Don't Buck the Messenger

Chapters

A Day Out
A Night In
Epilogue
Most Welcome News

A Day Out

~~~~~~~

It was nothing grand. A picnic hastily gathered and prepared while sneaking out of town. A few apples, a sparse Sandwich or two and a questionably fresh salad to share. The meal wasn't important though. This outing was all about the quality of company.

"It's beautiful. Isn't it," Cadance whispered softly as she eagerly surveyed the rolling green landscape stretching out before us.

"It's alright," I said while feigning a disinterested yawn. I stretched out my legs while laying down on my side and propping my head up with a forehoof. "I can think of something far more beautiful that I'd rather stare at," I cooed, looking up at her with a cheesy grin plastered unapologetically across my face.

Cadance stared down at me for a moment with a kink in her brow. A smile cracked across her lips as she shook her head, chuckling through a wince. "Shining, that's terrible. Even by your standards."

I leaned forward and did my best to imitate the voice of a particularly insufferable Prench ambassador we had visit the palace some time ago. "Admit it my little buttercup, you can no' rezist' my charms," I said, waggling my eyebrows suggestively at her.

Cadance smiled while rolling her eyes so hard that her chin followed the motion. She lay down beside me scooting close and resting her head on my side. "Just think about it, Shining. Only six months ago this place would have been buried beneath freezing snow and a howling gale. Now there's grass, birds, flowers... The land is coming to life again," she mused, absent-mindedly nuzzling her cheek into my coat with a sigh.

I raised a hoof and gently stroked it through her luxurious mane and down her effeminate jaw line. "It is. Thanks to you and the crystal heart. You've breathed a new life into it."

"No," she shook her head, "the heart is just a conduit, and it wasn't me that breathed life into this land. It was all of the crystal ponies with their hope and their love."

I circled my hoof in delicate circles around the tip of her shoulder blade. "Feelings which they never would have found if it weren't for you, their princess."

She nuzzled her cheek warmly into my side again while shifting to look up at me. "Or without you, their prince."

I hesitated momentarily, darting my eyes to the floor. "Uhh- yea."

Cadance lifted her head from my side and rolled onto her hooves and stomach. She looked me up and down before gazing back into my eyes, her own filling with soft concern. "Shining, what's wrong?"

I cleared my throat and looked back at her with the most innocent gaze I could manufacture. "What do you mean? Nothing is wrong," I answered with all the conviction I could muster.

She continued to look on, unconvinced. "Shining..." she pressed. "I know you better than that."

I sat up on my haunches and fidgeted my hooves in the grass while looking away, doing all I could to avoid Cadance's inquisitorial gaze. "It's nothing; I just had a bad morning. Don't worry about it."

"Shining, please..." Cadance sat up and leant forward, nudging her nose gently against the underside of my muzzle. "How could I possibly not worry about it? Did something happen?"

"No," I responded while reluctantly turning away, "it was just Tible..."

"Tible? But he's normally so polite and considerate. I can't imagine-"

"No, no. It's nothing like that. It's just- he opened a door for me..."

"He... opened a door for you?" Cadance asked confused.

"Yes- well, no." I turned scratching the back of my neck, only now realizing how petty and ridiculous it all sounded out loud. "It was a whole bunch of things. I'm just struggling with this whole 'prince' thing. Ponies doing things for me, bowing when I pass, it just feels, wrong."

"But, Shining, ponies have been doing things like that for you ever since you became a captain in Canterlot. Given you special treatment, saluted when you passed-"

"That was Different," I interrupted with a sigh, rising to my hooves and taking several slow paces away. "Being in the Canterlot guard was all I'd wanted ever since I was a colt. When I made it to the academy, I worked hard, I pushed and made myself the best there was. I was given what I deserved. I earned the title of Captain, along with everything that came with it.

"When I became a prince though, I didn't do anything. I just suddenly 'was'. Now whenever somepony does something for me, I can't tell whether it's because I deserve it, or if it's just what they're supposed to do because I can't do it for myself. I can't tell whether they are doing something for me because I'm Shining Armor, or because I'm 'his royal highness'."

I settled back onto my haunches facing away from Cadance, my head hung low staring at the grass as my ears folded against my scalp. "It's like I can hardly even tell what I am anymore..."

A long moments silence permeated the air upon the conclusion of my rant.

'Idiot. Now you've gone and done it. Here we were having a wonderful day together, and you had to go and spoil it with your whinning.'

"Shining..." Cadance trailed while slowly stepping over and sitting beside me. "Maybe you're right."

My ears shot up as I turned to face her, caught off guard by her wholly unexpected response. Those certainly hadn't been the words of comfort or reassurance I had been expecting...

"Maybe you didn't have to pass any test or trial to be named a prince," she continued. "But your title isn't why ponies feel compelled to do things for you, Shining. Let me ask you, when you hold open a door for me or take me on a picnic, do you do it because I'm a princess?"

"No! of course not!" I scoffed, finding the mere insinuation offensive.

"Then why do you do things for me?"

"Because I love you!" I shot without hesitation.

"Right," Cadance said with a warm smile. "And it's no different for the crystal ponies. You stood for them when they couldn't stand for themselves. You stood for them in a frozen wasteland in the face of their greatest nightmare when nobody else could. You helped to free them from the grasp of an evil that held them for a thousand years."

Cadance softly stroked her hoof beneath my jaw, gently turning and lifting my gaze to hers. "The crystal ponies don't do things for you because you're their prince, Shining. They do things for you because you're their hero. And that won't change whether you have them call you prince, captain, or Shining Armor. You may not feel like you earned the title of a prince, but you did earn the love of your subjects. And as far as I can tell, that's the only qualification a prince could ever need."

An unwanted smile fought its way across my muzzle, 'Oh she's good, very good...'.

"You're the brave captain of Canterlot who galloped out to save a populace in need, and then rose to become their prince. It's all rather romantic, wouldn't you say?" Cadance cooed teasingly while fluttering her long elegant eyelashes at me. "In fact, as I understand it, you've become particularly popular among the filly-folk of the Empire." She winked mischievously, attempting to indulge my ego. "Life sized posters plastered across bedroom walls and the insides of lockers and such."

I chuckled broadly, embarrassed by the thought of my image plastered across some misguided filly's bedroom wall. I looked up bashfully from the corner of my eye, "And what could I possibly have done to deserve the love of one very specific and very special crystal pony?"

Cadance laughed softly while scooting closer to me, bumping her cutie mark to mine and leaning against my side, resting her head on my shoulder. "You were you. That's all it took."

I lowered my head on top of hers, softly nuzzling against her with a heavy sigh as I released the vestige of the tension built within my chest. "You're awesome, Cadance."

"Because I'm around to remind you of how awesome you are?"

"Basically," I said with an impish smirk, fully expecting the elbow that swiftly arrived to playfully jab into my ribs. "Let's face it though, there's a reason why you're the born ruler of the Crystal Empire, while I'll always just be your smoking hot hunk of unicorn stallion flank."

Cadance lifted her head from my shoulder, staring back at me with a single raised brow and a sideways smile. "Oh really?"

"Yep. its okay though." I shrugged nonchalantly. I've got no problem being eye candy."

Cadance giggled brightly, leaning forward and rubbing her nose to mine. "Well then nopony better get any ideas about MY eye candy then."

I grinned broadly before bringing a hoof to my chin in mock concentration. "Well, if my sources are to be believed, then there are quite a few posters across the Empire that must be dealt with."

Cadance pulled her head back, thrusting her hoof into the air and declaring dramatically, "I shall dispatch the captain of the guard to personally search every locker, bedroom and diary in the Empire at once!"

"Hmm, that may only compound the problem, Princess. I hear rumour that the captain is a devilishly handsome stallion in his own right." A juvenile grin cracked across my muzzle as my facade of seriousness began to collapse. I broke out with contained laughter, of which Cadance quickly joined in. She leant forward and wrapped her forehooves around my midsection, hugging herself against my chest and pressing her ear against my heartbeat. Her grip tightened around me as I wrapped my own forehooves around her back and rested my cheek down on her head in a tender embrace.

"I missed you, Shiny... so much," she whispered from behind suddenly sad eyes as she looked up at me. A distinct catch rang from within my chest, her tone bringing back a flush of memories spent away from the mare in my arms. This perfect mare...

I leaned down pressing my nose to hers, crossing our horns and staring into her twinkling eyes. "I missed you too, Cadance. More than you can imagine... You coming to see me has been the greatest gift I've ever received."

Her expression slowly brightened, as if I had waylaid some unspoken fear. She pressed her muzzle forward, closing the short distance between our lips and seizing me in a slow kiss.

How could I have not missed her? She was perfect in every conceivable way. She was kind, caring and loving beyond all belief. She was beautiful, elegant and enticing all in equal measure. Here was a mare who I could not only share with my hopes and my dreams, but my greatest fears and deepest insecurities. A mare with whom I could laugh or cry without fear of judgement or shame. A mare with whom I could be devoid of all pretence or facade. A mare I could without hesitation call my soul mate. Her singular blemish was in that I had to share her with the world, unable to selfishly hoard her away for myself.

In this moment though, she was all mine.

The force of our kiss slowly began to build. Whereas our previous exchanges had been slow, gentle and tender, this embrace built with rising passion and energy. She pressed her luscious lips to mine as her silken wet tongue rolled just within the confines of her lips, teasing me sensually with its tip as if to invite me deeper into her mouth.

Daring me...

I pressed my muzzle forcefully forward, violating the boundaries of our lips as I slid my tongue into her mouth, greedily seizing hers with my own. Her silky smooth tongue intertwined with mine as she exhaled a hot breath of air into my mouth with a brief grinding moan. The sensuous sound reverberated up her throat and vibrated into my mouth as I inhaled the sweet taste of her warm breath, driving me to ever higher levels of excitement. I drew her tongue back into my mouth as the two wet appendages writhed and caressed against each other. Our muzzles rolled back and forth with one and other in a game of push and pull, one of us briefly taking the lead in dominance before the other rose up to steal it back. Our crossed horns ground back and forth against each other as our muzzles rolled, the two spiral alicorn spires generating glittering sparks of magical energy between their friction as they rubbed.

Weeks of loneliness and solitude slowly melted away as if emerging from a thick salty brine. It evaporated from my being into the air, leaving an ecstatic growing light in its place. I felt physically weightless, as if I could just float away like a balloon if I wasn't careful. We held nothing back as we kissed, trusting and giving ourselves completely over to the other to care for. She was here. As unbelievable as it seemed, she was actually here.

Her hooves slowly began to drift down from my back, venturing inch by inch toward my tail bone. I tightened my grip around her as we continued to explore, caress and tease each other, our saliva mixing into a thick concoction between our mouths as my excitement steadily drifted ever higher. Her hooves gently ran over the curve my cutie mark following along my hip, eliciting a forceful twitch from my loins. She deepened our kiss further as her hoof gracefully glided along my inner thigh, causing my member to stiffen and slowly begin to involuntarily unsheathe itself. Another soft moan escaped her lips, this time deeper and more lustful as the back of her hoof brushed against my rapidly growing member. My hips rolled subconsciously forward as the soft fur of her foreleg caressed against my thick shaft, enticing it to unsheathe itself further inch by excruciating inch.

Her wings slowly unfurled themselves as they spread out to their full length and gently began to sway back and forth in graceful pulsations. She pushed her free fore hoof down onto my chest, applying gentle pressure as her other continued to stroke up and down my inner thigh. My thick black stallionhood throbbed angrily, approaching its full erect length as she pressed down on my chest, guiding me down onto my back as she followed after, keeping me enthralled by the acrobatics of her tongue intertwined with mine.

My mind screamed for her, my entire being screamed for her. My eyes burned with lust as I watched her slowly settle on top of me, her hoof migrating from my inner thigh to gently stroke beneath the base of my cock between its shaft and my engorged sack. My own hooves drifted down her back to trace over the curve of her flank before gripping her cutie mark on either side, gently squeezing and releasing my grip on her toned form as she straddled one of my thighs, the slit of her mare hood pressing vividly against my fur as she ground her hips in slow, wide circles against it.

Her lips suddenly detached from mine as her tongue withdrew from my mouth, leaving a thin strand of saliva hanging tenuously between our lips before suddenly snapping as she pulled away. "I really missed you..." she whispered in a voice smooth as trickling honey, a sultry inflection permeating her tone. She buried her muzzle into my neck, gently nibbling and sucking at it while leaving small wet patches of fur as she trailed down to my collar bone. Her pristine wings curled over either side of me, their luxurious feathered wing tips caressing gingerly against my ribs in graceful flowing motions.

"Mmmm.... Cadance," I murmured through a deep groan, a shiver of delight shooting up my back as each expert touch and motion of her lithe body drowned my mind in a limitless ecstasy.

A gentle breeze slowly wafted its way across my form, tickling across the wet patches of my fur and now vacant lips. The cold sensation was cool and refreshing, contrasting starkly with the warming exchange of body heat generated as our forms ground against one and other. Suddenly a chilling realization shot up my spine with a flare of anxiety. We were outside, in the open, in plain sight! "Cadance! what if somepony see's us?" I raised up, whispering harshly while searching the expanse around us for prying eyes.

Cadance raised her neck glancing around at our surroundings, seemingly having lost track of the situation just as I had. Without uttering a word, she climbed off of me and trotted back over to our improvised picnic arrangement.

'Horse feathers! why did you say anything, stupid?!' a more carnal and selfish part of me swore internally as my erect stallionhood wilted slightly, stripped of its anticipation.

Cadance stopped before the simple picnic arrangement, momentarily inspecting it. She leant down and took a corner of the blanket in her mouth before ripping it out from under the setting, sending the picnic's contents sprawling messily over the ground. She whisked the blanket around her body and let it settle over her back before turning back to me with a mischievous grin across her face.

She sashayed back towards me, her hips swaying enticingly from side to side in exaggerated motions as her tail swung counter.

"Cadance, what are you-"

"Shhh," she whispered as she softly pressed a hoof to my lips followed by a gentle peck as she pressed me down onto my back again. She quietly settled down onto her knees between my thighs as I propped myself up to look down at her. She looked up at my puzzled expression, giving a playful giggle before blowing a flirtatious kiss with a flutter of her eyelashes. With that she grasped the edge of the picnic blanket in her magical aura and dragged it up over her head, disappearing beneath its veil as it draped over the lower half of my body.

My eyes suddenly ballooned as the soft unseen sensation of fur tickled across my shaft. My gaze shot to the shifting form beneath the blanket as it worked beyond my view, nuzzling what I could only assume as being her cheek against my re-invigorated member.

"Cadance, are you sure about- ohhh..." A slick, wet and warm sensation suddenly pressed against the underside of my stallionhood at its base, shattering my train of thought.

'Shut up, dummy! You are not ruining this twice in one day,' the same voice from earlier reverberated throughout my mind.

My cock immediately strained at the unseen sensation, jerking ramrod straight and extending to its full length in an instant. A small titter crept out from beneath the blanket as Cadance's tail began to swish seductively from side to side, drawing my attention to her exposed rear on the other side of the sheet. A soft set of lips began to kiss and lap gently at the flat tip of my member. I cringed, groaning with pleasure beneath my breath as her lips slowly kissed and caressed down the side of my long shaft, her warm breath washing pleasantly over my stallionhood with each deep exhale. I shuddered with delight as each teasing prod came unseen and unannounced, each coming as a maddening surprise while leaving me to desperately anticipate when or where the next would arrive. The sensation of her velveteen tongue suddenly wrapped beneath the base of my cock, gently cradling it from below as it slowly slid back up the length of my shaft, leaving a cool trail of saliva as it writhed and gyrated in confident motions against my bone-stiff stallionhood. She took my member with a hoof and gently lifted it upright, pointing it into the air like a spire before pressing the cool, soft flat of her tongue back against its base. Inch by glorious inch, she dragged her tongue up the underside of my member in an excruciatingly slow exchange as my cock pulsated within her grasp. I closed my eyes and let loose a long drawn out groan of a sigh, loosing myself to the myriad sensations spreading through the lower half of my body.

