Cadance stared at the sun emblazoned door, her hand clenched in a fist as it hovered an inch from the thick wood. A light blush dusted her pink cheeks, all too conscious of the guards stoically pretending not to notice. Her confidence, so strong only moments ago, had fled just that instant, leaving her hesitating in uncertainty.
She could still turn back. The Festival of Hearts in the great hall was still going strong and would be for some hours yet. That was the safe course, to return there as though nothing were amiss. Her disappearance would have been noticed by now, gossip and speculation following if she did not return soon.
Her fist tightened, shaking.
The party didn’t matter. It was a red herring, an excuse to back down from her true responsibility. No, the real reason for her dawdling was on the other side of that door. She’d never done anything quite like this before. Confronting her aunt on any issue took more confidence than most ponies could ever hope to muster, much less with something so inherently private. How she had convinced herself it would be simple, she would never know.
She was at a crossroads, a turning point. Her decision here would echo across the years to come. The fear, if she bowed to it, would grow day-after-day. Every missed opportunity would feed into the next until she would as soon amputate her wings as speak up.
Her hoof shifted, half stepping away. It was not her concern. If Aunt Celly was worried at all, if she wanted any pony's help, she'd have come to Cadance first. No one else could hold a candle to her in this, after all.
She stepped forward again, the same sensation that had pulled her from the party in the first place reasserting itself.
It was her concern. Aunt Celly was her family, part and parcel. For all the friends and acquaintances she had left down stairs, none of them were as important as her. Aunt Celly had always been there whenever she needed her, especially when she thought she wanted to be alone. Her aunt was hurting, she knew it like she knew the shape of the hearts printed on her flanks.
Pain lanced through her knuckles with the force of her knock.
“Yes?”
The patient and loving voice, devoid of judgement or annoyance, destroyed the surge of righteous determination, making her feel a foal again. Once more she questioned the intuition that brought there. She almost fled, half turning away when Celestia's voice called again.
"Cadance? Is that you?"
"Y-yes, Aunt Celly."
A golden aura enveloped the door, audibly freeing the lock and leaving it ajar.
She didn't enter right away, taking a moment to collect her confidence once more. It was done. There was no turning back now. A few deep breaths were followed by brushing nonexistent wrinkles from her dress. Slightly risque, the cyan dress had been crafted for the occasion, it hugged her form perfectly. A long slit ran from the hem of the left side to just below her cutie mark. Strapless, her cleavage was proudly displayed, the whole thing seemingly held up by magic alone.
Before she could third guess herself, she closed her eyes and barged in, falling against the door to close it and cut off any attempts to flee. Taking a steadying breath, she opened her eyes.
Celestia’s apartments were lavish, blue walls with gold trim. A fireplace crackled merrily in one corner, casting a warm orange glow over the Saddle-Arabian rugs and pushing back the chill of the late winter month. Philomena’s cage was open and empty in the opposite corner, the phoenix likely causing untold mayhem somewhere else on the palace grounds. The desk off to the right was no less covered in mountains of paperwork than it ever was. Celestia herself was not seated behind the heavy wooden monolith as Cadance had expected. Instead, she lounged on the massive four-post bed, stretched out with her head propped up by one arm as the other marked her place in the book open before her.
Their eyes met briefly, Celestia wearing a pleasant smile even as Cadance’s gaze fell away. Aunt Celly was as beautiful as always, her alabaster coat shining even in the dimly lit room. She wore a simple, white toga cinched at her waist by a wide belt with a sunburst clasp.
“Cadance, I’m surprised. Has the party ended so early?”
“N-no.” She forced herself to look up, to meet her aunt’s violet eyes. Laying there with a loving, patient smile on her lips, it was hard to imagine that Celestia was anything but perfectly happy. And yet… and yet Cadance could not cast aside the worry that had brought her. Far more rapidly than she intended, she said, “I was hoping you would come down and join us. It didn’t seem right for you to spend today of all days alone.”
Celestia shook her head, her smile curling in amusement. “Thank you for your concern, but I doubt the other guests would feel the same.” Before Cadance could even try to refute such a claim, Celestia’s free hand rose to forestall her. “No, they would never say as much, but it is how they would feel. No pony wants ‘mother’ hovering over them on a date.”
