Nobility and Royalty

Strong Withers gave the torches hanging on the walls of the cavern a curious look as they burned away. Not being a unicorn, he would be in a bit of trouble, should they go out since the meeting place was so deep within the system of caverns that no natural light got anywhere near it. Blue Line wouldn’t be of any help either, the ring that had been hammered onto his horn left quite the indentation and wouldn’t allow the unicorn to use magic for the next few months.

“So, will I have to be paying a fat sum every time I am to see this Sleeper, creature?” the unicorn asked with the arrogance that all unicorns carried whenever they were talking to ponies that they thought lesser than them.

It took some effort to put the stallion in his place, but Strong Withers wouldn’t prove himself a fool and rise to the bait. “Do not think that your bits provide you any sort of leverage, idiot. If our Princess simply wanted your family’s bits, then it would have been a simple matter for her to extract the information while you and your wife slept. The demand was simply a test to see if you would be willing to cooperate without needing further education.”

Blue Line grimace. “Where is my wife?” Not that he much cared on the matter anymore. After she and their son had failed to tell him about their idiotic plan that cost him everything, he couldn’t care less about her welfare. But, she did have most of their financial information. “I haven’t seen her since I met your darling son at the villa with our other guest.”

“Well, after my son decided to play with that other mare we brought along, I thought it best that a pony of your wife’s beauty be kept elsewhere,” Strong Withers told him before smirking at the irony. A member of a proud and connected unicorn family, now nothing more than a plaything for an earth pony’s amusement. “But if you want, I can have a letter sent to her. I’ll even write it for you, I know how you unicorns can’t do anything without your magic.”

Instead of continuing the conversation, Blue Line went silent as they trotted deeper into the cavern. “So, what is this Sleeper creature, anyway?”

“The sleeper is she who has been blessed with an ear that allows her to both hear our Dark Princess and carry out her will at the same time.”

The voice from out of nowhere made Blue Line look around frantically, obviously put off by his inability to light up his horn to help add some illumination to the dark caverns they were in. Out of the dark, a trio of figures approached, each clad in a dark blue robe that went well with their gray coats, which blended in well with the rock of the cavern. The golden eyes of each one of the old bearded stallions clashed with the horns sticking out of their heads, which screamed of a mixed heritage with a tribe that none of the normal three would have ever associated with in this day and age.

“Thestral half-breeds?!” Blue Line exclaimed.

All three of the old pones gave the unicorn a sour look, with the middle one coming forward. “Do not insult us with such foalish names, given to us by ponies who know nothing of our parents,” he said. “Our forebears were and shall always be known as lunar pegasi, or bat ponies, if you are too stupid to remember such a poetic term.”

As Blue Line took a moment to work down the idea that he would be serving alongside a tribe of pony he thought of as lower than Strong Withers, the earth pony found himself looking back to the Cult of Eternal Night. Considering all of the legends, history, rumors, and everything else that was said about the ponies that secretly plotted the downfall of Celestia from the darkest corners of the world, the truth was...underwhelming.

The three ponies in front of him, plus their chosen one, were all there was of the ancient cult. In the thousand years since Nightmare Moon’s banishment, it seemed that time and their status as myth had whittled their numbers down to nearly nothing. Numbers that probably would have been reduced to zero within the next ten years, had his plot against Sunset Shimmer not gone so wrong.

A few seconds of intense glaring later, Blue Line inclined his head. “Apologies. I have simply been under Celestia’s rule for so long, that it is hard to shake off the ideals that she has been sure to indoctrinate her followers with, in regards to the lunar pegasi. Are more of your...nocturnal tribe about?”

“Neigh,” a new voice spoke as it filled the chamber.

Immediately upon hearing it, the three elderly ponies went to the ground as an elderly lunar unicorn mare only slightly younger than the three stallions seemed to melt out of the shadows. Like the others, her robe was blue, but the mare’s coat was an almost impossibly black color, with a dark purple mane behind it. Despite her age, the voice she spoke with was not one of an elderly pony, but full of power and confidence. “While they have inherited the blessing I did bestow upon their forerunners, Celestia’s lies have long since filled their minds to lead them astray. Something that will be corrected upon my return. Now, I have been informed you have given a gift of gold to prove your loyalty, but trust is not something that can be bought. Why should I not have you, who has served my enemy for so long, into my confidence? Those that have shown themselves traitors can easily turn on their new masters as well. Especially when doing so the first time was not of their choosing.”