Her tongue finally reached the tip of my cock, curling back with a flick as it broke contact. Again she took my shaft in her hoof, holding it delicately upright as her lips descended onto the apex of my member. She pressed her lips tightly against its tip, sharing a deep, slow and passionate kiss as she sucked gently from between the seal of her puckered lips.

"Uhhh.... Cadance," I whispered with a groan, my eyes squinting tightly shut as I struggled to control myself, my hips rolling forward gently and prodding the tip of my cock further between her full bodied lips.

She didn't respond, instead keeping her lips firmly puckered against my dick, rolling her head slowly from side to side as she sucked intensely through its tip like a straw in short sharp bursts.

I groaned again, feeling a thick bead of pre-cum working its way up my shaft. It crested the tip of my cock just as she rolled her lips across it, spreading the thick substance across her soft lips like a balm. She pulled her head back and lapped the tip of her tongue across my cock's tip before sliding it down the side and beginning to circle the flared ring of its head with slow dexterous loops of her tongue.

I rolled my head backwards, exhaling heavily as small murmurs of pleasure caught in my throat. Her tongue continued to lap rings around the crown of my stallionhood with increasing vigour, each subsequent lap growing into ever smaller concentric circles that closed closer and closer on my tip. Eventually as the point of her soft tongue settled back on the tip of my penis, it softly and delicately pressed down on its button, parting it just enough for another bead of pre-cum to ooze its way out from between. She curled her tongue back with a flick, lifting the oozing bead and drawing it back into her mouth. Her lips closed back down around my tip, dragging against the flesh of my head as she began to suck intensely again, the cusp of her tongue gently teasing and caressing my apex from between her lips before preparing to lick back down the underside of my shaft again.

My breath caught in my throat once more, escaping in a slow whistling groan. I felt a vein in my temple begin to throb gently as I strained, my hips beginning to roll instinctively back and forth in gentle motions, begging her to accept my aching stallionhood deeper into the warmth of her mouth. If I wasn't careful, I'd burst then and there while she was still busy teasing and lapping at me. I desperately wanted to last though. I desperately wanted to feel the sensation of my cock sliding past those soft lips and into the moist refuge of her mouth.

'I just have to not think about cumming... Cumming between those soft lips and filling her mouth with my- NO! Don't think about that damn it!'

It was too late. That brief little fantasy of mine had done its damage and her motions just felt so good. It was enough to drive a stallion insane. The smooth warmth of her lips, the moist caress of her tongue, the gentle application of pressure as she sucked... All of it going on unseen beneath the blanket, each prod, pang and lick coming as a maddening surprise. It was all too much. A well of pressure began to build within the base of my stallionhood as a tingling shiver of a sensation began to spread up my shaft. I grit my teeth as the last of my restraint began to crumble. 'It's just been such a long time... I had a long day at work... You're just so beautiful... Ah gee...' Excuses and apologies ran pre-emptively through my mind, possible candidates I could use to justify my sudden inadequacy.

Suddenly, while teetering upon the point of no return, the gentle suction against the tip of my penis stopped as her lips detached from it with an audible 'POP'. I gazed down at her shifting form beneath the blanket with a strange mix of desperate relief and possibly the slightest hint of disappointment for the stolen sensation. I could feel her panting, her warm breath wafting pleasantly across my member as she suddenly became very gentle. She stroked softly along my shaft with the fur on the back of her hoof as she leant down, nuzzling her cheek against it and drawing in a deep breath of its heady musk. Her wings slowly rose up from beneath the blanket, gently pulsating again as she licked up the shaft of my cock while inhaling another deep breath of its aroma. She always said she loved that smell. The thick heavy musk of a stallion's erect cock just before it was about to explode. Somehow she knew, and it always excited her. Judging by the gentle pulsations of her flared wings, that hadn't changed during our time spent apart.

She pushed her muzzle into my scrotum and pressed the wide flat of her tongue between my balls, lathering my sack with a warm trail of slick saliva. I groaned and grit my teeth as she pressed her lips to each of my balls, gently kissing at them while tickling and teasing them with her dexterous tongue. I let my head roll backwards to face the sky as I closed my eyes, desperately fighting to quell the pressure of my building climax. She curled her tongue beneath one of my balls, softly rolling it back and forth between her moist muscle before gently drawing it back between her lips. She puckered her lips against it and gently sucked against the delicate sphere through the bare skin of my scrotum as she slowly craned her head backwards, gently stretching it out. The pressure of her sucking against my testicle was amplified tenfold as she softly tugged back against it. Just as the pressure became too much, she released the seal of her lips and let the delicate orb bounce back into its natural place where she tenderly nursed at it, gently nuzzling, kissing and caressing at it before drawing its twin between her lips for the same treatment.

I was fighting. Hard. I groaned as she expertly pirouetted between the borders of pleasure and pain while she sucked and tugged against my delicate balls. I was making progress though. In the brief reprieve she had given my shaft, I had managed to claw back my climax through sheer force of will. One did not consort with the princess of love without learning a few tricks of their own in self-control. I was ready for her.

Or so I thought...

She released my second testicle, letting it bounce back into place before burying her muzzle back into my sack. She dragged her tongue along the underside of my balls, hoisting the pair upwards before dipping them both into her mouth and sucking vigorously. With fluid gyrations of her tongue she rolled my balls within her mouth like a pair of sweets while she hummed, vibrating a high pitched bass through them

I bucked my hips forward with a gasp as my balls vibrated pleasantly within her moist mouth, all the while being juggled and twirled by her tongue. 'Sweet Celestia, she is amazing'.

She pulled her head back, dragging my moist balls from her mouth as she took in a solitary gasp of air. In a single fluid motion she pulled her head up and clasped her lips around the head of my cock, sliding it past her sultry lips and into her waiting mouth. Her tongue lapped across its flat tip as she began to suck vigorously against the bulging head of my dick while gently twisting and dragging her lips beneath the rim of its flared crown. My eyes settled on the form of her head beneath the blanket as it began to slowly descend. The sensation of her lips sliding down around the thick shaft of my cock sent an immediate and profound shiver of bliss throughout my body. Her tongue curled around the head of my cock as it entered deeper into the warmth of her moist mouth. Her slick muscle twisted its way around the crown of my member, lathering it in thick coats of her saliva as it writhed and lapped against it, all the while her lips slowly working their way further and further down the thick girth of my long shaft.

My eyes drifted skyward as my head rolled back with a guttural grunt, the delight of her lips around my cock blocking any semblance of reasonable thought. It was impossible, unfair even, for one stallion to feel this good. Inch by maddening inch, my stallionhood slid deeper and deeper into her mouth until finally, it prodded against the back of her throat. She suddenly paused for a moment, my cock hanging idly within her mouth supported by the flat of her tongue. My ears perked up at the sudden break as I gazed down at the blanket, confused and unable to see what was transpiring beneath.

Suddenly and without warning she pulled her head back and clasped her lips around the head of my cock again. Her head began to bounce rapidly up and down in short bobs beneath the blanket as she abandoned all semblances of grace and subtly and began sucking vigorously and enthusiastically against the head of my cock. With each bob of her head, her lips descended further down the length of my cock with vulgar 'schlorp' sounds as the seal of her lips broke and reformed again and again against the flesh of my stallionhood.

I shivered with delight as my cock burned with the stimulation of the soft inner walls of her mouth. She twisted her head again, dragging her lips against my flesh as she sucked madly, bobbing her head up and down. The head of my cock rested against the splayed flat of her tongue, sliding against the wet, velvety surface with each bob of her head. I groaned lustfully in a long drawn out sigh as my hips began to roll from side to side in slow circles. My eyes dropped back down, her tail swishing seductively from side to side drawing my attention to her pert, shapely rear again as she raised it slightly into the air. Her flanks rolled and swayed with growing enthusiasm as the pressure of her suction against my member grew more and more intense. My eyes squinted shut as my head rolled back with a drawn out groan, loosing myself in my imagination and the glorious sensations of her mouth. The inner walls of her mouth clasped tightly around my cock as she sucked harder and harder, her head rising and falling with increasing speed and vigour while venturing further and further down my shaft again.

'By the elements... that feels incredible... Those lips, that tongue. That shapely little rear....

My thoughts shifted to Cadance's backside as it swayed subtly from side to side in the air. I stared at its sublime curves while imagining its touch. The way it always felt firm and toned, yet still somehow soft and delicate at the same time... not to mention the prize hidden between her smooth thighs...

With the thought of her marehood, my hips instinctively bucked forward, thrusting the head of my cock over her flat tongue and deeper into her mouth eliciting a lustful squeak of a moan from Cadance. She redoubled her efforts, sucking on my stallionhood even harder and faster. A more carnal and primal side of myself began to intrude on my thoughts and actions. She had been playing with me all this time, teasing me, toying with me. Now it was my turn.

With an almost growl of a snort I began to roll my hips back and forth in short fluid motions, pushing and pulling my cock deeper in and out of her mouth as the underside of my stallionhood rubbed against the moist flat of her welcoming tongue. Cadance groaned deeply, vibrating a pulse through my cock as she changed the rhythm of her bobs to oppose that off my motions. Her wings tensed and shot upwards again, lifting the blanket up beneath them as I steadily increased my pace and rhythm, thrusting carefully but deeply into her mouth as she sucked tightly against my dick through the seal of her lips.

I raised my forehooves and placed them on the back of her head beneath the blanket and gently guided her head up and down in rhythm with my thrusts as she continued to suck harder and harder. I grunted loudly as a bead of sweat swelled upon my brow. My breathing grew heavy and my heart pounded within my chest as she moaned continuously against my member. Her tongue welcomed each thrust into her mouth, giving its consent with forceful laps and gyrations against its pulsating form as it slid in and out.

I had to see her. I NEEDED to see her. I didn't care if the whole world was watching now. Celestia herself couldn't get me to stop at this point. I ripped the blanket from atop her form and cast it aside into the wind. Cadance, now exposed and caught in the act, froze and shrunk down slightly with a heavy blush spreading across her cheeks as she stared up at me from behind her sparkling eyes. Her lips remained wrapped tightly around the half-way point of my shaft as a thick bead of frothed saliva trailed its way down my slick cock towards my balls. Strands of her mane hung loosely across her face as she panted heavily through her nose, her chin beneath my cock wet with a mixture of her saliva and my precum. "There you are." I smiled down at her as I reached forward to brush a few wayward strands of her mane from her face before I gently began pumping my stallionhood back and forth again. Her eyes quickly settled back down on my shaft as it slowly slid back into her mouth. Her tongue flicked coyly against it before she regained her confidence. She pressed her muzzle down and returned her focus to sucking down my member.

"Mmmm, that's my girl," I groaned heavily through a sly grin as she pressed herself down until my crown pressed against the back of her throat again. I swung my hips back, pulling my member from her mouth until just its head hung between her lips. I held her head in place before pushing my hips forward and thrusting carefully but forcefully all the way through to the back of her throat. I pulled back and repeated the motion again and again with carefully increasing momentum, grunting and groaning with each thrust as my temple throbbed. She moaned deeply, the sound being muffled against my stallionhood as it pulsated up my shaft. The slick black shaft of my cock parted its way through her sultry lips over and over again as slivers of saliva collected and dripped from her chin onto my balls, the schlorping sounds of her sucking against my wet cock filling my ears as I shut my eyes, loosing myself in the motion of the act.

Schlorp, schlorp schlorp...

"Uhhh.... Cadance..." I groaned, my mind swimming in ecstacy as the momentum of my thrusts built further and further.

Schlorp, schlorp, schlorp...

Suddenly she pulled back, breaking free from my grasp and sliding my cock from her mouth as she sat upright between my legs. She panted heavily, her tongue hanging loose just over her bottom lip while she stared into my eyes as her horn glowed faintly.

I froze. Had I overdone it? Maybe I got a little carried away. I hope I wasn't too rough. 'You big, stupid idiot, look what you did.'

She suddenly leant back down and much to my surprise, enthusiastically took the head of my stallionhood back into her mouth. She pulled her lips back and bared her teeth before gently pressing them to the flesh of my shaft. She gently scraped her pearl white teeth up along the sensitive skin toward my head, popping them over the rim of my crown. She closed her lips back around me before immediately and unexpectedly pushing her head down and rapidly swallowing the entire length of my cock, pressing passed the back of her neck and forcing my cock into her tightly ribbed throat. My eyes ballooned and my jaw sprung loose with a hoarse gasp at the unexpected and unbelievable sensation. In the blink of an eye she had hilted the entire length of my long stallionhood. Her chin pressed tightly into my balls as her eyes shot up to meet with mine. She locked her gaze with me as she slowly reared back up, drawing the length of my cock from her throat inch by inch right back up to the tip of my head.

"Cadance..." I whispered while panting, the sound seeming muffled as all blood rushed from my ears.

She didn't wait. She thrust her head down, swiftly swallowing the length of my cock again and forcing another gasp from my lips as my entire body tensed. This time she didn't stop though. She pulled her head back and began to furiously deep throat my stallionhood, pressing my cock rapidly in and out of her throat again and again. She made use of my entire length as she sucked quickly and vigorously from the head of my cock down until my shaft was nestled tightly within her throat with fluent, long bobs of her head. Over and over she hilted herself against my balls as I squirmed, going mad with delight as the crown of my cock squeezed down her neck, bumping against each rib of her throat as it slid in and out. All the while she refused to break eye contact, staring up at me unflinchingly as she worked.

"Sweet Celestia, Cadance, I'm- Ahhhh..."

My sentence was cut short as she popped the head of my stallionhood back and forth through the back of her throat with a guttural 'gluck' sound over and over, throwing me into a spiral of grunts and groans with each mind blowing repetition.

Schlorp, schlorp, gluck, schlorp, gluck, gluck...

"Ahhh, Cadance! I'm about to-..."

The words wouldn't come, but I was about to. An explosive pressure built in the base of my cock as a shiver spread throughout my entire being. My climax had returned angrier than ever at having been denied its earlier satisfaction. There was no chance of clawing this one back, not even if saving all of Equestria depended on it.

"Cadance!" I grunted in alarm as she continued to swallow the entire length of my cock again and again. It was normally at this point that she finished me off with some light hoof play or heavy petting. Not this time though. She pulled back from deep throating me but she wasn't letting go. She continued sucking on the head of my cock with no less vigour or enthusiasm as her head bopped back and forth in short sharp jerks, her lips twisting beneath its crown while her tongue curled, lathered and teased at it within the warmth of her mouth. All while still maintaining unblinking and unflinching eye contact; just staring at me expectantly through those glimmering kaleidoscope eyes...

'Surely she didn't mean to...-

My Shaft suddenly tensed harder than I had ever imagined possible. It quivered as my balls began to twitch, a massive wave of pressure seeming to build up from the pit of my abdomen. A shiver shot up my spine as my breath froze solid in my throat. The sounds of the world blurred and obscured as my sense of hearing muffled, filling only with the heavy thumping beats of my own heart. I wanted to throw my head back, I wanted to squint my eyes and shout; but her eyes continued to stare up at me, entrancing me with their spell. I couldn't look away.

