Poppy Lilac watched the train come to a halt with the telltale rattle of a diesel engine and the screeching of steel on steel. A few years ago, when first coming to Equestria, the sound had hurt her ears. Hours on the practice range and acclimatization had made her not so much as flinch these days. She had never gotten over the diesel, though, as she had only experience with steam locomotives, growing up in Zebrok. She still expected the whistles and the clouds.

But that was not why the staff sergeant was tense.

No, she was tense, because there was nothing like a crowd to make a bodyguard feel besieged. Fucking hell, so many ponies, and any of them could bear ill intent towards Princess Cadance. Sure, the alicorn was in disguise, having cast a simple glamour to take away some of her less striking features, like curbing the distinctive alicorn horn, her wings hidden in clothes, her fur changed to magenta, and using a fake manehattan accent. She was waiting for a certain escort to arrive, Madam Eventide Velour. Every single second she expected the sonfucking madmare to emerge from the carriage; she had told them she was coming up in business class, third car of the train. There was so much to be said and so much to be done between her princess and that daft, good-natured colt she had a thing for. Poppy recalled some advice from early in her ROC career and had done her best to stay as uninvolved as possible. The real nice part of the day was still hours away when she'd see her cousin. She was on duty until then, and that meant scanning the crowd like a hawk.

For many minutes there was just the usual flow of ponies, old and young, male and female, with some griffons in the mix, but not their mare.

Then she saw her.

Madam Eventide Velour alit from her carriage, surprisingly spry for her age despite carrying two suitcases. They met eyes and Poppy scanned down her body. Long pink and yellow mane, generous breasts -- possibly enhanced to some degree for their bounciness at her age, average height, and a slightly bony face but an absolutely gorgeous hourglass figure accentuated by her orange and blue floral print sundressthat exposed cleavage, with a skirt that fell to midway down her thigh, complemented by stockings that just barely came up over her knees, revealing a scandalous band of exposed flesh. Velour beamed and strode towards them. Poppy quivered a little within; not bad at all for an older mare, considering she liked them her own age or a bit younger!

"Hey, Vel," Cadance greeted neutrally.

Velour said nothing to her, instead dropping her bags right at their feet before approaching the zebra with a hug. Without saying a word, the candy-maned mare greeted her with a warm hug for a few moments. As Velour's face went into her breasts, her heart skipped a beat. Her body was telling her it had been a while. "Pleasure to meet you, Poppy," whispered Velour up into her ear before breaking the embrace.

"N-nice to meet you too, Eventide."

The mare laughed, "Please, call me Velour; Eventide sounds like some kitschy Prench perfume." The two of them laughed. Shining chuckled. Cadance didn't crack a smile. Velour turned to greet the stallion, cheering, "Aaaaanyway, Gleaming, honey, I haven't seen you in a while. What's the matter? Did Cadance have a change of heart the second time you asked her and has been keeping you all to herself ever since?" She kissed him full on the lips, applying tongue and hugging him tightly, causing her breasts to bulge at the neckline of her dress. Shining Armor kissed her back less enthusiastically, breasts squishing into his ribs, but still hugged her around the neck.

He smiled nervously, responding, "I didn't forget about you, Sexy, just been um... preoccupied." His smile faltered.

"Well that's a shame; if anything's keeping you preoccupied and hard up, it should be me." Poppy swore she heard the water in the air vaporize on the stallion's cheeks.

"Ah-hem!" Cadance interrupted, "Come now, Velour, let's get your luggage taken care of and then we'll see the city all together." They were walking now, moving off the platform and towards the transport loop of the station.

"That'll be my group rate, then." She was looking sternly at Poppy.

"Group rate?"

Velour nodded. "Yes, I charge extra for couples, triples, and more..."

The zebra said, "I'm sorry, but you didn't say anything about that on your ad..." Her eyes fished for Cadance's, who began to sigh and feel about for her wallet.

Velour spun around laughing, "I'm kidding! C'mon, let's have some fun. And nice to see you again, Princess."

"Good to see you, too. Poppy has a very good couple of days planned out for us, don't you, Staff Sergeant?"

"Yeah," said Poppy Lilac.

Cadance wordlessly handed a small bag to Velour. The escort smiled when she looked at what was inside. "Glad to hear it. So, what's the first thing you'd like to do?" She was keeping her distance now, behaving as both Shining and Cadance remembered from her date at the water park in the not too distant past.

Poppy didn't respond; instead, it was Cadance who took charge. "Let's take care of your luggage first, Velour, then we can decide what to do."

"Sounds good," agreed Velour. "So, taxi?"

"Actually, I'm driving," said Poppy.

"Ooh, even better, a private car," Velour remarked with a smile and a lidded look. "You know just how to treat a lady..."

"How is riding a Ferris wheel going to help us figure out what to do?" Shining asked, looking at Cadance.

The pink princess answered, "We'll get a good view of the city from up here so we can decide what to do later." The other three in the glass bubble nodded.

Velour, who was hanging close off Shining said, "Sounds fair. If you ask me, I say this colt here and I trot back to the hotel for some quality catch up time. We haven't seen each other in a while.”

