Nobility and Royalty

Princess Celestia hoped she didn’t appear too stiff as she sat, waiting for Sunset and her party to enter the dining room. As a former bully with a genius level intellect, her daughter could probably pick out nervous tics better than any predatory species Equestria had ever known.

When the door opened to admit the three ponies, Celestia smiled at all of them, even though her mind couldn’t help but feel a little odd at the sight of her little girl leaning on her coltfriend. Mostly because, Sunset had to lean down a bit for her colt to take the weight as she rested her cheek on Shining Armor’s ears.

Already the more than equal height with where Luna had been during her hayday, Sunset’s body showed no signs that her magically fueled growth spurt was running out of energy in the slimming of her legs and longer muzzle. What little changes to the body there were lay in the rounder rear that Sunset carried behind her and the muscles that managed to show when she extended her legs for a long stride. In comparison, Cadance simply appeared to be a tall mare with a fit physique that seemed to be getting more athletic by the day, and Shining Armor looked to ready to take the running back position on a school’s football team with his lean but chiseled body.

It was almost enough for Celestia to wonder if she needed to do more than trot around the palace for exercise as she ran from meeting to meeting. But, with only a little over ten years left in her life, such ideas were merely a passing thought. Since Nightmare Moon had assured their confrontation, Celestia knew that there was little need for things like physical improvement.

“Hello girls, hello Shining Armor, did you have a good time last night?” she asked.

The three of them shared a hesitant look before Cadance answered. “You’re talking about our workout, right? Because Shiny didn’t get a ride on either of us when we got back from the track on account of how tired he was.”

Sunset balanced and looked over to the alicorn on the other side of their unicorn. “C-Cadance!” she exclaimed.

“What?” Cadance asked as she turned her head to face Sunset. “She knows what we’re doing, Sunset. Which reminds me, you need to have a talk with her about littler ponies before you, uh...outgrow Shiny.” Then she frowned and looked Sunset up and down. “Did you gain another inch last night?”

If anything, Sunset became even more put off by the question and took a step to the side, away from her...group. “You did not just tell me to have a sex talk with my mom!”

After blinking at the comment, Shining Armor looked back to Cadance. “Uh, Sunset’s already bigger than me, and I think you did get a little taller,” he said after turning his attention back towards the amber alicorn.

Sunset whined and pulled in on herself. “Can we not talk about my height, either?” she begged before she stood up straight. “And didn’t you used to go on how intercourse isn’t the be all and end all of relationships?”

“Yeah, when I was a virgin,” Cadance countered before she rolled her eyes and stood a little taller. “But in all seriousness, physical intercourse is a very important part of a budding relationship, especially when the ponies taking part in the relationship are composed of eighty-percent hormones. Just look what happened with your mom!”

Despite the fact that history had proven it was a bad idea to insert herself into such conversations, Celestia didn’t think that staying silent would be a good idea either. “To be honest, Cadance. My sexual frustrations were just part of a larger problem when it came to why my first real relationship failed. The fact was, I had become a princess without earning it and felt entitled to everything, like a spoiled brat.”

The look on Sunset’s face quickly shifted from fearfully uncomfortable to utter hopeless her rear legs gave out and she planted her plot on the ground. “Our relationship is doomed.”

“Oh come on!” Cadance exclaimed.

Completely ignoring her fillyfriend, Sunset stared off into nothing. “Doomed.”

The pink alicorn rolled her eyes and trotted over to the bigger one. “Sunset-”

“I’m a spoiled brat, Cadance!” Sunset exclaimed wildly. “I don’t deserve Shiny, much less being an alicorn! You all saw what happened when I got the tiniest bit of authority. I became an evil tyrant! Just like mom used to be!”

Celestia winced at the comparison. “Well, I wouldn’t say that I was evil.”

“DOOOOOOOMED!” Sunset said as she galloped away in a panic rather than let Cadance talk her out of freaking out.

After Sunset fled the scene, Cadance sighed and shook her head. “Good thing tomorrow’s Tuesday,” she mumbled before looking back at Shining Armor. “Uh...be right back.”

Left alone with the colt, Celestia closed the door and used her magic to lay out Shining Armor’s seat, what with the table being too high for normal ponies to eat at thanks to it being built for the big princess. “So, Shining Armor...you’re still exercising at the Academy?”

Shining Armor approached the table as if it was a bear trap. “I um...y-yeah. I might have gotten super fit, but...if I slack off, I know that this body isn’t going to stick around for very long.”

“That’s very admirable,” Celestia told him as a unicorn came in pushing a serving tray full of the usual fruits and grains that most Equestrians ate as a notepad floated alongside his head in a magical field. “Most ponies with your wealth would resort to alchemy in order to hold onto your physique.”

After placing their orders, Shining Armor recovered from his blush that must have come from being paid attention to by Princess Celestia. “Uh...t-thanks. Does that kind of stuff...work?”

Hoping that he was simply trying to make conversation, Celestia did her best to try and dissuade him from pursuing such measures. “Yes, but as with all things magic, there is a balance. For instance, a potion to increase your muscle mass could cause other traits to also be affected. You could become quick to anger or lose the ability to think clearly when it comes to planning for the future.” She decided not to mention what it might do to his magic or male anatomy. Celestia was trying not to embarrass him.

“That...sounds a lot like Buck Withers,” Shining Armor told her. “Whatever happened to him?”

Celestia let out a tiny sigh. “Well, rather than simply tossing him off the edge of Canterlot for assaulting royality, I gave him a provisional reprieve in exchange for his assistance in locating other ponies who want to sow dissent among the politicians. Which did little to stop the nobles, I’m afraid.”

Shining Armor looked down at the fruits and oatmeal underneath his nose. “Right.”

“So...what are your hobbies?” she asked, having already gone over the subject of his cutie mark thanks to the fact that it integrated the Element of Magic. Upon seeing it for the first time, Celestia had a foolish hope that Shining Armor might have been a pony capable of using it, but that idea was quickly thrown aside once she learned where it came from.

Shining Armor shifted around on his cushion a little. “Well, I like playing Ogres and Oubliettes,” he admitted.

As the colt squirmed from his admittance of what he obviously thought of as some deep, dark secret, Celestia took a moment to remember a previous conversation with her family. “Yes, Sunset and Cadance mentioned something about that. Honestly, it sounds like a rather fun way to pass the time, more so than some of those dull dinner parties that I’m practically forced to attend for political reasons,” she said before smiling a little. “You know, I have asked Twilight if she would like to spend time with me again. I know Sunset wouldn’t want her mother tagging along on some pen and paper adventure, but...I hope you don’t mind if I sneak a peek to see how you three are getting along.”

Cadance stumbled a little when Sunset teleported her and Shining Armor onto the school’s roof. “Ugh, don’t think I’m ever going to get used to being popped around like that,” she said as her head stopped swimming.

“I’d say it’s more of a bamf than a pop,” Shining Armor commented.

Before a debate in onomatopoeia could begin, Sunset stepped in between them. “Well, it’s like being a car driver who takes corners way too quickly. I’m holding onto the steering wheel so I know exactly how the car is going to go-and you guys have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?” she asked in a less than enthusiastic tone towards the end with half-lidded eyes.

Cadance frowned and cleared her throat. “Is somepony still being super-scatterbrained and needs a little reminder of how she’s supposed to slow down and think? Because this school has a bathroom, you know.”

“No,” Sunset admitted reluctantly.

Shining Armor looked back and forth between the two ponies. “What did you do to her while I was with Princess Celestia?”

“Just showed Sunset that as the Alicorn of Love, there was no way that I was going to allow our relationship to fail under even the most impossible of circumstances,” Cadance told him.

Then, feeling she needed to cheer her fillyfriend up a little, Cadance moved in to nuzzle her amber alicorn’s nose with a giggle. “We’re back in public again,” she told Sunset after taking a step back. “So you’ve got to watch the talk about crazy aliens and super advanced technology.”

Sunset rolled her eyes as Shining Armor moved to open the door for them like the gentle pony he was. Little acts like that reminded Cadance one of the reasons why she stayed in love with him after the rush of emotions that came from being saved from assault died down to a warm glow in her heart.

With only two of them capable of fitting on the stairwell at a time, Cadance let Sunset go first before waiting for Shiny on the first few steps so he could catch up and she could lay a wing across his back. Just because Sunset was at a point in her relationship with him that she wanted to be intimate with him as much as possible didn’t mean Cadance wasn’t going to get as much time with their stallion as she could.

“Attention students, there will be a presentation in the auditorium during first period.”

The three ponies shared a look of confusion about the surprise announcement before turning their attention to the speakers positioned over the door.

“I repeat, there will be a presentation by a special guest in the auditorium during first period.”

Sunset shrugged. “Sounds good to me,” she said before getting into formation with the other two ponies. It suprised Cadance when she edged her way in between the pink princess and the wall instead of going for the stallion of their trio. She leaned in close to Cadance’s ear. “Maybe we should skip out and do our own little assembly.”

A nibble on her ear sent a quiver through Cadance’s body. “D-Didn’t you get enough this morning?” Cadance asked after fighting off the urge to raise her tail.

“Oh, Shiny filled me up plenty. You’re the one that didn’t get anything,” she said before straightening up to look down at Cadance. It was still a little odd for the pink princess that the pony who had been so much shorter than her as a unicorn was just a head short of Celestia as an alicorn, and still growing at a much faster pace than Cadance was herself. “But I don’t like it when you’re left out. What happened to this being a relationship that needs tons of balancing, and all that junk?”

Cadance rolled her eyes. “Shiny and I are going out after school to have some fun while you go talk to his parents about noble junk and play with Twilight. Tomorrow is human night, which I’ve already commissioned a potion for-”

“Ugh,” Sunset groaned. “You’re really serious about that, aren’t you?”

A uneasy look on Sunset’s face got a giggle from Cadance. “Yes. Yes, I am,” she said with a grin. The scent and taste of human was just so intoxicating, and Sunset’s fingers could reach everywhere, servicing Cadance’s every need. Not to mention whatever energy empowered Sunset to make her so many times stronger and more powerful than even Celestia didn’t seem to have any effect on her human form. So, a riding crop to her rear wouldn’t need enough enchantments to shatter a mountain for it to be effective on Sunset. If anything, Cadance would be the one holding back. Humans were ridiculously fragile compared to ponies.