I stared down into her eyes as a tingle shot up from the base of my shaft to the very tip of my member. Suddenly and all at once, the tension in my abdomen released as my hips bucked forward. The head of my cock bulged and quivered with tremendous force between her lips. It swelled before a sudden wave of pressure pushed through my shaft and exploded through my tip inside her mouth. My cock burst like a dam, shooting a massive load of thick, hot, white cum directly onto her waiting tongue. My jaw locked open as I stared down into her eyes, my breath escaping only in strained whistling groans while she stared back into mine, fixated and unwilling to look away as my stallionhood spasmed between her luscious lips, pumping load after heavy load of my thick seed into her mouth. The sensation was indescribable. My entire body quivered as I stared down gasping, transfixed and lost within her glimmering eyes as I peaked. They stared back into me, shy, uncertain, yet still somehow wholeheartedly trusting as her mouth filled with my warm cum.

Her eyes suddenly darted down to look at my shaft protruding into her mouth as it pumped its final bursts. A heavy rose blush quickly overtook her cheeks as her eyes widened, the thick white mixture of my cum seeping over her bottom lip and beginning to overflow down her chin. She stared down at my cock as it spasmed it's last, my cum dribbling freely over her chin. She unclasped her lips from my member and glanced up at me before swallowing my entire load with a gulp.

I stared down at her, panting and dumbfounded, still unbelieving of the fantasy she had just indulged me with. She had sucked my cock before, but never like that. Never with such force or enthusiasm. I had always fantasized about being deepthroated or finishing inside of her mouth, but it wasn't something I had ever asked her to do. My heart burned and pounded for her as if I had run a marathon. I brushed away a few stray strands of her mane from her face with a dumbfounded grin. 'She's unbelievable'

Her ears folded back and she shrank down. The grin fell from my face as I gazed down at her, puzzled as she avoided my gaze.

A wave of sudden horrifying guilt overcame me. Surely she couldn't feel ashamed for what she had just done, could she? I sat up and scooped her against me, pulling her snugly into my chest in as tight an embrace as my sapped body could manage. She looked up at me as I softly wiped the mixture of my seed and her saliva from her chin with a fore hoof. She went to say something but I cut her off by leaning in and seizing her lips with mine in a slow, passionate, and desperately loving kiss. It was odd tasting myself on her lips, but I didn't care. I needed to kiss her then and there. Nothing would make me wait.

She had just done something incredible for her partner. Something beautiful for me. How could she feel ashamed for it? I wanted to tell her in a word how incredible she was, how amazing she was, how thankful I was to have her, how much I loved her, how much I adored her.

She cut me off though as she broke the kiss, looking down at her hooves while fidgeting against me with a faint smile, "I know it's something you've wanted to do for a while..." she hummed timidly.

"Cadance you didn't have to-"

She looked up at me through soft eyes, her brow furrowed hopefully, "was it everything you wanted?"

I stared at her for a moment, my brow softening as I watched her. She only ever cared about making me happy...

I pulled her closer into my chest and rested my cheek atop her head while squeezing her between my forelegs. I sighed deeply while closing my eyes. "You're everything I've ever wanted."

A small titter rose up from beneath my chin as she nuzzled into the soft fur of my neck with a contented sigh. I leaned down sharing another soft kiss with her while the sun slowly melted into the distant horizon.

~~~~~~~

A Night In

~~~~~~~

Like two shadows bathed in the mysterious black of night they moved. Darting from cover to cover, hiding place to hiding place, they stalked through the empty shell of the embryonic town. None save for the watchful crescent moon above would have ever known of their passing... had it not been for all the giggling...

"Shiiiining."

"Whaaaaat?" I whispered back mimicking the drawn out hiss of the voice behind me.

A set of forehooves draped across my back as Cadance reared up, leaning against me while peering over my shoulder. "Is that it over there?" she whispered excitedly.

I peered up at her, admiring the giddy grin across her muzzle. "Nope, not yet."

She looked down at me through an eager set of glowing eyes. "Isn't this exciting? How much further is it? Do you think anypony has seen us yet?" she asked all at once.

I laughed softly to myself while slipping out from beneath her, taking her by the hoof and darting across the next dimly lit street and through another empty side alley. "No, I don't think anyone has seen us yet."

"Shiiiiining," came the same call from earlier.

"Whaaaaaaaat?" I whispered back again while rolling my eyes with a grin, knowing full well the response I was likely to garner yet again.

Cadance giggled sweetly, amused by her continuing antics. "Is that it over there?"

"So help me, young filly. Don't make me come back there," I responded in an amalgamation of a groan and a chuckle.

"Oh really?" She accepted my challenge with a sly grin and a raised brow. "And what if you do come back here? What are you going to do about it, big guy?"

My brow perked upwards as I turned back to reply. "What am I going to do about it?" With slow steps I approached, butting my forehead up against hers as she stared me down with a spunky look of defiance. "I'll tell you what I'm going to do about it." I pursed my lips and blew a short puff of air playfully up along her muzzle before stealing a quick peck from her lips as she blinked. "I'm going to do abso-lutely nothing."

Cadance's cheeks blushed a faint shade red with a saccharine smile. She giggled, returning a peck of her own before poking the tip of her tongue out at me with a wink.

'She's so cute...'

Princes Mi Amore Cadenza, the all-powerful alicorn princess of love was really just a silly little filly. A little filly that wanted to laugh, play and make mischief like any other. Constrained by her duties though, that side of her needed to be subdued. Weighed beneath the expectation of others, there was never room for a wrinkle in the poise or composure of a princess.

When it was just the pair of us though, I got to see a side of her that only a select lucky few would ever know. She was free; as was I. She gave to me a gift that seemingly few others could provide. The ability to be common, the privilege of being normal, the courage to relinquish the expectations of others and be just exactly who I was. We were free to be silly, free to be careless, free to act as if we weren't a prince and a princess, but instead just a colt and a filly in love. It was raw, it was innocent, and it was exhilarating.

I went to say something marginally clever when my ears suddenly perked up in response to an approaching sound. I pressed us both up against the nearest wall and gestured to keep quiet. My ears strained as a distant sound slowly melded into focus. It crept forward out of the darkness revealing itself piece by piece. It was loud, it was boisterous, it was... singing?

I peeked one eye around the corner of the wall and peered down the boulevard from whence the voice came. Coming up the street was a light tan stallion carrying a bottle wrapped in an unassuming paper bag. Alone, he swaggered up the dimly lit street while singing noisily (and off key) to himself. Every few paces he stumbled slightly, a loud hiccup broadcasting his obvious and advanced state of inebriation as he wailed his jaunty shanty.

"Oh, I may be but a foolish foal, *hic*, but in me heart there is one goal,

and that's to have a princess just fer meee! *hic*.

But I'll tell ya, lads, it's no easy task and I'll show ya why before ya' ask!

So settle down and hear me trouble, for where there once was one, now there's double!

Now you've gots ta help me, lads, ask yer brothers and yer dads!

Which is the princess just fer me?"

I crouched back into the wall as Cadance leaned into my shoulder trying to see the commotion for herself.

"Oh, Sweet Celestia may raise the sun, but I'll tell ya its not the only one,

who stands at attention fer their chance to seee! *hic*.

To share with her the morning's glory, I'll tell ya, boys, it'd be quite the story.

And all it'd cost is one sweet night, with a deeeity!

But though she may be new in town, the princess Luna can wear me crown,

to watch her turn and bounce around, oh what a sight to see!

Moonlit walks, I do enjoy. To be a consort in her employ, to be taken in as her favourite toy,

how I'd like fer it to be!"

A quivering smile cracked across Cadance's lips as she slid down the wall she rested against. She covered her mouth with both hooves while squinting her eyes, attempting to stifle her apparent bouts of laughter as the inebriated stallion passed by, unaware that the niece of his objects of affection sat well within earshot.

"Their lips are full, their rumps are round, oh when's me turn ta' pat 'em down?

But by the moon and by the sun, the heavenly bodies, must I choose but one?

So ya got's ta come and help me, lads. Ask your brothers and yer dads!

Which is the princess just fer me?"

My brow kinked. I had spent years protecting Celestia, and more recently, Princess Luna. A part of me felt it is was my duty to step out and confront the drunkard for speaking so crassly of his princesses. Any such notion melted away as I watched Cadance trying to hold back her squeaking laughter, kicking her hooves as her face flushed red in desperation to stay silent. When I looked at her, any semblance of my responsibility or authority disintegrated. I was no longer a captain of the guard or a prince of the Crystal Empire. I reverted back to the blue manned colt who used to sneak out of his bedroom at night to go and see his sister's foalsitter. She was like a liberating breath of fresh air. As if the suffocating stuffiness and formality of my new post could simply melt away whenever I was with her. The world was a less serious place when I was with her, and I liked it so.

I took Cadance by the hoof again and slowly began to creep across the boulevard behind the drunken stallion.

"-Their legs are long, their backs are strong, and I'd dare one of ya' ta' prove me wrong!

*Hic* But by the moon and by the sun, with those heavenly bodies, my day will come!

But first, ya gots ta' tell me, lads. Ask your brothers and yer daaaaads-"

The stallion howled before stopping in the middle of the street, sloppily throwing his head back to take a swig of his beverage before winding up for his big finale.

I felt a sudden catch behind me as Cadance halted in place. She looked up at me with a mischievous grin while giving a curt nod in the stallion's direction. I narrowed my eyes back at her, confused as I examined her impish smirk. She gestured a hoof outward from her chest as she opened her mouth in a singing motion. With sudden understanding, a smirk of my own broke across my face.

The stallion drew in a deep gush of breath before throwing his head back into the cool night air and singing loudly-

"WHICH IS THE PRINCESS JUST FOR ME?" we both bellowed in unison with him before zipping through the next alley, giggling madly as the stallion spun around to examine the seemingly empty street behind him. We ran on, crashing through the next few side streets with all the care and subtlety of a thunderstorm. We laughed hysterically as we clumsily tripped over and knocked aside garbage cans and other miscellaneous debris hidden in the dark during our dash to escape from what could possibly be rated as the world's most disinterested pursuer.

We ducked behind a large palette of tiles and crouched low side by side, still snickering childishly to ourselves.

"Their lips are full, their rumps are round, oh when's me turn to pat 'em down?" Cadance hummed with intruding laughter.

"It sounds like somepony made a little too merry after work tonight," I smiled.

"It was hilarious! I'll have to remember that little jingle for the next time my aunt's birthday comes around."

I tilted my head to her, raising my brow. "Be careful which aunt. I'm not sure Princess Luna would appreciate the little line about wanting to 'watch her turn and bounce around'..."

"Right, right..." Cadance lowered her chin in consideration before rising back up with a smile. "I think seeing the look on her face would be worth being reduced to a stain on the carpet though."

"Cadance, you can't do that, "I said with a stern expression. "The song obviously isn't even finished yet."

She looked up at me. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I heard about two princesses... But if I'm not mistaken, there's a third of which I would very much like to learn," I said with a grin.

Cadance's eyes immediately narrowed, "Don't you dare-"

"But then there's Cadance, a fit like a glove. The things she could teach me regarding the ways of love," I chimed with a grin, bobbing my head from side to side in sing-song tone.

"Shiniiing," she whined.

"Or of course, purely for safety's sake we could substitute you into Luna's parts." I brought a hoof to my chin undeterred by Cadance's protest. "I'd vouch that your lips and your rump meet the stated criteria and I can't say I'd be opposed to the idea of seeing you turn and bounce around-"

A large pink wing immediately brushed across my face, wiping the grin from my muzzle and eliciting a forceful sneeze from me as its feathered tips tickled across my nose.

"Sometimes I wonder why I even sneak around dark alleys with you." She deadpanned.

I sat up brushing the back of my hoof against my nose, trying to dismiss the tingling sensation of her feathers. "You know, there is no reason we have to sneak around. I'm sure everypony in town would be thrilled to have a visit from their princess."

Cadance sat up beside me looking away slightly. "Well, yeeeaaaa..." She turned back to me with a painted grin. "But isn't it more fun if it's just our secret?" My brow rose inquisitively as she grinned at me, obviously hesitant to continue. "Also... My presence here miiiight conflict slightly with the story I gave to the castle staff..."

"Wait, you lied to your subjects to come see me?"

Cadance bit the edge of her hoof with a cheeky grin while looking up at me through a set of puppy dog eyes. "maayyyyybe."

I chuckled slightly. She really was just a mischievous little filly trapped in the body of an alicorn princess sometimes. "What did you tell them?" I asked with a sly grin.

"It's a trick I picked up from reading Celestia's journal-"

"Wait! You read your aunt's journal??"

She blushed and looked up at me with the same puppy dog expression. I rolled my eyes and waited for her to continue. Who knew I had married such a devious little vixen...

"Well, it turns out that whenever she wanted to get out of something or needed an excuse to get away, she'd just tell the staff and guards that she had to attend an 'Equestrian royal summit'. Nobody ever asked any questions."

My eyes widened as my ears folded and expression suddenly dropped flat. 'Did she say, an Equestrian royal summit...?'

"Shining?" Cadence waved a hoof in front of my face, "Umm, are you alright?"

"I doubled the guard and personally kept an all-night vigil every time she held one of those summits..." I whinned while staring blankly straight ahead at no point in particular.

Cadence winced slightly. "Ah... Well, she did mention that she thought it was very sweet of you to put in so much effort..."

"All... night..." I deadpanned.

Cadance giggled softly at me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged herself tightly against my body. "My big brave royal guard," she cooed up at me.

I looked down at her. I felt like an idiot... but as long as I was her idiot, that was okay. I smiled down at her and rubbed my nose to hers while squinting my eyes shut. "Anything for you, mi'lady."

She giggled sweetly again while cradling herself back from me. "Well, in that case. I was hoping there was a question I could ask you," she asked with a grin.

"No. That's not it over there."

Within a group of bushes nestled beneath the sill of a steel barred window we huddled. Through the threshold above came the boisterous ruckus of ponies shouting and laughing, celebrating the days end.

"Soooo... how do we get in without being seen?" Cadance whispered.

"I'm not sure. I hadn't really considered there being so many guards between us and my quarters," I replied, squinting my eyes in concentration as if it would help.

"You didn't count on the guards barracks, being full of guards...?" She asked skeptically.

I shrunk down lower amongst the surrounding branches and leaves, turning back to her with a strained wince of a smile. "Okay, so maybe it wasn't the world's most perfectly thought out plan..."

'Of course the guards barracks is full of guards! How could you forget that little point in your master stratagem?'

"Okay, umm, so what do we do now?" Cadance questioned, apparently still confident that I held the answer.

'What do we do now? What do we do NOW??'

With a slight smile she stared at me through her sparkling purple eyes, awaiting my response. She trusted me. She held the utmost faith in my judgement and my ability to get us where we wanted to go. Oh, how I desperately wanted to live up to that faith... Probably best I didn't inform her I was making this up as I went.

'QUICK! Think of something, stupid! You can't have the crystal princess sleeping in a bush all night. We could go through a window, but they're all barred... I could blink past, but the guards would hear the flash... I could start a small fire, but that's a little extreme... and kind of concerning as a suggestion...'

"Shiny?" Cadence peeped, tilting her head slightly with a raised brow.

"We need... a way.... to get past the guards...." I slowly stumbled over each word in a sentence that went nowhere.

'Genius... Truly, you are to strategy what Starswirl was to magic.'

Cadance kinked her brow slightly. "Ooookay, that's a good start. How do we do that though?"

"I'm, uhh..." I paused, glancing idly from side to side while searching for some last ditch way to escape my impending admission. "-not entirely sure," I whinned with a defeated sigh as my mind drew nothing but blanks and plans that would have me charged with arson.

