How to Steal Centuries

by biologic orthodoxy

Rating: mature
Tags: Romance, Princess Cadance, Comedy, Shining Armor, Sex, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 7862

Shining Armor gets a promotion.

Side-story to Field Notes on Alicorn Reproductive Behavior.

Shining Armor earns a promotion.

Published 2012-05-08 21:34:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-05-08 21:34:02 UTC

Or, Marital Bliss

The carriage wheels squeaked as Cadence and Shining Armor’s wedding van rolled down the even whitestone road and out the tall gates of Canterlot Town into the idyllic, manicured countryside surrounding it.

The newlyweds were finally alone together for the first time since their wedding; the ceremonial Royal Guards who had been “pulling” the carriage had politely taken their leave at the station just inside the walls, wishing the two of them a pleasant honeymoon in Manehattan. Lieutenant Nox of the Night Guard had assured Shining Armor that she’d see to it that Canterlot was still more or less intact when Shining returned, giving her old friend a suggestive grin and telling him to get out of there, already.

Now the little carriage rolled along the road under its own power, guided by a rather clever spell expertly weaved by none other than Princess Celestia herself...according to directions from her most faithful student.

“Twilight was so cute,” Cadence gushed, leaning her head on Shining’s shoulder. “You’d think she’d never even seen the princess before...and Auntie was being so mean, teasing her like that.”

Shining held his head up in the same exaggerated pose of attention Celestia had affected as Twilight directed her spellcraft. “‘What’s the next step, miss Sparkle?’ Heavens above, she’s a terror when she’s in a good mood...made Twilee’s day to be directing her magic, though, I expect.”

Cadence nuzzled his shoulder, a sassy grin spreading across her face. “Mmm...speaking of making ponies’ days...now that we’re newlyweds, I am reliably informed that we can finally...hmm, what’s the word...oh, right.” She rose from his shoulder to give him a playfully suggestive expression. “We can finally consummate our love, my beloved husband.”

The pair suddenly looked away from one another--Cadence deeply interested in a hoof, while Shining Armor looked out at the night sky through the rear window. Each cleared their throat from time to time, shaking their head and recomposing their blank look.

Then their eyes met and they both bloomed huge smiles and snickered like schoolfoals. The snickers became chuckles, which went on for some time until Cadence darted her head forward and kissed her husband on the neck, making him gasp and burst out laughing. Cadence leaned against him, her own laughter matching his.

“Who said that to you?! Please tell me it wasn’t my mother...” Shining Armor asked between bursts of laughter.

Cadence sniffed, wiping a tear from her eye. “Oh, no...it was that pegasus friend of Twilight’s, the quiet one...”

“Fluttershy?”

“Ah! Yes. Her. Oh, I feel awful, I should remember...”

Shining kissed her on the forehead. “It’s Twilight I feel sorry for if her friends still use the word ‘consummate’...”

“Ah, well, it was just that poor pegasus. She’s so adorable, I couldn’t help but tease her about looking forward to the wedding night.” Cadence adopted an expression of ridiculously exaggerated innocence. “‘Everyone seems so excited about it, for some reason! I wonder if something magical happens!’”

The two of them continued giggling into each other for awhile, burning off a little of the adrenaline and leftover tension from their wedding day, which had been exaggerated somewhat by the inconvenience presented by Equestrian society teetering on the edge of destruction for a moment.

“Oh, poor Twilight...we’re so bad to her, honestly,” Cadence murmured, laying her head against Shining’s chest.

“How she never caught us at it, I’ll never know...”

Cadence snorted amusement. “Well, if you want to know the truth, Auntie may have hinted to me that one day her favorite student had shown up for lessons looking puzzled and asking some very pointed questions...” She gave her husband a little punch. “Maybe somepony should learn to be quiet when he’s feeling...hmm...good.”

Shining gave his princess a playfully stern look. “Why did my parents trust somepony like you to watch her, again?”

“Ah, well...” Cadence murmured, a sly grin spread across her face. “No matter how old Twilight got, I was always so good at getting her to bed well before time...”

Shining sighed theatrically. “And it was amazing how I was always such a responsible elder brother, rushing through his training to get home in time to take care of his younger sister! But lo and behold, she was already asleep...”

Shining leaned down and kissed his bride, who responded rather eagerly, humming happily as their lips met.

Eventually they managed to pull themselves apart.

“So! Married!” Shining said, not unhappily.

“I know,” Cadence said, looking away. “Who would have thought I’d marry that scruffy jerk excuse for an older brother my favorite little filly had all those years ago?”

“He cleaned up pretty nice,” Shining replied, somewhat offended.

Cadence gave him a smoldering look. “You don’t need to tell me that, believe me...”

“No, I don’t!” Shining said gleefully, pointing with a hoof.

Cadence followed his hoof to one of her wings, which was twitching somewhat suggestively. She gave him a faux-apologetic look and cleared her throat...then gave him a somewhat wary look. “Shining, uh...about...about these...”