Blue Line gulped. It was obvious he knew what would happen if he didn’t give an appropriate answer. “Well, your Highness. Other than my gold, I am afraid all I can do is offer my oath of fealty.”

The Speaker’s horn lit up with a blue color, one that didn’t match her golden eyes like most unicorn magic did. A circle of magic appeared around the unicorn from Canterlot, making him gulp. “Then speak it.”

“A-As the head of my family, I hereby swear that I shall serve you in all things,” Blue Line told her.

The Speaker raised an eyebrow. “And if you should violate your oath?” she said. “I am not as weak as my sister, colt. What do you offer as proof of your loyalty.”

Blue Line shivered a little at the question. “I...I still have some bits-”

“Loyalty equal in value to all the riches in the world is something so worthless that it is less than trash,” the Speaker told him. “Do not insult me with such an offering again.”

Blue Line gulped. “T-Then, all I can offer you is myself, Highness.”

“Then I will take you,” the Speaker said before the magic circle that had appeared around Blue Line’s neck slammed into place as if it was a collar before fading from sight. “Know that should you forfeit your oath, so to shall you forfeit yourself.”

After Blue Line raised a hoof to rub his neck, the visual effects of the magic gone, the Speaker looked to the bowing ponies. “Rise, my little ponies. There is much to be discussed before my sister brings her eyesore into the sky once again, and little time to do it.”

Twilight Velvet stared up at the dark ceiling above her, unsure of what to do. Being a pony that mostly functioned at night, she found that going to bed at the more reasonable hours than simply trotting into her bed and closing her eyes after an exhausting day. While she did get to sleep when she was supposed to be going to work, said sleep ended far too early and left her awake several hours before the dawn with nothing to do but think.

And because Velvet didn’t have anything like a job to occupy her thoughts anymore, all she could do was play the events of the day before over in her head. Because of what had happened, she and the pony next to her were considered part of the nobility, which accounted for at most, only ten percent of everypony in Equestria. In fact, they were the top ten percent of the top ten percent, which made them, the...one percent?

Velvet had no idea how she was supposed to feel about that.

Before, she had a plan. Twily and Shining Armor were going to go off to join Celestia’s school and the Royal Guard inside of two years. They were moving out. They would be gone. She and Night Light could concentrate on their work, visiting the two of them whenever the feeling arose.

Now, all of that was gone. While she could probably take over the the Astronomy Guild since the stallion that headed it was only a member of the seventy-something numbered house in Canterlot, he was a good stallion and didn’t deserve to have the defining thing behind his family taken away from him just because Twilight Velvet needed something to fill her day. Which...she supposed she already had, what with Princess Celestia wanting her to attend court for the next year.

Not to mention the advice she was asking for.

That...worried Velvet. Who was she to tell Princess Celestia anything?

And once that year was over...then what? She would wake up to a large empty house, tell ponies to do everything for her, sit on her plot while bits flowed in from too many places to count, and only see her foals about once a week before they went off to do something important.

She needed something else. Something to devote her time and attention to. Something to pour her passion in. Something like…

Like…

An idea struck her.

“Night Light?”

The stallion next to her stirred. Like her, he was wide awake, probably thinking along the same lines as her, just not quite as far down. “Yes, dear?”

Twilight Velvet reached out to link her fetlock with his. “I think we should have another foal.”

There was a shift in the sheets as Night Light turned to face her. “What?”

“Hear me out,” Twilight Velvet said. “Twily’s going to be going to Celestia’s school in a year and Shiny’s going to be joining the guard thanks to Princess Celestia’s little...non-mistake.” The more she thought about it, the more she knew that the old goddess had meant to give Shining Armor his new and improved body. “The house will be empty, and it’s going to be quite the big house. We’ll have so much time on our hooves, we can raise another little one.”

Night Light was silent for a moment. “Are you sure this is what you want? Plenty of mares talk about this sort of thing when their stables go empty.”

The suggestion that she was doing this just because Velvet needed a foal in her life made the mare tense. Her husband may have been the old fashioned, obediently silent type of stallion, but he knew how to cut to the quick with just a few words. “I’m not just doing it for me,” she said. “T-Twilight might want a baby brother.”