"Oh." Cadance's brow softened with the admission. "Don't you have some kind of super-secret royal guard stealth technique or something you can use?"

It may have sounded an absurd thought, but it was a genuine possibility in her mind. The idea of me being stuck was an awkward realization. I always found a way, always knew some trick or ploy to overcome and succeed. There was nothing I couldn't do. I could move mountains or change the rotation of the planet if I wanted too. Even if that obviously wasn't true; to be held in such esteem by the world's most perfect mare... It almost made me feel like I could. I was her hero and I loved it. I thrived on it. That moment as her brow softened with an inkling of doubt cut daggers through me. It killed me to disappoint her, even subconsciously.

I lowered my head in shame and closed my eyes. "I'm a captain of the guard, not a ghost..."

'Hang on... You're a CAPTAIN of the guard.'

My eyes shot open as I stood upright within the bush, stepping into plain view.

"Shining! What are you doing?" Cadance hissed in a whisper.

"I know what to do," I shot calmly while untangling myself from the rustling branches and beginning toward the barrack's main entrance. "Stay here and stay hidden. I'll be back in a minute."

"Shiniiing!" she whispered after me again.

I turned back to her hiding place and pressed a hoof to my lips in a hush with a confident wink and a smile. I had a plan.

I strode casually toward the entrance way, stopping before the large wooden double doors. From beyond the threshold I could still hear the commotion of the barracks' unruly occupants. I shut my eyes and took in a long, deep and slow breath before clearing my throat and turning to face away from the imposing set of doors.

I rocked forward onto my forelegs, pulling my hind set into tight coils beneath me before lashing out, my hooves forcefully connecting with the door's wooden face and violently bucking through them. The doors flung open pivoting on their strained hinges and smashing into the walls on either side of the entrance way. The thunderous crack and resulting slam of my hooves striking through the door shattered the homeostasis of the room and seized the immediate and undivided attention of every one of its occupants. Near two full sections of guard ponies watched on in complete silence as I stepped nonchalantly into the barracks.

"Good evening fillies and gentlecolts," I chimed in a slow but bright tone, a pervasive intensity following the end of each word hinting at an undercurrent of contained malice. "Are we all having a pleasant evening?"

None answered...

"That's alright. I could tell from outside that we all were." I marched forward as I spoke, each step slow and casual but carrying with it an obvious measure each time my hooves stamped against the floorboards. "I'm glad all of you are enjoying yourselves. You have all worked hard, and this is your time to rest and recuperate." I smiled with an off kilter grin as I continued my slow tone. "It is almost a sacred time, you might like to say."

Several of the recruits traded unsure sideways glances with one and other. They jerked back to a dead-straight attention as my gaze passed across them though, none daring to meet my stare. "I do, however... have one or two concerns." My conversational tone began to die away as my voice gradually rose in intensity. "You see, fillies and gentlecolts, you have a special agreement with the Crystal Empire and its crown. The crown provides you with training, equipment, food and lodging. And in return, you fine ponies provide the crown with your valuable time."

"In fact," I chuckled darkly, "under this arrangement, you could consider the armour you wear as mine. You could consider the beds you sleep in, as mine. You could even consider the food you eat and barracks you are housed in as MINE."

"Therefore, I'm sure each of you can understand how seeing MY property treated in such a manner," I quickly pivoted my head, locking my gaze on a teal mare standing at attention by her bed and a messy over stuffed hoof locker, "- could, be considered distressing!"

I surged forward towards the mare in quick sharp strides, each strike of my hooves rattling the floorboards beneath. I stopped an inch from her face, blowing a snort of hot steam through my nostrils with a snarl. I watched her gulp as she began to sweat beneath my gaze, staring straight ahead to avoid my dagger-laden stare. "For example! I can't help but feel disrespected when I see my hoof lockers unmaintained and improperly packed!" I turned, briskly kicking over the locker and sending its contents spilling haphazardly across the floor.

My gaze suddenly shot sideways again locking onto another recruit, this time, an orange stallion. "And what about this!" I thundered forward again, my eyes bulging outward, threatening to leap at him from their sockets. "Recruit Glimmer Shot!" I butted my forehead roughly to his as he shrunk beneath me.

"Y-yes, Captain?" he whimpered weakly.

"What in Celestia's sweet sunrise is THIS," I shouted while pointing to something at the foot of his bunk.

"M-my- I mean, your helmet, Captain".

"And WHAT pray tell is it doing on the floor, Glimmer Shot!? The only, and I repeat, only time a guard's helmet touches the floor is if and when he falls in the line of duty!" I spun on my hooves and growled as I forcefully punted the helmet across the room sending it careening into the opposing wall with a loud metallic 'PANG'. I spun back to face the recruit, locking the joint of my elbow straight to point at him while leaning in to speak in a menacing growl of a whisper. "So help me, Glimmer shot, if I ever find your helmet anywhere other than on your head or a atop dry cleaned silk cushion, I'll make you wish you had fallen!"

I turned away and marched back into the center of the barracks to address the assembled recruits. "The state of this barracks is nothing short of a disgrace. Luckily though," my voice dropped quickly back to its conversational tone, "I am not an unreasonable stallion. I'm not going to keep yelling at you or threatening you with sanctions," I said with a sarcastic chuckle. "None of us wants that, right? ... I do feel that a small amendment is in order to our agreement however. Seeing as all of you have chosen to so blatantly disrespect the training, equipment and lodging that I have provided you; I feel that it's only fair that I treat the time with which you have provided me in the same manner. That is why ALL of you will be forming up outside in full gear within the next thirty seconds for a night of fun filled activities of my choosing!"

...No pony moved upon the conclusion of my tirade, too scared to put a hoof out of place. My eyes narrowed with a growl. "GO!"

What followed was a cacophony of frantic activity as the guards in training raced across the barracks desperately gathering pieces of their gear. Satisfied, I stepped back out through the doors of the building and inhaled a deep breath of the cool night air as the first of the recruits funnelled out onto the street. "Alright let's go! Move it! Move it! That better not still be you inside, Glimmer shot. Lift those hooves off the floor before I nail them to it, Prism Press!"

The last of the recruits stumbled out of the building and assembled into ordered ranks on the street, panting while still clipping parts of their equipment together.

"Corporal!" I bellowed.

"Yes, Captain." A slightly pudgy brown stallion stepped forward.

"You will be leading the phalanx on a gallop around the perimeter of the town, then up to the javelin range for a complete drill set. You do not return until everybody completes the course and makes ALL of their targets, understood?"

"Yes, Captain!" the stallion responded.

"Then move out," I said with a small nod

The corporal turned back to the assembled group. "Alright you lot, let's go!

I watched quietly as the formation set off down the street, drifting out of view. As the last of them disappeared into the dark mirk of night, I exhaled a heavy breath allowing my shoulders to drop and chest to deflate while shaking out my neck. I turned back to an inconspicuous set of bushes nestled beneath one of the barrack's window sills. Slowly, a bright set of amethyst eyes emerged from the foliage.

My brow dropped and my expression immediately softened as I started toward her hiding place, my head bowed slightly. "I'm really sorry you had to hear all of that, Cadance..." She poked her head out from within the bush, a blank look of bewilderment across her face as she stared at me. I winced as I continued, "it's just, sort of the way things are done-"

"Marry me" She interjected, her expression unchanged.

I squinted at her, craning my head back slightly. "I thought I already did that?"

A smile grew across her delicate lips. "Then do it again."

I laughed softly to myself while gesturing over my shoulder. "Come on, let's go inside."

She hopped out from within the bush and pranced toward me, slowing to a sashay as she passed by. She wiggled her hips from side to side in exaggerated motions, swishing her tail across my nose as she looked back at me with a sly grin. "Whatever you say... Captain." She winked with a giggle while continuing toward the now empty barracks.

Strictly speaking, the Captain's quarters were off limits to anyone but a captain himself. And strictly speaking, the newly emptied bottle of wine now laying across the floor was meant for toasting the completion of the towns construction. Today had been all about breaking established rules though. Today had been about breaking free from the constraints of the establishment at the very head of which we sat. Our own small rebellion against ourselves and who the world demanded that we be. The sanctity of the Captain's quarters would be restored with the coming day and the bottle of wine would be easily replaced long before it came time for toasts and speeches. Soon, all would be as it should again. Today though, had been about me and the mare I loved.

Today had been perfect.

"Okay, okay. One more." Cadance laughed brightly as she lay side by side with me atop a large rug, a blanket draped loosely over our backs. "Would you raaaather... be assigned to patrol the Everfree at night, ooooor take a place in blueblood's personal guard?"

"Blueblood isn't so bad," I replied. "Your cousin is just... acutely aware of his royal status, and likes to be treated as such."

Cadance tilted her muzzle forward, looking up at me through a raised brow. "Sooo, guard duty then?" she pressed.

"And be paraded around functions as a frilly armoured trophy while shooing away 'commoners'? I'll take the Everfree and its manticores, thanks."

Cadance giggled softly and leaned into my side, curling her head beneath my neck and nuzzling into my fur. "Today has been amazing." She sighed softly and let her eyes serenely drift shut. "It's just what I needed..."

I smiled to myself. I knew exactly how she felt. "It's been a long time since it was just you and me together. We don't get many private moments together lately," I added with the faintest hint of suggestion, the corner of my lip curling into a grin.

Cadance raised her head and kinked an eyebrow at me. "So that's what the wine was for, hmm?"

"Naw," I replied with a chuckle. "I do think it's my turn to ask a question though."

"Alriiight," she drew out expectantly.

"Earlier today, during our picnic," I started out bravely, confident I held the upper hand in this line of questioning. "You- ummm... that is; where did you learn to..." I stumbled over myself, my confidence quickly eroding as I lost my nerve debating how to phrase the delicate question. "What I mean to say is; since when have you been able to... you know...?"

Cadance giggled softly as I tripped stupidly over myself. She narrowed her eyes with a grin while swaying her head gently from side to side. "Since when have I been able to what? Swallow the length of my husband's huge, thick, black, stallionhood?" she cooed in a smooth voice, a slow, sultry inflection stretched over each drawn out syllable as she drowned each word with intoxicating suggestion.

I blushed, taken aback by her forwardness while managing a small nod. "Uh huh."

"Weeell, used in specific ways, magic can be used to suppress certain reflexes... Certain reflexes which might interfere in specific endeavours, for example," she laughed with a wink.

"You invented a spell to suppress your gag reflex??" I blurted flatly.

"Well, I had to tweak it slightly, but no, I didn't invent it... It's something else I found in Celestia's journal..."

'In Celestia's journal... a spell that basically amounts to a magical blowjob aid?... Just what exactly was she doing during those 'royal Equestrian summits'...?'

"Well, that's an awkward revelation."

"Yep."

An uneasy moments silence pierced our conversation as we both privately weighed the implications of her aunt's journal.

I fidgeted my hooves slightly. "Soooo... did you learn any other tricks?" I said, breaking the silence with a cheeky smile.

"Oh, so now suddenly you're in favour of my little research project with her journal?" She laughed, bumping her flank against mine.

"I didn't say that, and you didn't answer my question," I teased.

She poked her tongue out at me with a wink, "Well you'll just have to wait and see if I have anything else up my sleeve."

"Aww, no faaair," I whined like a a cheated foal.

Cadance smiled softly. "Do you remember when we were young, Shining? How we used to sneak around together... Did you ever imagine we'd end up here?"

"I only remember being a shy and awkward little foal with a silly crush on a pony way out of his league..."

Cadance rolled over onto her back and pawed a forehoof up at my chin while tittering sweetly to herself. "Oh yea? and how did that work out for you?"

I looked down at her. Just the sight of her was enough to make me smile... "I'd say it worked out pretty well for me," I replied with a coy grin.

She scrunched her hooves to her chest, a smile growing across her muzzle as she reminisced over our shared past. "You were soo sweet back then."

"You mean I was a hopeless moron who could hardly string a sentence together around you," I sighed with a deadpan expression. "And what do you mean 'back then'. I'm still sweet."

"I for one, thought it was cute how you used to stutter," Cadance cooed, stroking a hoof along my jaw line. "Besides, you worked up the courage to ask me out on a date... eventually."

"Yea, only after Twilight threatened to tell you herself if I didn't..."

"Heh." Cadance blushed, turning her head slightly. "That might have been partly my fault. I may have mentioned to her once or twice that I thought you were really cute..."

I laughed to myself. "I guess she got tired of waiting for me to stallion up. Twilight always wanted a sister."

"Mhmm. She was almost as excited as I was when you asked me out for the first time."

"Yea, right up until she figured out she couldn't come with us on our dates." I rolled my eyes, memories of a shrieking lavender filly crying over being 'left out' flashing painfully through my mind.

Cadance gave a bashful sideways glance while laying on her back beneath me. "I was so happy when you asked me out... I was beginning to think that you maybe weren't interested in me..."

"How could I have not been interested in you??" I gawked. "You were the most beautiful, caring and all around most amazing pony I had ever met." I leaned down and brushed a few strands of her mane from across her eye. "And you still are," I continued in a low whisper. "You're something special, Cadance."

She glanced back up at me, still not entirely willing to meet my gaze. "I'm not so sure... There are three alicorn princesses in the world, Shining. Out of all of which, I'm probably the most ordinary. There are countless unicorn stallions though. Out of which you are most definitely the most incredible..." she whispered in a melancholy tone, still avoiding my gaze.

I knew that tone... I knew where she was going, and I knew what she was holding back. I wasn't going to let her get there. "Cadance." I slowly leaned down further, rubbing my nose to hers. "Don't say that. There is nothing ordinary about you," I whispered before leaning down and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead, pulling back just enough to leave a small gap between our eyes as I stared into her.

Unable to escape my gaze any longer, she met with me, her bright eyes glistening with an accumulating dew. "I'm sorry I just showed up on you, shining... I just- I really needed to come see you..." she said, her voice deteriorating to a weak whimper.

I gazed down at her. Even a princess could have her insecurities. In truth, it's often those who hide them best that struggle most poignantly. She had so much love to give to those around her. Love for her auntie, love for her subjects, love for me; she invested so much of herself into others that when those she cared about weren't around, she was left to wonder if she could attain that same love back. To wonder if she was worthy of the same love she gave...

"I haven't slept well in weeks..." she continued. "I couldn't sleep in our bed. It- every time I'd reach across it'd just remind me that you weren't there..."

"Cadance..."

Her eyes darted down as she curled over slightly, her voice taking on a minuscule shake. "I've been sleeping on a couch with a few cushions and a blanket... Even then though, I'd just lie there all night thinking about you... and- wondering if you were thinking about me too..."

My brow softened as I stared down into her glittering eyes. She had lost her parents to an evil king, her empire to a dark curse and she had almost lost me to a deceptive queen... There was nothing that scared her more than loosing those she loved.

"Cadance, come with me. I need to show you something," I stated bluntly, rising to my hooves and making my way slowly towards the chambers double bed. Cadance arose reluctantly after me, following behind in slow paces with her neck bowed low. I sat on the edge of the bed, its sheets unmade and pillows spread haphazardly across its surface. I tilted my head, gesturing it's other side.

Cadance complied cautiously, moving to other side of the large double bed. Beneath the messily strewn sheets sat a long soft lump. She peeled back the covers to reveal a crumpled and unassuming pillow. Beside it though, lay a small, well worn, wooden picture frame. She lifted the simple frame, sitting on the edge of the bed as she examined its interred image. From behind the blemished glass surface, a picture of herself stared back at her. It smiled up at her, shy, uncertain, yet somehow wholeheartedly trusting.

"You've been with me every night since I left," I whispered softly.

