Shining Armor stared at his bedroom wall. He was gritting his teeth like a madmare, pressing them bone on bone fit to splinter and crack the pearly whites down to the roots. He bounced a tennis ball against the wall, throwing it out to catch it again on the rebound.

The dull thudding provided a monotonous rhythm combined with a pounding dull impatience, a sense of a purgatory that just simply would not end. It was like being incarcerated in a prison with nothing to do to pass the time but listen to the heavy jackbooted march of the jailer outside stepping up and down the cell block ad infinitum.

He had been home for a whole week now. One week, seven days and six nights, nearing night seven in just a matter of a few short hours. The sunlight was dying on his wall. He had been tracking its progress with his eyes, inexorably and bit by bit. If he made himself sit still and put his brain into a sort of bored trance, he could almost watch it like a very slow motion movie. It reminded him of being a colt again on boring family vacations to the cabin. In between when he'd had enough of swimming, or been too sunburned to continue, and when mom had finished making dinner, there was seldom much to do but watch the sun crawl across the sky, taunting him with the length of the summertime days. If boring lessons at school sucked, tracking the sun by its rays then had been torture.

He again felt like that useless, bored colt.

Worse than that now -- he was a useless bored stallion with his family on the ropes and an incessant ticking clock that counted down day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second, to when it would be too late for him to do what he needed, and then it all would have been simply in vain.

A week had gone by at home. A week of half-formed words and futile attempts at normalcy interspersed with even sadder attempts at having a real conversation with his mother, each time ending in someone deflecting from what needed to be said. She went about the house, alternating her costume between maybe a little less revealing then normal, but then she would sometimes have the excuse it was just too hot and then slink around in not much more than a sport's bra and a pair of shorts. What the hell was going on with her reaction?

He didn't know what dad had spoken about with her, but she seemed to be trying and dreading to get his attention as he was trying and dreading to get hers. Sometimes he'd try to wave her down, other times he'd try to help her in the kitchen. Sometimes she'd pretend he didn't exist, other time she would randomly ask him about the most trite crap like the weather or what to make Twilight for her lunches. Either way, regardless, not much quality communication was getting done.

Was it her or was it him? He didn't know. He knew that it didn't matter. He had to break the stalemate. Alas he was lost.

Sleep wasn't too much relief, either. He was beset with confused dreams featuring his mother, Velour, Cadance, and other mares he'd been intimate with, Sugar Swirl quite prominently. They always wanted to tell him something, or he was carrying some great secret he needed to inform them about but couldn't. More often than not they would turn sexual and he would awaken irritated, frustrated, and nursing a rock hard erection. Sex dreams involving his mom did not work with his guilt and desire to avoid sleeping with her again, especially when they felt so good and he awoke horny as hell with thoughts of her flashing through his mind, when he didn't just awaken with a softening dick and a sticky patch demanding he take a shower and do some laundry.

They had been avoiding the couch and the TV. The memories of scent and touch jumped to his mind -- faint sweat, the dry and plum notes of the malbec wine, and maybe just the tiniest hint of pine scent on the glasses from Velvet's choice of dish detergent. The feel of breasts, the kiss of his mother against him, then the heat that suffused him during their coupling. Some fear, curiosity, longing, lust, and finally shame. He couldn't get her to talk to him for longer than absolutely necessary, and when he had tried to get a conversation going, she'd done her level best to stop it from getting serious.

The remainder of the day went by in a similarly shitty way. He went out for fast food -- he had taken to avoiding her at meals so as to try to keep Twiley from noticing too much, lingered longer than needed to on their wifi, and came home. Shining Armor needed some light exercise and so went on a jog. He kept his eyes open for Cadance, anxiously awaiting her. They'd made their plan a week ago. He needed to contact her, tell her that him trying to get Velvet to talk on his own wasn't quite working out. Still, he couldn't say it wasn't out of character for either of him.

Things had been normal. No, not normal, more like painfully abnormally normal.

That night, while Shining was attempting to fell asleep, he swore he heard some light footsteps outside his door. Feeling irritable, he growled, "Go to bed, Twilight, don't you have that day science camp in the morning?"

Shining heard the creak of his door. He saw one eye reflect in the dim light. "I put her to bed already," Velvet said as she slithered into the room wearing just a robe. She sad on the edge of the bed and reclined in his direction, brushing his arm with her hand. He didn't recoil away from her.

Shining immediately tensed up. "Hi, mom, what are you doing here?"

"I just came to check on my favorite boy," she said, "we haven't talked much in... Celestia..."

"Yeah, things have been awkward."

Velvet nodded. "More than awkward."

"What happened to us, Mom?"

The older mare turned around to face her son and lay down on her side, facing him. "Well, you got older and you changed. Went from a cute little puppy into a mutt, you did. Sure are son of one." She booped him on the nose playfully.

Shining chuckled briefly and smiled back at her. "Speaking of dogs, why didn't you anyone me about Velour earlier?"

"So your father has had that talk with you," Velvet said slowly with the spice of alcohol on her breath, "I want to know what did he say?"

Shining touched his mother and held her forearm limply. "He said you two have had a semi open marriage, and Velour more or less came out of that plus you realizing just what you had and what that could do for Twiley and I."

"Yeah, pretty much it."

"But why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, you blew up when I did."

Shining hissed, "You get me drunk, pry into my affairs, invade my privacy, and then use that to seduce me twice, turning on me afterwards! How was I supposed to take that well? You didn't even need to name yourself as Velour, just say you're in the business or something."

"Shining, I was drunk and shocked, too." Her robe was coming open, revealing feminine flesh within. Was this on purpose?

"But you didn't need to fuck me over it, let alone again."

Velvet crept closer and put her hand on his lower thigh. "Baby, baby, that's not important -- back to our last topic: does Night know about... us?"

Shining scratched his head, slowly answering, "He does know about... well... that I have met Velour?"

"Meaning???"

"Just met during the Manehattan trip."

"So about our liasons...?"

"I couldn't bring myself to tell him, but he came so close."

"Did you tell him anything revealing?"

Shining said, "No, but it was so close. For a moment I thought he'd figured it out, and had he asked, I would have said that..."

"But you didn't, did you you?" She snapped, her breast flashing free from the robe.

No. He had that look when he figures out something, but then he laughed and said that it was completely impossible and he was being crazy."

"That was a gift from heaven."

"I nearly threw it away; I almost couldn't bear to see him let the cruelest revelation of his life just be ignored like that."

Velvet's hand rose up his leg, prickling with pointed nails. "I think it's good. He's a good man, you know it would have fucked him up badly to actually have understood what we're doing. He's been close. I had a similar moment earlier that day. He told me he doesn't know if he can trust me, but whatever it is, he'll just ignore it if it's over with by the time he gets back."

"You think he knows, mom?" Shining was looking at her chest. That hormonal male part of him was starting to prevail against his upper brain.

The mare sighed, "Cynically, how could he not? But realistically, maybe he doesn't -- surmising your wife and son are fucking is one hell of a conclusion to take a flying leap to with no information other than her gestalt hasn't been wholly observant of the rules and her core has been getting distant.

"If he asked me, he didn't know, and I didn't tell him, so it's like before he did."

Twilight Velvet leaned forward. A second tit escaped her robe. "Thank you, Shining, for keeping my secret." This was too much like his dreams.

"I'm not sure I feel right about it, or if it even matters..."

The mare cupped his face in his hands and said, "We're safe, we're free, we just can't get caught again. I'm a lonely mare, Shining. You're a stallion. You're around."

The youth's relaxation turned into a sour smirk. "So we have a full fledged affair after all this, after we get a second chance?"

Twilight Velvet leaned forward and kissed him. She was sweet, and he tasted delicate lips and tongue with a bouquet of fruit wines with maybe something a little stronger. Memories of their earlier encounters and his dates with Velour shot through his head at her familiar touch. A hand of his clasped at her breast and he felt her squirm to his touch. He needed her. His fingers shook. "Not quite, Shiny. Just while he's gone. And he's gone most of the time. Don't you want to make me happy? Doesn't the son want to love his mother?"

With that, she kissed him again. The taste of alcohol was unmistakeable. Shining kissed her back, longing coming unbidden. So long since she'd last talked to him without ice or venom, and her embrace was once of comfort for as long as he could remember. His instincts were being stoked and he knew he was getting very hard. This temptation was too sweet to resist -- Velour, but real and free, all for him.

He clasped at her tit and his finger found her nipple. She gave a low mewl and he lowered his head to kiss the soft nub. A primal urge to suckle at her took over, and she cradled his head, cooing softly at him as he relaxed in this intimate embrace. Her one hand caressed and petted his mane while her other hand went lower, finding purchase on his penis. A few tugs and he was hard.

"Lower," she whispered into his ear, "I want you to enjoy me." Shining obeyed, dragging his free hand down to her pussy and brushing it. Wet!

