horn longer and sharper. If Shiny looked hard, he could even see some of his wife’s features in the stallion’s face, though they had hardened into a sharp, broad jaw and undeniably masculine form. Even the familiar pink coat seemed different: once delicate and slender, and now stretched taut over thick, bulging muscles, large and tough enough to make even Shining Armour, Captain of the Royal Guard, feel small and weak by comparison. Perhaps most remarkable, or at least most urgent, was this new stallion's cock: thick, long, already dribbling with a musky-smelling pre, and aimed directly at his ass.
“Don't worry, sweetie,” the stallion murmured. Through the deep, husky voice Shiny still somehow managed to recognize that curious musical quality his wife always spoke with. “It's just me.”

“Wha...nn... Cadence?” Shining Armour squirmed vaguely in the stallion’s grasp, but he wasn’t trying to get away just yet. A faint blush crept through his cheeks as the hefty alicorn chuckled, his laugh akin to a deep, resounding bell.

“That’s right,” Cadence replied. Shining Armour saw his cock shift, and felt it’s press between his cheeks. “But...” The pressing went deeper in, and Shiny felt it brush up against his bud, the warm pre smearing around his hole as the stallion above him continued to speak. “Doesn’t seem appropriate, does it? Why don’t you call me... Crescendo?”

Shining armour gasped faintly as ‘Crescendo’ pressed against him more firmly, opening his bud faintly and slathering more pre around it. He felt the head move slickly, the musky fluid lubricating it.

“Shh... Just relax.”

“Wha-” he tried to ask, but he was interrupted as the stallion thrust his hips forward sharply. Shiny's head snapped back as he half-groaned, half-screamed, and the stallion buried his face into Shiny's exposed neck.

“Nnnn~” Shining Armour groaned. Hearing his “wife's” voice relaxed him, but not in a way he could put to words. If his head had been vague before, it left him completely the moment Crescendo’s thick cock had entered him. He was filled merely with sensation, now. There was pain, though only faint. The voice of his lover, strange as it was, made it easily bearable. Indeed, had Crescendo been smaller he likely wouldn't have felt it at all. But then, had Crescendo been smaller he might not have felt the throbbing of the stallion's cock inside him, each pulse tickling something deep within. There was a strange warmth everywhere Crescendo touched, spreading in a tingling haze all throughout him. It was less intense than when Crescendo had first entered him, but still very much the same. The pain was not as sharp, and neither was the pleasure.

Crescendo pressed her – or perhaps his – lips against Shining Armour's exposed neck again as he pulled out, eliciting another groan from the white stallion. Shiny gasped suddenly, another shocking wave of pleasure shooting through him as Crescendo’s medial ring rolled over that something inside him. He grit his teeth and strained upward, feeling himself press up against the strong chest above him. Crescendo smirked, and nipped at his neck.

“Like that?” he asked.

“Nnnn~” Shiny moaned in answer. Crescendo laughed, and thrust forward, poking the stallion's prostate and making him cry out again. The alicorn started to pull and push in a slow, steady rhythm, making his husband moan and groan with each slow thrust. The pace increased steadily, eliciting louder and more passionate cries from Shining armour. Every time Crescendo's ring passed over his prostate a wave of pleasure shot through him, making him writhe and strain. He wrapped his forelegs around the powerful neck almost unconsciously, pulling himself up into the broad chest as Crescendo pounded his ass, over and over and over.
The alicorn grinned, though Shiny's eyes were squeezed shut too tight for him to see; it was clear the powerful stallion was enjoying the reactions his work elicited. He planted his hooves, pounding faster and harder, causing Shiny to throw back his head and moan.

“Hnnnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah~!” the white stallion cried, a sudden spurt of pre-cum splashing across his belly, and he pressed his face into Crescendo's shoulder. “C-ca... Crescendo,” he groaned. Crescendo paused, pulling out some.

“Sweetheart?” he asked. “What's the matter?” A concerned look overcame the alicorn, and he worried that he may have actually been wrong about Shiny's tastes. The guard smiled, though, nuzzling into Crescendo's shoulder.

