Nobility and Royalty

Sunset opened her eyes with a tiny jerk as she was kicked from an extremely confusing dream. A dark room that really wasn’t all that bad thanks to the pegasus parts in her eyes greeted her. Cadance was asleep on top of her, gently snoring into the larger alicorn’s coat. Like usual, her mane smelled of strawberries from the shampoo she used from the night before.

Which made Sunset a little hungry for strawberries.

And Cadance. But, that was normal. Sunset was always hungry for Cadance in the morning as of late. It was one of the differences between human and pony sex. Pony taste buds enjoyed the taste of her lover’s sex.

There was a brief second where Sunset thought about the fun they could have if Cadance was covered in strawberry jam. Then, Sunset’s reality cut through years of sexual memories and she realized that having to get strawberry jam off of Cadance’s coat wouldn’t be pleasant for either of them.

While still trying to work the mental image of Cadance covered in jam out of her mind, Sunset became aware of another feeling. Despite just waking up, something felt...off.

It wasn’t anything really major, just an odd feeling in the back of her head. An odd pull in the back of her mind. There was nothing outright wrong, but...something...some little thing just wasn’t right either.

Sunset frowned. Had she forgotten something?

It was as if she had forgotten something, knew that she had forgotten something, but couldn’t figure out what that something was. Being a girl that prided herself on her brain, which included a near perfect memory, the inability to remember just what it was that she had apparently forgotten irked her to no end.

So, she decided to deal with her problems in the most logical way: by snuggling up to her boyfriend and having some hot and heavy early morning sex so that she could concentrate on something that would be impossible to forget about, what with it rammed up inside of her. Sunset reached over with a hoof and came up with...nothing.

Confusion mounted over a lack of colt in her bed that should have been getting ready to mount her.

“Shiny?” she asked in confusion when her stallion wasn’t to be found.

She looked around the dark room before her eyes drifted to the obvious place he might be. Weeks of having to listen to Cadance’s come-ons made Sunset follow in her girlfriend’s steps. “Hey Shiny, if you woke up all stiff, I can help you take care of it,” Sunset said in the direction of the bathroom door before loudly smacking her lips. Then, Sunset realized just what she was doing.

Embarrassing as it was to her old self, who had slept with more guys than humans had fingers on one hand, Sunset found that she enjoyed the feeling of giving her boyfriend some oral attention. And thanks to the change in species, the taste was far from unpleasant.

The light weight on Sunset’s chest shifted around. “Hm?”

“I was just…” Sunset said before she looked back in time to see Cadance opening her mouth wide for a yawn. As she waited for the princess to finish, Sunset remembered the events of the night before. “Right, Shiny went home after we got done practicing. Forgot about that for a second.”

Still, the odd feeling in the back of her mind didn’t go away, despite the question being answered. Shining Armor not coming home wasn’t the thing that was scratching the back of her mind.

Cadance pulled herself up and gave Sunset a peck on the nose. “Well, I hope you didn’t forget what happened after we got back home,” she said with a smile. “That was awesome. You need to do me like a bear starved for honey more often.”

Rather than let Cadance go on into some sex talk, Sunset cleared her throat. “C-Cadance?”

“Hm?”

Sunset gulped. “Do you mind if I ask you something, about Shiny, I mean?” she asked. “You’re the relationship pony, and well, it’s a relationship question. So…”

A cautious look was her answer before Cadance even started to speak. “Is this going to be another thing where you realize you’re happy and need to try and sabotage it by being too hard on yourself or over analyzing something to find the smallest problem and make a big deal out of it?”

Sunset stared at Cadance for several seconds, unable to toss the question aside. “Uh...maaaaaybe?” She replied nervously as the back of her mind continued to pull at her.

After letting out a long sigh, Cadance shifted around to push herself up to look down on Sunset. “Okay, what’s got my favorite filly fretting today?” she asked before glancing at the empty third of the bed. “Shiny?”

“Are we too physically demanding on him?” Sunset asked right on top of Cadance’s question. “I know we’ve talked about it before. But, we’re not laying off with the sex stuff anymore and...he went home instead of going to bed with two mares that love to fuck his brains out after an extreme exercise routine.” From her experience, girls were the only ones that got too tired for sex.

And she knew from past experience with her little stallion that things weren’t that different in Equestria than on Earth in that aspect. Mares just liked to make most of the moves. At least, Sunset did.

Cadance paused for a moment and gave enough physical cues to show she gave the question a little thought. “Remember our little conversation at breakfast yesterday? We’re teenagers, or close enough to that age in your case, and this is our first real big relationship with a colt. And don’t tell me all the time you slept with naked apes, different species don’t count,” she said before thinking about it a little more. “Okay, we are pretty carnal in our desires. Which is way different than what I thought a relationship should be before we started sleeping with Shiny. But when it really comes down to it, this is just a phase, Sunset. Eventually, the fires are going to cool and we won’t be as physically active with him as we are now. If you want to throw some water on the fire before it does that naturally, hmm...okay, that may be a problem.”

When Cadance simply stopped there, Sunset started to become worried. “What?”

“Well, three pony relationship dynamics are complicated,” Cadance said as she rolled onto her back. “And you may be right, we may be putting too much of a strain on Shiny both physically and emotionally with all the sex. Even though we fulfill each other's needs a lot, we do expect a lot from him.”

“But we can’t just tone it down, either,” Cadance went on. “He’s gonna read that as we’re upset with him about something or are losing interest in him, which is probably gonna terrify the buck out of him. Considering where our relationship began, that’s a bad thing.”

Sunset blinked before she thought about it for a second and came up with the perfect answer. “Okay, so...we’ll just tell him that we understand the pressure we’re putting on him and if he wants to back off, then we’ll do it.”

A snort came from Cadance’s nose as she looked over to the other alicorn evenly. “And after you’re done telling him that he’s not stallion enough to handle us, be sure you rip off his penis. Because I doubt he’ll have much use for it when you’re done verbally castrating him.”

“He’ll take it that badly, huh?” Sunset asked hesitantly.

Cadance moaned and rolled back onto Sunset to lay her head down on the amber alicorn’s chest. “One of the trickiest things about balancing the three of us is the starting point of our relationship,” she lamented. “We’re alicorns, he’s not. But we’re the ones that decided to come after him. He only proved himself worthy of us when we were on dates. If it had been the other way around, with Shiny doing something brave and spectacular to get our attention, this would be easy. He’d just have to do things to show that he loves us, even when we don’t need that to keep loving him. But as things stand, there will always be this tiny little voice in the back of his head telling Shining Armor that one day, we might decide to just leave him because there was nothing really spectacular that attracted us to him in the first place.”

Anger built up in Sunset after hearing Cadance’s assment. “You mean besides the fact that he’s kind, loving, funny-”

“Sunset,” Cadance interrupted. “You don’t have to tell me that. I love him almost as much as you do.”

“Uh, Cadance-”

“And don’t start with me about some kind of equal love junk I know isn’t true, even if you believe it,” she said. “I know I’m the third wheel on this cart. I accept that. I have to if I’m going to make things work. If I didn’t, the three of us wouldn’t last a week.”

Sunset didn’t like the way that sat in her mind either. “Cadance,” Sunset said as she tried to think of a way to tell the Alicorn of Love that she was wrong. Which she was. Sunset couldn’t see herself being without either of them. In the end, all she could do was state the obvious. “I love you.”

“I know,” she said before moving to kiss Sunset lightly on the lips. “But that’s also what makes this whole thing so difficult. For centuries, two ponies declared their love and decided to put each other over everypony else. It was simple. They could have foals, but that's a different type of love. Now, there’s three of us trying something new and...things have gotten complicated. Every little decision has to be weighed on a scale with three balance points instead of two. If one takes on too much weight, everything comes crashing down.”

The seriousness that Cadance spoke with made Sunset feel somewhat inadequate. When it came to their relationship, Sunset treated the two ponies she was hooked up with like friends with benefits. She had a hell of a lot more friends back on Earth and they worked out just fine. “Is it bad that I don’t take this with the same level of seriousness as you?” she asked.

Cadance fidgeted. “Honestly? I am a little peeved you don’t take it as seriously as me. But at the same time, I’ve seen what happens when you worry too much, Sunset. The burden of this new type of relationship is something I choose to bear because I know I can. You’re not forcing me into anything.”

“Still, I feel like there’s something I should do to make it up to you,” Sunset told her.

After a little more shuffling around, Cadance stood up on the bed. “In that case,” she said before walking backwards a little and laying down to put her lips on the part of Sunset’s underbelly not covered by her coat. “There is something I’d like.”

She kissed Sunset’s bare skin, making the amber alicorn shiver at the light ticklish sensation. It also took her a moment to realize just where Cadance was putting her lips down. “You wanna suck my horse teats now too?”

Cadance giggled. “No. Although, there might be something to my lack of a birth mother and how much the idea of milking you with my mouth is so appealing,” she said before pausing to raise her head and looking Sunset in the face. “What I’m wondering is, can you make alterations to your human form?”

The question had Sunset working with some of the possibilities of the spell mechanics as she blinked at Cadance. “Like what?”

“Maybe making yourself a bit bigger, stronger, more durable, pad your plot a bit more...that sort of stuff,” the pink princess explained.

Sunset smirked as she saw where this was going, with her towering over Cadance as a human that only existed in some very peculiar nerd fantasies of amazonian women. “And I suppose that if I happen to give myself bigger boobs in the process, all the better, right?”

After giving her a thoughtful look, Cadance shrugged. “That would be a bonus, but I’m more interested if you could make a human body capable of having sex with Shiny.”

The explanation of Cadance’s reasoning made Sunset’s eyes go wide. “Say what?”

“I want you to have sex with Shining Armor while you’re in a human body,” Cadance told her. The pony’s face became one of concern. “It would be one way of getting around your ah...growing problem. But judging by what happened the first time we slept together, intercourse with a colt like Shiny would cause some real damage to you if your so fragile in human form. Not to mention the size of your equipment, I don’t think it would be able to fit his comfortably.”

Sunset continued to stare at Cadance. While her mind could process many things, what Cadance was saying was...too much of the wrong information. “You want Shiny to what now?” she asked in disbelief.