"Mom... I..." Then he remembered Cadance's and Velour's warnings. Velvet would try to steer towards sex to get out of a confrontation. He couldn't give in, he couldn't face her. Not here, not alone. "I love y-"

"I love you too, Shining!" She kissed him again.

He pushed off the kiss. "Mom, I love you, but, no, we can't do this."

She looked like a kicked kitten. "But, Shining, please, I need you. I love you."

Shining Armor stared at her, the dearest mare in his world, nude in his bed, aroused, begging him to come and require his desires between her thighs for both of them. They had tonight, they had tomorrow, they had time -- their secret, just the two of them. Their old love could be expressed in a new way.

It was his to claim. All he had to do was say yes.

"I love you too, Mom."

"So come to bed, Honey."

It was his to refuse. All he had to do was say no.

"But I can't be your stallion; I'm your colt. This is for the best." He practically leapt into his clothes and flew from the house. Shining Armor ran. He ran for more than a mile before he stopped at an abandoned basketball court he knew his mom could not track him too unless she miraculously was a lot fitter than she looked. He took out his phone and dialed Cadance. "Cadance, it's Shining. Can you put me up with something tonight, and let's confront her tomorrow."

"Can do to both. Tell you what, The Chocolate Dream down near Somnambula Place is still open. I'll meet you there and let's talk."

"Thanks, Cadance, you're a lifesaver."

Princess Cadance followed the stallion up the step to the stoop of the unremarkable townhome. She swallowed, watching what he might do next. The white stallion ahead of her withdrew a key from his pants and opened the door. She followed him into the house, not feeling too unlike Ngolatane must have when on operation. She appeared serene on the outside.

She had last been just a week ago. It had an interim week spent watching her phone and email, watching the seconds tick by slowly as dandelion seeds on the wind. Day after day had passed without word and without action. It was finally happening. Those words stolen in the smokey restaurant back in Manehattan were finally going to pay their dividends. Cadance wanted to settle this fast and hard, she had wanted to invite the subject of the drama for some one on one time, but that had been vetoed by someone much closer to them. So here she was, playing second fiddle to a rank amateur -- an adorable, sexy, goodhearted amateur, but someone she had to fight her protective instincts to allow to make his own path.

As she followed him in, she saw the definition of his back muscles and shoulder blades. Her heart fluttered, but she steadied herself. The memory of their embrace on the train, her staring down at his hardening physique while astride him, kissing away while she pawed him and he felt her thighs and chest, washed over her. She could see the Royal Guard duty shirt on him already, and imagine him flexing under it. A fine, masculine body was being carved out.

Shit was going to get dicey, but she had no choice nor reason but to believe in Shining Armor right now.

Having now crossed the threshold, Cadance shut the door behind them. She saw the kitchen where she'd had tea with Night Light a week ago. She followed Shining along the passageway and out of the atrium. The unicorn kicked off his shoes. She kept on her low heels, even though they were crunching her toes like styrofoam and the heel straps were going to make her raw. Shining was dressed for just another ordinary day. A pang of envy hit her that he didn't have to get all dolled up every time he stuck his head out of his bedroom. She wished for a hoodie and some shorts, not this just north of business casual ensemble with a collar of pearls on her neck and her hair in a gilded clip.

"Hello," said a feminine voice from the living area.

"Hi, Mom," said Shining.

Then Cadance entered the room. "Good day, Twilight Velvet." A lump caught in her throat.

The robed mare recumbent on the couch with a box of malbec wine practically dropped the whole thing. "Your Majesty!" Twilight quaked, "What is the reason for your visit?" The older mare's tongue lingered just a moment too long on her lips, keeping them open more than necessary, eye contact first given to her son, but then languished on her deliberately, lids slightly dangled.

Velvet's face immediately sank into a sour scowl. "Yes, your majesty, I presume you got dressed up nice and dropped in unannounced so you could raid my fridge for sale bin white bread and Brand X apple juice. Isn't that the royal fashion these days?"

"I meant this isn't a state function..."

Velvet ignored this to levitate up her box of wine to take a deep suck. Without even asking, she then magically grabbed glasses for the two others from the kitchen. Shining said, "Wow, Mom, that's some magic."

"Let's see you sustain a coherent gestalt for six years and not learn a thing or two," the older mare laughed. The laughter died and she turned an eye back towards Cadance again. "So, Princess, who put you up to this? The boy, the husband, or was it even my daughter. Are you looking to reveal me?" Velvet winked. Cadance made herself avoid direct eye contact and scowl. She remembered Velour's words about how Velvet would try to save herself if she sensed trouble.

Cadance clicked her tongue. "That's bold of you to assume, but those guesses were not bad. This plan comes from none other than Velour."

"V-Velour? My own gestalt turned against me?" Velvet gasped, slinking back into the cushions.

Shining interrupted, "It was Cadance who arranged the big booking for Manehattan, Mom."

Twilight Velvet sighed, "Oh, shit." Then she filled their glasses to the brim with wine. These were not small glasses but big ones, easily capable of holding two units at a time when filled properly. "That means you got a huge amount of time with Velour, didn't you?" Nods from both of the others told the mare everything she needed to know. "I knew it was too good to be true, and too convenient. You, Shining, run out on me first, then I suddenly get a message from some strange Zebra about a booking in another city -- she's got no references and is willing to pay the premium for an immediate start. It's not like the Guard gets paid that well." She put her face in her hands, moaning, "How fucking stupid could I have been to fall for such an obvious trap? Of course... Well, what's the damage? What are you going to do to me? Make me confess my crimes here now as myself so you can run to Night Light and tell him what he may have already guessed? Grind me into dust with what a bad mare I've been? Drag the story about me fucking this boy here in exquisite detail so you get a juicy tale to add to your resume, Cad? Looking to get friendly with some tabloids by finding a debauched yarn for them?"

Shining and Cadance swapped looks. "Shining, what is she doing?"

"She's bluffing. She didn't tell dad, nor did I -- he may have guessed it, but definitely didn't show it if he did."

Cadance nodded and turned back to the smirking Twilight. "We're not here for that, Missus Velvet."

Shining took a drink. Velvet said, "Really now? What are you here for, then? Maybe you were hoping to see what these clothes look like on the floor? I'll show you if you ask, but I doubt you will. So are you here to tell me what I can and can't do with my body and other consenting adults? Here to tell me it's wrong to want a little action when you're lonely? You're too late for that, too, since this faggot ran away from my offered paradise last night." She made aggressive eye contact with Cadance, staring at her like a snarling dog.

The princess flipped her hair back over her shoulder. "If you are done ranting, I shall tell you what we are here for."

"Goody. Can't wait. So, what'll it be? Condemnation? Interrogation? Punishment? Tell me what poison I get to drink and I'll chug it."

"I'm not here to tell you anything."

Shining spoke up again. "I'm here, Mom, and I want answers. Not sex, not manipulation, answers."

Velvet took a long chug of malbec wine and laughed, "I do not answer to you, Shining Armor! Who birthed you? Who taught you to tie your shoes? Who took you to peewee soccer games? Who helped you with algebra? Who talked you up about the Guard? Who took your virginity? Me, all me."

"If that's how you feel, then surely it can't hurt to enlighten me just a little bit more about everything."

"I don't need to explain myself to you, boy."

"Man now," Shining refuted. "I had that talk with dad when he was last here. He believes I'm too old to be given that 'too young' crap. Which am I: a boy too young to know the truth, or a man old enough to take to bed?"

Velvet groaned, "Fine, if you in-fucking-sist. So, what the fuck is it?"

Shining Amor sat straight up. He looked his mother right in the eye and said, "First, this isn't about beating you down or trying to make you admit guilt to anything."

That broke the mare's sneer. Her eyebrows raised as she took a measured sip of her red wine. "Well then, what is this about?"

"It's about trying to go forward and get some closure. Look, we can't live this forever. I won't be your bed toy whenever you're feeling lonely, and even if I did, it's only a matter of time until Twiley or Dad either really put two and two together or just catch us in the act. You're not stupid, you know I'm right."

Velvet yawned and growled, "Of course you are. Your father had a talk with me about this before he went back on his business trip. I told him Velour has been doing some unprotected screwing. He told me that he'll let it go and never bring it up again provided I wrap whatever it is up by the time he gets back in about a month."

"I see... We're on the same page, at least that's what seems to be the case. But why did you try to seduce me last night? If you meant to end it with me, why did you try to have sex with me, promising that we could keep it going for years as our little secret?" Cadance gave a sharp blink and opened her mouth, but instead instead dug the heel of her shoe into the carpet, otherwise saying nothing. She shot a sideways glance at the young man next to her, encouraging him with a smile.

Velvet answered with the first hint of flattened ears, "I was drunk and it seemed a good idea at the time. Your father isn't around nearly enough to satisfy me. I am a mare with needs. He knows this. If those needs aren't going to be met by him, well then, I'll just have to find some other kind of way of getting them met, aren't I? He knows this."

"That makes sense," the younger male conceded over the top of his glass after he took another mouthful of wine, "I, however, don't get a few things."