“No,” he wheezed, laughing. “No, I...” he nickered, leaning back to kiss Crescendo on the lips, and strained into his chest. That muscle, that solid abdomen, those strong forelegs around him... he felt silly. Anywhere but there, wrapped in those powerful hooves he would have denied it vehemently, but he loved it. “I want...” His voice trembled, “... I want more... please...”

Crescendo smiled, pressing his forehead against Shiny's and rubbing their horns together. Shiny shivered, making the pink stallion chuckle again, and kiss him on the nose. “Of course, sweetheart,” he said. “I love you.”

“I love you too... Crescendo,” Shiny murmured, nuzzling into the shoulder and preparing himself for Crescendo to continue, but once again his lover managed to surprise him.

Crescendo pulled out of the guard, flipping him onto his belly with a swift flick of his magic. Shiny grunted as he landed, but he didn't have time to get his bearings before his rump was pulled into the air and a heavy weight leaned down on him, pressing his face in the floor. Managing a peek up, his heart fluttered to see Crescendo straddling over him and feel the stallion's mighty cock pressed up against his bud.

“But,” Crescendo said, his voice taking on a sultry tone, “I won't stand for you lying to me, or to yourself. All those pretty little colts in that magazine... you didn't like them because you wanted to fuck them...” He leaned down, whispering in Shiny's ear. “You liked them because you wanted to BE them, didn't you?” He pressed the head of his cock gently against Shiny's rosebud, pushing him open and teasing him. The guard groaned, straining beneath the weight of his lover.

“Yes~!” he admitted, straining his rump against the teasing cock. Crescendo grinned, thrusting deep into him, his balls slapping noisily against the submissive stallion's taint, bouncing Shiny’s to and fro and only intensifying the captain’s pleasure. Shiny moaned, pushing back into it, and Crescendo continued in force.

Unlike before, he was not slow or gentle. What he was, was skillful. Every thrust was precisely angled, pushing his medial ring over Shiny's prostate, digging into his walls. Shiny screamed and moaned, wave after wave of pleasure washing over him. His legs trembled, and even if Crescendo hadn't been pushing him into the floor he wouldn't have been able to stand up. Apparently sensing this Crescendo slowly rose off of Shiny's back, propping himself up into a standing position with his forelegs planted firmly on Shiny's hips, pulling him back into the powerful thrusts. A mighty hoof reached up, swinging down again to spank Shining Armour's ass with a loud slap!, and the stallion moaned with pleasure again. He was the bottom; the bitch. Crescendo controlled him completely, and they both knew it... and Shiny loved it.

Again and again Crescendo pounded into Shining Armour, firing into him like a piston, deftly and tirelessly. Again and again Shiny moaned and screamed.
“More~! Oh gods, harder~!”
Crescendo was all too happy to oblige, quickening the pace and pushing as hard as he could. Shiny’s cock bobbed, hard as a rock, bouncing up against his belly and smearing it with pre. The sticky juice flowed out of him like a stream now, leaking with each thrust into his ass and falling into a puddle on the floor. He pressed his face down, groaning as Crescendo struck his prostate once again.

Deep within him, a tiny flame came alight. It seemed to intensify the pleasure a dozen times over, the waves that had previously faded away beyond his pelvis suddenly washing so much further, spreading and filling his entire body. His whole body shook, the pleasure crippling him and locking him in place as Crescendo had his way with Shiny's ass. All he could do was scream as the waves of pleasure stoked the flames higher, intensifying the sensations ever more.

“Oh gods!” He moaned loudly, pausing to gasp as Crescendo thrust in again. The stallion's pounding was growing more powerful, almost pushing his sheath into Shiny's passageway now. “Oh Gods, Crescendo~...” he moaned again, “y-you're so good... I c... can't stand it...” Crescendo spanked him again, leaning down to kiss and nibble at his neck.

“You close, baby?” the alicorn asked. Shiny grunted, nodding weakly.

“Y-yes... nnnn~...”

