A Horse Divided

It was the wedding day of Princess Cadence and the captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor. Queen Chrysalis and her Changeling army had been repelled. The proud groom stood waiting at the alter for his blushing bride to walk down the aisle. Beside him, stood his Best Mare. His sister, Twilight Sparkle.

"Seriously though," Twilight asked, elbowing him, "I get why the Queen of the Changelings wanted to be with you. But how did you get someone as amazing as Cadence to marry you?"

"I told her that she wouldn't just be gaining a husband. She'd be getting a pretty great sister too." He answered.

"Seriously?" Twilight asked with a dubious eyebrow. "I know there's more to it than that!"

"It's... well, it's kind of a long story..."

Some years earlier

Cadence writhed and moaned in pleasure on Shining's bed. Her hooves ran through his mane, pressing his face into her marehood as he worked her over with his able tongue.

After dating for some time, their romantic relationship had finally blossomed into a sexual one. The first time that they'd ever had sex, he made taking her virginity as magical and memorable as she'd ever hoped. A wonderfully-cooked, candle-lit dinner that couldn't be beat. Complete with a modestly priced bottle of Canterlot Wine that he'd... procured from his parent's cabinet. Candles lined the shelves of his bedroom where his hoofball cards once were. Romantic music played on the Victrola, and rose petals covered the bed.

Cadence had that flank. And Shining wanted that flank. And he wasn't about to let a three hundred bit price tag on the evening stand in the way. So smitten was she, that by the time they had gotten into the heavy petting on the rose-covered bed, she was putty in his hooves. She could feel his stallionhood entreating entrance to her virgin love tunnel. He looked to her one last time for permission. She just looked at him with those soft doe eyes and whispered.

"I'm ready."

The first time that they had sex, he made taking her virginity as magical and memorable as she'd ever hoped.

But that was the first time.

This was the second time.

"Oh, fuck yes!" she moaned as he continued to pleasure her. Shining was silently grateful that he'd put that sound dampening ward on the room. His parents may have been out for the evening, but Twilight was still sleeping just down at the other end of hall. Cadence was over for the evening under the guise of foalsitting. But Shining was home, able to foalsit himself. And Twilight was no foal. She had been a full grown mare for some time now. The two lovers wondered whom they were even fooling anymore. Neither cared.

His tongue continued to tease her, licking up and down her marehood, probing her depths but deliberately avoiding the one spot that would send her over the top. Cadence writhed and moaned in ecstasy on Shining's bed. Her hooves ran through his mane, pressing his face into her marehood harder. Her moans increased in pitch, turning into a whimper, pleading for release. Just when he was certain that she couldn't take it any more, he gave it to her, finally focusing on her love button.

"Uh, ah, aaaahhhhh!" Cadence cried out as he assaulted her clitoris. The knot that had been tightening in her belly finally snapped, bringing her orgasm crashing unto her like lightning through her body. Her limbs tingled and shivered as her thighs gripped his head like a vice, threatening to crush the hapless stallion. Shining lifted himself from between her legs once she'd come down from her high, his face, wet with her satisfaction.

The first time with a lover is something neither will ever forget. But the second time, perhaps less memorable, was almost always better. With the symbolic threshold previously crossed, gone was the anxiety of the new territory. The new-found comfort with eachother left them at ease to simply enjoy the feeling itself.

Shining moved up her body, bringing his shaft to bear against her thoroughly ready entrance. She wrapped her legs around him, pulling him into her in a smooth motion. Their hips met, closing the distance, she put a hoof to his cheek, bringing him in now for a kiss as well, tasting herself on him as he started to thrust. Cadence was still reeling from her orgasm only a moment ago, and already she could feel another building as he rutted her. He knew exactly what rhythms to use, what angles to hit to make her feel incredible. Such an amazingly skilled lover that could make her feel like this, she knew that he was the one that she wanted to marry one day.

Afterwards, as they both lay panting on the bed, Cadence turned to him. He was barely conscious, exhausted from his efforts and his own climax.

"Shining! That was- that was AMAZING!" she complemented. "How did you ever learn how to do that?"

"I'm just that good baby," he said with a proud grin.

"Shining." He looked over to her doubtful expression.

"Um, I read about it in a book?" he tried.