“They’re very nice,” Shining said, running a hoof along the leading edge of one of them in a way he knew drove her insane.

Cadence grinned weakly. “Yes, thank...thank you, dear. But, um, speaking of my aunt...and my wings...”

Shining’s hoof paused. “What is it?”

The princess didn’t say anything for awhile, but curled into her husband. Reflexively, he cradled her gently in his hooves, looking down at her as she stared out a window and giving her time to assemble her thoughts.

“Auntie reminded me...um...that there’s something we really need to talk about, now that I’m getting older...it’s about...er...”

Shining’s ears stuck straight up in sudden alarm. “You’re not preg—”

“No! No, heavens no!” Cadence said quickly. “But, er...it’s sort of on that topic.”

There was a little pause for awhile while Shining Armor reminded himself that he was Captain of the Guard, a national hero, and certainly courageous enough to deal with whatever his beloved wife had to tell him about...pregnancy stuff. “Whatever it is, I’m sure we can deal with it.” Just to reinforce his point, he gave her a little peck on the forehead.

Cadence grimaced. “See, you say that, but...”

The carriage rolled down the road, glowing slightly under the spectacular starlit sky which had been specially arranged for their benefit for quite some time, as a muted conversation took place within.

Eventually:

“A what!?”

~(<3)~

Many, many moonlit nights passed between that night...and this one.

Cadence lay alone on a bed in one of the side towers of Canterlot, the room lit only dimly by a low fire and a bright column of moonlight shining in from a tall window—one which Princess Luna had been rather emphatic was difficult to fly out of. Her head was raised, eyes shut, as she took in a deep breath through her mouth and let it out through her nose.

And again.

And again, as she had been doing all day.

Occasionally one of her wings jerked madly and her lip twitched in irritation. Sweat beaded on her forehead even though the season was turning to late autumn and a noticeable chill rode the wind, enough even to make the roaring fireplace nearby seem immeasurably distant—not that she needed it to feel unbearably warm.

Her lips trembled, an indistinct hissing noise the only sound escaping through her teeth, which were clamped tightly shut.

Oh, heavens, she was trying to talk again, the very small part of her that remained totally in her control groaned. She’d found this whole process somewhat embarrassing, and now understood Auntie and Luna’s reluctance to discuss it all too well. But to her mind, personally, the worst part was listening to her...part...speak with her mouth, begging for the one pony who could help her, make her feel better...

She let herself sigh, to get it over with.

“Sh...Shining...” she managed to suppress into a whimper.

“I’m here,” he replied, calmly.

She hadn’t even noticed him coming in—or perhaps she had, but it had gotten so mixed up with all the other weirdness going on in her mind right now that she’d mistaken it for a hallucination or a fantasy. But now she let her eyes open and see him standing there, proud and handsome as ever in his uniform and armor, smiling down at her.

A flare of desire surged in her, and she had to force herself to remain in place despite her body’s immediate need to pounce on him. His only reaction was to stiffen very slightly—brave creature!

They spent a somewhat tense moment watching each other, until Cadence mumbled, “I’m...I’m on top of it.”

“Good,” Shining said gently. “You’re being very tough.”

“Mmm,” Cadence replied, not trusting her mouth to stay obedient for long. It was always so much harder with him right there in the room with her, so she closed her eyes and resumed her breathing exercises, trying to shut out the little sounds of him stripping off his armor and uniform—little grunts and the sound of things being dragged across his coat, it was maddening.

“I’m fine!” she declared, loudly, to prove it.

“You’re doing great, Cadence. Just...maintain.”

“Mmm,” she whined. Distantly, she heard her husband’s efforts to remove his work clothes hasten.

She felt both cold and hot at the same time, and slightly removed from her own body—she’d only felt this way before once, when she and Shining had been enveloped in the magical vortex of their combined effort to drive out the Changelings. Then, it had been a wonderful, comforting feeling, where she felt more aware of herself than she usually was; now she felt as if she were being stripped out of herself, torn away...

There was only one cure for the sickness—no, not a sickness, Luna had chastened her. Don’t think of it like that, even though it feels that way sometimes. It’s just something that is a difficult part of who you are and it can be controlled, especially if you have somepony who loves you there to help—

Her desperate train of thought was boldly interrupted at this point, in the best way possible, as her husband kissed her.

Shining’s lips on hers was like warmth for somepony who had been treading through snow all day. Life, comfort, salvation!

“Mmm...” Cadence murmured as she felt Shining climb in bed next to her, not breaking the kiss. Something about his presence helped the haze of lust and longing clear from her mind, though she was still not even remotely in total control of herself; but the parts of her body touching her husband felt more real to her again. She felt a sudden need to feel him touching all of her at once, even—no, especially...there.

“I’m sorry, I was late today,” he murmured to her, running a hoof across her back.

“I...I barely noticed,” Cadence whimpered.

Shining leaned his head against hers, shushing. “If I could stay here with you all day, I would. It seems to help.”

“Some things more than others...” Cadence whispered, before she could stop herself.

