Parents' Night Out

by Flutterpriest

Rating: mature
Tags: Drama, Anon, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Second Person, Princess Cadance, Dark, Sex, Princess Celestia, Alternate Universe
Length: 49397

It's date night for your parents. Which means you have a babysitter watching you tonight. Yet, this babysitter is different from the others. She's Princess Cadance, the newly crowned royalty-in-training. She loves her job. Perhaps, too much.

It's date night for your parents. Which means you have a babysitter watching you tonight. Yet, this babysitter is different from the others. She's Princess Cadance, the newly crowned royalty-in-training. She loves her job. Perhaps, too much.

Note: This story contains elements of straight coltcon, kidnapping, and brainwashing. Even worse, the name Anon.

Cover Art and Editing done by anonpencil

Published 2016-04-14 19:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-11-23 02:30:34 UTC

Hi, Anon!

Hoofsteps echo through the halls of Canterlot Castle. The night is dark, and guards stand at attentive watch, but an intruder is in the castle. An intruder is in Equestria, and not a single pony knows their name.

Celestia carries a box and a basket in her magical grasp, providing a gentle golden light to the wing she traveled. In the box, six elements of fearsome power, once used to bring harmony to the land. In the basket, a creature. A creature of no name. It had no language, no home, nor recognizable form. There was a beating heart, a steady breath, and an unknown magic within him. He may as well be anonymous, as no pony, nor land has claimed him.

The question: Is this creature friend? Or, foe?

Celestia walked steadily, focused and with purpose. Using the chamber used to be an exciting and wondrous task for the Royal Sisters. Whenever there seemed to be a question that filled them with indecision, the orb would provide guidance. Perhaps it would be through outside knowledge, or through an explanation of events to unfold from a decision. The chamber was used to make many of the critical decisions that made Equestria the peaceful land that it is today. It‘s used to locate disappearing ponies. Predict on-coming threats to the well being of its citizens. Or, even predict unruly weather to carefully plan early harvests.

However, following the events of the betrayal of her sister, Luna, the path to the chamber was one that was avoided at all costs. A relic only spoken of in hushed tones. In fact, the mythical object unknown, to those outside of the castle grounds, along with the other supernatural artifacts of Equestria. Use of the orb is prohibited. Only to be used in the most grave of circumstances.

The Princess of Equestria traveled these halls in silence, resigning herself in her task. Her silence not due to fear, but for duty. Celestia knew well that if the orb deemed it the best path, this creature could not live in this land. The creature would need to find a home in Tartarus, the moon, or worse. But, her advisors demanded a decision. A decision of life or death. A decision she could not make alone.

She approached the large double doors, illuminated by the golden light of her horn, and paused. The box she carried with her opened, and six colored orbs floated around her. They generated a stream of rainbow light as they pushed open the door, opening the chamber for the first time in almost one-thousand years.

A supernatural light came from the room as she entered, the doors closing behind the Alicorn. With a nod, the Elements went to work once more, lifting a large, crystal orb in the center of the room up into the air. The orb hummed gently as it hovered in the air.

“It has been a long time.”

Celestia placed the basket on the ground as she looked up to the object.

“Yes. It has,” Celestia said. “We have made an effort to make our own choices as a society.”

“Even if the choice is unwise?”

“That is the only way we may learn. The mistakes we make define us.”

“Does the banishment of your sister define you? Or does it define me?”

Celestia held her tongue as she moved beside the basket on the ground.

“A new creature has come to this land. The creature, we assume to be young, cannot navigate on its own, let alone fend for itself,” Celestia says. “Some call for its removal, saying it’s a threat to our land. Others wish it mercy, and to raise it to appreciate our ways.”

“And why do you come to me?”

“We wish to seek guidance,” Celestia answers. “If we do not need to expel this intruder, then we shall not.”

“Is that so? Or do you simply want an excuse to avoid an event like our last discussion?”

“There was no other way,” Celestia says calmly.

“Do you truly believe that? Or do you believe it was that I saw no other way?”

“You showed me it was the only way to save the lives of this land, which is why I am here today. I wish to preserve the ponies that live in Equestria. I do not wish to place them in harm’s way by accepting this being into our world.”

The orb goes silent and emits a gentle green glow. Celestia watches on, silently, focused on the task.

“If I ask you to cut this creature down, would you comply?” the being asks.

“No,” she states.

“This being will harm nopony in this land, but he shall be singled out. This being of no name would live a life isolated by his appearance. Inside of him lies a great power, and a gentle heart. It will foster desire in those whom are unclean. Knowing this— Knowing that he will be subjected to this life, you will not cut him down?”

“No,” Celestia says. “Even those whom are unclean deserve the chance to live, even if it is a life of exile. We shall accept him into our own then.”

The orb changes to a bright white.

“You still remember your lessons well, Celestia. I am proud of you. This one will require a careful eye. Allow him to blend in plain sight. Change his form and give him a name suiting his nature. He will grow to live in the ways of your land.”

Celestia lets out a slow breath; a smile grows on her face.

“That, is a relief,” she says quietly.

“Allow him a family. He will be loved. He will be cherished. However, he will face hardship and pain at royal hooves.”

Her eyes returned to the crystal, unsure of how to react.

“Then we shall place careful watch over him. He will not come to harm. We shall allow him to be adopted. He will live a normal life and never know of the decisions made here. He will be safe.”

“Then you have said so.”

My Name is Cadance

It’s Friday night, and your parents are going out. Again. They try to hush their conversation near the front door, but they underestimate the power of your young ears.

"Are you sure he's going to be okay?"

"He'll be fine sweetie. Let's just go on our night out and enjoy ourselves."

"I don't know, dear. I heard some things from the girls at work about this babysitter..."

"I'm sure they’re just rumors. Let's just relax and have a nice time. Alright?"

They jump out of their hushed tones and you hear them make their way towards the front door.

"We will be home late, Anon! Be good for the sitter! I love you!"

"Love you too, Mom! Bye, Dad!" you call after them.

You hear the front door open and close with a slam. And just like that, your parents have left you home alone. The new babysitter should be here any second, you know that. Still, you nervously wonder who it will be this time.

You aren't really a disruptive foal, or even mean to the babysitters that your parents hire. It’s just...for some reason, they all seem to quit after one night. Maybe it’s that you’re somehow annoying or that you’re not exactly the most social little foal, but you try not to dwell on that too much. You’re only 7 for Celestia's sake, you don’t need to feel that kind of weight on your shoulders just yet. Maybe it’s just that your parents don’t pay enough. Surely, it isn’t your fault.

Heck, you were worried when it was taking you so long to get adopted. At long last, a nice little caring family that couldn't have foals of their own decided to make you a part of their world. They are wonderful caring parents and genuinely love you. Everything worked out in the end. So it’s ok that they go out once in a while, you really don’t mind the babysitters, even if they always leave.

So, there’s no reason to worry. Right?

Sitting in the living room, you wait for the babysitter to arrive while playing one of your new video games. It’s not long before you find yourself smiling. This Daring Doo game is awesome! You get to swing from vines, dodge traps, and at the end of each level, try to defeat Ahuizotl. You quickly lose track of how much time is passing, becoming completely absorbed in the game.

When you are just about to hit the end of the level that you've spent all night trying to beat, you hear a knock at the door. Rather than get up to answer it, you just call down the hall.

"Come in! It's unlocked!"

You hear the front door open and close again with a soft click. Then there’s the low sound of approaching hoofbeats.

"Hi, you must be, Anon! My name is Cadance. I'm your babysitter for tonight."

"Nice to meet you I'm-DARNIT!"

That was your last life. You were so close, you almost had it! You close your eyes, take a deep breath, put down the controller and stand up.

Before you stands what you can only assume is the babysitter. She’s a light, comforting shade of pink all over, with lilac tips to each neatly folded wing. Her tri-colored mane is pulled up in a ponytail, accentuating her long neck and making her seem ever taller than you know she already is. She has a horn too, and you realize that she’s an Alicorn, something you haven’t seen much of in person before. She puts a hoof to her mouth and her wings spread a little as you look at each other.

You’re silent for a moment too long, but you quickly correct that.

"Sorry, I'm Anon. It's nice to meet you Cadance."

Cadance simply stares at you and traces her eyes all over your body. Well, this is awkward. Why is she looking at you like that? Are you dirty or something? You thought you took a bath this morning, didn’t you? Maybe it’s that you look nothing at all like your parents, maybe she’s just surprised.

"Did my parents tell you I was adopted?" you say simply.

"Yes... they did. I..."

Her voice trails off and she wipes her mouth for some reason.

"I just didn't expect you would look different than in your photos! That's all. You are starting to grow up so big and strong!"

Normally your mom says that to you all the time, but when somepony else says it, this babysitter for instance, it... it feels weird.

"Uh... thanks?” There’s another short silence, which you are eventually the one to break. “Um... I'm going to play video games now..."

"Okay. Well, I'll just watch then," she says

She smiles widely and you return the smile awkwardly before awkwardly slinking off to your game.This babysitter is a little weird. No wonder she was the only one they could find on short notice. Still, she doesn’t really seem mean, so at least that’s something.

Cadance sits down on the couch behind you and takes one of the blankets that your family uses for movie nights.

"Do you mind if I use this? It's a little cold."

"Sure. It's fine."

She lays on the couch and covers herself with the blanket. You turn your attention back to your game and before long you’re again completely absorbed in what you’re doing, the awkwardness from before easily forgotten. Maybe now you can finally beat this level.

Oh my word, the lucky situation you’ve gotten yourself into. You'd heard a passing rumor in the royal palace of a very special pony living in Equestria, always mentioned in hushed tones, and you’d been curious to find him ever since. Could this really be him before you, in the flesh? You never expected to be able to play with him tonight, but you’re here now. Alone with him.

That was the beauty of being a Princess babysitter.You could do whatever you wanted and the family you were sitting for would gain 'favor' with the royal family. Which means you got to have fun with all the little colts that you babysat for, exactly however you wanted. Sure, there might be a slap on the hoof if the family starts a fuss… but things never get too serious. Such is the privilege of royalty.

Anon sits on the floor in front of you, playing his little video games, while you gently rub yourself under the blankets.

You wonder how big he is? Most of the colts aren’t very developed yet, but they at least helped you get off every night. It wasn't the taste of them in your mouth that made you do it, or even the way that they felt inside of you. No, it was the idea of their sweet young minds being corrupted by you and their innocent bodies being used was what gave you the thrill.

You can already envision Anon, lying naked on his bed, covering his privates in embarrassment.

"This isn't right..." he would say.

You could handle that. There’s always the line about how Mommy and Daddy said it was okay. You could always take the 'I'll be your marefriend' approach. The ‘I want to teach you about a mare's body’ trick works too. There are so many options, so much fun to be had. What you want, more than anything else, is to see his face when he empties himself inside of you and gives into the pleasure.

Oh yes. That’s the truly wonderful moment.

That thought almost makes you come all over their couch. In fact, there’s already a bit of a wet spot beginning to form on the cushion under you. Hm. Maybe this isn't the time to be doing such things. Maybe not just yet, anyway.

"Oh, Anon..."

"Yeah?"

"Could you get me a glass of juice please?"

"Sure, just a second."

What a nice boy... The nice boys were always the easiest. Eager to please grown ups.

"Good boy," you murmur sweetly.

He pauses his game and moves to the kitchen. You take a moment to sit up on the couch and position yourself directly over the wet spot. Tossing the blanket aside, you wait patiently until Anon returns with the glass of red juice. Now, you simply have to time this just right.

"Thank you. I was really thirsty."

Before he can notice, you bunch up the carpet under his feet with your magic, and he trips forward. The liquid spills out and falls all over your lap, and, of course, right on the wet spot too.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" he says in a panic

"Quick! Let's get this cleaned up so that we don't get in trouble," you say in mock surprise.

"I'll get the cleaning stuff."

He sprints towards a closet to get stain remover and a sponge. Of course, you could easily remove this with your magic, but this is all part of your plan. You watch calculatingly as he grabs what he needs and returns, none the wiser of your intents. Anon stops, and looks at you uncomfortably.

"Anon, you have to clean it before the stain sets in."

"Well... I can't do it with you sitting there..."

"Why not?"

He shifts on his feet and his face scrunches up in confusion and uncertainty. Then, after a moment, he moves slowly towards you. With hesitant hooves, he begins to clean the wet area of the couch in-between your legs.

"Good boy..."

Okay. This is getting really, really weird now. You notice that, for some reason, the juice doesn't quite smell like it did when it came out of the jug. It must be going bad or something. It might be a good thing she didn’t drink it after all.

You scrub the couch really hard, because you don't want to get in trouble with your parents. You aren’t generally messy, and you’re not sure how you slipped and spilled all this, but you know you have to get the stain out right away. But with Cadance sitting there, it's kind of hard to get all the juice.

"Uh.. I think you might be sitting on some,” you mumble.

"Oh... okay."

She spreads her legs out wide, to either side of you. You instinctively look away, cheeks flushing a little. Doesn’t she know that you can see...so much of her like that?

"S-sorry! Um... maybe you should-"

"No.. it's okay. Keep going," she says calmly

You don’t want to make her mad, but if she says you should keep cleaning… You do your best to look away from Cadance as you resume scrubbing at the stain, but you have to watch what parts of the couch still needed to be cleaned. It seems like all of the areas that aren't close to her legs are cleanish now, so there’s nothing left to do but get the parts nearer her outstretched legs.

Your hoof grazes her inner thigh as you work up and down the couch’s fabric. Cadance's breathing seems to intensify as you do this. Maybe you accidentally pinched her?

"I'm... not hurting you am I?" you ask.

"No. It's fine. I think you almost got it," she says.

The weird smell from the juice stains seems to intensify, and you move to the other leg to try to get the rest before it all soaks in. Cadance covers her mouth with her hoof, but you just to try and not pay attention to her. You got to make sure it doesn’t stain. Got to focus. By now, everything is cleaned... except... the area directly in-between her legs.

You've done everything you could to not look there. But now? Should you really? Can you… Your blush deepens.

"I-I think it's all clean. I'm going to go to the bathroom."

You grab the supplies, put them away, and then run to the bathroom, careful not to look your babysitter in the eye.

Shit. You were almost there.

The moment that Anon runs out of the room, you begin to vigorously rub yourself. You picture in your mind the perfect look of shock on his face when you spread your legs. The way his nose crinkled when he smelled your musk. The feeling of pleasure when he was accidentally rubbing your inner thighs. How close he was to your mare parts.

Oh yes... You were going to love every second of taking care of this little one.

Holding all this in your mind, you at last climax and come all over the couch and the living room rug. You take only a moment to catch your breath before you set about clearing the evidence. With a quick magic spell, you clean the rest of the couch and the rug where your juices spilled. Anypony who looked at the area now would have no idea what you just did.

You smile, satisfied with yourself. Looks like it's time to prepare him some dinner.

You've already got what you wanted for tonight, so maybe it's time to take things a little slower now. You could always just rape him if you really wanted to take it that far, but then they always squeal and you have to use blackmail. Things get ugly pretty quick. Not for you, of course, but the family. It’s not nearly worth the effort.

It was better to slowly coerce them into it. That was more your style anyway, more fun. Sort of like a game and you always aimed to beat your high score. Testing the boundaries of the colts was one of the parts that was the most fun. Yes, that was the way to do it.

Let's see what the parent's left for you to cook tonight. You open the refrigerator and it looks like...

Pizza. Darn it.

You liked pizza... but it was really hard to put 'extra toppings' on. Maybe next time you would have something better to work with. And you were sure now that there would be a next time.

You call up to Anon.

"Anon! You hungry yet? I'm going to get the pizza started!"

"Okay!" he calls back to you.

The innocence in his voice gives you a small shiver. Get ahold of yourself, girl. You can't do this right if you let visions of him get inside your head. It’s going to be hard this time though, because this one is different... he is just so handsome, in a strange way.

Anon runs back down the stairs. You hear him fumble around in the other room for a moment, then hear digital beeping that means he’s back playing his video game again. That's a good sign. They don’t come back downstairs if you take it too far. That said, what you did was pretty risky, you note. Yes, slow and steady for this one, so maybe you should tone it down a bit.

You walk back into the living room and admire the work you did on the cleaning.

"This couch looks great, Anon. Good job. I'll let you play some extra games tonight for that, ok?"

"Awesome! I really wanna beat this level."

He sounds so excited, like nothing at all has happened. You find yourself absentmindedly smiling down at the back of his head.

"Which game is this?" you ask sweetly.

"The new Daring Doo game. I really like it."

"Oh? I know about Daring Do, have you read the books?"

He shrugs, but doesn’t look up from his game.

"I read them with my Mom. Sometimes the words are hard and I can't get them all. They’re really fun to read though."

"Well...maybe I can read with you one night, Anon..."

"Okay."

You can’t help smile a little wider. You sit down next to him on the carpet and watch him play his game. He looks like he’s pretty good at it, but he still makes some basic mistakes once in awhile. Kids do that sometimes though, it’s to be expected.

To be honest, though, you spend more time watching him rather than watching what is on the screen. The way he looks, so enthralled, so completely engrossed in this game, his posture so provocative, he’s a constant tease. What would be the best way to make him slip out of that protective shell, you wonder...

Either way... it wouldn't be tonight. You have to take this slow, you remind yourself yet again. Slow and steady. Surely he isn’t noticing.

Why is she staring at you so much? It's throwing you off your game. You try to ignore the eyes constantly moving over your face and body, but it’s becoming more and more distracting by the minute. Do you have a weird expression? Did you do something wrong? You focus your mind on the game in front of you, on your next move, but you can still feel her there, watching you.

A loud ding comes from the kitchen, and that seems to snap Cadance out of her trance-like fascination with you.

"Oh, the food. Lemme get that," she says.

"Okay."

‘Good’, you think with a small sigh of relief.

You just hit the boss battle anyway. No more distractions. The TV screen emits the familiar: "Prepare to meet your end Daring Doo!"

"Dinner's ready!" You hear the babysitter call from the other room.

Oh no, not now!

"Just a minute!" You call back without glancing away from the screen.

You dodge the fireballs that are being thrown at you and weave through the traps to land a hit on the boss. So close! Jumping up to Ahuizotl, you crack him with your whip, and he begins to transform. What’s this? The boss has a second form!?!

Cadance walks into the room levitating a plate of food. She stands in silence for a moment or two, watching you again. You don’t let it get to you.

"What if I fed you while you play?" she asks.

Really? That’s a weird request, pretty much like everything else she’s asked you to do. But it would help you beat this boss finally and you are feeling kind of hungry.

"Yeah.. sure that sounds cool."

You decide this is a pretty good deal. If you get to play more games and still get to eat, it's cool in your book. She takes a seat behind you, as you make mental notes on your game and begin to learn the boss's attack patterns.

A piece of pizza gets levitated near your mouth and you take a big bite out of it. It tastes amazing. Weird or not, you could get used to this.

A few more hits on the boss depletes the first of it's three life bars. You can feel it, you’re going to beat him this time!

After you knock through the first slice, the boss suddenly changes its attack patterns. You’re so frantic trying to adjust that you don't really notice Cadance scooting herself up directly behind you until she’s already there. You are now sitting directly in-between her legs, and she holds up the next piece of pizza to you with her hoof, rather than with magic.

Of course, you take a massive bite out of it and narrowly miss a spike trap. This works too, you suppose. You’re still gaming, you’re still eating, even if she is pressing kinda close against you.

Just as you deplete the second life bar, you think you notice Cadance taking a deep whiff of something near your neck. Do you smell? Maybe you should take a bath tonight, just to be sure.

The final health bar hits halfway when the floor becomes lava and you have to cling to vines to stay up. Your entire focus shifts to the game, so you barely notice Cadance wrapping her hooves around you, and resting them in your lap. It’s not important, only the game is important

Almost there...

Her hooves move slowly downwards between your legs, but you are just too focused on the game to care. Come on, just one more hit… The back of your neck feels warm, but you’re not sure if it’s your excitement or her breath.

Just one more hit, just one more and...

"YES!"

You jump up and dance around the room as the TV says "Curse you, Daring Doo!!"

You’ve won! You finally beat the game! You’re smiling widely, and you turn your happy expression to Cadance, the only other pony to witness your victory.

Cadance smiles back at you and then looks at the clock.

"Oh my, it looks like it's almost time for bed. Why don't you go wash up and I'll clean up in the kitchen a bit."

"Ok,” you pause, then add one more thing. “Thanks for letting me beat the level."

"No problem, Anon. It was fun watching you."

You don’t care any more about the juice spilling, or about the strange things she was asking. You like this babysitter. You will have to ask your parents to have her to come back. She seems really nice... if a little bit weird. You hope she won’t go away like the others.

Jogging up the stairs to the bathroom, you peel off your shirt and close the bathroom door behind you.

Darn it. You had him right where you wanted him.

Taking the plates, you move them to the sink and clean them thoroughly. Just because you have a little fun with your charges, doesn't mean you don't do the rest of your babysitter duties, after all. You clean up and straighten the living room as well, then turn off the television.
It’s gotten dark outside, so you turn on a few lights to liven the room up some.

You glance out the window then do a little mental math. The parents should be back in about an hour and a half. Which means you have just enough time to... assist him with his bath. Everything seems to be in good order and the dishes are clean, so there’s nothing holding you back. Now it’s just a matter of…

The sound of water running for the bath upstairs fills your ears. Truly the music of angels.

You ascend the stairs, brimming with anticipation, and stand outside the bathroom. You set your eager hoof on the handle, then you stop yourself for a moment.

Maybe this is still too soon. You don't want to lose him on the first night, especially when the last two things went so well. Well, that doesn’t mean you can’t take a quick peek though, right? By casting a magic spell on the door, you are able to see through at Anon's bare, wet body.

Oh... my...

He's so big. You can feel yourself becoming warm all over and your face begins to turn red. He’s notably bigger than your last special somepony, even though that pony was full grown. Thinking back, you just don't understand why he dumped you. He should have been honored when you invited him over to help you babysit. Some stallions just must not be into three-ways.

You begin to touch yourself as you watch him clean himself all over. You bite your lip to stay silent, finding that keeping yourself right now quiet is the hardest thing you've had to do all night. You want him inside you so badly. It's been so long.

He stands up on his hind hooves to clean himself further. Now you really can see everything. You close your eyes and imagine him inviting you inside. The way he’d look at you with a smile... "Would you like to clean me Cadance?" The way you’d smile warmly back. "Yes... I would love that." And then…

"Hello?" you hear a hesitant call from inside the bathroom.

"O-oh! Just making sure you are okay!” you sputter.

"I'm fine."

You pause and tell yourself to walk away, but your inner desires get the better of you.

"Y-you don't need any help in there... do you?"

There’s a brief, uneasy silence.

"Uh... no."

"O-ok."

Get out of there, Cadance! Slow and steady, remember? You reverse the spell on the door and tip-toe away. As you pass, you notice his parents room and stop, thinking. It might be time to try something a little new.

It’s the work of a moment to cast a noise projection charm, which will make the sounds coming from his parent’s bedroom get transferred into his own. You move to his bedroom to complete the charm with a smile, hoping that this will have the desired effect you want. It is date night, after all.

As you enter, you stop to admire the simple, childish decor. His walls are covered with posters of Daring Doo and the Wonderbolts. Dirty accessories, hats, coats, sweaters, lie scattered across the ground. Even a few odd pairs of underwear, probably for when he has to be particularly dressy for special occasions. Surely, he wouldn’t miss just one of those, would he? You finish the work that you've started and snatch up a shirt as your prize.

Dashing back downstairs, you toss the garment into your purse for...later use. The bathroom door creaks open and you can hear Anon walk down the upstairs hall, then close his bedroom door.

You frown to yourself a little. It's a shame that tonight had to end so quickly. The fun had only just begun! After a few moments more, you hear the creak of his bedroom door and Anon calls down to you.

"I'm going to go to bed now!"

Ah, one more opportunity presents itself.

"Okay! I'll tuck you in."

Don't mess this up. Keep it together just a little longer. You ascend the stairs and walk into his room. You put on your best look of surprise and look around appreciatively.

"What a nice room! It reminds me of when I was a little filly."

He smiles. He even puffs up a little, looking proud of himself. It’s absurdly cute, and you take a mental picture of him like that.

"Thanks. Well good night, Cadance."

"I'll just tuck you in."

You dig the covers underneath his form, and steal a quick feel of his butt. You check his expression with a quick glance, but he didn't seem to notice. Good.

"There we go... Now you sleep well and I hope I get to come take care of you again sometime, Anon."

"Me too. You are a lot of fun to be around Cadance."

You blush. This little one is just too sweet. Better get out of here before you do something you regret. You’re telling yourself to leave, but your impulses are already in motion. Too late.

You lean down and give him a swift peck on the cheek.

"Nighty Night, Anon."

You see Anon go from a shocked expression to completely red-faced, all in an instant. As his cheeks flush, a dorky smile creeps onto his face.

"N-night, Cadance."

You slowly exit the room, close his door, and dim the hallway light. That must have been his first kiss, you ponder. How adorable. And to think, it’s only a small taste of what you have in store for him.

His parents arrive just ten minutes later, and of course the mother seems worried about the foal. The father, on the other hand, just seems surprised at how well you took care of the place. You can’t help but smile at how oblivious they are.

Anon's dad pays you, and you notice a small note addressed to you on one of the bills with a time and a place. You stare at it for a moment, drinking in all the implications there. Then, you hand the bill back to him in repulsion. He frowns, but says nothing further.

Cheaters are absolutely disgusting to you. You make a mental note to prepare a special love spell to make sure the relationship of Anon's parents remain strong. After all, nothing bad must ever happen to your little Anon.

And I Will Be Your Babysitter

There is something about that little green foal that you just can’t shake. Maybe it was the strong masculine form that he had, especially for his age. Perhaps it was the way he smelled, or the way that he obeyed everything that you asked of him so promptly. It could be his innocent voice... full of caring and compassion.

Get a hold of yourself, Cadance. Can’t be fantasizing about him like this. Not in class.

The clock can’t move fast enough today, not after Anon's parents called you to babysit again tonight. Your prize from the first night is beginning to lose his scent anyway. Not because you haven't kept it safe, of course. You simply use it too much. Then again, maybe you didn't grab a pair that was dirty enough, a mistake you won’t make again. Using them to get off three times a day for the last week shouldn't have wore them out that fast.

Maybe you shouldn't lick them...

The taste of the fabric and the smell return to your thoughts, and you suddenly can't get his naked form out of your mind. The smell of your musk begins to fill the room and you dig your face into your book.

How embarrassing. Then again, self control has never been your strong suit.

The school bell comes to your rescue at last, and you gallop to your locker, leaving a tiny, hopefully unnoticable puddle on your desk chair. Opening up your locker, you put away your books and check your hair in the mirror.

Just a quick brushing is all it needs, really. Got to look your best for your date tonight. You blush at the thought of what tonight holds. You’re going to step it up a notch this time. Butterflies fill your stomach as various steamy ideas fill your head.

"Hey Cadance!"

The familiar stallion's voice finds it's way to you and you let out groan of frustration.Come on, you are the princess of love. You can manage this. Again. You put on a little smile, and try to sound less annoyed.

"Oh! Hi Shining."

The tall white stallion approaches you with a wide smile. The other girls always say that just his smile could make a mare wet. You never quite understood what they see in him.

Besides, he isn't your little Anon. Even if he IS technically your boyfriend. You guess. School politics are weird.

"Hey, uh. I was hoping maybe I could take you out to a movie tonight. There is a brand new one out that I think you would like."

You try your hardest to look sympathetic rather than relieved as you say the next words.

"Oh... um. I'm sorry Shining... I gotta go babysitting again tonight... maybe tomorrow? I'm not busy tomorrow."