“Then we’ll have dinner with Shiny’s family on Wednesday night and have him over at the palace on Thursday,” Cadance went on. “We’ll help his family move in to their new house Friday. Saturday will be our O&O game night, and Sunday…” Cadance blinked as a flash of inspiration hit her. As an alicorn, she was gifted with a magical kind of foresight that allowed her to see into the future when it came to things like relationships and love. While she could focus it on demand if that instinct was hitched to her already extensive relationship knowledge, premonitions still only came when they wanted to, not Cadance. “Sunday’s going to be a party. A big one, there’s going to be lots of fancy nobles attending as well as Princess Celestia.”

Shining Armor tapped her with his hoof. “Uh...Cadance?” he asked cautiously.

Cadance shook her head quickly to clear out the foggy feeling that came over her during moments like that. “Sorry. Had an...alicorn moment,” she said before looking over to Shining Armor. “But, yeah. You’re going to have a party on Sunday. Big fancy one.”

“Makes sense,” Sunset agreed as she rubbed her chin. Then she put down her hoof to look at Shining Armor. “Your house is getting fixed up right now, but your family needs to have its big coming out party as soon as possible to show that they’re not just a bunch of idiots with money. Getting everything ready in a week will prove you have organizational skills, at least.”

Shining Armor looked down at the ground with a frown. “Okay that...might be doable,” he said.

Sunset lifted a wing to begin listing items off on her feathers. “That means you’ll need to take a new fancy family photo so the painter can turn it into an oversized portrait Separate photographs for each of your family, better make it in different suits and dresses. It would look tacky if the group paintings and the separate ones were all done in the same clothes. We’ll also need fresh china with your cutie mark and-oh! You still need to design your house sigil and the little saying that’s going to go be printed with it, like...Fire and Blood,” Sunset said as she raised a hoof and slowly moved her leg across in a sweeping motion.

Both Cadance and Shining Armor gave Sunset an uneasy look. “Well, that’s a little dark,” Cadance told her. “Even for you.” Sunset had a violent streak but...that was a bit much.

“Yeah, but...I doubt either of you would have got, Winter is Coming,” she said with a shrug. Then, when Cadance and Shining Armor continued to stare, she gave an annoyed sigh and slouched. “It’s a human thing.”

Shining Armor reined in his neck a little to look at Cadance rather than around her. “So, uh...what’s your sigil like, Cadance?”

The question got a tiny laugh in order to keep Cadance from giving him a lost look and giving her time to think. “I’m a princess, remember? We don’t have that stuff. Although, after we make a foal or five to found a new house, I was thinking something like my cutie mark beneath…” She held up a hoof to copy Sunset’s revel motion. “Love Conquers All.”

Cadance blinked at her own words. Just a month ago, she probably wouldn't have even considered something so...aggressive to sum up the ideals she wanted her descendants to carry. But, when she ran other phrases like ‘Love is for Everypony’ or ‘Love is Eternal’ it just sounded wrong to her. Love was a powerful force, it gave ponies the strength to smash down barriers and gave ponies the will to endure anything for the sake of another. Giving it a more...friendly catchphrase just didn’t do the emotion justice.

After all, love had its dark side as well.

“Oh, don’t use your cutie mark,” Sunset told Cadance, cutting into her thoughts. “Well, not your whole cutie mark. That just shows everypony you're narcissistic, unoriginal, and kind of stupid if you can’t come up with anything. But at the same time, you need to incorporate part of it if you’re the founder of the house.”

Shining Armor looked to the shields on his saddlebags. “Part of it, huh?”

The bell ran, ending their discussion on the matter. “Well time to get going,” Cadance told them.

“Oh, we still have a few seconds to spare if you want me to give you and Shiny some alone time,” Sunset told her with a little smile.

“You mean that whole freeze time thing you do so we can make out?” Shining Armor asked. “Or...nap?”

Sunset groaned and rolled her eyes. “Shiny, I’m not freezing time. I’m creating a localized bubble reality in dimensional synch with this one that spins on its own temporal axis several times faster than the universe around it,” she explained. “It just looks like everything is still because anything inside the bubble is going a thousand times faster than what’s outside. It’s not that big a thing.”

The explanation got a giggle from Cadance. “Yes. Creating new realities sounds so much easier than freezing time.”

“...you need more magic lessons,” Sunset deadpanned at Cadance.

To which Cadance replied by sticking out her tongue a little and blowing her fillyfriend a raspberry.

Sunset frowned back at her. “Stick that tongue out again and I’m going to have to french you,” she threatened.

“Promises, promises,” Cadance said before she got the three of them going.

Looking down at Twilight as the little gray mare walked beside her down the hallway towards the throne room, Celestia could feel nothing but pity for the poor mare as she fussed with expensive dress she had put on before rushing over to the palace nearly half-an-hour earlier than she should have. It didn’t look anywhere near as good as the one she wore to the coronation, a dress Celestia had sent her to make sure she didn’t stick out too much, but that one was probably still in need of cleaning. “I’m afraid that you’re going to have to see a seamstress either today or tomorrow,” she said. “I could have Raven find you a few good recommendations if you don’t know of any.”

Twilight Velvet stopped adjusting the broach with her hoof and looked up at Celestia. “Um, thank you, Princess. Your daughter said we would need enough clothes for a different dress a day for at least two weeks,” she said. “We’re still trying to figure out what to do with our house.”

The question got a knowing nod from Celestia. Out of necessity, what with space in Canterlot being so valued, it was illegal to keep a dwelling empty for more than two months. If a family couldn’t find use for a house, or a business went belly up, the building would be appraised and put up for auction. Nobles usually got around that law by having servants live on the premises whenever they took a long vacation or spent a season away.

“Well, since I doubt that you’ll want to sell something that’s been in your family for more than a thousand years,” Celestia guessed. Shining Armor’s family didn’t look nearly rich enough to have moved into Canterlot after it had been made the capital. Which placed them in Canterlot for several generations, maybe even as far back as the Great Freeze. “Renting it out seems the best choice.”

Twilight smiled sadly. “It is very special to us. I grew up there, as my father did before me and his mother before him. I had hoped to pass it on to Shining Armor one day.”

The mention of her son got a little smirk from Celestia. She knew where the Prince-Consort was going to be sleeping, and it wasn’t going to be there. “Not Twilight? Er, the other Twilight, I mean.”

“Oh Celestia no!” Velvet said with a giggle. Then, as was the norm with new ponies around her. Twilight Velvet realized what she had said and spun around to look at the mare whose name she had just used with wide eyes. “Um...I mean...oh bother.”

And, like all the times before her, Celestia found she had a choice to make. Sometimes, she like to play the fool, acting as if she had no idea ponies used her name like some verbal talisman. Other times, she simply ignored it, as if the pony had just said her name like normal. Then there were the times when she played at reading too much into the use of her name, acting as if the pony in question was a full-blown sun worshiper and giving her all the information she would need to go to the next local meeting of those silly little ponies on Sunday to ask about a pence ritual that didn’t actually exist in order to show her how silly she was being.

But with Twilight Velvet, she decided to have a bit more fun.

“You should probably work on that,” Celestia told her before becoming thoughtful while Velvet started getting a little nervous. “After all, if you go ‘Oh Celestia, I’m hungry’ I’d feel obligated to go make you a daffodil sandwich. Or if you went, ‘Oh Celestia, I’m thirsty’ I’d have to go get you a drink.” Then her smile turned turned extremely mischievous. “And heavens forbid a few months from now when the season comes around again and go ‘Oh Sweet Celestia, I’m in heat!’ in front of everypony. Then I might feel obligated to do something that would make our foals quite uncomfortable.”

Twilight Velvet’s mouth dropped, making Celestia let out a mirthful giggle. “Oh my little pony, I’m going to have so much fun with you.”

Thanks to their debate on temporal mechanics Cadance and the others ran so late to the gathering that even the status of alicorn couldn’t make the crowd of students part ways. So, they ended up with seats the the back instead of anywhere near their friends.

They folded the seats of their chairs and sat down, with Sunset grumbling a bit as she worked to get her much larger than average ass, a size Cadance wouldn’t want any smaller, into a seat definitely not suited for a royal rear of her caliber. She let out a groan. “Buck this.”

Sunset’s horn lit up before her entire body was encased in her magic. There was a soft flash, then Cadance found herself sitting next to an amber alicorn the size of the average house cat. “There we go, much bet-bwa!” she said as the seat snapped shut with her still in it.

Although it was probably in poor taste, Cadance couldn’t help but giggle at Sunset’s foible before she reached down to take her out of the seat and scoot down to sit ‘human style’ with her hind legs propped up against the chair in front of her so she could seat Sunset on her barrel. “Decreased weight and size, huh?”

Sunset blushed and looked away. “Need to get used to doing them both, so...yeah,” she said before her eyes brightened. “Oh! Hey Cheerilee!”

The little mulberry pony looked over and blinked as Sunset waved at her to offer her the vacant seat. If she was put off by the foot-long alicorn, she didn’t show it as she made her way over to sit down. “H-Hello, Princess Sun-oh!” Cheerilee exclaimed as Sunset leaped over to hug the filly and give her a nuzzle. “Yes, it’s good to see you again too.”

With all the attention embarrassing the hay out of the freshmare, Cadance reached over to take Sunset back in her hooves as if she was an overly affectionate foal. Which, after meeting Twilight’s new friends, Cadance understood. While Sunset had been trapped in that awful human world, a creature that was some dimensional double of Cheerilee had been kind to her. Sunset was simply spreading that kindness around to ponies who reminded her of the librarian.

“Sorry I didn’t send you an invite to the coronation, Cheerilee,” Sunset apologized. “I just didn’t think you wanted to be trapped in a room with a bunch of horny jerks.”

Cheerilee looked at her with wide eyes for a few moments before giving Sunset a little smile. “That’s okay, Princess Sunset.”

“By the way, where’s um…”

The smile turned to a tiny grin. “Oh, Mare’s out sick today. We decided to splurge at the Fair yesterday and...I think she ate a bit too much.”

A second later, the lights went out. Talking quieted down and ponies turned to look at the stage a moment before the stage lights came on to illuminate the front of the room moments before the principal came trotting out. Just looking at him made Cadance sit up a little straighter, even though it got a complaining cry from Sunset.