Indignation surged through Cadance, driving her to take her first few steps deeper into the room. “That isn’t fair. To them or you. You can’t just keep cloistering yourself up year after year. It’s… Aunty?”
Hand covering her lips, Celestia held back the laughter that shook her as best she could. “Oh, Cadance, I appreciate your concern, but despite what you may have read, I am not a sheltered, virginal maiden.”
Cadance blushed, her pink cheeks turning a darker cherry red, though whether because she had indeed thought as much or from the images suddenly flooding her imagination, she could not tell.
Rising from her bed, Celestia crossed the distance between them in a few strides. Almost looming over Cadance, she pulled her into a short hug before stepping back and holding her at arm’s length. “Put your mind at ease, my niece. I have known a lover’s touch before, and I will know it again in due time.”
“But…” Cadance faltered. There was something wrong, though what it was she could not say. Her aunt’s words seemed reasonable enough, but… “When?”
Celestia’s ears perked, her head tilting in confusion. “Excuse me?”
Focusing on a mental image of her cutie mark, Cadance used it as an anchor, a brace to support her in the one area she knew better than even Aunt Celly. “When was your relationship?”
For the first time ever, she witnessed Celestia falter. Her hands fell from Cadance’s shoulders as she stepped back. It only lasted a moment. “I don’t see—”
Pity surged through Cadance, giving her the strength to lock eyes with her aunt. For a brief moment, she saw past Celestia’s aura of supreme confidence to the truth she hid so well. “You can’t even remember, can you?”
“It’s not that simple.”
Without conscious thought, Cadance’s hand reached up, cupping her aunt’s cheek. Velvet and warm, Celestia’s own hand was not far behind, holding it in place as she leaned into the touch. The vaguest of plans sprung up in Cadance’s mind, a single action which, if she gave it even the most cursory of second thought she would surely never take. She gave it no such consideration, calling on her talents, a cyan light glowing in the space between Celestia’s hand and cheek.
Celestia gasped, throwing herself back, but it was too late. Cadance’s hand hung in the air where it had held her aunt’s cheek, unmoving as she stared wide eyed at the elder alicorn. Those violet eyes, ancient beyond Cadance’s reckoning, so strong and stable, an impenetrable shield of confidence, had broken. The illusion, so perfect in its crafting, was gone, laying bare the fractious emotions hidden for so long.
“Cadance?” Celestia asked, fear making her voice tremble and ears dip.
“You… you…” Cadance’s voice shook no less, tripping over the tsunami of everything she’d seen through that brief touch of magic.
Her gaze broke from her aunt’s, taking her in as she never had before. Celestia had always been beautiful. From her proud cheekbones to her long but delicate muzzle, from her massive white wings sprouting from her back to her perfectly proportioned hips and breasts, Celestia was the apex of the feminine form.
Cadance had envied her her poise and grace for many years, dedicated herself to imitating her as best she could. After all that time, she still felt as a clumsy oaf compared to her aunt.
Blushing furiously, she wrapped her wings and arms around herself, hiding her exposed cleavage and shivering despite the fire’s warmth.
“Cadance? I…” For the first time in Cadance’s life, she saw Celestia flatter, unshed tears pooling in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t… I don’t…”
Celestia’s words passed her by unheard. Any truth they held paled in comparison to what her magic had revealed. Some part of her didn’t want to accept it, the way her aunt saw her, desired her. It did not fit. From the day of her ascension, Aunt Celly had taken her under her wing, taught and guided her, supported her in her every endeavor and comforted her whenever she failed. Never once had she been untoward, never shown the slightest sign of attraction, no secretive glances or touches that could be construed as inappropriate.
Her magic, so attuned to the emotions of everypony around her, had failed to penetrate the fortress Celestia had built about her heart. Until now. She’d finally scaled those walls, battered down the portcullis and seen into her aunt’s most guarded inner sanctum.
Fear and confusion mired her down, making her thoughts sluggish, slow to analyze and understand it all. She persevered, sorting through everything she had uncovered, unwilling to accept that such base thoughts were at Celestia’s core. When she succeeded, when she reached the end and found truth, it nearly broke her.
“Please don’t hate me.”
Cadance’s arms and wings fell. She watched, too stunned to do anymore, as the first tears fell from her aunt’s eyes, blazing trails through the soft fur of her muzzle.