He gives you a half-hearted smile, but looks genuinely disappointed. Poor guy, but you can’t be bothered with setting aside any time tonight. You have plans to unfurl.

"Oh... well I had plans with the guys to play some games..." he says with a shrug.

"Well... that's fine. You should have fun!"

You've practiced this face enough times for it to be second nature now. False encouragement time.

"Uh... well. I could always reschedule with them you know. I mean... it's just a game right?" he says.

You wrap your hooves around him and smile up into his face.

"Sounds good then. Tomorrow at 7?"

"Yeah... sure," he says, conflicted.

He at least seems a little encouraged by this, and you give him a quick squeeze before finishing up with your books. You close your locker and begin to head out to the front.

"Uh... Cadance?"

"Yes dear?"

"Uhm... you've been babysitting a whole lot lately... and it's always on the weekends when I try to plan a date..."

Oh boy. You know what he's thinking.

"Hey.... shhh."

You trot up to him and plant a big kiss on his lips. He kisses you back, and your horns touch lightly and create a magical spark.

"I'm yours... okay?" you say as sweetly as if it were true.

He smiles back down to you.

"Yeah... thanks babe."

You give him another quick hug, then continue on your way towards the front. You give him a wink as you call over your shoulder.

"See you tomorrow!"

It's just beginning to get dark outside when you walk down the path through the manicured lawn to Anon's house. You’re carrying a bag full of goodies for tonight, and you carefully run through the game plan through your head one more time.

Tonight is going be a good night. You’re sure of it. With confidence in your step and warmth in your heart, you stride up to the front of the house and knock on the door.

You hear the sound of knocking from where you’re sitting by the TV and glance up from your game. It looks like Cadance is here. Jumping off the couch, you head to the door to let her in.

"Hi, Cadance. Come on in," you say.

She smiles at you.

"Thanks, Anon!"

You hold the door open for her as she steps inside and sets down her bag. Then you return to the TV and sit back down in your usual spot. The cartoons that are on right now aren't really interesting, but it gives you something to pass the time and you’re happy to continue doing it.

"Is all your homework done for today?" Cadance asks you.

"Not yet, but I'll get to it in a little bit."

"Well, how about we get it done now? I brought a movie tonight that we could watch."

She almost sounds impatient. Maybe you should have gotten all your homework done sooner.

"A movie?" you ask.

"Yeah! It's a really good one too."

Huh. You consider the prospect of a movie. Well, assuming it’s not a movie for babies or anything like that, it'll probably be better than watching these boring old cartoons.

"Okay. That sounds fun. I'll go do my math homework."

You run up the stairs to grab your bookbag. You stop in the doorway to look around your room for a moment, crinkling your nose a little. Ugh. This room is really messy. You know your mom would probably freak out if she saw it like this. But...you’ll have to do it later.

As you head back downstairs, you decide to change things up by trying to jump to the bottom from the fourth step. Aw yeah. You're so cool. And then you abruptly realize that you don't have wings and that it’s a pretty long way to that next step. It’s too late to catch yourself, and you fall sharply forward. The sound of you trying to move the ground with your face alerts Cadance.

"OW!" you groan out, rubbing your now very sore face.

Before you can pick yourself up, Cadance rushes over to you.

"Ohmygosh! Are you alright, Anon?"

She helps you up to your feet with practiced care and looks into your eyes. You can see how concerned she is just from her expression. You try to put on a brave face so she won’t see how much it hurts.

"Yeah... I'm fine. J-just slipped," you say.

"Where does it hurt?"

"Nowhere. I'm fine."

Your massive headache tells you otherwise, and the slight trickle of blood from your nose gives away your lie to Cadance. She chews her lip worriedly.

"Stay here and keep your head back."

You look to the ceiling and feel the blood from your nose run down the back of your throat. It's not like you’re a stranger to this whole deal. Since you’re kind of..different than all the others at school, you’ve been bullied all the time for about as long as you can remember. Bloody noses are kind of par for the course.

Cadance comes back into the room with some tissues, a glass of water, and a couple of aspirin. She holds them out to you in one hoof.

"Here. Take these."

You drop the little pills into your mouth and swallow hard. She hands you the water, and you drain the glass before you rise from the floor. Cadance nods, seeming satisfied, and wipes the blood from your face with the tissues.

"There we go,” she says gently. “That looks better. How's it feel?"

"It's alright... I guess. My nose stings a little."

You’re not even lying this time, and she somehow seems to know it. She smiles and looks down to you. Then, Cadance closes her eyes and leans in closer towards you.

Your throat locks up. Is she going to kiss you again? You’ve kinda hoped this would happen tonight... ever since she tucked you in last time. She places a friendly hoof on your shoulder and lightly kisses your nose. Pulling herself away slowly, she opens her eyes a little.

"There, is that better?"

Her tone right now sounds much more caring than you’re used to. Maybe ‘caring’ isn't the best word? You've only heard this kind of tone before when your mom and dad come home from a date.

Sometimes you hear your mom say things in that kind of soft, tender way to your dad, but she says things so gently that you can’t hear enough to understand. You find it weird, because normally you can’t hear them come home, but lately you've been hearing them every time.

You must be developing super hearing. It's the only reasonable answer.

Either way, you can feel yourself becoming warmer and you aren't quite able to look at Cadance directly right now.

"Y-yeah,” you mumble. “Better.”

She gives you a warm smile and giggles a little.

"Good. Now let's get that homework done, alright?"

"Okay."

You go out to the kitchen table and take your books from your book bag. Spreading everything out on the table, you take a look at what you have left to do. Unfortunately, it looks like there are only the hard problems left. Great. Double digit multiplication is so hard! But maybe, with a little help...

"Uhm... Cadance?"

"Yeah Anon?"

"Could I... uh... get your help?"

Without hesitation, she pulls up a chair next to you.

"Of course."

You look down at Anon, barely noticing the paper containing an array of numbers and problems in front of him. He’s fixated on the task ahead of him, but you’re a little fixated on something else. You try to stay on track.

"Ok, so what's the homework about?" you ask.

"Multiplication."

You have to stop yourself from nearly springing your own bloody nose. The sudden thought of Anon, naked on his bed fills your mind. The way he’d look up at you, the way he’d ask so politely:

"Cadance... would you please teach me how to multiply?"

Cadance.

Come on. Focus.

"Oh. Okay."

He glances up at you with those innocent eyes.

"Are you good at multiplying, Cadance?"

You can't help yourself. The smell of fresh lilac is slowly beginning to seep into the room, and you can feel yourself getting wet. You try to hold yourself together.

"Yeah. I'd like to think so," you mutter, savoring the implication.

"Okay. Well the first one is thirteen times fourteen."

You scoot closer to him and feign interest in the problem.

"Well, show me what you would do to set up the question," you say.

"Okay. We write it out like we’re adding big numbers first. Then put the times sign.”

You wrap a hoof around Anon and lean in close to watch him work. He smells wonderful, and you try not to think about it, with little success.

"Then we do three times four which is twelve,” Anon says. “Carry the one. Then three times one which is three. Plus…”

Then, he pauses. Indecision wracks his features as his words trail off. A hoof comes to his forehead as he tries to focus.

“Plus the one is four,” you say, stepping in. His pencil goes to work, then he looks up to you for confirmation. “Good job. Now for the One."

You let him do the next step on his own.

"Then one times fourteen is fourteen! Fifty-six!" he says triumphantly.

"You are very close!” you tell him, doing your best to be encouraging. “You have to add a zero for the second number."

"Ooohh. Yeah. So then it would be..."

He scribbles some more notes, looking very intently at the math problem. At last, he sits back in his chair a little.

"182?"

"Good job!"

After that, everything clicks and he seems to actually understand. You watch in pride as he continues through the page, carefully completing each step just like he did when you walked him through it. Before long, he's able to get all the way to tthe final question without any help.

"You are doing a great job, Anon,” you say. “How about I make dinner before we watch our movie?"

"Okay. What are we having?"

"Something special I brought over."

You head over to your bag and pull out your cooking supplies. It may seem to be just some fresh lettuce, carrots, cabbage, and some other supplies for a dinner salad, but appearances are misleading. This is a very special salad, with some special dressing. It's all homemade. You had to stay up almost all last night rubbing yourself to get enough juices to make it.

You take your dinner supplies into the kitchen and find a few bowls to prepare the meal.

"I hope you like salad, Anon! This one is extra special."

"I like salad. What kind of dressing?"

You giggle.

"It's a secret. I made it myself."

He doesn’t ask any further questions, and you get to work. After preparing the dinner with love and care, you carry Anon's bowl to him and he closes his books. He looks down at the salad and seems genuinely excited. Little does he know, you are too.

"Wow. This looks really good."

"Thanks. Here..."

You levitate the bottle of your dressing over his meal, and pour it out onto his salad. His eyes are filled with desire and hunger. His mouth almost looks like it’s watering. If only you could just take him now.

You pull the bottle away and head to get your bowl. Salad dressing isn't really your thing anyway, hopefully he won’t mind if you don’t put any on yours. You sit down across him at the table and pass him a fork. He takes it from you and immediately takes a big jab at the salad. You watch your juices slowly drip off the crispy leaves as he brings it to his lips. Gradually, you bring a hoof to your nethers and touch yourself.

You eat methodically, pretending you just really enjoy the salad and hoping he doesn’t notice the flush in your cheeks.

"This is really great Cadance,” he says through a mouthful of greens. “It's sorta sweet. What's in it?"

You let out a quiet moan behind closed lips.

"It's a secret."

Tingles shoot up your legs as you watch him take bite after ravenous bite. If you don't pace yourself, you are going to cum right here and now. You lift your bowl with your magic, hoping that he doesn't notice you hastily cleaning up the mess you made on the chair.

Thinking that you've finished your meal, he licks his bowl clean. You suppress another moan. This just isn't fair. At this rate, you’re going to push your limits and break your own rules tonight. You might just want this colt a little too much for your own good.

"That was really great, Cadance!" you say enthusiastically. “You’re a great chef!”

She takes the bowl away from you, looking a little uncomfortable for some reason. Then, you take your backpack, full of books and papers, up to your room. While you’re thinking about it, you decide to test something. You step out into the hallway by your room. With a normal tone, you say to the empty hall:

"Cadance?"

She doesn’t answer. The sound from here must not carry as far as you thought it did. Weird. If that’s the case, why have you been hearing your parents so well then? Oh well. You head back downstairs, still thinking it over.

Normally you wouldn't care about hearing things so clearly. In fact, you actively tried to listen in on private conversations during Hearth's Warming Eve. Anything to find out what presents you were getting. However, the situation was different this time. For some reason, you were distinctly hearing your parents giving each other massages. What else could it be? They would say things like "It feels so good..." and "Oh yeah, right there." It fits. The moaning would make sense too.

Maybe you should ask Cadance about it. You don’t even care that she’s a girl pony. There’s just something... different about her. Something that you can’t quite put your hoof on. It makes you feel fuzzy on the inside, and makes you smile a lot. Heading back downstairs, you find Cadance laying down on the couch putting the movie in with her magic.

She's under a blanket again, all bundled up. Cadance sure does get cold easy.

"Are you cold, Cadance?"

She jumps a little at the sound of your voice. Maybe you startled her when you came in unannounced.

"Oh! Uh. Yeah I'm a little cold."

She sounds uncomfortable again, and you suddenly have the urge to be nice to her somehow. Your throat goes dry as you struggle to find what you were going to say next. She giggles at you.

"Are you cold too, Anon?" she asks sweetly.

You slowly nod. You aren’t too cold, to be honest, but being warm sounds nice right now, especially with her. She opens up the blanket to you and pats a part of the couch where you can lay next to her.

"Come here and sit next to me. We can warm each other up, alright?"

"Okay."

Cuddling.

No magic required to make that happen, it just needed messing with the thermostat. And so far, it’s working like a charm. Anon makes his way over to you and gets underneath the blanket with his back turned to you. He smells so nice. Just like you've been dreaming.

You dim the lights with your magic a little bit, and then turn on the movie. The title sequence for the brand new Daring Doo movie begins to play. You can see Anon light up.

"OH MY GOSH! This isn't even in theaters yet!"

You giggle and ruffle his mane with one hoof.

"I thought you’d like this."

Being a princess really has its perks sometimes, including getting unreleased movies for private consumption. Anon's eyes are transfixed on the screen, but your mind is elsewhere. Slowly you place your hoof on Anon's side and get a good whiff of his mane. Oh yes... that's it.

He feels so warm there, and he’s so deeply cuddled into you. If you've been doing everything right, this next little thing should work perfectly. Very carefully, you work your hoof up his side towards his collarbone. Things are going well until...

"Cadance?"

Oh shit. Abort.

"Yeah?"

He’s silent a moment, and you hold your breath in anticipation.

"You’re really soft..." he says at last.

"Is that bad?" you ask, backing away.

"No... I really like it."

You can feel yourself blush a darker than usual pink.

"Thanks, Anon."

The feel of his velvety fur on your hoof is addictive. Lucky for you, he’s so enthralled by the movie that he doesn’t seem to notice how much you’re enjoying this. As time passes and the movie goes on, you move your hoof all the way up to his chest.

"Cadance?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind if I pull the blanket down a bit? I'm getting kinda overheated."

"Of course Anon, go ahead. I don't mind."

He pauses the movie and you watch him tug the blanket down past his shoulders, revealing his lightly tufted chest. You can feel your juices running down your hind leg simply from looking at him. He pushes play on the movie and then snuggles back into you.

This is almost too much. His scent is all around you, and you fear where your touch will tread if you wrap your hooves all the way around him again. But you can’t take it anymore. That's it. You just have to.

You wrap yourself around him and bring your lips to his neck. His fur tastes amazing and the warmth of it makes your hooves travel across his torso. You can feel his body shiver with every little kiss.

All at once, you come back to yourself. Nonononono! You stupid filly, this is way too aggressive! You might have just ruined everything, stop now before it’s too late! You draw your head back from his neck and start to watch the movie again. After a bit, he squirms a little next to you and speaks.

"Um..."

Your heart sinks. He sounds so uneasy. It's over. That little slip up will take days to fix. This is why you don't fall in love with the colts, Cadance.

"Why did you stop?" he asks quietly.

You blink down at him in surprise.

"Huh?"

"I... kinda liked that. It was weird... but I liked it."

He turns to you. You continue to just stare at him, dumbfounded.

"What was that?” he asks, ever so innocently. “That you were doing, I mean."

"Uhm..."

Quickly, you try to think of something, anything to excuse what you just did.

"It was... a massage.”

"Oh…” he says thoughtfully. “I can see why Mom and Dad give them to each other then."

You can't take it anymore. This is too good an opportunity to pass up.

"Would you like to have a better massage, Anon?" you ask.

He thinks about it, then nods. Perfect.

"Well... it is getting late. How about I give you a massage in the bath?"

You try to hide the eagerness from your voice. He looks around a little uncomfortably and his cheeks go a little pink.

"It's what mommies and daddies do..." you say, trying to make it sound normal. “It’ll feel really nice.”

Anon turns around and looks deep into your lustful eyes. His innocence almost makes you a little guilty for what you are about to do.

Almost.

"Yeah... I'd like to try it. I think."

You smile down at him.

"Okay. We can finish the movie next time."

He nods.

You lead him by a hoof up the stairs to the bathroom. You shut the door carefully behind you, resisting the urge to lock it. No need for that. Not just yet. Bending over, you flick your tail to reveal your marehood to him, hopefully putting an idea or two in his head. While you’re bent over, you turn on the hot water and begin to run the bath.

This is really weird. While a part of you is really uncomfortable with all of this, another part of you really wants to do this with her. For her. You are also really curious about the 'Mommy and Daddy massage' she mentioned. Is it what you heard your parents doing before? Because they sounded like they really liked it.

Cadance's tail keeps flicking around and you happen to catch a brief look at her privates. You’d better not tell her or else she might get mad. You’re not supposed to look at things like that, you should stop. But... a part of you wants to keep looking.

Stealing a glance here and there isn't that hard, and you do it a few times without her seeming to notice. Once the bath is full, she turns off the water and get's into the tub.

"Anon, you can get in now."

You slowly move to the tub, and that's when it hits you. You’ll have to step over her to get into the bath and she’ll be looking right at your privates, at eye-level. There’s no way around it. You’ll just have to do your best to stay as far back from her as possible and try to keep yourself...hidden. Covering your privates with one hoof, you take a step into the tub.

All at once, your hoof finds a wet spot on the tile, and you suddenly slip. You can feel yourself lose your balance, and you fall sideways with a yelp and splash. Water flies across the tile as you lay, legs spread in an attempt to catch yourself, at the foot of the tub.

Cadance moves her hoof a little, probably checking to see if you’re ok, and immediately gazes down at your privates.

"S-sorry,” you mutter.

You hastily move to cover yourself up again.

"Hey... it's okay," she croons.

Turning away, you still try to hide yourself from her. You don't want her to see your bright red face, or any other parts of you, on accident. That was so embarrassing. You can’t believe that happened.

"Here..." she says from behind you.

You turn around and see Cadance with her legs spread widely, just like yours were.

"You can look too."

Her privates are in open view underneath the water. Curiosity gets the better of you, and you don’t turn away this time. In fact, you feel yourself moving towards her impulsively, bringing your face closer to it to get a better look. Then, all at once, she covers herself back up.

"That's it."

You look up at her with a pouty face. That wasn’t fair, you didn’t get a great look like she did. But then again, her face is really red too and she's biting her lower lip. She must be embarrassed, like you were.

"Okay," you say reluctantly.

"Now turn around and sit in-between my legs."

Doing as you are told, you sit close to Cadance and she begins to wash your back and mane. As she does, you feel her kiss your neck and shoulders again, like she did on the couch. The sensation sends shivers throughout your body. Her soapy hooves trace your chest and hooves as she washes you clean. Slowly, she makes her way down to your legs...

"Could you stand up Anon?"

Oh no, if you do that...she'll see your butt. Isn’t that bad?

"Uhm... but... my butt would be in your face."

She giggles.

"You've been looking at my butt all night, Anon. It’s only fair."

How did she know!? Girls are weird. You slowly stand up, feeling exposed and vulnerable in front of her wandering eyes. Instinctively, you cover your privates. Her hooves trace from the bottom of your legs all the way up to your inner thighs in one long, slow stroke. She stops when she gets to the curve of your butt and takes a deep breath. You feel the soapy hooves wash your cheeks tenderly, but she doesn't spend a ton of time doing so. You’re glad it ends quickly, even if it does feel pretty nice.

"Alright... I’m almost done. Turn around, and put both hooves on my shoulders, ok? That way I can get your underside and belly."

Wait, but that would mean...

"Y-you sure?"

"Of course. I'm almost ready to start the massage."

"Oh...you mean that wasn't the massage?"

"No. I was just cleaning you."

"O-oh."

That was still kinda nice. If the massage is even better than that, it must feel really great! You turn around to face her, feeling a little embarrassed but with a driving curiosity. Cadance has got that warm smile on. The one that makes you feel like everything is going to be okay.

Without any instruction, you move your hooves away from your privates and set them on either shoulder.

She giggles.

“See? Everything’s fine.”

Yeah, nothing bad is happening. You feel a little less embarrassed. Cadance begins to wash the front part of your legs, slowly moving her way up to your belly and then downwards towards your privates. Suddenly, you begin to feel kind of funny. And not really a ticklish funny or a sick funny. Something else, something you’re not sure you’ve felt before. You look down to see your boy parts slowly getting bigger right before your eyes.

You stare in shock down at yourself. Is this normal? What's happening? But Cadance doesn’t seem upset by this, so you probably shouldn’t be either. You don’t want to seem like a scaredy cat in front of her, and if this is normal you should just act natural, right? She smiles and looks up to you, and the expression settles you a little.

"Are you ready?" she says, voice thick and sweet like honey.

You nod.

"Just tell me if you want to stop, alright?"

You nod again, knowing that you don’t really want to stop. Something feels really wrong about all of this. But you like it, and you don’t want it to end.

She takes her hooves and places them on your member. Soapy water starts to form a light lather along your shaft as Cadance begins to clean you. She strokes her hoof back and forth gently along the entire length.

This feels really weird. But not bad weird. You can feel your body begin to tighten up as you feel her continually rubbing your shaft. She brings her lips to the tip and kisses it tenderly. A surge of pleasure rings through your body as her soft, wet lips make contact with you. She smiles up at you.

"Oh... did you like that?"

You close your eyes and nod. You hear her giggle and feel the vibrations through her shoulders. You feel something warm and wet begin to cover you.

Opening your eyes, you look down to see Cadance's closed eyes and shining mane where your shaft once was. The feeling of what must be her tongue rubbing up and down on you is putting you through fits of pleasure with every stroke. Your heart beat increases and you begin to pant in time with her movements.

Then a new feeling begins fills your privates. It’s intense, and building by the second.

"Cadance..."

"Mmmh?"

The vibrations of her voice causes you to whip your head back and whimper. You try to find words to explain the feeling surging through you.

"I... think I'm going to pee."

She releases you from her mouth, a thin string of saliva connecting her lower lip and the tip of your privates. She’s smiling knowingly up at you, like everything it completely fine.

"Thats not pee,” she says comfortingly. “Go ahead and let it out, it’s ok. You’ll like it."

"Y-you sure?"

"Yeah Anon let it go... let it all out on me."

Well, if she says it’s OK…

Your hips begin to lightly thrust forward as her hoof quickly traces up and down your shaft. The weird sensation continues to build inside you, until it feels like an ache and an itch, but all in a good way.

Then, without warning, a massive string of white fluid shoots from the tip your member and spatters across Cadance's face. The feeling is amazing, like nothing you’ve ever known before, better than any massage you could have imagined. You let out a massive breath that feels like it’s been sitting in your lungs forever. Cadance places you inside her mouth again and begins to suck on you, a little more gently this time. You feel another pulse of fluid shoot out into her mouth, and you let out another long sigh.

"Mmmm," you hear and feel her murmur.

She begins to suck on you as if she were trying to get the last little bits of a drink from a straw. You whimper a little with how intense but wonderful it feels. Pulling herself off you one last time, Cadance gulps down the white stringy liquid in one swallow. Then she wipes off the rest off her cheek with her magic. She smiles at you and lets out a soft giggle.

"Did you like that?"

You nod your head slowly. Yes. A billion times yes.That was the best massage ever, and you want to make sure she knows it. Cadance’s smile broadens.

"Good. Now we have to keep this our little secret okay?" she says, whispering like someone might hear.

"Okay."

"Now go get ready for bed. I'll clean up in here."

Anon goes to grab a towel to dry himself off. You just sit there in the bath a moment longer, basking in the satisfaction of what you just did.

That was even better than you had dreamed it would be. The taste, the feeling! All the little noises he made. It was everything you wanted and needed, and so much more.Taking the last few drops of cum from your face with one hoof, you put it in your mouth to for a final taste.

It's so delicious. You memorize the texture and flavor.

Anon leaves the room as you begin to finish yourself off in the dirty bathwater. It doesn’t take too long, considering how much you've pent yourself up all night. It’s the work of a few minutes before you bite your lower lip and feel yourself cum into the same water you just pleasured him in. You whisper his name as you reach climax and the orgasm rolls through you over and over.

You catch your breath for a moment, then empty the water and ensure that the smell is wiped clean from the room. You dry yourself off, then head to Anon's room to tuck him in. He’s already in bed, the blanket pulled up around his stomach, covering the area you coveted not too long ago. As you enter, you spot another pair of underwear at the foot of the bed, presumably dirty from some special occasion. You slyly grab them when he’s looking away.

"Cadance?" he says hesitantly.

"Yes Anon?"

"Uhm..."

You can see him look away from you and blush a little. He's been nothing short of adorable this entire night. It’s turned you on so much, and even though you just finished, you find yourself lusting for him again. You want nothing more than to just ravage him right now and to make him call you his marefriend. It'll take everything in your power to not do that. Yet.

You smile warmly down at him as you wait for him to put his thoughts together in words. At last, he glances up at you sheepishly.

"Could you... call me Nonny?"

You feel your will beginning to shatter at just that simple request.

"Of course my little Nonny."

Now you see him blush really hard, a deep red spreading across his entire face, right down to his little ears.

"I really like you, Cadance,” he whispers.

Your face begins to lean in towards him, almost of its own will, and you feel your lips connect with his. He’s surprised when your mouth opens slightly and your tongue invites his to dance. You moan lightly into his mouth, and you’re beginning to press him closer when, all at once, a door slams from downstairs and shatters the mood.

Darn. The parents are home. You give a quick grin to Anon as you step away from the bed.

"I gotta go. I love you Nonny."

You zoom out of the room before he can reply. You swiftly teleport yourself and your underwear prize to the kitchen, where your bag sits open. You shove everything into the bag quickly, and follow up with a quick cleaning spell on the dishes and cooking area.You get the dressing out of the fridge, no sense letting the parents waste it, and put that in your bag too. Then it’s just one last quick spell to clean up your wet hair. It fluffs nicely, dried and styled as if at a salon.

Perfect.

You grab your bag and head into the living room where Anon's parents are waiting and seem to be angry. Hopefully not at you.

"Welcome home," you say with a smile.

The wife doesn’t even acknowledge your presence, and just stomps upstairs angrily. Anon's dad refuses to look at her, and approaches you with a solemn face.

"Thanks for taking care of Anon tonight."

"Is everything okay?" you venture.

He just sighs and shrugs his shoulders

"Yeah... I think so…” he says uncertainly. “She's just been... really uptight lately."

You nod. That much is pretty obvious.

"Here is your pay for tonight,” he says. “We will give you a call when we go out next. It’ll likely be soon if… well, she’s still like this."

"Alright, well, just let me know."

He hands you your payment in a small pouch and with a quick thanks to him, you head outside and shut the front door behind you. You glance inside the pouch and find what looks like the same phone number that he gave you last time. You grimace at it. But then, you begin to think it over.

Anon's father's intentions are pretty clear at this point... but... it gives you an interesting idea. You know that someday you will need to have Anon all to yourself, in someplace private where you won’t need to worry about his parents walking in.

Maybe this cheating husband is actually your golden opportunity.

Do You Trust Me?

Sometimes you have to do something you hate in order to be with somepony you love. That's what you had to learn a long time ago while studying the power of love in Equestria. And you reached a point with Anon the other night that... you can’t keep up this illusion at school any longer.

Shining Armor was never really somepony that you loved, but rather a stallion that you were peer pressured into being with. The school’s top jock combined with the beautiful princess of love? Mares gossiped about it for days. The two most popular ponies in school having a relationship? Everypony loved the idea, completely ate it up and encouraged you.

So, naturally you went along with it.

However, today, you know that you love Anon and no pony else. You can’t lie to yourself any longer. You’re practically cheating on Anon by keeping this facade alive.

It's time to end it with Shining.

Standing outside the schoolhouse, you look around and spot him off with his buddies. He looks happy, engaged in what he’s doing and totally confident with himself. You smile a little. Yeah, he's going to be fine. His friends will help him out of the rough times.

Between laughs with his buddies, he looks up and your eyes connect. You give him a friendly wave which he doesn’t return. He looks to his friends, seeming a little distressed for some reason. They too look up and notice you waiting there. A few of them crack a pained and knowing smiles, and one elbows him in the side.

"Go on dude,” he hisses so loudly you can hear it.

Shining nods to his friend and walks towards you. He rubs the back of his neck as he reaches you, looking the epitome of discomfort.

"Hi Shining," you say gently.

"Hey Cadance."

Boy, how to start this? He already looks so uneasy about something, maybe you should wait until he’s more settled or something. But no, now’s the time. You’ve got to find a way to do this. You clear your throat awkwardly.

"Uhm... I was thinking maybe we should talk about something... something important."