But if there was one comfort she had in how uncomfortable and frightened these surging, uncontrollable feelings were making her...

Shining grinned. “Well, if that’s so...we better get down to the good stuff.”

...it was that her husband was as dutiful, loyal, accepting, and above all enthusiastic as he was about everything.

“I love you,” Cadence murmured, as she felt Shining nipping her shoulder. “Shining...oh, yes...”

“I’ve been thinking about you all day,” he murmured. “Thinking about how beautiful you are...how gentle...and brave.”

“Mmm. Only because I have you to help me, Shining. My knight in Shining Armor.”

Her husband stopped massaging her wing for a moment to give her an extremely wry look. “Only, only, because you are not in your right mind will I take that from you.” But his rebuke was softened somewhat by the gentle kiss he planted on her lips as she laughed nervously.

Every kiss was like pure water poured over the fire consuming her, and she gratefully drank in the gentle pressure of her beloved husband’s calm, gentle entreaties. She was desperate for him to be more forceful, more giving, to just—

But no, they’d found it was better if they moved slow; it let him work up, and her work down until they were more or less on the same wavelength.

Heavens above, he was so strong. So patient, so tolerant, so selfless...

“I love you,” she murmured into his lips again.

“Mmm,” was all he replied with, although his hoof wandered to that wonderful knot of muscle right at the joint where her wing met her shoulder.

So gently did the blaze in her recede that she barely noticed it; she was still buzzing with desire, trembling at her husband’s touch, but now he was trembling at hers, too. Hooves ran over each other freely as their owners just leaned against one another and let themselves be together.

Shining raised his head to whisper in Cadence’s ear. “How about some more fun stuff, eh?”

Cadence sighed, catching her husband in a serious look. “Shining, this...you don’t have to do this. We’ve tried so many times now...I don’t think it’s going to work. You’ve been so good about it, but you don’t have to endure this just for me...Princess Luna said I can just...wait it out. If you’re here with me, it helps.” She ran a hoof along his chin lovingly. “Just stay with me. That’s all I need.”

There had been a lot of discussion on this issue.

It was pretty serious, after all. And Cadence had to admit, she had wanted desperately for her beloved Shining Armor to stay with her for her long life on this earth. She wasn’t like Luna or Celestia, true royal alicorns, more magic than pony; only they and their direct...progeny were true immortals. The odd lineage of the pegasus unicorns did provide some “benefits”, though; Cadence would still be around for a long time.

Having to endure it without this wonderful stallion seemed like very little fun at all.

She had been reluctant to propose it to him, though, because of the obvious complication, which was currently poking into her belly as she lay on it. But Shining Armor...as ever...

They’d practiced, thanks to the discreet assistance of some helpful objects and the open-minded ponies who made them. He’d gotten used to it, for her—and in the spirit of fairness, she had been perfectly willing to push her boundaries right there along with him. They’d learned to enjoy things together and turned something had almost made her afraid to accept his proposal into something that was a little extra fun from time to time...

And then, finally, the time came...and he hadn’t even flinched at the reality of what had happened. Cadence had been terrified, but he’d been her rock, gently helping her all the way through accepting the painful change, and the onrush of her need, and...everything.

For her, his beloved wife, he had made what some ponies would mistake for a dirty, shameful thing into an act of love and trust. He didn’t just endure it, he’d made it part of how they loved each other.

She couldn’t love him enough, for long enough...

But it wasn’t working. She’d been going to Princess Luna for advice—somehow sensing that Auntie Celestia was very uncomfortable with the whole issue—but even the princess of the moon, wise and mysterious, was as much in the dark as anypony when it came to this. It might not even work on stallions, for all they knew.

It was that, as much as the unnatural desire, that had been preying on Cadence’ mind today—something like despair as what had seemed at the time to be a wonderful opportunity was slipping away through her hooves, with nopony she could turn to for help.

Shining wasn’t stupid; he knew what she was telling him. He looked a bit taken aback for a moment.

But then he grinned, and gave his wife a canny sort of look. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Cadence asked, startled.

“So we stop worrying about the whole wings issue. For now. That’s fine,” he said, shrugging. “But you don’t have to ask twice for me to stay near you, Cadence.” He nuzzled into her lovingly and then, just when she was starting to relax, nipped at her neck in a very sexy way.

“Hey!”

“What?” He asked, nipping at her again. “You never said we couldn’t still have some fun.”

Cadence’s breath caught in her throat as Shining’s mouth made its way to the sensitive area at the base of her wing. “Shining, we don’t have to—”

Shining pulled his head back up so he could give her a serious look, although his goofy smile sort of ruined it. “Cadence...I want to.”

The princess sighed, but smiled broadly. “I’ve corrupted you.”

“I absolutely do not mind,” Shining said, lowering his head again so that he could listen to his wife gasp and hiss in pleasure as he preened her. “Come on, you know you feel better afterwards...”

