A Tender Touch Of Snow

Chapters

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Epilogue

Chapter One

A Tender Touch of Snow
A story by Duskhoof, Edited by Synesisbassist & AmorousArts

Chapter One

Cloudsdale’s weather factory was slowly but surely ensuring that Equestria was dressed for the seasonal festivities. It was truly going to be a white Hearth’s Warming this year, enough flakes falling to provide the lands with the material for a snow pony for everypony. The clean dust filled the air, floating over rooftops and gardens, some kissing the windows of the palace of Canterlot.

The preparations for Hearth’s Warming were well underway in the palace’s Library Tower. Food and drink had been made for guests they expected any minute, and the occupants were putting the finishing touches to the room so that it was more festive. Once belonging to (the recently appointed) Princess Twilight Sparkle, it was now more regularly used by Moondancer than any other pony these days.

“Not that I don’t appreciate the help, Twilight,” Moondancer offered as she held one end of a streamer in one leg and, multitasking, pushed her glasses up along her nose with the same hoof, “but what made you and the girls decide to come along to Canterlot for Hearth’s Warming this year rather than spending it in Ponyville? I figured all your friends’ families are there so that would be where you celebrate the holidays…”

“Normally, we would,” answered the princess, pinning the colorful chain of paper up on the ceiling, pushing her tongue into the corner of her mouth as she wiggled her hoof until the tack was firmly in the plaster. “However, this year I got a request from Princess Celestia...” She glided down from on high and hovered before her old school friend with a hoof over her chest, mimicking Celestia as she used to do so many times before for fun.

“Dearest Twilight. I hope this little letter finds you well. I’ve been running over old memories from long ago and I wanted to reach out to you to remind you of those old days as well. I did so enjoy the old days when you and Spike would spend Hearth’s Warming Eve in my company and I was wondering if, for old times sake, my most faithful student would mind if we could relive those days once more on this Hearth’s Warming coming. Please respond as soon as you are able. Your proud teacher, Celestia.” Moondancer giggled the entire way through the re-enactment and then pushed her loose-fitting glasses up once more as Twilight took the other end of the streamer and flew up to pin it into the ceiling.

“I can’t believe you remembered the whole letter.”

“I might have read through it a few times before I RSVP’d to it,” she grinned as she made sure the decoration would not be coming down before Hearth’s Warming was over. “I flew over ahead of everypony else, but the girls, Shining and Cadence all agreed it would be nice to have a change of scenery this year! Phew, there. It’s in! I’ve got to say, this task is so much easier with wings. I remember doing this from the ground with magic and I could never get the layout of the decorations to look exactly perfect. Something always seemed out of line.”

“...So then she’d send me up on the ladder to check,” grumbled Spike, his new wings helping him to hover in the same airspace as he put up sparkling depictions of the windigos from the Hearth’s Warming legend. “As though I was supposed to help when I was being rocked about in the middle of the room inches from the ceiling.”

“Oh hush, Spike,” his closest friend plucked him out of the air for a cuddle and slowly drifted them down towards the ground once more. “I would never let anything bad happen to my number one, best baby dragon friend of all time.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” he grumbled but returned her embrace with affection all the same. Moondancer added to the squeeze and together they looked up at their hoofiwork. Since ‘Dancer had been in possession of the keys to the tower, she’d put a lot of hard work into getting the place tidy, keeping it clean and thoroughly in order. It had been a big change in lifestyle for her; in the time that Twilight had moved away to Ponyville, she’d developed a few bad habits and more than an ounce of sloppiness but that changed when the Princess of Friendship reached back out to her to prove that she cared about their relationship after all. Since then, the bespectacled mare had done her best to hold onto the positive changes in her life, including the friends she had reacquainted herself with and the library she had been entrusted to uphold.

“This place is looking better than ever, Moondancer,” Twilight gushed, and gave the old pal an extra squeeze, “thank you for letting us stop over while we’re here.”

“Twilight,” the mare chortled again, “it’s your place. I’m just keeping the cobwebs away for you… And studying some of the old books you’ve got...” She paused at that and glanced to the plinth on one of the balconies above them. “Actually, I was going to draft you a letter before I got yours saying you were coming for a visit. You see, I found one of your old books and I wondered if you could help shed some light on it.”

“Of course,” giggled Twilight, creating a glow from her horn with a playful grin, “lumos, the light spell, is basic horn spellponyship 101.” Moondancer rolled her eyes and smiled wistfully, alighting the stairs with a shake of her head. Twilight spread her wings and followed, arriving at the altar before her learned companion.

“I’ll go make us some cocoa,” Spike offered from the ground level, thumbing towards the stove in the next room.

“You’re not curious what Moondancer has found, Spike?” Twilight inquired, peeping over the rail. The young drake rose his brow and glanced back up at the pair of mares knowingly.

“After all this time, I’ve learned to just let you get on with it, Twilight.” He shrugged, “you usually figure this stuff out in about fifteen minutes or less and then I get the quick answer instead of the random muttering you expect me to decipher during your research.” He wandered away to get started on their cocoa, leaving the Princess to glance at Moondancer.

“Do I really mutter?” she asked softly.

“You say the odd word now and again,” her old school sidekick offered noncommittally, before redirecting Twilight’s attention to a leather-bound book on the retable. “This is what I was talking about. Did you write this journal? I assumed you did but then I didn’t know if you had made factual notes in this from other history books or you were writing a sort of fictional story based on the past. I couldn’t find any mention of what’s in here in any of the other books I looked in.”

The Princess trotted to a halt in front of the large book on the raised table and stroked her hoof over the cover. The wrapping was dark blue with a gold leaf finish, although oddly no title. Somepony had gone through a lot of trouble to keep it pristine, and there was not but a scratch on the front, however, the way the top rose from the yellowed pages suggested it had been opened many times. Twilight nudged the cover open gently with the edge of her hoof, and her suspicions were confirmed by one look at the first page.

“This isn’t a book I’ve ever found in the library, Moondancer. It’s definitely not one of mine and that’s not my hoof-writing.” She pushed down the page that was trying to turn itself and read out the words written in beautifully swirling black ink.

“~Memoirs from the quill of Helia.”

Twilight Sparkle read those simple words three more times before she looked to Moondancer, her thinking face prepared for the task but confused by the first puzzle. “Who the hay is Helia? I’ve never heard of a historian by that name before? The closest pony I can recall with a name like that is Hittite, and they were more of an astronomer close to Starswirl the Bearded than a chronicler.”

“Maybe it’s a misspelling, or a pseudonym,” Moondancer offered, causing Twilight to re-examine the words on the back of the front cover. This time, however, she saw how the words were written rather than what they were saying. She let out a surprised and yet enlightened gasp.

“Moondancer, you’re right. It’s not a pony’s actual name, it’s their pen name! Better still, we know which pony this belongs to! We’ve seen this writing before.”

“We have?”

“Mhm! She’s marked our homework, written us Hearth’s Warming and birthday cards and left us little inspirational notes when we’ve needed them,” The pony in the coal-colored sweater looked again, trying to see what detective Twilight had seen. In response, Princess Sparkle reignited her horn and slid a rolled scroll from the saddlebag by the front door, shooting it through the air over to them before unrolling it before Moondancer’s eyes. Together they watched it as Twilight lowered it down against the note inside the cover of the mystery book. Both sets of eyes darted from one to the other, noticing the way the ‘f’s shared a flourish on the tips or the ‘m’s curled instead of pointed and how the capital ‘H’ in ‘Helia’ and ‘Hearth’s Warming’ dominated the rest of the text. gasped in unison.