"Cadance,” he says abruptly. “Before you do... I want to say something."

Oh? What’s all this now?

"Oh... okay,” you murmur. “What is it?"

"I think... maybe for a while... we should see other ponies."

The words leave you breathless for a while. Like a cold shock of metal pressed on the back of your neck, you feel your fur rise all over you in surprise.

"I. Uh... What?"

He scratches the back of his head with a hoof again in that same nervous gesture.

"Yeah, it's just. It's really hard to try and balance everything... and school is getting really hard and I want to still have time with friends. I really like you, Cadance... I really do, and you are a beautiful mare that could probably have any stallion that you wanted, but I just don't have the time right now to keep what we have going."

You’re not even sure how to respond at first. Wait, so...he's... breaking up with you? Really? He’s breaking up with you?

"So... that's it? Just like that?" you ask.

Concern washes over the white stallion’s face.

"At the same time... I really want us to still be friends, Cadance. I mean, you take care of Twilight for us sometimes. Plus! Maybe down the line, when we’re more mature and stuff. I was hoping we could try again."

Well. This certainly wasn't expected at all. But it’s very fortunate for you, and it saves you so much uncomfortable banter. You feel relief flooding through you. But wait, don't act happy! That’ll just confuse him.

"So... that's it? Just like that?" you say again, as if confirming it’s true.

He takes another step closer to you, eyes suddenly so tender and sympathetic.

"Maybe for right now... but... hopefully not forever. I'm not going to be looking if... well... you aren't."

Wow this stallion knows how to work with his words. What would the other mares think? Oh! They’ll just eat this up. All you have to do is play your part too, and you know exactly what your stage directions and lines are. You wrap your hooves around his neck and give him a light peck on the cheek.

"Alright Shining. I'll wait for you. I promise."

He smiles and blushes a bit. You smile back, just as warmly as he was smiling at you.

"Thank you Cadance... You really are the best."

And with that, like nothing has happened, he walks back to his friends. For a moment he looks back at you and stops, but then continues on and the group of stallions resume their conversation.

You look after him, musing about what has just occurred. Huh. That went much better than you expected. And it’s best not to dwell on it now, because you’d better get back to the castle. After all, you don't wanna be late to your date tonight.

You stand in your room in the castle tower, grooming your wings and mane to perfection. You have to be perfect for this date, and not a thing must be out of place. Even as you decide you’re done, before you head out of your bedroom, you check yourself in the mirror.

Hooves shined. Hair done perfectly. Tight fitting black dress. Those seductive bedroom eyes you’ve practiced. Yep, everything’s perfect. Which means everything will go according to plan.

You leave the royal quarters and descend the stairs of your tower to the floor below. Royal guards stand at attention as you pass, and you give each of them a warm smile. You watch as a moment of panic passes over a few of their faces. They shouldn't feel so guilty for being attracted to you, you note. After all, you’re the youngest princess in the castle and a princess in training, more or less. Plus most stallions have a thing for high school fillies, right? Well, at least they all knew their place and none of them has made a move.

As you make your way down to the front door, you cross paths with Princess Celestia, who is preparing for a full moon this evening. She pauses to smile and nod at you, and you give her a small respectful bow in return.

"Good evening, Cadance” she says melodically. “How are you this evening?"

"I'm doing well. How are you?"

"I'm doing fine. Busy as always.” She studies your appearance and then cocks an eyebrow at you. “Are you heading out on a date this evening?"

You chuckle to yourself. Oh, if she only knew.

"Yeah. I finally decided to give this one a chance."

Celestia smiles.

"Well then. Remember that you are not allowed to use your love spells on any couple that you are not assigned to until you have reached a full princess status."

"Of course, Princess. I don't think this one will take much winning over though."

She nods to you, satisfied with this reassurance.

"Well then, I hope this stallion is worthy of an alicorn princess."

A giggle escapes your lips, and her face creases with internal laughter as well.

"Thanks Celestia! I'll tell you all about it later,” you lie.

You continue walking to the front door.

"Oh, Cadance!" you hear a call echo from behind you.

You turn back to Celestia, and she looks at you with those caring and somehow naive eyes of hers.

"Have fun tonight."

The two of you exchange a final smile.

"I will."

You close the door behind you and set out on your mission. First, you head out into the royal gardens and slowly make your way to the restaurant that the two of you agreed upon when you last spoke.

Everything has to be in secret... for now. Even though this will bring you closer to Anon, you still have the nagging feeling that this isn't fair to him. On the other hoof, maybe he will forgive you when you are able to spend every single day with him. Surely, that will be enough to ease any lingering guilt you might feel. Just to see the faith and trust in his eyes. Just to hold him and not have to worry about anypony else. When you are able to wake him up by taking your hoof and rubbing it up and down his long, thick-

You run face-first into a stallion who’s standing in your path. The two of you stumble backwards and you blink up at him sheepishly.

"Ooph. Sorry."

"It's fine," he says with a shrug.

You continue on your way, trying to quiet your thoughts so you can focus on the task at hoof. Gotta stop daydreaming. Got to get all this right, and that means focusing with all your might.

Since that night, Anon’s been all you can think about. The way he smelled. The way he tasted. You still have his dirty underwear in your bedroom, and by now it's completely stained by your juices. You’ve even began to snuggle with the stained garment at night, and he’s been leaking into your dreams because of it.

Stupid sexy Anon. He's making it just so hard for you to function properly. You haven't even been playing with your other colts anymore, you’re so hung up on just him.

Love is a funny thing that way.

You stand outside the restaurant that he invited you to. A simple pasta bowl restaurant, but it’s more expensive than anywhere the stallions at school have invited you to. Probably because they only work part-time, if that.

You scan the front of the restaurant and spot him standing, waiting for you. Yep, there he is. You know he's the type of stallion that is really, really into the younger mares, and you can play that part. If you want the plan to work, you will have to keep up the image for him in all the right ways.

You collect yourself, then slowly approach him, ensuring that you sway your flank as you walk, accentuating your curves. You hold that simple, excited innocence in your eyes, and as he looks up and sees you, you know you have him entranced. He can’t take his eyes off you, the way you move, your expression. It’s everything he wants, you can even see it in the way he draws in breath.

"Good evening, sir,” you say girlishly.

He holds up a hoof in protest, and you manage a coy smile in response.

"Tonight, just call me Cypress, alright?"

"Alright, but are you sure that this won't hurt things with your wife?" you say, trying to sound genuinely concerned.

He glances away from you for an instant, a brief pain flashing through his expression. Then he turns back to you, smiles again, and now he’s once more infatuated with everything he believes you are. His pain is forgotten.

"Let's not talk about my wife tonight,” he says.

As you lie in your warm bed, the events of your dinner date fading from your mind, you pull Anon’s underwear close to you and just breathe in the last remnants of his aroma. You wonder to yourself if this is really the best way to keep Anon for your own uses. Breathing in his scent once more, you cuddle the shirt closely to you, as if it was really him.

You’ll be taking care of him tomorrow, you remind yourself. Everything will be better once you talk to him.

You smile a secret smile then, just for yourself, as you allow your mind and body to indulge in thoughts about his slim little form. The curve of his back and rear. The softness of his fur against your face. The warmth of him in your mouth. His heartbeat against your chest and hooves. You let memories and hopes for future memories consume you and flow through your body, until it’s all you know.

Yes, you tell yourself through these sweet thoughts. After you hold him in your arms again, all will be right with the world again.

Mom and Dad decided to go out and have another date tonight. That's good... you think. It’s hard to tell what’s good anymore, but you think your parents getting some alone time is a good thing.

They’ve been fighting a lot lately. Sometimes Dad leaves at night and doesn’t come back until really really late, or even in the morning. When he does, he smells funny, like no other smells in your house.

Mom has also been crying a lot. When that happens, you do the only thing that you can, and give your Mom a big hug, like she gives you when you cry. Most of the time she just smiles widely and hugs you back. But now, sometimes… there are these times when she just cries harder.

Was it because of you?

Sometimes you lay in bed at night and listen to them fight. They go back and forth and you hear every little word, every letter of what they say. Sometimes they say things you don’t understand, but by the tone you can usually guess the meaning. There’s one thing you understand, though, and you’ve heard it more than once now. They’ve never said it to your face, but they once said something that just about broke you.

Divorce.

Your Dad had pleaded that it could still work if they kept trying, and they discussed it a while in much gentler tones. In the end, your Mom decided to give him a second chance. You were relieved then, but it still left you so shaken. What could possibly be happening that would be so bad as to need a divorce? To be honest, you aren’t sure who does the bad things in the fights. Maybe your Dad, but your mom is always so mad and says all the meanest things, so it’s hard to tell.

You hope beyond hope that you don’t have to choose between your Mom and your Dad. They both mean so much to you. After all, they did adopt you when nopony else would.

They’ve gone out, though, which you think is good, so maybe you shouldn’t worry about it if you can help it. Right now, all you want to do is focus on something else. Yes, just try not to even think about the word divor-

Daring Do jumps into a pit on the TV screen.

"DARN IT!"

That was your last life! You throw down the controller and go to the kitchen to get a glass of water to calm down. Typically you don't have gamer rage but this feels like a special occasion. Ugh. You grab a glass from one of the cabinets and go to fill it.

‘When's Cadance going to get here,’ you wonder. She will probably know what to do to make things better. She seems to have a way with that, even if you don’t always fully understand what she does or how she does it.

You fill up the glass with water from the tap.

Cadance is one of those... royal thingies. Princesses. Yeah. You tended to forget that. Maybe that makes her smarter and nicer than everypony else. Maybe that’s what makes her so pretty.

Just thinking about her puts butterflies in your stomach, and makes you feel funny all over. You just hope she gets there soon.

You hear a knock at the door.

"I'll be right there,” you call out.

You set down the glass and head to answer the door, thinking that your prayers have been answered. Opening it wide, you see the familiar pink Alicorn standing there, just as you hoped she would be.

"Hi Anon!" she says brightly.

"Hi Cadance."

You stand back to let her in.

"How are you?"

You shrug, not wanting to talk about it but unsure how to really dodge the question. You don’t want to lie to her or anything.

"I'm... okay I guess. Just, a lot of things are on my mind."

Cadance drops her bag and sits down on the couch. She smiles tenderly at you and pats the cushion next to her invitingly.

"Wanna talk about it?"

You were hoping that she would ask. Eagerly, you hop up next to her and lean against her. She’s so warm. Almost without thinking, you lay down and place your head in her lap. She giggles a little and you feel the vibration down through her legs.

"Can you keep everything secret?” you say quietly. “I don't want Mom and Dad to be worried..."

"Of course, Anon." she says.

She strokes your mane with her hoof and looks down at you with a warm smile. You glance back up and just enjoy the feeling of her touching your neck and head for a moment. It’s so hard to make yourself speak, but somehow, her petting your mane like this makes it a little easier.

"It's just... Mom and Dad have been fighting a lot lately... I don't know what to do. It has me really worried. I'm scared that they might get a divorce."

Cadance stops for only half a second, and you’re afraid you might have done something wrong. Then, without a word, she wraps another hoof around you and pulls you to her, then continues stroking your mane. You feel safe there in her arms, like nothing can hurt you. Like she’d never let anything hurt you.

"My poor Nonny," she croons into your ear.

"I really love my Mom and Dad... but when they fight... it's like they become different ponies. I get scared... and I just don't want to be here anymore."

It’s the first time you’ve said it, even to yourself, but you realize it’s true. Home has become scary. Seeing your parents like this has become painful. You just want to be somewhere, anywhere else. You just hope she understands what you mean.

Perfect. That’s exactly what you’ve been hoping to hear. You try not to smile too widely at the little pony curled in your lap as you pick your next words.

"You know Nonny..."

He looks up at you with eyes that mask one-hundred tears. You hate that you’ve had to put him through all of this... but it’s the only way it will work. And it’ll all be done with soon, and then he won’t hurt like this any longer.

"If you ever need anypony to talk to, or somepony that will let you hide away from all of their yelling...you could come to me up in the castle. I'll always protect you."

He cuddles up deeper into your lap. You can feel the warmth of his breath on your thigh.

"Thank you Cadance... you’re the best."

You hold him close to you and blush at this sweetest of compliments. You’d like to stay like this forever, but at the same time you also want to take away all those tears, just for a little while. He deserves a break from all this stress. You release your grip somewhat and put a little levity back in your voice.

"Now then. How about we turn that frown upside down for a little bit."

He looks up at you curiously. You wink at him and levitate the Daring Do movie out of your bag.

"We’ve got a movie to finish," you say teasingly.

His features light up, and you instantly feel a little less guilty.

"Oh yeah!"

You pop it into the television and levitate out a blanket to you two to share. You dim the lights as he nestles down next to you, and before long, Anon's eyes become glued to the screen.

For you, it’s hard to even think about paying attention to the screen when you have such a beautiful little piece of art snuggled up in your lap. Barely thinking about what you’re doing You work your hoof towards him under the blanket and begin to rub his soft chest. It’s just as warm and inviting as you remember.

Maybe tonight is finally the night to try to have your way with him. Then again, his emotional state is compromised because of his parents, and you don’t want to damage what you have right now. Perhaps it would be better if you played up the protective marefriend role. He might like that, even need that.

You hold him tight against your body throughout the movie and keep him warm. All you allow yourself to do is touch his chest, back, waist...just a little. Nothing more than something to comfort him and keep yourself wanting more. The movie passes with the two of you this way, and he scarcely moves or says a word, only laughing when something funny happens, and barely seeming to notice your subtly exploring hooves.

Once the credits begin to roll, you return light to the room and look down to his smiling little face.

"Well, what did you think?"

"I really liked it!” he exclaims, his excitement apparent. “I hope they make a good game from it."

You laugh and hold his face with one hoof. Goodness is he adorable sometimes.

"Then we will have to see if we can get ourselves a copy of that."

"Oh yeah!" he practically cheers.

You chuckle at the innocent joy in his tone and give his cheek an added little squeeze. As you take your hoof reluctantly away, you hear his stomach groan.

"Hungry?" you ask with a raise of one eyebrow.

He looks down at the floor.

"Yeah... I haven't really eaten much lately."

You frown. Well that certainly doesn’t seem good.

"Why is that?"

Anon doesn't answer right away. He looks like he’s ashamed of something, or maybe just confused. Either way, the mental pain he’s feeling is apparent.

"I'm... not really sure. When I get home, Mom doesn't really feel like cooking. Sometimes Dad just leaves for work or something. Like last night. I didn't even eat anything at all... and then I skipped lunch at school today."

Your frown only deepens at this news.

"Why's that?"

He shrugs, like it doesn’t even matter.

"I dunno. I kinda just wanted to be alone."

"Weren't your teachers worried about you?" you ask.

"I don't think they really noticed. Most of the time the teachers just put me in the back of the classroom, like I bother them or something."

Why on earth would this sweet little colt bother anyone? The idea gives you a swell of anger and disgust. That anyone wouldn’t instantly see the value in this beautiful little thing, that anyone would want him to be anywhere but at their side. The idea is preposterous, and a little enraging.

"Well... what about your friends?" you say, trying to keep the anger out of your voice.

"I don't really have friends at school... They say I'm different. And I don’t have a cutie mark."

You pull him against your body once more in an intimate, comforting hug. Anon begins shaking in your arms. You wrap him up in the tightest, most caring embrace you can manage.

"That's their loss then. You are such an amazing little colt," you say, and mean it.

He sniffles a little in your arms.

"R-really?"

"Yeah. I really like you Nonny."

"I-I really like you too Cadance."

He leans back, and you can see he’s started crying. You reach down with one hoof and wipe a tear from his cheek. He blushes at your mere touch, and stutters a little as he looks for more words.

"I mean…” he says haltingly, “I like you, like you."

A warmth spreads from your heart throughout your entire body as he says it. That simple, sweet way of expressing how he feels for you. You’ll show him the proper words.

"I love you too Nonny," you whisper to him.

"Is that what you meant when you were here last time?"

You nod to him and kiss behind his fuzzy little ear.

"Yes. Every word, Anon. I love you so much. If you ever feel scared or need help, I'll be here to protect you."

His tiny lips press against the side of your face in an abrupt kiss. It’s the first he’s given you, and you’re now sure that it won’t be the last. Together under the warm blanket in his home, you cherish this single moment and freeze it in your memory.

He’s yours.

Minutes pass like seconds as you hold him in your arms, feeling so safe and content. Before long, his little body has stopped shaking and has dropped into a relaxed bundle beside you. You hear a light snore leave Anon's lips. The little one must have been tuckered out from all of the stress. Dinner can wait a little while, even if you’re getting a little hungry yourself. All that matters right now was your Nonny.

Yet, you can't help but shake this feeling that something bad is going to happen tonight. It’s a strange, ominous feeling, and try as you might you can’t get it to go away.

You levitate him off of you and wrap him up in the still-warm blanket. Carefully, you carry him with your magic up to his room and tuck him into his bed. If only you had the ability to join him in his dream. Is he dreaming of you? Is he dreaming of a better time between his parents? Maybe he was dreaming that you really ARE his mom.

That idea turns you on more than you 're comfortable sharing with anypony, maybe even with yourself. You feel yourself getting a little wet just imagining that, as you look down at his peaceful, sleeping form. Maybe you could just...

No, not now! You turn and leave the room before you can let yourself do anything you might regret. Anon is really vulnerable right now, you remind yourself. You shouldn't do anything to him tonight. At least you think so. Your job usually entails bringing families together, not driving them apart, so this is new territory. Normally you’d just call this a setback, and focus on maybe feeling the colt inside you in the next few sessions. But this is a special case. It needs extra care.

Heading downstairs, you check the kitchen for whatever you could cook up for dinner. Let's see. What would be best for Anon would be comfort food, right? Something simple and easy that could pick up his mood.

Hmmmm. What to make, what to make… Oh! Of course, macaroni and cheese! Perfect for colts that have had a rough day, and he’s probably had a rough week at this rate. You set the box on the counter and then look back towards the stairs thoughtfully.

On the other hoof, maybe some loving would help pick up Anon's mood after all.

"Ugh!" you groan at your own indecisiveness.

Sitting at the table, you ponder your choices. On one hoof, you could be the responsible babysitter and make him dinner while he sleeps. The other option is to go up and cuddle Anon while he sleeps and give him comfort that way. He’s already admitted to you that he loves you, so he would probably want the emotional support. From the selfish view, this is especially useful if you want to make your ultimate goal come to fruition.

The last option is to deal with the throbbing desire in-between your hind legs by any means necessary. This is clearly the wrong option, you’re sure of it. If you go up there and take advantage of Anon, you could ruin everything. You have to make him want it. He has to crave it. The same way that you crave him.

You look to the box on the counter, then to the stairs up to Anon's bedroom, then back again.

Self-control. You have self-control don't you, Cadance? This is a piece of cake for you. You love Anon and he loves you. If he were your age... what would you do? Well, thats easy.You would take care of him and try and make him feel better.

...Sucking him off would make him feel better, right?

Hitting your head lightly with your hooves, you push that thought out of your head as best you can.

You can do this. Just be good. Do it for Anon. Just make him dinner, give him some rest, leave him alone, and everything will be fine. Yes, that’s the right answer. That’s what you must do.

Before a moment has passed, you get up and head towards the stairs. Quietly, you work your way upstairs and back to his room. It looks like he rolled over, but is still sleeping soundly and easily. You bite your lip as you look down at his little body.

Go cuddle him, Cadance.

So much for self-control.

You slowly work yourself into his bed and watch him sleep. He looks so peaceful like this. Maybe he wouldn't notice if you had some fun, just a little fun…

NO! STOP! Warning sirens begin to sound in your head.

Then again, he is asleep… If you’re really gentle he might not even notice. Maybe just a little bit, for a minute or two.

Your hoof crosses the mattress to find his legs and hips, and you work upwards until you find your much-sought after-prize. Biting your lip to suppress a moan of excitement, you began to rub your hoof against his flaccid rod and use your other hoof to ease some of that ache between your own legs. You’re already so wet just looking at him, when did that happen? Your hoof is soon damp with your own fluids, even from a few brief strokes.

Lust slowly begins to take you over as you work the covers off of him, wanting to see his rapidly stiffening member with your own two eyes. Slowly, it peeks its way out of the covers, driving you mad at the sight of it. Warmth flows through your veins as your desire to feel him inside your mouth again rises. Maybe for just a moment, just a short moment...

Moving your face over him, you kiss the tip of his wand and wrap your lips gingerly around his tip. The familiar salty taste from your dreams begins to fill your mouth and cloud your better judgment. Your hoof intensifies it's pace, causing you to moan into his stallionhood.

Stop, Cadance. This isn't a little bit at all. This is more than a moment! At this rate you might-

"Cadance?” he whimpers.

Shoot.

Your head draws sharply back from him and you manage a weak smile as you look down at him. You can feel how flushed your face is, and hope he doesn’t notice the smell of your lust hanging in the room all around you.

"Oh! Sorry Anon,” you say breathlessly. “I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's okay,” he says, face equally blushy. “I liked it."

He smiles up at you, and it only fuels your lust for him. No more moments. No more only a little bit. You want him.

"Nonny, do you love me?" you ask.

Your mind begins to go on auto-drive. Desire has overridden your self control. All you want is to feel him inside of you, right now.

"Y-yes," he stutters.

"Will you be my special somepony?"

Anon's face turns bright red, and you feel a surge of desire for him at the sight of it.

"Y-yeah."

With one hoof stroking him, you scoot yourself up to him and bring your lips to his. Your tongues begin a forbidden dance as you feel your fluids running down your leg to seep into the mattress. Still giving him gentle, loving kisses, you position yourself over him and lower yourself down so you’re straddling atop his lower half. He looks so small there, but unafraid. He trusts you, you realize. He trusts you completely.

"Nonny... I want to do something that fillies do for their special somepony."

He nods and looks up at you with his innocent eyes. Anything to make you happy, you can see his expression saying. Anything to please you, Cadance.

"Okay. What's that?"

"I'm going to take your coltparts and put them in my filly parts."

He wrinkles his green little nose at you, and you chuckle at how cute he is when he’s confused.

"Why?"

"It feels really good for both of us," you assure him. “Kind of like grown up massages did, except better.

His confusion hasn't faded, but he nods. He seemed to like those “massages,” so maybe the memory of it will help convince him. You wait for him to confirm that it’s alright, and eventually he does.

"Oh... Okay."

You lean in and kiss him again.

"I'm doing this because I love you, Nonny. A special gift from me to you."

With a hoof, you take his stiff member and line it up with your sex. Slowly, you accept the massive girth inside of you.

"Mph!" you whimper between closed lips.

He’s bigger than you thought, it’s almost painful. But not bad painful, no. The best kind of painful. You glance down and see him staring up at you with open concern. What a sweetheart, he thinks he’s hurt you!

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"Yeah."

You pant for breath but smile. This is so much bigger than any of the colts that you have played with so far. But he feels just right inside of you, like he was made to be inside you. His scent fills your senses as you bring yourself up and down slowly on his stallionhood, finding a slow rhythm.

"This, is really..." he breathes hard between words, his face quickly becoming flushed. "Really good."

His encouragement quickens your pace, and you find an even and steady beat. Your books didn't lie to you. It does feel better when it's with the somepony you love. What they never said was how good it would feel with someone so young and little. Well, little in some ways. Anon was your exception to all the rules.

You moan, open-mouthed, as you feel him slide in and out of you easily. You’re so wet, you’re sure your fluids are seeping out onto his fur now. Do you feel how tight I’m getting, Anon? Do you feel how much I love having you inside me? Can you feel my want for you, my desire, and aching to swallow you in. Give me everything you have, Anon. I’ll take all of it.

"I love you Anon!" you groan out.

"I love you Cadance!" you hear him say from beneath you.

You can feel everything tightening inside you as you thrust yourself down on him again and again. Inside you, you can feel him twitch and pulse with each stroke, and you know he’s nearing that point. You want to release with him, for him, as he cums inside you. You’re almost there.

You quicken your pace just a little, and you feel him clutch at the fur of your thighs a little, almost pleading you to get him off. You will, not long now, little one, not long now-

A sudden slam from the door downstairs freezes you mid-movement, filling you with dread. It couldn’t be...it’s too early. Surely they’re not...

"I CAN'T FUCKING BELIEVE YOU FOR A SECOND CYPRESS."

Panic fills you, and you practically leap backwards off of Anon. He too looks a little frightened, probably more at your reaction than anything else. Got to calm him down, you tell yourself. Got to make sure he knows everything is ok, so he doesn’t let his parents know what you’ve been up to.

You offer him a warm smile as you cast every cleanup spell you know. He seems to settle down a little then, and as you tuck him into bed, you kiss his forehead tenderly. You hear him sigh, and know that everything is going to be ok now. He won’t panic, and he won’t tell anyone.

"Everything is alright,” you murmur. “Be quiet and pretend you are asleep okay?"

"O-okay."

"I'll see if I can't make them stop fighting, you just stay up here and rest. We can keep this our little secret."

He smiles up at you and nods.

"Okay. I love you Cadance."

"I love you too Nonny."

You exit the door and close it behind you. You take a moment to breathe a sigh of frustration and relief before you turn your attention to the yelling downstairs. You creep down the steps and take in the scenario.

Anon’s parents stand across from each other, body-language flashing “fighting” in big red letter. His mom looks particularly angry, and she seems to be the one doing most of the yelling in this case.

"NO! DON'T TELL ME THAT HER TELLING YOU TO CALL HER WASN'T SOMETHING," she practically screams.

Time is running out, you realize. You have to start acting now. You remove the first half of the sound displacement spell from his parent's room. It's already done what it needs to do, so no point in leaving it there to allow him to hear even more of this yelling.

You gradually make your way down the rest of the stairs, preparing all the while for what you’re going to see and do.

"I'm telling you that I haven't been doing anything honey,” his dad says, hooves open in a sign of innocence. “I promise. There was just the one mare."

"SO WHAT!? ONE IS ALL IT TAKES. IF I JUST FORGIVE YOU, YOU WON'T CHANGE."

Anon's mom stomps to the couch and collapses down onto it. She turns her back to him, shaking with anger at first, then abruptly breaks out into wet, heavy sobs.

"It's because I'm barren. Isn't it,” she wails. “ISN'T IT!?!"

"No, it's not that at all. Willow just listen to me."

"NO CYPRESS! I think I've heard enough. I think…” she sniffles. “I think I'm done."

"Wait, no. We can make this work."

“I don’t think I can do this.”

“Can’t we just-”

“No, I…”

She continues to sob there on the couch. You muster up all your strength, and swallow hard. Now is your time. You have to act now.

"Willow," you say gently.

"What!?"

She spins, as if not recognizing your voice. For an instant there’s so much hatred and anger in her face, but it all fades as she recognizes who you are. Then she just looks so apologetic. You hold up a hoof and shake your head, indicating you shouldn’t stress about her initial reaction.

"Maybe I could help,” you say slowly. “I am studying to be the princess of love. Maybe a spell could help Cypress with his cheating problem."

You thought over exactly how to make that statement all last night. It has everything there for Willow to pick up on, if she thinks about it for even an instant. By the change in her expression, you can guess that she’s thought about it.

"Y-you."

She points her hoof at you, face growing pale and then red

"Nopony told you about...then how could you possible know that he was..."

You do your best to look shocked, embarrassed, and then ashamed in quick order. She watches you go through the range of emotions, and disgusted light dawns in her eyes. She looks to you, then to Cypress, and then back to you. Her eyes dilate. His do too.

"You fucking pig," she hisses.

"Wait, Willow I can explain."

"I don't care,” she spits the words at him. “I'm done. I’m done with all of...this, and I’m done with you. Goodbye."