Cadence let her idiot of a husband chew on her awhile, enjoying feeling the warmth of his lips against the naked skin beneath the feathers and the calming, rhythmic massaging they provided the tense muscles underneath. That had been one of the hardest parts of her confinement, being trapped on the ground; not that she flew very often, but it was amazing how you didn’t really miss it until it was gone. Something in her said that some of the maddening lust could be burned off in the sky, but it was better not to risk her losing control and pouncing on Shining in the middle of drill.

Shining had worked his way up to her shoulder again, kissing it gently. “How are you doing, dear?” he asked.

“It really is not a matter of how I’m doing, Shining...I’ve been ready since about five minutes after the last time we were together.”

“Glad to hear that even years of marriage haven’t gotten you too used to how ridiculously handsome I am, ” the unicorn said, smugly. He lay down next to her, brushing his tail so that it intertwined with hers behind him, and gave her a kiss on the cheek, which was their agreed-upon gesture meaning “I’m ready to go” when they were doing this sort of thing.

Cadence rolled her eyes. “There’s that idiot who pulled my mane the first night I watched his sister. I’d lost him somewhere along the way...”

Shining Armor clicked his tongue. “Please don’t dig that sort of thing up at a time like this...”

“What? That you’re an idiot?” Cadence said, rising from her place, wincing as the unfamiliar weight of her erection swung gently as she moved over Shining. Her legs were a bit sore as well, since she’d spent most of the day reclined; but as she felt the warmth of her husband between her hooves, a powerful surge of energy bloomed in her chest, burning away the ache of forcing her muscles into obedience as they gratefully prepared to satisfy Shining's enthusiastic desire.

“No, my sister.”

Cadence laughed, but was rather suddenly and rudely interrupted in her amusement by the cold feeling of Shining’s magic running across her member, putting in place the spell that helped ease the passage and kept her clean. He chuckled a bit as she gasped at it, which bloomed into a full laugh as he intentionally let a little spasm of humming magical power run down her length, making her shiver and gasp with pleasure.

“Do not think I won’t just lay right back down,” she hissed into his ear, but the way her chest was heaving and her head hung lazily in the air gave away her real feelings on this issue.

“Don’t talk about my sister when you’re about to put the spurs to me, then,” he replied, a little more crossly than Cadence expected, as he rose so that his back was brushing her chest. She wasn’t that much smaller than him, so it was only a very little bit; still, Cadence purred as his well-toned flanks, still warm and sweaty from a long day of training recruits, bumped against her.

It said something about their relationship that the one thing that helped Cadence overcome the tsunami of desire for Shining Armor that saturated her brain in this moment and remain focused on a coherent conversation was teasing him. “Not ashamed of us, are you?” she asked, moving her hips so that she was teasing him with much more than words; she had lowered herself so she could rub herself back and forth against Shining’s own stallionhood.

“This is just...not a situation I’d like to associate with her...you know?” Shining replied between deep, heaving breaths.

“Mmm...I suppose that’s fair,” Cadence hummed into his ear. This didn’t do much for her, but it drove Shining crazy, even with just the toys. What made it worth it for her was clutching herself to him and feeling his breathing grow shallow and desirous as his powerful, athletic heart began pounding in his chest so that it seemed like his whole body was pulsing in time with it.

She’d wondered if having a real penis instead of just a clever device would make it different for her, but in the end she had decided that even if it did, the real appeal would still be feeling her beloved husband getting excited by the idea of playing with her. Feeling his desire, not just observing it, was very intense for her, after all, being magically attuned to love...

“Cadence...” he whispered, his flanks pushing up at her in a sort of anxious way that suggested it was reflexive rather than conscious.

“In a hurry?”

“Frankly?” Shining gasped, turning his head to catch her amused expression over his shoulder. “I’ve kind of been looking forward to it. It was a long day. I don’t know where they dig up these recruits but they wouldn’t know one end of a spear from the other if I...ah! I weren’t there to tell them.”

Cadence nodded sagely, blowing an errant strand of her long, multicolored hair out of her face as she did so. “Well, you’d be the one to know, I guess,” she said, a devilish smile on her face.

“That’s a terrible j-j-jokeohyes...”

Cadence gasped, too, as the tip of her member slipped into Shining. What with one thing and another, it was a little easier this time than it had been in the past, but even with the slight numbness introduced by Shining’s magic, she still felt the warm, welcoming embrace of his muscles clenching against the sudden contact.

Cadence tapped her husband’s side—the little signal that meant “are you okay?”

“Mmm. Great, hon.”

Cadence just hummed in return and pushed very slightly with her hips. Underneath her, Shining relaxed, and the gentle grip of his anus against her released so she could push more of herself in. Again, this was much easier now that it had been at first—and certainly, it was not nothing to take Cadence; she wasn’t as big as he was but it still wasn’t anything to fool around with.

“Anh!” Shining gasped.

“Are you—”

“Good hurt, good hurt!”

Cadence smiled gently, adjusted her stance, and continued to press. The key was getting in, after which, the fun could really begin.