"What is there not to get? I was drunk and horny. I sought you out. You hurt me by rejecting me. I still crave that orgasm you denied me."

Shining stretched. "You have hands if you want an orgasm on demand -- I am your son. Why would you seek the guy you were told to end it with? And you don't think it's hurtful to be pulled closer by you when you need something sated and then kicked away after?"

"Mind it, Shiny," Cadance warned."

"But lastly, here's the one I really want an answer to: I learned from dad last week that you and him have had a somewhat open marriage for a long time; if only you'd ask he would have let you get yourself a boy toy. But instead of that, you're choosing me to warm your bed. Why?"

"I was horny and you were convenient. But most of all was that I knew you weren't going to reject me. I was testing you that first time we did it. I wanted to see if you would take me as a male takes a female. And so you did. When you did it again the day after, I knew you really were mine, alcohol or no."

"You gave me wine that second time."

"Only a little bit compared to the night before -- you were more than sober enough to think it through."

"The real question is why did you choose me?"

Velvet answered, "Having a hot young stud close at hand at home to fuck whenever I choose is a great idea, isn't it? You're a sex-having person -- wouldn't it be great if you could have some at home right when you want it rather than having to go through the pain of organizing a date and paying for it? You know I'm right."

"It does sound good, Mom, but that's beside the point." His drier tone was mirrored by Cadance's crossed legs and slow shake of her head. "Why me of everyone out there? The mere existence of Velour proves a point: you are smoking hot. Okay, maybe not that hot, but you're damn good looking; enough to make a nice little career selling access to your body by the hour. Sex isn't a problem for you, is it? Just pure sex?"

"Eeeyeahhhh, not really..." Velvet creaked, awkwardly scratching at an itch on her leg and breaking eye contact for the first time without reestablishing that same wild stare.

"Mom, if you can be honest with me, when was the last time you lacked for loving."

"I'm lacking for some right now."

"This isn't going to work if you don't bear with me. If you want, the door's right over there and I can be out through it before you can even drain what's left of your glass. Do you want that?"

"No."

"Me neither. So I would really fucking appreciate it if working with you wasn't like trying to cuddle a griffon! Now, Mom, you pull more crap again and I'm out of here."

"I thought you weren't here to punish me."

"I'm not here to punish you, I'm here to reconcile with you."

"Sure doesn't feel like it."

"Just because he's not being vengeful doesn't mean it'll be pleasant," Cadance warned.

Velvet shook her head. "Seems all the same from where I'm sitting." She took another drink.

Shining sipped his again. He inquired, "So, Mom, if you would please stop avoiding the question, when was the last time you really lacked for loving. Could not get it. Any. At all?"

Twilight Velvet scratched her chin for several seconds. All eyes were on her. Eventually, she answered, "Back in early high school. I was a sort of ugly duckling. But then in early 10th grade it was like overnight I got hit hard with the sexy hammer. The girl who seemed to actively repulse boys by existing the last day of school the year before got looks the first day of class, and by the time the Fall Formal came around, I was doing things, fun and sexy things. Kissing, exchanging gropes, blowing guys in the bathrooms, flashing my tits when teachers weren't looking. I was hot all of a sudden and it was like a drug. I found myself getting invited to hang out, go to parties, go on dates, and more."

"And how did that all turn out?"

"Fun. Lots of fun. The gravy train didn't really end until a certain blue colt put a ring on me, but even then, we had our swings, together and separately. Your father, as absentee as he may be now, kept me very happy and occupied back then, him being a teenage hornball and me a free young woman... What really did it was having you and Twilight. I got pregnant, I swelled, and I stayed swollen. I lost the weight mostly, but my bones shifted. Oh well, curvier figure and more prominent breasts -- a bit of tum doesn't detract from those. More than that, I was busy around the clock taking care of a little pony. Then I got pregnant again. Your sister wasn't so easy. I had to have her cut out of me. The weight went just not so completely, but the operation...." Velvet pulled down her capris to show a white scar across her hips' bridge. "That one left a mark."

"But it's not so bad -- you look great for a mother of two, Missus Velvet."

"It hasn't always been this pretty. It's taken a few surgeries to reduce it and the discoloration. For the first time in forever, I wasn't hot anymore. Your father told me I was still sexy, sexier than ever, but I knew the truth -- some of my swing buddies went away, and it was harder to find replacements. Back in the day, if I wanted, I could have started an orgy by just going to a club and saying I was open to anyone who wanted to run a train on me. Anyway, with a new baby and a young colt, I didn't have time anymore, and the sex life I used to enjoy really suffered. In a way it hasn't really recovered."

Shining looked at her with his chin in his hand. "Would you say the attention of those people, sexual, made you happy?"

"Yes."

"Made you feel valuable, worthwhile?"

"Yes."

"And with your primary lover absent most of the time, what you really want isn't orgasms but something psychological?"

"Yes."

"Mom, could it be that you're using sex to cope with being lonely?"

"Yes."

"And you chose me because you trust me, like me, have me nearby, and know I'll never abandon you?"

"Yes."

Shining blew a strand of hair out of his eyes. "But was that really it?"

There was a long pause. Twilight Velvet drew out a long cord of wine into her glass, and from it she drank deeply. The mare burped, the blackish rouge staining her lips and face. " Yeah... yeah, that's about it..."

Cadance interrupted. "Are you sure, Twilight, are you really sure? There's no shame in having a confession to make."

"Shush, I'm sure as shit!" Wine jostled and spilled.

Shining matched her by taking a deep but measured drink of his own. Cadance made the motion of gulping, but in reality only down enough to wet her tongue. He took his cue from the alicorn making a little motion with her fingers, a sign to lead Velvet without demanding. Velvet refilled his wine as he responded, "But why would you feel such a need to hide this? Dad was accepting of you wanting to play around."

"Let's see you have children of your own and ask, 'Cadance, honey, is it okay if I fuck our daughter?' See how that flies."

"Mom," he said tensely.

"Okay okay I'm sorry, but mark my words, kiddo, I'll bet you a year of free Velour you're ending up with her."

Cadance looked strangely, but not displeased. "Please, Velvet, stay on topic. I do like Shining, but you are the meat of the matter right now."

"I said I'm sorry." The silver mare giggled tipsily. "It's just true. Trust me. When part of your mind is coded to spot what someone will like, you notice these things." She refilled her glass and began drinking earnestly again. "I swear this is the last one."

Shining asked his mother, "I know you had some mixed feelings about having sex with me. What were they, exactly?"

"I got really horny and it was like cold water, you know, coming down from that, you cumming in my pussy... Coming back down to reality was a shock to my system so soon after learning you'd been seeing Velour."

"How did you feel about me seeing Velour?"

Velvet took another mouthful of malbec. It took her a while to answer. Nobody was going to rush her. Her ears finally fell completely flat. "Like shocked, surprised. I mean, what's a handsome stallion like you paying for sex, y'know?" She was slurring. "I never set out to fuck you, Shining. You caught me in the middle of another one of Night Light's long absences. Part of me was disgusted, but part of me was really turned on in a way that hasn't happened in a long time. You see, sex is large in the brain, and for all the good times quick fucks that I've swinged into, I know they're a fantasy and not real. I know afterwards I'll go back to being Twilight and they'll go back to being whomever. But with you, Shi, I know I'll still be special to you the morning after. I won't stop being pretty the second they start softening. I won't fade into memory with the dawn's early light. You'll still be someone I care about, and you'll be someone who cares about me, too."

"So you tried to fuck me out of loneliness?"

"A little bit, but I wanted to see if you'd do it. Velour's gotten all the praise for years, I wanted to see if someone who'd had her would still want Velvet."

"But what if I hadn't? What then, Mom?"

"Well, I would not have fucked you."

"Are you sure about that? Given your behavior, Mom, it seems out of character for you to just pass up an opportunity for sex just like that."

"I know I wouldn't've, Shiny, I'm a whore and a liar and manipulator and a seductress and a slut a terrible mother, but I'm no rapist."

"I see. Sorry I doubted you."

Cadance said, "If I may ask, you said you're a liar. Have you lied to us about anything in this conversation?"

"No." She drank more. They all sipped.

"Then can you please return to Shining's original line of questioning?"

"Which was?"

"Why it excited you so to have sex with him."

"Ah, yes, Princess." Twilight Velvet shifted her attention back around to her son. "As I was saying, I'm drawn to you. I like you and you're sexy -- any mare, alicorn, pegasus, earth, or even alicorn, would find you hard to resist." He tugged at his collar at the remark.

"Thanks, Mom, but what does that have to do with it if it was for emotional not physical reasons?"

Twilight Velvet tried to open her mouth to say something, but Cadance interrupted the drunk mare with a wave of the hand. "Velvet, you just said you were being truthful, but here you are now contradicting yourself. We can't help you if you're going to lie for us. Why tell us things that are untrue? Why deliberately seek repeat encounters with Shining among others if you just wanted to see if you still had it? You got what you said you wanted, but you didn't stop. Why? What's really the matter?"