Twilight Velvet blinked at her own words. Up until that moment, she hadn’t been sure of anything, but now...she could already see the little colt growing inside of her. After he was born, she could spend the Summer days lounging on the patio with him during feeding times and the Winter would have them curled up together by the fire. Velvet would get him interested in books, like his sister, who would calm down a bit when she learned that there was another pony in the house looking up to her for an example.

“Darling, the odds are-”

“We can afford an ensurance treatment,” she told Night Light before he could finish. With the help of magic, the gender of the unborn foal would be certain.

There was a deep intake of air from Night Light, followed by a long sigh. “Let’s give it a few days before we make a decision. How does that sound?”

Velvet decided to at least give him that, but she knew that things had already been decided.

Celestia looked up at the white ceiling of her room, nervous about what was coming. She knew it was silly, even stupid, but but she couldn’t help but feel nervous. The princess lifted her head to grab a pillow and bring it around to hold it in her foreleg for a little bit of comfort.

“All I’m doing is having breakfast with her,” Celestia told herself. She had eaten breakfast with Sunset dozens of times, hundreds even!

Only...Sunset tended to explode at breakfast, and their relationship was so fragile, even one little misstep could bring everything they had taken weeks building, crashing down around her. Celestia couldn’t afford that, she…

She just wanted to have some happy times with her daughter before everything came to an end. Was that so much to ask?

Shining Armor’s probably going to be there too, the alicorn realized.

Shining Armor was...complicated. And part of the reason for that was that Celestia had promised Sunset not to play with him like she did with everypony else in Equestria.

It all led back to Sunset.

Maybe I should just concentrate on him instead, Celestia told herself. She only needed her four hooves to count how many times she had a conversation with the colt, and most of them were just pleasant hellos because had been acting like every single other pony in Equestria acted around her for the first couple of months when they got a job in the palace. It would be nice to get to know the colt that my daughter is...wait, why am I being hesitant, these are my private thoughts! I want to know more about the colt that’s plowing my daughter.

She took in a deep breath as she cemented the decision. This morning at breakfast, she would have a conversation with Shining Armor about her daughter, her niece, and where this relationship of theirs was headed.

An insanely annoying ringing filled the room, bringing the white pony out of her rather wonderfully disturbing dream where a shining knight galloped in to save her from an evil lord that liked to play with his mustache and wear monocles. She reached over and put an end to the sound with a hoof before her mind caught up with her body enough to look over and turn off the alarm clock with her magic.

Fleur de Lis gave an uncomfortable moan before she rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling to her little bedroom. There was still a good three minutes before she really needed to get up and start working on her mane to make it absolutely perfect for the day ahead.

Today was the day she went back to school. With that Celestia cursed extra long heat finally over and the Princess Fair done on top of that, everypony had gotten a week to relax after going through the natural biological process of having a burning sensation in the opposite end of their body from the brain threaten to try and completely override their thinking process with an intense urge to make babies.

Except for Fleur. Her head had decided to come a bit later than everypony else’s, meaning that she missed out on the fun activities before being forced to attend Princess Sunset’s coronation. Most ponies would have probably considered it worth it, but...most ponies didn’t get invited to the castle on the tail of a young noble. After watching her friend nearly get killed, Fleur was subjected to a bad magic potion that left a taste in her mouth, which lingered for the entire meal. Not that she minded the last part too much, Fleur had eaten at Restaurant Row before. If that was the creme de la creme of high society, the food given to royalty must have been absolutely toxic.

Three minutes passed far too quickly and Fleur had to roll over to walk into her private little bathroom. Most ponies didn’t know just how much time and work being pretty took. Time that she could only get from waking up before the sunrise, not that she would have seen such a thing since she lived in a Canterlot apartment, and going through a daily routine. She had to take a shower, scrub her coat, wash all of her her hair with product, dry it, curl the ends, apply makeup, shine her horn and check everything to make sure that there wasn’t a single hair out of place.

Then was off to the breakfast table to eat some oat bars with some kind of yogurt in the middle instead of an actual breakfast. Watching her weight was crucial. Any noticeable gain meant she would have to burn it off, which came with the danger of developing too much muscle. Her future depended on being absolutely physically perfect.