To help him relax, she leaned her head down and started grooming the parts of his mane she could reach easily. He’d been out in the sun all day; the smell of dust and wind and grass and sweat had been baked into him, and his mane was filthy and matted with all of it. When she thought about it afterwards it seemed weird, but moments like this, no matter who was doing what, it all just reeked of him—her big, dumb, goofy, handsome soldier, the wonderful colt who had stolen her heart and grown into a proud, strong stallion who was laying under her, panting as she loved him...

The thought made her whole body tense in sudden desire—all her body, in fact, and Shining gasped gratefully.

“Pleasant thought?” Shining grunted.

“Oh yes.” Cadence flexed her hips a bit; she was good and in now. “You ready?”

Shining took a deep breath, and Cadence felt a little buzz around her length as the magic helping her move intensified just a bit. She planted a few kisses on his shoulders as he took the time to giver her a couple gentle squeezes as well, some with his muscles and some with magic.

“Mmm. Give it to me, Cadence,” Shining hissed.

He didn’t have to ask twice. Cadence pressed herself up for leverage and, with no further ceremony, started fucking him.

They weren’t shy about using that word, in a technical sense; it contrasted with what their normal sexual routine enough that they had it nailed down in a sort of strict way. It wasn’t about speed, or intensity, or who was on giving and who was recieving, or even about roughness; it was an attitude, one they both sort of fell into now and again. It was a single-minded attempt to pour the entirety of one’s desire into the other as quickly and intensely as possible.

It had been happening a lot lately, as Cadence desperately tried to steal a few centuries for this amazing stallion, who was even now happily grunting as she fucked him.

She started with relatively short strokes; she, and for that matter, he when she was receiving, had fallen into that habit to sort of test the waters. From Shining’s perspective this had the immediate benefit of the widest part of her riding on the little bulge of his prostate, creating a very comfortable pleasure deep in him. It was almost like the opposite of an ache; a warm, pleasant feeling that spread across a little area inside him, making the muscles around his stallionhood twitch.

A few of the aids they’d used were designed specifically to get at it, but in a moment of post-coital bliss after their first go-around, he had somewhat frankly confessed that he’d take Cadence over them any day of any week of any month of any year.

For her part, Cadence had worried about the sensation she’d feel inside her husband but in moments like this—would it hurt? Would it be too rough on both of them? But now she was almost inclined to wish she’d never revert back to her normal, er, configuration, just so she could keep feeling this now and again. There was something about how he moved around her, clenched and squeezed in time with her thrusting that was extremely pleasurable not just physically, but emotionally. She didn’t want to get too romantic about it, but it was very welcoming where she had sort of expected a lot of resistance; she got the idea that Shining had practiced a bit to make sure this was the case, based on how he seemed to concentrate during sex.

He was so strange, she reflected, as she began giving him long, deep thrusts which made them moan and gasp together. When he was the one giving, he was so passionate and vital; if she wanted it to be slow and gentle, it was strong and intense, whereas when she wanted it good and hard, he more than delivered—a huge, stupid grin on his face.

But when he was receiving, he got very still and quiet, even when he spoke; he savored the feeling of Cadence, or something that was also in Cadence, penetrating him, really focusing on the feeling and the pleasure. It was...sweet. It made her feel powerful, and loved, to have him be so enraptured by what she was doing with him.

Like now.

“Heavens, yes, Cadence,” he murmured, his diction slightly affected by her giving him some long, powerful thrusts, his powerful muscles clenching around her as she got deep inside him. “I’ve needed this all day.”

“If I was still a mare,” Cadence asked, pushing herself deep into him and staying there, “What would you have done?”

“You’re still a mare. A beautiful, beautiful mare. Just...a really fun one right now...” He turned, and Cadence’s arousal flared at the look of naked lust burning in his eyes.

Cadence pouted outwardly, though she flexed her muscles so that her member twitched inside him as a reward. “You don’t miss my mare parts at all, do you.”

“Well, I have to say, this has been a lot—ah! Yes, ah...a lot less stressful on my hips than usual.”

“Brat,” she said, giving him another reward with a gentle thrust, pushing herself all the way into him.

“Ah! Whoa...haha...” Shining said, laughing weakly in the strained way of ponies who have an entire penis in them. “Talk about spears...”

Cadence leaned forward and hugged him from behind. “Every stallion...mmm...should have to do this, at least once,” she said idly, moaning in the back of her throat in between phrases as Shining once again showed off the athletic perfection of his body with an extremely pleasant series of rhythmic clenches. “Maybe then they’d have some idea of what the mare goes through every time.”

“Mares have the advantage of being specifically built for it, I think.”

“Stallions are such foals about things, Auntie always says,” Cadence replied, kissing his neck before rising to resume her thrusting.

“Oh, heavens, not your aunt, too. Can this please just be about us?”

“If you insist...”

Some couples dirty-talked; Cadence and Shining had tried it once, but ended up laughing so hard that it ruined the mood. When they got really good and into things, unless they were chatting idly in a natural pause, they just...hummed, and moaned, and enjoyed the little symphony of ecstasies that was the natural result of their sex.