“Please…”
She did not respond, couldn’t. Her throat clenched tight, almost choking her. Reaching out to her, Cadance took a step forward, only for Celestia to shy away. Each step she took drove her aunt further back until her legs hit the edge of her bed. One more step and she dropped to her rump, brought down so that it was Cadance looming over the taller mare for once. With nowhere to go, Celestia could do naught but lean away, trapped.
Cadance did not stop, her own knees mixing with Celestia’s as she reached down to cup her aunt’s cheek. Celestia flinched, but didn’t stop her. Letting her hand slide further back, her fingers laced through the strands of ethereal mane, tingling as it wafted through her digits. With no force at all, she brought Celestia back to sitting.
Her breath grew strained, heart beating erratically behind her breast. Never before had she seen her aunt as anything else. Only, she had seen it, seen her for the beautiful mare she was, yet it had never translated beyond that, never crossed the invisible line between admiration and allure.
“Why?” she asked, blinking away her own tears. “Why didn’t you…” She shook her head, already knowing the answer. Even Celestia was not above fear. “I could never hate you.”
“I… I betrayed you. Betrayed your trust. Defiled…”
Despite everything else, Cadance smiled and shook her head as her fingers massaged Celestia’s scalp, thumb stretching to wipe away the tears on her cheek. “No,” she said, whispered. “You did not betray me. You respected me. You loved me and let me go, gave me support and never let your own pain and loneliness infringe on my freedom. No, Aunt Celly, you have defiled nothing and sacrificed so, so very much.”
Her voice failed her, tears she could not name clouding her vision. Wordlessly, breathlessly, she leaned forward, down, holding her aunt’s head in place. Eyes closed, their lips met, white and pink velvet touching for the first time.
Celestia whimpered, her last bindings of restraint fraying. Her hands reached up, taking hold of Cadance’s head and desperately returning the embrace. A warm, slick tongue graced Cadance’s lips, and she did not hesitate to let it in, greeting it with her own, falling quickly into a twisting dance.
“I love you,” Celestia whispered the moment they parted.
“I know.” Cadance pulled away, white fingers trailing down her muzzle as she rose up. She reached behind herself, fingers finding the clasp at her back. “I love you too.”
She snapped her fingers. The clasp popped. Her dress fell, crumpling into a heap about her hooves, exposing her utterly.
Celestia’s eyes widened, shocked as they took in Cadance’s naked body, sliding hungrily from her perky nipples to her silky slit. Her hand rose, reaching halfway to her niece’s breast before she caught herself. “You don’t… We don’t have to—”
She cut off when Cadance took hold of her outstretched hand, guiding it to its destination and keeping it there until it took hold, gently squeezing. “No, we don’t have to.” Offering her other hand, she added, “But you need this, and I think I do too.”
Speechless, Celestia just stared at her.
Cadance could not help giggling at such a feat.
Excitement poured through her as she grasped her aunts unoccupied hand. Though her limbs were far from limp, Celestia did not resist her, letting her hand be placed on Cadance’s stomach. Shivering as she drew it down, she rotated it until the slender white fingers pointed down. Cadance bit her lip, sliding her aunt’s fingers down to her marehood. She hummed in delight as they graced the sensitive mound. Without further urging, Celestia finally acted, her index finger curling, parting her niece's labia and slipping into the moist folds making her gasp.
Celestia’s reticence washed away as Cadance’s fluids dribbled down her hand. Her finger flexed more and more, pushing deeper, exploring her niece’s depths.
When she started to rise up, Cadance pushed her back down. Grasping Celestia’s shoulders, she stepped forward, setting her knees on the bed, straddling her aunt and sitting on her lap. Once more taking Celestia’s wrists, she drew them to her rump, pressing her palms against the blue crystal heart embossed on each cheek.
“In a single instant,” she said as Celestia looked up to meet her eyes, “I received the three greatest gifts of my life. The least of which were these cutie marks and my ascension. Everything I am is because of you, Princess. Aunt. Celly. Let me show you my gratitude.”
Slowly, Celestia nodded, and Cadance smiled.