“This journal was written by Princess Celestia?”

The book sat on a new fluffy rug Moondancer had bought from a flea market weeks ago, looking as innocent as a foal that did not know it was in trouble yet. The two mares sat side by side looking incredulously at the humble cover that hid the unnerving information inside. Spike took several journeys to bring the girls two mugs of hot chocolate before finally arriving with a cup so large it was more reminiscent of a pitcher jug and overflowed with cream, marshmallows, and chocolate dusting. He sat down beside Twilight and made sure he took a long happy sip of his treat before he asked any questions with a snout as frosted as the world outside.

“So what is it, and do we need to go on a long walk to throw it into some special volcano like that weird ring you found in here once?” He slurped the dairy from his mouth. Moondancer sipped her beverage daintily and shook her head.

“Magically it’s harmless, but some of the stuff Celestia’s written in it is a bit alarming, especially if any of it is true.” She murmured, letting her spectacles slip to the tip of her snout and this time letting them stay there, focused on not letting the journal leave her sight.

Summoning up the courage after a bit of blowing on her own beverage but not drinking from it, Twilight finally turned the first few pages over and leaned over it. Ordinarily, a book written by Celestia herself would excite and even arouse the ever faithful student but Moondancer’s apprehension had set her on edge. She speedily looked over the beginning of the beautifully curled regal hoofwriting to ensure it was safe for Spike’s ears. It was unlike anything she’d seen Celestia write before. Checked and comfortable with the baby dragon hearing the works of the disguised princess, she started to read it out aloud. She didn’t get very far.

“Sombra was a good prince-“

“What?” Spike cried out, nearly spilling his drinking chocolate over his claws at his start. “That can’t have been written by Celestia! Somepony’s playing a prank on you!”

“It’s Celestia’s writing, Spike,” Twilight assured him, her ears flat as she started again, “Sombra was a good prince in the beginning. He cared about his subjects and he had a compassion in his heart that I had never known in anypony else. He had a good sense of humor, he delighted in entertaining foals and was a good son to his mother.

“When his change came, it could have been prevented. There was one close to him who observed the changes and was in a place to stop him before the transformation took him over, but she did not. For, she was in love with him and could not imagine him as anything other than the kind Prince he had once been. Thus she let him become King Sombra and allowed him to break her heart.

“This is my confession on the eve of his destruction. The mare he loved and who loved him in return - was one of the alicorn sisters of the sun and the moon.

“When Princess Amore was fatally removed from power over the Crystal Empire and Sombra’s heart went from crystalline to black, he offered his beloved a choice. She could have joined him and become his Queen, more powerful than she had ever been in her whole life or she could refuse him and be counted as his enemy. Many believe she refused his offer. I can tell you she did not.

“The Princess only tore herself away from him when her sister’s pleas grew louder than his promises to reform. She stood by her sibling and together they ended the powerful King’s reign, but she never truly accepted her final decision. It would haunt and change her from that day onwards…”

Twilight tailed off at the end of the last paragraph and stared ahead, her mind full of a thousand and one questions. She could not contemplate an answer for any of her thoughts, as soon as she attempted to do so another five questions stopped her from resolving the problem. She released the breath she found she’d been holding and turned to Spike and Moondancer.

“The rest of the journal explains how the Prince and Princess met, fell in love and their last days as a couple,” Moondancer summarized, “the only thing it doesn’t say anywhere in the book is which sister fell for him…”

“It’s kind of obvious, isn’t it?” Spike piped up, their shock discovery having not been enough to stop him from continuing to gulp down mouthfuls of his giant mug of sugary goodness. “Princess Luna.” The faces of the other two showed that they wondered how he could come to such a conclusion so fast. “Oh, come on, it makes perfect sense! Luna was a different mare back then, she wanted to be noticed and loved as much as Celestia. Heck, I bet that was even why she let herself become Nightmare Moon as easily as she did,”

“Language, Spike,” Twilight chided, “and you may be right, but we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. I’m going to give this,” she closed and tapped the book, “a full read through… Later.” She paused before she finished speaking as she noticed Moondancer’s expression try to hide a hint of disappointment. “We won’t let this ruin a good evening. Let’s try to put this to the back of our minds and-“

Bong!

The sound at the front door indicated that Minuette, Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts had arrived for the night’s festivities. Relief filled Twilight as the distraction from this predicament couldn’t have come at a better time.

“-And enjoy ourselves,” she concluded quickly, “Spike, go whip up some more cocoa. Moondancer, go let our friends in from the cold. I’ll uncover the buffet.” As she headed to the table stacked with a feast fit for the Alicorn sisters, Twilight’s gaze dropped to the book once more with worry in the pit of her stomach. What was her old teacher hiding? Why had this book only surfaced after all this time?

When Twilight looked back up, she found herself facing an early gift Moondancer had put together. In the time she’d been here, the butter yellow pony had found a bunch of old photos, a class picture, and a pin board. With some glitter, colored paper and pens, she’d soon built a personal and very sweet timeline of their friendship so far, with the future as just a big friendly question mark.

The sight of this and sounds of elated squeals from the main entrance shook Twilight’s concerns away. She had a date with friendship, and old troubles she could do nothing about had no place interrupting it. The mare smiled, dropped the book into her spare saddlebag by the stairs, and then waved to the visitors stepping in from the biting cold.

The sky had transformed from a cloud of white to a black and blue patchwork, where the stars fell as chilled peelings from the ceiling above. They glided to the lamps and windows where light remained, attempted for a brief second to regain their heavenly rays before drifting past to join their fallen comrades covering the entirety of Canterlot. Those that did not need to be out in the cotton wool covered streets, were tucked up warm and comfortable in their heated homes and cozy beds.

Twilight Sparkle had laid herself belly down on her old mattress with Spike sleeping in his smaller cot at the foot of her bed, the old journal between her forelegs. She illuminated the material with a soft glow from her horn, allowing her to read the written words flowing from page to page. She turned the last leaf, following the passages all the way to the end.

“... The sisters swore that they would keep the knowledge of the Crystal Empire’s fate a closely guarded secret, telling all who asked that they knew little about the lost city and its ruler. However, together they knew that when the time came for the King and his lands to return from the banished realm, that they would be unable to face him together once more, as one would always be too weak to his power. Therefore, it was their shared responsibility to find ponies with the knowledge, strength, and heart to face him. I hope, for our sake, the sisters succeed.”

The battle-weary mare took in half a lungful of oxygen and kept a hold of it until it no longer felt like a comfort. As she released it, she noticed the last page did not flutter in the same way the others did and her curiosity was pipped again. She lowered her nose all the way until she could smell the sweet mustiness of the old parchment and examined the heavier page by pushing it back and forth with her hoof. Both sides of the sheet seemed pregnant with something and at once, the mare realized what this meant.