Cadance smiled back at her. “Ride human you like a filly in her first heat,” she said before biting her lower lip. “Mmmm, just thinking about him thrusting into you, over and over again. His balls slapping against your butt, your fat teats jiggling with every impact. I just...yeah, you’re gonna have to get me off before we get out of bed.”

With her mind still distracted, Sunset quickly did as she was told as her brain calculated just how Shining Armor would feel inside of her as a human. Which caused Cadance to let out a surprised yelp as she went flying across the room to crash through the door on the far wall and into the living room thanks to Sunset pushing the pink princess off of their bed.

“Not what I meant!” Cadance called out from Sunset’s living room.

Sunset winced. Sometimes, it was easy to forget she could probably crack the planet in two if she stomped around too much. “Sorry!” she apologized before reapplying a few kinetic dampener spells that must have run out during the night. They wouldn’t stop everything, but did make the accidents less bone breaking.

Shining Armor opened his eyes to a black darkness before he lit up his horn and did the same to the lamp next to his bed. Although he had no idea what the time was, the lack of light outside told him that he was probably the first one up.

The lack of the girls was definitely noticeable. Shining Armor missed the smell of Cadance’s shampoo and Sunset’s overwhelming presence that he could just be completely surrounded by when she cuddled with him. It was still embarrassing to him, thinking about how he had gone from being a unicorn who wanted to be the big strong pony, to a unicorn that liked to be held by his much larger fillyfriend.

And much more powerful. And authoritative. And...still growing. In fact, Shining Armor had a sneaking suspicion that by the time Sunset was done, the view he had of her at the Princess Fair a few days ago would be the norm.

Of course, if Sunset ever found out the way he felt, she’d probably freak out and go on about how she was stifling him or other such silly things. She was weird like that. And caring. Which was probably why the idea of her having a panic attack made him smirk when the reality of it wasn’t cute at all.

When his body forced him to get up and take care of unavoidable morning tasks that required the use of a specialized room, Shining Armor shifted his thoughts away from the girls and over to other matters. His mother and father hadn’t been very enthusiastic about the idea of holding a big party so soon after they were supposed to be moving into a new house, but after Shining Armor explained it had been Cadance’s alicorn future-vision thing telling them to, they had reluctantly agreed.

Once he was done in the bathroom, the sound of hooves on the outside of the door caught Shining Armor’s attention. So he wasn’t very surprised to find Twilight in the upstairs hallway with a drowsy look on her face. Actually glad for once that Sunset insisted that he clean himself beyond what any normal pony would consider rational after going to the bathroom, Shining Armor reached out to pick his baby sister up and hold her close as he leaned up against the wall while sitting down. “Hey there, Twily. You’re up early. Is something wrong?” he asked as he gave her a hard once over.

The little purple pony yawned for several seconds before she replied with a question of her own. “Why’d you come home last night, Shiny? Is Princess Sunset mad at you?”

The way Twilight always went for the worst possible explanation that she could think of had started to worry him since meeting Sunset. She had shown him what that kind of thinking looked like when it was all grown up. “No. They just uh, wanted to keep playing after I got tired and this is the last week we’ll be spending at home so I thought I should spend my last few days here. And what makes you think I didn’t want to spend my last few days here with you instead of with a pair of silly princesses?”

“Because you’ve spent much more time with me than you have with Princess Sunset and Princess Cadance,” Twily replied before she leaned her head down on Shining Armor’s shoulder. “By all logical measurements, you need to spend years more with them to catch up to all the time you spent with me.”

Considering it was the pre-dawn hours and the fact that Twilight hadn’t been getting up before the down regularly thanks to a pair of alicorns who didn’t know how to sleep all the way through the night, Shining Armor made a guess. “Did you have a bad dream?”

It took Twilight a moment to respond, but eventually, she nodded her head. “I dreamed that Princess Celestia banished us from Equestria because Princess Sunset didn’t want to play with you anymore.”

Shining Armor ran a hoof down Twilight back. “Come on, Twily. You know Princess Celestia wouldn’t do that.” On top of which, he doubted she could if she even wanted to. It was Cadance that had all the legal power these days.

“How do you know for sure?” Twilight asked fearfully. “What if you did something that made Princess Sunset really mad and then-”

“Twily,” Shining Armor said before she could work herself into a panic. “If you’re that worried about it, how about you go along with Mom when she goes to the palace and hear it from Princess Celestia yourself?”

The suggestion kept Twilight quiet for a few seconds as she paused to think. “Hmm, think she’ll let me?”

“Well, we can ask her at breakfast,” Shining Armor said before he lifted Twilight up in his magic and put her on his back. “Now come on, I’ll let you sleep with me until the sun comes up.” If they were lucky, Twily could get another hour of two of sleep before the day started.

-Break-

“Come to the palace with me today?” Twilight Velvet said, repeating her daughter’s question as she placed the oat cake in front of the little purple pony, much to her daughter’s distaste. Just because Twily was smart enough to know that certain food was good for her didn’t mean she liked it. “What for, sweetie?”

The hesitation on the foal’s face grew until Twily looked away from her mother. “W-Well, there’s something I want to ask Princess Celestia,” she said. “It’s um...i-important.”

Velvet sent over the rest of her daughter’s breakfast, a mix of fruits and vegetables onto one of the small plates before she sat down at the head of the table. “I’m sure I can just pass it along if you want.”

“No!” Twily exclaimed, looking back to her mother as she did and bringing her neck forwards. “I have to be the one to do it!”

“Well…” Velvet paused to think. All she really did was sit around and watch Princess Celestia pass judgement on the cases brought before her before going to lunch with the big pony and listen to her talk about the worries every mother had about her daughter, if a little amplified by her guilt over some supposed past neglect Velvet didn’t really understand, as well as how proud Celestia was of both the girls. “I don’t see the harm in it.”

If it wasn’t for the fact that Princess Celestia was an immortal demi-goddess and second most powerful pony in Equestria, both politically and magicly, Velvet might have been able to think of her as just another mare worried about her filly. It was the one way she could bring herself to deal with the larger pony.

There was a knock at the door and after a brief look that the family shared, Shining Armor got up from his cushion to trot over and open it. From her position near the dining table, Velvet could barely see his rear end disappear in a blur of motion before there was a loud Mmmmm sound, followed by smack.

“Missed you,” Princess Sunset’s voice carried into the house before a similar noise quickly followed.

“Missed you just as much,” Princess Cadance added after her own very loud kiss.

Shining Armor chuckled nervously in a way Velvet could hear the blush. “I uh...missed you girls too.”

As soon as the girls were through the entryway and Sunset had wrapped a wing around Shining Armor’s back, Twily jumped down from her raised seat to dash over to the pair. Halfway there, Cadance intercepted the foal and took a stance like she was a predator getting ready to pounce.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake!” the two of them repeated in unicorn before going into the other motions. “Clap your hooves and do a little shake!”

After they were finished, Cadance giggled and scooped Twily up to give her a kiss on the cheek. “How’s my favorite little filly doing today, hm?”

Twilight giggled at the attention as Cadance held her close to nuzzle the smaller pony. “I’m good, Princess Cadance,” she said before pausing and letting out a hesitant sound. “Um, is everything good between you and Shiny?”

Cadance gave Shining Armor a perplexed look as Sunset continued to hold the colt close and nuzzle him intensely before she turned her head back to Twily. “Of course it is, sweetie. What makes you think otherwise?”

“Well, he came home last night,” Twily told her.

“And he’ll be home tonight, too,” Sunset said, finally stepping away from Velvet’s son. “We’ve got some uh...interspecies, xeno-biological research to do tonight. So...oh, shoot! I’ve got to have a word with that drill instructor too.” She looked over to Twilight Velvet. “Shiny did tell you guys about the party, right?”

Twilight Velvet sighed at the question. “We were informed as such, yes. Girls…” She stopped, unsure as to how she should proceed. Usually, a mare’s son’s fillyfriend couldn’t just say ‘party at my coltfriend’s place!’ without getting in serious trouble. However, Twilight Velvet wasn’t dealing with the usual fillies.

Or the usual party. From what Shiny had said, what the girls had told them to make was a very serious social event that Twilight and Night had only read about in the newspapers. Something a simple stargazer had no idea how to do on her own.

“I’m really sorry to just drop this on you, Mrs. Velvet,” Sunset told her with lowered ears and a hunch in her stance that almost put them at eye level. Which was quite a drop since Princess Sunset was more than a head taller than normal mares.

“Please Sunset, if I’m going to be dropping your title, you can do the same to mine,” she told the royal mare that was in fact a full-grown pony, not the teenager her records said she was. She still didn’t know how to feel about that her son was going out with a mare at least four years his senior, if not five. There were both good and bad things about being with an older pony. “And, Shining Armor explained it to me. Cadance had some kind of...vision?”

The pink pony put Twily down and patted her back towards the breakfast table before she came over to see the gray unicorn. “Premonition. It was more of a feeling that guided my words than any real vision,” Cadance explained. “Auntie Celestia tells me that I’ll get full blown auditory and visual ones eventually. But right now, all I can manage are feelings that guide more logical trains of thought. They mostly come when I’m plotting out at a pony’s lovelife, but I get them in other places too.”

Velvet looked back to Sunset. “Any suggestions on how to proceed?”

“We told Mom what’s going on, so she can probably give you a list of ponies after you invite her,” Sunset told her. “Make sure you do it at court too, uh...knowing her, she’ll probably make some kind of big scene. Just try to roll with it.”

Despite the fact that proprity told her to remain silent, Velvet couldn’t help herself. “Dear, if your mother’s involved, I’m afraid of being run over by it,” she said with a tiny smirk.

Sunset didn’t seem to appreciate the humor. “If you want, I can have a few words with her,” she said with a frown.

“Oh, heavens no!” Velvet told her quickly. When she noticed all eyes in the room were suddenly on her, including the crossword addicted ones of her husband that she had pulled away from his newspaper, Twilight Velvet crouched in on herself a bit. “It’s just...she’s Princess Celestia. Ever since I was a foal, she has been this unapproachable...thing. And now...I’m having lunch with her, talking about, well...things that I’d expect to talk to my neighbor about! It’s...hard to process, that’s all.”

The explanation seemed to placate the amber alicorn, as Sunset’s wings stopped bristling and she came down from her full height. “Oh, that’s uh...yeah, I guess I never really had to deal with that, what with Mom grabbing me up when I was so young. Sorry, can’t give you any advice on how to deal with the upheaval. I just went through it in reverse.”