The first principal of their school had been a mare by the name of Cinch. She was a horrible pony and even worse headmistress, letting students cheat on their tests if they were good athletes or could advance the school in some way as well as let them get away with the worst of offenses. Cadance had been the one to throw her out after collecting evidence to make sure nopony would think of her as biased.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, welcome back to Canterlot Academy after our extra long seasonal Fall break,” the stallion announced. “Now, as part of a new public service initiative by the EEA, I would direct your attention to Chancellor Neighsay.”

“Oh no, not this guy,” Sunset grumbled.

There was a show of applause as an important-looking unicorn with a goatee and a cape came into the stage. “Greetings, students of Canterlot Academy,” he said in an sharp, yet somewhat dry tone. “As part of our desire to educate the young minds of Equestria, I am here to talk to you about a fast approaching danger to our land. Projector!”

A screen lowered from the ceiling before a light showed an image of the school’s mascot. “Dragons!” he exclaimed. “A fitting choice for your school, considering it’s previous principal. However, dragons are hardly something to use as something to represent something as hallowed as a school!”

The pony raised his hoof and the picture changed from that of the slightly adorable mascot to that of an actual dragon, setting fire to a building in what looked to be a small town of some sort. “Real dragons are cruel, greedy, evil monsters that delight in causing pain and suffering to ponies, and every other creature in their path!”

Most of the students in the audience gasped at the stallion’s emotional declaration as the picture was changed to one of another dragon tearing the roof off a house. “Now, I am not here in an effort for you to change the name of your school or some silly little thing like that. I am here to inform you of a great and coming danger!”

The picture changed again to show a picture of a dragon breathing fire on a forest. “I know what you all might be thinking. We are in no great danger. After all, we live in Canterlot, protected by Celestia Herself! You’ve never seen a dragon attacking our fair city. In fact, I doubt any of you have even heard of a dragon attacking any Equestrian city in your entire life! And, you would be right. For the most part, dragons keep to themselves, staying on an island to the northwest of Equestria.”

There was a collective sigh of relief among the students. At least, until Neighsay spoke up again. “HOWEVER! once in a generation, all of the dragons, dozens upon dozens, HUNDREDS UPON HUNDREDS migrate across Equestria! Burning down forests! Tearing down villages! And putting an end to every single creature unlucky enough to be in their path! Birds! Mammals! Reptiles! Even ponies! All of them destroyed by this dark menace that feels no mercy or love, only an all consuming desire to burn everything around them!”

No love? Cadance thought to herself as she wrapped her forelegs around Sunset to hold her tight, as if she had the stuffed animal that had been made instead of the amber alicorn herself.

“Oh come on, Cadance. You can’t be falling for this,” Sunset said.

All three of the ponies sitting around the alicorn on Cadance’s barrel looked down to her as one. “Huh?”

Sunset rubbed her head. “Have any of you even met a dragon?” she asked.

“Well...no,” Cadance answered for herself, although she was quite sure that Shining Armor and Cheerilee hadn’t either.

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. “Have you?”

Instead of giving them all her usual smirk whenever Sunset revealed in her superior knowledge, Sunset pressed in on herself a little. “Well...sort of?” she replied in a way that sounded more like she was asking a question. “Spike had been transformed into a dog at the time. But he was a purple talking dog that said he was really a ferocious dragon, so...yes, and no. I’ve met a dragon.”

Cheerilee blinked. “I see...when was this?” she asked.

“Um...that’s one of those state secret, classified kind of things I can’t talk about. Sorry,” Sunset apologized.

It was enough for Cadance to know what Sunset didn’t mention. The only thing in her past that she didn’t talk about to anypony aside from family and family-to-be was her time on Earth. Even then, getting details from Sunset beyond things like human inventions was akin to pulling teeth. Which meant this Sprike dog/dragon must have been connected to Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Just the thought of that mare put a frown on Cadance’s face and took her mind to dark places. A future version of the little filly she already loved as a baby sister had battled Sunset in another dimension and apparently saved her from a foolish mistake brought on in a moment of her trademark anger.

However, Cadance felt in no way indebted to Princess Twilight Sparkle, as what she did next erased all good will the pink princess would ever feel towards the twisted future version of the purple pony. Instead of taking Sunset home with her, Princess Twilight Sparkle left her on Earth; effectively banishing her from Equestria and her own mother, Princess Celestia. Completely cut off from her magic again and alone, surrounded by creatures that felt nothing but ill will towards Sunset. Even the humans that had been left to care for her, creatures that were no more than foals themselves without any means to do so, eventually turned on her thanks to some false rumors. From what Cadance understood, Princess Twilight even returned later by finding some sort of workaround using a magical journal, but didn’t tell Sunset she could come home, or even allow her to contact Celestia. And when Sunset faced another danger that threatened both their worlds, Princess Twilight completely ignored her cries for help.

While Sunset tried to convince her that Princess Twilight wasn’t a bad pony, she was just too biased and forgiving to see the other alicorn for what she really was. As for Cadance, she was glad that whatever time travel magic that sent Sunset back to Equestria before she technically even left had disrupted such a pony from ever coming into existence.

“Uh...Cadance?”

“Hm?” she asked before realizing she was digging her hooves into Sunset with a scowl on her face. “Oh! Sorry, sweetie. I was just...thinking.”

Sunset gave her a nervous laugh. “Well, I know that takes some effort in your part sometimes-”

“Keep that up and I’ll sit on you,” Cadance threatened.

There was an eye roll and sigh in response, but when no more words came, Cadance took that as a sign that their discussion was over.

“Ponies! Ponies please!” Neighsay called out from the stage, quieting down the crowd that had worked itself into a mild panic after hearing his words. “Now, while the dragon migration is still years away, I am sorry to say that the government of Equestria is a slow and plodding thing. Therefore, I am here today to ask you to join NARF!”

Once again, the projected slide behind him changed. This time, it was a giant word in bold letters, spelled out in a column. “Now, of course NARF is an acronym, which stands for…”

The slide changed again.

Not

Another

Roasted

Foal

“Not Another Roasted Foal!” he announced. “With your help, we plan to encourage Princess Celestia to take action against these evil lizards! Together, under NARF, we will defend our land from being put to the flame! With NARF, we will ensure that every Equestrian foal need not fear for their lives! NARF will be the force that makes dragons and all such creatures learn to fear us instead of the other way around!”

“NARF! NARF! NARF! NARF!” the student’s chanted. “NARF! NARF! NARF!”

Cadance blinked as she noticed Sunset looking at the crowd with a half-lidded stare. “We should probably get going before they remember two-thirds of the Equestrian royal government actually go to this school,” she said before her horn lit up and the world disappeared.

After she heard the bell ring, Fleur looked over to the empty seat that Princess Sunset usually occupied, wondering where the mare was. She had seen Cheerilee in the hallway before class, and after exchanging pleasantries, the freshmare had said that Cadance and her friends were at school today, but the announcement during first period had them laying low.

Now, it was time for her third period, so she set off in that direction, catching Sassy as she came out of her class. Despite the fact that it was obvious the poor mare had something on her mind that had been there since they walked to school this morning, Fleur didn’t want to pressure her into talking about it. At least, not unless she started getting too anxious. There was a danger in waiting too long to deal with problems, after all.

Which was why Fleur wished that Princess Cadance would hurry up and show herself. She needed to talk to somepony about her not-yet-fiancee, and the Princess of Love was the obvious pick.

“Um, Fleur, can we...talk about something?” Sassy asked.

Seeing that this was going to be one of those talks, the white unicorn began looking around for someplace they could use for privacy. Even though she knew it would probably come back to hit her later, now that she actually needed to work for her grades, Fleur nodded. “Of course,” she said before taking the other mare’s hoof and leading her into a nearby unlit room.

Although the lights weren’t on, the windows provided more than enough illumination to see everything. Fleur blinked as she found out that her choice ended up being the home economics room. While she had never taken the class herself, she had seen the interior enough not to be dazzled by the classroom that was three times the normal size with ovens to her right while a line of sewing machines were positioned against the wall in front of her. The actual class part of the room was over to her left, in front of a white board, and the large open space between had what looked like a space taken from a living room, with a couch, coffee table and three pillows.

“Oh, Professor Homemaker still has all this,” she said before trotting over to lay out on the couch.

“Right, you had all this your freshmare year,” Fleur remembered before moving to take a seat on a cushion across from Sassy. “So...what did you want to talk about?”

Unfortunately, it looked like the reminder pulled Sassy out of her nostalgic happiness and back to a nervous reality. “Right...um...Fleur...n-nothing’s going to change between us, right?” she asked before biting her lip. “It’s just...you’ve been my best friend for as far back as I can remember.”

With Sassy’s question, the realization of what was going on hit Fleur like a hammer. After Shining Armor got promoted to noble status, or close enough to it at any rate, the realization that Fleur was also going to be marrying into a noble family must have finally hit home for Sassy, and she was worried about losing her best friend.

It wasn’t that silly a fear, either. She had seen how Fancy Pants looked at the ponies that were his...lessers. He wasn’t mean about it or anything, but there was a clear divide between him and everypony else. And Fleur knew that she wasn’t on the same side of the line as him.

The extreme irony of the timing of said question brought a horrible smirk to the white pony’s face. “I don’t have anything to worry about there, Sassy.”

The other unicorn let out a long sigh. “Oh, that’s good.”

Fleur took in a deep breath. Now comes the hard part, she told herself. But if she couldn’t talk about this with a good friend, her best friend, then talking about it with anypony else would be impossible! “Because I’m not sure if I can go through with my marriage to Fancy Pants.”

“...what?” Sassy asked as a completely dazed look fell over her face.

The insanity of what she was even considering became apparent and Fleur reached up to hold her head with her hooves. “I know, I know it’s crazy! But...it’s just...I don’t…” She took a deep breath and tried to organize her thoughts.

Sassy sat up a little straighter. “Fleur does he...do...things to you?” she asked hesitantly.

“What?” Fleur asked in confusion before her mind filled in the blanks thanks to the uneasy look Sassy was giving her. “No! It’s not...he’s not...I don’t get abused or anything, if that’s what you’re asking. It’s more…” She tried to think of the right words to describe how she felt about the state of things.

And that was the problem. There weren’t any feelings.

Fleur sighed. “It’s like...yesterday, I tried to get him to go to the Fair and...he talked to me like I was his dog,” she said before trying to sort out her thoughts some more. “Well, that’s not true. Ponies like their dogs.”

“Should we tell the Princesses?” Sassy asked.