Switching spells in a flash, the amethyst mare felt through the bag she’d brought to bed and tumbled out; a quill, the keys to her lavish home in Ponyville, a bunch of heavily annotated flashcards (they always seemed to turn up in her stuff ever since she expected a test from her mentor), and a scepter (Discord always managed to sneak it into her bags somehow, and the creepy grinning likeness of her own face intimidated her every time) before finally she found her hoof file. Sailing it across to the book, she pushed the point carefully into a split at the bottom of the page, and slowly sawed along the join. Progressively, one page became an envelope and if she had continued to cut, it would have become two pages. But the Princess did not want to be unable to repair the damage she was doing. Brief guilt for destroying a historical artifact, and a book at that, tiptoed along her mind but she pushed the thought back, her desire to find an explanation overriding her nerdish concerns.

With the split between the two pages found, Twilight turned the book around in the air and gave it a small shake. The lump between the sheets shifted and out of the parting was born more notes onto her upturned hoof, flattened by all the time it was gestating in the journal. She set the hardback down on her bedside cabinet and unfolded the papyrus as delicately as she could, scrutinizing the details intensely.

It was a letter.

“It’s not Celestia’s writing, at least,” she affirmed to herself, “I can make out that much from-“

She stopped. At the top of the message was the name of the pony it had been addressed to.

“My Beloved Helia~”

She read the three words several times, believing less and less that they actually existed and having to bite herself to prove she had not fallen to sleep. Physical proof sat in front of her, the chosen epithet of the Princess who rose and set the sun every single day. She committed the cardinal sin for most readers and skipped ahead to the end, as sure of who she would find to have written this letter as birds were sure of the dawn when they returned to their roosts at night.

“~Your Once and Future Shadow.” Shadow. The Equestrian word for Sombra. Twilight’s stomach knotted itself several times over. How could this be? How could Princess Celestia, such a benevolent ruler, have been so easily swayed by a wicked demon like Sombra? Then again, were the signs already there?

Twilight’s brain began to betray her. It conjured ideas and theories to try and prove that Celestia had been touched by the dark side all along. It reminded her of the day she arrived in Canterlot expecting to be quizzed and instead sent to the frozen North. Celestia had shown her a glimpse of the sinister power Sombra could have brought upon Equestria if he had succeeded. She did so with such ease.

She recalled the disagreement between Celestia and Luna which Starlight Glimmer was sent to resolve. Had Starlight’s nightmare created the dark version of the Princess known as Daybreaker or was it Celestia’s presence that caused it? Speaking of which, how had Celestia sent her own sister to the moon for a whole millennia? Twilight could not even imagine sending her brother Shining Armor away for a week, or Spike away for a day without worrying about them. Was it truly her strength of character that kept her going, or a more malicious streak hidden deep inside…?

“No,” the orchid pony defiantly uttered to herself, “Celestia isn’t like that. She cared enough for everypony else to defend them numerous times from Discord, from Tirek, from her own sister… From Sombra.” Twilight’s curiosity was too great. She needed to know what the letter from Celestia’s shadow had to say.

My Beloved Helia,

I understand that this letter finds you at a difficult crossroads in our relationship. I am aware that the next time our eyes meet it will not be with a loving gaze, but across a battlefield. I am not writing this to sway your mind or regain you from the clutches of your sister. I simply wish you to remember what you are losing.

You believe that my mind is warped by power and that my hunger is only for the conquest of Equestria. Your assumptions are wrong. These are merely ambitions to me. You also call my treatment of the ponies of my kingdom cruel and barbaric, but the chains and imprisonment are merely a temporary procedure until they recognize me as their true ruler. I am not changed from the Prince you fell in love with. I, am improved.

“This was written after Celestia left Sombra but before she and Luna defeated him,” Twilight mused before she continued reading.

If you have made up your mind once and for all about me, then these words will not affect you. But, if you are still reading this, then I know some love still remains. I told you I wanted to remind you of what you were losing. To do that, I wish to recall my fondest memory; our first Hearth’s Warming Eve together.

The reading alicorn pondered briefly whether this would simply be a sick love letter from a deluded and mad king, and quickly scanned below to see if her presumptions were correct. Barely two paragraphs later she knew they were not. Five paragraphs later, she was hyperventilating. Ten, and her hoof subconsciously drifted south…

Years before Nightmare Moon’s first fateful appearance, Celestia had not expected a gentle rapping, like some lost owl at her bedroom balcony doors, to wake her precisely one hour after her head had embraced the goose feather pillows. Even in the days of old, her castle in the midst of the once tamed forests of Everfree, was heavily fortified and guarded. It should not have been an easy feat for somepony to be tapping at the window of her private sanctuary, and yet here they were. A lost shadow of the night hoping to get in from the blistering cold, Hearth’s Warming night.

Vanity protected by a long, floaty silk nightgown, the resting princess rose from her bed and trotted to the curtains, hesitating as she reached for them.
”Thou does know we are but a shout away from calling all thy guard to this room if thou does not announce thine intentions, stranger,” she whispered loud enough to be heard through the fabric and stained glass.

”My intentions are to be reunited with the one and only holder of my heart,” came the reply, which prompted a surge to action from the usually halcyon mare. Celestia flung open her curtains, unbolted the locks and clicked open her door to a young dark prince, his obsidian mane flattened by the wetness of the sleet and his usually unwavering posture shaking from the temperature. Without a thought as to what might be said, she pulled him directly into her room and relatched the doors. When she was sure she had kept Luna’s weather at bay, she spun around and greeted him with the passion of teenage lovers, lips mashing to his, no matter how frozen his muzzle was. With her love and her embrace, she planned to warm him.

Together they created a blizzard of their own. One of day tangling with night, where her wings sprang open in delight as they swirled around her room in a draft of an unseen Windigo, connected by lips, teeth, and tongues. While their mouths dueled, they did so with the discipline of a pair of fencing sports-ponies. He flicked forward, she would defend. She would parry, he would riposte. Finally, they drew away as equals, panting gleefully at the end of her four-poster bed and unable to tear their eyes from their adoring lover.

“I am here-“

“We know why you are here, loving Shadow,” Celestia interrupted with a voice that could bloom a garden of bright flowers, “thou made us a promise; that on the anniversary of our first meeting, thou would find your way to us again and prove your worth.” Sombra could not find words adequate enough to confirm that was his intention, and could only give a hopeful nod. The Princess sucked on her bottom lip briefly, then gave a gracious bow of her head.

“We are yours, fair Shadow. Your Helia to light your darkest days. Please, show us what we really mean to you.” She said the words with barely any volume behind them, but the magnitude of meaning was not lost on her lover. Instantly, he was kissing again, and this time with purpose.

They danced to the tune of reckless lovers, spiraling again until Celestia’s hind legs hit the edge of her large comfortable bed. She manipulated the way her chest puffed the wind from her body, the manner her eyes dazzled in the winter moonlight through the window, the luminescent curls of her mystical mane and tail, all to attract him further. Not that there was any need. He already knew she was the only mare he would ever keep the flames of exaltation, burning bright for. Gently, his magic took hold of her nightdress, and with the utmost care he slipped it up and off of her, like a clingy ghost being shown its place. In return, she chose to free him from his hooded cloak not with a spell but with her mouth on the metal clasp holding the waterproofed cloth around him. A well practiced flick of her tongue later, and he was released of one piece of clothing.