"Shining, I could always tell when you were lying because you were never any good at it," she said. "What you are good at though..." they both smiled. "But seriously, I want to know. I-" She looked away for a moment. "I love you. And I know you love me. We're together and that's what matters to me. So I'd-" She swallowed nervously. "I'd understand if I wasn't your first."

"Cadie,"

"Look, it's okay. I get it. A stud like you, I'm sure that mares were practically clamoring over eachother for you. Her loss, I'd say!"

"Cadie, it's not like that."

"Well then what is it like?" she asked.

"It's... well, it's kind of a long story..."

Some (more) years earlier

Twilight Sparkle had been attending Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns for a few years. She had come a long way since getting her Cutie Mark as little filly on the day of her entrance exam. It was no secret that Celestia had made Twilight her personal protege. It was a position well-earned. She was the top of all of her classes, (except gym of course). And her magical abilities grew exponentially each year.

But with that kind of prestige came isolation. She had a few acquaintances. And fewer friends. Often, a pony would attempt to 'befriend her' in hopes of getting help with an assignment, or worse, cheat for them. Twilight grew hesitant to trust when so many had ulterior motives in the past. There were a few ponies, however, that she ~~regularly hung out with~~. A few ponies that she ~~hung out with~~. That she stood near sometimes while she multi-tasked studying.

There was one, though, that seemed to go out of her way to 'stand near' Twilight. They shared many of the same classes at the school. Twilight was unsure if it was a coincidence or intentional scheduling on their part. As the year wore on, Twilight began to suspect that it was the latter theory. Many classes had assigned seating, alphabetized by name. Twilight understood that this was meant to help the teacher to know the students' names. But it would mean sitting next to the pony with a name very close to hers in the alphabet.

This usually led to her looking over at Twilight. 'To cheat off of her test answers', Twilight thought. She knew the type by now. But if she was cheating, then she doing a bad job at it. Many of the papers that came back to her desk looked like a murder scene with all the red on it. Twilight knew it wasn't polite to look at it. She didn't know what it was about her, what with her azure fur or silver mane or those deep purple eyes that she found so alluring... no, wait, irritating! She definitely meant irritating. Especially when she spoke in the third-person. It was a Thursday, and the last class of the day was about to begin. Twilight took a seat at her assigned desk. Next to her.

Twilight tried to ignore her, but found herself looking in her direction. She was busy writing something. Probably another one of those flowery-scented notes that she liked to pass to Twilight during class. Twilight suspected it was in a vane attempt to get her in trouble, which was why she never read them. The other unicorn felt Twilight's eyes on her and looked up from her writing and spoke in a flat tone.

"Sparkle."

"Trixie." Twilight replied, equally neutral. It was the entirety of their conversation.

Trixie returned to her work, and Twilight returned to intentionally not looking at her. The rest of the class was relatively uneventful. It was another boring lecture. Not because the subject matter itself was boring, but rather, it was something that Twilight had already studied for the night before and now already knew. And whatever Trixie had been busily scribbling was clearly not meant for Twilight.

The bell rang for the last time that day, indicating that school was out. Most ponies were in a hurry to leave, since it was a holiday three-day weekend. The students flooded the hallways, exiting the school en-masse. Once the bulk of the rush had cleared, Twilight made her way out, content with not fighting the crowd. As she made her way down the front stairs, she heard a voice from behind.

"Sparkle!" Twilight stopped on the stairs landing and turned. It was her. "Um, Twilight?" she trotted down the stairs to the landing.

"Yes Trixie, what is it?" Twilight asked, keeping polite while silently hoping that this social encounter would be brief.

"Trixie was wondering if you would like to participate in a magic... study with her this weekend." Trixie said.

"You need help with an assignment?" Twilight asked, making her own conclusion.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie does not need HELP!" she scoffed. "She is offering you the opportunity to briefly be a part of her greatness!"

"Oh." Twilight's eyes could not have rolled any more while still remaining in their sockets. Twilight did not employ sarcasm very often. But when she did, she turned it up to eleven. "Well, it sounds like you've got everything well in hoof. I'm sure some other lucky pony will be more than happy to 'be a part of your greatness'." Twilight turned to continue walking home.

"Wait!" Trixie cried out. "The Great and Powerful Trixie may- may need a little help." Twilight stopped again and glanced back over her shoulder. Judging by the expression on Trixie's face, it looked like it must have been physically painful to have to make that admission. Twilight turned forward, about to keep walking away, and avoid the headache about to commence. "Please?"