Standing off to the side was Poppy, her arms crossed. "I thought you were supposed to be entertaining me, Madame Eventide," she said.

"Oh, I know, I know, but..." Velour lifted a finger to her lips, looking ditzy for a moment, "but it wouldn't do good for a princess or a ROC mare to be seen with a known whore hanging off them, now would it? Besides, Gleaming and I have just missed each other so much. It's been nearly a month since we last met and he hasn't kept in touch." Velour punctuated her last word by grabbing Shining Armor's ass, "And by the feel of it, he's made some changes I can't wait to test ride."

"H-Hey!' Shiny started, bristling her hand off him.

The escort just leaned on him laughing, "I can't help it; I get to know all my clients very... intimately... I notice, yes I do."

Velour danced around Shining's back, resting her chin on his shoulder and looking at Cadance. Her own mouth was curled up at the corners. Cadance's corners faced down. Twirling around, she got a glimpse of Poppy Lilac. The zebra was chuckling softly, but not enough to make wrinkles appear. They were presently high over Manehattan. Looking out over the city from the three-hundred and sixty degree view afforded them, the four could see everything out to the grand, hazy horizon past the edge of the urban sprawl, past the green of the outlying island boroughs, past the steel blue-grey of the river.

Ponies were tiny specks like dust in their vision, and the cars below were like little black ants scurrying about in their gridline patterns. And yet the tallest of skyscrapers still held them in shadow -- were they close, they would have seen that against the tallest, they would not even be halfway up. Curious birds flew about them, taking note of the strange, wingless visitors to their domain. Shining Armor envied Fletched Arrow harder than ever; it had to be nice being able to ascend to this lofty world whenever he wanted. He saw a slightly yearning expression on Cadance's face. Was she wishing she could be out there with her own wings, too, or was she contemplating something else? Poppy Lilac's smile drew wrinkles on her striped cheeks. Velour was pressed up against the glass, bent over, her ass stuck out at him almost teasingly. Had they been alone right now, would he have taken her in this moment? Would he have rutted her from behind like their animal ancestors in full view of gods and ponies? Would his instinct overcome his shyness? Her hips had a lovely curve, and some strange musk and taste on her had him feeling more antsy than usual. He did remember her inner heat... Just lift that skirt ever so slightly, and move his own hips forward... It would be raw, uncovered. Cadance and Poppy would see him fuck. They would watch him slide in and out of Velour -- his mother's body positioned in the lordosis posture like the first time he had done it with Velvet instead of Velour. Their spectators would hear their moans and grunts, smell their sweat and odors, and finally, watch him empty himself into her, reenacting their depraved mating for an audience.

But could he do that? The thought recurred to him, memory of his last two copulations with that particular body. They had ended unpleasantly. There had been pleasure, arousal, satisfaction, but then too disgust and shame. He had broken the gravest taboos, betrayed his own father, and joined his mother in sin. His father... Oh fuck him – no wait, don’t, not literally; he'd have to face that stallion sooner or later, and implode his world, informing him that things were even worse than they'd seemed. And here and now, in spewing into her his seed, the perversion of nature was evident -- completing the reproductive act, proving that the sex hadn't been for pleasure, that he had been almost breeding her, insemination. Shining Armor didn't know what his mother did to avoid pregnancy, but she'd let him cum inside twice, so clearly she wasn't worried about pregnancy. His blood froze. What if she had been tempting fate with her fertility? If her belly should swell... No, she couldn't've, shouldn't've, but the possibility did exist. What if he had impregnated his own mother? What then? What the fuck then!?

Velour caught the distant look in his eye. "Something wrong, Gleaming?"

"Nothing."

"Care to tell me?"

"It's nothing."

She leaned closer to him, getting right up to his face. He felt the tickle of her breath. "Are you sure it's nothing?"

"Yeah," Shining glowered back under his breath.

"Okay, just checking," chirped Velour, stepping away from him. She addressed everyone, "So, what would everyone like to do?"

Princess Cadance went first. "Picnic in Central Park if that's okay with everyone. What do you think, Staff Sergeant?"

Poppy Lilac said, "That sounds splendid, Princess. And after that, I would like to visit the Statue of Harmony."

"Okay, we can do that," said Cadance with a paced nod. She then turned her attention to the white stallion. "Where'd you like to go, Shining?" She was smiling.

The stallion really wanted to say something to the effect of a deep hole where he could be buried and forgotten, but since that wasn't a choice, he had to come up with something. "Bridleway, please, if nobody minds."

"I don't," Cadance said. Looking around the room, he saw Poppy and Velour both nodding quietly in approval. After several seconds, the princess finally recognized the prostitute. "Anywhere you'd like to go?"

"Bed," Velour giggled. Shining was watching her like a hawk.

"Besides that?"

"This really isn't about me, Princess, I'm here to satisfy with my companionship wherever it is you please."

Cadance grimaced, replying with deliberately measured and even cadence, "But you are with us, Velour, this is about you."

"Why? Are you going to have me shot?"