She was suddenly hard again. "You sound just like my therapist." Both Cadance and Shining saw it -- the slump in her chin, the sagging shoulders, the back of wit beyond a weak quip, how she didn't meet their eyes."

"Mom, you need to tell us the truth." Shining's voice was hard and cold. Cadance gave him a worried look, but he wasn't looking at her anymore. He had made a fist.

"We can't help you if we don't."

"You said there was a lot at stake!" Shining growled, "For one, cut the fucking shit, Twilight! You can't do this to anyone and everyone who loves you, wants to know you, wants to help you. How are we supposed to fix this mess if you won't be honest with anyone, not even yourself!?"

"Shining..." Cadance cautioned, pointing at the mare who was gulping down the malbec -- first she killed the glass, then she clutched at and suckled from the box and then cradled it.

He ignored her. "You've put all involved through hell! You call yourself a mother, but there you go, running off everywhere to fuck around like a teen girl! You toy with us. You've lied to me. You've lied to Cadance. You've lied to little Twiley. You've lied to yourself. You've lied to Dad! When is it going to stop? Now? Later? Tomorrow? After Dad divorces you? After none of us ever want to talk to you again? When your secret is revealed before everyone? Wake the fuck up! This isn't some game you can play to work us into bed where it'll go away when we forget it between your thighs, this is the last chance you have to stop before it's too late! Do you understand me!? The fantasy is over! There's no more time to stall for, no more excuses to use, and no more gestalts to retreat into! Wake the fuck up and face the fucking music! Put down your drink, straighten up, and talk to us, to me, like you actually give a fuck! Like you're not the only one who matters!"

"Shining!" Cadance yelled, "That is enough!"

Silence came for several agonizing seconds. The box of wine fell to the floor with only a light thud. "I'm sorry," he said, his tone taught and fists clenched.

"Don't say it to me -- to her." Cadance pointed with both arms at the shrunken mare.

Shining Armor's eyes grew wide. He whsipered, "Mom... I'm..." She said nothing back.

Tears formed at the mare's eyes. "You're right, Shining. I've been lying to everyone -- not you, not your father, not my therapist, but everyone, even myself. I've been using sex for years as a crutch to deal with feeling lonely and ugly. It's like I've been trying to reclaim the lost glory days when I was young and beautiful... when life was simpler and ponies actively sought my company. Now look at me, I'm a day drunk middle aged mare laying on a couch detailing how my life started sucking so bad I thought it would be a great idea to fuck my son! Forty something years alive, half of that married, nearly all of that with children of my own, and I couldn't get it through my fat fucking head that what I really wanted was some fucking company to make me feel worthwhile and not just mindless sex! And now a princess knows what I'm doing, my own husband suspects the worst possible thing, and my own son hates me for what I've done to him!"

Cadance looked on with concern, swirling her wine.

"I don't hate you, Mom, I love you."

"Are you sure about that? I've done some pretty bad stuff to you. Cadance looked on . Shining, however, stood up and marched over to the crying woman. He looked down at her, rage coming back over his face. He pondered the mare. He watched as she cried, his expression unreadable. She flung herself around his knees and hugged him close in supplication. "Please, don't leave me, don't hate me," she pleaded.

The young man grabbed her cheek and firmly guided her gaze up to his. He didn't meet it. He turned to the other mare, whispering, "Cadance, what do I do?"

"That's up to you. She is at your mercy," she darted back under her breath too quietly for the wailing mare to hear.

Shining Armor looked down again at the mare. He drew her chin up again, gently this time. She was clinging fast to him as if she would drown if she let go. At long last he knelt down and hugged her. "I love you, Mom, I always will." Tears leaked from his eyes, too. He hugged her hard while she heaved and clung to his shoulders, tears flowing freely, freer than the wine she had downed in glass after glass.

"Shi-ning, I'm so so-so-sor-ry, I never m-meant for-for-for-for any of this t-to happen!" Velvet sobbed and heaved as she hurled her arms around his shoulders and neck. He winced in pain and patted her back, rubbing little circles around it. It was not crying, more like an ugly sobbing, complete with spit and snot. The younger cradled the older, the son comforting his mother while she comforted him too.

"It's okay, Mom, I'm here."

And so he was. He held her close and let her hold him. She cried, she groaned, she wept. Her voice eventually grew hoarse with sobs as remorse racked her body. And through it all he comforted her, whispering reassurances and nothings into her flattened ears, and wiping the streamings of tears from her face. They rocked together, she holding on with force to dig into him. She snorted in between sobs and a great glob of snot coated his back. Shining didn't mind. He finally had his mom back. She finally was no longer Velour nor the seductress, but instead his mother, and he just wanted her with him. And so, though he did it quietly, he clung and rocked to her, too, letting flow discrete tears down her back, too. No more games, no more lies, no more feints and rebukes.

Cadance could only watch as the mare on the couch wept and hugged the kneeling stallion still on the floor. She let loose a great sigh of relief as Shining chose to embrace Velvet when he was within his rights to let her have it. He had her dead to rights and wouldn't've stopped him had he really wanted to lay into the mare. That wasn't the princessly thing to do, but she'd had just about enough of her shit and though an asskicking was well in order. Instead, her own heart melted a little as her crush had gotten down on his knees and welcomed back his wayward mother. He hugged her tenderly, letting her ugly cry all over him while he said nothing, just hugged her and let her get it all out of her system. Pushed beyond the edge of reason and still he chose forgiveness over vengeance. He had made the choice; all there was for her to do now was sit and wait as she sipped at her wine. She could never forgive herself for intruding on a moment like this.

This guy... Oh, Princess Celestia, this guy...

Handsome, humble, funny, kind, patient, and just with the right amount of steel but tempered by mercy -- the kind to engender and return affection; the type to give love and hope a fighting chance.

Someday, she was going to stand beside him in a white dress. She swore it. She refilled her glass and sipped from it, watching Shining and Velvet reconcile, feeling deep satisfaction in her chest. She had done it. It had been dicey, risky, and for a moment she really thought Shining was going to answer with wrath, but he had done so much better than that.

And so Cadance waited for the pair to calm down in each others' arms. It was not until many long minutes and the shifting of the light through the window that at last they did.

"You made a mess on me," Shining laughed.

"I-I'm sorry," said Velvet, "I'll get that for you." And so she did, shakily but firmly. She washed down her son's shoulders and backs and he relaxed into her touch.

"Thank you, Mom."

"You're welcome, Honey."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Cadance said, "Awww, that's sweet." She smiled as Velvet wiped down her ton's back, clearing it from all the gunk.

Shining in turn took the cloth. "Let me get that, Mom."

He wiped her down, slowly drawing gentle circles on her back. Velvet kept silent as her son made her clean once more. While he did it, she discretely levitated the wine box back to herself and took one last draught from the nozzle. The mare swayed, drunk as she was, having been chug fit to incapacitate a minotaur.

Shining Armor stroked her mane gingerly, pulling it back somewhat orderly into the lilac orchid and white strands it usually rested in. The mare offered no resistance but instead hummed to herself with a kind of curious purring inflection. By the time Shiny finished helping Vel, she looked much better, albeit noticeably drunk.

"You two work well together," she said dreamily as she sat up next to Shining on the couch and leaned on him for support.

"Of course we'd really try hard," Shining deflected, "you're important."

Velvet slur chuckled, "No no no, not like that, like what I got with Night."

Cadance leaned forward. She motioned at Shining to inquire further. "What do you mean, Mom?"

"Well, you two haven't talked too much before these episodes, and here you are playing off each other, helping each other out. You make a good team and you're comfortable with each other. It's like your lovers. Perhaps you are, aren't you?"

Shining blushed. "N-no! We aren't anything like that."

"We aren't togeth-"

A hacking cough swept the room. "Hyyeeeyeeaaahah! Hahaaa haaaahhhh! I'm just fucking with you two. I had a hunch, but thought this'd be way more fun than just asking if you were dating."

"Very funny, Mom."

Twilight Velvet sat up and backed away so she could sorta see both younger ponies at once. She put on her best serious face, not a bad effort for someone with eyes red from crying and also visibly intoxicated. "Are you two serious that you aren't together?"

"We aren't," said Shining.

Velvet said, "Well, that's too bad. You really are good together, a perfect fit." She got awkward fiddling and a blush from Cadance, a leery look from Shiny. "How old are you and her?"

He gave her a look. "Eighteen."

"Twenty-two."

Shining turned to Cadance. "I thought you were younger."

"I was until recently."

"Annnnywaaay!" Velvet slapped the arm of the sofa. "Eighteen and twenty-two years old each, new adults, fit naturally and get along pretty good all things considered. You really should make some moves on each other; it's obvious as shit you two really like each other."

Cadance said, "That's funny, Velour said the same thing."

"Velour did? Well... I can't say I'm surprised. What else happened? What exactly did she say?"