Crescendo smiled silently and his horn began to glow, his magic taking hold of Shiny. Once again the guard found himself on his back, though he did not lay flat this time. Instead Crescendo planted Shiny’s shoulders against the ground, taking the captain’s rump firmly between his hips and slowly standing up until Shiny lay, ass-over-head, with his cock swinging freely through the air and dribbling precum over his nose. The alicorn grabbed Shiny's forelegs with his hooves, pinning them spread eagled against the floor, once again ensuring Shiny wouldn't be able to get away, or even struggle.

Crescendo pounded down, gravity helping now to make the thrusts impossibly more powerful, fucking Shiny's ass with everything he had – which was not inconsiderable. Again and again he thrust down, each pound sending the fire inside of Shiny flaring higher and higher. Everything about him was incredible for the guard pony: his thick, powerful muscles. His mighty cock, which put Shiny's own to shame, spreading him open from within. Crescendo's thick, powerful forelegs, his square jaw, his sultry gaze and voice. Even the heavy, perfect balls bouncing off his ass, like a rhythmic spanking, pushed him forward, careening to a wild, uncontrolled orgasm.

“Oooooh~!” he groaned, each thrust now eliciting its own little scream. “Oohh~, Oo, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh~!” He writhed as much as he was able under Crescendo's constraints, his head flopping back and forth. Crescendo leaned down, kissing his exposed neck passionately before thrusting into him in a series of impossibly fast, sharp pounds.

“Oh! Oh! Oh! Ah, ah, ah, ah, aaaah, aaaaaah, aaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnhnnnnn~!” Shining Armour screamed suddenly, throwing his head back and moaning loudly. Without any warning he’d felt something shoot deep inside him. Crescendo was cumming, and even his emissions were mighty. They rocketed into Shiny's depths, stuffing him and filling him up. He screamed and whinnied, as though a switch had been flipped inside him, and the fire took over. It raged through his body, setting his loins alight as his own cock began to twitch and bob. The first stream of white shot forth, arcing down and falling across his face. With that, there was no turning back. He exploded, his back arching as his stream splattered across his face and chest, and falling into his mouth. He screamed again. Crescendo was still coming inside him, threatening to fill him to the brim, and Shiny shot another stream of jizz onto his face. Again and again they came, even after it seemed they had both run out of seed. They moaned and writhed against one another as the fires raged, seemingly for an eternity.

After a time, though, the passion quelled, and with it went their energy. Crescendo dropped shakily to his haunches, taking Shiny down with him, and collapsed on top of the guard. They panted and wheezed, groaning happily in the afterglow of orgasm as Shiny licked at his lips. Crescendo joined in the effort, kissing the cum off of his face. They lay together until it was all clear, and Crescendo wrapped Shiny in his hooves.

“Mmmm,” the pink stallion moaned. “I love you, sweetheart.”

“I love you too, Crescendo... Cadence,” Shiny replied. The alicorn nickered, kissing him softly. Though his mind was still fuzzy, this time Shiny was aware enough to feel his lover beginning to shrink. “Ca... Crescendo?” he asked. The shrinking paused.

“Hm?”

“Thanks for... doing this for me. I love you, and I chose you... but you were right. I like stallions too. I guess I always did.” Crescendo chuckled, kissing his lover on the nose.

“I know,” he said.

“But...” Shiny continued, looking up at the powerful figure a bit sheepishly. “Do you think we could stay like this? Just for tonight?”

The stallion laughed, that beautiful bell-like peal still intact even with his deep timbre. He wrapped his forelegs tightly around Shiny, rolling the stallion and himself onto their sides and nuzzling in. “Of course, sweetheart.” He tapped Shiny's nose, and added. “But just for tonight... and you'd better be ready to be the stallion again tomorrow.”

Shiny smiled warmly, pressing his face against the stallion's broad chest and leaning on it like a pillow. “Of course,” he laughed. “I've gotta get you back for that spanking. Love you, baby.”

“Love you, Shiny,” Crescendo said, kissing the stallion. His stallion.

Or perhaps it was her stallion. Maybe even both. Whichever Shining Armour wanted, perhaps – goodness knows he could give Cadence what she wanted, because that was what love meant. Giving.