The party went into the moodily lit restaurant. Hole in the wall indeed, as most lighting came from dingy chandeliers, the ancient lightbulbs flickering ever so slightly in a manner reminiscent of oil lamp flame. The air was thick with the pungency of tobacco smoke from a host of slender-stemmed pipes, fat cigars, and scrawny cigarettes smoked by customers at the bar, some alone and hunched over their drinks like gargoyles, others talking in hushed tones in small groups of two or three, served by a donkey bartender wearing a heavily soiled apron and an eyepatch. A young, steely-eyed griffon in a coyote brown uniform watched them as they came in, peering over the top of his newspaper. Velour's eyes widened for a moment before she darted her head away. Poppy held his gaze and curled her lip. He jerked his head upwards and plunged it back into his newspaper. The floors were grimy linoleum that their shoes slid on just enough to change their gait, but not enough to make them slide. it was muggy, almost stiflingly still, the only air movement being provided by a dying ceiling fan, rattling and whirring up above, the originally clear glass of its incandescent bulbs long since dimmed and dirties by soot, smoke, and time. It was surprisingly quiet, but a deliberate quiet that ate sound -- the sort that conveyed a distinct dedication to not sharing ones business and not prying as to others'.

A pony with a moustache and a seven string guitar was singing slowly, "Ot temna, i do temna, razmyslyaya o svoej sud'be..."

They were seated at a bench in the back away from everyone else by an aging griffon waitress with the warmth and charm of bucked of curdled milk. "I am Gianna. You sit here. I bring menus. Good to see you, Gospozha Kadenza. I keep you private." She stalked away.

Velour asked, "Cadance, are you sure this is a good place? It is quite shabby."

"It's good. The staff are old agents of the crown; they know how to keep secrets and not ask questions. The clientele's a bit rough, but this is the kind of place where it's weird if you don't keep to yourself, so we'll be fine."

"But I had thought a royal lady would-"

Cadance snapped, "Would what? Not know the value of discretion?"

"Gleaming, is she always this prickly?"

"Not usually, no," he answered, grinning at her discomfort.

The escort smirked as she opened her mouth. "Ssoooo... perhaps you are..." Cadance glared at her. "Nevermind..." Velour sulked. "I just hoped for something a little more... not scummy."

Cadance shook her head, composure restored. "Don't worry, the food here is great."

Velour looked at Shining and said, "I bet the meat is..." He raised an eyebrow.

Gianna returned and threw down four menus at them. "Take these men'yu, I return through few minute."

They didn't say too much while choosing. Velour was oddly drawn into herself. She looked from the menu to Shining to the griffon to Shining again before casting her gaze back down to the menu, hiding her lost smile behind the laminated paper. The primary sound was the pony on the guitar continuing to sing, "List ossenyj po vode, lyogkoj ten'yu v yasnyj den'. Po volne rechnoj skol'znyot v nene letyaschij gde-to samolyot. Glupo i otchayanno po nemu skuchayu ya. Znayu, zavtra ulechu, nu, a poka pobudu na zemlye chut'-chut'."

Shining noticed his companions's fall in spirits. "You okay, Velour?"

"Yeah," she said. "I just think someone here recognizes me."

Shining Armor followed her eyes over to the handsome griffon. Then he returned to his own menu. "O-kaayy then."

Cadance asked, "Is he making you uncomfortable, Velour?"

"N-no, not at all."

"Are you sure? Poppy can shoot him."

“What is it with you and violence today? Regardless, I think Gleaming is finding this far more uncomfortable." Velour sat up straighter, even as she lifted her menu higher again.

Poppy gave the stallion an amused grin. She teased, "What? You knew it on some level."

"Yeah, but it's kinda weird."

"Everything about this is weird."

"No shit."

"If it makes you feel any better, kid, clan drama back home could be just as fucked up. Stuff like ‘you fucked my grandmother, so she’s gonna bang your nephew, and in revenge, your nephew tag teamed my sister with someone from the next village over, so now my sister’s gonna bang your dad!’" The zebra smiled at him and he smiled in return. "You'll get it sorted in the end; you're family."

Gianna returned at that moment. "You ready?"

Cadance said, "Yes. Everypony else?" No objections. "A lemonade and a peetzer."

"Pitstsa s limonadom?"

"Yes," Cadance confirmed, "Pizza and lemonade, Gianna, with pineapple like usual."

Gianna turned to the rest of the table. "You all?"

"Lager and fried fish, please," Shining requested.

"This lady would like some grilled eggplant and a dirty martini," Velour ordered.

"Burger and cola," stated Lilac.

Gianna said, "I got all that. If nothing else, food will be soon. Drinks sooner."

Sure enough, the drinks were there so fast it was as if they had been manifested magically just as the shansoneer sang, "Derzhit p'yanitsa stakan. Ofitser nesyot tsvetov buket. Pyos lohmatyj starika vyvel pogulyat' na povodke." Shining and Velour both stared into their drinks as if searching for their souls in them before they drained the first round. The upcoming conversation was one they did not want to have fully sober.