Her horribly...bleak...future.

There I go again, Fleur told herself.

She was just being stupid.

Her future wasn’t bleak, it was even better than the one she had been looking forward to her whole life! Fancy Pants would take care of her, provide for her, take her to dinner parties where she would meet ponies that would give her a job in modeling. Although there had been the idea that she would also introduce fashion ponies to Sassy in the hopes of getting her friend famous as well, that part of her future was no longer needed. Then, after five or six years, she would retire from modeling and start having foals before cozying up to the more powerful nobles in Canterlot so that they would hopefully make more foals with the foals she was making with Fancy Pants.

It would be a life of decadence, luxury, parties and all that stuff. Everything she could ever want would be hers with but a word.

After finishing her breakfast, Fleur double checked her bags to make sure she had everything she needed. The school books were there. Thankfully, nopony had assigned anything over the long break, so she had been able to complete the entirety of her backlogged work and went over her books to relearn what she needed to. There was her portable makeup kit for any touch ups she needed to do throughout the day, a few spare bits just in case and...a little black book titled: Canterlot’s Noble Families.

Fleur sighed at her other assignment, the one Fancy had given her if she wanted into his house. Inside that book was a brief history detailing each one of the hundred houses of Canterlot, along with their family crest. Oh, and I also have to get that party invitation from Shiny, she remembered.

Not that he was having a party, as far as she knew.

With everything in order, Fleur put on her saddlebags and looked back into the apartment. “Mom, Dad, I’m heading out.”

…

…

…

“...bye,” Fleur said before opening the door and stepping out into the hallway to be greeted by the flickering light crystal that still needed to be fixed. She knew the wait time on such things was long, but this would be the third year that the thing was malfunctioning and they were still on the waiting list.

Not that being in the dark was a problem for unicorns, but still…

Fleur sighed and shook her head before heading for the stairs. She trotted up to the entrance level of her apartment building before heading out into the open air and towards the old complex that she used to live at with Sassy before...her parents’ agreement with Fancy’s family.

She took in a deep breath and kept going.

Thinking about such things was...distracting.

“Freak!”

“Four-Eyes!”

“Brace-Face!”

“You don’t belong here!”

“Canterlot is a unicorn town! Get back in the dirt where you belong!”

Cheerilee cried as she tried to run from all the voices filling the school hallways. But no matter where she went, the voices that mocked her followed the mare. She looked behind herself as she turned a corner, but didn’t look back in time until she ran into a wall of yellow and toppled backwards.

“Here, let me help you up,” the most amazing voice in the world told Cheerilee before she found herself lifted off of the ground by the most powerful and gentle hooves of all time. “Is everything okay, Cheerilee?”

Hearing her name, Cheerilee looked up and saw Princess Sunset Shimmer standing in front of her. They were no longer in the school’s hallway, but standing in a field that was surrounded by the same flowers on the mulberry pony’s cutie mark.

Seeing the most magnificent pony alive in front of her, Cheerilee felt her legs get weak. “P-Princess Sunset,” she said in awe.

The goddess giggled and reached down to help support the earth filly. “Hello, my little pony. I’m so happy to see you again. Did you have fun at the fair?”

Cheerilee nodded happily. “Oh, yes, Princess! Thank you for bringing me!”

“I’m sorry it couldn’t be just the two of us,” Sunset said before she reached over and caressed Cheerilee’s cheek. “But you saw what happened when Shining Armor got put in the spotlight.”

The feeling of her goddess touching her made Cheerilee’s heart soar. “I-I don’t mind, Princess. I know you’re very busy and don’t have much-”

“Shhh, my special little pony,” Sunset told her as she pulled Cheerilee in closer. “Now, I think I need to make some time for you.”

Cheerillee’s lips met Sunset’s and she was overcome with the most amazing feeling imaginable before the goddess pulled back. “Now then, let’s see to the needs I’ve neglected for so long, My little pony.”

“I’m your little pony Princess Sunset!” Cheerilee cried out in pleasure as the dream ended, ripping her away from the feeling of being with her goddess.