“Tell them what?” Fleur replied, becoming more disgruntled the more she thought of it. “That the stallion my parents sold me to in exchange for better working conditions and an apartment upgrade thinks of me as some annoying animal that’s just around to benefit him when it’s time to make foals? Let’s be real here, Sassy, I knew that going in.”

The other mare got off the couch to sit eye to eye with Fleur across the table. “Then why did you?”

“I wanted to be a model,” Fleur responded immediately before the other reasons came to mind. “And Upper Crust said she’d help me, then my family met with House Covers. Mother and Father got promotions at work, not to mention that new apartment we got put on the short list for. And then there’s you, of course.”

Sassy blinked and pulled her head back a bit. “Me?”

Fleur gave a half-shrug. “Fancy Pants’s family is in with the clothing industry, Sassy. I’m pretty sure I could have gotten you the help you needed to make a big break,” she said before sighing. “Now, you don’t need me for that and Upper Crust is gone.” She took in another breath and rested her foregs on the table before looking down on it. “For nearly a year, I thought about all of the pampering I’d be receiving, and that was enough. But now...what’s wrong with me, Sassy? Why can’t I just be happy with what was promised?”

“Because you are not a piece of trash to be looked down on,” Sassy told her evenly. Which made Fleur look up to see her friend giving her a frighteningly cold expression. “And the fact that this stallion has turned you into this...it’s inexcusable.”

The comment worked its way through Fleur’s mind, making her snort in response. “Sweet Celestia, I’m at the bottom now, aren’t I?”

Sassy raised an eyebrow. “Eh?”

“Our little social ranking, remember?” Fleur asked rhetorically. It hadn’t even been two months, but it seemed like forever ago when Fleur had been the princess of the school. Anything she wanted, she got without any effort. Even after Princess Cadance came along, Fleur continued on as if she was so important. “I’m pretty sure Shiny’s friends outrank me at this point.”

After giving Fleur a roll of her eyes, Sassy told her friend what she thought about that assessment. “Oh please, Fleur. Those colts are sweet, but they’re still capital L losers. Poindexter actually thinks bow ties are cool.”

Fleur smacked the table with a hoof. “And I’m a whore!” she exclaimed. When Sassy rose to argue, the white unicorn cut her off. “What? That’s what you call a pony that sells her body for bits! Except, I’m not even doing that! I’m doing it for fancy food and expensive clothes!”

A few seconds later, Sassy let out an uneasy groan. “Well, there is your modeling career.”

“Except, all I’d have to do is name drop a princess or put an alicorn down as a reference, and wouldn’t matter what job I applied for,” Fleur said. “I’ve literally sold myself for nothing. Well, other than a better life for my parents that barely speak to me anymore. Which I’m not really feeling too good about these days.”

Sassy took in a deep breath. “You know what I think?” she asked.

Hopeful that her friend had somehow seen a way out of this that she hadn’t, Fleur lifted her head off the table. “That I’m an idiot for missing something so completely obvious, which will get me out of this whole mess?”

“I think we should get to class,” Sassy said. “It will at least give you something to occupy your brain.”

“...your solution bucks.”

Since getting to know two of the three Princess of Equestria, Shining Armor had learned a few things. Things aside from the biographical stuff that most ponies knew, or the top secret stuff about alien dimensions and Sunset’s actual age. There were things that only he knew about them. Like how the one that the public feared the most was really sensitive on the inside and the one the public adored was actually quite terrifying once you got beneath her coat.

Then there was the stuff Shining Armor had learned after prolonged contact with them in a relaxed setting. Things like, sitting around with a bored Cadance for more than an hour was usually a bad idea, because her mind went to some strange places whenever it didn’t have something concrete to focus on for very long.

“I’m the pink pony princess who rules all these lands,” Cadance sung without a musical accompaniment as she fluttered around to a place behind Sunset on the cloud they were hiding out on above the high school. “I like big amber fannies, like these big round cans.”

Sunset looked up from the book floating in front of her. “Uh, Cadance?” she asked over the silence in the air. “What’re you doing?”

“I’m a pink pony princess that can slap on them buns,” Cadance sang before bringing her hooves down on Sunset’s plot as if her rear cheeks were a pair of drums. “Slap on them buns.” Two more slaps that got a good amount of jiggle out of Sunset’s hind quarters. “And cause I’m just so bored, I will slap them for fun!”

Shining Armor did his best to ignore how much much Sunset’s plot jiggled from Cadance’s little...moment and rolled onto his belly to...focus on how odd it was that he, a unicorn, was currently on a cloud thanks to Sunset’s magic. He most definitely didn’t focus on how the most beautiful princess in Equestria was currently on the back of the sexiest princess in Equestria.

Which...he knew was a losing battle.

Cadance was without a doubt the most beautiful pony in Equestria. Every inch of her body was the perfect mix of strength and grace, which only seemed to grow by the day. Tall and fit without being too lean, graceful without being fragile, powerful without being bulky, Cadance managed to trot down that impossibly thin line that balanced everything beyond what anypony could hope to achieve.

In contrast, Sunset had certain assets emphasized on top of an already ample frame. Although a head taller than Cadance, the amber alicorn hadn’t slimmed down in the least from her height increase. On top of which, her horn was a bit longer than what would have been the normal unicorn length, as was her rear end. While not as refined as Cadance, there was certainly more of her to enjoy in all the right places.

So, when the two of them decided to have fun, Shining Armor didn’t know what was worse: the reality of two impossibly beautiful mares on top of one another, or the image that his mind generated when two impossibly beautiful mares who were also quite loud had fun in the bedroom.

“Girls, please!” he asked them. “If you keep this up, I’m not going to be able to walk around school without getting frowned at.”

“Now let’s see what you’ve got-oh!” Sunset said from her place atop Cadance, having turned the tides and pinned the smaller princess beneath her bigger body. “Uh...sure thing, Shiny.”

As Sunset removed herself from Cadance, Shining Armor looked down at the school. “Uh...think we should get going back?”

Sunset groaned. “Well, I suppose it’s been long enough for the hysteria that idiot stirred up to die down,” she grumbled. “So if you want to be getting back, we can probably do it without being mobbed.”

A second later, Shining Armor grabbed the cloud they were on a little tighter as Cadance pushed it down close enough to the roof for the three of them to get off. It was still strange to Shining Armor how Sunset outright refused to use her wings. She was afraid of doing it, as if it would cause a disaster or something.

“Anypony have an idea as to what period it is?” Shining Armor asked nervously. Before meeting the Princesses, he had perfect attendance. These days, he was lucky to get through a day of school without missing at least one period. It was excused since attending the girls was considered royal business, but still…

Cadance looked over to Sunset, who shrugged. “Hey, just cause I got this sun on my butt doesn’t mean I can tell the time just by looking at it. Especially since Mom always puts it up in the middle of the sky until it’s time to take it down. Well, unless somepony distracts her or something.”

The first of her comment got Shining Armor curious. “Hey Sunset, just what does your cutie mark mean?” He had told her about his the very first time they met. But, she had...okay, Sunset had been a girl that was interested in him and a tabletop RPG, Shining Armor couldn’t bring himself to shut up about himself long enough to ask about her.

“I’ve been wondering that myself,” Cadance said.

“Oh...um…” she said before getting a little nervous. “It means, I’m supposed to be like Celestia...at least I was supposed to until I got corrupted and attempted to surpass her.”

Cadance raised an eyebrow. “Well, the whole having a pony whose whole life is supposed to be a nudge to Auntie’s ego aside, I’m pretty sure you surpassed that old nag a long time ago.”

There was a moment where Sunset gave Cadance a disbelieving look, then let out a groan and rubbed her forehead. “Great. So, what has she done to piss you off now?”

“You mean besides the monstrous level of neglect she forced you to suffer through for ten years?” Cadance asked. “Because that’s plenty of reason for me to dislike her.”

Shining Armor held up a hoof. “Girls, can you please not talk about that stuff in front of me?” he asked. “Every time you start, I’m afraid that Equestria going to split apart with the three of you fighting for control or something.”

As Sunset gave him an embarrassed blush, Cadance laughed it off with a giggle and waved away the young stallion’s concerns. “Oh, don’t be silly, Shiny,” she said before getting serious. “I already am the High-Princess.”

Which was another thing that Shining Armor didn’t like to think about. Because of an oddity in the system, Cadance legally ruled Equestria. And from he could tell, Princess Celestia acknowledged her authority to do so.

When they got down to a more populated level of the school, the girls checked the clock then trotted off towards their respective classes, or their next classes, as the period was almost over. With only one to go before lunch, he slowly walked towards the class he and his friends were supposed to have together. The door opened as the bell rang, and Shining Armor waited for his friends.

However, after the crowd came through the door, with the teacher following suit on his way to the break room without a single sign of them, Shining Armor stuck his head in. “Uh, hello?”

The three young stallions, Gaffer the unicorn, Eight-Bit the brown pegasus, and Poindexter the gray earth pony stood around the large table in the art room, with Gaffer’s horn lit up. “And...finished.”

Both of the other colts let out adoring ‘oooohs’ before taking a step back to admire the figure in the center of the table. It looked like Gaffer had managed to finish his horn-crafted, personalized night flier; complete with full paint job.

“Hey guys!” Shining Armor said as he trotted forward to get a better look at the thing. “Wow, that’s some great-”

“Oh, it’s-” Shining Armor blinked with Gaffer suddenly turned around to scowl at him. Or, scowl for a second, then take astep back, look up, then resume scowling. “Oh, it’s you. Lord Shining Armor, to what do we owe the pleasure?”

In response to the title, Shining Armor gave a nervous laugh. “So, uh, you heard, huh?”

Eight-Bit looked back and forth. "Eh? What’s going on? Uh, Shiny? Are you taller?”

Gaffer snorted. “Unlike the other students of this school, we read the papers.”

Poindexter moved up beside Eight-Bit and threw out a hoof. “He’s a normie now.”

The most vile insult in the entire geek kingdom made Shining Armor take a step back in shock. “What? I...I’m not a normie!”

“Oh yeah?” Gaffer said in a challenging manner before he waved his hooves at Shining Armor’s physique. “What’s all this, then? You taking potions? You know what that stuff does to your brain?”

Shining Armor winced. “It-It was just one potion.” Plus, it wasn’t the same kind meant to buff ponies up. Princess Celestia had turned him into a colt and an aging potion was the only way to change back. It wasn’t his fault the potion just assumed he ate three balanced meals a day and got plenty of exercise!