She turns without another word or even a glance at you, and gallops out of the house. The door slams behind her and you’re left alone with Anon’s dad. After a short period of strained silence, Cypress looks to you with open rage. You feign a look of guilt and embarrassment.

"Oh my gosh I’m...I’m so sorry,” you lie. “I-I'll just make my way out now."

"Good," he says, then trudges up the stairs, taking a final moment to cast you an angry glance.

You watch him go for a moment, then grab your bag and make your way out the door. Mission accomplished, in more ways than one, you think to yourself. Hopefully everything worked out according to plan, and will continue to work out once morning comes. You think you did everything right. All you can do is wait and see.

And in the meantime, you have new delightful memories to tide you over, and you still have an itch that needs scratching once you get home.

I Promise We'll Have Fun

What could you have possibly done to deserve this?

You stare at the ceiling of your bedroom, eyes tracing lines between the bumps in the textured ceiling. You make imaginary pictures in your mind about the different creatures, images, and designs the ceiling contained, but it's all a way of simply trying to clear your mind. Each design has been inspected, carefully chosen after a week of staying in your room, laying in bed, trying to stay quiet.

It's Friday night. And one of your parents is out.

Mom hasn't came back in almost a week. Every day is a sullen, bleak neutrality that leaves an emptiness in the day to day. Whether it's the lack of a gentle, kind hum throughout the house, the smell of home-cooked food, or even a hug after a long day, the four walls that you retire to after a day at school is anything but home.

Your home doesn't have cider bottles resting by the armchair. Your home isn't supposed to smell like burnt pizza and instant noodles. Your home tucks you in gently at night, and plants a gentle kiss on your forehead. Now your only lullaby is the muffled sobbing of your father in the night.

Trying to interact with him never seems to help. Half of the time you can’t tell if he’s angry, or sad, or sad about being angry. He’d scream sometimes, be silent at others, but most of the time, he wouldn't even be here. He’s here. He’s not here. He’s both here, but also far away and out of reach from your desperate hooves.

And all you want to hear, is that it isn't your fault.

You close your eyes, realizing your thoughts have strayed away from trying to re-draw the kitty in the ceiling that's playing with the weirdly shaped banana.

A knock at your door catches you off guard. You look across your bedroom to the door that seems so far away from where you are lying.

"Hey kiddo," says Dad from the other side. "Can I come in?"

A lump catches in your throat. 'Now he tries to talk,' you think to yourself as you roll away from the entrance to your room. A guilt settles in your gut for feeling angry, but you can't help yourself. After a full week of being ignored and shouted at, why would he choose now to talk?

No. This isn't about talking. This is about something else. The door cracks open, and a pause fills the air, as you choose to stare at the wall, refusing to acknowledge him.

One step, Two steps. The creak of the door. Three steps. Four steps.

"Are you asleep, bud?" he asks.

"No," you sputter.

He remains silent as you refuse to move, like you would if a large dog approached you from nowhere. With some luck, the creature would become bored with you and decide that finding somepony else to pick on would be a better way of spending their time.

You let out a long breath as you find yourself unlucky. He sits on the corner of your bed.

"I. Uhm," he says, starting off. "It's Friday. I was going to go and check on Mom over at Grandma's house. I was... wondering if you wanted to come along."

You can feel your father reaching out his hoof in your mind, trying to beg and plead in the best ways he knows how. As much as you want to close the rift that keeps the two of your parents apart, you know you can't fix it. You've tried walking in on their arguments, but they just stop so they don't have to 'fight in front of you.' There has to be a reason why he would be trying to take you to see Mom.

Turning over in bed, you look to your dad and study him. He looks like he’s finally taken a shower. He’s combed his mane. He has a sorrowful look in his eyes, and his breath doesn’t smell like that pungent, burning liquid that’s in the bottles on the high shelves. Maybe... he's really trying to make amends. But, what if Mom isn't willing to make amends? Not yet, anyway. Hurting takes time to heal.

And you hurt. The dull apathy of the everyday has left your tone of voice soulless. To the point that you are shocked when you hear your own voice.

"Are you and Mom going to fight?" you ask.

Your father opens his mouth, then closes it, looking away.

"Were you going to take me, hoping that she wouldn't fight in front of me?" you ask.

He looks to the floor, refusing to make eye contact.

"Yeah. I guess so," he says quietly.

You roll away from Cypress.

"No. Can't you call Cadance or something?" you ask, letting hope seep into your voice.

"No," your father instantly replies. "No, Princess Cadance won't be coming back."

The words ring in your ears like a gunshot was fired inches from your face. Cadance won't be coming back? No. No. That's not fair. He can't do this to you.

You turn back to him rising to your hooves.

"What?!"

"She can't come back. Not if I'm going to make things... better, with Mom," he says.

"That's not fair! She was my friend, Dad!" you say aloud, listening to yourself. Should you have said 'special somepony'? Or should you keep that from Dad? You’ve never kept secrets from them before...

Then again, Dad has been keeping secrets from you and Mom. Maybe keeping secrets is okay.

"I know. I know, buddy," he says. You shudder at his endearment. "But she can't come back. Dad made a lot of mistakes. And now I'm just-"

But his words might as well be gibberish. You aren't listening. He took Mom away. He took home away. And now, he takes away your only friend. The one pony you've been hoping to see all weekend.

"Why?!" you scream at him, letting your words spill in only the way angry colts can. "Why did you do those things then?! You always say you mess up but you never try to ever get better! Sometimes you don't even say you're sorry and now Mom is gone! Why?"

Tears flow from your eyes as you sit up in bed, holding yourself defensively from him. He watches you in shock as you let loose the pent up pain that you've whispered to your pillows every night, practicing yourself for this very moment.

"It's like you don't even love us," you say. "You hurt Mom. You take away my best friend, and now I don't even want to come home anymore. I just want to be with Mom. I just want Mom to be happy, and you keep making her sad! Why are you doing this?!"

You sniffle, taking quick, shallow raspy breaths. Your mind spins words to say faster than your mouth can move. You close your eyes and bury your face to the mattress that you lay in.

"Why?" you ask, letting the hurt finally show. Your father remains silent.

"Why?" you ask, your sobs echoing through the house that you live in, all alone.

"Why are you doing this to me?"

A hoof presses against your back as you push it away. You hear your father sniffle, and it brings you a sort of sick feeling of satisfaction. Now maybe he'll feel the same hurt that you've been feeling. Now he'll be sorry.

"I don't know anymore," he whispers.

One step, Two steps. The creak of the door. Three steps. Four steps.

The covers dampen further as the mask hiding your hurt becomes irreparable. The door to your home opens. Then closes. And now you're all alone in this empty house.

The wind is strong and the night is cold. However, these are small in the grand scheme of things. That is not tonight's mission.

You sit perched atop the roof of Anon's home. Waiting.

There’s no guarantee tonight will be the night, but your studies of failing couples are consistent. The offender will eventually go to grovel at the victim's hooves. They'll claim this is the last time. They'll swear they'll change.

With some luck, and with their lack of a babysitter, there’s only one thing that can happen.

Anon will be left home alone.

It's time to set the plan in motion, Cadance.

The door opens, then closes. You keep yourself clothed in the darkness, hiding in the shadow of the chimney from the moon. Cypress trots away from the home, then down the street. He pauses, then looks back. You hold your breath as he studies the house for a moment.

Did he see you?

He pauses, then sets back on his journey. Once he's out of sight, you spread your wings and set to action.

You had considered tossing stones to get his attention, like some sort of cliché movie that Shining would take you to. However, you have terrible aim, and it is way too windy tonight to consider it. No, tonight will have to be done the old fashioned way.

Lifting into the air, you flap your wings to position yourself by Anon's window. Desperately trying to keep yourself hovering, you knock at the window three times with a hoof.

You spy inside, trying to see anything in the dimly lit room.

A moment passes. Then his familiar face, muzzle, and ears poke into view, his expression curious and concerned. You give a gentle wave and a warm smile.

Anon takes a deep, excited breath, then fumbles with the locks on the window. The panes of glass swing open and you swoop inside.

"You know, you really shouldn't open the door when nopony is home, Anon," you say in a gentle tone. "You never know who might be outside."

But, instead of a laugh, he nearly tackles your front legs. Anon wraps his hooves around you and a dampness from his face transfers to your fur.

"I... I missed you," he chokes.

You sit down, taking a hoof away from his grasp to pull him in closer. You rest your head on top of his as you feel his warm body press against yours, chilled from the cold.

"I missed you too. I'm sorry I took so long."

He sniffles and squeezes as you make gentle shushes.

"Hey there," you whisper. "What's wrong, my love? What's wrong?"

He shakes his head and pulls you in closer.

"I thought... I thought you wouldn't come back," he says. "Dad said you couldn't come here anymore. So, I thought..."

You let out a long, quiet shush as you pull him tightly to you.

"I promised I wouldn't let you go, Nonny. I won't let you go."

"Please don't go," he pleads.

You close your eyes, knowing your time here is not eternal, even if you put all of your strength to willing it.

"I'll be here as long as you need me," you whisper.

A silent moment passes between you and the desperate child clutched to your torso. His shaking slows and breathing returns to normal. He takes a deep breath, then finally lets go, without letting go.

"Do you want to talk about it?" you ask.

He nods slightly, unwrapping his hooves around you, and settling to sit in your lap. You haven't unwrapped your hooves from him. You need to make sure he feels safe in your forelegs. Secure. He needs to crave that stability. That way there's only one choice when it's taken away.

"It's just... nothing's been the same since Mom left," he says. "Dad is either really sad, or really angry. Sometimes at me. I can't leave the house to see Mom. Except for school, I can't leave at all."

Anon sighs and rests his head against the tuft on your chest.

"It... feels like they don't want me anymore. Like I should go back to the orphanage. I don't know... I don't know how to explain it."

You smile, seeing your golden opportunity finally come to fruition.

"Did you know I was adopted too?" you ask him.

He looks up at you, wide eyed and curious.

"Really?" he asks.

"Yeah. When I was just a baby, I was found in a forest outside of a tiny village. I never had the chance to know my real parents."

Anon stares at you as if he feels he could have known you his entire life.

"And... sometimes I wondered if my parents-- well, adoptive parents, really wanted me sometimes. I mean, it was a very small town. Bits were tight and they were already in a bad situation."

His mouth opens slightly, then he closes it, looking to the floor.

"What did you do then?" he asks.

Every good story has some truth baked in it somewhere. It's how it creates credibility. Everything, so far, has been true. But, for this to work--

"I ran away," you say.

He looks up at you in shock.

"You ran away from home?"

"Yes. And, by helping the ponies that I met along the way, I discovered the power that exists in love. I traveled the land, trying to help ponies learn to love, and be loved in return. That's how I became a Princess. If I never ran away, I would have never discovered who I really was. After that, Princess Celestia took me in to be her prized pupil, and helped me learn proper love magic, and even some of the old magics that are hidden away from the world. I began to learn about the beautiful land that we live in and the marvels that are contained within it."

Anon looks around his room, clearly considering your words. The seed is planted. Now for the careful tilling. The seed needs to be watered. Cultivated. Fertilized.

"But, isn't running away bad?" he asks.

"Well," you say. "Running away was the best decision I could have ever made, but it's dangerous. That is, if you don't have somepony to protect you."

He looks up at you, his eyes full of hope. You give him a wink.

"And you have a Princess to protect you," you say, driving home the point. "Don't you think your Parents would be proud if you became a Prince?"

"A prince," he says, as if the words were a wistful fantasy. "Yeah, they would."

"Then, Mom and Dad can have their time to heal and be happy too," you say.

He smiles, deep in thought in the way that only a young colt can be, and you realize you nearly have him. With a whisper of sweet nothings, he will be yours.

You push your muzzle towards his ear and nuzzle yourself against him.

"I love you, my Prince. Together, we could teach Equestria about the power of love. We could be together, forever. Just like this."

His face goes flush as he looks back up to you.

"I-I love you too, my Princess."

You smile to him, ready to reward him for connecting the dots so well. If you asked, you could have him run away with you tonight. But you can't do that. It must be his choice. It must be his initiative. And for that, you must push the envelope one last time.

Leaning in towards him, you bring your face inches from his, and wait.

Cadance leans in towards you, her enchanting velvet eyes holding you in place, like a blanket that would warm you in the bitter cold. A blanket that gives you life. You lean in, closing your eyes and plant your lips on hers. The sweet, fruity, familiar taste of her kiss sends rippling waves of tingles from the tips of your ears, down to the very tips of your hooves.

A shuddered breath is passed between the two of you as you replant your lips on hers once more. You feel her tongue part your lips and ask yours to have this dance. You pause, nervous, thinking of your two left hooves, but accept. You press your tongue to hers in your mouth, rolling, diving, and caressing the other in turn. You fear pressing back too hard into her mouth, should you make some form of faux-pas that would surely spell the end of this primal moment.

You reach a hoof up and press it behind her mane, in the way that she has done to you before, and now it's her turn to stall. She hums in approval as she moves her own hoof to the back of your mane. In turn, the two of you press into the other's kiss, breathe each other's scent, and explore each strand of hair in the other's mane. As if each strand is its own sweet nothing that you two share in hushed tones.

She breaks the kiss, a single bead of drool connecting your tongues as you can't help but lean towards her, unprepared for the bliss to be taken away. She giggles at your reaction, and her focus narrows on you. Her eyelids lower as an edge of her lip curls. Her gaze traces down to where your body has been preparing itself. And this time, you don’t think about covering it.

You've grown hard, and it's barely trying to conceal itself. It throbs with desire as you look between her and yourself, pleading without saying a single word. Her hoof reaches down, and you feel her press against the base and graze her way up to the tip. You gasp for air. Waves of tingly pleasure surge through your body and numb your thoughts as she watches your eyes close and your muscles contort. Her hoof then moves back down to the base of your shaft, slowly, painfully. Your body begs for more. Your hips shake with desire as you push into her hoof.

"Are you okay, Nonny?" she asks you. "Is there something you want?"

You open your mouth to speak and you feel her hoof move back upward, torturing you. You let a quiet yelp, then steel yourself.

"Y-yes."

"Oh?" she replies. "Are you sure?"

Her pace increases, and you let out a quiet moan. Your eyes close as you feel your breathing quicken.

"Y-yes."

"What do you want?" she murmurs.

She moves another hoof to your rod and rubs up and down, as waves would wash upon the shore. Your breathing follows her rhythm as you bite your lip. Your body grows warmer, the heat of a thousand blankets surging through you as your muscles tighten. It feels like her love spreading over you.

"I want... your special massage," you mumble.

"I can't hear you, Nonny," she says with a smile. "Speak up."

"I want you to... put your mouth on it."

Cadance smiles and plants a gentle kiss on your lips.

"Good boy," she whispers.

Then her lips move to your chin. Then your neck. Then your chest. Then your underbelly.

Her cheek brushes against your length and she makes a gentle coo. You wince, her softness catching you off guard. Cadance's lips plant themselves at the underside of the base, then move up, one inch at a time, until she reaches the tip. With a gentle sound, she plants a kiss right on your most sensitive spot. You moan, leaning your head back at the sudden jolt of pleasure.

Then, a warm, wet pressure starts from the top, and slides its way down. Your mouth opens, and a gasp of pleasure escapes your lips. Cadance plays you like an instrument, sucking, licking, tracing, teasing her way up and down you. She uses you well. She is a model, and you are her catwalk.

She brings her lips closed at the tip, then plants a gentle kiss. Cadance looks up at you with proud eyes and a mischievous smile.

"Happy?" she asks.

Not at all. How could she ask this? Your body is shaking with desire. You want to release. You want to give her everything that she could possibly desire. You want to make her proud. You want to be hers.

You shake your head.

"Use your words," she says with a smile.

"N-no."

"Good boy... I was hoping you wouldn't be done just yet."

Cadance rises to her hooves, then moves to your bed as you sit in place. She runs a hoof along the edge of your bed, raising her tail and revealing to you her sex.

With one step, then another, she climbs atop your bed. Her gaze returns to you as she pats the side of the mattress. The moon from outside shines in and illuminates the spot where she lies, sprawling out in a pose worthy of a cover for a magazine.

She’s beautiful.

Automatically, mechanically, you rise to your hooves and move to your bed. Normally climbing into bed isn't something you think about, but this feels different. A lump sits in your throat, but a sense of eagerness makes you scramble awkwardly, as if you’d just learned what the concept of a bed was merely an hour ago.

You sit, just like you sat on the floor, looking up into her gaze. She raises a hoof to your chin and pulls you towards her an inch. You reach up to kiss her, but nearly an inch away, she pulls back, just slightly. You lean forward to close the distance, but again she leans back.

"You'll have to try a little harder, Nonny," she whispers.

You move one hoof forward, leaning in closer, but she pulls back further in this game of give and take. She lies all the way back on the bed, her head resting on your pillow. You place your front hooves over her shoulders, on either side of her head. By the way she’s looking at you, you know you’ve done the right thing.

She lies underneath you, your gaze focused completely on her.

"Oh my," she feigns. "What now, Nonny?"

You ache with an unnameable want, and you bite your lip trying to find the words. As if sensing your hesitance, Cadance's left hoof suddenly grabs you and guides you down. You scoot backward until you line up with her flower.

She rubs your tip against the entrance, her juices lubricate you. You close your eyes to relish the feeling, but your body has other plans. Your hips move unconsciously, trying to move ahead to the next step.

"An eager one, are we?" Cadance says gently.

She lines you up and you push, plunging yourself into the soft and inviting flesh of your love. The two of you gasp in unison as her front hooves wrap around your shoulders, and her back hooves wrap around your hips. You pause, feeling yourself become one with the mare you’ve dreamt about so many times. But this feels so much better than any dream.

"Are you okay?" you ask.

"Mhm," she hums. "Go ahead, you won't hurt me."

You push yourself deeper inside of her. She holds you tightly as you move yourself in and out. Each motion comes with its own mixture of grunts, gasps, and moans.

"Oh, Anon," she groans. "It's so good."

You pant for breath, your primal instincts kicking in and using what strength your young body possesses to its absolute. You place your head on the tuft of her chest as you thrust your hind quarters again and again. You would lean up to kiss her, but the height difference makes that difficult, so you instead place kiss after kiss into the soft warm fur of her collarbone. Her hooves wrap around you tighter as you push yourself in deeper, harder. You feel yourself tremble as new and delightful sensations overwhelm you.

Moans come naturally with each flick of your hips. She bucks back against you in perfect rhythm.

"I love you, Cadance," you moan.

"I love you too, Anon."

The words hold you tightly in your chest, even more tightly than she clings to you. Your muscles clench as you plunge yourself to the base, making Cadance yelp with each individual thrust. She looks deep into your eyes as you look back down at her.

A strong pressure builds up at the base of your member as you gasp again.

"I think... I think I'm going to..." you grunt, but the right word doesn't come to mind.

"Give it to me, Anon," she pleads. "Please. Let's be one. Together. Just like this."

You push yourself harder, and the pressure builds and builds. Your forelegs wrap around her as you pull yourself close to her. Then you plunge yourself to the hilt and, like an eruption, the buildup shoots from your staff and plants itself deep inside Cadance's body. She twitches, yelping in delight and pulls herself even tighter around you. Her sex clenches its walls and her body pulsates, massaging every last drop of your white fluid out of you and into her.

She gasps, rolling pleasure racking her body as you collapse in her grasp. Your body is spent and your fur is damp from exertion. After a moment, Cadance relaxes, holding you gently in her hooves. Your ear presses against the tuft of her chest, and you listen.

Through the silence, you listen to the slow, gentle beating of her heart as the two of you float in space. The two of you drift far away from the rest of the world, as if on a cloud, to a place where the two of you would never age. Where nothing would change. Where the two of you would never be found, and you wouldn't want to be if it meant staying like this for forever.

She rubs a hoof through your mane as you listen to the sound of her beating heart, catching your breath.

"It's like a lullaby," you whisper.

Cadance looks down at you, curious.

"Your heart," you add, "It beats like a lullaby."

She smiles, holding you tightly, and keeping the two of you connected. She lays back, her eyes closed, obviously enjoying the feeling of isolation and bliss like you are.

"I love you, Anon," she whispers.

"I love you too, Cadance."

Silence fills the room as you feel yourself shrink and exit her, but you listen to the sound of her beating heart, cuddle into her warmth for a bit longer. Your aromas mix and fill the room, making your love known to the toys and clothes that litter the floor.

Cadance releases a happy sigh, then looks down at you, studying your serenity. If you laid like this, just long enough, you would probably fall asleep. Being here is the most peaceful you've felt in weeks.

If life could always be like this, maybe you'd be happy.

Maybe... Maybe you really should run away with Cadance.

The slam of the downstairs door cuts through the silence.

"Shit," she curses quietly.

Cadance leaps out of bed, and plants a gentle kiss on your lips.

"I have to go," she says in a panic.

"Please... don't go," you plead.

"I don't want to... but if we get caught," she says, filled with indecision.

You hear hoofsteps move to the stairs. Panic flows through your veins. You have to make a split decision. Cadance isn't moving. You're boxed into a corner. You could get in trouble if Dad finds Cadance here.

There's only one option left. You can't talk to your Dad. Not yet. The anger is still too fresh. Too real. You aren't ready to forgive him.

"If things are really bad, I'll go to the castle," you say.

Cadance's eyes light up and she smiles.

"Promise?" she asks.

"I promise," you say. "I'll be there as soon as I can't stand it here anymore."

The princess nods, and gives you a smile.

"I'll be waiting," she says. "I love you, Nonny."

With a light pop, and a flash of blue, she's gone. You're alone in the empty house once more.

You hear your father stop outside your room. He pauses for a moment.

Then, something inside of you changes. The nonsense of the situation overwhelms you. Why can't everypony just be happy? Why can't Mom and Dad love each other anymore? You and Cadance can. Why is it so hard for them?

He steps away from your door to his bedroom, refusing to speak to you.

Maybe he really doesn't love you.

Maybe your Dad is actually the bad guy.

You close your eyes as you realize there's only one option. Mom and Dad need to work things out on their own. They can't do that if you're here. You can't even look at your Dad, and with Cadance as your special somepony, it’s just a matter of time.

You can't stay here anymore. There’s no sense packing. It would just slow you down.

Galloping to the door, you break out of your room. Your father whips around, surprised you’ve finally broken your solitary confinement.

"Hey, Anon," he says.

But you refuse to look at him. Instead, you put your hooves into motion. You barrel down the stairs, leaving your father dumbfounded and confused. You run to the front door, where you let Cadance enter so many times, and whip it open to step to the other side.

The night is chilly as you trot to the sidewalk and look both ways. Taking in your surroundings, you look immediately to the east, where the glowing landmark of Canterlot Castle lies higher up on the mountain.

"I'm coming, Cadance," you whisper to yourself.

And now it's your turn to go to her.

Run Away With Me

The cold air tears at your lungs as you sprint through the dark night towards the gently lit castle in the distance. Anger guides your hoofsteps and clouds your thoughts.

How could your parents do this to you? They should love each other, and you’ve come to find that loving someone is so easy. They must not be trying hard enough, or maybe they don’t care anymore. Your young mind has difficulty sorting it all out, but you know one thing for sure. You have to get to Cadance. She’d have an answer to all of this madness. It feels like she’s the only one that cares about you. Like she’s the only one who even listens.

Your father's call for you to come back has slowly faded into the rhythmic pattern of your hoofbeats. This part of your neighborhood is foreign to you, but if you just run toward the castle for long enough, you should get there. Right?

You turn down another street as you hit one dead end, then another. Slowly, the houses around you begin to look more run down, and the lawns more unkempt. You don’t remember going through this part of town before, and certainly not at night. It’s a little worrisome, but you have a mission, and it drives you forward.

Focusing on your breath, you push past the burning in your legs.

Once you get into the main city, it should be a straight shot to the castle, you coach yourself. The way there is still fuzzily etched into your mind. Once your class visited the castle on trip to meet Princess Celestia. You hope your memory is still crisp enough to get you there.That’s all you have to work on/

Leaping over a low, well-worn fence, you run through a backyard to find a street that doesn't cut you off your path. You’ve never trespassed before either, but this is a night of firsts. It’s too late to stop now.

Once you get back to the street, you at last spot the main path into the city.

You stop to catch your breath and bend forward, panting heavily. Only now, with your home far behind and the crisp night air biting at you, do your thoughts finally compose themselves.

Is this really the best thing to do? Your parents are going to be really worried. Your mom doesn’t even know you’re gone, so your dad will have to be the one to tell her. She might be scared. They might both feel pretty hurt. Well, maybe that will teach them a lesson though. This might be what they need to learn to love each other again.

You think of your princess of love, and think of her smiling at you approvingly. Yes, Cadance would be so proud of you for this. She would be so happy that you were trying to get your parents back together again, just like she would. Plus, you’ll probably only need to stay with her a night or two. Then you can go back and everything will be just like normal. Just like it was before the fighting. Everypony can be happy again, including you.

You hear the flapping of wings overhead.

Crud! That might be the night guard. If you get found alone in this part of town, they’ll just take you back home. Then, all of this would be for nothing!

Quickly, you jump into a nearby bush and hunker there, waiting. You barely even move, and strain your ears, trying to gain some sort of clue as to who the approaching pony is.

The flapping slowly moves closer to you. You try to hold every breath in for as long as possible, try to make the pounding in your chest be quiet. With a soft whoosh, you hear something land behind the bush.

Stay perfectly still, now. Perfectly. Still. Maybe the guard didn't see you.

Silence fills the frigid air as nothing happens.

Go away, you stupid guardpony. Leave. Please. You have to get to Cadance.

After what feels like an eternity, a quick gallop and the flapping of wings signals the departure of the other pony. You let out a deep, stale breath. That was way too close. You have to get moving now, before somepony else can find you and spoil your plans.

Nodding to yourself with determination, you again start to follow the path into the city. This will make everything better, you tell yourself again. This will fix things. You just have to-

The sound of hoofsteps behind you snaps you out of your thoughts.

You stop, frozen, breathing hard again. Silence surrounds you, no sign of the phantom steps.

Must just be the wind or something, you tell yourself. You’re acting like a scaredy cat, hearing things that aren’t there.

You once more continue down the dark path towards the castle, at a slightly faster trot this time.

Again, the quiet night is pierced by hoofsteps behind you. You spin to look back, only to be greeted by the night air, and nothing more.

"Hello?" you call.

The empty night doesn’t respond to you. Maybe you should have brought a flashlight or something to light your way. Other than the castle, you can hardly see anything without the light from the houses. There’s nothing you can do about it now, though.

Keep moving. You’ll be there soon.

Galloping down the path, you keep your ears pricked at careful attention. At first, there’s nothing at all, then...

There it is again!

You turn as quickly as you can, your back hooves kicking up small clouds of dust as you skid to a halt. This time, you’re not alone. The shadowy figure of a large stallion stands in the path behind you. Your breath catches in your throat, but it quickly turns to anger again. It’s your dad, it has to be. He’s following you!

"Leave me alone, Dad,” you shout at the shape.

There’s no answer.

Rather than waiting for your father to recollect his thoughts, you turn back to your intended route and begin to trot away, head held high.

The figure remains silent, but by the sound of his hoofbeats, he’s continuing to follow you. That’s not good, why doesn’t he say anything? Quickening your pace, you try to elude your unwelcome guest. But with every step you take, he easily matches your speed.

"Leave me alone!" you shout over your shoulder.

You break into an all out sprint as you see the city lights slowly approaching in the distance. If you get into the city, someone can help you, maybe. You can convince them that this stallion is a danger to you or something, that he’s lying if he says he’s your dad. You can manage a lie like that, right? Sure you can. But you have to get to the city first.

The gallops behind you begin to come nearer and nearer, getting faster in their rhythm. Buildings rush past you as you run. You feel a burn of exhaustion and protest in your chest as you breathe hard, painfully. Ducking and weaving in and out of alleyways, you see sanctuary become closer and closer with each stride.