Cadance blushed, fiddling with her mane. She couldn't meet anyone's eyes as she said this, even making a point to not face her body towards Shining. "She said Shining's mine to lose, so I should claim him if I want him." She omitted the part where Velour explicitly named herself as competition.

Twilight Velvet asked her son, "And did Cadance ever make a move on you?"

He chuckled nervously, "Yeah, actually... On the train ride back things got kinda, errr, ummm... hot and heavy." Cadance made a nervous chuckle in agreement.

"So, di-"

"We stopped," Shining said.

"Why?"

"I stopped it, Missus Velvet," Cadance said, "because we can't be together as things are. I'm a princess and he's just a regular stallion. I need to remain single for the sake of marrying for the realm."

Velvet raised an eyebrow at Shining. "And I guess I can't really get involved because I'll soon be gone for most of the time for months to years."

Twilight Velvet clapped her hands together and laughed, "You two are acting like you're talking marriage when you're just as the start. You two don't need anything serious or exclusive, just have fun like the overgrown teenagers you are."

"But I can't just sleep around carelessly," Cadance protested.

"I didn't say you guys had to fuck, either. Look, all I'm saying is you two have some real good chemistry together -- you're attracted as fuck, and you have some time now. What does or doesn't happen does or doesn't happen. Cady, before you have to go back to being a princess, Shiny, before you have to put your butt in a uniform, just take a bit of time. But what do I know? I'm just drunk and definitely won't hear anything all passed out here on the couch while you two were upstairs in some bedroom..." And with that, Twilight Velvet dramatically yawned and flopped over into a swoon with her eyes shut and her body still except her chest.

The two young ones looked at each other.

"That was weird," said Cadance.

A nod. "Weird as fuck." He cleaned the scene of the glasses and the wine, drinking down the remainders himself and put away the heavily drained box of wine back into the corner of the pantry behind the big jar of ground coffee. He took a few minutes to hand wash the glasses of the red liquid before placing them into the dishwasher. Suddenly, he felt a warm hand gently clasp his shoulder. He turned. "Cadance?"

"She's right, you know... I really do like you and we've spent a good amount of time together to realize both of us have some feelings. And... I don't know how much we'll be able to see each other again after all this. I'm going to be put to work again and Celestia's going to keep a much tighter leash on me, and you're about to enlist, so..."

He nodded. "Upstairs?"

She put her hand in his and he led the way to his bedroom, shutting the door behind them.

The two sat on the bed, doing nothing.

They just looked at each other wordlessly for a great long while as they each struggled to find the words. The alicorn's thighs were pressed together inside their knee-length skirt and she propped herself up straight with arms at her sidese. Shining, however, saw sagging ever so slightly, seeming to have found something intensely interesting in the pattern of his fingernails. He sighed and looked up at Cadance. His eyes met hers, then they drifted apart. The fabrics rustled as the mare rocked back and forth gently. The unicorn ran his hand gingerly along the new creases in the comforter, letting his fingers explore the cotton. Cadance stretched out, lifting her arms up. He got a view of her lithe body and remembered seeing her in her swimsuit and then feeling her on the train. With shyness remembered, he looked down and away. Cadance could tell he was looking at her. She felt awkward, practically put on the spot as if placed onto a stage and painted vibrant white with spotlights. She had to make herself talk. If only he would talk first. Shining struggled to find his tongue. If only Cadance would just talk first so they could get past this.

Seconds ticked by for who knew how long.

"Uhhh, welcome to my bedroom," Shining said.

Cadance took a deliberate look around as if appraising the posters, nick-nacks and decor. "It's uh, very homely."

"I got my own room when I was five. I used to sleep with my parents."

"Some things never change."

They broke eye contact as Shining groaned up at the air. "You got that right. They aren't relevant to this, are they?"

Cadance spaced her legs and turned to face him with her body. "Depends. Your parents aren't secretly psychos who want to destroy all alicorns and establish ethnostates like in the Wandering Times, are they?"

Shining laughed, "Do you even have to ask?"

She brushed hair behind her ear, flickering, "Alone in a room with a strange stallion, a girl can never be too careful..." She leaned back and pushed out her chest. The young boy's eyes immediately tracked to it.

"Especially one who fancies himself a warrior or a ROC or whatever."

"Yeah."

He kicked off his socks. "Who knows? The lady may need protection, even when in an intimate, vulnerable state in the middle of the night with nobody else to hear..."

She reclined facing him and he mirrored. "Her brave guard captain, showing heroism befitting that title, selflessly hurls himself upon her until the furor dies down."

"And he... gives his princess just what she needs..." Shining put a hand on her waist. She didn't stop him. They looked into each other's eyes, doubt absent in neither. "Cadance, are you sure you want to do this?"

She said, "I do, but it's kinda unsure. I'm attracted as hell to you and I like you a lot. Each passing time you rise to the occasion makes me like you more. I wanna fuck you..."

"But you what?"

"I just can't sleep around, Shiny. Can you imagine what might happen if word reaches anypony else that the new guard shooting up the ranks of the Royal Operations Concern is fucking one of the princesses he's assigned to defend and already had that kind of history with her before even joining?"

"No?"

Cadance explained, "Regardless of how liberated the mares of our country are, being a princess means I have rules to follow. One of those is a purity contract. Some of the foreign nations we must deal with have peculiar ideas about what is and isn't right for a woman to do with her body, or what conditions need to be met for someone to be considered an acceptable bride. There aren't that many alicorns."

Shining ventured, "So you're saying that... with Celestia more or less married to the state til the end of time, and Luna gone but with descendants, you need to be the national showhorse?"

"You're catching onto this politics thing after all. Pretty much. It's not just foreigners, either. We're supposed to be very prim and proper -- nobody wants to imagine seeing a princess disheveled, sweaty, surrounded by guys and covered in cum on the floor of a seedy hotel room. But even more important than that, the risk of a bastard is too high. All it takes is one wayward royal demanding their right to the throne to plunge the country into civil war."

The white stallion inhaled deeply and caressed her side. She played with his hair. "So you need to be careful who you do and make sure you don't get pregnant."

"Or sick; same idea applies."

"I see why you're so hesitant even though you want to, Cadance," Shining sighed as he moved in for a kiss. She pecked him on the lips. They kissed again.

"And what about you? For all you know, this could be the first and last time we ever have sex."

"I know," he said, "I know we won't be able to have private moments like this again for years."

Cadance nodded. "Mhhhm. And how long are you willing to wait for me? Six months, a year, two years, eight years, longer? At all?"

"I don't know. I guess if ROC doesn't work out I'll have no choice but to pursue other mares."

"That's fair. We know each other, but we don't know each other, if you get what I mean. I'm not your wife or anything -- I can't ask you to wait for me, especially if you want to share love in the meantime with others. You're young, fun, and attractive. Don't spend a thousand nights alone nursing a dream and an erection over me. That applies even if you do end up in my detail."

"Cadance, are you trying to imply something?"

"I'm trying to say, Shining, that if we do this, it's our secret and it may never happen again, even if we want it more than anything else."

"I understand that. Say..."

"What is it?" Cadance looked at him, her top two dress buttons undone.

"If you knew this was where we were going to end up, why didn't you just take your chance on the train?"

Cadance answered, "I didn't know then. I also wanted to make certain I was sure about you. I have to say with how you handled your mom just now, I'm impressed. I think there's a good chance that just maybe in the future we can work this out for real."

"I was just trying to do the right thing," he said bashfully, playing it off with a small chuckle.

:I know that's what you were trying to do, but you really made a class act out of it. I wouldn't have been far less forgiving; I would have done nothing if you wanted to punish her. This was truly your choice to make, and you did the best thing of all. Do you know how many ponies have your sort of character? Precious few. She really hurt you and abused your trust and relationship. And yet you forgave her without even a single shout, without violence, without conditions."

"Weeellllllllll, I still kinda got some misgivings, but I couldn't be that mean to her -- she's my mom and my family's counting on me to patch it up with her."

"That they are. What kind of misgivings?"

The stallion refused to meet her eyes again. "I kinda have a bit of a complex now. It may be just a fetish from seeing Velour and her, it may be something more major. With the exception of Sugar Swirl, not a single person I've been with has been my age; they've all been older."

"I see... So you may need another session with the three of us?"

"I think so."

"Have you told her that you are still snarled up over her?"

"Not quite. I sorta alluded to it the night I met with you after she tried to have sex with me here..." Shining's voice fell off and drifted away.

Cadance nuzzled closer and held his hand. "Are you still attracted to her?"

"Yeah. I can't fully help it. She's the default template I have when I think about a mare in that way. And there's stuff I still gotta get out."

"So it's a given you still have feelings for her?"

He lifted a finger and smiled ruefully. "Confusing feelings, thank you very much. She's my mom and I love her, but there's a little more in there."

"Can you describe it?"

He huffed, "Well, there's some fear, some longing, and more than a little desire. I'm not weird, am I? Am I normal?"