She stared at the smiling depiction of herself before slowly setting it down in her lap and turning toward me. "Shining..."

"Do you remember when I left for the guard's academy? I made you a promise," I continued while scooting across the bed, closing the distance between us.

Cadance sniffled slightly, her chin folding to her neck as her eyes drifted down toward the bed sheets. "You- you said you'd come find me again one day..."

"Even if I had to beat down the castle doors." I reached out a hoof and softly brushed it beneath her jawline, gently lifting her chin to face me. "And on our wedding day, do you remember another promise I made to you?"

"You said you'd never leave me..."

I leaned forward taking her in my arms and pulling her into a loose embrace. I stared into her eyes through a soft gaze and a minuscule smile, our faces resting a few inches apart. "And I never will," I murmured barely above a whisper.

Her eyes quivered and her bottom lip shook gently. "Shining," she whispered again, a slight tremble in her voice as she turned her head and brushed her soft, open lips against mine.

The sweet taste of freshly picked strawberries washed over my lips as I inhaled her voice. I twisted my head as her lips met with mine, brushing over them without forming the seal of a kiss. "You're everything to me, Cadance," I whispered as her inhaled breath spread a comforting warmth through my lungs and into my chest.

She pushed her muzzle forward, butting her nose up against mine and pressing my neck back. Her eyes slowly slid shut as her lips closed with mine leaving a singular slow, luxurious kiss. "I love you so much, Shining..."

I pulled her into a tighter embrace squeezing her body against me, her chest pressed tightly to mine as we kissed. Her tongue slipped its way past her lips to dab between my own before the silky muscle retracted to be followed by her lips again. I twisted my head at an offset to hers and closed my lips with her soft set as I turned my shoulders and slowly pulled her around beside me. Cradling her in my arms, I gently laid her back down onto the bed as I followed after, keeping my lips locked to hers in a gentle and slow embrace. She raised a hoof and stroked it slowly through my mane as I leaned over, holding her lithe body tightly to mine. Everything about her was soft... Her fur, her touch, even her gaze. My lips melded with hers, closing, parting and reforming as our muzzles rolled together.

"I love you too, Cadance. And like it or not, I'm afraid you're stuck with me forever." I whispered as our lips parted, a grin spreading across my face with a raised brow. "Let's hope you don't get sick of me too soon..."

A weighted laugh broke through her expression. "How could I ever get sick of you, Shining?"

"Oh, any number of reasons. My all-round abrasive and unlikable personality. My unhealthy affinity for chocolate tarts. My developmentally stunted colt-like emotional state... All of them are good choices"

"You should talk," she chuckled with a lifting tone while wiping a hoof across her eye. "Look at me. I'm a piping hot mess."

"Well yea, but you're MY piping, hot, mess," I purred through pursed lips.

She smiled up at me, wrapping her forearms around my back to pull me down into another slow kiss. "You were right, you are still sweet. You're a much better kisser now too."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I shot with a singular raised brow.

She raised her brow in response. "Do you remember our first kiss?" she said through an emerging grin.

My ears dropped back against my scalp with a wince. "Dooo you mean our first actual kiss...? Ooor that time I kissed you in the eye?"

"Which do you think?" She giggled.

"That's not fair! It was dark and we were hiding in a bush..." I protested with a frown.

"Then you got so embarrassed that you ran off without saying anything," she continued regardless.

"I had to check on Twilight!"

She tilted her head and stared at me unconvinced.

"Ugh, fine, so I wasn't a great kisser. I got better though... Right...?" I asked scratching the back of my neck with a sudden wave of insecurity.

"Oh you got very good at kissing. As well as a few other things..." she continued, her gaze shooting away with a mischievous grin.

"Oh really? Like what?" I pressed, my curiosity (and ego) peaked.

"Welllll..." she whispered with a sultry look in her eye while sitting up and pressing her muzzle to mine. She curled the tip of her tongue up and over my lips before following with her lips. She gently rolled us over, placing me down onto my back as she lay beside me, leaning over the top of me. Her tongue prodded from between her lips and rolled pleasingly between the centre of mine as she slowly drew me into another velveteen kiss. Her hoof descended to stroke down the side of my ribs as she whispered in her milky tone, "We've already established that you're a great kisser."

I smiled as her hoof bumped over each individual rib, my ears pricking upright. I parted my lips to take her smooth tongue with mine in a slow open mouthed kiss. My hooves gripped either side of her waist, sliding down toward her dainty hips. Her body pressed down tightly against me from above as her tongue writhed and danced with mine. I adored the feeling of closeness I got whenever we kissed. It was intoxicating just to be near her; having her above me in a passionate kiss was something else entirely again. It wasn't enough though. Like a drug, it was never enough...

I gripped her hips and quickly lifted her upwards, pulling her body entirely on top of me. She squeaked softly into my mouth as her legs parted to straddle just above my hips and her chest settled against mine. She rolled her body into its new position above me with a pleased grin bunched in the corners of her mouth as she leaned down forcefully into our kiss. She arched her back inwards and pressed her chest harder into mine while raising her hips slightly up into the air. I peered down and watched the pleasing curve of her rump as it rose above my hips before gently beginning to sway from side to side in the air. She knew I was watching, and she was all too happy to put on a show. I lightly gripped either side of her flank with my hooves, gently squeezing and massaging in slow circles against her soft fur. It was excruciating, but in a strange way, I loved it when she toyed with me... I wanted her more than anything. The thought that this goddess could view me with even a fraction of that same desire was an incredible thrill.

She pressed her muzzle tightly into mine as I responded, passionately curling my tongue with hers as our warm breaths freely exchanged. She suddenly broke her lips away and plunged her muzzle into my neck, gently biting and nuzzling against a spot of my skin before closing her lips around it and sucking voraciously. "And you know just how to touch and stroke me," she murmured into my neck.

My eyes settled back on her voluptuous ass as it hung in the air above my hips. It rolled in a slow semi-circle from one side to the other before changing directions and rolling back the way it came, each movement accentuated by a flick of her tail as it reached its apex. She slowly rolled her rump down toward my hips as she sucked on my neck before arching her back inwards and popping it vividly back into the air for me to admire. I grit my teeth as for the second time today, the familiar sensation of my stallionhood involuntarily unsheathing itself spread consciously through my body.

She lifted her head, draping her mane over my face as she leant down to lavish another passionate kiss on my lips before switching to suckle at the other side of my neck. She bit down on a new patch of skin, the hint of pain sending a jolt through my body and causing my shaft to twitch and bulge. She closed her lips around my neck again and began to suck at it while lowering her hips down once more. As her rump descended down onto me she felt an unexpected prod as my shaft grew proudly upright and erect from my hips. It's tip bumped between her thighs and slid its way up over her slit and between the purse of her firm rump as she lowered herself.

"Mmm, hello there," she whispered in a lustful groan while pulling her face from my neck to look back at the warm new sensation between her cheeks. She leaned back against my shaft, rolling her hips in short movements to grind its tip up and down between her soft ass cheeks. "Maybe best of all though; you have an incredibly well-endowed tool set and know how to use it," she hummed while turning back to me, a lustful glint intruding her sultry gaze.

"Oh, so you're famil -ah, familiar with it?" I stumbled while attempting to be clever, the sensation of my tip sliding between her cheeks making it blissfully difficult to focus.

"Oh yes," she replied with a devious smile, obviously satisfied with the strained expressions across my face. "I grew rather intimately acquainted with it when we were introduced earlier today," she purred, each syllable dripping with suggestion and innuendo.

"Really? Well then-" I suddenly thrust my hips forcefully upwards, pushing the tip of my cock up from between her cheeks and into the base of her tail before drawing it back and pumping it up and down between her cheeks, its tip caressing against the tight button of her ass. "I think it's about time it had a chance to grow more acquainted with you..."

"Haa..." She gasped, her eyes shooting wide as my cock pressed against her second hole. She moaned absent-mindedly, leaning further into my shaft as it pumped softly up and down between her cheeks. "Mmmm... Maybe it should..." she whispered, her tone dripping with sex. She rolled her body forward higher up onto me, pressing herself tightly against me as her fur intermingled with mine. My cock slipped from between her cheeks and fell forward onto my stomach with a fleshy slap before she slowly rolled herself back down my body. She straddled her hips above mine with my stallionhood sandwiched between her waist and my stomach as she smiled down at me. She pressed her forehooves into my chest, pushing my back firmly into the bed as she sat up against me, flicking her mane to the side as she began to sway her waist from side to side, grinding her hips and soft the lips of her pussy against the underside of my cock.

"Aaaahh..." I exhaled a heavy breath as she used the entire lower half of her body to jerk me. Caught between the fur of my stomach and the pressure of her sliding hips from above, my cock strained. There they were... The soft, puffy lips of her marehood. Like golden gates, they guarded the greatest treasure the world had to offer me. And here they were, swinging wide...

She pressed her hips down firmly onto me as she groaned softly, the lips of her pussy parting slightly as she ground them against the channel on the underside of my shaft. She rolled her stomach, drawing her hips back and forth with growing intensity as she closed her eyes and bit down on her lower lip, her soft groans steadily rising as her sensitive slit ground up and down along my cock. I stared up at her as she pressed firmly into my chest, pinning me to the bed. My nostrils flared as the sweet scent of her sex filled my mind. I drew in a deep breath of it as I felt her slit growing moist against my stiff cock, its juices beginning to lather the underside of my shaft as it slid up and down along it.

She rolled her head slowly to the other side as she released a heavy sigh, soft moans escaping beneath her breath as she built into a steady rhythm. She leaned down, stroking her hooves in gentle circles over my chest as she took me in an impassioned kiss as her pace grinding against me continued to build.

I leaned up eagerly into her lips as I raised a hoof and traced it slowly down along her back. I ran it down over her hip before lifting it and giving her rump a rough spank, the toned flesh rippling slightly against the impact. She squeaked into my mouth again and curled her body forward, hiking herself higher up onto my cock and rewarding me with series of intense thrusts against my shaft as she writhed the lower half of her body energetically against me.

She pulled her lips from mine and pressed her hooves back into my chest, pinning me against the bed again while sitting up on my hips. She stared down at me, her lip hanging loose with heavy breath as she ground her pussy up and down near the head of my cock. She hiked up the final inch or two and pressed the the lips of her moist slit against the underside of my member's head before pushing her hips back and rolling them in vigorous circles against it.

"Uuuuuhhh..." The withheld contents of my lungs expelled themselves in a low, grinding groan as her slit pressed against the tip of my cock. I wanted her. I NEEDED her. The head of my cock rolled vividly between the sopping wet lips of her pussy. I grit my teeth and pushed the back of my neck harshly into the mattress. I could feel the warmth of her marehood permeating down my shaft. I could smell the musk of her arousal. I could feel the slick lubrication of her juices already lathered across my shaft...

Whimpering a series of slight moans, she leaned forward and began to kiss at my neck again while grinding the head of my cock against the lips of her pussy. She pushed her chest tightly into mine for support while raising her hips into the air and reaching back between us to take my shaft with a hoof. She lifted her hips above my cock and slowly lowered herself down onto it, pressing its tip just barely between the folds of her slit.. She leaned down and took my lips in a sensual kiss as she swung her hips in slow circles.

My eyes shot open and I murmured a grinding moan into her mouth as the tip of my cock pushed between the soft flesh of her lips and pressed tightly against the entrance of her canal. Her tongue writhed with mine in wide, lustful sweeps as she held my shaft upright, lowering and raising her hips by minuscule degrees applying and relieving subtle weight and pressure against my head with each movement.

'One good thrust upwards and I could be inside of her...' The temptation was excruciating. This was her show though and I was determined to let her have it; even if it drove me to near the edge of insanity...

She danced atop my pole, its tip pressed between the lips of her warm, smooth slit as she ground against it, writhing her hips in wide circles. She held it in place as she lowered herself down against it, applying just enough pressure for its head to compress and begin sliding forward to squeeze into the tight passage of her marehood. I grit my teeth as my cock tensed, ready to squeeze inside of her. At the last moment, just as it was about to pop through and push into her, she suddenly raised her hips stealing back the pressure and letting it slide back out. Again and again she lowered herself onto my cock before maddeningly pulling back at the very last second.

The flesh of my cock burned as my shaft strained, desperately begging to slip into her. I was going to go crazy, and she was once again having far too much fun with me.

'Just one good thrust...'

She raised her head and rolled her neck, dragging the soft strands of her mane across my face as she breathed heavily, looking down at me with a smug grin. She pressed her hips down again, pushing my tip to the verge of squeezing into her before releasing the pressure once more.

'Just. One. Good. Thrust...

"You see, my prince," she said with a slight pant as she stared down at me through an untamed mane. "You've grown very skilled at a whole host of things." She pressed herself down against the tip of my cock again, stroking her hoof up and down against it as her playful grin returned, "I just happen to be better."

'My prince...' I rolled the words across my consciousness for a moment, carefully probing and analyzing its implications. 'Prince.' I waited expectantly, yet to my surprise, the familiar pangs of guilt, anxiety and inadequacy previously so vividly associated with the title didn't arrive. While still distasteful, the word somehow didn't seem as sour passing against my palette as it had earlier in the day. 'As long as she was my princess, maybe I could deal with calling myself a prince... It was a small price to pay to have her.'

I smiled vividly up at her."Oh, really?"

She smiled mischievously down at me with a bob of her brow.

If I was a prince, tonight I would have my princess.

I roughly gripped either side of her hips as she began to descend, holding her body in place as I suddenly pushed my hips upwards. The flared tip of my cock pushed between the moist lips of her slit before bumping roughly against the narrow entrance of her canal.

"Haaah-" Her body tensed, the grin evaporating from her face as her eyes shot wide and jaw fell, an exasperated gasp escaping her lips.

I pressed my hips forward while holding her rump firmly in place above me. The head of my thick stallionhood squeezed and compressed against her narrow canal. By all accounts I was fairly well endowed for a stallion, and she was very tight for a mare, which made for a narrow fit as I pressed forward, her eyes rolling to the ceiling as her accumulated breath escaped in a drawn out groan. The pressure against my head built as it compressed further and further, its shaft beginning to bend as I pushed forward. Suddenly and all at once, the resistance gave way as my head popped through her passageway and slipped into her pussy.

"Aaahh..." She threw her head back with a deep whimpering moan as my cock penetrated her for the first time.

I groaned beneath my breath as my eyes rolled back, the sensation of her slick, smooth inner walls hugging tightly against my shaft as it slipped deeper into her pussy lighting a solar flare in my mind. I was inside of her. She held the most delicate part of me within her body. I reached up with a hoof and gripped the back of her neck, pulling her into a passionate kiss as I locked my muzzle with hers and closed my eyes. The physical connection was indescribable as she slowly guided her hips down lower, squeezing my stallionhood deeper into her. I could feel every twitch and retraction of her musculature as her pussy tensed around my cock. I drew in a heavy breath through my nostrils as we passionately kissed, a state of euphoria spreading through my body. For one miraculous moment, we were one, holding nothing back as we shared every part of our being. Physically and emotionally linked at the peak of intimacy, it was as if I could feel her very essence coursing through my veins; and it was beautiful...

Gently I rolled my hips upwards, pushing deeper into her before slipping back out in slow rhythm. She pulled her lips from the kiss and held her muzzle an inch from mine as she stared into my eyes, her warm breath washing over my face as she panted. I stared silently back into her glimmering purple gaze. I wanted to say a million things, to tell her a thousand times how much I loved her; but there was no need. As they stared into me, her eyes told me more than words ever could. I could only hope that she learned as much from mine. I rested a hoof on her ass, guiding her hips up and down as she began to bob them in opposing rhythm to my soft thrusts.