After thinking for a few seconds, Eight-Bit stepped forward. “Plus, you’ve got a fillyfriend!” he exclaimed before becoming even more agitated. “Two fillyfriends! That’s two more than we’re all supposed to have, combined.”

The brain of the group reached up to push his glasses up to his eyes. “The facts are irrefutable, Shining Armor. You have become a normie.”

Shining Armor groaned. “Guys, come on. This is stupid.”

“Quiet, normie!” Gaffer exclaimed before throwing out a hoof. “As GM of our game sessions, I hereby banish you from our O&O domain.”

“... seriously?” Shining Armor asked, unsure of what he was hearing had been correct. “You come to my house to play, you eat my food, and hey! You’re even using a five hundred bit magical item that Cadance bought to run your game!”

Poindexter gave a huff. “That doesn't change the fact that you became a normie!” he told Shining Armor. “And house rule eight clearly states, no normies!”

“Guys, come on be ser-”

“No normies!” Gaffer insisted.

“No normies!” Eight-Bit added.

“No normies!” Poindexter began to chant with the others.

“And so, I went to class and...now we’re here,” Shining Armor said as he finished his tale.

All five of the girls sitting around Shining Armor in the lunchroom at their usual spot while the other male members of their group were...he had no idea. It was a pretty big lunchroom. Most of them, like Sassy, wore looks of confusion. Sunset was the odd mare out, of course, she had on a disgruntled frown.

Although Sassy had wanted to talk to Princess Cadance about her problems with Fleur, it seemed that she wasn’t the only one with concerns to attract the pink pony’s attention. Even though she didn’t quite understand what was going on.

Fleur was the first to speak to the colt across the table. “I’m sorry, but...I’m not sure I understand. What’s a...normie?”

“Oh,” Shining Armor said. “It’s uh...short for normal pony, or...normal ponies, since we always used the plural form. Basically, it’s anypony that’s uh...well...popular and...stuff. We made the rule, cause um...honestly, it’s pretty embarrassing to admit to playing Ogres and Oubliettes. If he had started handing out invites, there probably would have been a lot of ponies who made fun of us.”

The explanation got an eyebrow raise from Cheerilee. “So it’s a word for...every mare here, besides me.”

A single laugh came from Fleur. “Come now, Cheerilee, are you saying that-”

“I’m a smart freshmare with braces that would rather help ponies do the assignments correctly than give away the answers and can see through fake attempts to be my friend so that ponies can try and hang out with royalty, Fleur,” the younger earth pony said. “That’s not really popular.”

Fleur looked back to Shining Armor. “So, let me get this straight. Since the last time they saw you, you gained more money, a better social standing, a bigger house, an improved...physique, and they’re angry at you for that?”

“Well,” Cadance said hesitantly. “At least they’re not trying to mooch off of your wealth and exploiting your friendship. That’s...something, right?”

“You want me to beat them up?” Sunset asked. “Cause I can give them a real reason to play the victim card, if you want me to. Not just the crappy ‘you’re popular now so go away before you pick on us’ one they’re pushing.”

Shining Armor looked over Sunset. “No,” he said uneasily. “But um...thanks for the offer?”

Cadance looked round the stallion that the two alicorns had flanked. “Victim card?”

“Oh...right, non-pony term,” Sunset said before thinking a bit. “It’s like um...well, okay I guess it doesn’t really apply to this situation, but uh...hmm...does it?” She rapidly shook her head to clear out the thought. “Nevermind.”

Then Sunset gave a growl of a groan. “It just…” She looked over to Shining Armor. “I don’t like it when a bunch of...ponies you think are your friends ditch you, thinking you’re the bad guy, despite zero evidence!”

“Down girl,” Cadance told her gently before a wing came out past Shining Armor to pat Sunset on the back.

Shining Armor looked down at his food. “I guess this means my O&O days are done for awhile. At least until their brains come back from vacation. Not like I’m going to find anypony else to play. Three is just not enough.”

There was an uneasy cough from the seat next to Sassy. “Um...I...might be interested, Shining,” Fleur told him. “If you want me around, that is.”

Sassy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You can’t be serious.” They just gone over how Shiny’s friends were the biggest losers in school, and idiots on top of that now, and Fleur wanted to replace them in his leisure activities.

“Well, since meeting Fancy Pants, I’ve had to...go by a different set of options for social activities,” Fleur replied. “And, sitting around a table rolling dice and talking about things is just about what we do for fun, just with more gambling.”

The explanation got a frown from Sassy. With the way how Fleur had talked earlier, she knew just how much control Fancy Pants thought he should have over their relationship. While normally, she would just shrug and let Fleur make up her on mind if being with a colt was worth certain restrictions, like how she knew Shining Armor had to accept certain things when it came to topics of conversation with the Princesses and that their plans might be canceled because of some royal duty. But then, Shiny could choose to break up with the Princesses if he wanted to without problem. If Fleur did that, there would probably be a problem with her apartment’s lease and her parents would quickly find themselves out of a job.

Cadance cleared her throat. “Actually, we use a Tablet of LARPing. It puts us into a dream state where we can act out the events, complete with all the action.”

“Hmmm, that actually does sound pretty fun,” Sassy said before thinking about it for a second. If Fleur was going, she...didn’t really have anypony else to hang out with“Would it be alright if I join you this weekend?”

Cheerilee tapped her chin with a hoof. “I’ll admit, I’m a bit curious myself, now. Can I come too?”

With the three offers coming in at once, Shining Armor held up his hooves. “Whoa! Hold on a second. We’s still need somepony to run the game.”

“Well, I saw a few auto-run scenarios in the store, but...it’s pretty obvious that Sunset should be the GM,” Cadance pointed out.

The nomination got a confused expression from the amber alicorn. “What? Why me?”

“Sweetie, you’re so OP, you break the game,” Cadance pointed out. “You literally break the game, simply by playing because you’re already more powerful than any player can possibly be.”

Sunset crossed her forelegs. “Not my fault that the game is so underpowered,” she grumbled before letting out a sigh. “Okay, so...next order of business. Shiny, you need to see how Kibitz is doing with the staff. There needs to be enough ponies to serve and prepare food this Sunday.”

“So, you are having a party?” Fleur asked. “Sorry to put you on the spot, but...Fancy said that if you were, his parents would like an invitation.”

After hearing her request, Shining Armor gave a shrug. “Sure. Be nice to know at least one pony there,” he said before looking back and forth between Cheerilee and Sassy.”Either of you want to go?”

Sunset let out an uncomfortable groan. “I doubt you girls will have any fun, but...if you want...oh, I should probably also make sure some ponies that Twilight knows is there too. Better make it today, too. Um...better get going, then,” Sunset said before she stood up. “Uh, You guys, can I copy your notes?”

“Not that you need it, but of course,” Fleur assured her.

“Okay,” Sunset said. “Be seeing you tonight, Shiny.” She gave the stallion a kiss on the cheek. “Cadance, um...all things considered, you may want to get that assistant of yours on this to get the staff we need in time to decorate for the party too. Kibitz may have his hooves full if he’s needing to put a party invite list together and staff the house.”

Shining Armor looked over to Sunset. “You’re leaving?” he asked.

A look of hesitation covered Sunset’s face. “Well...if I’m going to be giving ponies time enough to get what they need for a fancy party like this, plus some other running around I need to do aaaaaaand, crap, that idiot just walked in,” she said, looking over the heads of the students to the lunchroom far right exit.

After turning her head to see what was making Sunset so upset, she blinked when she spotted that Neighsay pony. Just seeing him made her shiver at the memory of his presentation. Still, she was glad that somepony was talking about those monsters.

“Okay, so...I’ll get him off my back, probably just wants to talk to Mom anyway, take care of some other stuff, then wrangle up some guests for Twily,” Sunset said. “Cadance, you get your girl on staffing the house, sound good?”

Cadance nodded. “Sounds good.”

After Sunset trotted off, the four remaining mares and Shining Armor went back to eating before the next topic of discussion came up from Fleur. “So, um...I take it from the conversations I overheard before...I need to do something before our private get together on Saturday?”

What followed, Sassy could only be called watching a colt in a candy shop. Shining Armor was apparently very into his little game, describing all the different options and everything else in great detail. While she let most of it go in one ear and out the other, Sassy did get a few ideas that excited her, like designing the outfits. It would be like making costumes, something she could only do once a year before Nightmare Night.

Once they were finished, Sassy waited around while Cheerilee and Fleur were taken by Shining Armor to get a more detailed explanation of O&O. Once Princess Cadance got through with her much larger meal and put the tray in the receptacle, Sassy managed to get the courage to start what she knew would be a harrowing process. “Princess, can I...talk to you someplace in private?”

Cadance looked a little surprised at the question, but shrugged and agreed to it. With the end of lunch being a bit of a bathroom rush, they decided to sneak out the building’s back exit and found a secluded area near the buck ball court.

As she double-checked to make sure they were alone, Sassy laid out the basics of the situation. “So, um...I need to talk to you about something,” she said before looking behind her. “Concerning Fleur.”

“Squeeeeeee!”

Hearing the strangest sound ever, Sassy turned around in confusion a second before Cadance completely conquered her personal space with her presence and gave her an excited expression. “You finally realized your romantic feelings for Fleur?”

Sassy blinked and took a step back for some breathing room. M-My what?” she asked, despite hearing Cadance just fine. “Cadance, it’s not like that!”

The reply made Cadance take a step back. “Oh, um...that’s, uh…”

“What makes you think I have feelings for Fleur?” Sassy asked.

Cadance’s darted around, going in every direction except towards Sassy. “You know what? I just remembered, I have...princess things to do, hehehehe,” the pink pony told Sassy. “Lots and looooooots of princess things. So, uh...bye!”

With that, Cadance spun around before galloping a few strides and taking to the air while talking in some strange language. “Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!”

After the fleeing princess completely disappeared, Sassy found herself standing along for a few seconds before her mind started working on its own.

She didn’t have any feelings for Fleur beyond friendship, admiration, desire, and a healthy amount of sexual attraction to the hottest unicorn in school. But that was normal for a pony like her. After all, they had spent all of their heats together since they were foals. You couldn’t not do what they did, like kiss, snuggle, fulfill needs, and all that stuff without a physical attraction.

But that didn’t mean she was in love with Fleur! Sassy just liked spending time with her, seeing her smile, hearing her laugh, the way she wiggled her plot from side to side just an extra bit when she walked and what that did to her tail. Fleur was just a pony that made Sassy’s life brighter by being in the same room and her nights more peaceful when they slept cuddled up together.