“Mmmmm...” Cadence murmured, as Shining held her in place for a moment, his shudders of pleasure running up her length as well.

“Ah!” Shining grunted, as Cadence worked herself into a good rhythm, gasping as she filled him and then sighing as she withdrew, only to thrust back in again.

This continued for some time; both of them were in pretty good shape, and despite the intensity of what they were doing, they were in no particular hurry for it to be over.

Eventually, Shining tapped the bed three times—”stop”. Cadence immediately slowed to a halt and kissed his shoulders so he knew she was listening, despite the fact that she was panting heavily and both of them could tell that while her brain was on board with taking a break, her flanks sure weren’t; they were quivering, waiting to be pressed forward into the welcoming warmth of Shining again.

“Cadence, hey...” Shining said, trailing off as he looked up at her again.

The princess frowned. For the first time since all this started, her knight had seemed a little...hesitant. “What is it? Are you alright?”

“Alright? Are you kidding? I’m great,” Shining said, a bit lazily, giving her a squeeze. “How are you doing?”

“Oh, I...” Cadence breathed for a moment. “I’m doing pretty good.”

“Close?”

“Well, that kind of depends on what we do next. Why?”

Shining blushed—actually blushed! He hadn’t done that since the first night of Cadence’s...whatever this was, when he admitted he was sort of looking forward to it. “Since we’re just fooling around..there’s something I want to, uh...to do for you.”

“Do for...” Cadence said, a little uncertainly. Then the bit dropped, and her eyes went wide. “Oh, Shining, you don’t—”

“Cadence,” he cut her off, giving her a firm look. “I want to. You do it for me all the time.”

“No you don’t! I can see it in your face. That’s not how sex works, Shining. We outgrew ‘I do you, you do me’ what, a decade ago now?”

Shining looked pained. “I’m not going to pretend I’m not sort of working myself around to it, okay? But...look, I’m in this all the way. I want to try.”

Cadence paused. She had to admit, the idea had a certain...appeal, when she put image to concept in the privacy of her mind. And thanks to the convenient magic, she’d be clean, so no worries there...

“Look, are you sure?” Cadence asked, tentatively. “You do not have to give me head if you don’t want to.”

“I want to at least try,” Shining said, with all the firmness and surety he had when commanding his Guard...or explaining to his wife that she would not be alone in this scary moment in her life. When he gave her that firm, iron look, she could just melt; he'd do it if it killed him.

But no, he was offering to press his boundaries again. For her. To pleasure her, to share something with her, to love her in a new way.

Cadence lay herself on top of him, letting her hips thrust listlessly for a moment, as she just listened to him breathe as he happily let her continue to fill him.

God, he was so good to her...as fearless and intrepid here in the bedroom as he was on guard. Cadence didn’t deserve him—Equestria didn’t deserve him—

“Don’t get mopey while you’re, you know, all the way in.” Shining said, with a chuckle. When Cadence stiffened suddenly, he stopped laughing and continued in a soothing voice. “You sniffled.”

“Sorry, sorry...” Cadence said, quickly, blinking away tears she hadn’t meant to shed. Emotions of all sorts were running wild in her at the moment; her whole mind was kicked out of shape by this weird rutting mood. She composed herself and eased herself out of him, which was in and of itself pleasant for both of them; as such she took her time, letting the gentle pressure they were both enjoying linger for a good long while.

Shining turned, a little awkwardly, and gave her a lopsided grin; Cadence gave him a serious look in return. “Look, no pressure. You’re in command, Captain.”

Shining just grinned and put a hoof on her shoulder, guiding her down onto her back as he dismissed the pale pink aura surrounding her member. The smooth pink skin glistened from the residue of the spell, but it was otherwise clean and fresh as a convenient side effect. Cadence reflected that a case of her favorite riesling always put Luna in a good mood and made her more willing than usual to be helpful...

Feeling a little thrill of exposure bloom in her, Cadence spread her wings across the surface of the bed and posed herself enticingly, giving Shining the most smoldering look she could manage given that she was rather painfully aware of the penis flopping awkwardly between her hind legs.

“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza,” Shining said, a stupid grin blooming on his face. “I do believe you’re trying to seduce me.”

“As if I could keep you off of me, honestly...” Cadence said, winking.

“As if you’d want me to,” he shot back, sticking his tongue out. There was that bratty little colt again...but they both laughed.

Cadence let her husband drink her in. She had to admit, she didn’t quite feel at her most beautiful at the moment; not only was there the awkward physical situation, but lying around being about as horny as it was possible to be wasn’t exactly conducive to a healthy self-image. Thus, her husband’s hungry expression was something of a balm on her somewhat bruised ego...especially when his eyes fell on her new part and he didn’t even flinch.

It made a mare wonder, it really did...but you heard things about the Guard barracks. A lonely place full of young, very healthy stallions...