Cadance laughed reassuringly, "No no, Shining Armor, you're more than normal enough, all things considered. Apart from running away to drown yourself in alcohol in rental pussy, you're handing this quite well. You went from hiding away to confiding in me to confronting Velour to confronting Velvet. You'll manage. Do you still want me help?"

"For hashing things out with Mom more? Maybe. I'll let you know."

"Alright. Just let me know if you need help or anything. Fixing love problems is what I do."

"I will." Shining pulled her waist closer to his. Their hips and thighs made contact as he pushed his upper leg between hers. she wiggled to accept him with a faint giggle. They were silent again, enjoying just being with each other. The discomfort was gone and they were snuggling unashamedly. Shining Armor had to break the silence.

Shining realized all of a sudden the position he was in. His hand in hers, the other cupping her ass, his leg between her thighs. She was close enough to kiss again, eyes sparkling at him. She vibrant vermillion of her lipstick and her grip on him were sending signals to his brain. "What now?"

They were silent and still again. She ran fingers up his chest and grabbed his collar.

Shining lunged at her!

Cadance kissed him with tongue. He stroked hers with his, letting her invader get a good petting before she withdrew it. As she did so, he cradled her head to trap her in the embrace. She gave a squeal of delight and used her much longer legs to wrestle him atop her.

There wasn't much they could do. Restraint came away like before as they made out like teenagers. The pink mare kept her legs wrapped around her prize toy. She shoved his face into her caged breasts. It took a mere mewl when he touched them for him to get the message and he toyed with them, one in each hand. He squeezed and pulled, massaging the oblong masses to get a guttural purring emanating from her chest even through the fabric. He undid her buttons and yanked them free of the cups. They spilled out invitingly. "Holy shit," he whispered to himself. He was molesting a goddess and she wanted him to.

Her sweat's smell intoxicated him. He licked and suckled while she stroked his hair and guided his head. His dick strained against his pants, eager to be released. He rubbed the hardon against her leg and she snickered, patting him affectionately. There was light from over his head and next thing he knew, his lower half was nude. Something amorphous coiled and stroked up and down his cock. He looked up to see Cadance grinning at him. He rose again to kiss he deeply and she stroked his length in rhythm with the kiss. He groaned a bit in pleasure as he was sensitive. With both his hands he held down her shoulders and used magic to unbotton the rest of her outfit. Then he opened it up.

The sight took his breath away. He reeled back into a kneel and gaped.

There she was before him, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the alicorn, the princess, the seven foot tall ethereal beauty, the national hero, his sister's foalsitter, and the mare he was dirtying with his unworthy hands.

"Ca-Cadance... I..."

So fucking beautiful. A slight blush, pert nipples, sweating and panting from their play. He didn't deserve this. He wasn't worthy. Quite the opposite. He was unworthy. To even contemplate taking this beautiful creature from heaven, entering into her body, and then polluting her insides with his crude essence... it was blasphemy.

"Shiny, you okay?" Her pink eyes looked up at him with kindness.

"I... uh... I... You're just too fucking beautiful... Is this really okay... A guy like me... Someone like you?"

Cadance giggled as she finished getting naked. She spread her legs to reveal her pussy. "Of course it is. I love just like any other mare."

He turned away from her, clutching nervously over his penis to hide it. "But you're just so amazing... I'm just a boring unicorn. I don't have a big dick, muscles, a lot of money, or anything."

Cadance winced in annoyance. Then she remembered Velour's words about Shining's history with girls. She resolved to not argue, just act. She was not going to waste maybe the only time she would ever get to have sex with him on being his goddamn therapist while he threw himself a fucking pity party at her feet! Fuck the hell no! "Shiny, relax. I've already decided I want you. And you want me, too, don't you?" He nodded. She enveloped him in her magic field. "Then let's just have fun together. You're man enough for me and that's what counts." Before he could offer any objection, she kissed him deeply and took his prick in her hand. She rubbed it and murmurred into her ear, "You have a nice cock. Mind if I taste it?"

"You'll do that?"

"And so much more."

"Cadance, would you please suck my dick?" The mare giggled and sat up with him across her lap. He latched onto a breast while she pumped her hand on his dick. Pleasure started building in his cock. It felt so good. She had this twist to her motion that made his head spin as she flourished it while finishing each stroke up. "Oh, wow, that's good.

Cadance continued for many more seconds. "Glad you like it. Now, where was I about sucking your dick again?"

"Not doing it fast enough," he said at her with a grin. His hand patted the back of her head. The mare got on her knees beside him and lowered his face over his cock. She at first licked at it, gently around the head, and then from bottom to top. She even got him on the balls and kissed them with the gentlest of lip smacks. Then, with a flip of her glorious mane over her shoulder, she lowered her lips of the head and took him down to the base. She hummed and he shuddered. "Oooh, wow, Cadance...!"

Cadance said nothing but started sucking his cock with increasing intensity. The stallion hissed at the pleasure from the princess's electric tongue and strong suction. She blew him nice and wet with some attention to the balls. She would take him to the base and hum, then she'd slowly draw back up and lick feverishly as she did it. And when she paused around his tip or popped off for air, she lit her horn and provided further stimulation.

The pressure was mounting in his dick. Not one to idly sit back and let a girl suck his dick freely, he propped himself up on an elbow and pet her mane, whispering lusty obscenities into her ear. He told her how good it felt, how he didn't want her to stop, and how she was proving herself as the princess of love indeed. He then reclined and caressed her mane with one hand while the other played with her tits. Their dangling made them appear even larger and more perfect than they already were. She had a body built for bedrooms. She squealed discretely with delight as he played with her. He tried to take his hand down her back and rub her pussy. The closest he got was her tight little as, and so he smacked it as he hissed, "Faster."

Cadance obliged. She had him aroused and playful. Thus far he was a damn good partner -- willing to cooperate with her, and also willing to give her chances to work with him to make it more fun. If he wanted to arouse her into sucking his soul out like a demon, so be it. She wiggled her hips and made eye contact with him. His eyes were rolling back into his skull. He groped her and made her feel appreciated. As it got ever more intense, he started to thrust up into her mouth. She tasted some traces of fluids. He was getting rock hard.

Shining teased and taunted the mare with the face wrapped around his dick. He was in heaven and didn't care what happened so long as she didn't stop. He noticed her liking his teasing and clasped at her firm butt. He began fucking her in the face as orange flashes of pleasure permeated his body. It felt so good fucking this beauty in the face. And she was taking every inch of his dick and loving it. He could watch her kneel over him and tend to his body all day.

Alas, he couldn't.

The pleasure passed orange, then shot right up to yellow and was nearing white. His cock felt like it was going to explode. He couldn't keep himself quiet. "Don't stop. Don't stop. Don't stop. Don't stop. Please don't." It happened before he knew it. "Oh, shit. Cadance!" Shining moaned, his his buckling. He clung to her shoulders "Ooohhh, shiiiiiit!" Pleasure jumped all over his cock and he felt himself twitching down there. Cadance didn't stop, rather going faster than ever, humming to encourage him along. It felt amazing, and partway through, that tension left him. He wasn't polluting her, he was giving her what she wanted. Him. This mare wanted him. And he could not deny her. He spilled his seed in bliss as she took him, welcoming his release.

When he died down, Cadance popped off his dick with a smack. "Thanks for the meal," she teased, showing her mouth empty of jizz. "Some goddess am I?"

"Holy shit," Shining wheezed, wiping sweat from his brow. Wow." Cadance cuddled beside him and waited for his wits to return. "That was amazing. How can I get you back for that?"

The princess got a glimmer in her eye. She rubbed his chest as she intoned in an oily voice, "Well, if you're hungry, how would you like to return the favor?"

"Gladly. Just tell me what you want me to do; I've done this before but didn't get much guidance -- I'll listen."

"Good. That'll get you a long way." She kissed him on the lips and they made out again. She pulled him on top of her again. They kissed fiercely. She felt his lips against hers and relished the simple masculinity of a guy awash in nothing more than testosterone. They dueled with tongues until she whispered, "Lower." Like that, she guided him to her breasts. He played and kissed them. He took a nipple into his mouth and suckled it hard. Much less coy than before, he lay into her with hands and mouth at once. While he suckled voraciously on one with his hand holding it in place, his other hand went to play with the free breast. He made her squeal as his tongue traced and flicked across her nipple with an electric tingle. He rolled the nub in between his fingertips, sometimes pinching, sometimes pressing, but never leaving it alone. Velour had taught him how to drive a girl wild using nothing more than her chest, and Shining Armor was content to do so -- he could eat up a mare's chest all day long. He delighted in Cadance's chest -- smaller than any he'd ever had before, but not stingy and certainly not flat. Best of all, not lacking in sensitivity. She cooed out his name and clasped his shoulders. He felt her squirm under him and a scent wafted up. His instincts told him that was a very good thing. With another hiss, Cadance instructed him to go lower.