After reaching over to turn on the light, Cheerilee looked around the little bedroom that her aunt was letting her use during her stay in Canterlot. The place was a small drab thing, barely bigger than a walk-in closet. Space was a premium in Canterlot, which meant the underground homes most ponies used didn’t have much in the way of spare space, especially aunt Petunia’s.

“Making more racket in yet sleep, little missy,” the cranky voice of Cheerilee’s father’s older sister called out from beyond the door. “Now get out here and eat yer grits.”

The little earth pony looked around her room and sighed and relief. Aunt Petunia hated having to do extra laundry. Luckily, the dream hadn’t gotten that far. “Coming, Auntie,” Cheerilee told the ornery mare before she worked her way to the front of the bed her aunt had let her use since that was the only way to get off of it and trotted out into the small apartment’s living room. “Thank you for breakfast.”

Cheerilee wished she could have had a little bit more time for sleep, but her aunt was an old fashioned earth pony. Which meant that if she didn’t beat the sun up, she was being lazy. “What’re you doing at the palace today?”

The green royal gardener, or one of them anyway, with the dark mane sighed and took her seat across from Cheerilee and shook her head. “Dreamin’ ‘bout that Princess you say is yer friend?”

“Princess Sunset is my friend, Auntie,” Cheerilee assured her.

“Then how come I ain’t never seen her here like that other filly?” she asked. “Listen, Cheerilee, I don’t mean to be mean to ya. But this here’s Canterlot. Yer Papa sent ya here to me so you could get a good education when it turned our yer cutie mark wasn’t no good for gardening. You don’t need to be filling yerself with such foolish ideas, like makin’ friends with princesses. I work at the palace and see Princess Celestia every day at least three times. You know how many she sees me? None. We’re earth ponies, Cheerilee, we belong in the kitchens, and on the farms. We don’t belong rubbing noses with royalty. Ger yer education and go be a nurse or somethin’. Maybe that’s what them happy flowers mean, making ponies happy in the hospital or somethin’.”

Cheerilee looked back at her cutie mark. It was a little embarrassing, but she had no idea what the flowers were for. They had just appeared one day when she was explaining some things to her friends back home during a study session. She hadn’t been farming, or planting flowers, or doing anything, really. Just talking.

As always, thoughts of her cutie mark drained the energy out of Cheerilee. Without such feelings to help her put up a fight, she just sighed and nodded. “Yes, Auntie.”

Shining Armor opened his eyes to the sound of light moans and the feeling of breath on his ear. A second after he did, the sun came streaming in through the window to illuminate the two alicorns that had cocooned him in a mass of legs, feathers and hooves. While Cadance gave a little yawn before she raised her head and smacked her lips in a half-awake daze, Sunset kissed him on the cheek. “Bout time, my sexy little stallion.”

As his brain cleared the fog of sleep, Shining Armor read deeper into the statement before he looked over to see Sunset staring at him with a pair of eyes that definitely belong in the bedroom. “How long have you been up?”

“Not too long,” Sunset replied in a sensual voice before pawing at the stallion’s chest with her hoof. “Wanted to make sure you had plenty of rest after last night.”

Shining Armor blushed at the mention of the night before.

With everything getting back what had become normal for him the past couple of weeks, he had suggested they return to the track field to continue exercising. Even though his body could probably pass the physical requirements for joining the guard now, he had to maintain that fitness and build on it if he wanted to be able to gain a position as a royal escort. Twilight had come along for more levitation and magical stamina exercises from Sunset while Shining Armor and Cadance ran an obstacle course of Sunset’s magical make as she kept herself busy playing a board game of some type with Twily involving dragons and a boulder. After heading back to the castle, Shining Armor had been much too tired for the amorous amber alicorn, and was left to watch while Sunset’s needs were taken care of by Cadance.

It had taught him just why Cadance had been content to sit by and watch the other two members of their relationship go at it so many times before.

“Good morning you two,” Cadance said before leaning in to kiss Shining Armor and Sunset on their cheeks. “Good sleep?”

Sunset’s smile turned predatory. “Oh yeah,” she said without looking away from the smaller stallion before her foreleg went beneath the covers and made Shining Armor stiffen all over at her touch. “Feels like Shiny’s ready to go too.”

A giggle came from the other side of the bed. “Okay. I’d better get the bath ready for the two of you, then. We do have school today,” Cadance reminded them before she kicked the covers off and slid her wing out from under Shining Armor before standing up to flex it a few times. “Have fun!”