But it’s not like she hadn’t gotten a lot of fun out of her husband’s open-mindedness. She loved it, and so did he; that’s all she needed to know, really. And it wasn’t like he didn’t gratefully lavish attention over every inch of her any chance he got.

“You’re even glowing, a little,” Shining murmured. “In the moonlight, I mean. You are just...” He leaned down and kissed her hungrily. She wrapped her forehooves around his powerful neck, not really grabbing but just making him understand that he was hers right now and that she loved him and that—

“Oh, heavens,” she hissed. “Your hoof certainly knows its way around down there.”

“One would hope so. It’s had a lot of—” Shining froze.

Cadence grinned. “Please, do continue.”

Her husband gave her a stern look and, sniffing haughtily, began kissing his way down her neck, across her chest, her stomach...

“Shining.”

Kiss, kiss, kiss...closer and closer to—

“Shining, seriously, look at me.”

The unicorn looked up and gave her a broad grin. “I never thought of anypony but you, if that’s what—”

“Yeah, I bet,” Cadence smarmed, but her expression softened immediately as she ran a hoof along his cheek. “Look...you’re being very brave. I really appreciate it.”

“Hey, for you...?” Shining began, but trailed off with a chuckle. “No, this one’s for me, beautiful. If we’re just playing, I want to try something new.”

“Like I said, brave.”

“Hey,” Shining said with a smirk, “It’s me!”

And with that, he hesitated only very slightly before lowering his lips to her penis and kissing it very gently.

Cadence started, a half-thought leaking out through her lips in a whine. She knew it was sensitive, but this...

“Yeah, I didn’t want you to miss out,” Shining said, sounding much more confident. He lowered his head further so he could drag a long lick up her shaft, humming very gently to himself as he felt Cadence squirm underneath him.

“Ha, wow,” she said.

“Mmm,” her husband replied, positioning himself more properly over her so that he could enthusiastically kiss and lick her member.

He seemed perfectly happy—indeed, Cadence snuck a peek between his legs and he seemed quite pleased indeed. But she was going crazy—this was way more intense than she had expected. Not quite the same sort of intense as penetrating him, which felt...right, natural, for all that it was in the out hole, to put it in the crassest terms possible. But this...it was very much like when he pleasured her marehood, but somehow seemed more...pointed. There was a psychological aspect to it, there had to be—her mind seemed to fixate on the exact point where he was touching, kissing, stroking, licking, whatever—and that focus just ramped up the physical pleasure a hundred times.

Cadence whimpered as her husband drew his tongue almost from the base of her to the tip, gently massaging the rather generous pair of testes she was currently sporting with one hoof.

“You’ve...you’ve...”

“Mmm. On the toys. But it gets better, love...”

Cadence, her face split into a stupid grin and mind lost in a whirlpool of this new and exciting pleasure, thoughtlessly threw her head and forehooves back on the bed and just experienced her husband taking her into his mouth.

Warm, pleasantly wet, and bobbing up and down on the most sensitive part of her. And oh, heavens, his tongue, dancing across the surface, firm and just perfectly textured to make her want to scream...

If she had any experience whatsoever with this, she’d have recognized his technique as that of a thoughtful amateur, but for Cadence, who generally didn’t even have the proper equipment to receive it, she might as well have just injected pure bliss directly into her brain.

However, this introduced another interesting problem.

“S—Shining!” she gasped, desperately.

“Mmm?” His eyes flicked up to her, which somehow just made it all better, even as he kept bobbing up and down on her and snaking his tongue around her head.

“Shining, I’m going...I’m going to...” she gasped.

She felt him grin as he just increased his pace.

“I’m—I’m serious, Shining!”

“So am I,” he murmured, momentarily lifting himself from her before returning to busily pleasuring his wife. “Both things.” Cadence looked up, and sure enough, he was holding himself over her with one hoof, as if he was doing a press-up. The other was busily occupied with his own firm stallionhood, which was twitching in a way Cadence’s body recognized very distinctly.

Cadence’s gasps increased in pace. She’d noticed that the orgasms while she was in this state were somewhat more intense than she was used to, and more importantly, harder to suppress—

“Ah, I’m sorry, Shining, I can’t...I’m going to—!”

Once again her husband’s eyes met hers...and she knew he wanted her to, just as she’d done for him many times.

And then he winked.

“Oh, heavens, you know I can’t resist that,” she groaned, feeling her loins clench—then the absurd, sudden feeling of being right on the edge of something, like you were going to fall, and then—

Shining Armor’s eyes opened all the way, but even as Cadence was lost in the intense pleasure of orgasm, she felt his lips remain on her, even with the rather extreme amount of fluid she was producing.

Cadence was only dully aware of this, though; she lolled her head around on the bed behind her, occasionally chuckling and spasming a little bit as her body throbbed with the joy of having had a very good time with her husband.

As one last little spasm of joy dissipated, she looked up. Shining had cuddled up next to her, and was gently rubbing himself against her smooth flanks, his breath slowing gently. As sensation returned, she felt a little erotic flare at the warm wetness of his own pleasure that he was rubbing between them.