There was a little twitch as Princess Sunset broke eye contact and looked in the direction of the castle with a frown. Velvet knew there was a bigger story there, not just what she had been told. But she didn't know what to do about it either. Prying too much was completely out of the question. “Still there,” she mumbled.

“Hey Shiny, hurry up and go finish your breakfast, we don’t want to be late,” Princess Cadance said before she led Twilight’s son back to the table to take her own unofficial seat next to him, so close that she wrapped a wing around his back and rested her head on the side of his. “Hmmm, I think I need some more practice with my magic.”

After watching Cadance lift some grapes to Shining Armor’s mouth, which he took with an embarrassed air about him from having the pink alicorn fawn over him so, Twilight Velvet looked back towards the other alicorn...and gulped. Princess Sunset was standing at her full height, looking down at the much shorter Twilight Velvet with the same expression the unicorn had seen Princess Celestia use the day before in court, during those times when a pony brought forth a serious matter to be considered.

It was a sharp contrast to the mare she had seen just a few days before, one Twilight Velvet had to bathe and give a fresh clipping before her coronation because Sunset had been such a mess. She had seemed to be just as much as a frightened little foal that Twilight Sparkle sometimes was back then.

Now, Sunset Shimmer towered over her with a hard expression that made her want to cower in fear. Velvet could almost see the scales behind the amber alicorn’s eyes tilting back and forth as they weighed the unicorn’s worth, her life, her very soul. All the light seemed to disappear from the room before the room itself vanished, leaving just Twilight Velvet, and the being that stood in judgement over her. All the pretext and lies Velvet had managed to tell herself regarding Princess Sunset Shimmer with the alicorn’s help were burned away and she was left with the undeniable truth: that the pony before her was a demigoddess and so far beyond her that to harbor any other thoughts was the highest of insults.

“I’m going with you.”

And just like that, Twilight Velvet found herself standing in her living room again, looking at the much bigger mare as Sunset wore a perturbed look on her face. “W-What?”

Princess Sunset gave her a little smile. “I’m going with you,” she repeated. “It’s not fair that you have to deal with this kind of stuff without any preparation. If you’re worried about Mom, I’ll break the ice, help you lay some groundwork, then head back to school come lunch. Sound good?”

Twilight Velvet’s lungs screamed for air that she hadn’t realized she had been denying herself, making her take in a deep breath as a bead of sweat that must have appeared while she had been frozen by Princess Sunset’s gaze traveled down between her eyes. Velvet sucked in a deep breath before responding. “Y-Yes. That’s very...yes. Thank you Prin-um, I mean S-Sunset.”

The much bigger pony blinked at the mare's reaction and winced. “Sorry, I didn't mean to um…I-I better tell Shiny what's going on.”

“You’re ready to admit your feelings for Fleur?”

The words Princess Cadance had spoken the day before ran through Sassy’s head again as she met her best friend that was standing outside of her apartment, looking over a little black book that had become a little obsession of hers as of late.

Just like every other time Sassy had seen her, Fleur looked perfect. Her body had quite literally been made to attract the attention and desires of other ponies thanks to some alchemical treatments to increase her height, horn and muzzle length. Sassy had gotten the same treatments as part of the deal with Upper Crust’s family, but she had to admit, she didn’t take to them nearly as well as Fleur. The way Fleur swayed her hips when she walked, the way she had exercised in just the right way to let her flank fill out a bit while keeping the rest of her slender, everything about her screamed sexy.

Except, for her expression. The look in Fleur’s eyes as she read through the book Fancy Pants had ordered her to learn had none of the confidence, kindness, or superiority that Sassy had come to admire so much in her friend. Her eyes were sunken and depressed, like a pony who had given up.

Hoping to put a bit of cheer into her friend’s life, Sassy did her best not to make any noise by getting on the grass that the entrance to Fleur’s apartment complex had in front of it and carefully walking up until she was standing behind the beautiful pony that was letting her saddlebag double as a cushion as she sat on the street. Once she was behind Fleur, Sassy pounced as lightly as she could as not to put too much weight onto her friend and wrapped her forelegs around the bottom of Fleur’s neck as she pressed in close for a tight hug.

“Bwa-wha-S-Sassy?” the other unicorn exclaimed as the book she had been reading filtered about wildly before Fleur’s magic dropped it completely. “What’re you doing?”

With Fleur being obsessive about her makeup, Sassy moved in close and planted a light kiss on the back of her ear before giggling and rubbing her barrel against Fleur’s back. “Well, it’s getting a bit chilly these days and I thought you could use an extra coat. So I thought I’d share mine.”

The confused look on Fleur’s face intensified. “Did...you just...feed me a pick-up line?”

“Eh?” Sassy asked.

Fleur’s expression became concerned. “You aren’t reheating, are you?” she asked. “It’s been a few days, but after the week I had, I can understand a pony’s oven unexpectedly firing up again. So...we’ll miss the first period, but if you need me to help you out, we can go back down to my place and cool you off.”

Thoughts of the last time the two of them were together rushed into Sassy’s mind. She remembered the fire burning inside of her, making every single part of her mare parts sensitive and how gentle and caring Fleur had been with every kiss and touch of her tongue. Although Princess Cadance had provided them with special equipment that could reach deep within her, and she was very grateful for that, they weren’t what made every single heat she had since her first stupendously special.

Sassy remembered every touch, kiss and lick that Fleur had given her. How she had cried out the mare’s name time and time again, begging for more until all she could do was produce a bestial neigh of pleasure as Fleur continued to push her over the edge. Memories of those nights stayed with her for days afterwards, weeks, even.

And all she had to do was say yes, and Sassy could experience that joyous rapture all over again. Even more so, considering how the throbbing biological need to breed wouldn’t be filling her mind with unfulfilled demands.

“I...I um…” Sassy bit the inside of her lip and released Fleur to quickly back away from the pony and sit hard on the cold, wet grass. She gave Fleur a bright smile and did her best not to think about all the times Fleur reached down deep within her. “I’m good! Perfectly fine!” What was that? Sassy demanded of herself.

She and Fleur had taken care of each other’s heat since they began! Even after they decided to no longer be a couple, Fleur had graciously taken Sassy into her home and cooled her off in the same way they always had. While there was always the unpleasantness of the Fall and Winter dry spells, she hadn’t ever worked herself up about it around the sexy pony.

The other unicorn blinked before absently picking up her book and standing up to properly place her saddle bag after knocking some of the sidewalk dirt that had clinged to it. “Are you sure?” she asked before getting a little serious. “Here. Turn around and lift your tail, let me see.”

Sassy’s eyes went wide as she thought of presenting herself to Fleur. The white unicorn would put her nose right up to Sassy’s exposed sex. Her breath would touch it. Her nose would detect the scents coming from it. And then, she would extend her talented tongue and- “I’m fine!” Sassy squawked.

“A-Are you sure?” Fleur asked. “It’s not trouble and there’s nopony around up this early.”

Sassy’s mind continued to assault her with the idea of Fleur pressing her nose between Sassy’s checks, delving deeper into the other unicorn’s depths with her long, loving tongue. “I don’t need you to lick-I mean! Look! I-I’m…” Sassy blushed as she remembered the feeling of Fleur’s hooves on her plot as her legs gave out and the white pony kept her aloft. “I’m fine!”

“Oh...kay,” Fleur slowly relented before cautiously turning down the road.

Once the other unicorn had gotten far enough that Sassy knew she wasn’t going to rush back as soon as the blue mare stood up, Sassy got to her hooves and did her best not to think of the dampness between her rear cheeks. Please let that just be the morning dew from the grass, she begged before following the pink-maned unicorn’s perfect plot as she sauntered down the street.

-Break-

Despite bracing herself for it, Cadance still stumbled forward when Sunset ‘bamfed’ them onto the street across from the school. As she regained her legs, Sunset turned to look at Shiny. There was an odd nervousness in her eyes, but the pink alicorn didn’t know if it was a wise move to call attention to it.

“Okay, gotta pop back to the house, pick up your mom and then port them to the palace,” she said. “Hopefully, we’ll be done by the end of lunch so...meet on the roof? Your cloudwalking spell is still in place, so all Cadance needs to do is move the moisture around.”

Shining Armor gave Sunset a nervous smile as she looked down at him. “S-Sounds good.”

Instead of quickly exiting the scene, Sunset took a step forward and pressed her chest up against the bottom of Shining Armor’s neck. “Mmmm, you know, since I’m not going to see you for half the day, better get what I can while I can,” Sunset said before she reached down and locked her lips with the unicorn’s.

Shining Armor’s eyes went wide for a moment as his mouth was filled with Sunset’s tongue before he relaxed into the sensation and began to enjoy it. Despite the hotness of the scene, Cadance couldn’t stop herself from feeling a little jealous. She wished Sunset acted like that with her all the time, not just the private bedroom stuff that she had to coax out of the amber alicorn.

By the time the kiss finally broke, Shiny panted for air as his blush, or lack of oxygen, was put back under control and Sunset smacked her lips. “Mmmm, that was some good unicorn.”

The words made Shining Armor’s blush return. “S-Sunset!”

Seeing an opening, Cadance quickly trotted in. “My turn,” she said before rearing up and getting higher than Sunset to kiss her in the opposite manner than she had just done with Shining Armor. The pony beneath her trembled as their lips met and tongues danced, exchanging the taste of three ponies for several seconds before their lips unlocked. “Mmmm, love you.”

“Love you too,” Sunset said amorously.

“L-Love you girls,” Shiny stuttered nervously before he looked over to the growing number of students that were paying them attention from across the street.

With Shining Armor acting so uncomfortable his body language was screaming his nervousness out for everyone to see, Sunset moved closer to him in concern. “Shiny? What’s wrong?”

Cadance smirked and caught up to her fillyfriend. “You mean aside from the fact that our former little nerd is currently the center of everypony’s attention?” she asked Sunset before looking over to Shining Armor. “Honestly, Shiny, you just need to dive in and learn to revel in it, like I did.”

Without further adieu, Cadance spun around to the gossiping crowd and stood up tall. “Hey everypony!” she shouted before throwing a hoof out to the other two-thirds of her relationship. “Sunset just made out with both of us, using her tongue! Now watch this!”