And that was all.

It wasn’t as if she wanted to get married to Fleur.

She just wanted to spend the rest of her life with her close friend. Plenty of ponies did that!

The die bounced around three times before its kinetic energy became too low for it to do more than roll. When it landed on a side with three circular indentations, the little green plastic figure that loosely resembled a winged reptilian creature was surrounded by the glow of a unicorn’s magic and moved the same number of colored squares forward. A few seconds later, the box of a board game rumbled before the volcano-shaped ejection point spat out a heavy marble that proceeded to roll down the provided path until it came out onto the board and...struck absolutely nothing on its way to the edge, where it fell into a tiny groove that guided it down beneath the playing area and into position for the next turn.

“YES! My dragon survives another turn!” Sunburst yelled before his horn flared with magic right as he jumped up on his hind legs. A second later, the entire game board went flying through the air, end over end, spilling its contents and flinging the three dragon pieces that had been inside to the far corners of the room before the game board itself struck the wall before falling on the unmade bed of one of the room’s occupants.

One of the game’s players, a little blue filly with a silvery mane looked over to the other filly playing the game. “Trixie does not see the point of this game if he is going to ruin it every single time that happens,” she said before blinking a few times and frowning. “Have you ever even finished a game of Dragon Pit?”

Starlight Glimmer blushed at the question and looked at a very interesting spot on the door. “Uh, well...there was this one time, when Sunburst was sick. He couldn’t really use his magic then, so...I had to move everything,” she admitted before looking back with a smile. “But finishing the game isn’t the point! Just look at him!”

Trixie followed the direction of Starlight’s hoof and watched as the four-eyed colt danced around in celebration. “My dragon survived! My dragon survived! My dragon survived!”

“So...are we supposed to laugh at how he’s acting now?” Trixie asked in confusion.

The question made Starlight think for a moment before she shook her head in a negative. “No. That’ll make him stop.”

Unfortunately, despite how quiet Starlight and Trixie were being as Sunburst was prancing around like a foal on Hearth’s Warming, a knock at the door quickly drew his attention and put an end to the excitement. “Who could that be?” he asked before opening the door.

The amber alicorn standing on the other end of the doorway made the three foals freeze in shock. Starlight didn’t know whether to be happy or afraid. Because of Princess Sunset, Sunburst and Trixie had decided to play with Starlight and after a rocky start, they had worked out a system that was fair and ensured that everypony was happy. But...what if Princess Sunset decided that it wasn’t good enough and kicked her out of the school anyway?

“Hello, Trixie,” the big alicorn said as she made her way inside the little room before her eyes fell on Starlight. “What in the world happened to you?”

Starlight looked down at the ground as she felt her cheeks heat up, but couldn’t help but catch sight of one of the bright yellow spots on her coat. It was one of many that covered her entire body where she had hair covering her body. “I...had an accident.”

A little giggle came from Trixie. “Starlight tried using magic on her mane to change the way it looked.”

The blush intensified. “I...wanted it to, um….look like yours, Princess. I-It’s very pretty.”

Princess Sunset laughed at her, making Starlight pull in on herself further. She didn’t want the Princess to laugh at her! She wanted Princess Sunset to be proud of her. Starlight wanted to show Princess Sunset that she was worth the time the alicorn had taken to keep her in school.

Starlight gave a start when a pair of hooves came in front the side to pick the little pony up and bring her up to the big princess’s face. She felt like a little foal again in front of the giant pony before Princess Sunset pulled her into a little hug and positioned Starlight as if she was sitting on one of Princess Sunset’s forelegs. “Yeah, I made the same mistake once too, trying to make mine look like Celestia’s. Don’t try and use magic to change your looks, Starlight. You’re perfectly perfect and pretty, just the way you are.”

The complement made Starlight blush and she looked down for just a second before Princess Sunset flicked her muzzle with a hoof. “Boop,” she said, getting a giggle from the lilac foal covered in polka dots.

“So, how have you all been doing?” Princess Sunset asked as she looked away from Starlight.

Even though it was an open question, the fact that the Princess was looking right at Trixie is probably what kept Sunburst from answering. “Trixie has been doing much better with her magic since we last met, Princess Sunset. Do you want to see?”

Princess Sunset gave a little laugh as she looked around. With the Princess’s eyes on her room, Starlight began to feel very self-conscious about the way the place looked. Designed to be used mostly for studying and sleeping, the dorm room only had enough space for a pair of beds and a pair of desks, with barely enough space left over for them to play a simple board game. The bed Starlight had slept in was still unmade and her homework she had gotten at the end of the short day was still on her study desk. “So, which two of you does this room belong to, anyway?”

“Just Starlight, Princess Sunset,” Sunburst quickly volunteered. “She had a roommate, but had to move out when it became problematic for her to be in the same room as another pony.”

With such a horrid half-truth given about her, Starlight tensed up and quickly looked to Princess Sunset to give her the whole story. “My spots glow in the dark!” she explained as fast as possible. “S-So nopony could sleep in the same room as me.”

Princess Sunset looked back over to Starlight with a little smile. “You okay sleeping with a nightlight?”

“Y-Yes,” she admitted before deciding to go all the way with her explanation. Starlight just hoped the Princess didn’t think she way a baby or anything. “I slept with a nightlight back home too.”

“Yeah, I kinda got used to one too after a week of being in the palace,” Sunset said. “Mom saw I had trouble sleeping and took me to bed with her for a few nights. It’s really faint, but her mane really does glow in the dark.” The Princess took a moment to study the filly’s coat before looking Starlight in the face again. “So...let me guess, you’re stuck with them till you get a new coat?”

Starlight nodded. “Yes, Princess.”

After a few seconds of thinking, Princess Sunset looked back down at her. “What about makeup?”

“The teachers said I shouldn’t bother,” she replied as her face fell. “I’d take too long putting it on in the morning and just have to wash it off every night.”

“Clothes?”

Starlight shook her head. “Everything in Canterlot is so expensive, and all Daddy sent me is-” Starlight quickly clamed up when she realized just where that conversation was going. “T-Too small. I outgrew all my old clothes from home.”

“Mmmmmhmmm,” Princess Sunset said with a knowing smile that told Starlight she knew the filly was lying. Thankfully though, she didn’t call the little pony out on it before setting her down. “Tell you what. I’ll send a friend here to do some measurements, and we’ll get you some clothes to cover all those spots. It can’t be fun, looking like that.”

The comment made Starlight squirm as the memories from earlier today came to mind.

Trixie nodded. “Everypony laughs at her,” she explained. “Even the teachers.”

“It’s a good lesson,” Sunburst added, talking more to Trixie and Princess Sunset. “They said using magic on a mane is dangerous. Starlight got off light, all things considered.”

A little grunt of displeasure came from the Princess. “Maybe it was a stupid decision, but that doesn’t mean I like ponies constantly making fun of her for it,” she said with a frown. “I’ll have a word with the principal on the way out. And with some clothes, all you’ll have to do is cover the three on your face with makeup, sound good?”

Starlight looked up to Princess Sunset with a big smile on her face. “Y-Yes!” she said before galloping forward and little to hug the much bigger pony. “Thank you, Princess!”

“Okay, okay! Here,” Princess Sunset replied before picking Starlight up again to hold her close. Then she turned her attention to the other filly in the room. “So Trixie, how’re things going for you? And shouldn’t you all still be in class?”

“The teachers just gave Trixie and her friends a half-day with light review assignments, Princess,” the blue filly said. “And Trixie is doing good.”

The conversation drifted to the back of her mind as Starlight turned her attention back onto Princess Sunset while she talked and laughed with Trixie while the filly went on about becoming a great magician. Starlight understood that after their first meeting that she had been too demanding of Sunburst and was now trying to be just like the amber alicorn that had saved her from making a horrible mistake. Princess Sunset was just so nice a kind, but also tough enough that she could be hard when she needed to, like when Starlight met her at the fair.

Before that, Starlight hadn’t known what she wanted to do with her life, even if her cutie mark was in magic. At first, she wanted to make everything fair again, but that was only because Sunburst had got his cutie mark first and left her in the dust for Princess Celestia’s school; which Starlight had to beg Daddy to let her attend even after she got her cutie mark and a scholarship as the second magically talented filly in her hometown. If they had just gotten their cutie marks at the same time, none of that would have happened.

But now, Starlight knew what she really wanted to do. She wanted to be like Princess Sunset, strong and powerful, but kind and helpful. She wanted to help Princess Sunset, she wanted to show her that she was worth the time the amber alicorn was investing in her. Starlight didn’t quite know how she could help an alicorn, but she would study hard and be the best in the school since the Princess Herself attended so when the chance did come around, she would be ready for it.

Although thankful that she hadn’t needed to pull the girls and Sunburst out of class to have a talk with them, the half-day Sunset had intruded on made her stay a lot longer than intended. Still, she enjoyed it. Dealing with Trixie’s little group was refreshing since every decision Sunset made didn’t have her worrying that she was destroying another pony’s rightful future.

But, after hearing from each of the kids, playing a board game, showing them how not to flip the damn thing over every time the colt spazzed out, and having a word with the pony in charge of the school, beneath her Mom at any rate, the time with a good ten-past-four, and she still had a lot of work to do if she was going to meet with Shining Armor and Cadance in time to do their exercise routine at the end of the day.

A check of the train schedule at the station told Sunset that she would have to wait around a good hour for the next one. While royal orders could command anything in Equestria, there were only so many trains to go around the country. So, Sunset found herself considering a very stupid and bad idea before making her way to the edge of the city and past the security fence that kept foals from going anywhere they weren’t supposed to.

Anywhere, like the edge of Canterlot.

Sunset looked over the edge and gulped. The first time she had been at The Edge after getting her wings had been for a flying lesson with Mom. A mom who had promptly knocked her off rather than answer a question in regards to just what the hell Sunset was the princess of, before impacting the ground at a speed that would have probably pasted anypony else. The second time, Sunset had also gone over The Edge, but at her own volition. It still didn’t end well, except for the part where she saved the Apple Family from certain death by crashing into a pack of timber wolves that looked ready to have a few of them for dinner.

And now, she had returned.