The stallion is hot on your tail as you try to lose him. With every turn, he follows. With every leap over a fence, he leaps with you. Edging ever closer. None of your dodging is doing you any good, but you have to try! You have to escape!

Juking into an alley, you run unexpectedly into a dead end. Oh no, are you trapped? You look around and find that there’s no other way out. You try to climb up the tall brick wall, but you can't find any holds. Your hooves scrabble noisily and uselessly against the surface. Putting your back against the wall, you turn to find the shape of the stallion there. You watch as your stalker slowly approaches you. Suddenly, that shape doesn’t look so familiar anymore.

“D-dad?”

"Isn't it a little late for someone so young to be out this late at night?"

Your heartbeat speeds to dangerous levels as you feel sweat run down your face. This is definitely not your dad. You’ve never heard this voice before. Why is he following you? Why is he approaching you? This isn’t a guard, this isn’t...anypony you want to be around.

“U-uh…” you stutter out.

He snickers at the way your voice squeaks.

"It would a shame if something terrible happened, if you got found by the wrong pony."

There’s something ominous about the way he says that, almost like he’s teasing you. You don’t know what he has in mind for you, but you can tell right away that it’s not good. You shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t be here alone.

"Cadance! Help!" you burst out.

It seems silly, but you’re overwhelmed by fear, and it seems like the natural thing to do. You need her to be here. She’s always here when you need it most. You find yourself calling her name once more. You scream into the darkness.

The stallion just laughs at your cries.

"Cadance? Princess Cadance? You think the young Princess will save you? You must be delusional kid."

Light illuminates his forehead, and you see he’s a unicorn. A steady glow surrounds his horn and spreads to your body. You kick your hooves futilely through the air as his magic lifts you off the ground.

Turning your head, you refuse to look at your attacker. Maybe this is all some horrible dream. Maybe if you shut your eyes, maybe if you don’t see any of this, you’ll just wake up.

"Now be a good boy... and be quiet."

His magic rotates you through the air, your body dangling like a helpless kitten. You hear him making quiet ‘hm’ noises as he circles you like a shark, and you realize he’s inspecting you. You feel so exposed there, but there’s nothing you can do but cover yourself with your hooves. As you try to do that, his magic jerks them away. It’s obvious he wants to see all of you.

He laughs, and you feel him approaching, getting closer to you.

"No... don't,” you whimper.

All at once, he pushes you back into the brick wall, making your head collide with the hard surface. You choke on your own breath and cough from the impact. You’re held there, dangling, completely unable to defend yourself.

Why is this happening? Why is he doing this? All you wanted to do was get to Cadance, but now?

You open your eyes to find the dark shape looming over you. You can see his face illuminated in red from the light of his horn and see nothing in his eyes. No life. No thoughts. Just bottomless darkness, like the night surrounding you.

Stars fill your vision, and you feel the impact site on your head get warm. You’re so dizzy. You can’t defend yourself, can’t do anything.

A hoof slowly moves up your leg, inching its way towards…

You should fight. You should stop this. But you’re so dizzy. You can’t see. You’re paralyzed as he strokes his way up the inside of your thigh. Through your haze, you can see the stallion lick his lips.

There’s nothing you can do. He’s going to hurt you.

All at once, a glowing light blue aura fills the alleyway. Through slitted eyes, you can see a second shape take form behind your attacker.

"Let him go. Now."

The stallion looks over his shoulder, grunting in surprise and confusion.

The pink shape glows with greater intensity, and moves towards you. Like some sort of angel sent from a radiant heaven, Cadance gracefully floats into the alleyway.

Something inside you tightens and grows warm. She came for you. You called for her, and she came.

The stallion lets go and you fall to the cold ground with a thud. Even as the air is knocked out of your lungs, you still manage to call out her name one more time.

"Cadance!"

The princess lowers her head and her horn emits a glow, far brighter than the glow of your attacker’s horn. It surrounds the dark shape still towering over you, and, gradually, the stallion rises from the ground, kicking and struggling. You hear him make soft grunts of exertion as he tries, and fails, to free himself.

You scramble to sit up a little, but the world still spins as you do. So you sit there, staring, as Cadance levitates him higher and higher. Looking up at the stallion that touched you, you see his eyes widening with horror. Then, his head arcs back and his eyes bulge as if he’s being squeezed tightly in a vice. His breath makes a crackling noise, like he’s attempting to speak.

"Cadance... what are you doing?" you wheeze out.

She glances down at you for an instant, but then goes right back to focusing on the hovering, contorted-looking stallion.

"Nothing, Anon. Just teaching him a lesson," she says lightly.

Tears run down his face.

Even after what he did, you can’t see him like that. You can’t see that look of hurt in his face, the way his mouth opens and closes like a fish thrown on land. You move to Cadance’s side, looking up at her with a pleading gaze.

"No more... please. I can't watch anymore."

The light from Cadance's horn intensifies.

"This is what you get for hurting my Anon," she hisses.

"Cadance? Stop... I think you’re hurting him."

"He hurt you Anon, didn’t he? This is only fair."

You reach back to touch where you hit your head. It hurts and when you pull your hoof away, there’s blood on it. Cadance looks down and sees your stained hoof.

Her eyes shine white in the moonlight. The stallion gives a sharp whine of pain.

"PLEASE! STOP! I'LL BE GOOD, I PROMISE! TAKE IT AWAY!" he shrieks.

It’s like she didn’t even hear him.

"Cadance. Stop. I think he’s learned his lesson."

You tug on her hoof. She doesn't respond, and you tug a little harder with the same effect.

"Cadance!" you finally shout. “Stop!”

Like you’re waking her from sleep, Cadance’s eyes return to their normal state and she lowers the stallion back to the ground. He instantly curls into a ball and begins to shake and sob uncontrollably. The lot of you stand like that for a moment, a frozen scene, with only the sound of his sobbing breaking the still of the night. Then, at last, Cadance approaches him a few steps, leering down at his crumpled body.

"Don't let me catch you again,” she says calmly.

Then, she turns away and begins to walk back to you. You stare up at her in utter shock. Is this the power of a princess? It’s...terrifying.

She covers you in her wing and offers a comforting smile, as if none of this had just happened. You see worry in her face, affection. It’s like she’s a completely different pony now.

"How much does it hurt? Did he hurt you anywhere else?"

You swallow hard and manage to talk normally. Barely.

"I'm okay... but is he going to be okay?"

You point at the stallion crying in the alley. She looks at him with disgust.

"Oh, he'll be fine. Don't worry about him."

Looking up at Cadance, you realize you’re seeing a side of her that you haven't seen before. It makes you feel funny inside, and not the good kind like before. It makes you feel like you should run away.

"Uhm. How did you find me?" you ask.

"Oh, I’ve been watching over you since you left your house,” she says, almost nurturingly. “I wanted to make sure you would be safe tonight, so I stayed close to you and followed you from the air. Just to watch over you and protect you."

"Then... when I hid in the bush."

She nods to you.

"I thought you might have been hurt, so I came down to check. I lost you when you got into the city. If you hadn’t screamed my name... I might never have found you. I'm sorry I couldn't get her sooner, Nonny."

"I-it's okay.”

Sure, you feel grateful but all of this feels...strange. Why do you feel so strange? Cadance moves her wing from around you and lowers her body a little in a crouch. She nods towards one of her shoulders with her muzzle.

"Here. Climb on my back,” she says. “I'll get us to the castle."

You want to hesitate, think this over, but you also really just want to get out of here. Now. Carefully, you lift yourself onto the alicorn's back and wrap your front legs around her neck.

“Holding on tight?”

You nod.

“Then here we go.”

She breaks into a gallop, wings extended. Then, with a few effortless flaps, she lifts her hooves and takes off into the night. The cold air flies past your face as the ground slowly becomes farther and farther away. The buildings begin to shrink as you come closer to the large full moon.

Suddenly, the night doesn’t seem so empty anymore. It seems almost wondrous. For an instant, you forget everything that happened only moments ago.

"Wow... this is so cool."

Cadance smiles as the two of you soar towards the castle. Holding yourself close to her keeps you warm against the freezing wind, and you hug her tightly, your small body drinking it in.

She increases her speed and swoops down low over a pond outside the castle. The calm water speeds past you and reflects the image of you and Cadance, like a shimmering mirror. Reaching out a hoof, you dip it into the water, creating a wake that ripples through the glassy surface. Fish leap out of the water, following you and the princess, suspecting your disturbance is the sign of a midnight snack.

A smile crawls across your face. The first smile you’ve allowed yourself since you last saw her.

With a flap of her wings, Cadance begins to ascend higher into the sky and towards one of the tallest towers of Canterlot Castle. As she nears a balcony, she slows down and hovers. With practiced care, she lowers her hooves onto the stone, and lands with not even a bump to jostle you.

"Here we are, Anon,” she says in a sigh. “Head inside, it's cold out here."

You don’t need to be told twice, that’s for sure. You trot quickly inside and out of the biting evening air. Behind you, you spy Cadance, stopping to look over the balcony at the quiet city of Canterlot. It’s like she’s overseeing everything below her.

As you enter the warm room, you can guess by one quick glance that it must belong to Cadance. It would be impossible to forget that she was a princess in here. Marble floors, golden trim, and one of the largest beds that you’ve ever seen in your entire life… it’s a room truly worthy of royalty.

You eye the bed a little longer than any of the other features. The frigid air has left you worn and tired, and the ordeal from before still has your head swimming. And it just looks so warm and relaxing. Without a second thought, you move to the bed and curl up over the covers.

You’re pleased to find that you were right. It's so soft and comfortable that you feel yourself instantly at ease. The mattress magically adjusts itself to the shape of your body, even as you move.

Right away, your eyelids droop and your body struggles to fight against the inertia of tiredness. The impact of all your running hits you in a steady wave and exhaustion overtakes you. You allow your eyes to close and, at last, you feel as if your escape is complete.

The city of Canterlot is quiet and calm this evening. You can barely even hear any crickets from everything you see below the tower.

Perfect. Less of a chance for witnesses that way.

If Celestia found out you’d used that spell... there would be much more work to do than just a simple censor of the news. For now, you just need to make sure nopony knows where Anon is.

You have him now, here, which means you’re halfway done. All you have to do now is keep him.

You turn your back on the quiet city and enter your room. In the low-lit chamber, you find Anon quietly sleeping on your bed.

The sight warms your heart. He deserves to sleep peacefully after everything that he was put through tonight. It was all your fault, too.This wouldn't have happened if you didn't lose him in the city. You are the reason why he was almost raped.

The payment to that stallion was high enough where you figured he would act more professionally. You told him to scare Anon, make him feel frightened and vulnerable. There’s being overzealous with your work and then there’s… this. If you’d known, you would never have hired him. You should have stuck closer to him, if you hadn’t been there, there’s no telling how far he would have taken it. And he hurt your dear little Anon. It’s your fault he was hurt.

Then again, you were the one that saved him, too. You’re kinda like his guardian angel this way, and you can definitely use that to your advantage. Besides, you shook that stallion up good. He deserved every bit of what he got.

Using magic, you tuck your covers up around Anon’s chin. You pull your curtains closed and slowly tuck yourself in bed next to your love. Wrapping your hooves around him, you hold him closely. You won’t let that happen again. No outside help now, no one but you and him. Always.

Smiling to yourself, you mutter the words that you've been dying to say to Anon.

"You're mine now."

A knock on the door to your bedroom jolts you awake. You jump up and look around, but find that Anon still rests peacefully beside you. You give him a loving smile, then quickly pull the covers over him, hiding his precious little form. It’s a sweet thing to wake up and find that it’s not just a dream.

"Who is it?" you call.

"The royal guard, Princess. We have a few questions to ask you."

Oh no! They couldn't have found out, could they? Not yet! Still, the room is nearly pitch black, and Anon is hidden under the covers. They shouldn’t be able to see him. You chew your lip, but ultimately decide that you should be fine. For now.

You open your bedroom door and step outside into the corridor. The guard gives you a polite bow.

"How can I help you?" you ask.

"I'm afraid that the colt that you babysit, Anon, has gone missing. His parents are very worried about him and they’ve asked us to conduct a search. I just wanted to ask you a few questions to see if it could help us in any way."

So they didn’t see. They’re just curious. Good.

"Of course,” you say, looking as concerned as possible. “Ask me anything. I hope I can be of some assistance."

You watch your breathing and keep eye contact. Communication training was standard for an alicorn princess. Sometimes you have to know how to tell a good lie, and now is the best time ever to flex your skills.

"When was the last time you saw Anon?" he asks.

You pretend to think it over carefully.

"Well, I was over at their home the other evening. I tucked Anon into bed, then his parents stormed in. They were yelling at each other and... well, I made the argument worse. Afterward I left and came back here to the castle."

He scribbles some things down on a pad of paper.

"Alright,” he says with a sigh, seeming to accept your explanation. “Do you know of any places that Anon would hide if he were upset or angry?"

You think to yourself again.

"Not really. He never actually left the house. He was always very well behaved when I was over there."

"Alright."

He takes some more notes before returning his attention to you.

"Last question. Do you know of anypony who would want to hurt Anon? Or anypony that he would go to if he needed help?"

"I...don’t think so. He said he didn't have any friends at school, but he never mentioned bullies. Why? Do you think he’s hurt?"

You feign horror, pressing one hoof to your cheek. The stallion sighs and stores the paper in his bag.

"To be honest, we don't have anything to go off of, Princess. No trail. No motive. Nothing. Normally we can at least follow hoofsteps or ask some of his friends, but he has literally disappeared. We aren't sure what to tell his parents."

Perfect. All according to plan. Hide your emotions Cadance. You’ve got to completely sell this lie for it to stick.

"That's horrible! Could you please keep me informed of the search as well? I'll see what I can do to help find Anon."

The stallion smiles at you, probably admiring how a princess like yourself can care so much about a pony she barely knows.

"Thank you for the offer Princess, but your studies come first,” he pauses, and you think he may pat your shoulder comfortingly, but he doesn’t dare touch you. “We've been able to find plenty of foals before and we’ll find this one too. It's just a matter of time. We will keep you informed of our progress though."

You nod, pretending to sniff back tears of worry.

"Alright. Thank you very much."

"Sorry for disturbing your slumber. Have a pleasant evening."

"You too."

The guard gives you a farewell nod and then descends the stairs, leaving you alone with your thoughts. You wait until he’s completely gone before you turn back to your room and your sweet little sleeping partner. You shut the door behind you, and quietly turn the lock.

It's only going to be a matter of time until they start putting the pieces together. Tomorrow you will have to ensure Anon doesn't want to go back. You’ll ensure he will be yours forever.

I'll Keep You Safe

The bright morning sun illuminates your marble room and beats on your eyelids. You slowly open your eyes from one of the most restful nights of sleep you've had in a long time.

You feel at ease, at peace, content with your own accomplishments. Most likely due to the source of warmth that is wrapped in your hooves.

You look down to the sleeping green form curled against you with a smug little smile. Leaning your head into his neck, you waft in his scent and feel every contour of his tiny, supple body figure. He’s not a dream, he’s real, and he’s sleeping so peacefully right now. You can feel every rise and fall of his chest, and feel his breath tickling the fur on yours.

He's all yours. He's finally yours. Nopony can interrupt you this time. You could do anything you wanted with him right now without fear. Nothing bad could happen unless...

The memory of the guard shatters your beautiful moment.

It’s true, you might have him. But now you have to keep him.

Sneaking yourself out of bed, so you don't wake the little angel, you take to the bathroom to begin your morning beautification routine. As you carefully set your hair into its usual undulating ponytail, you look into the mirror and ponder your next action carefully.

The basis of the plan is all there, but you need to find the books first. Your first stop will be the library. After getting into the restricted section, which shouldn’t be too hard, you’ll have to work fast to find all of your study materials. Then lastly, you and Anon will have to flee the castle. It’ll only be matter of time until somepony finds him here, probably Celestia or one of the guards. And you know well that the two of you can't be found until the spell is complete.

You take a deep breath.

"You can do this," you tell your mirror self.

Mirror Cadance mouths the same words, and you nod at her in agreement. You will do this for him. Then he will be yours for eternity.

Stepping into the shower, you recall the look on Anon's face as you flew him through Canterlot last night. Pure wonder. He’d forgotten all about your little mistake in hiring that horrible stallion.

Warmth fills you up as you reconstruct the mental image. The way he smiled so innocently...if you could somehow capture that innocence and contain it forever, keep it to use as you pleased, your life would be perfect. Further parts of you begin to warm at the thought, but you refocus on the task at hoof. There will be plenty of time to fantasize later.

You quickly wash your hair and clean your fur. Time is going to be of the essence if you are going to make this plan work. After drying your hooves and taking care of some unmentionables, you exit the bathroom.

The sight of the young Adonis laying in your bed makes a smile crawl onto your face once more. Once the two of you hit a rest point on the journey, you will have to reward him for being such a good boy.

You adjust your ponytail and tie a light blue ribbon around the base. Got to look pretty for your little stallion. You mentally prepare yourself for anything, but you’ll also be sure to look like the princess he expects you to be.

A moan from the bed tears your attention away from your thoughts. Anon slowly sits up, his mane an unkempt and adorable mess, and rubs his eyes. He blinks around at the room, seemingly confused, then he spots you and his grumpy little expression softens. He smiles dreamily at you. You giggle a little in spite of yourself.

"Good Morning, Nonny," you say tenderly.

"Morning," Anon says groggily.

You sit next to him on the bed and caress his face with one hoof.

"How are you feeling? I know last night was really rough for you."

"I'm... okay. I think."

Your poor sweet little Anon. He must still be so stressed and confused about everything from yesterday. You stroke down his matted mane in a soothing, comforting gesture.

"Alright then. Well don’t worry, you’re safe now. You’re with me. I just have one tiny errand I need to run and then we can try to begin to make things better with your parents."

Anon looks up at you with a face full of worry, but tinged with a little bit of hope as well.

"O-okay."

That didn't sound very sure of him.

"Is everything alright, Nonny?" you inquire.

You pull him gently to your body in a hug, continuing to pet is soft but tangled mane. His body feels tense against you, nervous. But he nestles his face in against your side.

"I... I kinda wanna go home. Maybe Mom and Dad aren't fighting anymore."

This isn't good. You’ve been trying to avoid doing this to him.

"Anon... I don't think that's a very good idea."

"Why?" he asks.

You pause. Do you really need to deliver this suckerpunch right now? As you look into his eyes, you know you do. It’s how you’ll keep him, even if it hurts him a little right now.

"Anon… your parents were fighting about you."

The color drains from Anon's face as he looks up at you. You can see that every fear and worry he’s pondered over the last few days has been confirmed. Your heart aches to see that kind of pain in his face, but you have to do this. It’s for his own good. His lip trembles, and tears form in his eyes. You rub his back with a hoof while he begins to sob into your underbelly.

"Shhhh. It's okay. It's okay my love," you whisper to him.

The tears dampen your fur and you rest your head on top of his.

"It’s not really your fault. They don’t even realize what a precious little son they have, and they’re taking you for granted. But we can make it all better. I know what we have to do, so don’t you fret. Even if they don’t treat you nice, I love you so much."

"T-thank you Cadance," he chokes out.

"How about you get some more sleep and I'll get everything ready for us to go, ok?"

"Ok."

You hold his face up to yours and tears run down from his sorrowful eyes.

"Everything is going to be okay, Nonny. Trust me."

You give him a compassionate smile as you move a few stray hairs out of his eyes. He looks up at you, and you can see the trust leaking in around the edges of his sadness. He calms down a little bit, his body losing its tension.

Yes, this is exactly what you had to do. This is how it should be. You plant a kiss on his tender lips.

"Get some more rest and don't leave this room, do you understand? I need to keep you safe from any scary or mean ponies."

He nods to you and wraps himself back up in the blankets, like a cocoon of safety. At least that terrible, disgusting stallion accomplished your main intent: he seems a little afraid of going outside now. As his eyes close, you place him under a sleeping spell. Even if he seems sincere, you can't risk him leaving the room.

After exiting the golden doors to your bedroom, you lock them from the inside with your magic. Some of the high guards around here have keys to every room, just in case, and most unicorns in the castle can probably unlock everything if they chose. But they’ll have no reason to open your tower, you remind yourself. You have to keep your cool.

Heading down the stairwell from your tower, you quietly make your way to the castle library. Even as you try to creep noiselessly, the sound of each of your hoofsteps echoes through your ears. You pass guards as they go about their normal business, and each of their respectful glances feel like daggers.

Pull it together, Cadance.

There is no way that anypony knows. They aren’t seeing through you, they can’t see what you’re hiding. They’re completely in the dark, of course. Still, it doesn't change that it feels like they know something.

Just focus on the books, you tell yourself. You know you need that mystical book on age spells. Maybe you could find a book that could list some places that could amplify the power of your magic in general. Or a book that could detail some good hiding places until you can find the spell you need to make this work. Once you find what you’re after, you’ll have to put as much distance between you and Canterlot as possible.

As you approach the entrance to the royal library, two guards step forward and open the doors for you. It’s customary, but today, it makes you jump.

"Good morning, Princess."

You nod to them curtly.

"Thank you good sirs."

Just keep calm and focus on the task at hoof. They don’t know what’s going on. Just look to your first task: heading to the restricted section.

Your hoofsteps reverberate from the high-vaulted ceilings of the room as you navigate the labyrinth of book shelves.

There are plenty of books in here that you’ve rented out to read to Twilight, Shining's sister. She’s such a smart little filly. Her reading level is right on par with yours and she always loves to read books that would make her think. You were supposed to babysit her tomorrow, but there are other things you have to do. The dent that it will make in your babysitting reputation will just have to be endured. It’s a small price to pay to keep Anon all to yourself.

As you approach the librarian's desk, which is hopelessly cluttered with books, she casts you a wide smile. The old unicorn has one of the most amazing memories for books that you have ever encountered. She never forgot a single one she’s ever read, and seems to remember many of the ones you’ve read as well.

"Good Morning Princess. Need to check something out?"

Putting on your best smile, you nod to her.

"Yes. I'm going to need to study some advanced books for my studies with Celestia."

The librarian nods back and a silver energy pulsates from her horn. A familiar large oak door slowly appears on a nearby wall. You smile in gratitude. At least something is going easily right now.

"Thank you. I won't be too long."

The librarian returns her attention to sorting books on her desk to place on shelves.

You make your way to the oak door and let yourself inside the dark room that’s hidden from the public. This room isn’t nearly as big as the library outside, but contains magic and literature that Celestia has deemed too dangerous for the public to access.

Grabbing a leather bag that you left here on your last trip, you empty out its contents of school books, hair scrunchies, and graded homework. You then pass many a cobwebbed book, and return to the shelf that you have given the majority of your attention to since you were allowed access to this section.

This section of spells and other remedies are solely for altering the emotions of other beings. You've read each of these books at least once, and at least one of them has a spell that might be helpful to you. Immediately, you take the book of expert love spells and charms.

It will have a good backup spell in case Anon won’t...

No. Don't think like that Cadance. Anon loves you. He wouldn't reconsider spending his life with you.

You stare at the book hard. Maybe you should just trust him. Maybe you should just trust your own abilities.

"I suppose... it's good to play it safe."

With a sigh, you place the book inside your bag with your magic.

You open your wings and easily fly to the top shelf. Small swirls of dust rise from the rarely-used floor. The book you’ve come here for should be one of the really old books, and those are usually way up here. If you remember correctly...

Yes, there it is!

You pull out a red book that’s caked with dust. Its spine has seen much better days. But, it’s holding together enough that you can turn the pages with ease. Slowly descending, you open the book and flip through it as you reach the ground. The pages are covered in a language that you've been learning very slowly over the past few years. Thank goodness you also have the book to translate the symbols, just in case your knowledge is lacking.

You find the page for your final spell, and read over it carefully, looking for a specific symbol. The characters on the page slowly begin to blur together as you read, until you see what you’re looking for near the center of the page.

"Irreversible. Perfect."

A light blue glow emanates from your horn as the book is placed neatly inside your bag. You follow it up with the translation book. Now, all you have to do is get out of this castle before anypony notices something is up.

You turn around hastily and run into the shelf of supernatural wonders in Equestria. A handful of books fly off the shelves and lay in the floor in a disarray with the speed of your passing. You pause to levitate the books back to their proper places, but you’re not sure you have the order just right. No time to check, hopefully nopony will notice until you’re gone.

In a quick trot, you move towards the large oak door and open it slowly. Peeking out into the library, you see the librarian busy humming a tune to herself and returning books to their proper homes. You quietly close the door behind you, and with a brief shimmer it disappears back into the wall.

No time to waste with explanations or conversation with the librarian. Your horn glows with magical energy and you teleport outside the library so you don't alert her attention.

So far, so good. You take a deep breath and make your way back to your room.

As you trot along, you go over the next steps, the details of your plan. Anon will have to ride on your back, and there won't be much other room for supplies. There shouldn't be much that you need out in the wild, of course. You can summon almost anything required in the way of supplies out of thin air.

All you really need is Anon.

"Princess Cadance."

The sound of the guard’s voice makes you just about jump out of your skin. Quickly, you do your best to recompose yourself, and turn to face him with a smile.

"Y-yes? How can I help you?"

As you turn, you see the same royal guard that disturbed you from last evening, but with dark circles under his bloodshot eyes. He rises from his respectfully kneeling position and addresses you formally.

"Princess, you wanted me to keep you informed on the search. I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time."

"No! No. Of course not. What's the status?" you reply with both real and feigned concern.

"I've had my guards out all evening searching for the colt... So far we have been unsuccessful. He may be hiding somewhere in the city, so we have expanded our search parameter. His father has also been searching. He was out all last night chasing after him, and he said he thought he saw him go towards the rough side of town. He’s very worried that Anon might have run into a some shady character over there. Even though I know you don’t frequent that side of town much, we would still like for you to stay on watch as well, since you were one of the last few that was in contact with him."

You nod to the stallion. So his father is worried, is he? Good. He deserves to hurt.

"Of course,” you say. “I will keep the guards on alert for him. What about Anon's mother? How is she and his father holding up?"

The stallion checks his reports.

"It looks like his parents are currently at their home. The mother is… pretty inconsolable. She hasn’t been much help, though by how she goes between angry and depressed, we doubt she had anything to do with the disappearance. It’s generally a parent when a foal goes missing, but we don’t think that’s the case here. His father is pretty broken up too. He’s going to help us with our search again today."

"That's good. I'm happy to hear they’re at least not involved in this."

"If we can't find him at the end of the day, we will need to consult our high wizard to perform a location spell."

"...A location spell?"

You eye the guard curiously. What kind of magic is this? You haven't heard word of that before.

"Yes,” he says. “We've only had to use it a few times because the process in casting it is so taxing. But my guard have never lost a foal before and we need to save him before there is any harm brought to him."

"Of course... I've just never heard it before. Silly me!"

You give an awkward chuckle and smile to the guard. That sounds like some powerful magic. Probably powerful enough to throw a major wrench in your plans.

"Well then. Continue the search and I'll inform any castle staff I come across to stay on watch. Good luck."

"Thank you, Princess."

The guard reverently bows once more and begins to walk off. You have a final thought, the right thing to say right now, and clear your throat.

"Oh, one more thing!"

The stallion halts and turns to you curiously.

"Yes, Princess?"

You offer him a warm and gentle smile, as motherly as you can manage it.

"Get some rest. You look exhausted."

He blinks at you, then at last smiles and nods.

"Of course, Princess."

The guard walks to the end of the hall and turns out of sight. You watch after him, the feeling of some heavy knots of doubt sitting solidly in your stomach.