Grabbing Shining Armor in her magic, Cadance extended her wings and reared up as she brought her Shiny to an equal height and touched her lips to his. With her wings holding her aloft, Cadance kept the pose for several seconds with only their lips touching as she wrapped her forelegs around her stallion and held him close.

When a full minute passed, Cadance finally broke away and let Shining Armor drop before she touched the ground as well and nuzzled his cheek. “I love my Shiny pony.”

A deep voice from behind cleared his throat. “Princess Cadance?” the new principal of the school asked as he took a step closer to them. “While you’re not on school grounds at the moment, it is my duty to remind you that such displays are frowned upon here at Canterlot Academy.”

“Well, as easy as it would be for me to change those rules, I’ll try to restrain myself during class,” she said happily.

Sunset sighed. “And with that, I’d better get going. See you at lunch,” she said before teleporting away.

As the principal looked at the formerly occupied space in confusion before turning to Cadance.

“Princess business,” she explained before the stallion went on his way, grumbling about how Celestia’s daughter needed to try and be a better role model.

Alone again, not counting the dozen-plus onlookers that Shining Armor kept glancing at from time to time, Cadance put herself alongside Shiny and leaned in close. “Sorry if we keep making you uncomfortable, but you really do need to get over your embarrassment. You’ll be happier, believe me.”

Cadance herself hadn’t been all that keen on having a spotlight shown on her when she first came to Canterlot, but the trouble that came from running from it was much worse than the temporary discomfort she experienced while learning to deal with it.

“I think it’s going to take more than a few weeks for that,” Shining Armor told her.

“I know,” Cadance said before kissing him on the cheek again, which made Shiny look at the crowd right as she kept talking. “But you’ll have me backing you up all the way.” And giving a few helpful pushes when needed.

However, something held his attention longer than it should have, and Cadance pulled her body away from his to see what was up. On the other side of the street, she spotted Fleur trotting along followed by a flustered Sassy that kept glancing back to a particular part of Fleur’s plot at least every two seconds. Then Shiny quickly started moving towards them. “Hey it’s some of the gang, let’s go say hello.”

It took a second for Cadance to catch up, but she quickly matched her pace to Shiny’s and smiled at the other two horned ponies. “Hey girls! Good to see you again.”

Sassy’s head whipped around towards Cadance and gave her a desperate look. “I need to talk to you!”

As the blue unicorn quickly grabbed Cadance’s leg, the pink princess offered no resistance as she was led away. “Um...okay,” she said before looking back to Shiny. “See you later, sweetie.”

As Shining Armor walked into the school, he found himself in a very uncomfortable position. The fact that everypony in the hallway stopped their conversations and looked at Shining Armor wasn’t anything new. Even before Sunset and Cadance started paying attention to him, Shining had gotten plenty of attention after a particularly bad day with Buck.

However, the looks he was getting now were...different.

A lot of the guys still frowned at him, but it wasn’t that ‘ew nerd’ kind of frown he was used to. And the girls didn’t have an expression of pity, but rather...something that was maybe a tenth of what Cadance gave him when they were alone...or surrounded by dozens of ponies. She didn’t seem to care which.

“Everything alright, Shiny?”

The question drew Shining Armor’s attention away from everything else and over to the mare beside him. Fleur De Lis, the cutest pony in the school; what with Cadance taking most attractive thanks to her all around perfection and Sunset grabbing the sexiest trophy with her big round rump. He was still surprised how nice she was, not to mention how well they got along.

It wasn’t just some hot filly vibe she gave off either. Fleur was a genuinely nice pony.

After clearing the distractions that came from looking at the older filly from his head, Shining Armor remembered he was supposed to be talking to her. “Just uh...little on edge. Being the center of their attention without a pounding headache or bloody muzzle to go along with it and take up all my attention is...weird.”

The young mare giggled a little bit. “You do realize that we’ve been the center of attention every day at lunchtime for some time now, right?”

“Sunset and Cadance are the center of attention, I just sit between them,” Shining Armor told her.

Fleur gave the other white unicorn a little smile. “That’s strange, because my eyes seem to drift more towards you than them, these days.”

For a brief moment, Shining Armor was so unnerved that he actually thought Fleur was being serious. But the idea of the top non-royal at school ever thinking about him like that was so ludicrous that it actually made Shining smile and give her a tiny laugh. “Heh. Thanks, Fleur. I uh...I needed that.”

“Oh…” the other unicorn said before her tiny smile fell off her face at terminal velocity before becoming confused. “That...uh...y-you looked like you needed something to cheer you up.”

Shining Armor stopped at his locker and let out another light snort at the idea of Fleur liking him. Even in his wildest dreams, that had never been a possibility. “So uh…” he asked before getting his books and closing the door to his locker. What he was going to say quickly died on his tongue as he noticed three other colts approaching him without the visual obstruction. “Oh...hey...guys.”

The three colts standing in front of Shining Armor had until yesterday, been in a tie for the position of best friend. The pegasus Eight-Bit was a bit of a romantic, the earth pony with the large glasses named Poindexter was definitely the most analytical of the three and then there was the unicorn Gaffer, who was the leader of the trio.

“Hello...normie,” Gaffer said as if the word was something that tasted vile. “What’re you doing here.”

Shining Armor blinked at the venomous words. “This is my locker,” he said before frowning a little. “And would you guys cut it out already? Is everything that happened seriously so bad?”

After pushing his glasses up closer to his face, Poindexter cleared his throat. “Must we recount the evidence again? You yourself admitted to taking physical enhancement potions.”

With his explanation being twisted, Shining Armor frowned back at them. “No I didn’t!”

“Sounds like somepony can’t even keep his story straight,” Eight-Bit cut in.

Poindexter continued. “You have acquired not only one, but two fillyfriends, not only in defiance to the one in five odds that any one of us would acquire a pony of the opposite gender that wasn’t well outside of the acceptable definition of attractive.”

“And you brought them into our hallowed sanctum sanctorum,” Eight-Bit added. “A place where only stallions should have been allowed to enter. You ruined the party!”

As the three geeks glared at Shining Armor, Fleur snorted and stepped forward. “In other words, you’re all jealous.”

Gaffer took a step back at the accusation. “Excuse me?”

“You’re jealous,” Fleur went on. “Beautiful ponies are paying attention to Shining Armor instead of you. He’s bulked up a bit and now looks better and his social standing is so far above yours, he could metaphorically step on the lot of you without noticing it. Admit it, you’re all just mad because Shining Armor stumbled onto the road of success, managed to find his hooves and got even further down it than anypony thought possible, and now you’re angry that it didn’t happen to any of you.”

The accusation got a frown from Gaffer. “Oh please, everypony knows that it’s the jocks, bullies and all you popular girls that are really jealous of us nerds!”

“Yeah!” Poindexter agreed. “Based on our superior intelligence, we’ll be the ones bossing them around in a couple dozen years and they don’t like that!”

Fleur rolled her eyes. “That’s a joke,” she said. “The jocks that shove you in the toilets don’t think ten minutes into the future. And being one of the hot fillies you probably stained your beds over, the only thing I only felt for any of you was pity whenever I saw Shining Armor walking down the halls with a limp. Now, Shiny. I know I’m not your usual escortee, but would you mind my company as you went to class?”

It took a second to shake himself out of the daze he was in, but once he could talk, Shining Armor nodded. “Um, y-yeah. And...thanks,” he told Fleur. “F-For standing up for me back there. I just, uh...don’t really know how to deal with those guys anymore.”

The beautiful mare looked back at him and smiled. “I’m sorry it took me so long to do it,” she said. “Hopefully, they’ll pull their heads out of their plots one day and see how stupid they’re being. Until then, I’ll be happy to call them on it for you.”

Shining Armor blinked when Fleur took a small side-step closer to him. Not close enough that they were touching coats, but closer than Shining Armor had ever been to a girl he hadn't slept with. It was an odd change, but...not an unwelcome one.

Cadance blinked as Sassy finished leading her out onto the empty polo field, then turned around in a fury. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?”

“C-Come again?” the pink princess stuttered as she took a step back from the emotional unicorn.

After taking a few deep breaths that she snorted out, Sassy resumed talking in a more reasonable manner. “Yesterday, after we spoke, I went home and didn’t really think about it. But today, after meeting with Fleur and trotting with her school, I can’t get her out of my head! So...WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?”

Since Sassy wasn’t making much more sense, Cadance blinked as she sifted through what the unicorn had said. “What do you mean, get her out of your head?”

“I can’t stop thinking about her! Thinking about her in ways only a mare in heat should be thinking about her best friend when she doesn’t have a stallion to take care of her needs,” Sassy said quickly. “The whole time I was heading here, I kept going back to the last time we were in heat together. Then, I started thinking about other things! T-Things that I didn’t do with Fleur, but...uh…” Her cheeks turned red. “Things I’d like to do...with...h-her.”

A second later, Sassy took in a deep breath and calmed down. “So, did you...do something, like...put a spell on me, or...something?”

Cadance opened her mouth to tell Sassy no, that she absolutely hadn’t done such a thing to her friend. On top of the fact that she didn’t even know any love spells, Sunset’s time in the human world had made the idea of any form of magically based mental manipulation abhorrent. Cadance would never spit on her lover’s sense of morality in such a way.

But...Sassy wasn’t exactly wrong, either.

“Well, I can assure you that there wasn’t any magic involved,” Cadance told the unicorn before she sighed and hung her head. “But I can’t say I didn’t influence your emotions in a way I shouldn’t have with what I said.”

Sassy blinked. “What do you mean?”

Hearing the question, Cadance paused. While she hadn’t done as much damage as she feared, going any further would definitely cause problems. But leaving her friend where she was at wasn’t acceptable either. “Sassy, if I answer that question...I need you to understand, it will change your entire view of the world and there’s no going back.”

“What do you mean?” Sassy asked again, more cautiously.

Cadance sucked in a breath as she tried to think of a good way to handle this situation. Back when she had been a simple matchmaker in her village, one of the biggest mistakes Cadance had ever made was telling another pony the feelings that she wasn’t ready to deal with or even admit existed. It skewed their development process and usually brought about action before the pony holding those feelings was ready to commit. “It’s about...perspective,” she explained as best she could without revealing anything. “Think of it like this. Right now, you and I are looking at a wonderful painting from two different angles. And from my angle, I can see something that you can’t, something that changes the very nature of the painting. It may even ruin it for you.”