Shining Armor felt an odd sense of content dread as Cadance the room and Sunset rolled on top of the young stallion. The extra weight of the part-earth pony mare pressed him into the mattress before Sunset leaned down to lightly run her tongue along the inside of his ear before whispering. “Oh, Shiny! I need you inside me so bad right now.”

The big alicorn bit her lower lip and began to rub her belly against his, along with other parts. “So, so bad right now.”

“S-Sunset?” Shining Armor said before gulping.

All movement stopped and Sunset readjusted herself before pushing up just a bit to take the weight off of the stallion. “Something wrong, Shiny? D-Do you need me to stop?” she asked before her cheeks reddened a little. “I-I know you’re up, but that doesn’t mean...you’re up for it. So, um...if you don’t want…”

Being a stallion, all of Shining Armor’s instincts quickly told him to put a stop that kind of talk as soon as he could. “What was all that so bad talk, then?” Shining Armor asked with a little smirk.

Sunset’s blushed deepened before she darted her eyes away. “Enticement,” said nervously before looking back at him. “And I-I really do feel that way. I love you, Shiny. I loved watching you before you woke up this morning and I ah...well…” More cheek redness. “I-I thought how nice it would be to start every day with you...inside me.”

Unable to stop himself, Shining Armor gave a tiny snort of laughter at how ridiculous Sunset was being. He reached up and rested a fetlock on the back of Sunset’s neck to pull her back down towards him. “It just sounds like you are trying way too hard,” he said before kissing her on the lips.

“Honestly?” Sunset replied as she slipped her hooves underneath his shoulders. “I’m holding back.” the big alicorn rested her weight on top of Shining Armor again before she moved her head closer. “Ever since I got crowned. I can’t get you out of my head. Every thought I have makes me wonder if you would agree or approve with it. I love you Shiny, I love you so much right now that I can barely think about anything else.”

Shining Armor licked his lips as he felt Sunset’s breath on his nose. “You know, that might make Cadance a little jealous.”

As if on cue, the door to the bathroom flew open for Cadance to pop her head out. “No I’m not!” she said before frowning. “And don’t kiss on the lips right after waking up, morning breath ruins the mood.”

Both of the ponies on the bed turned their head to Cadance and blinked. “You’re listening at the door.”

Cadence rolled her eyes. “Well, the two of you are taking to long, so...Shining Armor, are you reasonably in love with Sunset Shimmer and have the desire to stick that big, black fleshy rod of yours deep into her as far as it will go?”

“Um...yes.”

Cadance’s eyes moved up a bit. “Sunset, are you madly in love with Shining Armor to the point where you can’t think about anypony else and want him to pound your moist mare hole as hard as he can?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Then by the power in me as High Princess of Equestria and Alicorn of Love, I pronounce you properly romanced, you may now commence making love,” Cadance told them. “So Sunset, get off of Shiny and into position. Shiny, mount that mare and bang her till she whinnys like a filly during her first heat.”

The door slammed shut a moment later, leaving the two alone. “Well, you heard Her Highness,” Sunset said before scooching over to give Shining Armor room to get up before she swished her tail to the side and raised it up. “Lord Armor, your Princess needs you to come into her castle. There’s a raging fire only you can save her from!”

A loud whinny from the bedroom made Cadance smile to herself as she stuck her hoof in the water to test the bath’s temperature. She didn’t know whether to feel happy about Sunset’s newfound passion for Shining Armor, or pity for Shiny being the center of Sunset’s infatuation. If the poor colt thought the alicorns had made him work before, he was in for a rude awakening.

There was a tiny flare of jealous thought over the fact that Sunset was so enamored with Shining Armor, but Cadance quickly shook it off. Back when she had been getting the two of them together, Cadance had noticed her sexual attraction early on. It would have been a simple matter to snatch up Sunset’s attention and keep it all to herself. Cadance had chosen the two of them to be together.

The fact that Sunset had slapped her choice aside in favor of a threesome, something she had learned about while on Earth, just meant that Cadance would be allowed to join in on their love and share hers as well. But the relationship was like a plate that was precariously balanced on a stick, jealous thoughts would send it tumbling in an instant.