Velour kept trying to hit on Shining. He was shirking from her.

"Don't touch me," he said. drawing away. Cadance brought her hand down over his and intertwined her fingers comfortingly. He did not resist the younger mare.

Veloud cooed, "C'mon, are you suuuureee I can't help you? Take a load out?"

"Not at bad, still not great, not happy, but I'm coping, I think. Anything else I should know about mom? If you had to say there was one key thing behind all this, what would it be?"

"Oh that's easy. She just wants to feel loveable and loved. She isn't enjoying this any more than you are." Shining Armor looked down, contemplating his empty glass. "Are you okay, Gleaming? Are you angry with me? Do you want to punish me for being a bad mare -- whip me good? Spank me? Take me out into the alley and give me a pounding I won't soon forget?"

The escort tried to touch him. He pulled away his hand, keeping his gaze fixed on Eventide Velour. He sighed exasperatedly, "Cut the crap, Velour, I'm not feeling playful right now. I know you aren't her, but you have her face and body. I remember what happened the last time I showed that mare trust, and so do you. Forgive a guy for being a little on edge. And you constantly trying to seduce me like she did isn't helping. I don't want to give in, only for you to immediately punish me for it. I'm afraid of you. I used to trust that mare implicitly; I don't want to see her when I look at you, Velour. I like you a lot and I love having sex with you. I'm being vulnerable here. You once told me that you're a companion, not just a whore. Right now, I need you to be more than just a fuck. I need you to take this and take me seriously. I need your help to heal my family, and right now, I'm just a scared little colt feeling overwhelmed by everything. If you could be more comforting than seductive tonight, that would be great. Can you do that?" He hunched his shoulders, staring pointedly downwards as if suddenly fascinated with the wood grain and knots of the table. "Yeah, do more of the thing that got us into this world of shit to begin with. Ain't that a fucking wonderful idea." She tried to touch his hand and he smacked it away.

"Don't worry," said Velour.

Shining bared his teeth. "Don't worry? Don't worry!? Why the fuck should I not be fucking worried!?"

Velour's eyes dilated slightly, but she kept calm. "Because I'm going to kick my other self's ass and Cadance is going to help fix it."

"How the hell can you fix this? It's all fucked!"

"I don't have a plan yet, but I know my core self enough to tell you that she loves you and she loves her family. She isn't a perfect person by a long shot, but I'd bet my existence that her love for all of you will win out if we give her nowhere to hide."

"You better be right," he said.

"I know I am."

"I mean it. Look, I care about this as much as you do so we can be back to business as usual."

"Really? Really? Considering all you've done to egg it along and sleep around, I doubt that. She's my mother, she means more than any other mare in the world to me. She's hurt me, but I don't know what I'd do without her. She's been there for me all my life, ever since I was just a baby. She taught me everything I know, made me who I am today. I don't want just business as usual, or to have things just quiet again. She's my mother, my family. Fighting with her is like a wound in my own heart. This isn't just for convenience or business, this is some that has to be fixed or it's going to haunt not just me, but dad and Twiley forever, and it isn't something that can just be patched over and forgotten with a bag of bits or a quick fuck. Do you understand now, Velour?" His voice was ice. Cadance was petting him tentatively, but saying nothing.

Velour shook her head, smiling wryly. "No, you're right, I don't, but it's important to a good customer, so it's important to me."

The stallion sighed, "Thank you. That I can believe."

Gianna arrived with two large glasses filled with clear liquid. "Two vodki." She gave them to Cadance, who slid one to Shining.

Cadance said, "Drink this, you need it."

Shining shrugged before downing the booze in synch with Cadance. He looked over at Velour. Nobody said much until the food arrived, either.

As Gianna handed out the entres, Lilac joked, "Did this meat bark or meow?"

The waitress quipped, "It asked stupid questions."

They are in silence for a few minutes. The food was very good, surprising considering the extremely shabby surroundings. Shining was surprised there weren't any rat paws to be found, and they had even filleted the fish superbly. The beer, however, was not so good. Velour was finding her booze not necessarily so great as well. Poppy Lilac was not bothered, long used to Guard field rations and mess hall monsterpieces. The mother and son continued their quest for intoxication through two more rounds of liquor. They ate their fill until Cadance said, "Staff Sergeant, I think you should check the perimiter."

"Yes, Princess, checking."

Poppy left the table while Cadance turned to face Shining and Velour. "Well, here we are," she said.

"Indeed," added Velour. "So, how are we going to have this little threesome of ours?"

Shining laughed hollowly at the joke, then he said seriously, "We could start with telling our stories in turn."

Cadance nodded. "Okay, so who goes first?"

"Gleaming should go first."

"Because I'll have the most coherent narrative?"

"Because I'm literally not around ninety something percent of the time and I can't demand information from Velvet, not that you'd want her here to fill in the blanks."

The other two nodded. "Good point," the white stallion said. "She's not going to know about this, right?"

"She'll know vaguely, but she won't get details unless she demands them. She already knows where she's gone and about Poppy, but not that you or Cadance would be around. We are deliberately compartmentalized."