She moaned softly and rolled forward onto me with each thrust as my cock squeezed slightly deeper into her each time. Each repetition met with less resistance as her muscles relaxed around me and her pussy moistened with her own lubrication. I slowly began to lift my pace as I pressed my hips into her, my cock pushing half way up its length as she brought her hips down onto me.

"Shining..." she idly whispered my name with a gentle groan as her eyes drifted serenely shut again. I lifted my pace further, thrusting my hips upward to meet the bobs of her hips, forcing my cock deeper and deeper into the soft warmth of her sopping wet marehood. I groaned heavily as her tight inner walls milked me. With each thrust, my level of excitement grew. And as my excitement grew, so to did the force of my thrusts. I began pumping my hips upward at a steady pace, penetrating her deeper and deeper as cool beads of her juices ran down my shaft to pool against my balls.

"Ahh...Shining," she strung again, whimpering a grinding moan as each forceful thrust jolted her body forward. She pushed her muzzle into my neck and closed her lips against it, sucking vigorously as she muffled her pleasured groans against my fur. I hugged my forehooves over her back and squeezed her tightly against my body before reaching down and giving her shapely ass another firm spank as my thick black cock rammed into her again and again. I began to loose track of myself, slipping into the myriad vivid subconscious pleasures of her body. I lifted and lowered her hips in opposing rhythm as I pushed my cock up into her, her lips parting and stretching around the girth of my shaft on each thrust.

She bit down on a patch of my skin, gently nibbling against it as she suddenly straightened her hind legs on either side of me. She raised the lower half of her body until just the head of my cock hung tenuously within her, my wet shaft hanging in the cool air below. She rolled her hips in wide voluptuous circles, grinding my tip within her as she kissed up my jaw line and planted a brief kiss against my lips.

Robbed of her warmth, I stared up at her in confusion as she rolled her body sideways off of me. She took me by the hooves and pulled me upward from my back into a sitting position and another open mouthed kiss. She reached down and stroked up along the length of my cock as it rested in my lap. She broke away with a contented grin as she turned aside, standing on all fours atop the bed. She twisted her neck to look back at me with a sultry glint. "I want to be yours, Shining," she whispered. "All of me-" She bent her forelegs, lowering the front of her body down onto the bed while keeping her hips raised, presenting herself to me. "Forever," she concluded softly while resting her cheek against the smooth sheets, turning her head to stare back at me as her tantalizing rump hung exposed in the air.

She flicked her tail from side to side while seductively swaying her hips in the air. She slowly lifted her tail, holding it to the side and exposing her slit to me. I wasn't proud, but the inside of my mouth watered like a starved animal as she presented her body to me. Such an offer didn't need to be considered twice. I lunged forward doing something that surprised even me.

I bit down on her left cheek. Hard.

She squeaked a sudden yelp in jolted surprise as her body tensed. Her eyes drifted shut with an alluring giggle as her body writhed with the slight sliver of pain as it shivered excitedly up her spine. I mounted her hips from behind, hiking my body up onto hers as I placed my forehooves on either side of her back. She pressed her rump back into my hips as I lifted my stallionhood and gently circled its tip around the outside of her puffy, pink lips.

"Take me, Shining. Please..." she whispered into the bed sheets, a salacious thrill spreading up my spine as she begged for me. Again, who could refuse such an offer? All too happy to comply, I pushed my hips forward, sliding the flared head of my cock into her warm, moist marehood again. It accepted me far more easily this time, her muscles relaxing and her inner walls having been thoroughly lubricated by her sweet juices. I pressed my shaft deep into her, wasting no time in building up a quickly rising pace. I wanted her. I needed her. 'Forever...' The thought lingered blissfully on my mind. I pressed my body heavily down onto her back, pushing her cheek into the sheets and folding her body forward as I steadily bucked my hips , ramming my shaft into her harder and harder. Again and again it plunged deep into her pussy with a lewd squelch. She pushed her face into the bed sheets as her heavy pants steadily grew into grinding moans and soft whimpers with each thrust.

Haah... haa... ahh... haah...

My nostrils flared greedily, the thick musk of sex lingering heavily upon the air with every breath. I grit my teeth and let my eyes slide shut as the soft sensation of her inner walls drew my consciousness from the world. With a grunt I drew my hips all the way back before thrusting them forcefully forward, suddenly and without warning hilting myself all the way inside of her. Cadance screamed as the inner walls of her pussy clasped tightly around my dick. I drew back again until just the head of my cock rested within her before hammering it back in, forcing another cry from her lips as my fleshy rod hilted itself against her again, my balls slapping roughly against her exposed clit. My heartbeat raced and my ears grew numb as I drew back repeating the action again and again, her carnal cries only spurring me on harder.

"Haaah! Shining! Don't stop!. Please. Please...." She bit down on her lower lip and pushed her rear back against me, adding her own motion to each thrust and forcing my dick deeper and harder into her as she reached a forehoof back between her thighs to rub vigorous circles against her clit. I leaned into her body, hugging my chest against her back as I bit down on the side of her neck while pummelling her from behind with an unbroken chain of forceful thrusts. I pushed into a faster and faster rhythm, pressing the entire length of my cock into her with each thrust as the sounds of my hips slapping against her rump filled the room at a rising pace. She was so tight... Even with her muscles having relaxed and her juices dripping down my shaft, she was a tight fit. The walls of her pussy wrapped around my shaft, applying pressure from every direction as I pumped in and out of her. I raised a hoof giving her ass another rough spank, the strike rippling a sting through the flesh of her back side as I pounded my hips against it. I Felt her body tense beneath me as she screamed, her legs beginning to weakly quiver and give way as she writhed back against me, her mind and body lost deep within the throws of ecstasy. "Haaa, Don't stop! Don't stop..."

I groaned heavily, a bead of sweat collecting on my brow as I rammed my hips madly into her, hilting myself against her pussy on every thrust. I lifted my head and bit down on a lock of her mane, tugging briskly back against it and lifting her head from the sheets while mercilessly slamming her body forward as I savagely rutted her. "Shining... Shining... Shining...!" she gasped my name between screams and desperate pants for air as she neared her peak. I grunted brutishly as I leaned forward into her rump, throwing everything I could into each individual thrust.

Suddenly her back arched sideways with a forceful twitch as near every muscle in her body tensed and locked. The inner walls of her pussy tensed and clasped down almost painfully around my thick shaft. The back of her head curled back into her shoulders with a loud scream as the accumulated tension in her muscles coiled like a spring before explosively releasing all at once. Every nerve ending in her body fired simultaneously as the intoxicating waves of an intense orgasm gripped and rippled through her body, her form twisting with vivid involuntary spasms. The muscles in her pussy convulsed and tensed against my shaft as I stopped thrusting and hugged my body tightly against hers. I held her in my arms, kissing down her neck as her form shuddered against me.

She panted heavily into the bed sheets whimpering brief moans as the aftershocks of her climax slowly rang out. Her eyes slid shut as her legs gave way beneath her. My dick slipped out of her with a wet squelch as she fell away from me, rolling onto her side against the mattress. I stared down at her while breathing heavily through my nostrils. She smiled with closed eyes as she gently writhed her body against the bed while nuzzling her cheek affectionately against the bunched sheets. I leant down over her to plant a soft kiss against her lips as the crystalline seas of her eyes lazily slid open to meet mine. A grin of my own spread across my muzzle as she leant up to return a kiss of her own. "You're amazing, Shining..." she murmured in a low, loving whisper while gazing up at me, her being exuding a radiant and vivid afterglow.

I grinned mischievously, my still-stiff rod positively dripping with her aromatic juices. "Why, thank you, Princess. But I'm afraid I have bad news," I replied, pressing a hoof down on the side of her hip. I guided my body behind hers before sliding my slick cock between her pressed together thighs. "I believe I was instructed not to stop." I gently pushed and pulled my hips back and forth, grinding my shaft between the soft fur of her thighs as my tip rubbed along the underside of her stomach. I leaned in close to whisper softly into her ear, "I'm not finished with you yet, Princess".

Her eyes narrowed with a sly grin and a sultry laugh. "Oh, is that so?"

"I'm afraid so," I said with a nod, drawing my cock back and forth between her thighs.

"Well then," she cooed with a vivacious smile, twisting her upper body to wrap her forearms over my shoulders, "you'd best proceed, Captain."

Wasting no time and with a coltish grin, I sat up and gripped her hips, dragging her body closer to me while rolling her onto her back. I lifted her hindlegs upright before separating them on either side of me to reveal her moist slit once again. I leaned down over her luscious body, crawling between her legs to take her in a gentle kiss while positioning my hips above her. She closed her lips with mine while reaching down between us to take my stiff member in her hoof. Slowly she circled her slit with its tip while rolling her tongue forward against my lips. She leaned forward and bit down gently on my lower lip before brushing my tip over her clit and sliding it between the lips of her pussy.

Taking her cue, I compliantly rolled my hips forward and entered her marehood once again. It radiated vibrant heat through my cock as she shivered slightly, still supremely sensitive from her climax. I pressed my muzzle tightly into hers and deepened our kiss as I quickly built up into a rhythm of slow, deep thrusts. She moaned softly into my mouth as her tongue curled with mine in playful sweeps, my pace slowly rising.

'Forever.' The thought flashed through my mind again. I wanted to make love to her until the end of time. Sadly, I didn't think my fatigued body would hold out for so long though. My body was drained, my strength sapped, but that didn't matter. I didn't matter. The world didn't matter. Only she mattered to me.

It didn't take me long to build up to my previous level as I pushed my thick stallionhood into her in deep, loving strokes over and over again. Her hooves circled on my back, rubbing over my shoulder blades as our muzzles rolled with one and other. Her wings slowly unfurled and rolled open, splaying themselves delicately across the large double mattress. I pulled my hips back before gently pressing them back down, plunging my shaft inch by inch back into her. She vibrated a low drawn out groan through my tongue as her nostrils flared, drawing in deep, visceral breaths.

My temple began to throb as I closed my eyes, squinting through a wince. I curled one arm under her back, supporting her from beneath as I pulled her up into me while my other hoof brushed gently over the delicate feathers of her carefully preened wing. She closed her thighs around my hips, gently squeezing and releasing pressure against them as I plunged into her. I rolled her hips back and forth with mine on each deep stroke as I progressively pushed deeper into her until finally hilting myself against her again. My balls squeezed tightly against her lower lips as I pressed my entire length firmly into her before slowly drawing back for another thrust. She gasped the warm perfume of her breath into the back of my throat as she exhaled, its taste and scent almost as exciting to me as the sensation of being inside of her. I drew my hips back beginning another slow, deep thrust. I stared into her eyes, my heart pounding heavily within my chest as my abdomen began to tighten. "Cadance... I love you so much..."

She hugged her chest tightly up into mine while nuzzling the bridge of her muzzle against my neck. "I love you too, Shining..." she whispered softly as I pressed back into her.

"Uhhh... Cadance..." I groaned softly. "I'm going to-"

"Shh shh shh. It's okay," she interrupted me with a gentle whisper, drawing her head back to stare into my eyes with a reassuring gaze. "I want you to cum inside me..."

My eyes searched across her face before she leaned up taking me in another kiss. "It's okay. I want this," she whispered again while brushing a hoof across my cheek.

'Inside of her...' I wouldn't have long to decide. I could feel my own climax rapidly building as the warmth of her marehood and softness of her touch overwhelmed my senses. I sat myself upright, pulling her up with me as I rolled halfway onto my back resting her on my lap straddling my hips, my shaft still resting deep inside her.

She twisted her neck over her shoulder and turned to face our hips as she slowly began to bounce herself on my lap. Her pussy worked its way up and down my thick, black shaft as she leant forward and hooked her chin over my shoulder, kissing and caressing her lips over my neck. My stallionhood tensed dead straight as she rode atop it, forcing its length deep into her again and again. She groaned gentle, sumptuous moans into my neck as she worked, the sensual sounds filling my ears and drowning out even my own thoughts. She worked her way up my neck as she bounced her hips against mine, a gentle 'slap' filling the room each time our bodies met. She lifted her hips and slowly lowered them back down, swallowing my cock inch by inch with her pussy. I tensed and closed my eyes as I felt my balls begin to burn and swell. She hilted my long shaft within herself as she leaned in to kiss and nibble at the lower part of my ear. "Cum inside me, Shining..." she whispered in a low drawn out tone.

'Cum...' Merely hearing her utter the suggestion in her milky tone was an explosive thrill. She bit down gently on the base of my ear as she began to writhe her hips in wide circles against me, grinding the lips of her pussy against my balls as they wrapped around the very base of my shaft.

"Uuhhh..." I groaned deeply, feeling a pressure building at the base of my cock. I had already came for her once today. There was no denying the weariness of my form, my stallionhood appeared exempt from such concerns though as a vigorous pressure built in my lower body. Cadance wrapped her arms over my back and pulled me into a passionate, open-mouthed kiss as she began to bounce her hips in short sharp movements again, riding quickly up and down near the base of my cock as her muffled groans rippled through our kiss.

Hngh... hngh... mphh... hngh-

I grunted into her mouth as my eyes shot open, a line having been crossed in my subconscious. There was no going back. Her eyes stared calmly into me, quietly reassuring me that what was about to happen was okay... and I believed them. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close as I leaned deeply into the kiss while pushing my hips upward in short pumps. 'Forever...' The thought flashed through my mind one last time as a shivering tingle spread through my shaft and raced up my spine.

Haa... hngh... haah... aah-

The confined pressure within my pelvis suddenly surged upwards as if with the bursting of a seal. My cock twitched vividly within her before a pulse rippled up its form, followed closely by a second. My shaft bulged as a rising force worked it's way way up the tall length of my rod. As the third pulse arrived, my stallionhood's head flared before suddenly bursting with an explosive pressure. I grit my teeth as my cock unleashed a massive, searing hot load of my thick, white cum into the depths of her pussy. I gasped a deep, stuttering and grinding groan into her mouth as the fourth, fifth and sixth pulses arrived no less powerfully than the previous, pumping load after heavy load of my seed into her.

I froze, holding onto Cadance for dear life. I couldn't think. I couldn't move. I could only hold onto her, breathe and ride out the incredible sensation as each spasm of my cock filled her pussy with more and more of my warm cum. I felt her stomach tense as she gripped tightly onto my hips with her thighs, her breath exchanging with mine in rapid, deep pants. Her grip tightened around my back as she clung to my body, moaning heavily and grinding her hips against me as I climaxed inside of her.

The moment was like no other. A rare, unattainable instance of simply existing. A moment that demanded neither thought nor action. A moment without cause or effect; without a past or a future. A moment where the rest of the world could be cut out as I existed solely in this one place, with this one mare.

The final convulsions of my cock came more weakly, no longer pumping in thick torrents but instead simply oozing my cum from its tip. Our lips had detached, neither of us possessing the presence of mind to continue the kiss. My mind buzzed with empty static as the last wave of my climax passed, both of us silently holding onto one and other as our mouths hung loosely together exchanging quivering breaths, her wings draping loosely over my forelegs as they cradled around her.

She gently rolled her muzzle forward, reconnecting our lips in as a gentle kiss the world had ever seen. My ears rang softly as I drew in heavy breaths through my nose, my body tipping subconsciously with her as we both drifted sideways. I was almost surprised when my side met the bed, unaware as to how exactly it had arrived there. I would have searched for answers or deduced a simple chain of events, but I simply lacked the energy. It was easier just to accept the events as they came. I was here, the bed was there, and my wife was in my arms...

We held onto each other, both of our bodies spent as my tired stallionhood began to wilt inside of her. I gazed into the liquid gems of her sparkling eyes as she slowly blinked them open with a serene smile. She leaned forward and took my lips in another delicate kiss. "I love you, Shining..." she whispered in the most minuscule voice imaginable as her eyes fluttered, struggling to hold their weight.