That was way too close. And now you know that you don't have much time, probably far less than you thought. How could you possibly have missed something this big?! You’ve even been studying the history of the royal guard in class at school over the last few weeks! Then again, your notebooks have been filled with doodles of Anon…

Pencil sketches of him lying in his bed as you stroke his-

Cadance. You have to keep yourself together. This is what you get when you allow yourself to lose focus.

Hastily trotting back to your room, you keep your head down and your mind focused. As you move past the usual guards that line the halls, you feel how judgmental and prying their gazes seem. There is no way they’ve found him. The door is locked. You’re imagining it. But that doubt sticks in your throat and refuses to go down as you swallow.

You nearly break into a full out gallop as you get to your room. With taut muscles and heavy breaths, you pull on the door.

Locked. Still locked.

You exhale a lifetime's worth of stress.

Unlocking the door with your magic, you quietly re-enter the room and turn the latch again behind you. You’re ok for now, you repeat in your head. You still have a little time, and your prize is still nestled in dreamland. You just have to look at him once more, and you’ll know that everything is alright.

You go to your bed and draw back the rumpled mass of blankets. Still lying underneath the covers of your bed, with the sun gently grazing his beautiful face, is your Anon. You sigh down at him, but refrain from touching his beautiful little body. Not quite yet.

Instead, you move to your makeup table and slip one more book that you’ve saved for weeks inside your bag. Then, with another quick spell, you counter the sleeping spell you originally placed on the small colt.

Anon's eyes begin to flutter open and he stretches his legs out widely. After a loud yawn, he rubs his eyes with one hoof. You manage to regain your nurturing, tender smile as you move back to the bed to stroke his cheek.

"Morning, sleepyhead. Enjoy your extra sleep?"

Anon nods and smiles.

"I never get to sleep in on a Saturday!” he says dreamily. “But I’m ready to be up now, I think. So, now what do we do?"

"Now, Nonny, we get to go camping."

Anon's face lights up a little bit at the word. Good, you’d hoped that would hit him just the right way.

"That sounds fun! I've never gone camping before!"

"Well then, we are going to have a lot of fun, I promise. Let's get going."

"Can we have some breakfast?" he asks some remnants of groggy sleep still hanging in his voice.

Frankly, you could use a little food right now too, but there’s no time for that. You shake your head.

"Not right now. Maybe when we find our campsite though, I’ll make us something tasty."

Gently, you lift the foal into the air and onto your back with your magic. Your bags follow, until you have everything you feel you might need on this little voyage. Without any further explanation, you open the doors to the balcony and step out into the fresh morning air. You take just a moment to get your bearings, recalling the cryptic directions in that book of magical places. Now, according to the book... Northwest.

“Where are we going?” Anon asks from your back as he laces his front hooves around your neck.

“Someplace new,” you say. “Someplace you’ve never been before. You’ll love it though.”

Taking a few steps backward, you spread your wings and gallop. Anon squeezes you in a tighter embrace, holding his warm cheek against the back of your neck. You won’t let him fall. You won’t let him down. They’ll never find him, even if you have to fly to the ends of the earth. He is yours. No one will have him.

With a mighty flap, the two of you begin your escape from Canterlot.

The vast green landscape moves swiftly beneath you and Cadance as you cling to her for dear life. Yet, despite your fear of heights, you can't help but feel awe at the clear sunny sky and the wide open plains. You have been riding on Cadance for a few hours now and if it weren't for her warm body and fur, you would be chilled to the bone by the high winds.

You look down to your special somepony as she propels you through the bright day. Cadance's expression is ambiguous to you, as you wonder where she could possibly be taking you. She said you’d love it, and she’s always right about everything, but something feels strange to you right now. You can at least recognize that, above all, one thing is beginning to settle inside you.

You miss your Mom and Dad.

What could they be doing right now? Maybe they’re making amends with each other. Maybe they’re even missing you, but if you were the cause of their fighting, probably not. With you not there, maybe they won’t fight. Maybe they would even work things out all by themselves and wouldn't need Cadance's help at all.

You would do anything to go back to them right now and be held in your Mom's hooves. To know that they weren’t mad at you for making them fight. You secretly hope that they’re at least a little worried about you. That they still love you after what you did to them.

A feeling of guilt unsettles your stomach.

Slowly, Cadance begins her descent as the flowered plains begins to dissolve into a sea of trees. You tense as the feeling of the sharp drop rises in your stomach. You cling as tight as you can, and as if sensing your nerves, Cadance slows a little to an easy glide. You let out a breath of relief when her hooves at last touch the ground.

The warm, non-rushing air caresses your numb skin, you begin to feel the warmth of the day surrounding you. Cadance levitates you from her back and gingerly sets you down on the grass and leaves of the forest floor.

"Let's take a quick break here, Nonny,” she says, sounding a little tired from your rapid flight.

You don’t think you’ve ever seen her fly that fast before. It was cool, but a little scary sometimes. The way she flew, you’ve completely lost track of your directions, of where you came from. You look around the unfamiliar forest.

"Cadance... where are we?"

She appears to think to herself for an instant before she replies.

"Well... if I had to guess... about fifty miles from Canterlot."

Fifty miles! The realization of how far from home you are begins to wash over you and fear begins to burrow into your gut. Why so far? Does anypony know you’ve come here?

"Y-you'll take me back home sometime... R-right?"

Cadance wouldn't keep you away from everypony else, would she? Why is she taking you so far away. It’s just camping, you remind yourself. She wouldn’t keep you here or anything. This is just a nice vacation with your special somepony. She wouldn't want you to be sad or lonely. That’s not like her at all.

She turns to you with a concerned expression, as if spotting your insecurities from a mile away.

"I don't know if you can go back, Anon... at least not right now. Think about how mad your parents are. That wouldn’t be good for you or for them."

You feel some form of your own confidence drop to the pit of your stomach. The guilt from before begins to resurface. Cadance continues.

"If you went back now, they might get angry again or even hurt you... I'm trying to protect you, Nonny. They don’t deserve someone as sweet as you anyway."

Tears begin to surface, but you do your best to hold them back.

“H-how do you know that?” you ask, staring at the ground.

Cadance sighs to herself, then looks around at the forest surrounding you. She closes her eyes, then takes careful steps to stand beside you. She sits down beside you and places a hoof on your back as she looks down at you.

“My poor, poor little Nonny…” she mutters.

“What?” you ask, looking up to her. “What’s wrong?”

“I… I don’t know how to say it,” she says. “It’s terrible. Truly terrible. And, I wish I didn’t have to tell you. You’re so sweet and so wonderful.”

Your eyes look up to her. She gazes down at you, filled with pity, like she found a wounded animal and wanted to nurse it back to health, gently. It reminds you of the look your mom had when you were sick with the flu, and she would sit by your bedside as you sipped soup.

“What’s wrong? Tell me what?” you ask.

“Well, let me ask you, Nonny,” she says. “Your parents began fighting a lot recently, right?”

You nod silently, listening to her every word. There had to be some sort of explanation, but the pieces weren’t aligning in your head.

“And, I said that by running away, you would help them recover, and be happy again, right?”

You nod again, looking from her to the trees around you. Wind blows through the leaves, sending a chorus of rustles through the forest. It hums a gentle lullaby as Cadance continues.

“Why would you being away help them get back together, Anon?”

“I… I don’t know. Then they will get to talk? Then they can be happy?”

“But, why would they be happy?” she asks. “I’m… I’m sure you understand.”

Why would they be happy? That seems like an obvious question. They would finally get to talk about whatever made them so angry. And, once they get done talking about it, they’d be happy, right? Right?

“Well, if they have the chance to talk about what is bothering them, then they can fix everything. Right?”

“Except,” Cadance says. “Why can’t they talk about it when you are around? Why would that be?”

You turn your head and think to yourself again. Why couldn’t they think about it with you around? Thinking carefully, you stretch your brain, trying to think of why in Equestria your parents wouldn’t talk while you were around.

“Maybe… I don’t know. They didn’t want me to hear?” you say.

“That’s close,” she says. “You’re smart. I know you can do this. Think, what else would your parents not talk about around you?”

What else wouldn’t they talk about around you? What sort of question is that? Think, Anon.

Oh! Birthday gifts! Hearth’s Warming gifts! It’s obvious.

“They don’t talk about gifts around me. Ever,” you say.

“And why is that?” she asks.

“Because they don’t want to spoil the surprise?”

“Close. Who are the presents for?”

“Oh, uhm. Me.”

“So then. Why do you think they don’t want to hear you argue?” Cadance says.

“Because--”

Then your voice drops. You’re so stupid. How could you have not seen it before. It wasn’t just that they were just fighting over you. There was much more here than just that. They weren’t happy you were gone so they could talk…

“Because it’s about me,” you say, defeated.

“Why do you think they’re arguing, Nonny?” she asks gently, pulling you closely.

The tears can’t hold back anymore as you close your eyes and lean into her.

“B-because… B-because. They don’t want me anymore, do they? W-were they going to send me back to the orphanage?” you ask.

Cadance remains silent and pulls you in closely for a hug, wordlessly confirming your fears. For the second time in twenty-four hours, tears roll from your eyes onto the chest of your special somepony.

“Where will I go?” you ask. “What do I do?”

Cadance pulls you tightly to her and rubs her cheek against yours.

“I would never let you go, Nonny. That’s why we’re here. I can take care of you, if you let me. We can be together this way. Just like this. I’ll never stop loving you. I would never send you back to the orphanage.”

The deep seated pain of abandonment roots itself deeply in your heart, like a shovel, scooping every last ounce of trust for your family from the inside.

How could they do this to you? How could they lie and say they loved you? How long had the lie been going on?

You wrap your hooves around the Princess, your eyes running out of tears to cry. You lie limply against her grasp.

“Do you want me to keep you, Anon?” she asks you.

You nod, silently. She pulls you tighter.

“I love you, Anon. And I’ll never leave you. I promise my life on it.”

You look up into her gaze, and she stares back down at you.

“Please, don’t let me go…” you whisper.

Cadance smiles and leans in forward. She plants a gentle kiss on your lips. A warmth spreads through your body. You feel safe. You feel loved. Maybe, this is for the better. When you kiss Cadance, everything feels like it might just turn out alright. It’s way better than how you felt at home: trying to get through each day just to be miserable on the next.

Maybe this is where you really belong.

Cadance breaks the kiss, then back down at you.

“You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried,” she whispers.

I'll Take Good Care of You

“You promise you won’t leave me alone?” you ask, your voice choking.

“I promise, Anon,” she says, holding you in her hooves. “I’m sorry your parents don’t love you anymore. But I will keep you safe. I promise.”

How could your parents abandon you so easily? Is something wrong with you?

You sniff, tears dripping down your face. Your gaze breaks away from Princess Cadance and scans to the ground. Shivers run down your spine in gentle tingles as you realize that you’ve been shaking. Your breath comes and goes in shallow waves. You blink, feeling as if the floor beneath you has been shattered, and now you’re falling in some terrible dream that you’ll never wake from.

You’re an orphan now. Thrown away by his only family, who spoke behind your back in hushed tones and muted conversation. You are unwanted. You are unloved. You close your eyes and feel a small part of you drift away, taking with it the heat that kept your optimism and self-worth. The world is a cold place, and you’re freezing to death. Your fur is numb to the touch.

But, even in this blizzard, two warm hooves hold tightly around you, cradling you, giving you life, whispering into your ear.

“I love you, Nonny. I’ve got you. You’re mine now. Everything will be over soon.”

You sniff, clutching tightly to the one pony who is always there, watching over you.

“I love you too, Cadance.”

She holds you close and you wrap your hooves around her. Her embrace feels like a new home, her gentle walls pink and filled with the song of her voice. Here, you feel safe. You feel welcomed. You feel that you have worth. If Princess Cadance is here, you know everything will be okay in the end. You have her, and she has you. Every little kiss sends trickles of life back into you.

Feeling the feathery softness of her wings envelop you, the warmth returns to your soul, and your heart feels as if it’s finally began beating again. In this, you have a new life. Reborn not as the son of your mom and dad, but as something new. You are Anonymous. You are Princess Cadance’s special somepony, and you are totally, completely, and wholly hers.

A feeling wells in the pit of your stomach, something new. A feeling that is so fragile that if it shattered it would destroy your world, and with it, your very existence. However, the feeling pulses through you, so strong that you feel thoughts automatically translate to actions, as if programmed by some greater being than you. You feel a need to make her proud. To pay her back. A need to be of use. A need to have meaning in this life. You feel a sense of uselessness that courses through your entire being and burns you from the inside like a raging fire.

“I… I want to make you happy,” you say, your voice broken. “But, I don’t know what to do.”

Cadance smiles, rubbing her cheek against yours, then moves to whisper in your ear.

“I’ll let you take the lead then. Kiss me. Be my good boy.”

You lips move up to hers, your mouth salty-sweet with the tears of your love. She shudders at your touch, but does not resist as your tongue moves to part her lips. Cadance pulls you closer with all of her being, holding you tightly. You love how tightly she squeezes you, because if she let go now, you worry that the glue that held you together might fail, and you may never be truly whole again.

Your tongue collides with hers and you feel your soul come alive, but this is different than any other time. This is not a kiss you’ve practiced or even imagined. There’s a much more natural force guiding your actions, welling deep inside of you and attempting to burst forth to the world. Is this love? Is this what love truly is? This feeling of total and complete sacrifice of the self? You feel her tongue press against yours, and you feel her follow your lead, letting you take control of her. Letting you do exactly what you need to do to feel alive.

One of your hooves moves up to her mane as you move a strand behind her ear. Your hoof rests on the back of her neck as you press her into the kiss, keeping her here. Keeping her close. Just as she said she’ll never let you go, you tell her, without a word, you will never leave her as long as you still draw breath.

You stop, pulling away to breathe, a bead of saliva connecting your open mouths. You taste her signature flavor still cling in your mouth, physically absorbing her into you. Cadance smiles, looking down with an expression of care and concern, as if worried for a wounded pet.

“L-like that?” you say, choking back your emotions.

“Just like that. You don’t have to stop,” she replies. “I love you, Anon.”

“I love you too, Cadance.”

You blink out your last two tears as you push yourself back to her. Your tongue pulls her back in, and you fall into step, continuing your kiss. Her hoof moves up and down your back, and you feel her meaning. She says that you should continue and do what feels right. There’s nothing wrong with what you’re feeling or doing. Just let go, and feel the burning passion of your love take control of your actions.

You breathe into her mouth and feel her moan through your lips. The tears from your cheek transfer to her cheeks and absorb into each other’s fur. Sadness flows out of you, as if transferred from you to her, and disappears, broken by your love. You can feel her mouth shaping words, matching yours, saying a phrase that cradles you and makes you feel one with her: “I love you.”

That fragile feeling inside of you builds and builds as you gingerly push on her with a hoof, taking position for you to give your love to her. Cadance smiles and, without a word, she eases herself backward as you kiss her, never releasing you from her embrace. She lies back in the grass, her ponytail off to the side, eyes closed, mouth locked onto yours. You break the kiss once more, bringing your head up to look at your love.

You open your eyes and gaze down at the goddess before you, her fur brilliant, her mane a picture perfect vision of beauty, her breath shallow and fast. Then, she opens her eyes, just enough so you can see those amethyst eyes sparkle.

“I love you, Cadance,” you say.

“I love you too, my good little boy,” she says soothingly.

You bend your head down to her and place your lips to her again, but slower, not pushing your tongue in. Your hooves move to either side of her head, just like another time in a place that used to be called home. But this is different. Whereas that time was on instruction and filled with nervousness, this feels normal. This is what you want to do. This is what gives you worth. This makes the world feel like a warmer, happier place to live in. A place worth living in.

You know you cannot-- should not rush this. Everything needs to be perfect. You will make her proud. And by making her feel proud, you will feel whole. You will feel alive, warm, and loved.

You press harder, feeling her warm breath against your fur. She pulls you closer to her, her hooves digging into the fur on your back and your mane. Your eyes are closed, but you see each other in a way like never before. You’ve seen each other with all of the jewelry off and walls of privacy torn away, but now, together, you’re truly naked.

You feel a pulsing between your legs, your dick that presses against her chest. She moans and you feel her mouth upturn, but she doesn’t say a word. She knows what will come as well as you, however you can be patient. You can satisfy her. You are hers and you will show just how good you are for her. You will make her proud to call you ‘her Anon.’

Breaking away once more, you gaze down at her beauty.

“I want you,” you say to her.

“Take me,” she says with a smile. “I’m yours and I’ll keep you.”

A blazing heat floods through your chest, a breath of life. This is it. This is what you want. This is what you need in order to feel whole again.

Your lips move down, kissing the inside of her chin one inch at a time towards her chest. Your hooves travel further, caressing her fur as if it were the first time. You explore her fur, taste it against your lips, breathe in her flowery aroma that makes you feel strong.

She hums in approval, slowly letting her wings curl back to her sides. One of her hooves moves to yours and holds it gently, not halting your advances, but rather proving that she won’t let you go. Her other hoof moves to the back of your head, caressing you.

“Oh, Nonny. I love you,” she moans.

“I love you too, my Princess,” you answer, in-between the travel of your kisses.

“My Prince,” she whispers to the wind as the leaves rustle through the trees once more.

The sun moves ever slowly towards the horizon and catches the edge of the treeline, casting a yellow filter of light against the scene of your passion. Your eyes move up just in time to see the sparkle of her amethyst eyes once more, and a flurry of warmth shoots through you once more. A flurry of feeling alive.

You move down, reach her underbelly, and she whimpers. Here, lightly peaking out against her fur were two perky nipples. Flesh that would be used to produce milk for her foals when she grows to be an adult. You bring a hoof to one of her tits and gently caress them. She gasps, letting go of her grasp on your arm and bringing a hoof to her lips.

“That was nice,” she whispers, giving you the praise that you crave.

Your kisses continue to tip-toe down her underbelly, your left hoof rubbing and flicking her nipples. Her gentle moans and gasps travel through the air, muffled by the hoof she holds to her mouth. You apply pressure to her tit and she lightly gasps for breath.

“Ooh, Anon,” she whimpers. “That’s nice… Flick them… Twist them a little.”

Releasing your grip, you continue to twist and flick at her nipple as your lips move ever closer, teasing. Wanting. You feel her hoof tighten around your mane and push you gently, guiding your path to the side that hasn’t received any of your special treatment just yet. You crave to leap to the spot immediately, but you take your time, inching ever closer. You will make her be patient. You will make her proud of your own patience.

“Good boy,” she says. “Mnph. Use your mouth.”

Soon enough, amidst the gasps and whisperings of your name, your lips connect with her right nipple. You kiss, feeling the smooth feeling of her skin in your mouth. Now it’s your turn to moan, pleased by her taste in your mouth, sending shockwaves of vibration through her skin. She gasps out, smiling and leaning her head back, relishing the sensation. Your tongue escapes its confines and slides its way across the tip of her breast.

Cadance draws a careful breath, her mouth opening widely and releases a tiny giggle.

“Oohh yes. That’s so good,” she says.

You murmur in satisfaction at her comment, encouraging her to use her words. Her powerful words that sent rushes of life through your brittle form. You suck against her breast, pulling it into your mouth, tasting her body for your own pleasure. She holds strong to her grasp on your mane, but not for you to pull away, but rather as if begging for more. You pull harder against her tit, flicking it in your mouth with your tongue. She shivers in delight as you swirl your tongue around the tender spot.

Letting go to breathe, your feel your breaths match, hearts race together, and thoughts both are a whirling mess of emotions, yet completely blank. You push your face closer to her nipple one more time and gently graze your teeth against the tip. She shivers, gasping for air and pulling at your mane. You wrap your teeth around her tit, but not too hard. She grabs your mane tightly as you affix your pinch on her other side.

She yelps, pain and pleasure mixing together as you slowly increase the pressure of your teeth on her nipple. Cadance gasps out, breathing faster.

“Ooh, Anon! Just like that. Not too much harder,” she instructs.

You do as you are told.

You flick your tongue at the skin contained in your teeth and she gasps in pleasure, her hoof tightening around your mane. Then, you release her tit from your grasps and lets her breath go. She whimpers gently at the overwhelming wave of mixed sensations. Then, you set your lips on a journey once more, devoted to making her feel like the goddess you know she is.

Moving your lips down further, you find yourself in between her legs. She parts them for you willingly. And now, you don’t have to sneak glances or try to clean a stain to see her. Her sex lies in front of you, waiting and wanting for your touch. Your lips move down, and you can feel the heat of her passion against your fur. Placing your lips against her flower, you taste the sweet, yet tangy rush of her juices against your tongue. You place your mouth against a protruding bump and Cadance moans openly for the first time, letting the world bear witness to your love.

You let your tongue escape your lips and rub along this bump as she grabs your mane.

“Ooohh, yes! Please, right on my clit,” she pants.

You lick up and down against her heat, inciting more and more gasps from your love. Her body moves unconsciously, pressing herself against you as you taste the flowery overtones. You wrap your hooves around her legs, holding her still and steadying yourself against her. You feel yourself throb painfully, begging for release, but you hold yourself firm, content to be patient.

Moving your tongue down, you press against her opening, twirling yourself around her sex. Cadance closes her eyes and lets a tiny, satisfied moans leave her lips. Her hoof moves down to your mane and holds you tightly as the other holds your mane tightly. You move your tongue to her sex, then press against it gently, sneaking your way inside. She whimpers into the wind as you try to show her how much she means to you by giving her everything she could possibly crave.

Moving your tongue in and out of her, she gasps and whispers to you.

“Oh Anon. Yes, Anon. Oh my god. Just like that.”

You feel yourself throb more and more as you continue to push her further into the throes of passion. But then, she tugs against your mane, bringing you away from your act. Did you do something wrong? Caution and concern shoot through you as you pull your head up to look at her. She looks down at you with pity, biting her lip.

“Bring your flank over me,” she says. “Let me taste you.”

“O-okay,” you whimper.

With a smile and a shudder, you move your flank to have your dick hanging beside her mouth. Looking down, you still have full view and access to her quivering sex. Now, both of you can use your mouths at the same time. Taking a hoof, she reaches up to your quivering form and licks a dribble of clear fluid off the end of your shaft. You gasp and move your mouth closer to her clit. Starting with a kiss, she lets you into her mouth, letting warmth wash over your dick.

“Should I keep going?” you ask, unsure of yourself.

You take the ‘Mhm’ she hums into your dick as a sign of approval.

Burying your mouth into her flower, you continue to lick as you feel her mouth take more and more of your form. She sucks against your rod tightly as her lips slide up and down. You moan into her slit, mind and thoughts becoming overwhelmed with the pleasure that enraptures your senses. You need to focus, or you will mess this up. You can’t upset her now. She’s all you have left.

You wrap your hooves around her hind legs tighter this time, feeling all of your muscles tense. Your tongue moves faster around the tip of her flower as you suckle against it gently. Cadance moans into your dick, sending vibrations throughout it’s whole form. You feel yourself getting closer, and you focus harder on your mission. You can’t disappoint her. You can’t be a failure.

You gasp and moan against her clit as she sucks even harder. You hips move with a mind of their own as you buck into her mouth. Her hips buck against your lips, pressing her heat directly into you. You feel your whole body tense tightly as you break away and gasp openly into the air.

“Oh my god,” you wail into the open air. “I’m so close.”

A new sensation overwhelms you. A new chill of guilt. You can’t be close. Not yet. You’ve just started. You can’t be done yet. You want to be patient. You want to make her feel like a goddess. She slips her mouth off your dick as her words hold you gently, calming your mind.

“It’s okay. Cum for me,” she says gently.

She wraps her mouth back around you and moves even faster up and down your shaft. You gasp into the open air, your hooves clenching against her hind legs tightly. You bury your mouth into her clit and suck hard. Cadance moans into your dick as the build up grows and grows until you feel like you might explode.

Then, you feel the pressure at your base release. Cadance whimpers in happy approval as your fluids shoot into her mouth and she sucks happily, trying to extract every last drop. You open your mouth, tongue hanging out as every muscle in your body relaxes and collapses against her form. You feel her tongue swirl around you and clean the last bits of your climax off of you.

But then, you blink, shaking away the hazy pleasures that try to grab ahold of you. You know you aren’t done. Your satisfaction takes a backseat to hers. Pushing yourself back up on four hooves, you pull your erect form out of her mouth.

You failed.

“Mmm. Well that was nice. Thank you,” she whispers.

And your failure washes away. Forgiven by her gentle words.

You turn yourself around, your gaze tracing the pink alicorn that would hold you for the rest of time, if you simply asked. You look into her eyes, still sparkling as the scene turns from yellow to orange under the setting sun. Bringing your mouth closer to hers, you whisper to her in a voice that feels so distant from yours.

“I want you to feel perfect.”

Cadance smiles and slides her lips against yours, each tasting the mix of each other's fluids and passion on your lips.

“You already do,” she says.

Your resolve hardens as you feel yourself shake once more. You place your lips against hers, tasting the sweet nectar of the love you make with her. Cadance wraps her hind legs around you and places a hoof behind your head, pressing you into the kiss. Your member pushes itself against her and you feel your body buck reflexively. You moan into the kiss, feeling tingles shoot through your spine to the tips of your hooves.

You move your hooves down once more to align yourself better with her sex. She reaches a hoof down to grab you, but you whisper to her.

“No, let me. I can do this.”

She smiles and retracts a hoof, placing it on your back.

“Okay, Nonny,” she says.

You place a hoof at the base of your dick and carefully move yourself up and down her entrance, wetting your member. Her warmth is intoxicating and sends a rush of adrenaline through your veins. Your mind goes blank for a moment, before you focus yourself at the task at hoof. While you wish to lose yourself to the pleasure, your focus is on her. You long for her to hold you in her hooves, gently caressing your back, whispering “Good boy.”

Cadance sighs in content, biting her lip at the feeling of you teasing her. As you move your dick up to her clit, she bites her lip harder and moans under her breath.

“Anon… please,” she says. “Put it in me.”

You whimper as her words swim through your mind. Moving yourself down to her entrance, you push lightly. She welcomes you easily as you push into her sex. The two of you gasp in unison as you move yourself back up to her. Placing your lips on hers, you feel the two of you become one, holding each other tightly in love’s tender embrace.

Your tongue pushes into her mouth and twists and turns with hers as you slowly push yourself in and out of her, savoring every second of the sensation. You let out tiny grunts and groans into her mouth to match her moans.

You break the kiss and look down into her face, keeping your rhythm slow, controlled, and steady.

“I love you, my Princess,” you say to her.

“I love you too, Nonny.”

“I’m yours,” you say, the words feeling sweet and powerful coming from your lips.

Cadance smiles, unfurling her wings and wrapping them around you once again, shielding you like a blanket. The sky shifts to an orange red, the sunset painting the sky a perfect mixture of blues, reds, oranges, and yellows, shooting through the leaves of the forest as if the entire place is lit aflame from your passion.

“You’re mine, Nonny,” she says gently. “I’m never going to let you go.”

You smile, your movements slow and diligent. She moves her body in unison with you, your heartbeats and natural rhythms locked and intertwined like her hoof in your mane.

“You promise?” you ask weakly, letting the frailty inside escape for only a moment.

Cadance places her lips against yours tenderly, not breaking stride or form. The two of you still move together like ocean waves on the shore. In that moment, she takes your frailty and holds it, wordlessly promising to keep it safe from any evil that could threaten it. Wordlessly, she promises to keep you in her hooves for the rest of her days. Then, she breaks the kiss and says the words you’ve been dying to hear.

“I promise,” she says like a caring mother to her scared child. “I promise I’ll never let you go, Nonny.”

