A Discussion with Celestia

Several hours had passed and Celestia finally got up. She could see a look of frustration on her sister's face. She asked, "Sister, what is wrong? You seem upset."

Luna replied, "We are most upset. Cadence arrived last night without Flurry Heart or Shining Armor."

Celestia gasped, "What? Why would she come here but not bring them?"

Luna replied, "After we do our royal duties we shall let her speak to thee over these matters."

Celestia asked, "Where is she right now?"

Luna replied, "She is in the dining hall right now. We think she found the advice we gave her last night most unpleasant and needed to get away from us."

Celestia sighed, "Well I'll see what she has to say and give her what advice I can give her."

Luna and Celestia headed outside to do their royal duties before having breakfast. Luna was especially looking forward to this as she was going to be heading out to see the Apple family before heading to an international summit in Fillydelphia. When they arrived in the dining hall Cadence had her head laying on the table and was sleeping. Celestia asked, "Do you think we should wake her up so I can talk to her or should we let her sleep?"

Luna replied, "We think we should wake her so we can eat."

Celestia nudged Cadence with her wing causing her to wake up. "What? What? Where am I?" She first saw Luna and continued, "Oh, hi Luna." She then saw Celestia and continued, "Auntie Celestia, it's so good to see you!"

Celestia smiled, "It is good to see you too Cadence." Her smile changed to a look of concern as she continued, "Cadence, where are Shining Armor and Flurry Heart? I thought they would be with you."

Cadence sighed, "Can we wait to talk about that until after breakfast? I was interrogated by Luna about that last night and I want us to be able to talk, just you and me."

Celestia replied, "Yeah, we can do that."

Breakfast seemed a bit tense that morning as Cadence was nervous about how things would go with Celestia and she couldn't help but wonder what Luna had already told her. After breakfast they headed to the throne room. Celestia saw Luna heading to the exit and asked, "Luna, where are you going? I thought you would be headed to your sleeping chambers."

Luna replied, "We hast decided to go and visit the Apple family before we hast to go to that unpleasant summit. Visiting with them always makes us feel happier and after what we found out last night, we need to engage in some cheerful conversations."

Before either princess could reply, Luna took flight towards Sweet Apple Acres. Celestia looked at Cadence and asked, "Cadence, what was all that about? What does she mean that she needs to engage in cheerful conversations after last night?"

Cadence replied, "Well I arrived here late last night and I tried telling Luna about my feelings and why I came alone. While I was hoping for some comfort and understanding words from her, all she did was lecture me about how I needed to be there for Flurry Heart and how I can't just let Shining Armor be the primary one to take care of her."

Celestia asked, "Why would she have to tell you that?"

Cadence replied, "Ok, I'm going to be honest. I resent Flurry Heart, I really do. I feel like taking care of her and doing my royal duties is making it to where I just can't go out and mingle anymore. Shining and I can't just travel to come see you or Twilight without having to worry about anything."

Celestia gasped, "Really?"

Cadence continued, "Yes and it seems like Shining Armor cares more about Flurry Heart than he does me. It seems like he invests most of his time in comforting her and providing her with any and all of her needs." She began to cry, "I feel like he is trying to be a better parent than me!"

Celestia put her wing around Cadence and replied, "It's ok Cadence. He's just being a good father. I'd rather he be like this than not caring about her at all."

Cadence continued to cry harder, "And we used to sleep in a tight embrace and now he lays there right on the very edge of the bed because if he even thinks he hears her cough or cry in the night, he rushes out of the bed to check on her and almost all the time when he comes back, he tells me that she was peacefully asleep."

Celestia began to run her hoof through her niece's mane and replied, "I'm sorry Cadence. I really don't know what to tell you about this. Maybe once she gets older he will stop worrying about her all the time and give you more attention."

Cadence sighed, "And what makes matters worse is that we have a nanny that has the job of listening for her and keeping an eye on her at night but Shining just can't let her handle things while we are asleep." She gave Celestia a tight hug and continued, "And it has been a very long time since we have had any sex."

Celestia asked, "How long has it been?"

Cadence replied, "Well we stopped once I hit three months in my pregnancy and then I was cleared by the doctor a month after Flurry was born. I thought for sure Shining would want to get intimate right away but oh no, he has to listen for Flurry in the event she needs us."

Celestia said, "Well I'm sure that before too long he'll want to get intimate again." She laughed, "You know how stallions eventually get! He'll want it and lots of it!"

Cadence screamed, "When? Once Flurry Heart turns four? When she is old enough to rule in our stead if need be?" Her cries became more angry as she continued, "I just want some intimacy! I want to feel loved! I want to be held! Is that too much to ask?"

Celestia replied, "No, I don't think it is too much." Celestia's stomach growled and she continued, "How about we have a mid-morning snack. Maybe some food will calm you down."

Cadence asked, "Ok but can we talk about this more later?"

Celestia replied, "Yeah, we can. Beyond what you've already told me I don't know how much more there is to tell but even if you just need to talk about anything, I'm here."

They headed to the dining hall for their snack. While Cadence felt relieved to have got so much off her chest to somepony who actually seems to care, Celestia was unsure as how to handle this. While she could understand Cadence's desire for more attention, she just couldn't fathom Cadence resenting her daughter and she was really confused as to why Cadence would cry to her about wanting intimacy.