You knew this wasn’t going to be easy, the pink princess told herself as she tried to order the confusing feelings galloping around her head. She wanted Sunset Shimmer to make love to her, to beg Cadance for her attentions or just throw the pink princess onto the bed and ravish her body like a pony who hadn’t gotten a bite to eat in weeks. But she also wanted Shining Armor to take her with his newly enhanced physique that pushed Cadance to the limits of what she could comfortably handle. She wanted to hold them, to be held by them, to make love to them in every conceivable way before inventing whole new ones that would drive the three of them to completely new levels of pleasure.

Both of which she realized she could have at that very moment. So, after testing the water and feeling that it needed to cool down a bit, she grabbed a pair of washcloths from the cabinet and wetted them before heading into the bedroom. “Okay you two, let’s get cleaned up aaaaaaaand a bit more dirty,” she said with a smile that belonged on a centaur.

The content smile on Sunset’s face that Cadance had caught upon entering disappeared in a mass of confusion as Shining Armor moved to cover himself up out of reflex more than anything else. “Cadance,” the amber alicorn said. “What did yooooooo!” she exclaimed as the pink pony wiped her feminine area clean and set the damp rag onto a nearby table while tossing Shining Armor his cloth.

“What I want,” Cadance said before leaping onto the bed like a predator and pinning the bigger alicorn beneath her. “Is you.”

Sunset smiled up at her as she laid on her back. “Silly. I’m already yours.”

The statement had Cadance pausing for a moment. “Yes,” she said in realization before she reached forward to caress the side of Sunset’s face. “You are, aren’t you?”

Saying such a thing left a feeling of contentment in Cadance’s heart that she hadn’t been expecting. When she had first entered the odd relationship she had with Sunset, Cadance had been sure it would be the amber alicorn calling all the shots. After all, Sunset was naturally powerful and commanding, everything that Cadance knew she would have to work her plot off to even have a hope of being; nevermind the impossible levels of magic and strength that Sunset wielded which Cadance knew she would never have a prayer of matching. Every scrap of common sense said that it was Sunset who would be the alpha pony in the relationship.

But around Cadance, she was submissive. Sunset followed the pink princess’s lead as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Deferring to her in nearly all respects, except in the areas that anypony with half a brain knew Sunset would be the better choice to get things done. It seemed almost unnatural that a pony who had been raised by Celestia to rule Equestria would bow to another in any situation.

While Cadance had tried to make things go a different way, tried to be the follower to Sunset’s lead as she did her best to learn from the bigger pony’s example, it was clear to her that things wouldn’t be working out like that. She still respected Sunset more than anypony in existence and would bow to her in public when she was ready to take on the title of High Princess of Equestria, but Cadance understood that she would always hold the reins in their relationship.

“So, my big sexy pony,” Cadance said as she licked her lips. “How should I have my fun with you this morning?”

The door opened behind her, making Cadance swish her tail in irritation. “Yes?” she asked before looking back to see who had ruined her moment.

The black unicorn mare was taller than most, with a dark green mane and glasses sitting on her muzzle. Hidden Figures was supposed to be the best accountant and personnel management mare in Equestria, if not the world. Although, she could use a bit of learning when it came to manners. The pony didn’t even look the least bit bothered by the fact Cadance was on top of her fillyfriend in a room that reeked of sex.

“Princess,” she raise before adjusting her glasses. “Since you’re going to be gone for most of the day, I came to see if you wanted me to do more than just stand around the palace.”

Sunset gave her a frown. “Don’t you know how to knock?”

Hidden Figures moved her head slightly. “I did, Princess Sunset. Although, I guessed that you shouting, come, come in me Shiny, were not addressed to me,” she explained evenly. “So, I decided to wait until after you whinnied and the banging stopped.”

The response made Sunset’s eyes go wide. “Oh, um...that’s…” She blushed and reclined her head. “Thanks for that.”

Cadance didn’t know whether to laugh, chastise her glorified secretary, or just ignore the pony so she could get back to business. She was about to tell the pony to start trotting, but something occurred to her before she could get a word out. Since they were still waiting back for the income reports from her estates, Hidden Figures didn’t really have much to do in the way of managing Cadance’s financial affairs, which meant she could be put to work on other things. “Now that I think about it, there is something I want you to look into.”