I hugged her tightly into my chest, our bodies still intertwined as a damp wave of exhaustion overtook me. She was everything to me. My world, my sun. The literal center of my universe. I leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead as she silently curled her face into my chest. "I love you too, Cadance..."

No response came as her body gently rose and fell with each soft breath. My weighted eyelids drifted slowly shut as I exhaled a contented sigh into her mane. Today had been perfect, just as tonight promised to be. My eyes dimmed as I began to drift slowly away to meet her once again behind the veil of my dreamscape, a stupid grin settling across my muzzle.

"Goodnight, my bride..."

~~~~~~~

Epilogue

~~~~~~~

"So I said to him, I said, 'Now look here you ruffian! You WILL be replacing that shipment of timber or else I have been given authority by Prince Shining Armor himself to immediately nullify all lumber contracts with the crown, past, present and pending!'"

I paced across the stage paying only the bare minimum attention courtesy demanded as I stared off vaguely into space, my mind lost elsewhere. "Uh-huh, well done, Tible."

"I'll tell you, he didn't have much to say after that." Tible beamed proudly. "It was actually rather exhilarating to give that brute his comeuppance."

I idly nodded my head, responding in an almost autonomous tone, "I'm sure it would have been, Tible."

I didn't mean to be rude, but my mind still had not yet escaped the previous day as it swam through a sea of thoughts and minuscule recollections. Cadance had left early this morning, slipping back to the Crystal Capital before suspicions could be aroused. It had been difficult seeing her leave and there was no denying that I would miss her terribly, but she hadn't left me empty hooved. She left me with a set of memories that would help to sustain me until we were reunited again. Memories not of anything as fleeting as simply being "happy" or as cheap as sexual satisfaction. No, what she left me with was a solidified form to which I could cling in my times alone. Memories of intimacy in its deepest and purest form. Memories with which I could remind myself that somewhere out there at this very moment, there was a mare with which I could share my entire being and for whom I would conquer any challenge. A mare in which I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I loved. And a mare who I could intrinsically trust to love me back.

A grin settled across my muzzle as I stared dopily into thin air.

"Are you alright, your Highne- er, pardon. I mean- Captain?" Tible looked me over, his gaze askew with concern.

I lingered a moment longer, stealing a last seconds pleasure as I enjoyed the quiet contented feelings of warmth radiating from my thoughts. "Yes, I'm fine, Tible. And while I would still prefer you call me Shining, that's okay. You can refer to me in whichever way makes you most comfortable."

"Oh?" Tible's brow perked upwards, a slight grin peeling across his face. "Coming to terms with this 'whole prince thing' are we, your Highness?"

The beginnings of a smile curled in the corner of my lip. "You could say that I've had some time to re-consider my standing on the subject."

"I wouldn't suppose that would have anything to do with the messenger you received from the princess yesterday, would it?"

I kicked my hoof idly against the floorboards with a shrug. "Possibly. Must have been something in the letter she sent."

"Oh. Well, that's odd." Tible narrowed his eyes slyly while turning his head to retrieve something from his detritus filled saddlebag. "And here I thought this envelope I found on the floor of the hall yesterday contained that letter."

I stared down at the sealed envelope at a loss for words. That wasn't good... I had been caught, and by my own steward nonetheless.

Tible paced toward me. "Hmm. It would seem I must have been mistaken," he said with a shrewd smile as he placed the envelope in my hoof.

"Tible-"

"Not to worry, your Highness. I wouldn't dream of embarrassing myself by telling another soul of my mistaken perceptions," Tible cut me off with a wave of his hoof and a good-natured smile as he began to turn away, gesturing my gaze down to the letter in my hoof with a prick of his brow.

I chuckled warmly to myself. He was clever, perhaps too clever for me sometimes. Thankfully I had him on my side.

"Thank you, Tible. Really."

He paced away across the stage, already busying himself as he flicked through his notepad. "Think nothing of it... Shining," he hummed, mouthing my name uneasily.

I smiled to myself. Alone, I lifted the letter to my face to read the ornate script adorning its front. The envelope smelled like her. Not of a manufactured perfume mask, but the naturally sweet fragrance of her body. My nostrils flared as I instinctively inhaled a deep breath of its bouquet.

A giddy thrill spread down my spine as I examined the text adorning the envelope. Her writing was as delicate and elegant as she was, flowing in long artistic lines and gentle curves. 'For the eyes of Prince Shining Armor,' it read, the 'i' of my name dotted with a flirtatious and very unofficial love heart. Pathetically, I even loved the way she wrote...

I spun the letter over and peeled back the wax seal holding the enveloped closed. Seizing the letter within the soft purple glow of my magical aura, I carefully extracted it from the envelope and began to slowly read:

Far away, in a tower not of masonry nor stone.

In a spire of crystal and gem,

A princess waits alone.

She counts the stars and numbers her day.

She waits by the window,

For her knight in shining armour to return from far away.

Her vigil is lonely,

The nights long and cruel.

She is trapped by her duty,

The curse of those who rule.

Still she waits,

Her heart hopeful against fear.

Perhaps it won't be so long,

Before she can hold him near.

Close your eyes and think of her,

And here she will be.

Miracles happen every day,

Especially for you and me.

My heart sank in my chest as I silently mouthed the final lines. She was my miracle. It had only been a few hours since she left, and already my heart pined for her. I missed her. It really was that simple. She had come all this way to alleviate my ailment, but now with her gone...

If only there was some way to ease the sinking feeling in my chest. If only there was some way to reclaim the part of my heart that felt so vividly absent. I could think only of one remedy...

"Tible. I've been informed that I must attend an emergency Equestrian security summit. It will require me to be away for a day or two."

"Very good, your Highness. I have your train tickets ready and a small bag packed for you already.”

~~~~~~~

Most Welcome News

~~~~~~~

Sleep

I've been getting a lot more of it lately. There were many things I missed about being a captain of the illustrious Canterlot Royal Guard. The shrill bugle of a reveille horn certainly was not among them however.

I stretched out my legs with a strained groan as a series resounding cracks rippled satisfyingly throughout my back. An indulgent smile crept across my muzzle as I let my body fall limp, dropping back into the feather-soft mattress to be absorbed once more. My tired body sank back into the indentation of the luxurious resting place with a satisfying "pomf" as an arrangement of cool sheets floated down serenely to settle snugly against my form. I may never find out what a pegasus feels like sleeping on a cloud, but I think I could venture a guess right now...

Flexing my legs slightly, I pulled the long pillow wrapped between my legs into a tighter embrace, gently squeezing its soft form against the slow, rhythmic metronome of my heartbeat.

Perhaps being cuddled up to a pillow, sharing a tender embrace with a sack of down and feathers was not the most dignified of positions for a prince, but in that moment, I couldn't have cared less. I slowly blinked my eyes open and looked across to the space beside me on the large double bed.

"Good morning, my bride," I softly whispered as an incorrigiblely stupid grin spread across my face. I couldn't help it. I could do nothing less than beam each time I got to say those words. 'Those magical words...' Even if I hadn't had the chance to say them directly to her in quite some time...

I blinked lazily at the picture frame laying atop a pillow on the empty bed space beside me. Within the simple wooden frame sat a picture of her highness, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of pictures, paintings and sculptures of the crystal princess displayed throughout the Empire. The crystal ponies loved their saviour of a princess, and it showed in their depictions of her. Only the highest levels of craftsmanship were admissible in capturing her likeness. Each statuesque rendition of their princess was to be painstakingly chiselled with limitless care and attention. Each painting lovingly hoof detailed to nothing short of perfection. Each photograph carefully staged and screened by only the most lauded of photographers.

None of those depictions were like this one though. This one lacked any crown or regalia, no exotic finery, no perfectly styled, gem embroidered hairstyles. Just her, there, immortalized in film by a picture I had taken myself.

I gazed doe eyed at the image, an unmistakable warmth building within my chest. She lay half turned from the camera, a ripple of bed sheets draping over her shapely waist. Her expression remained groggy from waking up on some unremarkable and forgotten morning. Her mane sat ever so slightly askew, a few wayward stands hanging loosely across her face somehow only seeming to add to her allure. Her dainty, rounded muzzle pointed slightly down and away from the camera, but her eyes stared up, shimmering like the finest gems of the Empire.

Even while contained behind the well-worn glass of a picture frame and sealed within the eternal torpor of cellulose film, it seemed as if her gaze could still reach out and grasp me, convincing my heart to cease its beat while willingly entering into the rapture of her enchantment. Her bewitching eyes proved themselves no less potent on this occasion than they had done the day before, or the day before that...

I cherished every detail of this photo, just as I cherished every detail of the pony it depicted. Her cheeks blushed a faint shade crimson as her brow pricked ever so slightly upwards; shy, uncertain, yet still somehow wholeheartedly trusting. A tiny dimple formed in her delicate cheek as her soft lips parted to give a timid smile. 'That luminous, heart melting, smile...' A smile that simply oozed sweetness and sincerity. A minuscule signal of approval by which I could validate my entire existence for having garnered.

The same goofy grin from earlier spread uncontrollably across my face again as a swarm of butterflies awoke to flutter within my chest. That smile felt so close. If I could just strain my ears hard enough, I'd be able to hear her dainty giggle drifting idly through the air.

This was a picture like no other. A picture just for me. A picture not of the crystal ruler, nor the princess of love.

This was a picture of Cadance. A picture as perhaps only I knew her. The pony I loved, and who for some unfathomable and blessed reason, had chosen to love me back.

A picture I cherished. A picture of my bride.

I flexed my legs again, squeezing the pillow tightly against my chest and stomach once more, nuzzling against it as my eyes drifted shut, a dopey grin lingering across my face as infatuated feelings of warmth pulsated throughout my body. Not the most dignified position for a prince, but again, I couldn't care less...

'Just five more minutes, Shining. Don't worry about it, Shining. You stress too much, Shining'.

I stomped back and forth across the large captain's quarters angrily muttering to myself. 'Two hours. TWO, HOURS. How do you oversleep by two hours, Shining?'.

I forced myself to halt my pacing, deciding it would be best if I didn't wear the pattern of my hooves into the new floors. With a weak grunt I stepped over to the room's wash basin. I looked up at a simple mirror overhanging a porcelain vessel filled with clear water. Dipping my hoof into the cool liquid, I confronted my reflection with a protracted sigh.

"This new title is turning you soft, Captain," I growled disapprovingly through squinted eyes before splashing my face, the waters chill touch snapping me to attention. "No time to waste though, you've got important things to do." I straightened myself before puffing out my chest and thrusting my hoof forward, locking my elbow in place and pointing accusingly at my duplicate in the mirror. "So quit powdering your nose and get your flank moving, Princess!" I bellowed to myself in my best drill instructor's tone.

Satisfied with my short bout of self-deprecation, I hurried to the door of my chamber, briskly pushing through it and passing into the central barracks of the guard house. It was a simple set-up; A utilitarian bunk accompanied by a small metal hoof locker made up each station, one of which I had originally planned on occupying during my stay. The Guard house's architect had insisted that such accommodation would be a "travesty" for a prince however and instead had a side room converted into a captain's quarters. I would have argued, but the promise of a double bed and down pillows made it difficult to protest....

'Soft,' a voice reverberated mockingly through the back of my mind.

I shook the thought from my mind and stopped at the rooms threshold to watch as a hoof full of guard ponies milling about quickly snapped to attention, saluting upon my entry. I stepped forward, marching slowly through the centre of the room as I silently examined the state of the barracks and its occupants. 'No, no, no...' I groaned internally as I paraded past row upon row of unmade and detritus strewn bunks. 'That stallion's chest guard is scuffed. That one is saluting with the wrong hoof, Is that one missing a horse shoe...? . It took the combined efforts of every ounce of self-control at my command to prevent myself from face hoofing then and there. Such standards would have never stood in Canterlot. This was not Canterlot though... and these were not royal guards, not yet at least. In truth, each of these ponies were still little more than a trainee. When Sombra invaded a thousand years ago, those ponies with the strength and constitution to face him did so; and paid the price. The new generation would have to be trained from the ground up.

I shook out my neck and exhaled a hot, frustrated breath of air, hesitating a moment before forcing myself to offer a reluctant salute and begrudging sign of approval to the nervous rabble of foals. "One step at a time Shining, one step at a time," I muttered to myself while quickly making my way through the front doors. 'They have a LONG way to go... For now though, I just need to-'

"Your Highness!"

'Ah!' I recoiled sideways, more than a little startled by the unexpected greeting.

"So happy to see you awake, did you sleep well?" a voice waiting outside the barracks door chirped enthusiastically.

I looked down to find my court steward, Tible, staring back up at me expectantly with a wide grin. Clearing my throat, I hastily gathered a rushed response, "Oh, yes- hello, Tible. I slept fine thank you." I said as a specific and glaring artifact of his sentence crossed unpleasantly though my mind. "And for the last time, you can call me Shining."

"Generous as that is, your Highness, I'm afraid I am unable to oblige. I would be remiss in my duty as steward to refer to you by anything other than your rightful title, your Eminence," he chirped pleasantly.

"Please, Tible," I replied, flattening my ears with a sigh, "just tone it down a notch. This whole 'prince thing' isn't sitting so well with me right now."

"This... prince thing?" Tible scoffed just short of horrified. "Uh- yes well, very well. As you wish, your Hi-"

I spun my head, furrowing my brow and shooting Tible an unamused expression.

"Uh, That is, I meant to say- Captain," Tible swiftly corrected with a sheepish smile.

"That'll do," I exhaled as I set off at a slow pace toward the center of town, gesturing for Tible to follow. "Now, how are we progressing today? Anything I should be made aware of?" I slowly swiveled my head in an arc, examining the bustling scene before me. In every direction ponies hurried along freshly carved dirt roads, some hauling cart fulls of material, others scurrying to different work sites while still more busily erected signs and street lamps.

I gazed up at a group of four stallions in fluorescent jackets and hard hats working to erect a freshly painted sign post. One stood atop a step ladder hammering a series of nails into the large wooden sign while the other three stood around its base, staring up and sipping thermoses.

'Why does there always seem to be one pony working for every three standing around "supervising"? Must be some kind of worker's union regulation...'

One of the workponies idly glanced sideways, his gaze at first passing over me without incident before snapping back in a double take.

"Your Highness!" He fumbled his thermos and immediately dropped into a polite bow, the others quickly following suit. The fourth stallion wobbled backwards and tumbled off the ladder and onto his back with a yelp. He gazed up at me from his back, regarding me upside down before cringing through a nervous smile, "Ow... I mean- good morning, your Highness!"

I raised my brow. "Uhh, good morning, Gentlecolts. Are uh- you alright?" I winced at the fourth work pony while stepping forward to offer him a hoof.

The stallion scrunched low to the ground as another from the group, a white stallion wearing a differently coloured vest, stepped forward. "Oh yes, your Eloquence! He's fine! Don't you worry yourself none about us, your Splendidness!"

"Are you sure? That looked like quite the fall..."

The fourth work pony scoffed with a laugh while still on his back, "HA! Bollocks! t'was nothin', you should'a seen the time I- Ow!" He was swiftly interrupted as the white forepony delivered a stern kick to his shoulder while shooting me an apologetic grin. "Huh? Oh- I mean... Banish thine concern, your High Royalness. I am most well- and good. Thank thee...?" the stallion stumbled uncertainly as his supervisor nodded along.

"See, mi' Lord!" the forepony shot with a grin, "Nothing that merits your concern. We have everything under control."