Okay Sunset, she told herself before backing up several steps to get a running start. Third time’s the charm. She took a deep breath, spread her wings to lock them in a gliding position and began galloping. Third time’s the charm. Third time’s the charm. Third time’s the charm. Third time’s the-a surge of adrenaline and caution made Sunset stop her mantra as her legs locked in a breaking position three-fourths of the way there and her wings turned to act as an airbreak.

Barely stopping in time to keep from falling off, the inertia made the amber alicorn’s head extend forward enough to look over the edge of the city. Seeing the ground so far away below her, Sunset tucked in her tail between her legs. Okay...yeah...fuck that, she told herself before looking forward to the town below her.

But close enough to the horizon that Sunset didn’t actually have to look down to see it.

“Okay...okay, Sunset,” the amber alicorn said to herself. “You...you are more powerful than Cadance and Celestia combined. You could take them both with two wings and three legs tied behind you. You are an all-powerful alicorn princess, and you...you…”

Sunset found herself doing a few quick mathematical calculations in her head. “You can just fucking teleport to a city that’s only a couple miles away and well within your visual range,” she said before lighting up her horn to ready both the spell and her body. Then, Sunset disappeared from the world.

After blinking into existence above the town, Sunset resist the urge to flap her wings and held them out at full extension to catch what air she cold. She fell for half a second before a sharp jerk changed her plummet into a steady downward glide, straight for the town hall. Unconsciously stuffening at the prospect of slamming into a wall.

She pushed magic into her horn and focused a teleportation spell to take her past the building. The ‘bamfing’ sound of the magical displacement filled Sunset’s ears for a moment before she completely lost the sense of everything surrounding her. When she appeared, the sudden reintroduction of reality made her completely lose balance and tilt backward while kicking wildly with her legs. “AHHHH!” she screamed when the air underneath her wings suddenly disappeared and she fell backwards to the point that she could see the ground...a whole two seconds before impact.

There was a collective gasp from all around that made Sunset’s ears twitch. She heard hooves on the grass coming closer and held up a leg to stop them. “It’s okay. I’m okay,” she said before lifting her face off the ground to spit out some dirt and grass before picking herself up.

A crowd of some thirty to forty ponies had gathered around her, sharing looks that ranged from extreme distress to confusion. Sunset took a moment to pick some more grass out of her hair, then looked back to the crowd. “Guys, I’m fine. Go back to work, or...whatever you were doing,” she said before waving a hoof to shoo them away.

The crowd went back to looking at themselves and muttering, making Sunset frown. “What?”

A mare with an orange mane that was a mess of curls and light tan coat came trotting through the mess of ponies. Once she had cleared the invisible force field that was keeping the crowd back, Pear Butter raised a hoof to gesture towards Sunset’s horn. “Er, Princess? You got a, um…yer horn.”

Sunset blinked before reaching up to feel around with her hoof. Despite the muted sensation in provided in comparison with her previous form, there was a definite feeling of foliage just pat the tip of her horn. She tore it off and blinked at the sunflower that was now in her hoof. “Thanks, Pear Butter. Nice to know somepony in this town has the guts to tell a princess when she looks stupid,” she said to the much shorter mare before moving to guide her through the crowd.

The ponies around them quickly dispersed with a few nervous looks towards Sunset before they got enough distance to at least look like they were going about their business. “So, uh...what do we owe the honor, Princess?”

It took Sunset a bit of effort to hold down the request not to use her title. They were in public and Pear Butter wasn’t really in that inner circle of Sunset’s. Considering the fact that her farm would probably be depending on the crown for a few months, it was probably best for her to look at the bigger mare as something a bit more royal than a friendly schoolgirl. “Well, wanted to make sure you got home alright.”

“Yes Ma’am. Cookie Crumbles was grateful for the helper too,” Pear Butter told her on the way to her stand. When they reached the display box with the red apple painted on the front, she turned around to face Sunset. “Care for an apple, Princess?”

There was a tiny bit of guilt that set in Sunset’s gut as her mind quickly formulated a manipulative plan in order to get the Apple family to where she needed them to be come Sunday. She looked down and quickly counted as many apples as she could before realizing that she was going about things the wrong way and turned her attention back to Pear Butter. “I’ll take a thousand.”

The order got a stunned blink of surprise from Pear Butter that had her motionless for several seconds before she looked down at her stand. “Um...Ah don’t think Ah’ve got enough here for that.”

Sunset took the apples from the cart up into her magic. “Well then, let’s go where you do have enough,” she told the mare happily.

“...right,” Pear Butter replied in a somewhat dazed voice.

Sunset collected all of the red fruit in her magic until they were floating in one pass behind her head before turning to the earth pony. “So, let’s get going.”

It took some doing, but Pear Butter eventually got moving in the direction Sunset vaguely remembered the Apple farm being. As they walked, she saw the mare giving her nervous looks out of the corner of her eye. “You know, it occurs to me, I don’t know all that much about you guys.”

“Well, there’s not much to tell...really,” Pear Butter replied. “Ah was born here in Ponyville. Raised on a farm here too. Fell in love with Bright Mac when Ah was just a filly, then got married to him as soon as Ah could. Had Big Mac just a year later.”

Sunset smirked. “So you farmed apples with the name Pear?” she asked. The wince she got in response was hard to miss. “What is it?”

After a few seconds, Pear Butter sighed and hung her head. “Mah father had a pear orchard here in Ponyville. The Pear and Apple clan hate each other, have for generations. They try to show each other up at every opportunity. When the Apples put some of their land up for sale, mah grandfather got the clan to buy it and started a farm there. But after a few years, mah Pa sold off the property piecemeal to other families here in town and moved to Vanhoover to open a jam store. He was gettin on in years and it was easier work to just buy pears in bulk at the family discount then make them into jam or jelly than to harvest them ourselves.”

They left the view of town as their walk continued. “Well that’s…” Sunset stopped talking when she saw the miserable look on Pear Butter’s face. Sunset reviewed the mare’s first life story with her second and came to the obvious conclusion. Her expression became hard and she stopped moving. “Are you telling me that your father kicked you out of your family for being with a pony you loved?”

Although Sunset didn’t mean to sound harsh, she was afraid that was what came out when Pear Butter recoiled if struck. “Well, it’s not...Ah mean...he saw us together one day, and then Ah hear not a week later how we’re movin’ to Vanhoover. So Bright Mac proposed to me and we got married under the moonlight the very next night. H-He didn’t kick me out, he uh...just...made me choose.”

With Pear Butter on the verge of tears, Sunset looked around for some bit of privacy. She pulled the mare close and teleported them off the road and into the nearby apple orchard before realizing that she hadn’t taken the apples. Apples she watched float in the air for a moment before gravity pulled them down into the mud.

“Oh no! Yer apples!” Pear Butter exclaimed before breathing in a sniffle.

Sunset reached forward and laid a hoof on her shoulder to turn the mare around before she sat down. “It’s okay,” she said before throwing up a privacy screen then putting a projection overlay on top of it. As long as nobody looked too close, they wouldn’t see anything and no sound would escape. “Now, why do you look about ready to cry over something that happened years ago?” Unless Sunset missed her guess, there was no way Pear Butter nearly lost it from casual conversation about thing that had happened years ago.

It seemed the direct approach was a bad idea, as the mare let out a loud sniffle and closed her eyes before tears started to fall. Which made Sunset stiffen for a second before she moved to pull the pony into a hug with her hooves and completely envelop her with the big wings that came with alicornhood.

Having her face hidden was apparently the signal for Pear Butter to begin, because she let out a loud wail before crying in earnest. Even though she had no idea what was going on, Sunset simply held the mare close, giving her the physical support she needed to remain upright while she let out something she had been holding in for a lot longer than a single conversation.

Sunset wasn’t sure how long it lasted, maybe a whole hour, but Pear Butter eventually ran out of tears and simply leaned on the big alicorn until Sunset spoke. “So, ready to talk about it?”

“Princess Sunset, this isn’t something somepony like you should concern yerself-” Before she could finish, Sunset pushed her back to full leg length and held her there with both her hooves and an even glare like Celestia used when the amber alicorn had nearly been assassinated.

“Stop talking and listen,” she commanded the mare. “I know you’re older than me, and by a good bit if your family is anything to go on. But I don’t care. You are my little pony. Ever since my crash saved your family’s life in the Everfree, you have been mine. Every day you’ve had since then is a gift from me, and I do not like to see my gifts wasted. Now, you will tell me what is bothering you, is that understood?”

After having Sunset meet her gaze for a few moments, Pear Butter dropped her head. “Funny you should mention that day,” she said with a sigh. “After we had a more successful picnic for Apple Bloom, Ah got to thinking. If things had gone a bit different, mah foals wouldn’t have ever known their grandpa. So, I asked Bright Mac if we could take a trip to Vanhoover.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “And he said no?”

“No. Bright Mac never had a problem with Pears. He married me after all,” Pear Butter said with a tiny smile. It fell to a look of despair a moment later. “Granny Smith forbids it. She doesn’t even let me use mah name around the house. On the train ride back home, Applejack woke up and asked me what that Pear Butter stuff in Canterlot was about. M-Mah own daughter didn’t even know mah real name.”

The rather...unexpected reveal had Sunset sitting on the grass in surprise for a few seconds before she actively got to work in thinking of a way out of that mess for Pear Butter. What she decided was...it would take more than an afternoon to come up with something. “Okay, I’ll think of something. But until then, you need to keep it together, for your family,” Sunset told her. “Can you do that, Mrs Butter?”

Pear Butter sucked in a wet breath through her nose. “Thank you Princess. Ah don’t know how I could ever repay you, though.”

Sunset conjured a handkerchief for the mare and put it up to her nose. “Here, blow.” She barely kept from wincing as the mare’s mucus came in contact with her magic. Despite being separate, a unicorn’s magic was still a part of her. It was an even more muted feeling than her hooves when compared to hands, but that didn’t mean she didn’t go as fast as possible in dropping the handkerchief onto the ground and letting it fade away. “I’m sure I’ll think of something, but for right now...need to get going to your farmhouse.”

They took a few more minutes to hide the evidence of Pear Butter’s crying, then collected Sunset apples before trotting to the Apple farm, with Sunset taking a moment to mark the location with her magic so she could pop back to the place easily enough. It would take a great deal of energy, but that was something Sunset had in spades.

She could probably poof all the way to another planet if she wanted to.

As they approached the house, the door banged open and an old green mare stuck her head out with a scowl on her face. “Lan sakes Buttercup! Where have you been? Stall was supposed to have closed half an hour ago!”