Together they worked on the rest of his ensemble since he had not been foolish enough to brave the harsh weather in a mere coat. Crevate, jacket, waistcoat, and shirt all flew away until the stallion stood in only his fur, looking abashed but dedicated as he trotted towards her pale smile once more. Only as he did so did he find he did not get close to it until he discovered that Celestia’s rear and legs had slid onto the mattress, while her forelegs and torso still hung over it. She tapped a hoof on her bed frame gently and gave him the hypnotic eye no stallion can ever resist from their heart’s desire.

“Up,” was all she commanded and all he needed to hear. His forehooves moved to either side of the bed and his sweet snow angel wiggled back a little more in preparation. He gave her a last long nuzzle as he built his confidence up to provide for her, then he reared himself up and forward and nickered sharply, as he felt his most private area touch her on the tip of her snout.

He opened his mouth to apologize but the words never had time to form on his vocal cords. Instead, she made him moan right off the cuff. Not offended or disgusted by the sheath pressed to the soft pad of her snout, she pressed into it and immediately began to explore it with her salmon mouth muscle. She swam her tongue along his pouch, amazed that it breathed and posed just like the rest of him. She slid her little fish up to the hole at the top and tried to dart and hide in it. Unfortunately, it was forced out quickly by his swelling eel, which slid over the bridge of her snout and between her eyes without a care that she was a princess. Her eyes crossed at the proud snake still filling and growing before her and she pulled back to stroke it encouragingly.

“Mmf… oh… m-my lady,” Sombra gasped above Celestia, injecting pride into her that she could make him murmur such loving words. She became resolved to earn as many of these whimpers from her robust and well-hung prince as possible. She collected his inflated mast with telekinesis as it slowed in growth, licking her lips at the sight of the bubble of seed, waiting for her on his tip. Not wanting to be kept waiting, she moved in and wrapped her lips around his first inch, with her tongue lunging to clean and taste it.

Sombra could not fully observe what his dearheart was doing to him, he could only go by the touch of moist sunshine enveloping the helmet of his soldier and sucking on it. He could not see what she would do next and yet she was one of the few in his world who he would ever trust to act without his orders. Complimentary moans and nickers created the symphony around them, the slurps and suckles bringing subtle percussion to their sweet melody. The stallion could not believe this moment had come, as he had always assumed that when it did come around, they would laugh away the idea and do something less risque. Nonetheless, he never grew tired of Celestia’s daring energy and passion for life, for love, and for the love of him. He swept one hoof along her wing delicately as though he was going to pay it some affectionate attention, but changed his task and cupped the back of her head as his hips moved.

“Mmmf-hrk… gulp, mmmm,” Celestia’s groans grew in passion and her mouth squeezed the pole she enjoyed and loved him taking control. She trusted him, no matter how possessive and fierce he grew, she knew he loved her unwaveringly and that would always come before his strongest urges. She adored him in return, as his piece pitted itself into the darkness of her throat. She let him hump harder and faster and sang out in joy to his rough and eager melody. She used techniques countless vocal teachers had taught her over the years so that she breathed in when his staff of life pulled from her windpipe and serenaded it when it returned. So, on the impassioned hymn continued until…

“A-Ah… m-my …. huff… Helia! I-I’m going to-“ His face scrunched and, despite his warning, his hoof pushed her heavily in an attempt to hold her there and gift her lovely voice with his sticky nectar.

She tugged her head back sharply, then snatched his hugging leg away with her magic and pushed him off. The startled unicorn at the brink of a deliverance floundered at the sudden crash to his senses. Had his hallowed princess betrayed him? Had he done something wrong? As he shook on bent legs and tried not to waste his ambrosia across her varnished floor, his eyes pleaded to her for an explanation and, if necessary, to accept his apology.

His dreams came true in three breaths.

Sigh~ she lifted her head, brushed the back of her ankle over lips to wipe away the clear cord of his arousal from them. Her soft salt lamp eyes were still lit with wanton flames of infatuation.

Sigh~

“Such a special offering to your lady should be accepted in a special way, my Shadow,” she had whispered as she lifted herself up on her bed. Her wings reset themselves so that feathers which had shifted out of place could be corrected, and she turned steadily, her eyes always on him.

Sigh~ her front settled longways on her bed, but her back end remained as erect as Sombra. Through the phantom strands of a faded rainbow, her delicate entrance could be seen. The final sigh allowed her lungs to return to normal, for that brief sharing of hearts through their amorous stares.

“Come,” she crooned simply and then gave no further instructions. None were needed, intentions were clear and Sombra knew what his duty was to her now. He stepped into her threshold on the spongy mattress and swept her swirling tail from his goal. Lowering his head, he moved down to look over the unspoiled slit and watched it shudder and flex when his breath met it. The drenched skin glittered in the light of the wintery moon, while the slight pink areas of her inner thighs bore darker shades of arousal. Her scent pulled him in, but he did not need it to. The musty but feminine smell filled his lungs on the next deep inhale, reminding him of the tender scent of vanilla. He could FEEL her radiance calling him in, just as she called her sun into the blue painted skies every morning.

He sank his lips to her wet sex and kissed it with as much passion as he would kiss her mouth. It was her turn to be treated to an unseen Casanova who shared his worship for her, through the snuggling and smoothing snout along her soft, supple labia. He praised her clit for blessing his tongue with the taste of her delicacy, and he drank like a hungry foal from the goodness she trickled into his muzzle.

“Ah-Oh! Ohh… My dear sweet Shadow!” Although he could not see it, her exhales and mewls drew the pictures in his mind of the pleasure in her expression for him to see. He felt like he could keep this up forever and live on the fruits of her ecstasy, but that was not the duty she had placed in his hooves. There was another task he could not neglect any longer and so, despite her rapture, he had to pull back and sever the spider string connecting his tongue and her folds.

When she looked back again, she knew it was time. His hard stallionhood slapped between her flanks and his stomach as he took up his mantle on top of her. His eyes shone with power and pride, yet she could not fear it, she could only feel honored to be giving herself to him this night, out of her Hearth’s Warming wrappings and ready for him. His horn produced a crimson light, and hers met it with a summer’s blue as together they clasped his waving length and steadied it.

Conjoined by their enchanted grasps they straightened him and helped him forward until his tip stroked her quivering butterfly wings. She cooed at the brush of his flesh on her tissue petals and she bit her lips, her eyes assuring him the moment had arrived. As a partnership, they ensured his aim was true and as he finally let his weight move forward, his bow breached the warm, inviting gate.

“Ah~Celestia!”

“Ohhhh Sombra~”

Just as her subjects would part their curtains every morning to greet her daylight, so too did Sombra part her to accept her resplendence. He marveled at how close she held him inside and yet how softly and wooly her canal was. In the same instant, Celestia was awed by the way he filled and stretched her, and yet, how he felt like he had always belonged inside her. It was to both of them as though the stars had deemed this a fixed point in time and nothing, not war, nor tide, nor universal intervention, could have stopped this coupling.

“You’re so-”

“It’s so-”

“I love you-”

“Yes. Yes! I love you!” For those were the perfect words. The right words to describe what was happening. It was love. Pure, unadulterated love. Both could feel it burning like a fire in their hearths, a strength of heart able to keep even the harshest Windigo away.