You push yourself in deeper, increasing the intensity of your thrust and she sighs in content. You carefully regulate yourself, sure not to let yourself become lost so easily in pleasure like you had before. A bead of sweat drips down your forehead and moves down your fur. You breath heavily, feeling her hooves pull against you in her own reflexive pleasure. You feel her hold onto you tightly, as if by pulling you close it would keep the two of you together, just like this, forever.

“Oh, Anon,” Cadance gasps in between moans. “You’re such a good boy.”

The words energize your actions and reinforce your intentions. You’re doing a good job. You’re making her feel amazing. You’re being useful. Words that you didn’t know you long for sing so sweetly in your ear from somepony you never expected would say them to you. You’re a good boy, and it makes you feel strong.

Your cock slides in and out of her at a more natural pace as Cadance bucks her hips into you. You place your lips back on hers, and her tongue pushes its way into your mouth, eager to pick up where you previously left off. She moans into your mouth, letting out tiny yelps as you push deeper and deeper inside of her. You push yourself into her to the hilt and she cries out in pleasure.

“Was that okay?” you ask reflexively.

“Don’t stop,” she begs, her body continuing to move against your rock hard member.

You pick up the pace, pushing yourself against her harder and harder. Cadance leans her head back, eyes closed, biting her lip as building pleasure floods through her body. You bury your face into her neck and breathe in her scent. You feel your teeth grit as you try to keep up the pace and stay focused. You can’t lose your pace. But, it’s hard to do, when you feel the building pressure in your body begging for you to thrust harder. It’s hard to do when you feel you want to give her every last ounce of yourself.

Cadance’s hooves dig into your back and pull at your fur, holding you down even harder. You feel your teeth clench tighter as you focus on even, deep strokes. You place your lips on her neck, gently kissing up and down from her shoulders to her chin.

“Oh, Nonny,” she moans.

“Cadance,” you mutter through your teeth.

“I love you.”

“I love you too,” you moan back.

You feel your mouth open and your teeth nibble at her fur, tasting her hot, sweaty form. The taste is savory in your mouth, and she yips in pleasure. You nibble up and down her neck, eliciting more cries out into the open air around them, proclaiming their love to the world of Equestria.

Cadance’s breathing quickens as you feel yourself push harder and harder, slowly losing control of your concentration. The heat in your loins is building up, blurring your thoughts and replacing them with a desire for release. The thoughts of becoming fully one with your love. Then, Cadance stops moving with you.

“Hold on,” she says.

You stop, looking into her eyes, the two you pant in unison, heartbeats fully synchronized.

“Good boy. Don’t worry, I just want to change positions,” she says giving you a peck on the lips. “You’re making me proud.”

You back off of her, your rod pulling out of her, forcing both of you to release a mild yelp of pleasure. She turns onto all fours and raises her rear into the air, pulling her tail to the side.

“I want you like this,” she says, curling her wings back to her side and shaking her flank. “Mount me, Nonny. Fill me with your cum, please.”

You move closer to her, then place yourself against her sex once more. Pushing in easily you plunge yourself to the hilt, filling the air with your whimpers. Moving your front hooves to hold onto her wings, you pull yourself back, then push yourself deep inside again. Cadance screams in pleasure like you’ve never heard before.

“Are you okay?” you ask.

“That was so hard,” she says dazily. “Don’t stop.”

You gasp, feeling the hazey, primal lust overwhelm you once more as you push yourself deep inside Cadance. Together, the two of you grunt, groan, and buck into each other, becoming fully lost to the act. The princess’s voice dispurses into the open air, her tongue hanging out, her words becoming more blurred and incoherent.

“Oh Anon! Oh my, Anon…” she screams. “Yes! Oh my god, yes! Please. It’s so good. Your dick feels so good. Harder! Harder!”

You push yourself in more and more, sweat dripping off your body onto hers. You breathe hard and fast in an effort to keep up with the exertion your body is putting out. You grit your teeth and grunt in the effort of your labor. You grab her wings tightly, in an effort to have a stronger hold on her. You can feel yourself pushing into her even deeper than before. She gasps loudly, but does not complain. Her mouth opens, speechless.

“I love you, Cadance! Oh my God,” you say, mirroring her. “Yes! You feel so good. Mmph. Oh god.”

“Keep pulling my wings, Anon. It’s so good,” she whimpers, pain and pleasure mingling together.

You feel yourself slide in and out of her easily as she bucks against you. Then, her walls tighten hard around you. Putting more force in every thrust you keep up your pace, pulling her wings to thrust deeper and harder..

“Oh Anon! Anon I’m close! Please. Anon! Give it to me! Give me your cum! Fill me up!”

Hearing the siren song in your ears, you lose all sense of self-control and give her everything you have. Without restraint, you pound your body against hers, pulling against her wings, feeling the pressure in your body build up again, stronger and more intensely than the last. You know you want to give her your fluids, satisfy her wishes, and truly feel like the good boy that you are.

You groan loudly as you feel the muscles in your body tighten to their breaking point as you cry out to Cadance.

“I’m almost there!”

“Together! Let’s cum together!” she begs.

You put every last ounce of energy you have into a handful of final thrusts. You have to make her proud. You have to be a good boy. Then you feel the pressure burst forth from your cock and into Cadance’s body. You shove yourself all the way inside her as every muscle in your body explodes with one thrust of force. The two of you cry out in unison to the world, consummating your love. All of your muscles relax at once, and the energy you once pulled from disappears as you collapse onto Cadance’s exhausted body, a sweaty, tired mess.

You lay atop her body, listening to her heart faintly beat through the fur on her back. Cadance shivers in pleasure, feeling wave after wave of pleasure rolling over her body, eyes closed, body spent. She breathes slowly, sweat dripping down her face into her mane. Her ribbon has been torn away in the chaos.

You feel yourself shrink and leave her, Cadance sighing happily as you exit. White seed dribbles out of her flower as you hang limply beside her. She moves onto her back once more, and holds her hooves out to you.

“Come here, Nonny.”

You move your exhausted muscles over her, and collapse into her embrace, her hooves holding you tightly. Your press your ear to her chest and now can clearly hear the sound of her beating heart, soothing you gently to the beat of your love’s lullaby.

“I love you, Cadance,” you whisper.

“I love you too, Anon,” she whispers back.

Your eyes close and you feel your breathing steady as a wash of calm overtakes you. In her hooves, you feel safe. You know, in your heart, that you’ve satisfied her, and you’ve been satisfied. The world feels like a kinder, gentler place to live in, and you feel that you’ve found your place within it. This is the life you want. This is the life you would be happy to live.

You feel yourself drifting away from the small clearing that the two of you are collapsed in. Exhaustion ushers you away to a place where you can rest soundly, a bed made of pink fur and with beating heart. As you slowly fall into a realm of sleep, you hear one thing that sticks to you, holds you, caresses you, and makes you feel at home.

“I’m proud of you,” Cadance says. “My good little boy. My Anon.”

You feel your consciousness stir, and you feel your breathing once more. A new assault of sensation surrounds you. You hear no heartbeat. You feel no warmth. You open your eyes carefully, fearfully. To your shock, you find yourself on a white, cold marble ground.

Sitting up quickly, you find no Cadance, no trees, no grass or any sort of environment. Only a large white room with a large orb hovering in the middle of it. Rising to your hooves in a panic, you scan urgently for any sort of door or window to gauge your surroundings.

“Hello?” you call out, fear beginning to grip your soul.

“Hello,” an unfamiliar voice answers back.

The voice hardily eases your worries as a figure walks slowly out from the other side of the orb. An alicorn, clothed in white, with a rainbow-pastel mane, moves into your vision as you take careful steps backward. For a moment, you swear you’ve never seen this pony in your life, but then, comprehension grips you. You have seen this pony before. You know you have, at least from school or a painting or a stained glass window.

“Princess… Princess Celestia?” you ask to the mare.

“That’s right,” Celestia says gently. “And you must be Anon, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Y-yeah. That’s me,” you reply, looking around the room. “Where am I?”

“That’s a very good question. There’s no reason to be alarmed. You’re dreaming right now, Anon. This large orb that you see is one of the Ancient Magic Artifacts of Equestria. Ever since Nightmare Moon was banished for her actions, I’ve done my best to help rule over the land of dreams. While this came naturally to my sister, it’s a much more difficult task for me. So I use this artifact to perform this duty.”

“O-oh. I see,” you say, still unsure. “But, why are you in my dream?”

Princess Celestia smiles and moves closer to you. You choose not to back away, deciding that the ruler of Equestria is somepony you can probably trust. Everypony loves and looks up to her, including Cadance. But the question still remains in your mind. Why is she here?

“Well, you see, Anon,” she says gently. “I get the impression that you’ve had a very, very hard time recently. I was wondering if you’d like to just… talk for a little while. All we’re going to do is chat, and when you wake up, everything will be right back the way it was. Does that sound fair?”

You nod, feeling somewhat eased by her care. Who would have thought that the ruler of Equestria was so nice? You wouldn’t think that she would be interested in spending much time around little ponies. Was there something special about you? Is something going on? Or even worse….

Is this about your parents?

“Tell me, Anon,” she asks. “What do you like to do for fun?”

“Uhm. I really like video games, I guess. I like movies. Recess at school is fun, but I don’t have many friends there.”

“Really?” Celestia asks. “You seem like such a nice little colt. Don’t you have any friends?”

“Well yeah. Cadance is my friend. She’s my best friend,” you say to her.

Celestia hums, sitting down beside you. A part of you is unnerved, seeing the tall alicorn towering above you, her hair magically waving to an unseen breeze.

“Hungry?” she asks with a smile.

“Y-yeah,” you say.

Her horn glows with golden-yellow energy, and a small plate of cookies appears in front of you. The chocolate morseled sweets tease you. Their fresh, oven-baked smell permeates the room and tingles your nostrils. You feel your mouth water. Maybe… one wouldn’t hurt.

“Then by all means, have as many as you’d like.”

Mom doesn’t like when you eat too many sweets.

Then again, on the other hoof, you aren’t really going back to Mom anytime soon. You couldn’t, even if you wanted to. Plus, this is a dream. There must be some sort of exception to dream cookies, right? You pick up one of the treats and take a bite. The warm, gooey cookie melts in your mouth as you savor its flavor.

“These are really good,” you say.

“I’m happy to hear that,” she says with a laugh. “So, Princess Cadance is your best friend?”

“Mhm,” you say, taking another bite of cookie. “She’s really nice. We get to play a lot of games together, and she takes care of me really well.”

“Really?” she asks kindly. “You two have spent a lot of time together then?”

“Yeah. She used to be my babysitter, before Mom and Dad started fighting again. But she would come over and take care of me.”

“I see,” Princess Celestia continues. “And, did your Mom and Dad know when she would come over?”

Suddenly the cookie feels bittersweet in your mouth. You gulp the bite down and look to the floor, refusing to look at the Princess.

“It’s okay, Anon,” she says sweetly. “You won’t be in trouble. I’m just interested. We’re just talking. You don’t have to lie to me.”

You look back up to Princess Celestia, fear clutching at your stomach. Would Cadance be mad if you answered truthfully? Celestia is her aunt and teacher, isn’t she? Celestia should understand everything that’s going on. The Princess should be supportive of Cadance’s actions, right?

“No, they didn’t. One night she came to the house when I was left alone. I was really sad that night and crying a lot. She came and helped cheer me up.”

Celestia nods, her face stoic and calm. A part of you is unnerved that you can’t tell if the news has made her feel concerned or relieved.

“What sort of things have you and Cadance done, Anon?” she asks.

“Well all sorts of things,” you answer, happy to change the subject. “We’ve played games, watched movies. Took naps. She helped me take a bath once. And she made dinner a few times. She’s a really good cook.”

“That sounds yummy,” Celestia says. “I’ll have to remind her to make dinner some time. I’d like to try some of that for myself.”

“Mhm. She even brought over this Daring Doo movie that didn’t even come out yet! It was really cool.”

“That sure sounds cool,” the alicorn says. “Now, did you say, she helped you take a bath?”

You stop, silent once more.

“Well, uhm. Yeah,” you answer, unsure of yourself.

“I see. I was just making sure,” she says. “Babysitters have a hard job, I just want to make sure she was doing everything she needed to do.”

“Oh, I see,” you say relaxing. “So, you’re just making sure she’s a good babysitter?”

“That’s a good way to think about it. I’m kind of curious, has Cadance ever done anything special for you?”

You pause, thinking to yourself over all of the things that Cadance had done for you the last few weeks. You take a deep breath and close your eyes. Celestia needs to make sure Cadance is a good babysitter. So, telling her the truth, about how she’s helping you get away from your parents, would be helping her. Right?

“Uhm, well, She’s been helping me deal with my parents lately. They’ve been fighting a lot. Cadance would come over and help me feel better. Then, she told me about how she ran away when her parents fought when she was little, and it helped her become an Alicorn.”

“I see,” Celestia says quietly.

“And, well, she promised that her and I could live together if I ever needed to get away. So, I did. She helped me run away to the castle and we slept in her room for the night. There was this stallion that tried to attack me along the way, but she beat him up really bad. It was pretty scary.”

You pause, your eyes moving to the floor. A question forms in your mouth, but you feel too afraid to ask. After a moment of silence, you build the courage to say what you mean.

“Do alicorns do bad things to ponies sometimes?” you ask.

Celestia pauses, looking to the orb in the center of the room, then looks down to the floor.

“As a Princess, sometimes we must do things that we do not want to do, and others see it as bad. Sometimes we must do things we do not want to do, but others see it as good. It’s hard to find something bad or good until it has already been done, and by then, it’s too late. What’s done has been done. But, as a Princess, we have the responsibility to be as good as possible,” she says looking back to you. “So that everypony else can be happy.”

You smile and look down to the ground, feeling a blush rise to your cheeks.

“Cadance certainly has made me happy. She…” you say, but you pause, unsure if you can divulge this to the Princess. Could you tell her this? If Celestia wants to be sure that Cadance is a good Princess, shouldn’t you tell her how happy she’s made you?

“She’s my special somepony.”

Celestia remains silent for a moment and looks away from you. The room is quiet, with the exception of a dull hum that the orb gives off in the room.

“Is… is that a bad thing, Princess?” you ask, guilt rising in your chest.

“It’s hard to say, Anon. I sure hope it is not,” she says. “May I ask you another question, Anon?” Celestia says.

“Sure,” you say.

“Where did you and Cadance go after coming to the Castle?” she asks.

“I… I don’t know. She just took this bag of books with us and we flew somewhere. We stopped for a second. And now I’m here.”

Celestia smiles, nodding to you.

“Thank you for your honesty, Anon. I’m sure she would be very happy to know that you’ve been telling me the truth.”

A part of you feels relieved, knowing Celestia can see your discomfort. She seems nice and gentle. In some ways, Celestia reminds you of your Mom when she was happy. The thought of that calms you down as you take another cookie.

“Anon, do you mind if I ask you one last question?” she says.

“Sure,” you say, taking a bite.

Celestia pauses and turns to you, looking down. Examining your expression, you can see she almost looks sad. She opens her mouth once or twice, trying to say what she wants to say, but no words come out. Finally, the ruler of Equestria takes a deep breath and speaks up.

“Has Cadance touched you in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable?” she asks.

You stop chewing. You look down at the cookies, and up to Celestia. Suddenly, you have the feeling that you really shouldn’t be here. This is wrong. Something about this is wrong. Cadance would be mad. She’ll be very mad.

“I don’t want to talk about that,” you reply. “I think I want to wake up now.”

Celestia sighs and rises to her hooves.

“Then, it’s just as I feared,” she says sadly. “Very Well. Sleep well, Anon. This will all be over soon.”

The edges of your vision become blurry as you feel your muscles grow weak.
“Wait, what do you mean?” you ask the Princess. “Is everything okay?”

But she does not answer as you feel yourself gravitate to the floor, your eyes shutting tightly. Before you can say another word, you’re already asleep.

You look down at the little colt that’s collapsed against your body, spent, dreaming in a land of possibility and wonder. He’s yours. All yours. In a sense, you’ve almost adopted him now. Maybe not by law, but by body, mind, and soul. This is truly your best work yet.

You pet his mane, relishing the feelings of victory. Soon, the process will be complete. He’ll be your little colt. You’ll be his selfless, immortal caretaker. His mother in all senses but by blood.

Then, no pony can separate him from you. Not even if they wanted.

But for now, you will let him sleep. He will need his energy. The spells and the fountain require a lot of energy to work properly. But it will be worth it.

It will all be over soon.

You Will Be Mine

When your eyes open, you can't help but shiver through the warm hooves that hold you. Was that a dream? Was that really Princess Celestia speaking to you? Why would Celestia come to you and ask you questions about your parents? Should you tell Cadance? You feel a light shake in your hooves at the thought. It's just a dream, right? It wouldn’t have been bad to talk to Celestia. Is she going to be mad? There should be no reason for her to be mad.

You raise your head to Cadance, who looks down at you with a smile, brushing your mane with a hoof.

"Good Morning, Sunshine," she says gently. "Did you sleep well?"

A feeling like a jabbing knife shoots through your throat at the question. You know you can't hide the dream from her. You can’t hide anything from her. She feels the shudder of your reaction, and her eyes move to concern. Now you definitely can't hide.

"I..." you say, unsure of how to answer. "I had a weird dream."

Cadance's expression calms, as she brings her hoof from your mane to slide it along your jawline. She lifts your chin to make eye contact with you. Cadance stares into your blank expression, as if she were reading your mind. A part of you isn’t sure if she really is or not.

"Oh?" she says gently. "Why don't you tell me about it, Nonny?"

Your breath leaves your nose in an unsteady quiver.

"Uhm, I was in this really strange room..." you say.

The words hold themselves down tightly in your throat, and you can't help but turn your gaze away.

"T-there was this big orb in the middle of the room, and Princess Celestia was there."

Cadance's smile fades, but her stare doesn't move. She opens her mouth, but this time her voice is not kind or gentle. Her words are flat, and there was a menacing edge to each of of her syllables.

"What happened then?"

Her question does nothing to calm your unease, you look back to her gaze, once gentle is now accusatory.

"What happened next, Anon?" she repeats herself. "What did Celestia ask?"

"Um, she just asked a bunch of questions about me and my parents," you stutter.

"Like what?" Her grip around you tightens. "What did she ask you?"

"I-I don't remember," you say, your mind turning to a haze.

Cadance rolls you over firmly, easing you back in the dirt. She looms over you, her hair hanging down around her face as she stares. She holds down your hooves with her own. She presses you against the ground with a building pressure.

"What did she say, Anon?" she growls. "It's very important that you remember."

You try to move your right hoof, but a bolt of pain arcs it's way up to your spine.

"C-cadance," you grunt. "Y-you're hurting me."

Cadance leaps off of you, her eyes opening wide as she gasps.

"Oh my goodness. Nonny. I'm so sorry," she says, her gentle words returning.

She paces around the wooded opening. Cadance scans the clearing and your surroundings as you look down to the light redness on your shoulders from where she held you down. You rub the bruise and the pain gradually dissipates.

"I-it was just a dream, right?" you ask, looking around the clearing.

You watch her as she continues to move around the clearing quietly. Why is she so on edge? Wouldn't Princess Celestia support what she was doing? She's taking good care of you. She didn’t mean to leave a bruises on you.

Why isn’t Celestia okay to talk to?

Cadance turns back to you, but there's something unfamiliar in her eyes. You feel like you've seen that look before, but you can't help but feel that it's out of character for the gentle, loving Cadance that you know.

You unconsciously edge away as those eyes jog something in the back of your mind. Your breath catches. The sounds of the forest dissipate around you. This reminds you of the mare in the alley, holding a stallion aloft in the air, as he gasps for air and whines in pain.

"Cadance?" you ask, needing some sort of reminder that she's really still here.

"I don't think we’re safe here, Anon," she murmurs.

Her words fail to ease your concerns.

"I-is everything okay? Did I do something wrong?" you ask.

She sighs and shakes her head.

"No, Anon. You didn't do anything wrong," she says, but you can tell she's lying. Or at least, you feel like she's lying. It reminds you of the way your mother would talk when she was angry at your Dad.

"We need to leave," Cadance says. "Now."

"But-" you say, trying to interject, but she dominates over your words.

"We already wasted too much time here, Anon. Now get on my back and let's go!"

You rise to your hooves and trot over to her, feeling as if red hot pokers would brand you if you slowed down for even a moment. Cadance kneels down, and you raise a hoof onto her back.

Suddenly, a deafening crack rings out. You freeze, looking to the source of the sound. Birds rise from the trees and caw loudly as the shockwave rushes through the forest. The trees rustle loudly as a bright white orb appears in the sky and slowly descends toward the ground.

"No, No, NO!" Cadance growls. "NOW, ANON!"

You leap onto her back and Cadance takes to the sky in three hard flaps of her wings. The wind rushes past your face as she continues to fight against gravity. You turn your head to the large bright orb, as radiant as the sun. Rather than descending to the ground, it changes course and takes to the sky. It follows you, keeping pace with Cadance's speed.

"Darn it," Cadance growls under her breath.

She turns her head, her horn glowing a bright blue. A burst of energy erupts from the tip of her horn and directly connects with the orb. The orb slows, as if wounded, and slowly falls from the sky.

"You hit it!" you say in equal parts shock and surprise. "Why did you shoot at it?"

"We're almost there, Anon," she says. "If we just keep flying, we can reach the Fountain before sundown."

"Fountain?" you yell against the wind as Cadance picks up speed. "What fountain?!"

"There's no time to explain," she says. "Just hold tight."

You pull your hooves tighter around Cadance's neck as she flies faster, bringing her flight path into a different altitude. An upstream current of wind pushes against Cadance's wings, giving her additional thrust. She smiles, holding her wings flat to glide for a moment.

The icy wind blows past your ears, and you feel them growing number by the second. You look down to the forest floor below you, now farther away than ever. With a gasp, you pull even closer in fear of falling.

"I think we lost them," Cadance says.

"Who was that?" you ask.

"I'm not sure," she says nervously. "But I have a hunch. I just hope I'm not right."

You remain silent, staring down at the forest below you.

"Cadance?"

"Yeah?" she asks, her eyes still darting below.

"What's 'The Fountain?'"

Cadance sighs to herself.

"I'll explain when we get there, Anon. Everything will make sense soon, I promise."

You open your mouth to speak, but close it tightly. A question sits on the tip of your tongue, but you can't let the words come out. You feel a knife sitting in your throat for even thinking the question that you have. But, you have to take a moment to think.

Even if your parents don't love or want you anymore... Cadance is taking you away from school. She's taking you away from the city. She’s taking you away from everything you’ve known.

Celestia came and visited you in a dream, asking you about what she's done to you. If the Princess of the Sun came to you personally in a dream... and a strange bright orb is now following you... could that mean that orb is Celestia?

What does that mean if Princess Celestia is chasing you two?

"Is... is that Princess Celestia, Cadance?" you ask.

"I don't know, Anon," she says with a pause for consideration. "And I can't think if you keep asking questions."

You open your mouth to speak again, looking back down to the forest floor. A frozen feeling holds your limbs in place as you cling to her, but feel completely alone. Your lips purse one last time, a question hanging in your chest that you can't hold back anymore.

"Cadance?" you say weakly.

"What?" she barks.

"Are we doing something wrong?" you ask.

Cadance goes silent, flapping her wings with the wind current.

"Of course we’re not, Anon," she says wearily. "Why would we?"

A feeling of ease fills you, but you still feel a pang of doubt gnaw on back.

"I-I was just making sure."

You scan the forest below you, which flies by at amazing speed.

Then, all at once, the orb shoots out of the trees. You feel yourself jump as it lifts into the air behind you. It begins to chase after you and Cadance, gaining speed faster than ever. Your hooves tremble as the sphere quickly closes the distance.

"Cadance!" you yell into the wind, but she already sees the attacker.

"I got it!" she calls out.

Her horn glows a bright blue and shoots a beam of light at the orb. The sphere whizzes to the side, deftly dodging the attack. It zooms ahead to you and Cadance, keeping pace directly to the right of you. A voice booms from the sphere, a familiar voice that fills your soul with dread.

"Ground yourself now, Cadance. Don't make this harder than it needs to be."

You recognize the voice immediately.

"Leave us alone!" Cadance screams back, before shooting another beam.

The orb deflects the blast with it's own ray of golden yellow energy and stays even with the two of you. Cadance tries to fly harder, just barely pulling ahead of the ball of light which stalks you.

Then, it moves in front of you, as if it wasn’t even a challenge. You and Cadance stop in the air and the orb hovers.

"This is the end of the line, Cadance," the voice commands once more. "Return the colt."

Cadance growls, looking between the forest floor and the orb. You continue to focus on the sphere, so bright, so radiant. The one speaking is now unmistakable.

“Last chance,” rings out the hard, assertive, regal voice of Princess Celestia.

"Hang on, Anon," Cadance says in a whisper.

You can't even register her words before you feel yourself enveloped in a pocket of shadow. Your features are pulled at the edges and feel as if you're being torn apart, and with a loud crack, you feel yourself tumbling onto grass. Then, your body abruptly halts when it collides with something hard and rough.

You open your eyes, pushing away the aching pain inflicted to your side, and scan your surroundings. Densely packed trees shroud you, and Cadance lies on the ground, not too far off. The entire sky is hidden by the thick tree tops, only small patches of light pushing through to the leaf strewn floor.

Then your eyes focus on Cadance, a new series of questions springing into your mind.

Where did Cadance just teleport you to?

Why is Princess Celestia here?

Is this connected to your dream?

You lie on the ground, frozen, watching Cadance slowly rise to her hooves and take in her surroundings. She turns, and locks her gaze onto you. Then another question enters your mind.

Why does Princess Celestia want you to be taken away from Cadance?

She knows that Princess Cadance is your special somepony, right? She knows that Princess Cadance was going to take care of you, right? It was Cadance who said you weren't loved by your parents anymore. Doesn't Celestia understand?

"Anon, we have to go. Right now," Cadance hisses, galloping her way towards you. "There isn't much time."

Instead of responding to her, you find yourself locked in indecision

Cadance isn't a bad pony, right? But Celestia can't be a bad pony either. Why would two good Princesses fight? Why is Cadance attacking Princess Celestia rather than just talking to her?

"Cadance?" you say, unsure how to begin to express your thoughts.

"Anon, there's no time right now," Cadance says, ignoring your call. "We have to go."

She pauses beside you, looking around the grove.

"Which way... Ugh. I don't know what direction we're facing now. I can't see the sun..." she mutters to herself.

You refuse to move, looking up at her. She glares back down at you.

"Anon. Come on. Now!" she commands.

Then you feel those eyes upon you, not ones of love, but of anger, fear, and force. You roll onto your stomach and back away from her.

"Cadance... this doesn't feel right."

"Anon, you're just imagining things," she says impatiently.

She closes the distance in three quick steps and grabs you by the hoof.

"Come on, we need to go!"

You feel her tug against you, but you remain rooted in place.

"Why do we need to run away from Princess Celestia?" you ask. "This doesn't make any sense."

Cadance's grip tightens, sending tingles of pain up your hoof.

"Anon," she barks. "NOW!"

You remain in place, cowering in fear of her, but unmoving. Her stare burns into your flesh as you close your eyes.

"Cadance... it hurts," you whimper.

She drops your hoof and takes a step away from you. Cadance looks around at the forest floor, then cranes her neck down. She pauses, and the world seems to stop. The leaves stop rustling. Silence falls upon the forest as you watch her. Then, she sniffles.

"Why, Anon?" she says gently.

You feel a part of yourself grow weak.

"We need to go. We have to. Don't you believe me?"

You open your mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.

"Don't you love me anymore?" she whimpers.

You rise to your hooves.

"Of course I love you, Cadance."

Taking a step forward, you pause. Just because you love her, doesn't mean she's right. She attacked Princess Celestia. Something's not right. Something is very, very wrong.