He kissed Cadance inch by inch as he descended her glorious, taught, toned body. Her ribs were like from an anatomy model. her stomach was sculped as if from living, breathing marble. As he kissed down to her hips, the mare giggled and wriggled. The smell strengthened. Soon, Shining was lavishing pecks and hickeys over her pubis, just over her pussy. He drew back and looked down. Her pussy was simply perfect. It was pink, a bit puffy, and the labia were ever so slightly spread and engorged with a thin sheen of juice to them. It was the pinkest perfectest pinkest puffy pony princess pussy he had ever seen. And it would have been a lie to say it wasn't at least a little intimidating. He knew his anatomy -- clit was sensitive, labia less so, don't focus overwhelmingly on any one thing.

Shiny stared at it for several long seconds while Cadance lay back and looked at the ceiling, offering herself to him with an arched back. "Don't be afraid," she teased.

Part of the young man wanted to hang back, but after the blowjob he'd just received and with the most beautifully perfect body lying open for him to do with as he pleased, he could not say no to the opportunity. And so he lowered his head between her thighs. He aligned his face with the inner lips and puckered. Contact. Some smell, a bit slimy, but not too bad. He gave an exploratory lick. Cadance made a mewl that sounded happy. He gave it another. Pussy juice had some smell, but no real flavor besides lightly salty with odor. He could deal with this. He licked up her pussy from bottom to top and over her clit.

She definitely reacted to that with a small twitch. "That's good. Keep doing that, don't forget to experiment. Go ahead, kiss my clit." He saw the little nub. Feeling adventurous, he puckered and wrapped his lips around it, giving just a little suction like he was going to make out with it. "Good boy. More." He obliged her. Soon, he was passionately making out with Cadance's slit, lapping up her juices and listening to her cries become ever louder as her body shuffled around him. Her legs squirmed and she gripped the sheets. "Oh, Shining, yes!" Cadance encouraged.

She was exaggerating just a little to encourage him. A bit of theater now to teach him the rewards of bowing his head for a mare. It was dramatic, but she wanted to give him the same encourage he'd offered while she'd been sucking him. His technique wasn't great, but he was enthusiastic and responding to instruction. The mare's toes curled.

Shiny's face was slick with juices, but he didn't care. He was in heaven going to town on the alicorn. He could not get enough of her squeals and moans as he played with her every which way. He inserted his fingers into her, fucking her with his hand while his mouth was preoccupied with that nub higher up. He kissed and licked at it. The moans from Cadance grew louder, her squriming stronger. The effect was dazzling; he was playing with a mare who wanted him for real and it was amazing. Her legs crossed around his back, holding him there. Very well, he wasn't going to let up anyway! With long, steady licks, he felt the princess get wetter and hotter. He felt the heat radiating from her pussy. He longed to plunge into her, take her for his own. He was growing hard again. He searched out with his magic, and from one of his draws, he drew out a condom and placed it behind him on the bed.

Cadance was losing control. This guy was just too much, felt too good. She twisted her fingers in his hair, crying out not quite silently. She squirmed and writhed, proffering her hips to him to eat all he could. She was helpless before his intimate kiss. Something like a flame was roaring in her body, growing hotter and hotter, brighter and brighter. With ever nibble and kiss on her clit, she drew closer. Her abs began to clench. She felt a wooshing sensation almost like falling and the blush on her face burned like embers. She shut her eyes and moaned long and loud as she shoved his face into her cunt. "Shiny! OH, yes, please please please please please!" He obliged, churning her insides with his fingers while kissing passionately at her clit. The pleasure reached a peak.

The dam broke and she screamed. It was a pure, high peal of bliss. Her legs crossed and held him there, her clit mashed and licked in his lips. Colors swam before her eyes and she fought to breathe, panting raggedly as moans flew from her wide open mouth. He'd gotten a grasp on her clit and wouldn't let go. Time and again blinding, nearly agonzing flashes of pleasure struck her like lightning. It was like being bombarded by the sea in a furious gale. her lugns emptied and she yelled her loudest in carnal ecstasy. Her body shook and writhed, muscles contracting, heart pounding with the orgasm. She could barely hang on for dear life.

It grew too intense and she blasted him off with a bolt of telepathy.

"Arh, shit, Cadance, what the hell!?"

"S-Sorry!" Cadance blurted, it felt too good and I kinda lashed out.

"A push on my head would have been enough." He forgot his anger and wiped his face. "Anyway, how was that?"

She answered as he snuggled alongside, "Amaaaziiiinnng!" Her body still quaked and he saw her flat abs contracting.

"Th-Thanks. I didn't know if I could do it, good, I mean..."

She kissed him. "You need practice, but no mare's going to turn down all the head she can get. Just don't suck and press quite so hard on the clit -- it's a sensitive little thing and it gets to be a bit much."

"Okay, note made." With that he kissed her. She kissed him back. Her hand went low.

She smiled as her fingers wrapped around something hard. "Ready to go again." She could barely speak steadily.

"Is it okay? Is it allowed?"

"Who cares? I want it, you. That is if you'll have me?" She shifted, he was now between her spread legs, knees high. "Whaddaya say, wanna pound this princess's pussy?"

Shining laughed, "You're just too much." Then he grew serious. "You really want me to, Cadance? Is it really okay for just a normal guy to do it with you?"

She huffed, "I said it once, Shining Armor, you are a goddamn moron! I'm waiting for you here, pussy spread, legs wide, for you to fuck me silly! I really like you, you really like me, stick your dick in my pussy." With that, he grinned. Reaching back, he grabbed the condom and opened it.

"Let's do it. But first..."

"Smart," agreed Cadance as she watched him stretch the laytex sleeve over his once again hard meat. She touched herself. She was surprised the furniture wasn't floating. He was going to do her, right? He wasn't going to spurt premature or wimp out, was he? She prayed not.

He knelt between her thighs. "Cadance... You're just so beautiful." His gaze met hers. She tried to say something funny, something seductive back to him, but it died in her throat. His expression was partially reverent but also unreadable. It made her heart wobble.

"Shining," she said, his tip brushing her lips. He was poised to enter her. She reached out for his hand. He took it and intertwined his fingers with her. He rubbed on her entrance. She shuddered in anticipation and pleasure as it skirted past the hole and rubbed across her still sensitive throbbing clit.

The stallion hesitated. So much tension, a mare so beautiful, sweet, kind, devilish, ingenious, and even a little bit nutso. A princess and an alicorn, a being so beautiful he fully expected to awaken rudely and frustrated any second now. And here he was about to feel her from the inside. He was so lucky. She was holding his hand, giving her nod, letting him know it really wasn't a dream and she really did want him. The first and maybe only time they would ever have sex, near certainly the only time he would gaze upon this wonderous sight. His body ached, his cock hard and balls still swollen. Even through the condom, he could feel her heat and wet.

"Okay, Cadance..."

"Shining..." She reached up to caress his cheek and chest, and then down to guide him into her. He leaned forwards, feeling some resistance that passed immediately. He leaned on his hands on either side of her, still holding hers. His tip passed the outer and then inner labia. Hot. He moved forwards and he slid in all the way to the hilt, filling her with a jolt of slick pleasure. "Oh my."

"Wow..." He looked down. There he was, himself all the way inside this most amazing mare.

"Do me good. Don't stop."

The youth obeyed his partner, moving in and out of her. Her pussy was hot and drenched. It felt amazing. Her body was like heaven, running over him with soft electricity. He shuddered in pleasure. He saw her arch her back, offering her body to him. And as the instinct within him told him to do, he took her. He settled into a rhythm, his body finding just the right pace and angle to fuck his mate.

She gave herself to him. Any lingering reservations were wiped from his mind as she locked her long legs behind him and pushed him back inside.

He moved faster. Cadance bucked her hips back at him, challenging him to fuck her just as hard. Her squeals excited him, and as he hilted in her, she would moan and stretch in a way that just drove him wild. No lube, this was all natural wetness. This was what he was doing to her -- he couldn't believe it! Real naturally mare juice was just incredible. It was sticky yet didn't slow him. It let him glide, but just gave that little bit of viscosity to accentuate rubbing against the walls of her vagina. He glided like heaven, her juices flowing free and heavy. He pounded her faster and faster, fucking her with everything he had as pleasure mounted in his body. He rutted her like a beast.

The slick and smooth texture of Cadance's pussy was indescribable. It just created amazing feelings every which way. It invited him inside when he rested on the labia, filled him with delicious static as he plunged in, hugged his cock snugly while he was hilted, and gave a silky kiss as he pulled out. "So good... Doing you feels so good!"

"Shining, don't stop, you feel incredible." She took her free hand down to where they met and played with her clit. "Kiss me!" He leaned forward and gave her his lips. She didn't so much kiss him as awkwardly try to eat his face in a flurry of passion. He mastered her, wrestled her jaws underneath his, and kissed her back, assailing her with his lips, invading her with his tongue, battering hers into submission as he made her submit beneath him. The primitive brain cheered as he felt her moans fill his mouth, shuddering head to toe in delight at what he was doing.