"Okay, good." Shining Armor killed his remaining beer. "Fuck me," he muttered and began, "Velour and I first met after I made a booking. We had sex a few times. I didn't know her true identity. I didn't suspect anything until mom decided to try playing with my phone to find out who the lucky mare I'd been seeing was. She got into my messages and launched one back and hers went off. Then we fucked and it got awkward. We fucked the next day and she kicked me out of the house." Velour tried to hug him. Shining shied away, flinching slightly. "So I spent the next couple weeks getting smashed and debauching in a shitty motel room until you hunted me down and sent Poppy to collect me. Then you called Velour up and now we're here. Anything else?"

Cadance said, "Thank you, Shining, that could not have been easy."

"It wasn't. Thanks."

Gianna had been hovering a few feet away. The princess barked at her, "Pivo eschyo!" She soon enough brought another beer. Shining chugged it. Cadance turned her attention to the older mare still with them. "So, Velour, what's your side of the story? Do you need another drink?"

"Hah, as if," Velour laughed heartily, "I have no shame. Anyway, Cadance, it's true, it's all true. I took on Shining Armor, sorry, Gleaming Shield, here as a client."

Cadance interrupted, "Why do you keep calling him Gleaming shield?"

"Why do you keep calling me Eventide Velour?"

"Because it's the name you use in this particular aspect of your life."

"Exactly. And it's the same for him. Anyway, moving on, I popped this hunky little stud's cherry a couple months ago in a hotel room and started seeing him fairly regularly after that. Believe it or not, Velvet doesn't tend to take much inventory of my sessions. She may check up on me, make sure my schedule doesn't inconvenience her, see if I'm getting the money right, but other than that, she mostly lets me be myself while she, for lack of a better word, vegetates. She mostly just looks back on them as high intensity porno movies; they're her fantasy and masturbation material."

There was another interruption, this time from Shining Armor. "So that's why you didnt' recognize me immediately, and why she didn't know I was a client!"

"Uh-huh." Velour tried to close to flirt, but her younger mate was still evasive. "Velvet really hurt you when you left, didn't she."

"Ya thunk it?"

"What did she do?"

Cadance intervened. "Sorry, as much as that is important, we're talking about your story at this moment, Velour, just so we can get all the facts out in the open, then we can talk nuts and bolts."

Eventide Velour yawned and stretched. She said, "As I was telling you, we were meeting regularly until my other self learned the truth. She kicked him out and has been simply horrid ever since."

"She hasn't been taking it out on Twiley, has she?"

"No no no, Gleaming, she's actually been doing her best to hide it from all involved. Not even your father knows the truth, but from how agitated Velvet was when she assumed my identity, I can only guess he's having it up to here with whatever shit she's feeding him."

Cadance added, "She's right, not even I really knew until I got it out of you at The Chocolate Dream."

Shining sighed visibly, sagging with relief. "Oh thank goodness! I've been beating myself up over if I'd left Twiley all alone at her mercy."

"Don't worry, Shiny, I'd do something if I thought little Twi were in trouble."

"Thank you, Cadance, you're wonderful." The pink mare blushed magenta and smiled. Shining asked, "So, Velour, what's mom been up to since I um left?"

"She has been trying to hide the facts of your absence. She's clearly told Twilight and your father something, and had been feeding lines to Cadance. Beyond that, it's been the usual -- errands, housewife stuff, sessions as me. She was even managing not too badly until your dad came home early recently. And speaking of protecting, I did try to convince her to let me be in charge during the last time she had sex with you, Gleaming, because I could tell it was not going to end well. But she insisted that she be the one to do it. She completely blocked me out while you two were going at it. I couldn't do anything, but due to her extreme emotional duress, I was given a live feed of her going ballistic at you. I watched her kick you out."

"Why didn't you do anything?"

"I can't hijack control of my core, Gleaming, although, trust me, if I could, I would have. I begged her to let me do it -- have her blindfold you and then let me wordlessly work you before returning control to her. I didn't want to hurt one of my favorite clients, but she just would not listen."

Shining was shaking. "But why? Why wouldn't she let you? Why did she insist on having sex with me knowing how it'd go?"

Velour hung her head. "I don't know. I really just don't know. All I really know is she's a bit predatory and likes to use sex to mask her real problems." Cadance nodded thoughtfully, her ears perking up. She saw Shining hugging himself, trying to make himself small, to curl up and hide in the corner of his seat. She gingerly reached out with her hand and placed it on his shoulder. He instantly spun round to look at her and then stopped, not offering resistance. There was a wetness in his eyes, but he remained strong. "Other me knows she fucked up big time -- the real question is if she'll learn before it comes back to bite her hard."

Shining asked, "Like how hard?" Cadance made eye contact with Gianna, held up two fingers, and scratched under her chin with three fingers.

"I'm not fixing to lie to ya, Gleaming,it could get bad enough for lawyers to get involved. Don't worry, not over anything criminal."

Cadance glared. Shining's mouth hung open. "Okay... okay..." Shining Armor muttered. "Things aren't as bad as they seem -- they're, uh... worse."