"I think we should talk to Princess Celestia," you say. "I want to know what's going on."

Cadance pauses, raising her head. Then, she turns to look at you. Her horn glows a bright blue. A small book comes out of her saddlebag. It falls to the ground, opened to a page.

"Alright, Anon. If that's what you want," she says. "That's fine. Just... could you kiss me? One more time, before we call her down?"

A small shiver runs down your spine. You stay frozen in place. Cadance holds a hoof out to you and smiles gently.

"Please, Anon? Just do this one little thing for me?" she asks sweetly.

You take a step forward.

She's your marefriend. It's just one kiss. Then Princess Celestia will be able to explain everything, and you and Cadance can be happy again.

You take a few more steps, seeing the only path to finally understanding everything that's happening. You feel a warmth in your heart as you see the caring gaze of Cadance. She's done so much for you now, and even though she doesn't want to talk to Celestia for some reason, she's willing to do this for you.

You owe her at least one kiss.

You take one step closer to her, only a foot between the two of you. Then another step, then another. And you stand just inches away from her, looking up into her gentle gaze.

"You know I love you, right Anon?" she asks.

"Of course, Cadance. I love you too.”

You move your mouth closer to hers. She leans down towards you.

"I'm sorry,” you feel her whisper against your lips.

Her horn radiates a bright blue light as she pushes herself into your lips to lock her embrace. You feel the magic of her horn envelop you and your skin burns. You stand rooted in place, feeling her mouth press against yours, unable to pull away. Lightning shoots through your senses, crawling up your spine to your brain. You feel the urge to scream, but your body refuses.

Then a throbbing ache in your head, and...

Everything goes...

White.

Your lips remain locked onto the convulsing colt as you scan your eyes across the pages below you.

You feel a part of yourself shatter as you recite the spell in your mind. You had to do something. He was going to run away. You needed to stop him but… you didn’t want it to come to this. You promised you’d never force anything on him. But, this had to be done for the two of you to be alone. It’s his fault you had to go this far. This is what’s right for him. This is what’s right for both of you. Now the two of you have a shot at getting away. They call it tough love for a reason.

The Mother spell is outlawed magic, and thus kept to the restricted sections of the library. Long ago, when a pony was adopted, the spell was used to make a foal feel more at home. It would change their memories so that their adoptive parents had always been there. In a time when medicine wasn’t as available, and the Elements of Harmony didn’t provide watch over the citizens of Equestria, it was a valuable tool to keep ponies happy. But as conditions improved, its persuasive effects were abused by unicorns with dubious intentions. Unlike your intentions today.

You'll be a much better parent to Anon than either of... them. And now he wants to hand both of you over to Celestia?

He'd have to go back. You'd be reprimanded. It would take months, years of planning to get this stage once more.

That cannot happen.

Reciting in your head the final verse of the spell, the beam of energy from your head ceases, and a wave of magic bursts through the forest, rustling the leaves. Anon falls to the ground. His eyes are closed, and he lays motionless for a moment. Moving beside him, you kneel down and place a hoof on his cheek. You smile at him.

Once your special somepony. Now, your son.

"Wake up, Anon," you say gently. "We have to go.”

Anon's eyes move behind their lids and his eyelashes flutter. His limbs move slowly, as if he were a machine springing back to life. With a twitch, he brings a hoof to his head.

"Ugh... my head," he groans.

"How are you feeling?"

He looks up at you, his gaze empty. Then, as he examines your face, something clicks.

"I've got a headache, Mom. What happened?" he asks.

You smile to yourself.

"Nothing, sweetie. Now then, we have to go to the Fountain. Climb on Mommy's back and we can get going."

Anon looks at you curiously, then nods.

"Okay, sure Mom."

He rises to his hooves and climbs up onto your back. After he finds himself secure, you take off at a gallop. Your hooves push deep into the ground, breaking sticks and rustling leaves as you rush through the woods.

The forest feels oppressively quiet.You strain your ears, trying to find any sort of sign of Celestia. Strafing to the left, you dodge between the trees and avoid the rays of spotlight that penetrate the thick foliage above. Anon clutches himself tightly around your neck, and you feel the warmth of his breath against your ear.

Just remember: This is everything you've been working for. This is why you hired the man in the alley. This is why you built up so much discord in his family. This is for love. This is about doing what's best for Anon. For us. And helping him find his place in life. And soon? After you reach the fountain? He’ll be yours in mind… and body.

Then, the leaves rustle about ten meters to the right of you, and you freeze. Pressing against a tree, you hold your breath and you signal for Anon to remain silent on your back.

"Stay quiet, Anon. We'll be out of this soon."

You feel him nod against your neck. You watch a light against the trees shift and form long shadows in the forest. Creeping around the tree, you peek past the edge and eye the miniature sun descending through the leaves and branches of the forest.Then, the light gradually dissipates. Standing in the center of where the orb rested is the Princess of the Sun and ruler of Equestria. But... who are those ponies beside her?

They aren't guards, they aren't wearing any armor. But they look so... familiar.

"Anon!" calls a feminine voice to the forest. "Anon, where are you?"

You push yourself back against the tree, gritting your teeth.

Shit. His parents.

"Where are you, son?" calls out Cypress.

"Mom?" Anon whispers. "Why are they calling out my name?"

You nuzzle your head against his, not letting him see your expression.

"It's okay, Anon. They aren't calling for you. It's for somepony else."

Anon listens as the ponies continue to call out to the forest. Do you dare to peek around the tree now? If you run now, you'd surely be spotted, or they'd hear a twig break. You take a deep breath and remain rooted to the spot.

"I think... I've heard their voices somewhere, Mom," Anon says. "But I'm not sure where..."

"I've never met them before, and neither have you. They're strangers."

Anon remains silent as you try to stop your shaking hoof.

"And what don’t we do with strangers?" you ask.

Anon takes a moment to think before saying anything.

"Never talk to them?"

"That's right," you say approvingly. "That's my colt. Now, those strangers are bad ponies. We can't let them find us. Stay quiet and I'll reward you once we get to the fountain."

The sound of hoofsteps begin to grow louder, and a beam of light sweeps the forest, scanning through the trees. Their voices become stronger as the three approach. Looking behind you, you find a rock on the ground. With a deep breath, you let your horn glow with light blue energy and lift the rock into the air. Then, with a twist of your neck, you toss the stone as far as you can away from your position. The sound of rustling leaves and a knock against a tree comes from about a ways behind you as the rock finds a target.

"What was that?" Cypress says.

"I think it came from over that way..." says Willow.

"Hmmm," you hear Princess Celestia answer the two. "Go check it out. I'll stay here and keep searching."

Two sets of hoofsteps then trot off in the direction of the rock, but Princess Celestia remains resolute.

You can feel your heartbeat in your ears as you listen intently for any hint of the Princess. Celestia takes two steps forward.

"It's over, Cadance," Celestia says directly towards the tree.

You remain silent and refuse to make a move.

"I saw that you hid behind that tree. It’s just you and me now. Come out now and we can settle this peacefully."

You close your eyes and gulp. A bead of sweat runs down your forehead.

She could be bluffing. Just stay silent. Everything's going to be okay.

"You can't keep him forever, Cadance," Celestia says. "That isn't how the fountain works. It doesn't grant immortality. It's at a cost."

Your eyes shoot open. She knows about the fountain! She'll just follow you all the way there, or even head you off. Which means... you can't dodge her forever. Which, if you can't run from her...

You take one step forward, and raise your head high.

“What are you doing?” Anon asks, clutching you tightly.

“It’s okay, Sweetie. Mommy’s got this under control.”

Moving away from the tree, you keep your eyes locked directly on the Princess. You keep your hooves set apart, ready to light your horn at any second.

"I'm not going to let you take him from me," you say.

Celestia frowns, taking a step towards you.

"He isn't yours to have," Celestia says.

"He chose me. He made a choice,” you say firmly.

"Cadance, he doesn't know the weight of his decision. He isn't old enough to make his own decisions yet."

You feel Anon's hooves dig into your neck.

"I know. So I’m helping him make the right decision," you say. "I love him. And he loves me. We performed the adoption spell already, so I'm his parent now. There's no going back from that. You know it."

Celestia opens her mouth a crack, then closes it. Her mane flows in the breeze as she looks to Anon's ex-parents, just a short distance away.

"If this is what your definition of love is, then either you've failed to learn your lessons... or I've failed you as a teacher."

You bite your lip, feeling your muscles flex.

"I make him happy. I make him feel safe."

"Anypony can make a child feel happy or safe, but that is not the job of a parent. You can't raise him, Cadance. This isn’t how a healthy parent-child relationship works. What you’re doing with Anon is wrong."

With a growl, you light your horn with a growing attack.

"I'll show you just how wrong I am!"

With a burst of light, you shoot a beam of energy at the Princess and take off running.

Princess Celestia deftly teleports directly in front of you, forcing you to freeze in your tracks. You growl, and you feel a burning energy on your back. Anon clutches harder to your neck and lets out a cry for help.

Turning your head, you find your son enveloped in a bright golden energy, being lifted off your back.

"Mom! Make it stop!" he cries.

You light your horn and try to cancel out her magic with your own. A beam of blue light pushes against the aura around Anon, but it refuses to break through. You feel his hooves slip and pull off of you as he’s lifted into the air.

"Put him down, now!" you shout, turning back to the Princess.

Feeling a molten rage flowing through your body, you charge at the Princess, horn at the ready. Celestia motions Anon to the ground before turning her attention to you. She shoots a beam of golden energy at you, and you jump to the side, just dodging the shot before shooting your own burst of energy. With a flourish of sparks and magic, Celestia manifests a glowing barrier that absorbs the attack just before it strikes her.

You pant for breath. You move your eyes to Anon, who stands deathly still, watching you face against your mentor. Focusing back on Celestia, you feel another drip of sweat move down your cheek. Celestia takes a calm, measured step forward, completely unphased by your attack.

You grit your teeth. This can't be the end. It won't end this way.

It just can't.

"It’s not my way to attack ponies, Cadance," Celestia says. "Please don’t do this."

You still brace yourself for an attack.

"I would do anything for my son, Celestia," you say. "Would you have done the same for your sister?"

Celestia's eyes grow wide as she takes a step back. You light your horn with energy and push everything you have into your magic. A strong focused beam of blue shoots from your horn and flies toward Celestia. Celestia's horn shines and she fires her own golden glow of light in defence again.

The two beams of light collide in midair and send a shockwave through the forest. An invisible force pushes both you and Celestia back as you collide with a tree, collapsing to the ground. Anon watches with a hoof to his mouth. You weakly give him a reassuring smile. Then, as his parents gallop toward the scene, your smile fades.

You can’t let them get to him. He’s not their son anymore. He’s yours. They will not take him.

"Come here, Anon!" you call to him, trying to conceal the desperation in your tone.

He moves closer to you, and you already feel your confidence swelling within you once more. He's yours. And nopony is going to take him away from you.

Pushing your hoof into the dirt, you force your aching body upward. You turn back to Celestia and watch her try to rise to her hooves. This is it. This is our chance! You prepare your next attack, before she can regain her footing. You feel the power rise within you, stronger than before.

You can feel it. This is the true power of love! With a love strong enough, you can overpower anything, anypony. With Anon at your side, the two of you can shut the world out and live together forever, or die here and now, trying. Either way, the two of you will be together. And that’s all that matters.

You let loose a torrent of blazing magic towards the Princess. Arcs of electricity break off and connect with the trees, leaving trails of fire where they strike.

"He's!" you scream, pushing yourself forward. "My... Son!"

Celestia gasps, closes her eyes, and raises a barrier once more. A loud crash echoes in your ears, nearly deafening you, but you keep up the attack. She’s strong, but you have to break through. You grit your teeth and lean into the attack. Your eyes close, feeling the magic rush out of your body. Yet, still her shield holds firm.

The white alicorn rises to her hooves, eyes focused on you. The barrier pushes slightly forward against your attack. You groan under your breath as you feel your hooves slide backward a step against the grass.You bite your lip, feeling yourself grow light-headed from the effort. Trying to pull some scrap of energy left inside, you take a step forward. Celestia watches you for a moment, then sadly shakes her head.

Suddenly, the barrier rushes towards you, as if there was no resistance. Your eyes grow wide as you see your own attack turn back against you. There’s no time to react, no time to defend yourself.

The blast connects, and you fall. You feel your head collide with a hard surface before you hit the ground. The world spins and your eyes won’t focus.

“Stop hurting my Mom!” screams Anon.

His voice breaks, his sobs the only sound penetrating the silence of the woods. Even though you can’t see him, you can hear him move towards you.

“Celestia, please stop!” he cries. “She hasn’t done anything bad!”

“Move out of the way, Anon,” you hear Celestia murmur.

"Anon!" Willow calls.

Your eyes begin to focus. Your heart freezes. She’s trotting towards him. And he’s looking at her. Before you can say anything, Willow envelops him in a large hug, Cypress following suit.

Tears flow down the ponies faces, as Anon tries to struggle against their grasp.

"Let me go! I don’t know you!” he cries.

The two ponies pull a few inches away and look down at him in shock.

"Don't you remember us, son?" Cypress asks. "We're your Mom and Dad."

Anon turns to you as you try to steady yourself.

"You aren't my Mom and Dad!" he screams in panic, raising a hoof to you. "That's my Mom. A-and she said you two were strangers."

He tries to force himself away from the two, but his ex-parents cling tighter to him.

"Let me go!" he shouts. "Mom! Help me!"

"Stay away from him!" you grunt weakly, turning your attention to them.

You groan as you move your hooves, trying to get even more strength from your already tired body. You have to do something. They're going to take him away. Your son, your lover, your Anon.

A growl rises in your throat, which turns to a shout, then grows into a blood-curtling scream. The three ponies turn their gaze to you as you struggle to your hooves. Everything except Anon and his ex-parents goes dark in your vision.

Do you go for the throat? Or perhaps their heart? First the mother, then the father? You try to bring any last remnants of magic to your horn, but you can barely even light the world around you. With nothing left to do, you charge. Time seems to slow down as you leap in the air towards the two clutching your son tightly.

Then, you feel a strong, burning blow to the side, and you fall to the ground. Celestia’s attack sends you tumbling. Stabs of pain wrack your body as you try to extend a hoof towards Anon.

"MOM!" Anon screams, thrashing against his ex-parents.

Digging your extended hoof into the ground, you feel a rib inside of you move a direction it wasn't designed to. Fighting through the pain, you pull yourself closer to him as you see the white hooves approach.

"Enough, Cadance," you hear her say. "I don’t want to hurt you."

But your eyes remain focused on your son as you watch Celestia move closer to him. Her horn glows, and you watch Anon begin to ease, his struggling stops, then his eyes close. Cypress pulls him close before he falls limply into his lap.

Extending another hoof, you drag the useless lower half of your body across the ground.

"Leave him alone," you hiss. "That's... That's my son."

Celestia turns her gaze to your broken form, crawling towards your prize. She looks down at you as you grind your teeth.

“I never wanted it to come to this. I thought you could be redeemed,” she says.

The Princess sighs before taking a few steps closer. She rests a hoof on your shoulder, and you pull away, as if branded.

"I just hope there may still be a way to save you. You need to learn the difference between love, lust, and obsession. This is not love. It was never love."

You chuckle a little at her words.

"He’s mine. No matter what you do, he’s still mine. You’ll never know what love really is."

Balling the spit in your mouth, you push it out against the Princess. Rolling onto your back, you feel your body finally give out. Your eyes close as you cough.

At least, you’ve had him. He was yours, and always will be in your own little way. No matter what happens, she can’t erase that you had him. He’ll remember your love for the rest of his life.

Aftermath

Celestia holds her hoof to the doorknob of the Canterlot Dungeons, but does not move. She takes a moment to take an inventory of the way she holds herself, the way she breathes, the way her facial features rest naturally. Every reaction will be a weapon for her. Celestia looks down to her quivering hoof and flexes the muscle to still it. There can be none of that when she goes inside. She closes her eyes, bites her lip, then eases the door open.

She can’t allow herself to make the same mistake twice.

Her hoofsteps echo against the stone floors and through the empty, enchanted cells of the dungeon. It has been a long while since any of these cells stood full. They are powerful enough to contain the most rambunctious of unicorn magic and to keep Equestria safe. It should be strong enough to contain Cadance, for now. It gives her time. Celestia makes her way down to the only cell illuminated by a torch and focuses her sight on the iron bars of the cell, until the shadow of a pony comes into focus.

Cadance stands tall and resolute, her two violet eyes piercing the darkness and drilling into Celestia. She holds her weight off of one hoof and still has a few scabbed cuts covering her face. Her hair is full of tangles and hangs around her dirt-covered fur. Celestia doesn’t dare to break eye contact with her alicorn student as she approaches. She stops in front of the bars, the torch illuminating the two of them deep underneath the castle, where nopony else dares to tread.

"So, are you going to send me to the moon now?" Cadance says, her voice low and biting.

Celestia remains still, staring down at her in silence. Cadance cracks a slow, knowing smile, turning her head ever so slightly.

“What a better way to solve your problems than to send them far, far away. Then, they can never crop up again. I bet it even feels good, too,” Cadance says before turning on a high pitched, regal tone. “Oh, we can solve our problems without capital punishment. We’ve come so far as a society to resolve our issues peacefully.”

Celestia feels a chill run down her spine, but refuses to change her expression. She knows she must be strong. There may still be hope. She has to believe that.

“I’m not banishing you,” Celestia says.

“Stripping me of my Princess status then?” Cadance says, turning to walk along the prison bars. “Oh! Wait! You can’t, can you?”

Celestia sighs as her gaze follows the prowling teenager.

“No, I can’t. The Alicorn ritual is permanent. It’s old magic.”

“So what, Celestia? Going to keep me locked up? What’s the point? You know this is all your fault.”

Celestia grits her teeth to ensure her face does not change from its practiced serenity. She pauses her thoughts to consider how her hooves hold against the stone floor. She’s relieved to find they aren’t shaking. She can feel Cadance stripping down her form limb by limb with her eyes, but doesn’t let her inside.

“I know,” the princess says. “In some ways, I was too heavy-hoofed. And in other ways, not watchful enough. I allowed this to happen. But that will never excuse what you’ve done.”

“Fall in love?” Cadance says. “Find the love of my life?”

“Corrupt an innocent soul and shatter it. Maybe beyond repair.”

Cadance gives a short laugh as Celestia moves to sit on the stone floor.

“You really believe I was so terrible to him?” she hisses. And then, as she speaks, her words take on a dreamy quality. “I made him happy. I gave him the attention he deserved. I was a better parent to him than those two ever were. And I showed him what love really is. True love.” Then, she stops, refocusing on her former mentor with redoubled resentment. “We were happy, Celestia.”

“You were destroying him, Cadance,” Celestia says flatly. “Surely you saw the effect you had on him. He was terrified of you. You manipulated him.”

“Everything I did was for his own good. And you know it,” Cadance spits. “You know a thing or two about that, don’t you?”

Celestia remains silent, her hair flowing as she watches her student.

“You can’t keep me here forever,” Cadance says.

A heavy silence fills the chambers as Celestia breaks her practiced gaze to look to the floor. The stone is worn and weathered, withstanding the test of years of turmoil and prosperity. It offers her no solace today, nor did it almost a thousand years ago. When Luna was here.

“You’re probably right,” Celestia says. “You’re smart. Smarter than I ever gave you credit for. However, that doesn’t mean I’ll let you go. I can’t condone what you’ve done. “

“Then what?” Cadance says, chuckling to herself. “Are you going to use old magic to fix me? Make me normal?”

“No, Cadance. I would never stoop to your level.”

Cadance frowns for a moment, but soon her smile is back and her laughter rises in intensity.

“You’re totally right! You’d never do what would make you happy. How could I be so stupid? You could never be like me. You could never be happy.”

Once Cadance’s laughter dies down, she sets her sights once more on the Princess.

“So, what? You can’t punish me, but you can’t ever let me go?”

“All I can do,” Celestia says. “Is try to teach you. I’ll try to show you the difference between love and lust. I’ll show you why this is wrong, so you can change. I can never forgive what you’ve done, but I know you can change, if you try. I still care about you, Cadance. I will always care. But you need to learn that what you have done is wrong.”

Cadance simply smirks.

“You know that won’t happen.”

“I have to try. I can help you.”

A silence falls through the dungeons as the torch crackles. Celestia holds her breath, unsure of what Cadance might say.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Tia.”

Celestia rises to her hooves, feeling the anger boils in her throat.

"I will not let you leave until you've changed your ways. If you want to stay locked down here for the rest of your immortal life, fine. But I will try to teach you. I will come down here everyday if I must. Because I can help you. And I know there is some good deep down inside you, somewhere."

Celestia takes a deep breath as a smile slowly forms on Cadance’s face. Cadance tosses her mane to one side.

"Then, this is just going to be how it is from now on. Isn’t it," she says quietly.

“It doesn’t have to be,” Celestia says.

“But, it will,” she says. “I can keep this up as long as you can.”

As Princess Celestia closes the door to the holding room, she tries to keep the noise to simply a quiet click. A chill runs through her limbs as she feels the gaze of two ponies lock onto her. She turns her own focus to meet her next challenge.

The holding room is small, with a large pane of one-way glass that looks into, what is supposed to be, an interrogation room. The holding room has a table with a few chairs, normally used for discussing how to question the individual in the next room. Sitting at the table now is Cypress and Willow, who study the Princess’s expression with a laser-focused precision. Celestia feels a sense of emptiness and exhaustion wash over her as she moves to sit at the table with Anon’s parents.

“Well, what are we waiting for, Princess,” says Cypress, breaking the silence. “It’s been hours.”

“Cypress,” Willow says, placing a hoof on her husband’s as if to hold him back.

The stallion sits up straighter and holds his wife’s hoof as Celestia folds her legs in front of her. The Princess’s eyes move down to her own hooves as she tries to form appropriate words to explain the gravity of the situation.

“I can understand that you’re very anxious to take Anon and return home,” she says gently. “I know this has been difficult for everypony involved.”

Celestia pauses, looking up to the two ponies in front of her. She studies the calm, collected expression of Willow, whose lip trembles ever so slightly as she holds a Daring Doo book. Celestia wants to believe that Willow is staying strong for her son, but knows that look too well. Her eyes move to the husband, whose muscles are tense, his jaw tightened. He furrows his brow at Celestia’s silence.

“In a few moments, we’ll re-introduce you to Anon, but we need to talk about what has happened. There is an old magic that’s in play here. It will take a long time for him to heal from this-- If he heals from this. It will be hard. Not just for him, but for both of you.”

“Do you think we can’t take care of our own son?” Cypress says, his voice gruff and accusatory.

“I never said that,” Celestia says placatingly. The stallion remains silent as she looks him in the eye. “I am saying that Anon is in a very fragile state. I only want to emphasize that the spell that was cast on him has… well. It’s been a long time since any pony has even attempted to dispel the effects of it.”

“Can’t you just cast some spell or something?” Cypress says, his voice rising. “Put his mind back in order. Change his memories back, or something!”

“Cypress, let her speak,” Willow says.

“Magic messed him up, Willow. Magic can put him right again. That’s how this works.”

“We can’t, Cypress,” Celestia says. “We can’t change his memories back.”

“And why not?!” Cypress shouts, rising from his seat. “Cadance messed with his head! Just undo it!”

“Because we cannot restore what is already gone,” she says. “The memories are simply not there anymore. And even magic cannot make something out of nothing. If we tried to create something new, something he wasn’t ready for, the results could be catastrophic for him.”

Celestia watches calmly as Cypress grits his teeth and lets out a huff. Willow raises a hoof and places it on Cypress’s back, then gently guides him back down into his seat.

“This is your fault,” Cypress says quietly.

“Cypress,” Willow says again, acid at the tip of her tongue.

Celestia closes her eyes, letting a silence hang in the air as she tries to recapture her breath. She doesn’t blame him. He has a right to be angry. It doesn’t make the words any easier for Celestia to swallow, but she won’t deny the truth. After a moment, she focuses back on the stallion.

“I know,” she says. “And I want to be sure it’s made right.”

Willow moves her hooves back in front of her as she nods.

“What do we need to do?”

Celestia nods and looks down to her hooves.

“It will be… like readopting him all over again. He won’t know who you are. He won’t have memories of you or how you’ve raised him. It was all replaced with her. And even worse… his perception of love is beyond distorted. It’s more construed with lust than love. You’ll have to teach him about what healthy love is. Family love. Love without conditions, demands, or force. Love that doesn’t degrade you, or devalue you, or drive you away from those who care about you. A non-selfish love. He will have trouble growing close to others, or grow too close. I’m not sure if I’m making myself very clear,” Celestia says, turning her gaze to the glass.

Cypress and Willow turn their head as well and look in at the small colt, sitting in the corner of an almost empty room. His mane is still mangled and dirty from the fight earlier in the day. His eyes are focused on the floor as he huddles into a small ball, deep in thought. Celestia breaks her gaze away, feeling as if a small knife has been plunged into the small of her back.

“It will be a long journey. You will have to take things very slow. And I can’t honestly say if things will ever be… normal.”

Willow nods, looking to her husband. Cypress looks back to her and comfortingly pats her on the shoulder.

“We’ll do whatever it takes,” Willow says, turning her gaze back to Celestia.

Celestia hums in affirmation, but still feels a sense of hesitation nagging the corners of her mind. Not because she doesn’t believe the ponies in front of her, but because she isn’t sure if she can ever prepare them for what they’re about to undertake. It’ll be a journey of a lifetime to heal Anon, and heal isn’t likely the right word. Perhaps, repair is the right phrase.

“Can we see him?” Willow says. “I think we’d all like to try to move on from this. Try to… rebuild our family. It will take time, but we can get through this together. That’s what family is.”

Celestia looks up to the mare, whose gaze shows a desperation she’s seen before, in another lifetime.

“Yes. But, I want to emphasize one last time. You will need to take this very, very carefully.”

Celestia rises from her seat, then, with a wave of her horn, unlocks the door to the other room. Cypress and Willow rise from their seats as well, then wordlessly walk to the door, side-by-side.

The two stop in front of the door as Celestia turns her gaze to the one-way glass. The colt raises his head to the door, curious. No. Hopeful. She sees him mouth the word ‘Mom?’, causing the princess to hold her breath. Cypress places a hoof on the handle, pauses, and then pushes the door open. The colt freezes, staring at his adoptive parents. Celestia feels her breath escape her lungs as she moves towards the glass to watch the reunion.

The two walk into the room, looking carefully at the colt in the corner. A quiet moment passes as Anon rises to his hooves, staring at the ponies across the room wordlessly. Cypress does not move, but Willow eventually steps forward.

“Hi there, Anon,” she says quietly.

“Hi,” Anon says, unmoving.

Willow takes a step, then another, slowly closing the distance to the colt in the corner. Anon turns his head slightly, still focused on Willow.

“My name is Willow,” she says gently, moving closer to the colt. “And I brought you something I thought you might like. Have you read it before?”

She holds up the book as she moves closer. He looks up to the book, then hastily looks away, shaking his head. Willow continues to move forward, but stops just a few feet away. She sets the book on the ground, sits, and smiles warmly. Willow looks into Anon’s eyes as the colt shivers. She raises a hoof and reaches out towards his shoulder. Celestia holds her breath, and hopes.

“Would you like to read together?” she asks.

Her hoof brushes his fur longingly. His gaze moves to her touch and he jerks back as if harmed by an electric shock.

“Mom told me not to talk to strangers,” he says weakly.

And then Anon steps away, just out of Willow’s reach.

Author's Note

Thank you for joining me for Parent's Night Out. Please, please, please tell me what you thought of it in the comments. If you're interested in seeing more stories from me, feel free to hit that follow button.

Once again, thank you.

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