After looking down at the grass for a moment, the unicorn looked back up to meet Cadance’s eyes. “You’re talking about my feelings for Fleur.”

With Sassy being so spot on, Cadance winced. “Yeah.”

“...am I in love with her?” she asked after a moment.

Cadance sucked in a breath. “I can’t answer that one for you, because doing so would defeat the purpose of you making that decision yourself,” she explained as gently as she could before becoming serious. “But, I do have a question, what happened between the two of you? I know there was something in the past, but…”

Sassy gave Cadance a forlorn smile. “Oh...that,” she said before letting out a loud sigh. “I suppose it’s the same with all first fillyfriends. We...heated up at the same time, the first time, I mean. Even though neither of us really knew what we were doing, she was still so perfect, while I was clumsy and everything else you could say about a filly who just did it wrong. But Fleur never laughed at me for it or anything. We started spending more time together after that, b-but it wasn’t anything two friends wouldn’t spend time doing, until...well...there was this one play we went to go see. A real play, not some magical illusion. It was a stupid little romantic comedy that was so bad the lead tripped over his own tail when he moved to kiss the mare on stage. Fleur laughed with everypony else, but said how she felt so bad for the poor stallion, and I...I um...I said he should have just...d-done this, and I kissed her. A-And it wasn’t a simple kiss between friends, I kissed her and I made sure she understood that it was a kiss meant for a pony you wanted to spend the rest of your life with.”

“So why did it end?” Cadance asked.

Sassy pulled in on herself. “Because I was stupid,” she told Cadance as her body trembled a little. “Fleur had always been the prettiest filly in school. Then that mare, Upper Crust. W-We weren’t really as friendly with her at the time, but she had been sniffing around us and s-she came with an offer for Fleur and her parents. How she would pay for the beauty treatments to make her look more like Princess Celestia and how Fleur would be able to go to all of the fancy parties to meet all these important ponies. Fleur was so excited, she said how she would get discovered as a model and then she would put my name in all the right ears, then she’d show off my designs in Manehattan. But...there was one other catch.”

“Fleur was being groomed to be a wife of a lesser noble, which meant she couldn’t be in a relationship,” Cadance finished for her before it became too painful for Sassy to talk.

It was something that happened a great deal in Canterlot. The less powerful houses would get into deals with some of the commoners to breed better heirs, be they good with magic, due a vast inheritance, or simply attractive. There were still a few things Cadance didn’t understand about the process, but there had probably been some poking around Fleur’s genealogy if she had been made such an offer.

The summarization got another little shudder from Sassy. “We weren’t as passionate as you are with Shining Armor, Highness. I even told myself that things were ending between us anyway. Then I said that things really wouldn’t change, and they didn’t!” she said as her tone became more desperate. “I still loved Fleur. I still cuddled with her for several days of the week, I still went to her apartment when I was in heat. E-Everything...it was...it was still the same! And our dreams were coming true, so...s-so...w-what did it matter if, if…I love Fleur. I never stopped, Princess. I just...told myself I did, apparently.”

Cadance gave her a knowing smile. “So, what’re you going to do about it?”

Instead of becoming more confident like she should have been doing, Sassy pulled in on herself. “I...don’t know.”

The unwanted answer got a frown from Cadance. “Well, if that’s the strength of your love, then maybe you should just let Fleur go on as she is.”

“NO!” Sassy shouted, her eyes wide with terror as she looked back up into Cadance’s face with an intensity that forced the pink princess back. “I can’t do that, not to her.”

Cadance tried to regain her mental balance at the unexpected outburst. “S-Say what?”

Sassy’s panic increased. “You, you don’t understand, Princess. Fleur, she...well, she doesn’t want to marry Fancy Pants. She...she can barely stand him!”

Not seeing the problem, Cadance tilted her head to the side. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t known things were going that way after seeing the two of them sitting together at the coronation had told her that much. Fancy Pants barely looked at Fleur and a pony who was usually the center of attention wouldn’t like being ignored in such a way. “Okay.”

“So you have to do something about it!” Sassy exclaimed.

Cadance studied Sassy’s face for a moment. “By which, you mean put an end to their relationship.”

Sassy nodded. “Yes! You’re the Princess of Love, so it’s your royal duty, right?”

After sitting back down on the grass, Cadance sighed. “You’re going about this the wrong way.”

“W-What?” Sassy stuttered.

“Well for starters, you’re asking me to break up a relationship instead of trying to save it,” Cadance told her before looking away from Sassy to better concentrate on what she knew about Fleur and Fancy. “I’ll admit, there really isn’t much of a future for those two. Fleur went in knowing she’d be little more than an accessory. At the most, she’ll get used to being ignored and try to find contentment with spending all of her husbands money on cheap bobbles while going to extravagant parties. But it’s still their choice to continue on with it.”

Sassy stared at her in disbelief. “But...but Fleur, she…”

Before Sassy could continue, Cadance frowned at her. “Is she being physically abused in some way, or emotionally, beyond Fancy just looking at her like every other noble does with every other commoner pony? Does he shout her down? Insult her? Use the agreement between the two of them to force her to do physical things that are undesirable to her?”

If she was in some kind of physical danger, Cadance could bring herself to intervene. But if he was just a lousy coltfriend, that was something Fleur had to come to Cadance on her own for.

“Well...I-I don’t...think so,” Sassy replied as she looked down at the grass before shooting her head back up to meet Cadance’s eyes. “But still, you need to help her!”

Cadance moved onto the next big hole in Sassy’s plan. “And then what?”

After just staring at her frozen for a few seconds, Sassy blinked. “Pardon?”

As she let the fallout of such an action play out in her head, Cadance’s expression became hard. “Have you really thought how this is going to affect everything? Not just Fleur, but her family as well. Let’s say Fleur just decides to gallop away from Fancy Pants and into your forelegs. If that happens, House Covers isn’t just going to sit around.”

“I know. But, I have money, thousands and thousands of bits,” Sassy told the princess before seeming to realize what she had just said something she probably shouldn’t have. “Um, that is...I sold the designs for the dresses I made for you and Princess Sunset at the Formal. F-For a lot of money. Enough to just sit down and do nothing for years, decades, even! It doesn’t matter what would happen to her if she broke things off with Fancy. I could even offer him some kind of compensation.”

Cadance fought to keep her face an unreadable mask as she resisted the urge to wince. “That’s a bad idea.”

Obviously not understanding how the alicorn could possibly think that, Sassy’s frustration increased. “Why not?”

Seeing that just telling her friend no wasn’t going to be enough, the pink princess opted for the long explanation. “Alright, let’s just think about how things are going to play out if you do buy your crush from Fancy,” Cadance told her before Sassy moved to sit down. “You’ll have Fleur, as well as a line of clothing that’s guaranteed to be successful. Me and Sunset have already seen to that. Now, considering Fleur’s career choice, I’m also sure that you would have her modeling your line of clothes.”

Sassy nodded. “Of course. That’s what we’ve always wanted to do since the beginning!”

There was a long shake of Cadance’s head. “No. Before, the two of you would have been helping each other out. Both you and she would have broken into your respective careers on your own merits after your connections gave you the introductions you needed. You giving modeling jobs to Fleur is just that, charity.”

“But-”

Not wanting to be interrupted, Cadance continued over the unicorn. “Then, after she gets done with the workday that you gave her, trotting around in the clothes that you made her wear, you’ll take your little doll home to play something other than dress up,” she explained harshly. “It won’t happen overnight, but one day, months and maybe even years of you providing everything to Fleur, you’ll wake up next to her and you’ll notice something is different about her. You’ll notice that she isn’t as strong or confident as she used to be, and she sure as hay won’t be independent with you providing her with everything. And if she tries to be any of those things at that point, you’ll quickly remind her that she wouldn’t have anything without you before telling your sex toy to make up for her rudeness by using her tongue for its only good use.”

The princess’s face softened. “Sassy, a real, lasting, intimate relationship between a pair of ponies, or more than a pair, is built on a foundation of respect,” Cadance told her. “If it crumbles away, you would still love her, of course. Well, probably. But...it would be a pitiful thing that would imprison Fleur more than lift her up to let her be the mare you admire so much.”

The look in Sassy’s eyes dimmed. “Then, what am I supposed to do?”

Cadance gave her a little smile and trotted over to place a hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder. “Be there for her, just like I will. I never said I wasn’t going to help Fleur. But she has to be the one to make the first move. Otherwise, you might as well place a halter on her and call her your little pony from then on out, because that’s what she’ll end up being if you take this choice away from her. A little pony for you to trot around your house and play with.”

Teleporting was an interesting experience for Twilight Velvet. She was in her house, then nowhere, and then somewhere else, all at the same time. It was no wonder that Shining Armor described the experience as nauseous. As she worked to keep herself from falling over, Sunset looked up at the unicorn foal clinging to the back of her neck and resting her chin on the Princess’s head.

“Oh! Princess, you’re here!”

The familiar voice drew Velvet’s attention away from the opulence of Sunset’s living room, making her look to see a face that she hadn’t talked to in quite a while. Star Spangled was a bright young mare that had been the daughter of some co-workers with a very promising future. At least, she had been until one night of bad decisions had left her with a foal, but not a sire. With the sigma of being a young, unattached mother pinned on her like a second cutie mark, the poor dear’s future had been looking rather bleak. Then, Princess Sunset had stepped in. While the amber alicorn hadn’t simply waved her horn and made everything better, Velvet understood that she had taken steps to ensure Star completed her education while giving her a steady income.

“Well, at least you’re something,” a new pony that Velvet didn’t know added, making her look over to the mare that had used such a disrespectful tone towards a member of the royalty in confusion. “I don’t suppose you know where my employer has galloped off to this time?”

If Sunset was put off by the tall black mare’s words, she didn’t show it. “Sorry, Cadance is new at this whole underling thing,” the princess said, getting a twitch of an eye from the mare. “Might as well come with me. We’ll find you something to do. Uh...Star?”

The unicorn maid in palace livery looked over to Sunset. “Yes, Princess?”

To which Sunset gave her a nervous grin and actually pulled in on herself a little. “Sorry for all the messes.”

“Well I wouldn’t have much to do at all without you, Princess Sunset,” she said before offering a respectful curtsy. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get to work.”