He let her body tell him when he needed to stop and reverse, and she entrusted him with knowing when her core needed him back. They started at a gentle rhythm, continuing their intimate music as a true duet, no more solo sessions for either of them tonight. With their instruments in perfect tune, they performed together in a lustful, emotional piece of beautiful opera.

“Ohh~ hold n-nothing back, my dear one,” slipped from Celestia’s lips and almost immediately received a reply. His piston powered up, his body pulled back and slammed, and the Princess had to hurriedly attack her pillow with her mouth to stop the guards from coming to her screams. Into the feathers and fabric, she wailed and wept as he drove deeper and deeper with each plunge of his prick until at last his muscular hips met her toned and tight flank. Even though her squeals and yells continued into the muffling cushion, she showed and he knew that it was not out of pain or anguish that she cried. Her shouts were born from the fantastic vibrations rolling like seas of gold beneath her ivory fur, which built up and up from the pounding penis blitzing her.

“I-I can’t -I can’t- I-ahhhhhhhhhhh~!” What she could not do, Sombra realized, was hold back as her channel clamped onto him when he slid back and threatened to force him out. He constrained her face back into the muting pillow and propelled himself back into her, as her whole body shook and swelled, wings beating the bed like the complaints of a fallen angel. She soaked his steadfast trooper, she spilled onto his lap and his testes, and she infused her bed with a drizzling of her delightful orgasm.

Although she arrived at her climax, he did not stop. He kept her in a permanent state of frenzy as he continued to drive again and again against her tsunami, bashing at the door to her womb and demanding that she take delivery of the spasming package he was holding. She writhed from left to right, tugging at sheets and biting the drool-sodden pillow, avoiding replying until she knew her body could take no more of this beautiful torment. Her closed eye cracked open and her begging gaze flashed him his final green flag.

The buildup started in his loins, charging up his body for the ultimate burst of power. He tried to prepare her for it with a shuddering hoof of comfort along her spine, but he could not prepare himself for it let alone her. His body took over his movements as his mind melted from the sheer strength of the gathering storm below his gut. He was now a puppet to his carnal, animalistic subconscious. His five senses became enhanced as he watched his beloved thrash under his mercy, his member throbbing savagely within her.

His sack pulled in tight under him. The stew in the two orbs boiled up the spout at speed, accumulating at the peak until the pressure was just right. He clumsily thrust once, twice, thrice - and the canon detonated.

“Celest-Ahhhhhh~!”

The princess was near catatonic by the time the flurries of winter soldiers had spilled into her heated paddock, her frosted form alive with the new life he had filled her with. She hummed happily as he slowly relaxed atop her, his long rifle splattering her sanctum over and over. Her eyes shut again, her cheeks spread with a smile, and she did not reopen them for a long while.

Before he was done, Sombra pulled back, the last splashes crystalizing her hind. He dipped low to the place he had last kissed and returned his oral attentions to it, not caring that it now had been slimed by the casualties of his milky bombardment. In the bitterness of his flavors lay the flowery juices of her orgasms and so he braved tasting his own medicine to get spoonfuls of hers. Above him, Celestia brayed hoarsely and sighed, shaking as she eventually rewarded his cleansing tongue with one last sugary shot of her syrup.

His mouth was not even a breath of air away from her puss when she gathered him with the last of the magic her exhausted frame could muster. She slid him over the covers into her waiting forelegs and cuddled him, smooched and cradled him. Although not said, she dearly thanked him for appearing as her own darling Hearth’s Warming miracle by holding and cherishing him for the rest of the night.

“I love you,” they repeated to one another in numerous ways until they finally settled, glowing as one.

Celestia’s eyes did open when she felt something small but weighty land on the bed. Before her nose lay something wrapped in velvet and ribbons, held by Sombra’s red energy. He let it transfer to her magic and smiled, his own nose against her jaw.

“Something to remember me by,” he told her.

“You say that like you are going away,” she mumbled sadly. She unwrapped the gift from the yellow and scarlet ribbons, tugged off the azure cloth and found herself holding a smooth redwood circular box. She opened it to find a tiny Clover the Clever statuette in mid-dance twirling on a plate with the blizzards of the windigos swirling around her, unharming her. The start of a tune she knew so well played to her . ‘Hearth’s Warmings Dreams’. She associated it with him.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming, my love,” he whispered adoringly, kissing her ear.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming, sweet Shadow,” she murmured, looking to him and kissing his lips. “Be with me when I wake?” She asked with hope, not wanting this feeling to ever fully end. He merely smiled calmly, kindly, and gave a small nod. He wrapped his legs around her and held her, both winding and rewinding the box until sleep carried them together into their brief taste of paradise.

“...If you are still reading this, then I know you still long for me. You know you have a part of my heart you can never release.

“Dear Helia, come back to me. Together we can change Equestria. Our destinies were poised to keep us apart and yet we found love in each other, let us defy those odds again. I am not ready to release you and watch you fly as I fall.

“I shall be waiting in my kingdom for your answer.

“~Your Once and Future Shadow.”

Twilight let her intake of air shake for many reasons, as she levitated the letter away and placed it on top of the book. Then she glanced to her hoof and gulped at the moisture that clung to it, her aroma clinging to the room. She hadn’t realized until the last words of the letter how much it had turned her on and what she’d done about it as she kept reading. She looked down to the sight of a damp circle beneath her sated crotch. She’d petted herself to her release three times before she’d finished the love notes, and was glad it at least did not wake Spike. She was not ready to explain “the birds and the bees” to him just yet, she thought. Now she just had to remove the evidence.

The young mare slipped out of bed and crossed the room, into the corridor where she took a trip to the bathroom. A quick toilet break and a wash later, Twilight felt as good as new, and all she needed following that was fresh bed sheets. She found some in the airing cupboard and turned, expecting to be tucked up in a clean bed in a minute or two. Though, the night had one last surprise in store before that could happen...

A lone figure, much too large to be Spike or even one of her friends, stood directly beside the old bed. The sheets tumbled out of Twilight’s purple shimmering magic as she saw who was by her bed, examining the dark stain on sullied covers with a softly sniffing snout. The figure noticed her and instantly straightened up, an awkwardness to their posture that she had never seen before. She swallowed hard and gave a small, worried wave.

“He-Hello, Princess Celestia.”

“Good morning, Twilight.”

Author's Note

Want to discuss the story? Follow me to get ‘Switched On,’ on Discord...

One of the songs I was listening to while writing this was ‘Music Box,’ by Trans-Siberian Orchestra, have a listen...

Edit - 100 views already? Wow, thanks everpony :)
Hope you look forward to the next chapter...

The gif is not a clue...
... No, honestly. It's not...
... I promise it is not a clue...
... stop thinking it's a clue!

Thank you to Syn and AA for their editing on this story.

Thanks to JimboTex for the hot tip!

If this is when you stop reading, goodbye and safe travels.

If you're still strapped in for the ride, see you in the next chapter.

All good things,
Duskhoof

Chapter Two

A Tender Touch of Snow
A story by Duskhoof, Edited by Synesisbassist & AmorousArts

Chapter Two

Teacher and student stared at each other across the void of the old pupil’s bedroom for an uncomfortably long time. Embarrassment and dread hung in their guts like an ache after a meal, too large for the stomach. Twilight’s lips felt parched as she contemplated what she could say to make this right again.

