Kingdom of Loving: Fear and Loving in the Crystal Empire

Chapter 3: Alone Time

It had taken Twilight Sparkle all of thirty minutes to convince herself that she was not so confident after all, and after debating it for some time during her unpacking, she had been unable to shake the feeling that something was distinctly wrong here. There was nothing solid, but she had been wracking her brain going over little details and things that just felt off.

Granted, this entire situation felt off, but maybe there was something else, too.

Celestia didn’t like to talk about two things in particular. Luna was the first; her sister had fallen to the Nightmare, a corruption so powerful it claimed a goddess and forced Celestia to banish her sister from Equestria forever. This was considered the worst disaster to ever happen. Where there had once been two princesses, beautiful and kind and watchful, now there was just one. The corruption that had overtaken Luna was widely believed to have come about through hedonism and excess and sadism. She had forsaken the very core values of harmony and as a result became a monster. If Twilight had to guess, that was why Celestia was so reserved - she feared, more than anything, another Nightmare.

Cadance was the second thing Celestia never discussed. Cadance hadn’t been banished, according to Shining, and there were never any official proclamations made. Though it had happened before Twilight was old enough to even read, it would have happened in her lifetime, and that meant there would have been eyewitnesses. No pony in Canterlot or Ponyville knew anything at all about Cadance’s departure. Everything after her ascension as an alicorn was basically nonexistent. Did Celestia do that? Did she seal the records and forbid discussing the princess to prevent some kind of rebellion?

Obviously, Cadance had found ponies willing to follow her teachings. There were enough here in the Crystal Kingdom to maintain the place at the very least, and they all appeared to be subjects of Cadance’s rule. Were they the original inhabitants of the kingdom, too? What had happened to Sombra, the legendary Shadow King? Maybe there was something tied to him going on as well. It was unsettling to think about, but Twilight couldn’t help but think about it.

So many ponies in Ponyville and Canterlot would balk at the thought of...of sex, sexual situations, nudity, lewdness. Was that because it was inherently wrong, that something about the act itself fostered corruption or darkness? Was it because Celestia had, for so long, enforced a strict policy, so much so that it had become ingrained in the minds of the citizens as taboo and wrong? Cadance’s protest was that it was taboo because it was made so, not because it was naturally forbidden or inherently wrong.

But that raised even more questions. Sombra had fallen prey to the forbidden arts which were, unquestionably, evil. They harnessed negative forces, brought out the worst in ponies, and allowed them to do hideous things to free will. The Nightmare, too, was born of darkness and evil and hatred. As a unicorn, Twilight was especially sensitive to things that had a negative aura or malicious intent. Magic worked in a very scientific sense - its effects could be measured, observed, and controlled, and whatever the magic-user harnessed was very much infused in the spell that was generated.

Twilight sensed no such negative influence from Cadance. In fact, she’d felt nothing but strangely at home in the presence of the princess, but that was also what was so troubling. Twilight was really uncomfortable with all this nudity and talk of sex and intimacy, but Cadance hadn’t made her feel put off. Not really, anyway. Could it be some sort of magic she wasn’t familiar with, or maybe Cadance was just that powerful, being an alicorn?

And just exactly what was everypony’s fascination with being naked and sex and everything? Twilight felt her cheeks burning just remembering some of the bouncing breasts and swinging members she’d witnessed since getting off the train. She’d never figured herself for a prude, but that was because in Equestria she never had to worry about randomly running across a naked mare or stallion in her studies. With how busy she was with her apprenticeship, Twilight had never had that much time for a boyfriend or relationships or friends. That was really one of the biggest reasons Celestia had sent her to live in Ponyville, as she recalled. A life of being cooped up in a castle with no friends, her nose always stuck in a book, was no life for an aspiring young unicorn.

Actually, Twilight didn’t recall protesting about that lifestyle very much. It was Celestia’s idea, and now that Twilight knew what it was like having friends she couldn’t imagine life without them, so her teacher had been right in that regard. What else was she right about? Cadance? The Nightmare?