As the two young mares were bidding their farewells to each other, Velvet looked over to the taller unicorn with the dark black coat. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. My name is Twilight Velvet, and that little one on Princess Sunset’s back is my daughter, Twilight Sparkle.”

For a moment, she thought the mystery mare was just going to stand there. A few seconds ticked by before the tall black unicorn finally spoke to her. “Hidden Figures. I am Princess Cadance’s personal assistant in financial matters and other things relating to her personal holdings,” she replied in an even tone that didn’t sound the least bit friendly. Not unfriendly either, just...dulled.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said happily to try and get the taller unicorn to warm up to her. “Are you…” Velvet stopped, unsure of how she was going to ask the mare if she was in the same situation as Star, or if she was...not. “In the same program as Princess Sunset’s chambermaid?”

Hidden figures raised an eyebrow. “Pardon?”

“She’s asking if you’re pregnant,” Princess Sunset cut in without looking away from her bedroom’s window with all the tact of a...well, Velvet wasn’t sure if anything had that little tact. “Star hung out with a stallion that didn’t want to take responsibility for his half of the process, so I gave her a position in the palace so she’d have some income and time to complete a special academic regimen that will allow her to get a diploma.”

The eyes of Hidden Figures changed ever so slightly from the dull expression they had been before. She stepped forward with interest and looked down at the shorter mare. “You’re carrying a foal?”

Star blinked at the attention. “You couldn’t tell?”

“Well…” the taller mare stood up and cleared her throat. “I didn’t want to be rude. You were either fat, or a single mare with a foal on the way. Neither is something that ponies take much pride in or like attention being drawn to.”

A little smile appeared on Star’s face. “Thank you for that. You’re very kind, Ms. Figures.”

Hidden Figures’s eye twitched. “No I’m not.”

“Still feels like I’m forgetting something,” Sunset mumbled just barely loud enough to hear before she looked over at the uncomfortable unicorn and giggled. “Okay everypony, let’s get going before Figgy here has a breakdown from all those emotions she’s repressing,” the alicorn told them before leading the way out with Twilight on her back, who was looking a little tired.

Velvet wondered if she had gotten enough sleep the night before.

“So, got any of your own?” Princess Sunset asked the tall pony with a smirk when they got out into the hallway.

Hidden Figures joined the Princess at her side. “No,” she said evenly.

“But you want some,” Princess Sunset went on with a little smile. “I saw that look in your eyes. You want foals.”

There was a brief expression of discomfort that crossed Hidden’s face before she banished it and spoke. “I have a cousin with several very young fillies and colts. I will admit that they’re nice to be around...when they’re young.”

Velvet gave a short laugh. “Says the pony that probably doesn’t have to change the diapers.”

“Okay so, too late for breakfast...Mom’s probably in her study,” Sunset said before she turned to lead them in a new direction when the hallway they were in ended.

They barely got half a dozen steps before Hidden Figures spoke. “Tell me, Princess Sunset. Do you desire foals? Because the way you were asking implied there was some transference going on.”

Sunset stumbled before she looked back to the slimmer mare with wide eyes. “Urk. Um, that’s…” she glanced over to Twilight Velvet.

Who quickly gave the poor filly a giggle. “Don’t worry, Sunset. I’m not one of those mares that’s so desperate to play with newborns she pushes her son into making one before he or anypony else in the relationship is ready,” she said. Then, after a moment of thought, quickly added, “and I’m not so old that I don’t see another little colt coming up in my future.”

For the briefest of moments, a panicked expression crossed Princess Sunset’s face. Then, it was quickly replaced by a calculating one, which soon disappeared. “So ah...a...little brother or sister for, Twilight, then?”

The sound of her name brought the little purple bundle on Sunset’s back out of stasis. “Hm? Wha?” Twily asked as she looked around sleepily before yawning. “Somepony call me?”

“It’s nothing, Twily,” Princess Sunset assured her before concern showed on her face. “Did you get enough sleep last night?”

“Had a…” she paused to yawn loudly. “Bad dream. Couldn’t get back to sleep with Shiny’s help. Then you came, got excited. Now, crashing.” Then, when nopony else continued the conversation, Twily snuggled deeper into Sunset’s back.

In order to not disturb the filly, all conversation ended and they made their way to Celestia's office in silence after finding her quarters were empty. Like the Princess’s living room, the office that had been built for Celestia made Velvet feel like a foal that had found her way into an adult pony’s study.

As always, the pair of unicorns that Celestia usually had with her were standing at either side of her desk as she went through several of the papers on her desk. The stallion was looking at a list of some sort while the mare stood beside him with several other documents.

“Lord Stark wanted me to convey once again that he’s still waiting on a private audience with you, Princess,” said the stallion with the mustache that both ran Princess Celestia’s palace and seemed to have some say over her actions announced.

An annoyed groan that sounded like it should have come from a petulant teen instead of the ruler of Equestria proceeded Celestia’s reply. “But he’s so boring to talk to,” she bemoaned before laying her head out on her desk. “And I already know that the only thing he’s going to want to discuss is seasonal preparations. That’s all he ever wants to talk about.”

Completely ignoring their immortal ruler’s immature behavior, the light gray mare with the black mane went right on. “We received the bill for the coronation dinner,” she said, taking a parchment out of her saddlebags to lay it in front of Princess Celestia. “And the cooks are asking what you want to do with the leftovers. After High Princess Cadance’s premature outburst, most of the food went untouched.”

“Donate it to the Canterlot Orphanage,” Princess Celestia ordered before her eyes finally caught sight of the three ponies at the entryway. She brightened at the sight of them and picked her head up. “Oh, Sunset! So good to see you.” Then, a nervous look crossed her face. “Is something wrong? You’re not mad, are you?”

Princess Sunset got a suspicious frown on her face. “Uh, no. Should I be?” she asked before a cautious frown appeared. “Why should I be mad?”

Completely ignoring the question, Princess Celestia looked over to Velvet a little too quickly, then back to the pony on Sunset’s back. “And you brought both the Twilights! Is Twily okay?” she asked as she looked over at the filly.

The question got a fidget from the purple pony while the gray mare stepped forward. “Princess Sunset teleported us here, Majesty. Twily wanted to come to see your court and I didn’t see the harm.”

“Oh...well, that may be a problem. Foals aren’t allowed in the throne room,” Princess Celestia told her.

“Hm?” Twily asked as she sleepily picked her head up.

Princess Sunset was a bit more direct. “Since when?” she demanded.

Raven, the female assistant turned around and pushed up her glasses. “Since your orders created the play room that petitioners leave their foals at while they’re in the palace,” she explained.

With the wind taken out of her argument, Sunset deflated. “Oh. That’s right. Forgot about that.”

However, it didn’t seem that would be the end to the throne room issue, as Twily picked up her head. “So, I can’t go into the throneroom?” she asked sleepily. “Does that mean that everypony is just going to leave me outside, all by my lonesome?”

Sunset winced heavily at the question before putting on a little smile. “Don’t be silly, Twily, I’ll um...uh…” she stopped and looked around, her eyes falling on the tall mare with the jet black coat. “Figures, you watch her until lunch.”

The tall pony frowned. “I think I should remind you that my position is the High Princess of Equestria’s personal secretary. Watching over immature ponies is not part of my duties.”

Princess Sunset frowned back at her, but before she could say anything, a single laugh coming from behind Velvet drew everypony’s attention.

“HA!” Raven exclaimed before she looked over to the other clerical worker. “Figures, I got bad news for you. Watching after a foal has been the vast majority of my job since I got promoted to his position. A job that is both thankless and stressful.”

The comment got a wince from Sunset. “Sorry.”

Raven blinked and looked over to the amber alicorn. “What? Oh! No, Majesty. You were a little...spoiled, but looking after you was nothing compared to having to look after that foal!” she said before pointing forward with a hoof.

“Hm?” Princess Celestia replied before looking to her left and right, then coming to a realization as she turned her head to Raven once again. “Oh, you’re referring to me.”

Despite the treasonous level of disrespect her statement entailed, Raven continued talking to the other mare as if nothing was amiss. “So, just take little Twily here and give her something to read while you’re organizing your reports for Princess Cadance or something.”

Twily gasped in excitement, her tiredness quickly vanished and she jumped down from Sunset’s back to gallop over to the tall mare. “Can I help you organize them? Do you do it by date, relevance, or alphabetical?”

“Bwa?” Hidden Figures asked as she backed away from the foal as if she had the pony pox.

“Do you use files? Folders? Binders?” Twilight continued to ask, each word refilling her energy until she was hopping up and down each time she spoke. “What's your system like? Do you require triplicate documentation?”

Apparently reaching her limit, Hidden Figures looked up at the amber alicorn and frowned. “I don’t have any organizational work to do. That was the whole point of me being in your quarters this morning!”

Princess Sunset blinked. “Oh, well then...go check up on the renovations to Shiny’s new house. We need that thing ready by this weekend,” she said before looking back at Princess Celestia. “Which reminds me, Mom. Cadance sort of talked Shiny into having a big high society party this Sunday. You should probably come.”

“You know I don’t like to play favorites,” Princess Celestia told her gently.

To which Sunset rolled her eyes. “Yet, you somehow manage to make an appearance at every single major social gathering that I can remember.”

Princess Celestia let out a tiny giggle. “Those were parties you were invited to, Sunset. And as your de facto...guardian, at the time, it was my duty to be one of the chaperones.”

“And I’m sure it had nothing to do with stuffing your face and trying to get me to make friends,” Sunset said before snorting. “As if anypony at those parties you made me go to had a single genuine pony in attendance. They all wanted to cozy up to me to get to you. Even I could see that, and I wasn’t even in double digits when it came to my age.”

There was a subtle change in Princess Celestia’s face. It was so little, that had Twilight Velvet not been looking, she probably wouldn’t have caught it. Her eyes drooped ever so slightly, as her smile twitched. “Well, at least the food was good,” she said before pausing for a moment and turning to Velvet. “So, this party you all are having, we’ll have to figure out a way for me to come without being invited.”

“I could just add you to my invitation,” Sunset said after a moment. “Publicly, after I get invited, I mean. I’m not a member of the House, but it isn’t like they’ll object. Right, Mrs Velvet?”

The question turned the mare’s attention away from Celestia and over to Princess Sunset. Completely out of her element, Velvet just smiled nervously as the exchange between mother and daughter went through her head again. “No, Princess.”