“G-Good morning, Princess Celestia.”

“You have already said that, Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Full name and title? She really was in trouble.

“Oh, h-have I?” She chuckled nervously, quickly looking everywhere but at the mare in her sleeping quarters, “heh heh, I… I must have forgotten.” Her ankle rubbed her other foreleg and she managed to glance as high as Celestia’s slippers. “D-Did you need me to help you with something? Hearth’s Warming Eve isn’t for another few nights…”

Celestia did not answer straight away. There was something sad and almost distracted in her expression that made Twilight feel even guiltier and more concerned than she already was. The book and the love letter were gathered in a gentle ray of fuschia light and were levitated to the white princess’ head height. The purple alicorn balked and shrank softly.

“I-I can explain,” she began. Celestia’s brow gave a criticizing lift. Twilight cringed. “I wish I could explain. That book turned up in the Library, I had never seen it before but it was Moondancer who discovered it. I had just finished reading it when I found the letter and-“ she stopped herself. The letter. That was the most damaging part of the story. She could have said it just fell open and she happened to read it, but she had gone on to deface the journal to discover its hidden secrets. She had not even stopped herself when she found the dirtiest details of Celestia’s shocking affair.

The silence chilled the normally cozy little tower room. Even the still sleeping drake wriggled in his cot and pulled his sheets up closer to be warm. The icy mare stood frozen like the statues of justice outside every courthouse in Equestria, weighing the crimes she saw in front of her. The accused scuffed her hoof, knowing this was a tactic to get her to spill all the truth and nothing but the truth, yet she did not want it to come spilling from her mouth.

“I- I wish you would say something, Princess,” she stammered, “I know what I did was wrong, but…” A confession whelmed up inside her. She knew it was what Celestia wanted but she was still too powerless to stop it as the bubble burst. “You could have told me! You could have said something instead of leaving me to find out from a- from a-“

“From a dusty old book?” Celestia finally asked, sharply but in a manner to bring her pupil’s voice back down to a low level. “I sincerely recall telling you that there was more to life than studying. This?” She waved the items so quickly that the old letter rattled in the air, “this is nothing but a story written when I was at my lowest low upon the detention of Luna in the moon. Yes, I am Helia, but that is where reality ends. The rest is make-believe.”

“But the letter-“ Twilight attempted to her peril.

“Is a fake!” Celestia suddenly snarled with such raw emotion Twilight had never seen in her mentor. Spike jerked awake in time to see Celestia brandish the ‘forged’ illicit correspondence and tear it to shreds, before tossing the confetti in a way even Pinkie Pie would not have deemed ‘fun’. “I want to hear no more of this, Twilight. If I hear it brought up in any way, shape or form, there will be consequences. Do you understand?”

Twilight’s breath caught in her throat. She had done it now, and for the first time in a long while, she didn’t know if she could fix it. Celestia wasn’t just disappointed, she was angry. The smaller alicorn held back the tears as she lowered her head and nodded.

“I’m so, so-“ before she had finished, there was a light similar to a camera flash; Celestia, book and tattered remains of the destroyed letter were gone. “-sorry…”

Spike forgot bleariness and confusion as the dam broke for the mare like a big sister to him. She slumped and began to cry hard, forcing him to leap out of his bed and grasp her in the most loving hug he could muster.

“Don’t be sad, Twilight,” he encouraged, nuzzling her, “I don’t know why she was mad but, Celestia isn’t the type to hold a grudge. She’ll be inviting you and me over for pancakes before you can spit!” He thought about that for a split second, then added, “not that you spit…” Twilight sniffed and tried to laugh at his poorly timed wit, but could only sob softer.

“Not this time, Spike,” she whimpered, stroking his wet frills that had gotten into the firing line if her tears, “I’ve really ruined things beyond repair this time…”

The next morning, Moondancer and Spike found themselves eating breakfast alone. The young dragon filled the red and mulberry maned mare in on everything Twilight had told him about her confrontation with Celestia last night, and ‘Dancer listened intently while posing questions when it seemed relevant.

“What was written in the fake letter that angered the Princess so much?” She asked, munching sugary mouthfuls of waffles.

“Dunno,” he replied truthfully, “Twi’ wouldn’t tell me. Just said it was ‘stuff young dragons cannot be told about until they’re older.’

“Ohh,” she groaned in understanding. Spike looked wistfully at her and nodded like some wise sage.

“That can only mean one thing,” he said as though he was agreeing to a thought she had not said out loud, “the letter was the recipe for the world’s best rock cakes. Dragons go crazy for rock cakes, so it’d make sense why Celestia would rip it up.”

“Yeah,” Moondancer urged her glasses back up her nose with a grimace, “I don’t think that’s it.”

“It is,” he insisted, “I know it.”

He was not corrected in his belief, as at that moment hooves scuffed down the stairs and into the library. Carried by them was the most despondent lilac-purple princess there had ever been. Although she had stopped crying, her cheeks still carried the residual lines of her tears, her mane was slightly bedraggled and her eyes were cast to the floor. She tried to say something, but her voice did not cooperate with her.

Moondancer whipped around out of her chair and charged to her friend, pulling her into a fierce hug with an extra squeeze included. She did her best to nuzzle away the salted violet fuzz on her face and folded her ears back when she felt how weakly it was returned. She leaned back and gazed at Twilight fondly.

“You want some breakfast? We still got enough batter for a few more waffles…”

“I don’t really have an appetite at the moment, Moondancer,” she confessed softly, politely adding, “thank you, though…”

“Oh, Twilight,” Moon brushed the rest of the wet sadness from her face, “this is my fault. I should have just left it alone, I let curiosity get the better of me. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Moondancer, don’t blame yourself.” Twilight sighed tenderly at the burns on her heart, “I should have written to Princess Celestia as soon as I saw her writing on the page. I never should have read the book-”

“Never should have read a book?” Spike repeated in sarcastic awe, “that’s something I never thought I’d hear you say! Who are you, and what have you done with the real Twilight Sparkle?” The pair looked surprised at how serious he sounded, his eyes narrow and penetrating. Moondancer sucked through her teeth and made a face.

“Is this the right time to crack wise, Spike?”

“Who’s joking?” He retorted with good reason, walking across the room and pointing at Twilight so close to her nose that she went cross-eyed in shock. “The Twilight I know wouldn’t sob and wail and let Princess Celestia be angry at her! She’d do everything she could to make things right… No matter what.” Twilight Sparkle gazed at her wise little dragon boy with glitter in her eyes. He gave her a toothy, reassuring grin. “And she’d succeed too.”

The Princess blinked softly then leaned in and gave him a slow, understanding smile. Fondly, she pressed her lips on his forehead.

“Thank you, Spike. That’s exactly what I needed to hear.” She slipped back and sniffled, brushing her nose with the back of her leg. She glanced between her partners in crime and cleared her throat. “I can’t do this alone, I know how much trouble that’s gotten me into in the past. Moondancer, Spike, could you help me repair things with Princess Celestia?”

“Of course!”

“As if you had to ask,” Moondancer placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder in solidarity and nodded with a purpose, “we’re on your side, Twilight. The first task is to figure out why Celestia put her old journal in this library of all places-“

“No,” the alicorn interrupted abruptly, although she immediately looked rueful for doing so, “I’m sorry, but we’ve got to forget about that book now. It was what got me into this mess… I need to show Celestia what she means to me, but I don’t know where to start.”

