Well, this is Awkward...

Cadence rolled onto her back, a broad smile on her face as she absently levitated one of the silken sheets over herself. "Hmmmm."

The process had taken about a week. First getting Shiny comfortable with exposing himself, then with how his own body reacted, and then slowly working him closer and closer to her. It certainly helped that he was always very eager to please her, and she had taken care to make sure he was completely ready for every step. But at last, the princess of love had made love to the pony she loved. And it felt... wonderful.

Shining Armor cleared his throat. "So... I did good, then?"

Cadence rolled her eyes. "Yes, Shining, you did very good."

"That's great. I mean, I kinda thought I was, uh, messing up for a bit there--"

"Shining, this is literally the first time you've ever had sex." Cadence pushed herself up on her side, nuzzling the stallion warmly. "It's okay. Even if you did make mistakes, you'll learn from them, right?"

"I guess so."

"And it felt good, didn't it?"

Shining Armor blushed. "...I guess it did."

Cadence put on a mock frown. "You guess?"

"Okay, okay, it felt... wow. Phenomenal." He rolled his shoulders. "Bit tiring, though..."

"That's normal. Your body is wired to release relaxants after you go through a bout." She wrapped a wing around him. "And I do mean your body. It's not necessarily male exclusive, but a lot of mares end up disappointed when their stallion doesn't want a post-coitus cuddle."

The stallion smiled as his foreleg snaked around her shoulders. "I'm not that tired."

"And that is one of the many, many reasons I'm happy I married a guard. Endurance." Cadence nuzzled into his neck. "Just think, you and I could be doing this all... day... long."

Shining Armor blinked. "...I... thought you said ponies had sex once or twice a day, usually."

The mare let out a giggle. "Yes. Usually. But usually ponies don't marry other ponies without knowing the details of what they're getting into. Usually ponies aren't a guard and an alicorn. Usually ponies aren't on a moon-long honeymoon." She gave Shining a lewd grin. "I can wait if I need to, of course, but I really, really want to take advantage of this."

Her husband returned the smile. "Well... I suppose I do need the practice...." He leaned forward, tracing her ear with his nose. "Just tell me what to do."

"Mmm. Well, I suppose it's only fair for us to do a little exploring of fetishes..."

Shining froze.

"...you're going to ask what fetishes are."

"Well... from your tone I'm assuming they're not small religious statues," he offered.

"Not the ones I'm talking about, no... although I'm sure some fetishes involve fetishes." Cadance snorted. "A fetish, kink, taste, there's a lot of words... it's like, one specific kind of sex you like."

"Like mares or stallions?"

"No. Well, yes, broadly speaking, but that's so basic and so widespread that it's considered an orientation." The alicorn pushed herself up on one hoof. "I'm talking about sex acts, specific... things. Like, say, a 'wing fetish' means that you like stroking the wings a touch more than the rest of the whole sex thing. Or a 'silk fetish' means you prefer to have sex on silk sheets or something."

"So it's... basically a term for preferences, then." Shining nodded. "Well, if sex is as common as you say, then it makes sense. Ponies are going to customize and individualize things, after all."

"Yeah." Cadance nuzzled him. "For example, I maaaaaay have a teensy weensy fetish for white coats."

"Oh really?" Shining Armor rose an eyebrow. "Maybe we shouldn't go to anymore of Fancypants's parties, then."

Cadance rolled her eyes and shoved him playfully. "Hey now, just because I like white coats doesn't mean I'll go chasing after any ivory pony that crosses my path. I've already got the best of the bunch right here."

"What, have you done comparisons?"

"Maaaaay-be," she singsonged.

Shining frowned. "I... hold on. What?"

"...right, still new to this." Cadance took a breath and let it out. "Shining, you've got to understand something. It's expected that married couples will fuck, but that doesn't mean that's the only relationship in which sex happens. I'm... not a virgin," she admitted.

"A what?"

"Virgin. Pony who has never had sex." Cadance gestured at herself. "I'm not one."

"Okay."

She tilted her head. "What, that's it? Okay?"

"...Yes. You've had sex before. I'm okay with that." He frowned. "Should I not be or something?"

Cadance blinked for a moment or two. "Ah... you... actually, it's fine," she managed. "It's fine. I mean... if I were to sneak off to somepony else's bed, you'd have every right to be upset, but I've never had sex with anypony I wasn't currently in a relationship with."

"Well that makes sense," Shining mused. "I mean, it would be harder to convince some random stranger to do all this than a pony who you were dating."

"What--no, that's--" Cadance took a moment to steady herself. "Okay, Shining, do you understand why married couples are expected to fuck?"

"I thought it was kind of like buying chocolates on Hearts and Hooves day. Just a way to show that I love you." He stroked a hoof down her cheek. "You... do know I love you, right?"

"Yes, I do. Trust me, I do. But that's not--" Cadance let out a small groan. "Okay, so technically speaking all that's legally required for two ponies to have sex is that they're of age, not biologically related closer than fifth cousins, they both consent, and they don't do it out in the open. Heck, it doesn't have to be just two ponies... but that's all because of what's assumed to be going into the act, you understand?"

Shining Armor nodded for a moment... then he frowned and shook his head.

"It's assumed that they trust each other," she stressed. "On a deep level. Sex is very... intimate, you know, you can't just... I mean..." Cadance sighed. "I'm not communicating this very clearly."

"What I'm getting is that if you're in a romantic relationship you don't have sex with ponies outside that relationship."

"Yes--well, mostly yes..." The mare rubbed her forehead. "There are couples that are... open. But it's always by agreement. And... I... don't even know what my point is anymore." She let her head drop onto the pillow. "What were we even talking about?"

Shining Armor shrugged. "Fetishes and virgins?"

"Right... right, exploration of fetishes." Cadance took a breath. "So. Like you said, ponies have different tastes when it comes to sex. So, if we are going to be doing this a lot, it'd be appropriate for us to, um, experiment. Figure out what we each like."

"Alright."

"Which," she admitted with reluctance, "probably means we'll be talking about things that will freak you out."

"...Ooookay?"

Cadance took a moment to consider her options. "...Why don't we just start with different positions."

"Sure. Positions of what?"

The alicorn gave him a flat look. "You're messing with me. After what we just did, you cannot possibly be that oblivious."

"Um... no." Shining gestured at himself. "Virgin, right?"

"...right. Okay." Cadance rolled her eyes and rose from the bed. "I guess I'll go order some porn for us... we can look at it over lunch."