“Now, how to spread the word?” Sunset mumbled.

“Ah, I believe I can help point you in the right direction for that,” Raven said before she reached into her saddlebags to put out numerous letters. “Three noble houses sent courtesy announcements that they will be attending court today, Your Majesty. And if three of them sent letters, then the actual number should be at least ten.”

Velvet blinked at the news. “Ten families? Yesterday, there were only two!”

Before she could begin fretting over the state of her dress and how it couldn’t hope to compare with anything a noble family member would be wearing, Princess Sunset picked up on her distress. “Something wrong?”

The attention only made things worse for her. Twilight blushed and lowered her head. “Well, some of the ponies at court yesterday, they were giving me odd looks. I...I think I’m a bit under-dressed for this, Princess.”

“Well, you certainly have better clothes on than me,” Princess Celestia remarked.

Sunset looked back to the bigger alicorn. “Mom, you’re naked.”

A tiny smile appeared on Princess Celestia’s face. “Am I, now?”

The confusion caused by Celestia’s question quieted everypony down long enough for her to skim through the remaining papers on her desk and finish them up faster than the gray mare thought possible, even with a speed reading spell. But, the quiet did let Velvet’s mind drift back to a few moments ago, when the two princesses had exchanged greetings. It stuck in her mind even after Princess Celestia announced that it was time to go and they trotted out and said their goodbyes to Hidden Figures, who Twilight had backed into a corner with her unending questions.

By some palace protocol Velvet could only guess about, Princess Sunset followed behind the two ponies that had been with Princess Celestia while the big white pony ended up walking next to Twilight Velvet herself. Just like every time she was near the mare, Velvet felt herself become a foal again, while Princess Celestia turned into some big, important, powerful aunt that didn’t have time for her little nopony of a niece.

Not that Velvet thought she was worthy enough to be related to the Princess!

“Something wrong?” Princess Celestia’s calm voice cut in, disrupting Velvet’s thoughts.

The little gray mare nearly missed a step. “W-what?” she asked before turning her head to look at Princess Celestia. “Oh, um...I…”

Having come to a stop in her head, Twilight performed a trick that had been taught to her daughter. She took a moment to stop thinking, took in a deep breath, then let it all out and focused on what she needed to do. Which was...talk to Princess Celestia about what she had seen transpire between the demigoddess and her daughter.

Twilight Velvet was silent for several seconds before she spoke. “Tell me something, Princess Celestia. That...exchange the two of you had, in your office. Do you...get like that, often?”

“Hm?” Celestia asked as she blinked. Then, the look of confusion slowly became one of apprehension. “Well...that was actually one of the better ones as of late, if I’m being truthful.”

Keeping her mind focused on the task, Velvet nodded absently. “I...see.”

As was the norm for royal entrances, the lesser ponies trotted in first. Kibitz and Raven proceeded everypony else before the stallion cleared his throat and stood up a little straighter. “Introducing, here at the invitation of the crown, Lady Twilight Velvet,” Kibitz called out.

From her place beside her mother, Sunset watched the small gray mare nervously trot out through the doors before pausing for a moment, then taking a spot well within the area Sunset had come to realize was a respectable distance from the throne during her younger years of sitting in on court. Not that she hadn’t gotten much closer to Celestia as a filly who didn’t know or care about silly things like that.

The question as to why this oddity occurred was answered after Kibitz announced Princess Sunset Shimmer, daughter of the sun and protege to Princess Celestia. She walked out into the throne room to see nobles, many more than the numbers Celestia’s aides had said were coming, standing around with various states of attention.

Sunset scooted her butt around on the guest royal cushion as she sat down next to her mother’s throne before looking back out to the royal court. Dozens of ponies looked up at her with all manner of expressions, until Kibitz began the long process of calling out Celestia, with all her titles. In an attentive display of suck-uppery, all of the ponies present began fawning over Celestia's appearance as she made her way up the dais. A particularly nasty lewd thought entered Sunset’s mind that she blamed on Cadance’s growing perverse personality. If Mom told them to line up to kiss her ass, I wonder if they’d fight for first place, or just try and outdo the last pony who tongued her plot.

Twenty ponies from ten families were in attendance. However, there were also thirty odd other ponies, most of whom looked to be members of the elected political sphere and a few well-to-do merchants that probably wanted to kiss the neophyte noble’s ass in an attempt to get in on the ground floor of some new business deal.

Once she took her seat on the throne, Celestia made a show of looking around at the assembled equines with a smile on her face. “My, it does my heart glad to see so many of my little ponies interested in the troubles of those that come to court!”

Several of the more obvious boot lickers stood up a little straighter at Celestia’s praise. Sunset wanted to feel more annoyed than she did at their responses, but made herself concentrate on other things to keep from working herself into a rage for no good reason. Especially since there would no doubt be plenty of good reasons for her to become angry walking through the door soon enough.

She hated the fact that Equestria was still so centralized that ponies had to come to the big fat princess to get help. During her short reign as empress, Sunset had streamlined the process a little and cut down on waste, but there still needed to be something else done for them. How many ponies with real problems couldn't make the trip or didn't even bother to ask for help?

“It has been so long since so many of you have gathered here,” Celestia said before looking around, settling on one noble in particular. “Ah, Trump Card. Tell me, how are your construction businesses going?”

The attention made the orange pony stand up a little straighter. “Well, thanks to some orders during your lovely, simply lovely, daughter’s time on the throne, we’re building a few walls in southern Equestria.”

Sunset leaned in closer. “You’re still going through with that stuff?”

“Well, they were your orders, Sunset,” Celestia told her before moving on to another pony. One Sunset didn’t like all that much. “Ah, nephew! So good to see you here.”

Not one to miss an opportunity, Sunset decided to poke and Blueblood a bit. “It’s a little odd to see you here, Prince. Didn’t you tell me that the bleating of the commoners was beneath you?” she asked sweetly.

“Y-Yes, well... I suppose if you and Auntie can stand to be around them for a little while, then I suppose I can endure a few hours,” he replied before taking a step back. “As long as they don’t touch me.”

Sunset's eyes narrowed. “Yes, that would be awful, wouldn't it?”

While the price-in-name-only didn't seem to notice Sunset's darkening mood, the other nobles took a step away from the idiot. But, before Sunset could lose herself in a fit of rage, Celestia spoke up again. “And Velvet, is there anything interesting going on in your life, lately?”

All the eyes in the room turned to look at the gray mare, who acted as if the weight of those gazes was a physical thing she strained under. “Oh, well, my family is um, getting ready to move into our new house, Highness. And this weekend, we plan to hold a little party as an introduction to the neighborhood.”

Sunset raised her head in thought. “Right, Shiny said something about that,” she said before looking over to Celestia. “Can I go, Mom?”

The other alicorn became thoughtful as well for a moment. “Well, I suppose so. Of course, I’ll have to attend as well to make sure you and Cadance behave yourselves,” she said before looking back to the room in general. “Now, let's get things started, shall we? I think that I've kept our petitioners waiting long enough.”

Celestia found herself enjoying herself more than usual as another pair of ponies headed for the door, their grievances settled in the best possible way. A glance to her side allowed a quick check on Sunset, who looked like a pony who had locked her legs in an effort to stay awake, or at least, not fall over when she did nod off as she looked towards one of the stained glass windows on the west side of the throne room with a frown that told Celestia she was thinking about something. “I seem to remember you being a bit more attentive during your earlier visits to court, my little sun.”

After her body jerked a little in response to the question pulling her out of whatever it was that had her mind occupied, the other alicorn looked back to her mother. “That was when I was getting off to the idea of running this place myself,” Sunset commented lazily before opening her mouth for a loud yawn. None of the ponies below would be the wiser to her actions thanks to the illusion magic Celestia used to hide any royal gaffs in public, but just because Sunset could get away with not paying attention didn’t mean she should.

So, Celestia decided to prod her a bit to get her daughter to wake up. “Yes, you have a pair of ponies to help you with that these days, don’t you?” she asked before her smile became mischievous. “So tell me, do you prefer a mare’s gentle caresses, or the powerful thrusts of a stallion?”

Sunset’s body went rigid as she sat up straight before her wings popped out from being so relaxed, sending a pleasant wind through the audience hall. “M-Mom!” she said in an admonishing tone. “This is not the time!”

“Oh, sure it is,” Celestia told her with a mirthful giggle. “I’ve got you trapped up here and these two ponies have been fighting over the same bit of land for the past three audiences. I’ve heard their arguments so many times that I could recite it all by heart and as soon as I make a decision towards one the other will appeal it after finding a new argument as to why half a dozen acres of land should go to him. So, this is the perfect opportunity to talk about your love life and find out if you prefer cuddling with your colt, or fooling around with your filly.”

For some reason Celestia didn’t understand, Sunset’s expression became hesitant in a way most ponies did when forced to go into an unclean restroom. “Did you have to put it like that?”

Celestia blinked. “Like what?” she asked before realizing that perhaps poking her daughter in the proverbial eye when it came to Sunset’s sex life wasn’t the best way for them to bond.

“Like they’re both just two little teenagers who’re way too young to be in a serious relationship that has a pony like Cadance probably picking out floral designs for our wedding!” Sunset said in a mild panic.

“Um…” Celestia tried to get a read on where that particular thought might have come from, but didn’t follow her daughter’s logic. “I missed something, didn’t I?”

“No,” Sunset told her curtly before looking forward and quickly going from angry, then down to annoyed, and actually a little excited. “Hey look! It’s a distraction!”

Celestia blinked in confusion before looking forward to see Neighsay had come into the audience chamber with a mess of scrolls floating behind him and a hard look on his face. “Princess Celestia, I must insist on speaking to you on a matter of grave importance involving the safety of our nation!”

A nervous silence fell over the crowd at the declaration and even Celestia found herself wondering what was so amiss that a pony like Neighsay, who she knew from personal experience to demand nothing but the strictest adherence to the rules, to violate all forms of protocol and charge into the throne room during court. “Oh my,” the biggest princess in the room said as she took a moment to get out of the mindset that always came on when dealing with her daughter and back into a more routine one. Celestia took in a deep breath and cleared her head. “It must be important for you to come barging in here like this.”