The trio lapsed into thought, tossing ideas into the circle. They could send her muffins personalized by Twilight, suggested Spike. They could write her a song and sing it together, considered Twilight. They could write her a letter about everything that made her valuable to Twilight, contemplated Moondancer. But no matter what they pondered on, nothing seemed quite right. Twilight tugged on her soft periwinkle ears and turned around, her mind clanking on the missing cog that was needed to build a strong plan, looking around for a feeling. Something that felt like it would be important to her as much as Celestia.

Then she spotted it, Her stroke of luck. On the emptied and cleaned buffet table, still sat the cork board covered with polaroids of her old school friends. There at the bottom of it remained the old class photo, where Celestia and their fellow teachers stood proudly by their sides as they posed on the stage before the palace college. The little purple unicorn in the very center looked so full of the hope and joy of learning.

“That’s it!”

The very same delight came over the older, more experienced but still learning alicorn. Twilight hurried over to the frame and lifted it, tapping on the glass delicately in front of her helpful party members.

“I’ll remind Celestia just how much of a faithful student I am, and always will be. If she sees that I am still learning from my mistakes, she won’t be mad forever, right?” She tucked the picture into her saddlebag. “Come on, Celestia will still hold an open morning court for a few hours yet…”

Waving her comrades along, she made it two steps before a guttural snarl stopped her in her tracks. She looked to Spike, but he shook his head and shrugged as the growling persisted. Eventually, her eyes darted beneath her and examined her vibrating belly. Her neck lifted back up swiftly, a small, sheepish snigger slipping from her snout.

“You said there was still enough batter for a few more waffles, right, Moondancer?”

It was usual for the Daily Courts to be incredibly busy, especially at this time of year. Ponies across the lands liked to have all matters tied up before business and politics closed down for Hearth’s Warming. Whether it was somepony wanting to fill out a grant to build a new home, or shop, or annex, or it was somepony complaining about the pony building something without permission, or a mayor of their land asking how to deal with such a matter, Celestia could usually resolve the matter with a few simple words. Celestia’s answers were often revered and easy to understand…

However, after queuing for a few hours, Twilight and her friends had already heard rumors that it was not Celestia perched on her throne and presiding over today’s hearings. It was a Princess, that much was a certainty, but not the one they were expecting. Not even their second assumption.

“... I love Princess Cadence, but I think she was a little too soft with her decisions,” muttered one pony to his friend effeminately as they passed, “she should be going out to the park and shutting down the amateur dramatics group. It’s all very well saying ‘Bat-Mare at Hearth's Warming’ is popular but it gives foals an unrealistic view of the justice system...”

Twilight watched the two strangers walk on, and gave Moondancer and Spike a worried look, which they compassionately returned. Cadence was a beautiful, kind and caring mare, but it was Celestia they needed, or their idea was doomed before it had gotten underway. They kept in the queue until it was their turn and finally they wandered around the corner into the vast royal throne room.

“Twilight!” Cadence gasped, hopping down from her temporary throne to run over and embrace her young sister in law. She impacted into Twilight strongly and hugged it out with her, before hopping back. Ignoring all the highbrow airs and graces she was supposed to harness as a Princess, she initiated the foalish dance they always greeted each other with.

“Sunshine, Sunshine,
Ladybugs awake!
Clap y-“

She stopped there, looking at the awkwardness of Twilight as her husband’s sibling tried to feign cheerfulness. However, she lacked energy through the fun little game they played to greet each other. Even in the direst of times, they’d been able to perform their pattycake-style fun as a way of showing that hope and light still resided in them. To see Twi’ lose even a little of the positivity was soul-clenching.

“And do a little shake?” Cadence sat with a disconcerted nicker as her grown up foal friend straightened up. “Twilight? What’s the matter? I’ve never seen you so low.” She watched and waited, then quickly scanned the faces of the friends when it seemed she might not be forthcoming. Twilight spoke up before Spike had to explain on her behalf.

“Sorry, it’s great to see you, Cadence, really,” she sighed, “It’s just that we were hoping to see Princess Celestia.” She included quietly, “this is between me - well, us - and her.” It was clear the Princess of Love had hoped for more of an explanation but accepted that she’d have to glean the information from them tactfully. So she just nodded gently and gestured a hoof to the wrapped rectangle under Spike’s arm.

“And what’s that? Hmm? Oh, and hello Spike. Hello, friend of Twilight-“ she quickly remembered to greet the dragon and unicorn of the squad quickly, without losing focus, “what is that? Something you were going to give to her?”

“Yes!” Twilight realized she’d answered too quickly and dialed it back, “can we see her? It’s kind of important that we get this to her…” The young alicorn was a horrible poker player. She pawed at the floor and did not look up at Cadence, a telling sign for her big sister-in-law that there was more to this story than first met the eye.

“The official statement from Celestia’s office is that she is too occupied with urgent duties and is unable to fulfill her tasks this morning. She’s ordered not to be disturbed by anypony unless she’s asked for their presence.” Seeing hurt in her friend’s face, Moondancer kept up the inquiries on Twilight’s behalf.

“Why did she ask for you, Princess Mi Amore? Why not Princess Luna?”

“Luna was also unable to fill her place as she also has to take the duties of the night,” came the response, “I was requested at the early hours of the morning by Luna, I’ve left the Crystal Empire in Shining’s hooves for a few days, but he’ll be here with Flurry Heart before Hearth’s Warming Eve.” She hoped to mention Twilight’s favorite (and only… so far…) niece might get some happier reaction, but when none arrived under the straight mulberry fringe, Cadence sighed.

“Twily, come on. Something’s really getting you down, I can see that. We’ve known each other since you were as little as Flurry Heart, and we’re family now. You know you can tell me anything without judgment.” She leaned in and the pair shared a caring nuzzle, elegant mane tangling with a slightly frizzy and less brushed mane, nose affectionately brushing shoulder and the hood of a wing. Twilight leaned back, her eyes shining and opened her mouth to speak…

“... I can’t. It’s not my secret to tell-“

“It’s Celestia’s,” Moondancer reported. Twilight yelped like a dog who had been trodden on and spun to look fearfully pained by Moon’s betrayal. The friend quickly shook her hoof and guaranteed it wasn’t like that. “I won’t tell anypony what we found out without Celestia’s blessing, but we can’t get Princess Cadenza’s help without telling her that much.” Her heliotrope eyes implored Twilight to understand, and thankfully, her friend did.

“Moony’s right. I can’t tell you the full details, Cadence, even if I understood them, but the short story is that I found a diary belonging to Celestia and … I kinda… sorta… read it?”

“Ooof~” Mi Amora Cadenza face-hoof’d hard and shook her head solemnly, “you don’t read another pony’s diary, Twilight. That’s basic friendship rules, little Ladybug.” Despite the gentle telling off, it still made Twilight smile to hear her foal-hood nickname used here. It was a brightly lit sign on this dark and unnerving road she’d been on since last night’s horrors. It advised things would be a-okay from here onwards. She nodded hurriedly.