Passers by had begun to take note of the spectacle, stopping what they were doing to watch as I stood above the still overturned stallion. "Uhh yea, well, if you say so... keep up the good work?" I crowed, growing increasingly uncomfortable.

"Oh we will. your Benevolence!'

"Have a good day, your Highness!"

"Thank you, your Princefulnes!" they all chimed together as I began to scoot away.

I trotted briskly by, each pony along the street stopping to regard me with a short bow and a friendly greeting as Tible hobbled behind.

I ducked around a corner into a quieter side street, slowing my pace with a sigh. There was once a time when I was surrounded by stallions and mares with mouths that could make even the saltiest of airship crews blush. Now everyone I met was just so... well mannered.

'Soft...'

"I'm so sorry- about that, Captain." Tible stumbled while catching his breath as he rounded the corner after me. "The nerve of some ponies, It's- simply reprehensible."

"It's fine, Tible, I'm just glad to see everypony working. Besides, a little informality never hurt, right?"

"While addressing royalty, it most certainly could!" Tible Scoffed. "Although," Tible turned away with a sly smirk, rummaging through his saddlebag for something, "I suppose it is nice to see progress being made..." He returned producing a freshly printed promotional flyer.

I reached across taking the parchment from him. "Quartzite Ridge. Open for business," I read aloud.

"Indeed it is, Captain!" Tible beamed. "Things are proceeding swimmingly beneath your supervision. In a matter of weeks, I dare say Quartzite Ridge shall be quite the bustling little town."

"I hope so, Tible. It would be great to return home soon..." I drew in a solemn tone.

"I'd imagine so, Captain," Tible gave a knowing nod. "This is the third kick started settlement project you've overseen in as many months. I'd imagine you must be feeling awfully homesick by now. Missing the palace and such."

"Hmm? Oh, yes- of course." The Palace? Not so much. A certain somepony? More than perhaps was reasonable... "Still, like you said, only a few more weeks to go," I hummed with half-hearted optimism. "Assuming there are no more delays, that is."

"Ah. Yes. Regarding that..." Tible responded with no small amount of masked hesitation. He whipped out his faithful notepad from the saddlebag strewn across his back and busily flicked through the scribble choked pages. "There are a few teeeeeny matters that have arisen overnight that may require the briefest of your attention."

My eyebrow shot upwards as I peered sideways, my shaky optimism quickly suffocating beneath a noxious smog. "What kind of matters?," I prodded cautiously.

"Weeell, nothing particularly dire I'm sure, Captain," Tible strung out his words reluctantly while balancing a pair of reading spectacles atop his snout. "Let's see... Ah, yes, a private messenger from the Crystal Capitol arrived for you this morning. They have been directed to the newly finished town hall to await your audience."

'A messenger? Well, I suppose that isn't so bad, I wonder what they-'

"The latest shipment of timber also arrived from the lumber yard this morning," Tible interrupted my thought as he flicked to the next page in his pad. "Buuut it is reported to have been heavily infested by termites."

'What?! Termites? The materials stockpile is all but empty, and I can't use compromised timber! I was counting on that shipment to begin work on the framing of the western homesteads.'

"The crew responsible for construction of plot 32 have also been reported as taking ill," Tible continued. "Something about sharing a batch of poison berries they found on a nearby bush."

'WHAT?! That project is already weeks behind! Now those dunder heads can't work because they couldn't wait for snack time?'

"Aaaaand finally, the structure atop plot 17 may or may not have collapsed overnight," Tible finished, bracing himself, breath withheld. "But other than that, everything is going swimmingly!" he chirped with a forced smile.

'....... Ugh.......... just............ ugh...'

One thing after another. It's how it always was. Weeks worth of accumulated frustration trickled into a noxious pool rising within my chest. It was as if this entire project was conspiring to keep me from home. Oh Tible. Dear, sweet, gentle Tible. None of this was your fault, yet it seemed that you would be the one unfortunate enough to witness me break and boil over. Here it comes, I can't stop it, hold on!

"I see..." I stated flatly, much to my own surprise. "Thank you for bringing these matters to my attention, Tible. Here is what I would like you to do, if you would please," I continued, a slight twitch in my eye developing as the only blemish on my facade of composure.

Tible hesitated for a moment, seemingly expecting a much different reaction to the one he received. He shook out his head before flipping to a fresh page, quill at the ready.

"Please compose and send a letter on my behalf to the lumber yard forepony politely informing him that he will be replacing the latest shipment of timber immediately and at his own expense."

'Wow, that came out far more cordially than I was expecting.'

"Also, if it would not be too much trouble, could you please pass on my regards and a small basket of assorted fruits to the ill workponies along with my best wishes for a speedy recovery."

'Well, well, well. Look at you, Mister cool, calm and collected.'

"And one final thing. If you could please inform the crews that were set to start work framing the western homesteads that they will unfortunately be unable to begin due to unforeseeable circumstances. Have one of the crews diverted to continue work on plot 32 while the others go to plot 17 and salvage whatever they can from the collapsed structure.

'Hmm, maybe all of this is having a positive effect on me...'

Tible smiled as he dotted the final point on his notepad using his trusty quill. "Most excellent, Captain, most excellent. I will make the necessary arrangements at once! One question however? What if the lumber yard forepony does not accept your terms?"

A dark, deep chuckle rumbled up from within my chest as an unnerving off-kilter grin broke across my muzzle. "Then I shall be politely sending along a phalanx of guardsponies to deliver a set of graphic and meticulously detailed instructions as to where he can shove his timber... possibly with a small basket of assorted fruits."

'Hmm, then again, maybe not such a positive effect...'

Tible suddenly choked on what could have only been his own saliva as he coughed and sputtered. "Prince Shining Armor! Such a thing to say! It is not becoming of royalty."

"You're right, you're right," I sighed, half grinning like a foal amused by the image, "I'm sorry."

"Yes, well; never the less, fear not. We'll have all this straightened out in no time with your instruction I'm sure."

"Thank you, Tible," I groaned, not entirely proud of my brief outburst. I had been doing so well up until that point too...

"Best we go see to that messenger in the mean-time though, wouldn't you agree, Captain?" Tible asked, his bright tone returning.

I nodded my head. 'Best we go make sure the Capitol isn't on fire... That's all I'd need today.'

Tible and I approached the modest town hall while discussing minor logistical details for the coming day. It may not have been a particularly large structure, but the spiral building had a charm all its own. It stood apart from its peers simply by virtue of being one of the few wholly finished structures in sight. In a town full of construction projects, even a window sealed with a pane of glass proved to be quite the luxury.

Tible rushed forward from my side as I turned to speak to him. He raced ahead to fling open and hold a small unassuming door, bowing his head low with a smile while gesturing for me to pass. "After you, Captain."

I winced slightly, my ears falling back with a courteous smile as I scooted by. It was a common place and kind gesture, but one that still left me bitterly uncomfortable. 'Not even opening your own doors anymore, shiny?' Having things done for me; it just made me feel...

'Soft'

Tible hurried back beside me allowing the door to seal behind us. The side entry had led us directly onto the elevated stage of the town hall, its freshly laid and lacquered boards creaking quietly under hoof as we passed. Sealed from the fresh air of the outside world, my nostrils flared with the thick smell of freshly layered varnish. It was a good smell, the smell of progress.

"It's come out rather nicely, wouldn't you agree, your Highness?" Tible hummed absent-mindedly, gazing up at the rich Empire tapestries hanging from the tall ceiling.

"Shining Armor," I corrected again, "or captain, if you must, Tible. And yes, it actually has turned out pretty great." It was strange. In the past three months, I had never taken the time to just stop and admire a finished product of our collective labour. There was always something new to move on to, the accomplishments of today shrivelled and forgotten beneath plans for tomorrow's challenge. A smile crept across my face as I trotted across the stage, gazing up at the high vaulted ceiling and its intricate joinery. "It came out amazingly," I chuckled to myself more than anyone.

"Indeed it has, your Highness," came an unclaimed voice from the foot of the stage.

I snapped my gaze downwards to find a figure garbed in a heavy brown, hooded cloak, their face obscured as they held their head turned low.

'Who is... wait-'

"Oh, I'm sorry. I hadn't noticed you there," Tible injected, disapproval thick in his tone as he stepped between the figure and I. "I was beginning to wonder where you had gotten off too." He turned back to address me with an apologetic smile, "So sorry for the interruption, Captain. May I present a rather insistent messenger from the Crystal Capitol awaiting your audience?"

I leaned my head around Tible, squinting past him at the figure as they continued to stare down at the floor.

'There's something about...'

"Captain?" Tible moved his face between us, obstructing my view.

I shot a curt nod to him before opening my mouth to address the messenger.

"Hmphhmmm!" Tible loudly cleared his throat, unwittingly cutting me off while closing his eyes and raising his neck proudly. "Prrrresenting his royal highness, Prince- Shining Armor, his lordship of the Crystal Empire! Prepared to grant thee an audience," he declared prominently, all progress I had made in convincing him to lower the pretence of formality vaporizing in an instant. "I would ask that you keep your address brief, as I assure you his lordships time is quite valuable." He spared no contortion or acrobatic of pronunciation in his declaratios, rolling his "R's" and lathering gratuitous emphasis onto every syllable. He grinned while moving aside and returning my stolen view to me, a tingle of self satisfaction evident in his upturned snout at having been set loose from his leash and return ever so briefly to the pomp and formality of a civilized court.

"Uh... Yea- thank you, Tible," I stumbled, uncertain how to proceed in the wake of Tible's bombastic introduction. "Hello!" That's always a good start. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long, there were a few 'incidents' this morning," I groaned through a weak chuckle while scratching the back of my neck awkwardly. "I hope that you haven't come all this way to deliver bad news. I could use some good news today..."

"Well, that depends entirely on your definition of 'good news', my prince," the figure responded with a restrained titter on a smooth, honey-laden voice, their head still bowed to the floor.

My eyes shot open, as did Tible's, although apparently for very different reasons. "No..." I whispered to myself cautiously as I stared down at the cloaked figure.

Tible's eyes meanwhile ballooned, no doubt livid at the messengers tone of address. "Young lady, one does not giggle, while addressing royalty."

"Tible," I interrupted. "I need you to go and implement the arrangements with the workers we discussed this morning."

Puzzled, Tible cocked his head unsurely at me. "Now? your Highness?"

"Now," I barked with slightly more force than intended. "If you would please, Tible," I corrected my tone as I continued to stare down at the figure at the foot of the stage.

"Umm... Very well, your Highness. I will take my leave then." Tible glanced harshly back at the messenger one last time as he quickly trotted his way back across the stage to exit through the side door. He meant well, but that steward was born to the formality of a court and could be awfully protective of me sometimes...

The door cracked shut behind him, sending a loud 'SLAM' reverberating through the otherwise empty hall. The messenger and I stood in a long pervasive silence as the echoes rang and died, giving way to absolute stillness. My mind raced as I stretched my senses, rechecking perceived possibilities.

The messenger seemed to fidget uncomfortably beneath their cloak as I stared down at them, my gaze perhaps slightly more intense than would have been considered 'polite'.

"I- uhh- have a message from the princess to deliver," they murmured in the same symphonic voice as before while reaching down into a saddle bag and retrieving a sealed letter in their mouth.

'That voice, it had to be! I'd stake all four of my hooves on it.'

"YOU!" I hurled myself forward from the stage landing heavily by the figures side. I swept them up in my forelegs while spinning on my hind set, twirling them in the air around me as they squeaked in surprise. Their hood fell back against the momentum to reveal a coat of soft pink fur and a silken mane of staged indigo, violet and cream.

"Cadance!" I gawked, my face exploding into an unreasonably large grin.

Her carefully crafted cover blown, she tucked her head into her shoulders as I spun her around me. "Hi," she peeped through a sheepish smile.

I fell back to my haunches, wrapping my forelegs around her slender frame from beneath her wings and pulling her into a tight embrace balanced upon my lap. I stared at her, my mouth agape with its corners upturned in an incessant smile. She laughed gingerly, no doubt at the ridiculous procession of dumbfounded expressions alternating across my face. "I don't... what are you... how did..." I stammered over myself, unable to formulate a complete sentence as my mind raced in a thousand directions at once.

I looked back up at her, my face hanging loose in a slack jawed expression that could only be described as 'unbecoming'.

Cadance tilted her head, her expression forming into a (far more elegant) grin of her own. "Surprise?" she giggled meekly with a blush.

Words. I'd been using them for what I'd call a good portion of my life, yet now it suddenly seemed as if none would avail me. I giggled stupidly while croaking the occasional sound from my throat that never quite eventuated into a sentence.

'Forget it, questions can come later.'

I leaned forward, seizing her lips with my own in an unexpected but apparently not unwelcome embrace. Her head craned back as her brow shot upright and wings flared outward. She blushed heavily, giving off a muffled giggle before settling back into the kiss, her eyes drifting shut as her lips melded with mine to return their affection in a slow and tender exchange.

My senses were set ablaze, every last neuron within my mind firing simultaneously. The warmth of her soft lips, the taste of her breath exchanging with mine, the feel of her silken fur intermingling with my coat as her body pressed down against me...

Magic.

It was as if electricity sparked throughout my entire body. My breathing all but stopped, deemed wholly unimportant in comparison to the sensation pulsating through me. My mind fell to a gibbering, incoherent mess, not knowing what to do with itself. I pressed my muzzle to hers, deepening our kiss as she responded in kind. Her outstretched wings slowly descended to close around my back, their feathered tips gently caressing along my spine, sending a euphoric shiver racing up my vertebrae. The corners of my lips curled uncontrollably upwards, bunching up my cheeks until they ached with bliss.

'I could stay like this forever. The world could be on fire and I wouldn't care. Heck, *I** could be on fire and I wouldn't care. I feel so amazing, so energetic, so alive, so lightheaded... and kind of dizzy now that I think of it... I wonder why- Breathing! I should probably do that breathing thing a few times... In just a second... Okay 3, 2, 1.... Wait, just two more seconds... Wow, I've never seen colours like that before...'*

Reluctantly, I pulled my lips from hers as she leant forward, seemingly not wanting to let them go. Drawing my head back and taking in a breath, I sat watching her dumbfounded, drunk on her mere presence.

"My my, Captain. Is that how you welcome every messenger?" She giggled luminously.

I snapped myself from my daze and consciously tried to reign in my grin, attempting to salvage a shred of masculine dignity from the situation with a nonchalant tone. "Well that depends on whether they have good news for me or not," I said with a shrug, suppressing a giddy and wholly unstalionesque titter of my own.

Her ears dropped back against her scalp as she lowered her head slightly and her expression softened beneath unsure eyes. "Aand, is this good news?," she asked cautiously.

My brow shot upright. "Cadnce, how could you being here be anything but good news?"

Her head shrunk back into her shoulder as she avoided my gaze. "Well, I know you're really busy here and that you have important work to do, and I know you keep saying that everything is going fine, but I worry when you're so far away and it's been so long since I got to see you last-"

"Cadance-"

"And I'm the one who sent you out here, and I know you said you were happy to go for the Empire, but in the end, I'm still the reason why you have to be so far from home-"

"Cadance-"

"And I was worried you maybe wouldn't want to see me because it's my fault you have to be so far away from home and the palace, and it takes so much longer for you to get your sisters mail out here, and-"

"Cadance!" I placed a hoof gently against her cheek and leaned in, softly pressing my lips to hers again, her mental loop breaking as we settled into another kiss.

"It's good news," I whispered softly as I pulled away with a grin, her glittering eyes finally rising to meet mine with a smile.

~~~~~~~