Releasing her aunt’s wrists, she reached between them and unlatched the belt, tossing it aside, already forgotten. Cadance grasped Celestia’s waist, feeling the taut muscles flex and stretch with every breath. Gradually, she slid her hands up, walking her fingers between her aunt’s ribs, her heartbeat picking up it’s pace with every inch. She brushed the sides of her breasts, drawing across her collar and up to hold Celestia’s neck and jaw.
Cadance drew her up and kissed her again, taking full advantage of her extra height, bearing down on her aunt with a surge of passion and authority she’d never felt before.
From the first time they had met in the astral plane, it was Celestia who had been in control. Though she might not have dedicated every aspect of Cadance’s life, there had never been any doubt as to who was in charge. Now? Now everything was in flux. Celestia seemed still caught in a state of shock, and Cadance was not about to let the opportunity pass her by.
With a stiff shove Celestia fell back, her wings flaring wide in a vain attempt to arrest her fall. Staring down at the mare who had all but raised her, Cadance licked her lips, savoring the sense of power burning behind her breast. Cyan magic engulfed her hands, a sympathetic glow permeating Celestia's clothes. A thought and a flick of her wrist tore the ensemble away, ripping it apart to lay her aunt bare.
Neither moved, save for the heavy rise and fall of their chests. What thoughts ran through Celestia's mind, Cadance could not begin to guess. Her own were simple and base. Her aunt was not simply beautiful, she was gorgeous. No allegory nor allusion could hope to match the reality of seeing her naked and splayed, lust and desire pouring from her every hair.
A part of her wanted to take her time, to move with a slow purpose and savour every detail. She did not, could not. To do so would undermine her authority, would risk allowing the older mare to once more take control.
Her hand reached out, grasping the soft mound, not roughly, but as though to claim it as her property. Celestia, hands still holding Cadance's ass, made no protest, indeed, moaning and arching her back as though in assent, readily offering up whatever Cadance wished to take.
Perversions and fetishes she'd heard of, but never given any thought, danced through Cadance's mind, fuelling her arousal and leaving her panting at the imagined pleasures.
But she'd made a promise.
Bending over her, Cadance kissed her aunt again, pulling the pin from her mane and letting it fall over them both. Once they broke apart, she nuzzled her and whispered, "Say my name."
"Cadance," Celestia whispered back, breathless.
"My real name."
"Mi Amore."
She shivered, purring in delight. "Again."
"Mi Amore."
A wordless groan vibrated through her lips. For the first time in her life, she enjoyed hearing her name, reveled in it. "Again."
"Mi Amore."
Grabbing Celestia's head with one hand, she smashed their lips together in an almost violent kiss. The other snaked between their legs, finding Celestia's soaking nether lips. She wasted no time, slipping her first two fingers inside as her thumb sought out her aunt's clit. Curling her fingers, she had no trouble finding Celestia's g-spot and attacking it vigorously.
Her aunt writhed beneath her, pussy squeezing her fingers, begging them to delve deeper. Every shift of her thumb made Celestia twitch, every flex of her fingers made her moan, and Cadance basked in her power. She played her aunt like a puppet, dictating her every moment of pleasure. In a spark of inspiration, she released Celestia’s head and gripped her nipple between her forefinger and thumb. A quick twist made her cry out, ripping herself from the kiss.
Rising up, she stared down at her aunt, the immortal, uncontested ruler of Equestria and Mistress of the Sun, Moon, and Stars; her play thing. She could stop right that instant, make her beg for more and refuse her, simply take her fingers back and walk away. Celestia was hers to command, to control, to do with as she pleased. Anything she wanted, she could have, and at that moment, what she wanted more than anything was to make her aunt cum.
Celestia screamed her name, back arching, wings pushing her up off the bed as her fingers dug into Cadance's cutie marks. Marecum soaked Cadance's fingers and hand, pooling in her palm. When Celestia dropped back to the bed, it was only long enough to take a single gasp, before another convulsion took her. Again and again she rode a wave of ecstasy, though each was less than the first.
As Celestia settled, breaths gradually returning to something approaching normal, she laughed, a fillyish giggle the likes of which Cadance had never imagined coming from her aunt. The hands that had held onto her ass for dear life let loose, reaching instead for Cadance's hand still two fingers deep inside of her. Her aunt held it there, violet eyes slowly coming back into focus onto her own, only to close again as more giggles bubbled up her throat.