It was all very much worrying. Twilight sat down on the edge of the comfortable bed and ran her hands over the lush red quilt that covered the top. The mattress underneath felt so soft and inviting that she couldn’t help but lay back. Her long mane pooled underneath her and she let her head fall just shy of the pillows, her hooves still touching the floor. Her tail draped loosely over the edge, unmotivated to do anything since she was so mentally exhausted. Her eyes closed for a moment, and all she could think about was something else she’d been avoiding.

There was no denying that Twilight had been aroused before. She was not unfamiliar with her body’s needs or her desires. It was still something she had never shared with anypony but herself. Somewhere she knew it was dirty, it was wrong, it wasn’t what Celestia would want. It was a good thing she was very good at lying.

A hand brushed down over the material of her pleated skirt, finding its hem and gently drawing it up. More and more of her slender purple furred thighs were exposed to the open air, and she kept her vision focused directly on the canopy of the bed. As her arm disappeared up under her skirt she found herself blushing hotly at what she was doing, but then, she always felt so embarrassed whenever she had to relieve a little tension.

It wasn’t uncommon for her to go entirely without underwear. She didn’t like how restrictive it felt, and her skirts were always long enough that she never risked an accidental peepshow. Twilight was very conscientious about that sort of thing, especially as Celestia’s student. She wouldn’t want to send the wrong messages, would she?

Her fingers found their prize after a brief exploration. The natural fuzz around her sex was shorter than the fur of her legs or the fur on her pelvis, but she liked its texture unshaven. It helped grant a little more modesty around the thick purple folds that warmed at her brief brushing, but she was already wet. Maybe it was the thrill of being in a new place, meeting new ponies - naked ponies - that had stirred up her excitement. Maybe it was all the thoughts about intimacy and sex and how she yearned for somepony to touch her in these ways, but she’d never be able to admit that to herself. Maybe there was something in the air.

Whatever the reason, Twilight pushed two fingers into herself and bit her lower lip, letting a soft moan get caught between her teeth. She was still ultimately a novice at everything in the bedroom, but she could at least find her own sensitive spots and finger them. Her ears picked up the barely-audible squelch of her knuckles meeting her labia and she blushed fiercely. If she’d ever been caught like this she would have been mortified. Even now her heart was racing with the thrill of it, doing it in a strange bed, in the castle of her brother’s soon-to-be wife.

Her thumb grazed across her clit hood and flicked the tender nub. Her hips arched up into her own cradled digits, and with a beckoning curl she dragged her fingertips along inside her a few times while the heel of her palm replaced her thumb at mashing her tender little button. Each stroke of her trimmed nails across the rough inner texture of her front wall made her thighs shake and her breath quiver in her throat. Just to be safe she put her index finger from her free hand between her back teeth and clamped down. Instead of opening her mouth to cry out she bit down harder, starting to work her pace up from gentle to insistent, determined.

The damp heat was starting to grow around her digits. Twilight propped one hoof on the edge of the bed, pumping and rolling furiously in time with her own mad teasing of her clit with grinding mashes of her hand. Her skirt was rising up farther as she gyrated her backside against the quilt and tried to keep herself from making any kind of incriminating stain by rolling too far. It never took her long; she knew just how and where and how fast to get herself there, because if she dawdled and lingered she might be discovered.

With a rolling wave of heat and numbness Twilight felt the familiar crash of her senses, rising to their highest and then plummeting out from under her, leaving her dizzy. Her hips fell to the bed, her leg slipped off to the floor again, and she was panting heavily. She took her toothmarked finger out of her mouth and pulled her hand free of her loins with a slick feeling resting murkily in the crevice of her palm. It was coated. She’d really been horny, she noted, and then her cheeks turned brilliant scarlet.

Glancing at the door, Twilight expected to see Cadance, Shining Armor, Celestia, her parents, her friends, every pony from every corner of Equestria staring at her, judging her silently. The knot in her stomach rolled coldly and she felt an irrepressible wave of guilt as good sense came back to her. There was nopony there, of course, but she couldn’t help but feel those judgmental eyes of her imagination bearing down.

Sighing heavily, Twilight rose to her feet, careful not to touch anything with her damp fingers, and headed for the adjoining washroom to clean herself up a bit. She didn’t want to sleep in a clean bed smelling like masturbation and shame.