It was strange seeing the pony Granny Smith. She was just so different than her human counterpart. Even if ponies weighed more due to density or...something, Sunset didn’t have that much of a scientific background as to postulate a more reasonable theory, she was still sure that the human version had a good forty pounds on the pony.

“Granny, Princess Sunset wanted to have a few words with me,” Pear Butter explained before stepping aside to allow the old nag to get a clear view of Sunset.

In what seemed like no time at all, Sunset found herself standing in the Apple Family’s living room, finishing up her explanation of the situation. “And so, we’re going to need a lot of apples for the celebration. I’ll admit, we probably won’t be using all of them, but it’s better to have too much than too little for times like this,” she told the big stallion that actually managed to be on eye level with her.

Bright Mac nodded. “Well, shouldn’t be much of a problem. Do you just want the apples, or do you want them prepared a special way? We don’t usually cook the things, outside of country fairs Ah mean, but considering it’s...well, you, we could go the extra mile or two.”

It took a second for Sunset to think of a polite way of saying that any food prepared by the family would be insulting to the unicorns at the party. She smiled and gave a little laugh to buy time before speaking. “Well, as much as I could go for some home cooking, I’ve afraid everything needs to be prepared Canterlot style,” she said before putting on a more disgruntled look. “You know, tasteless and bland.”

The words got a little laugh out of Bright Mac. “Ah understand, Princess Sunset,” he said with a little bow. “And, um...thank you fer takin little Jackie to Canterlot, the other day. Ah don’t know how we can ever-”

“You and your wife will attend the party as well,” Sunset told the stallion before he could finish. In the ensuing silence, she looked over to the two kids across the room that were doing their best to not be noticed. “Mrs Butter seemed to get along well with Twilight Velvet, and I want a few mares there she can stand talking to. Your foals will be coming as well. Twilight will need somepony to play with, and...Big Mac looks about Shining Armor’s age. I want there to be some ponies around that aren’t spoiled brats that look down their noses as everything they can.”

Applejack stepped forward. “Ah’m gonna go see Twily again?”

“And Rarity, and Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash,” Sunset told her as she fought to keep her royal persona intact. With AJ looking happy, she turned her attention to Big Mac. “I know you’re not the most talkative pony...um...but…”

Big Mac cleared his throat. “Actually Princess, Ma’s always told me she was surprised my cutie mark wasn’t something resembling the gift of gab,” he said. “In fact, Ah am the very model of an earth pony individual. Ah’m articulate, passionate, and also very physical. Ah could name you all the apples from-”

After fighting off her surprise at seeing this Big Mac say more words in a single sentence than she had ever heard from the human one over the course of months, Sunset held up a hoof to stop him. “Okay!” she said. “I get it, you can talk.” If Principal Celestia can be under five-hundred and have a sister, I guess pony Big Mac can have a big mouth.

Seeing on the clock that Sunset would need to hurry if she wanted to get to Cloudsdale in time to tell the other kids without delaying the exercise routine Shiny wanted to do tonight, Sunset realized she needed to wrap this up as quickly as possible. “So, I’ll be taking you and two of your foals, you can leave Granny Smith here to watch Apple Bloom and...oh! I’ll have a tailor sent down here tomorrow to get all of your measurements for some new clothes.”

“Princess,” Pear Butter spoke up. “Ah still have the dress from-”

“I said I’ll be sending a pony down here to get measurements for some new clothes. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, Ma’am,” Sunset told the mare before she could finish. “Now, if you would be so kind as to escort me off the property, I still need to talk to Mrs Crumbles and take care of a lot of other things. So don’t waste my time denying my generosity and let’s get to stepping.”

A cool night breeze made itself known as the two alicorns flanked their stallion, standing in the middle of the military academy’s training field. Aside from the three of them, there were two other ponies. The first was Hidden Figures, Cadance’s personal assistant and one of the few ponies that she had ever met that didn’t fall over herself to, as Sunset would say, kiss her ass. The second was a big, forest green earth pony with a brown mane that had been buzzed down to near nothing.

It was the earth pony Cadance had dragged everypony out to meet.

“Hidden?” Cadance said, making a mental note to come up with a more familiar name for the mare if they were going to be working so close together in the future. Figgy, maybe? “Is this the...instructor that I asked you to inquire about?”

Sunset gave the green pony a quick once-over with her eyes. “Why does he look like he belongs in the Guard?”

The pony in question stood up a little straighter. “Princess!” he asked in a very direct, near shout without moving much more than his mouth. “I would prefer to answer that question, if I may?”

“Um...okay?” Sunset replied in confusion.

The earth pony didn’t move an inch as he replied in the same energetic manner. “Princess! My name is Corporal Punishment! Previously, I was one of the instructors here at the Academy, with a regimen centered around building a pony’s leg strength, speed, and other physical attributes, Your Majesty!”

As Cadance’s excitement rose from hearing the pony’s past accomplishments, not to mention his attitude, Sunset frowned and looked over to Hidden Figures. “Previously?”

“After a review last year, it was decided that the Corporal was too harsh to the new cadets, and he was given a desk job,” the black mare explained.

“So...Cadance asked for a personal trainer, and you gave us a drill sergeant,” Sunset deadpanned.

The Corporal cleared his throat. “Majesty! If I may correct you?” he shouted. “Sergeant is a rank above me, I am still a simple corpora!.”

“And you thought a pony that I’m already wanting to toss off the edge of the city was a good idea to use as a personal trainer, why?” Sunset asked.

Hidden Figures pushed her glasses back a bit before answering. “Going by the explanation of what you and the others do during your exercise routines, it was clear that you plan on doing more than just some basic strength and endurance building. On top of which, your...Lord Shining Armor plans to enroll in The Royal Guard once he graduates. I thought it best to pick a pony who also knew a thing or two about the type of training he would be put through to better prepare him for it.”

“Well, I suppose I’ll take that over you being stupid and just picking some loud stallion that’s just going to yell at my little ponies all the time,” Sunset admitted before looking over to the pink princess. “What do you think, Cadance? Shiny? Wanna give him a shot?”

Shining Armor gave the stallion a hesitant look. “I...guess?”

Cadance did a poor job of hiding her excitement as she looked up at the large earth pony with stars in her eyes. With Nightmare Moon coming back and Celestia’s stupid promise to her, Cadance knew that she would have to push herself if she had any hope of finding out a way to neutralize the sun pony after she got into a fight with Nightmare Moon, but before Celestia could do anything fatal to herself, all without Sunset’s help. If this stallion could help the pink princess push herself not only physically, but mentally as well…

“He’s perfect!” she exclaimed.

“So...the added weight and gravity spells are a bad idea for when they’re running the track?” Sunset asked as she watched both of her lovers slowly trod across the grass towards them, the exercise course having been completed several times. Like usual, Cadance’s superior genetics had allowed her to lap Shining Armor more than once, despite the added difficulty she had with targets to hit, but the gap between them had been closed substantially from where it had been when they brought him in on their physical training.

Corporal Punishment nodded. “Yes, Princess. Also, I’d be best to start with simple strength and stamina training. Things like combat and physical obstacles should really be added in later, once they’ve learned how to gallop. And the added weight, well Princess...it might work for an earth pony, but the colt’s a unicorn. Even an athletic unicorn will get his tail handed to him by an average earth pony. More weight just means you’re adding much more stress on the joints that his tribe can’t deal with as well as the more physical ones.”

After realizing the truth of the stallion’s arguments, Sunset nodded in agreement. “Okay, so...let you handle their training schedule and everything, starting tomorrow?”

“I’ll work something up and be ready by then,” the earth pony said.

As the earth pony trotted off, Cadance and Shiny came walking up, with the pink pony increasing the speed of her trot before she reared up to wrap her forelegs around the bigger alicorn and kiss her on the nose. “There’s my Sunset. You wanna have a roll in the grass with your sweaty, sweaty princess?” Cadance asked as she rubbed herself up against Sunset.

Sheer habit had Sunset tensing at the suggestion before the aroma of Cadance’s hard work filled her nose and made Sunset remember a few things. Pony noses were different than humans. While a naked ape would find the odor coming from another human that had just galloped twenty miles revolting, ponies tended to consider the scent of hard work somewhat pleasant. But instead of taking the bait, Sunset just sighed. “Now I’ve got to take a shower, too.”

Cadance gasped in mock horror and backed away. “Oh, no! Shiny, did you hear? Sunset’s going to have to shower with us! Now, we’ll get to ogle every inch of big, strong, sexy body without her coat getting in the way. Whatever will we do?”

“Huh?” the young stallion asked as he made his way up to the mares. “What’s going on?”

Despite how much she knew his ignorance was bliss, Sunset thought it better that Shiny be forewarned. “Cadance is going to molest us in the shower, which I’m pretty sure that she’s going to insist you join us for.”

“Well duh,” the pretty pink pony princess added with a roll of her eyes before she smiled at their stallion. “By the way, I insist that you let me clean you up underneath personally before we go in.”

Sunset looked over to Cadance for a moment and watched as her lips were parted to be wetted by her tongue. “Translation, she wants to lick your-”

“Yeah, I know,” Shining Armor said before sitting down on the grass. “But um, afterwards, can you poof me home, Sunset?”

Both of the alicorns shared a worried look before Cadance stepped forward. “Am I coming on too strongly again?” she asked in a rushed worry. “Look, I know I’m really super sexually active and your embarrassed by me sometimes. But, just say the word and I’ll tone it down, Shiny.”

“I know,” Shining Armor assured her. “And it’s not that. It’s just...this is probably going to be the last week I spend at home, so…”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, I get that. And your bed is a bit too small for the three of us.” Plus, he probably needed to tell his parents about that party they were supposed to be having.

After looking back and forth between the two of them for a few seconds, Cadance sat down and crossed her forelegs. “Well, it’s not like that’s a hard problem to fix for Sunset, but I get what your saying, Shiny. Plus, it would be nice for Twily to have her big brother around more often than not. So...see you in school tomorrow?”

“Uh, I thought we were going to be taking a shower together?” he said before looking to the military academy’s physical training and fitness building. “And, you know...sex...stuff.”

Cadance was on the colt in an instant, rubbing her coat up against his as she pressed her muzzle to his. “Who says we have to wait for the shower?”

Before they could get into it any more, Sunset wrapped the two in her magic and lifted. “I do. Now come on you two, let’s go get cleaned up.”

“So we can do something dirty!” Cadance exclaimed.