Dammit! Twilight had a personal rule of virtue when it came to the power of 'please'. She took a deep breath and turned back to her.

"Fine. You can at least tell me what it's about." Twilight said.

"Trixie will do one better! Trixie will show you! Come!"

"That needs to stop. Now. If we're going to be spending an extended amount of time together this weekend, then you really need to drop the whole 'referring to yourself in the third-person' act." Twilight said sternly. Trixie realized that she was in a position unsuitable to argue. "Where are we going?" She asked.

"Trixie needs-" Twilight glared at her. "Um, I need to get a few things from my dorm room," she said. The two of them walked across the campus to the dormitories. Twilight had her own dwelling on the opposite side of the campus, adjacent to the school's library. Twilight did not request it, but somehow, Princess Celestia knew it would please her. It was a far cry from the 'common' dormitories. The rooms were not small, per-se, but they were hardly spacious. A modest living space with a bed and a desk at which to study. Each floor had a set of shared wash rooms that were actually quite nice. Trixie walked into her room while Twilight waited in the hallway.

Trixie came back out, pushing a couple of large boxes. And by large, they were the size and dimension of coffins, with large holes at either end. A cursory glance inside revealed them as empty, assuaging Twilight of her fear of being an accessory to a crime. "This," she said. Trixie went back inside and came out with a couple of big metal slats, a comically large wood-saw and a her saddlebags. "And these." She began to walk down the hall, leaving Twilight with the pile of things. She looked back at her. "Well, come on!"

"Do I look like a pack-mule!?" Twilight blanched.

"Well, what about your familiar?" Trixie asked.

"My what?"

"Your pet dragon. I understand they have quite the carrying capacity."

"Spike is not my familiar. Or my PET! He's my friend!"

"And? What about him? Could he not carry these?"

"No. He's actually busy this weekend, doing something with the Princess," she said, putting emphasis into the word. Twilight tried to avoid using her connection with Princess Celestia as any kind of leverage. But she was not about to carry all of this stuff for her. Trixie sighed and walked back into her dorm room, retrieving a small wagon and loading everything onto it. She pulled behind them it with her magic and they headed back outside.

"Do you need to get anything from your room?" Trixie asked. Twilight was surprised. It was literally the first thing Trixie had asked concerning Twilight all day.

"Um, no. I don't really live on campus," she said. "I live fairly close, in Canterlot."

"Then we don't have far to walk. Lucky you." Trixie said.

"Yeah. Lucky me." Twilight groaned. 'This is getting better by the minute', she mentally complained. "Look, I'm only agreeing to this because I'm all caught up on my own studies, and you obviously need the help."

"Trixie does not-" Twilight cut her a glare. "I- appreciate it." Trixie forced the words out, as though they tasted awful. Twilight knew it wasn't sincere. But at least she was making an effort. Sure enough, they soon arrived at Twilight's house. Twilight knocked on the door before opening it.

"Mom! Dad?" she called into the house, with no answer. Twilight stepped inside, searching for them. The house was empty. On the calendar, the days of the three-day weekend had been circled. Inside, in bold, red, underlined, capital letters it read:

NEIGHAGARA FALLS TRIP!

She'd completely forgotten that her parent had been planning a trip for the holiday weekend. They wouldn't be back until Monday. Twilight smacked her forehead with her hoof as Trixie let herself inside.

"My folks are away for the weekend." Twilight explained. "It looks like we've got the place to ourselves."

"A shame. But I suppose an audience of one will have to do for-" Trixie took a deep breath "The most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!"

"Uh huh," Twilight said. "Well, lets get to work. The sooner we finish, the sooner you can go home."

"Trixie lives, er, I live in Hoofington."

"Oh. That's quite a lengthy travel. At least a day by train. You'd spend most of the weekend just traveling." Trixie looked at her with those deep purple eyes. Damn those eyes. Twilight felt she would regret the words even before she spoke. "I guess, *sigh* I guess you can stay... here." Trixie had a look on her face and opened her mouth to say something. At the last moment, something in her mind thought better of it.

"Thanks," was all she said. It was genuine, Twilight could tell. Perhaps there was something more to this mare after all.

"Alright. Well, now that's settled, tell me, what sort of magic are you working on?" Twilight asked. Trixie grinned.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie will do one better! She will show you!"