Cadance just watched, barely suppressing her own laughter at seeing the millennia old alicorn behave like a little filly.
"Oh, Mi Amore. Thank you."
"It was my pleasure."
"No," Celestia said. Running her hand up Cadance's arm, she grasped her elbow and raising herself up until their muzzles were inches apart. She pulled the fingers from her marehood and lifted it between them. One-by-one, she put them in her mouth, swirling them with her tongue and sucking them clean. "That was mine. This," in a motion too quick for Cadance to follow, Celestia all but threw her onto the mattress, now staring down at her with hungry eyes, "is your pleasure."
Cadance nuzzled into the tuft of hair just above Celestia's cleavage. A pair of great white wings held her tight as long white fingers idly played with her mane. Her whole body felt like putty, every movement requiring a force of will.
Celestia had worn her out, pushing to the limits of her endurance and then some. They both stank to high heaven, sweat soaked and coated in each other’s cum. Not that she minded. Indeed, she’d never felt so wonderful, an airy giggle waiting just at the edge of her every breath.
A yawn came out of nowhere, stretching her jaw wide. She ignored Celestia’s chuckle as she smacked her lips a few times before burying her face deeper into her lover’s fur. After a few more seconds of comfortable silence, Celestia began to hum, soft notes filling her ears and drawing out another yawn. Deciding to heed her body and her aunt’s less than subtle hints, Cadance stopped fighting to stay awake, squeezing Celestia tight before letting go.
In seconds, she was hovering on the edge of sleep, visions of the last few hours dancing behind her eyes.
The timid knock on the door was not a welcome interruption.
Starting awake, her heart took off at a gallop, eyes going wild at the realization of where she was and what she'd done crashed into her. She'd just had hot, passionate sex with Princess Celestia, her aunt, adopted or not--
Celestia's fingers scratched behind her ear, the simple action flooding her with euphoria and washing away her worries, at least for the moment, long enough for her to catch her breath and hear her aunt's words. "Hush, now, Mi Amore. All will be well."
"But--"
A long finger touched her lips, silencing her and drawing her eyes up. Celestia looked down on her with the same loving gaze as always, not a whit of concern to be found. For a full count, she held her eyes as though to gift a measure of her self-confidence. Then she turned toward the door.
"Yes? Who is it?"
"Sergeant-Major Shining Armour of the Royal Guard, Your Highness," the vaguely familiar voice answered through the door, managing to carry both a firm resolve and a timid quake. "I was hoping I could have a moment of your time."
"It is a rather late hour for such a request, Sergeant-Major."
"Yes, Ma'am." The response was quick and simple, holding firm to his apparent resolve despite the implied threat that would have left many bowing and scraping as they turned tail.
A wry smile curled Celestia's lips as she glanced at Cadance. "Oh, I like him."
Before Cadance could so much as squeak, Celestia pulled the bed sheet up, hiding her completely as the other swung out, wreathed in a golden aura, and opened the door. So covered, Cadance could only listen and hope that the guard failed to notice the extra lump beneath the sheets.
Hooves clicked across the floor at the guard's entrance ending with a slightly different tone that she could only guess meant that he'd taken a knee.
"You have my attention," Celestia said, genuine curiosity evident in her tone.
"I have come before you with a request--"
"Please, Sergeant-Major, dispense with the formality. The hour is late, and I find myself more exhausted than I have in quite some time."
"Yes, Ma'am," he said after a heavy breath. Two more followed before he spoke again. "I would have your permission to court your niece, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza."
Cadance gasped into Celestia's chest. The name and voice finally clicked into place, summoning up the image of a blue-maned stallion with whom she'd shared a number of dances earlier that night.
"How courteous of you, Sergeant-Major. It speaks well of you that you would come to me with such a request before setting your course. For that I thank you. However, I have never been one interfere with matters of the heart." The sheet pulled down just enough to reveal Cadance's head and nothing else. "What say you, Cadance?"
Author's Note
This was an idea that had been brewing for awhile and demanded to be written. It's also an apology of sorts to my loyal subjects. There will be no continuation, the ending being nothing but a lark.
As always, I hope you enjoyed it.
Your benevolent dictator,
The Landgrave