Velour approached him. "How are you feeling?" She reached out with a hand. "Are you okay?" He was bristling.

“How do you think? Not great, of course.” Shining shrugged.

Velour said, “I know, but I just wanted to check. I can’t help it; I’m a whore gestalt with all the depth and empathy of a teaspoon.”

Shining said, ‘I know. And look, I’m sorry I yelled at you earlier.”

“It’s okay.”

He shook his head, saying, "No, I shouldn't've done that. I can't afford to be that impulsive if our family is going to survive. I can't just take out my temper on others like Velvet does; I need to be better than that. I already did that to another pony not too long ago, and doing it again here makes it not a one time thing, but a pattern. That's not good."

"You're not a bad stallion, Shining."

He grew still, contemplating his hands with rapt attention. When he spoke again, it was almost like an unintended whisper that barely passed above the background din of the retaurant. "Thanks... Velour, can I ask you a favor?”

“Sure.”

“Could you stay with me tonight?”

"Yes, I can, for as long as I'm engaged, I'm here for you."

"Thank you so much, Velour." The stallion turned his head. "And thank you, Cadance."

"It's no trouble at all," both mares said together.

"So, unless anyone's still hungry, can we get out of here?"

"I second that notion, Gleaming. Princess?"

"Not quite. Just one last thing while Poppy isn't around and it's just between us, Velour, why did Velvet take up escorting?"

The mare tented her fingers. She answered, "There wasn't one reason why she did it; more like a combination of factors."

"Well, why? Care to tell us?" Cadance insisted.

Shining said, "Velvet told me, Cadance, why she does it right before she had sex with me the first time."

Velour asked, "Volunteering to tell my story for me?"

"No, just want to know what your take on it is."

"LIkewise," said the princess.

Velour said, "Okay. Well, as far as I know, I was created because the family finances were tight. I was supposed to be a different mare with a different personality, mane, voice, history, and cutie mark. That way ponies wouldn't know who I really was and that I was a married mare with children. It would keep my core's family out of it to have me, a gestalt doing the dirty work. I was created to be fun, perceptive, wicked, and always keen for a fuck. I'm not a whole person; I'm a programmed part of a person purpose built for a job."

"How did Velvet first get into sex work, though?" Cadance asked.

"I don't know; I only know that I do it and why I do it. I don't know how it all began -- before my time and she hasn't bothered to tell me."

Shining said, "I can answer that. Mom said she started out just sleeping around for free until she got propositioned with pay one night. She thought what the hell and took it."

"Did your dad know?"

"No clue. He's gone most of the time; I doubt she called him to say she was going to go sleeping around and wondered if it would be okay if she also turned a profit doing so," he finished with a chuckle.

"Night Light does ask about me, though, as much as Velour seems to let me know. I think he considers me a sort of extension of his wife so he's naturally concerned about me, even though we barely ever interact. She's never let me have sex with him. And during the second time she did it with Shining, she wanted it to be herself instead of as me -- Twilight Velvet likes to keep me away from her men. She even told me I wasn't to take on any new bookings with you, Gleaming."

Cadance silently mouthed something like 'I knew it!' before pondering aloud, "Very interesting, Velour. Looks like we'll only get the whole story when we talk directly to her ourselves. If you can think on her and maybe try to keep an eye out for anything or give us any assumptions or patterns you notice, that'd be great."

"Can do."

'And in that case, now that's cleared away, if you two still feel like we're done here, let's go."

"No complaints from me."

"Can't wait to get to a bed..."

Cadance pulled out her purse and deposited a fistfull of bits on the table. "Alrighty, let's find Lilac and get to the hotel. It's been a long day." She shouted, "Gianna, uhodim!" They stood up and walked out.

Cadance closed the plug and then stepped into the tub before reclining. Shower bath, a truly underrated improvisation. With the blast of water massaging her belly, breasts, and thighs while the tub filled with warm water to soothe her cramped wings, she felt some stress leave, but still the water did not extinguish her anger. She had to tell herself that her anger was directed at Velvet and not Velour. But still, same body. She was still angry from learning two days ago what Velvet had done to Shining. It was not inconceivable that she'd give the bitch a good crack on the jaw. She was still pissed at Velour, but in a much more mild, irked, uncomfortable way. Who the hell did she think she was? Flirting like that with Shining in front of her, acting like a total bimbo one second before dropping the act to ask if she was going to be shot, and then prancing about some more as if it'd never happened. The mare and her staff sergeant has asked for some alone time. Cadance had granted it for tomorrow; she needed to spend some time alone with Shining anyway. She knew she wasn't supposed to judge, but something about her just rubbed her the wrong way. She knew all the reasons why she was whoring, and they were sympathetic ones, but there she was, practically taunting that she'd been banging her crush, who was not even half her age, and on another level, her very own son.

She had no claim over Shining, but there was something deeply galling about the way Velour and Velvet had been toying with him. She sulked. The thought of those two, him calling that whore's name, her accepting all his affection...