Next to Celestia, Sunset opened her mouth and made to speak, but paused for a moment before her eyes darted over to give the pegasi guards a considering look. “Maybe just having them throw him out would work better,” she mumbled.

“It is, Princess Celestia. I know that Princess Sunset has probably spoken to you about such an urgent matter, but after hearing so many ponies were in attendance this morning, I thought it best to-”

Turning her attention away from the stallion, Celesia once again found herself unable to guess Sunset’s thoughts, Celestia saw to it that the illusion around the two of them didn’t let any of the ponies notice her daughter’s indecision. “What’s wrong, Sunset?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Celestia barely noticed Neighsay use his magic to create a giant projection of one of his scrolls that showed the acronym NARF with a dragon beside it. “Your Highness, I have recently become the chairpony of-”

The question got a look of mild annoyance from the amber alicorn before Sunset let out a long sigh through her nose. “You’re seriously going to ask me that while he’s just standing here?”

“-these creatures are bar none, the most dangerous-”

Celestia pushed the pony that was talking out of her mind. “Oh, I’m sure whatever is troubling Neighsay can wait.”

“-and my organization, Not-”

“Exactly!” Sunset exclaimed, her wings shooting out in an uncontrolled burst of aggression.

“-in fact, the damage could be-”

Using her magic, Celestia kept the destructive winds that threatened to be stirred up by Sunset’s outburst under control while nopony in the throne room was the wiser. However, just what seemed to be troubling her daughter eluded her.

It couldn’t have been the questions about her relationship. Celestia was quite sure that was going well, despite the oddity of its existence and rather unconventional start. So it had to either be Celestia herself that had put Sunset in a mood, or something she wasn’t aware of. Unfortunately, Celestia had the sinking suspicion it was something she had done without knowing that caused her daughter to become agitated. History said that was most likely the case.

Councilpony Neighsay cut the magic from his horn to end the presentation that Celestia had barely been aware of while the nobles around him whispered among themselves and looked up to the princesses. “As you can see, Highness, something must be done about this looming dragon threat. That is why, under your intelligent daughter’s suggestion, I have come to you, the highest-ranked Princess in all the kingdom to present my case so that the proper solution for dealing with these monsters can be found before their next migration in only a few years.”

Celestia blinked as the stallion’s very words tore her out of her internal thoughts and back to the present. Is that what he had been going on about? The migration? It wasn’t scheduled for over a decade! Luckily, Neighsay’s closing remarks had pointed the way out of this whole mess.

“Oh! I can certainly agree with that!” Celestia told him. “With this matter being so delicate and Equestria needing to speak with a single voice, it should be the High Princess who makes such a decision.”

Neighsay gave her a nod. “Of course. Now-”

“You had best try and track down her aide to schedule a meeting,” Celestia suddenly said, cutting the Canterlot unicorn off before he could do much more than say three words, making him blink in confusion.

“...pardon?” Neighsay finally spoke, barely managing to work through his confusion as all the other ponies in the room looked around, equally bewildered.

Celestia couldn’t help but smirk in delight as she began to play with the stuffy older colt. “Princess Cadance. If you’re looking to talk to the High Princess, you had best schedule some time with her. She is the ruler of Equestria, after all. So her schedule is rather hectic. Cadance’s secretary should be able to help with that,” she said before looking back to the farmers. “Now, before we were so rudely interrupted, there was the manner of property rights, my good gentle colts?”

As lunch was being finished off, Twilight Velvet did her best to keep her mind on the food in front of her instead of the ponies sitting on opposite ends of the table. There was a big difference between giving Princess Celestia a tip about parenting once in a while and sitting in the middle of two alicorns. One of whom was giving the other dirty looks as Celestia wilted under Sunset’s perturbed glare.

Since it looked like it would be up to her to alter the mood, Twilight Velvet spoke up in the most cheerful voice she could manage. “Well, I think that the audience went well this morning, it was quite productive.”

Celestia looked over to her daughter and smiled. “Yes, the work you did to streamline things as Empress has really made things go by quickly, Sunset. I really must congratulate you on that. I’m afraid that being so old had me stuck in my ways like usual and I never even considered how to improve a system that’s been around for so long.”

With her words being so...generous, Velvet suspected that the big pony was saying something between the lines, but she had no idea what that was. The glower Celestia got in response made the bigger alicorn’s enthusiasm diminish.

As for Sunset, she...maybe Twilight Velvet would need to have a word with the smaller princess in private about the way she was treating her mother. And that little considering made Velvet remember just who she was dealing with. Oh sweet Celestia, I’m trying to mend the broken relationship of the alicorns. I think I’m in over my head here by several hundred leagues.

But Twilight Sparkle didn't seem to mind the situation. Although, she did have a cautious look on her face as she looked over to the biggest pony in the room. “Um, P-Princess Celestia? May I ask you something? N-Not this! Something else, after you answer this question!” she clarified.

Princess Celestia gave the little Twilight a smile. “Of course you can, Twily. You shouldn’t be worried about asking a friend questions of any kind. And we are friends, right?”

Twily's face scrunched up, the way it always did when she was either thinking extremely hard, or putting something to memory. “Okay,” she said before relaxing. “If Princess Sunset decides that Shining Armor isn’t good enough for her, are you going to banish him and all of our family from Equestria?”

The silence that followed the little foal’s question filled the room, that is, until Princess Celestia let out a mirthful laugh. “Oh Twily, what could possibly make you think something like that?”

Princess Sunset's mood soured even more. “Maybe it was that time you kicked a pony out of the only home she’s ever known for stupid reasons, like throwing a book at you,” Sunset grumbled. A second later, her eyes widened and she looked back to Princess Celestia. “Oh, Mom! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

The bigger alicorn slunk down at her daughter’s words. “No. I understand why you still hate me so much for that.”

Princess Sunset huddled in on herself as well. “But you never-”

“Sunset-”

“Mom…” the amber alicorn said in a pathetic whine before they both paused and broke eye contact, refusing to meet each other’s gaze.

With the two of them refusing to continue, Twilight Velvet turned her attention to her daughter. “Twily? I think we’re about to be discussing some adult stuff. Would you mind finding that nice Hidden Figures mare and seeing if she will escort you back home? I’ll be along as soon as I can. After I have a chat with Princess Sunset and Princess Celestia.”

The little purple pony turned her head all the ways it would go to look at the two alicorns before addressing her mother. “Um, okay,” she said before hopping down from the high chair and trotting out of the door.

Once her daughter had departed, Twilight turned her attention back to the big white pony. “Princess Celestia, why are you so afraid of Princess Sunset?”

“Say what?” Sunset, and Velvet had to fight to keep thinking of her as just Sunset if she was to have any hope of getting through this conversation, said.

Princess Celestia frowned down at the mare. “I am hardly afraid of my own daughter, Twilight.”

“You're afraid of making her angry, of disappointing her, of harming your relationship in even the most basic of ways,” Velvet said in counter to the new mother’s words. That was what she had to keep in mind if there wasn't going to be a complete mental breakdown. Celestia was just another new mother, and she needed help like all new mothers did. “When Sunset first came into your office, you asked her what was wrong! While her being there did mean something might be out of the ordinary, you immediately jumped to the idea that there was a problem and well, be honest with yourself, Princess...is Sunset the type of mare that would come running to you asking for help?”

After a few more seconds of silence, Princess Celestia hung her head. “I know I am more cautious than I should be-”

“That's because I’m a hot headed idiot!” Sunset exclaimed as she barged into the conversation.

Seeing Princess Celestia’s eyes go wide, Velvet knew she had to jump in before the newly minted mother rushed to her foal’s defense. The unicorn had seen what Sunset could be like once she started berating herself. “Tell me something, when was the last time the two of you did something together you both really enjoyed?” Velvet asked them. “Something like what did before, ah...Sunset’s exit and return?”

“We went flying together not to long-”

Sunset didn’t let her finish. “Falling out of the sky in a screaming panic isn’t fun,” she said evenly and with a little frown.

“Oh...well, then...not counting the time we met the Apple Fam-wait, we had to save them from timber wolves. Um...oh! The...Princess Fair?” Princess Celestia asked her daughter in a worried tone.

The attempt at finding an agreement got a hesitant moan from Sunset as she refused to meet Princess Celestia’s eyes. “That was more of a group thing, not just you and me.”

“I think that rules out all the meals we’ve had since then as well, what with Cadance being there,” Princess Celestia went on before her eyes lit up for a fraction of a second before the spark behind them died. “Well, the replay we attended didn’t end that well either.”

Princess Sunset’s face began to look more and more uneasy. “M-Mom, we’ve spent some good times together since I came back, right?” she asked cautiously.

Without even a moment’s hesitation, Princess Celestia nodded. “Oh yes. They’re just...well…” she became uncertain before looking away from Princess Sunset. “It’s just...most of them involved Cadance playing as some kind of moderator. Or you being too tired to stay awake for very long.”

When Sunset didn’t continue the conversation, the silence that followed in the wake of their conversation was deafening. It also cemented the theory that had been forming in Velvet’s mind since she came to the castle. The separation the two of them had faced and Sunset’s lingering resentment, no matter how unwanted, had made things seem hopeless despite the years of good times the two of them had spent together.

“Well, I think it's rather obvious what the two of you need to do,” Twilight Velvet said.

The two alicorns shared a confused look before turning their attention back to Velvet. “What?”

“Try again. Just spend time doing something that the two of you enjoyed before Sunset's...whatever it was,” Velvet told them as she tripped on the amber alicorn's experience. Even with all the times it had been explained to her, Velvet still didn't quite understand what had happened to Sunset. “When it comes down to it, that’s all you can really do.”

Princess Celestia gave the mare a dubious look. “Mrs Velvet, I was hoping for some better council from my family relationship advisor than just, give it another go.”

“There’s no special trick or anything else that you need to do. Just...spend time together, the two of you. Alone,” she told them gently. “It’s not hard or complicated. It just takes time. In fact, as your...um...family counselor, I’m ordering the two of you to spend the afternoon together, when Sunset is done with school for the day.” Then, Velvet blinked and realized the oddity of what she had just said. “Oh my. Um...c-can I...o-order the two of you to...do that?”

Princess Celestia gave a mirthful giggle. “I think I’ll allow that, for such a sensible command. What do you say, Sunset?”

The other princess had a look of disbelief on her face. “Have you seen what happens when we’re alone together?”