Without thinking, she leaned over to kiss him—

Shining raised a hoof to his mouth and looked away, swallowing and flushing just a little bit. “Nothing against you dear, but...”

“No, no, sorry,” Cadence murmured. “I’m actually kind of impressed,” she admitted.

In the wake of that kind of sex, when you had been not just nude but totally and utterly exposed to each other, being anything less than frank seemed foolish to her. She glanced down, and his stomach even seemed to bulge—she reached down and gently pressed it, giggling a little as it dissipated back to his usual athletic shape.

“Being able to swallow a lot of liquid very, very quickly is one of the lesser-known skills inherent to all Royal Guardsponies, especially ones who don’t have to show up for duty the next day,” Shining replied, giving a huge yawn. “Plus, it saved you making a mess like I did.”

“You did, you naughty creature. Look at this, in my wings and everything...” Cadence gave her husband an exaggerated look of disapproval, which he weakly chuckled into.

“Sorry.”

Cadence leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Wore you out, huh?”

“Mmm, yeah...” Shining said vaguely. “Weird...you were doing all the work...”

“Sounded like you had a long day,” Cadence replied, kissing him again and getting to her hooves. Shining had been right—afterwards, she felt great, and her head was clear of the weird maelstrom of desire for a little while, before it skulked back into her mind a few hours later. She stretched her long limbs and wings theatrically, having a bit of fun giving her husband a little show.

“Yeah...” Shining said. “And I feel...really good at the moment. I kind of just want to rest for awhile...”

Cadence sauntered over and kissed her loving husband on the forehead. “Sure. I’m going to go take a quick bath in that little tub you hauled up for me.”

“Mmm. Love you.”

“I love you too...my knight in Shining Armor.”

It was a sign of how totally wiped out he was that he just grunted and rolled over, completely insensate to his wife’s bright laughter.

When Cadence returned, she tried to wake Shining up so that he could have a turn in the bath, but couldn’t.

~(<3)~

Luna looked up from Shining’s recumbent form—which, to Luna and Cadence’s mutual amusement, was now snoring loudly—and gave the younger princess a bright smile. “I think it worked.”

Cadence couldn’t help her features spreading into a broad, grateful smile, tears of joy flowing freely. “Oh thank heavens...my Shining Armor...”

“Not to be nosy or anything, but, er...” Luna trailed off a little awkwardly. It was hard to tell with her, but Cadence got the distinct impression she was blushing a little.

“Uh...it was a matter of...um...”

“Yes?”

Cadence cleared her throat and held her head up haughtily. “Well, it makes sense, doesn’t it. It had to go in the right end.” She coughed again. “If you, uh, see what I mean.”

Luna’s face broke into a look of somewhat startled amusement. “Oh my. Which of you figured that out?”

“To be honest...he just wanted to try it,” Cadence said, her voice filled with overwhelming affection as she turned her gaze to her husband. Sure he was laying on his back, hooves in the air, tongue hanging out of his open mouth as he snored hugely...but he was still her knight in shining armor.

His playful, goofy bravery had stolen a couple centuries for them to be together, even if it was by accident.

Cadence blinked away her tears and took a deep breath to steady her voice. “I’m a very lucky mare.”

“He’s an adventurous one, to his credit,” Luna said, giving the sleeping Shining a little push so that he rolled onto his side. He reflexively curled into a more comfortable sleeping position and, somewhat unceremoniously, burped. Luna giggled as Cadence turned bright red. “And the benefit of Lieutenant Nox as well. A promotion seems to be in order...he’ll be out for a while.”

“How long?”

“‘A while’ is the best I can do, Cadenza. This hasn’t happened all that often before.”

Cadence’ face fell. “What are we going to tell everyone?”

Luna paused and gave this a little thought. “Magical accident, perhaps?”

Cadence gave Luna a somewhat patronizing look. “Princess, we’re talking about Twilight Sparkle’s brother. When she hears he’s missing, you know very well she’ll be here in an instant, picking away at this, and frankly, I don’t want to have to explain—”

Luna turned a bright grin on Cadence. “Oh, Twilight Sparkle is the absolute least of our troubles, believe me...” Cadence, stunned, gave her a questioning look, and Luna chuckled. “Your aunt’s been showing signs of life, Cadenza.”

“Signs of...wait, wait. With—with—” Cadence stammered.

Luna gave her an amused grin. “What, did you want her to wait for someone her own age to show up?”

With a bright laugh, Luna turned and sauntered out of the tower chamber, leaving Cadence and Shining alone together. Cadence sighed and hopped into the bed, curling up against her husband. He had stopped snoring and now appeared to be sleeping peacefully. She smiled—he was so adorable!—and clutched him to herself gently.

“Well, at least the family reunions won’t be boring,” she murmured.

Cadence gave Shining a kiss on the cheek and let herself doze off. There’d be plenty of time to talk all this through later.

Plenty of time, now.