Cadance shut her eyes and looked upwards, stretching out her wings and legs. Her body was in a receptive pose. One of her hands found its way down to her pussy, the other to her chest. Hot, so hot! She could almost imagine it, Shining Armor looking down at her, his face close, a pink blush showing through his white fur. He was going to make her his mare. She could envision his weight pressing on the insides of her thighs, imagine his kiss on her lips and neck and breasts. She would open her legs even wider and press against him. He would go inside her. He would kiss her again and begin thrusting. She would kiss him back and grip at his back, clawing at him as the pleasure intensified. So hard... so wet... so hot... She imagined just what he'd sound like, saying her name, how he loved her, how aroused he was, how amazing she felt. Then he'd tell her how he was getting close and ask if he could cum inside. She'd answer him yes and fuck him back harder, clawing at his shoulder blades. They'd kiss.

Then he'd try to call her name, straining it out before grunting it all at once. "Cadance!" Shining would groan, hilting inside her, cock twitching, and she'd wrap around him, locking him in with her legs. "Don't stop, Shining, I want you." Her hips bucked for real, her nerves of fire. Her higher hand went to her mouth, the other playing with her vulva. Pleasured ravaged the mare through her fantasies. He'd groan loudly as he gave himself to her, and she'd rock her hips to milk his load He would barely manage to pant how he loved her before she shut him up with a kiss, letting him moan directly into her mouth as their tongues waged a battle for dominance, surging above as their genitals did below.

Finally, he would pull out and flop down beside her and hug her, maybe fondle her breasts happily. He'd kiss her and tell her how great it was and how much he loved her. She'd snuggle in his embrace. She would feel cooling below as his seed spilled from her sated folds. She would have him and he would have her. Then... Cadance didn't know. Maybe they'd nap. Maybe they'd cuddle. Maybe they'd talk. Maybe they'd watch a movie. Maybe they'd go for pizza.

She sighed, "I need to get laid." She thought about how long it had been since she had felt another body against her own. She did not like the answer.

Still, the quick masturbation session had done her some good. Cadance sighed, "That's better." Velour wasn't so bad, or so it seemed now. A slight feeling in the pit of her stomach indicated she had probably been a bit too harsh on her, all things considered. It wasn't like she was even necessarily a bad mare. Yet how was she going to get Shining Armor to be hers? Would he even go for her? Was she in the friendzone? Would he be intimidated by her power and status as princess? Then some practical questions hit. Could she even accept him, politically and socially speaking, as her mate? Princess Cadance was not happy to admit to herself that she did not know the answers.

She stood up, drained the tub, and got dry. Then she put on the sweats she had walked in with. She looked at herself in the mirror after defogging it with her palm. Not bad; bright eyes, warm smile, mane that swirl jauntily, no blemishes, tall, elegant, buxom -- honestly beautiful.

Cadance left the bathroom with a smile, which fell the moment she turned left to look towards the bed.

"Cady, welcome back!" Velour smiled, having caught the pink princess out of the corner of her eye.

"C-Cadance!" Shining Armor blanched.

"Heyyyyy..." Cadance waved weakly at them. She glared at the whore. "Could you not?"

Velour laughed, "Wanna join?" Shining tried to say something, but she shushed him. "Keep fuckin' me, you're making me feel so good." Cadance's mouth flapped open. She tried to look way, but could not for love or money make herself stop watching. Shining Armor again turned his head her way, but Velour took hold of his chin delicately and redirected his gaze back at her. "I won't hurt you. Keep fucking me -- don't worry, I think she wants to watch. Let her see what a strong man you are so she knows just what she's missing."

Cadance couldn't speak. She could only watch as Shining fucked Velour, him standing up, her seated on the edge of the bed, her legs spread wide to welcome him in. Their bodies were slapping together hard and fast, their pace furious. Despite Eventide's efforts at making this a close and intimate session, Cadance saw something: Shining wasn't kissing her, he wasn't caressing her, he wasn't talking to her. Hell, he wasn't even holding her particularly close.

He was just having sex with her.

That tightness in Cadance's chest released ever so slightly. She saw something in his motion. He wasn't clutching onto Velour, he was not clinging to her like she had feared. Heat bubbled up within the young princess's core. The sight of copulation aroused instincts in her, made her feel that familiar heat again permeating out from her loins. A hand went down, but did not go inside her pants, yet she rubbed herself through them. That felt nice.

She had never seen others having sex before, at least not in real life. It was almost artistically grotesque to watch eal ponies copulaten front of her without the flattery of perfect bodies, professional lighting, a choreographer, a director, and more.

Eventide Velour's hips rocked in time with Shining Armor's. She was letting him fuck her. The mare hung off the stallions neck in a distant embrace. Cadance envied her -- his body must feel so good. Of course, she was escorting, so how much of the scandalous sexual spectacle was real and how much of it was performance? Was it kayfabe, a performance so comprehensive and persistent that the performance and the performer could not be distinguished? Looking around, Cadance saw a bottle of lube and a box of condoms.

They continued to fuck. They could not have been going at it for very long when she walked in. How long had she bathed?