He was rutting her. He felt amazing and he didn't want to stop. He didn't even know if he could stop. He was balls deep in the most beautiful creature alive and he felt so marvelously energized. All he wanted to do was fuck the female, ejaculate, conceive, become family... He put his back into his thrusts. He felt her shudder. His hand went to her breast. He toyed with it vigorously even as he kissed her and fucked her. Cadance's mouth burst free from his to let loose a piercing scream. She shuddered and writhed, her cunt growing impossibly wet and hot. Her body went wild, thrashing up and down, up and down.

"Cadance, I!"

"Cum inside me!"

Shining Armor surged forward one last time. He couldn't pull out -- legs were locked around him and it felt just too good, so amazing. White flashes of pleasure flashed through his eyes. His cock felt like it was ripping as something searing hot leapt from the tip. He moaned in pleasure, clamping his mouth onto Cadance's breast and sucking as hard as he could, getting her to do the same, and her nails raking his back and shoulders. She rocked and sent jagged spikes of sensation rocketing through him as he clung to her for dear life, forcing himself into her. Deep! Deep! Deep! He squeezed and pinned. In desperation, she tore him off her breast and kissed him, howling into each other's mouths while their tongues flailed like snakes.

His hot cum pumped out in jets, so hot it seared at his skin and he felt it leak out around his base. The most gorgeous mare he'd ever seen, and his body was doing its best to satisfy its base desires. She was wrapped around him, begging him to give her his all.

His lungs burned in deprivation, his heart felt like it would rattle loose, but he kept at it. He stayed hilted, writhing and moaning inside Cadance as spasms wracked his entire body. He cried out loudly, sometimes her name, sometimes namely gasps of pleasure. She stroked his back now, now coaxing and comforting him as his body began to wind down from the peak with her. He reopened his eyes and saw her looking completely dissheveled, her mouth hanging open in a dopey smile, her breasts still jiggling as he fucked her with what was left.

He kissed her one final time. He looked down at her, his dick softeneing. "Cadance, I..."

"Shining, just..."

"Woooowwweeeeee..." With that, he collapsed next to her, his arms still wrapped around and she threw her arms around him to clutch him tightly.

"Shit. That was... that was... intense," Cadance chuckled tremulously.

"It was." They couldn't stop looking at each other. They couldn't stop laughing. They couldn't stop cuddling. They couldn't let go. And so they did, though they were covered in sweat, juices, and other things, and stunk to high heaven, but they didn't care.

At long last, Cadance propped herself up on her tummy and elbows. She kissed him on the chest, rubbing herself against his burgeoning pectorals. With her head on him, she flirted, "Was I everything you ever creamed?"

"I'll let you know when my brain gets back from the moon in six weeks. That was amazing, Cadance, wow. Thanks for fucking me til I can't see straight."

"I can say the same to you. Did Velour teach you all that?"

"Ye-yeah. Why?"

"Just curious," the mare clucked innocently. You know, Shining, all the kissing during it, I didn't think you'd be the romantic type."

"Speaking of romance things, about the train again... I was mad at you for stopping it, but now I understand better; you made the right call. I would have done you right there and then without thinking. What made you change your mind?"

"A few things. You respecting my no without whining, how you handled your mom, and also what Velvet said."

"Really, what mom said?"

"Yep. She laid it out in simple terms that we don't have much time to lose, so if we're going to do something, do it now while you're present and I'm available."

Shiny whistled. "Well, now we've done it. Let me be the first to say holy fuck, that was awesome."

"Second." Cadance laughed. Shining laughed. "Even if we never do this again, this'll be one for the ages, Shiny."

"You don't say."

Eventually, Cadance had to sit up. "Sorry, Shiny, I gotta go."

"Nah, it's okay," he said back to her dreamily. She saw the inflated condom still on his dick. She was impressed at the size of the load. She lit up her horn, tied it up, and dropped it in his trashcan. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." She got dressed in a flash with her magic. "Really." She bent down to kiss him. This last kiss of their was retiring but gentle. She stroked down his back, making him relax. "See you later, one last round of my help, maybe?"

"You bet," he answered, relaxing in her arms even further.

Cadance turned and left. She saw him comfortably snuggled in blankets as she turned back around to close the door. For a guy with aspirations of going to war, and for a guy who could fuck like that, he could also look surprisingly sweet and vulnerable, and for sure not in a bad way. It melted her heart a little bit to finally see the guy properly peaceful, especially after the hectic nightmare they'd been caught in ever since she had tracked him to that Manehattan motel room. She considered this one a job well done. The fact that she was a mare was done was just mere gravy on top of it all.

Cadance descended the stairs carefully. At the landing she was greeted by a silver mare. She smiled sheepishly. "How much did you hear?"

Twilight laughed, "Hear what? I've been passed out drunk, but you, my dear princess, are looking like you just sprinted a mile through a cloud of laughing gas." There was a pause. "So how is he?"

Cadance nodded and leaned against the wall. "Good. Re-resilient, I meant. psychologically. There are still some issues left to work out with him, but he's not one to worry about."

"Issues, such as?"

"He kinda still has a bit of a thing about you."

Velvet raised an eyebrow. "Me me or...?"

"Just you you."

The older mare frowned. "He didn't say anything about Velour, did he?"

"Just that she taught him well," Cadance answered as she brushed hair out of her eyes. She tried to magically comb and bun it, but it was going to take a proper shower and a rubdown before she could. Twilight nodded at her with a small noise from her throat.

"If you don't mind me asking, when you said he has issues about me, what does that mean?"

"It means that he still has some confusing feelings for you, strong ones. Thanks to your escapades, he still sees you sexually and can't deny that he has a desire for you."

Twilight Velvet sighed, "Shit... So what do you recommend?"

"Well, if you and him have one chance to work it all out before Night returns, you should work on it sooner rather than later. And before I ask, you don't have anything, do you?"

"I don't know. It'll be a couple more weeks before I get my blood panel back. One of Night's conditions was a clean one. Yeah, I'm freaking out low key about it."

"Smart man. I can see why you're on edge about it." Cadance glanced over at the door.

"What about physical contact with him, should we have it or not?"

"That's up to you two. It has to come to an end anyway. If you two want to do anything, I can't stop you -- how you work on your issues is up to the two of you. Personally, once you've both solved whatever longing or whatever is still going on, I think you should end that part of your relationship."

"Will you be visiting again, Princess Cadance?"

The pink mare sucked in a breath and held it. She worked the question over and over in her head, considering several different angles for a few minutes. "I think I will be, yes. Don't quote me on it, but if you need me, or even just want some help making sure it's moderated like today's was, you know you only need ask."

"Speaking of today... Cadance, what would you have done if Shining hadn't forgiven me? I saw the look in his eye right before he hugged me while I was crying. I was scared for a moment.":

"I wouldn't have let him beat you if that's what your asking. But I wasn't going to force him to forgive you."

"But wouldn't that be contrary to your role as a the princess of love?"

She shook her head. "Not at all. Anger comes before forgiveness, and forcing that forgiveness just to make things smooth is a recipe for hatred. Had he said he didn't forgive you and I forced him to do so anyway, he wouldn't really forgive you, he'd instead still be angry at you and resent me for forcing him to crush his feelings away. And before you ask, you aren't the worst person I've ever met, even on the job. You're not even a top 20 contender."

Velvet hugged her. "Thank you, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza."

"Cadance, just Cadance," chuckled the much taller mare as Velvet's face mashed into her bosoms.

Then she felt a hand squeeze on gently. Still sensitive, she shuddered. Her heart gave a leap. "You will come back, won't you?"

"Just say my name." She hugged Velvet, offering no resistance to what the mare was doing.

"I'd like to hear you say my name," Velvet teased, caressing the alicorn's other breast. "There's a non zero chance you may have to sit in on something to finish helping my boy and I."

"I know."

"Are you okay with that?"

"I think I'll be. I've seen your body through Velour -- I wasn't the customer. And I think I'll be just fine seeing Shining if that's what you mean. Are you implying what I think you're implying?"

Velvet nodded. "I am. If we do, don't worry, you only need to moderate, unless you want to get involved." Velvet brushed down her Cadance's hip, pushing their bodies together.

Cadance blushed pink. "Errr, thanks. Well, I've got to go now, Velvet. I will see you again if you need me. You only have to call and I'll be come as fast as I can."

"I bet." Velvet winked. Cadance laughed and walked out the door. Once she was out and it was shut, she let out of a mad giggle and began skipping back to the castle, not caring about her bearing in that moment at all.

Author's Note

Chapter 14! So sorry it's very late. This chapter was honestly exhausting to write and I wanted to make it as good as possible. What did you think? I would love to know.

By the time you see this, I will almost certainly be at Bronycon. If you see me, say hi.

Thanks for reading. And thanks to my editors. Thanks a million to Coffee Bean and to Sparky Brony for helping me polish this thing for God alone knows how long.

There's just one chapter left to go. Anything can still happen. So many things to see and ponies to do. Stay tuned for the conclusion of Nights In Pink Velvet.

Eager yet melancholly,

-Kalash93