His hips kept meeting hers. Their bodies slapped together. Both of them were pink and flushed. She could smell the swear and juices. His thrusts were getting faster and faster. His mouth was starting to hang open, and he looked down from her face to her body. Velour urged him, "Good boy, don't stop until you cum." His hands rose from her hips to her breasts. He squeezed and twisted gently, kneading into them. "Oh, you make me feel so good."

"Velour..."

Cadance felt a knot of jealousy. "Gleaming."

"I'm not gonna last."

"I know. Don't stop."

"Velour." He was panting now. She was looking at the ceiling, leaning back to pull him on top of her, to encourage his instincts, to let gravity help pull him deeper inside. He leaned back. "I'm about to cum."

Velour sat back up again, body paralel to his. "Oh, Gleaming, yes! I want that cum! I want your cum! Give it to me! Let me have it!" Her head neared his. Was she going to kiss him? Cadance's heart leapt. Her hands balled. Their mouths were about to touch.Velour's lips puckered out.

Shining dodged by her head and planted his head between her breasts. He clung to her and hilted. "Velour!"

He went still for half a second, rocken. Then Velour caught on. "Oh, yes yes yes yes! Cum for me! Cum for me! Ooohhh yyeess!" She worked her hips around him, encouraging him with body and voice. He clung to her shoulders but did not embrace her completely.

"Eventide, I'm cumming!" grunted the stallion, muscles tensed and defined. Cadance felt a thrill, watching this stud's body do what it was designed for to this other mare; it filled her with desire to be well, filled by him.

Truth be told, it wasn't dramatic, but it was hot on an instinctual level. Cadance touched herself and felt the wetness through her clothes. She panted and sighed wistfully, seeing Velour ravaged by Shining's fine body. He trembled and called out a little, mostly just shaking and grunting in the clutches of his orgasm. Velour did her part to send him to heaven as he emptied himself into her. She wrapped her arms around him and held the much younger male close as the climax began to subside and his pleasured convulsions at first stemmed and then ceased. He stayed there for a good while, Velour holding him and stroking his back. At long last he relaxed enough to hug her back. He kissed her breasts and then raised his head to rest on her shoulder. Nuzzling her cheek, he sighed out one single word, "Mom..." He climbed onto the bed and held her close, lying down together. She removed the condom from him and tied it up. He touched her face cautiously. "Is it okay?"

"Yes, sweetie, I won't hurt you," said Velour comfortingly. "Want me to kiss you?"

"Not this time, please." With that, Velour hugged him and held him close for several minutes. He sighed in relief after several seconds held tense. Cadance watched silently. This was completely unexpected after everything she had seen and heard about Velour.

Cadance did not know how look it took, but Shining Armor yawned. Velour chuckled, tousling his mane, asking, "Feeling sleepy?"

"Yyyye-yeeaaah," yawned her client, "I can't really say too much, considering what you took out of me just now."

"My pleasure."

"Oh? I thought the pleasure was all mine."

"Oh, you know what I mean, you fucker," Velour chided harmlessly. Cadance smiled.

"Anyway, Velour, I think I'm gonna crash. Cadance's here, so now'd be a good time to get your words in with her."

They were tender. Cadance scarcely could believe this was business. "Anything else, dear?"

"Nah, nothing really. Just, um..." Shining was unexpectedly bashful. "Could you um, please tuck me in?"

"Certainly," Velour agreed. It took some seconds of wrangling linens, but soon Shining Armor was well ensconced in fabric. "Sleep tight, Gleaming Shield."

"Thanks, Velour, you're the best." She kissed him on the cheek.

Madam Eventide Velour, still naked, stood up and walked over to Cadance. She asked the princess, "Enjoy our little show?"

"Was that deliberate? Did you want me to catch you two at it?"

Velour shook her head. "Believe it or not, no, but I'm glad you did. I think it'll help you understand what's going on so much better now."

Cadance nodded. "I think I understand. We need to talk about a lot of things."

"I agree. Let's."

Author's Note

Thanks for reading. I apologize for it being a few days late. As always, comments make my day.

So there's more to Velour than meets the eye. What's going to happen next time? What will Velour tell Cadance? What secret has she been keeping from Shining? Will he learn of the princess's feelings? Will we see Poppy and Velour playing together? How are they going to deal with Velvet? And what's going on at home? Read next time to find out!

Huge thanks to Samey90 for proofing this chapter, and to Sparky Brony as always for his help as an editor. I had to rewrite the restaurant scene twice to get his approval.

The guitarist is singing a Russian song called "Ot Temna I Do Temna" (From Darkness And To Darkness) by Aleksandr Rozenbaum from his album 'Rubashka Naspashku". I had originally considered quoting "Topolinyj Puh" (Poplar Fluff), but it names the real life Saint Petersburg, which would have make things weird.

Thanks for reading. If you liked it and would like to support me, and help me get to Bronycon this year, pitch in on my Patreon.

I will see ya'll with the next chapter in mid June. Plus I got a couple oneshots brewing. Stay tuned!

Kalash93