“I know it was a stupid thing to do, and while I had my reasons, they’re not important right now,” The Friendship expert slipped back and gathered the wrapping paper-covered parcel from her dragon consort, tearing it open to reveal the school photo in its frame. “I thought, showing her this might reassure her that we take nothing she does for granted and that I’m sorry for intruding on her privacy.” Cadence studied the picture for a long moment before peering over it at Moondancer. It took several turns of the head from the foal lacking spectacles in the photo to the adult mare with them before she gave a pleased nicker.

“I thought I recognized you. Moondancer, right?” The addressed pony gulped an affirmative and bowed hurriedly, causing a titter from the presiding Princess at that moment, “thank you, but really, there’s no need for that. A friend of Twilight’s is a friend of mine and,” she went on to add, “I remember foal-sitting for you while your parents had date nights. It’s nice to see you again!” Twilight’s jaw dropped open. While this all made sense, it seemed impossible to her that Cadence could have ever foal-sat for anypony other than her! Moondancer just blushed and mumbled that it was nice to see her too, looking away in embarrassment. Spike, gauging the room, gave a little guffaw at the silliness of the ponies. After that, the pale cherise Princess returned to the picture in her horn’s ghostly grasp.

“It’s the start of a good idea, Twilight. I don’t know the full story here but I don’t think Celestia could stay mad at you forever. She thinks the world of you,” she passed the photo back slowly, “however, if you wanted to cheer her up, I do have one idea that might help.”

“You do?” Twilight reared up briefly and neighed in glee, “Oh please tell me, I’d do anything to fix this!”

“I thought you might. How well do you know the ponies in that photo? Do you know where they are right now?” Princess Mi Amore asked, already turning around and trotting her way back up the crimson slopes to Princess Celestia’s throne. The other two mares and the dragon looked amongst each other in confusion. Twilight spoke first.

“I know of some of them, the others I-err… they drifted away,” she said, ashamed that she was on the cusp of failing more friends the way she had once failed Moondancer. However, ‘Dancer herself took a step closer, bridging old gaps.

“I can help, I think,” she offered with an optimistic and kind smile. “After you got back in touch, I took a few of the lessons you’d taught me and put them into practice. I’ve been locating all our old classmates for the past year now. Why do you ask, Princess?” The light daffodil pony looked back to Cadence, and after a look of rosy thankfulness to her friend, Twilight looked up to her brother’s wife too. The Princess gave a small tap at what, at first, seemed like an embellished part of the patterns on the throne until it pushed in with a click and a drawer slid out from beneath the seat. The three on the ground floor took a step closer, only able to imagine just what wonder Cadence might pull out for them, as her magic rattled through the hidden compartment.

“Ah-ha, I knew she had at least one in here,” the glittering aura burst from the tray with a flourish and held above them…

“A black marker pen?” Twilight asked, very underwhelmed. How was this supposed to save the day?

“Don’t sound so disappointed, Ladybug,” giggled Cadenza, trotting elegantly back down along the gentle inclines, “here’s what I suggest you do. Go around as many of these ponies in your class photo as you can and get them to write a quick note explaining what Celestia’s teachings have meant to them. When you’ve got as many as possible, come back in a few days and I’ll make sure that you get to give this gift to Celestia. I promise.” She offered a bolstering nod of confidence that boosted Twilight’s enthusiasm back up to a healthy level. Almost immediately, the alicorn ran through the list of ponies she knew she could get a hold of in her head, then looked to ‘Dancer.

“Is this possible?”

“I know we’d struggle to get a hold of Green Berries and Solid Fire, they’re both across the other side of Equestria in Neighpon and Somnambula. The rest we can get a hold of if we’ve really got a few days to do it?” Moondancer shrugged and looked to her regal friend, explaining that it was her call in the end. Twilight didn’t need long to consider it.

“We’ll do it.” She put on the saddle bag she’d discarded before her dance with her elder sister and then gave her a warm and more meaningful hug this time, “I’ll write letters every day and keep you updated with our progress.”

“Try not to take too long,” Cadence advised, “Shiny and Flurry will be here in a few days just in time for the Hearth’s Warming Pageant. It’d be great if you can join us. It’ll be her first Hearth Warming to see the full story, I can’t wait!”

“Eeeee she’s such a little cutie-!” Twilight squealed, then composed herself, “no. Can’t go gushing about my sweet little niece at a time like this.” She saluted hurriedly, straight-backed and chest out. Spike copied, followed by Moondancer. “Don’t worry, Cadence, we’ll be back in time for the pageant, and my BBBFF, and the cutest little niece ever, or my name isn’t Princess Twilight Regina Sparkle!” There was a moment of silence, then a snort as Spike struggled not to hide his laughter.

“Your middle name’s ‘Regina’?” As he cracked up, Moondancer found it hard not to titter as well. Even Cadence caught herself grinning. The humiliated purple pony squirmed and flapped her wings indignantly.

“What? No! Nopony said that, ever!” She got them moving with a desire to never speak of her slip up again. “Come on, we need to get those signatures. See you later, Cadence!”

“Bye, Twilight,” Cadence waved her off gracefully, still listening to the banter as they followed the rose carpet to their exit.

“How did I not know this before?”

“Drop it, Spike!”

“Regina, he-he… I mean, sorry Twilight… Say, how do you plan on getting all of the signatures on the photograph? I think it would get quite full after a few...”

“Great question, Moondancer. But don’t worry, I already have a plan for it - Oh! Hi, Sunburst! How are you?” Twilight smiled as they reached the exit, watching the caped intellectual scurry through on a mission of his own. He had enough time to stop and give an almost nervy greeting, as though he’d been caught with his hoof in the cookie jar while several other cookie jars lay empty around him.

“Oh, hi Twilight, Spike, I’m well. Apologies, I have been helping Princess Cadence and I’ve noticed something that requires her attention,” He advised, smiling simperingly, “hopefully we can catch up again soon?”

“Sounds like a great idea to me, Sunny,” Spike nodded cheerfully, “me, Moondancer and ‘Regina’ are a little busy ourselves - eek!” Twilight had borrowed a scroll from Sunburst’s saddle to whap Spike’s snout gently, but with reprimanding authority. She replaced the rolled up parchment with a forced chuckle.

“We’ll catch you when we get back, Sunburst, it’s good to see you.” She turned with a call to her team to fall back into ranks as they took their leave, the fire-maned stallion left to puzzle over just what he’d missed. He did not let it trouble him for too long, as he had a date. A hot one.

He raced along the still lane of scarlet and slowed at the foot of the thrones, the Princess of Love now perched upon them with a look of amusement twinkling in the edges of her eyes. They exchanged recognition with a bow from him, and a gentle tip of the head and hoof from her.

“Ah, Sunburst. Does this mean that Twilight was the last pony that needed to visit me until this afternoon?” She asked airily, a wistful curl coming over her lips.

“It does, Your Highness. I expect you’ll be wanting to take a, ahem, ‘break’ now?” He tip-hoofed back a little as she rose up from her chair. She stretched with felicity at the sensation of muscles unwinding from the long morning in court then wandered down to his side, a small smirk appearing on the corner of her lips.

“A break sounds fabulous,” she purred softly into his ear. Only one guard heard it close enough to recognize the implications behind it. Though, he did not dare breathe a word of it to anypony else.

The bed springs did not squeak in Canterlot Palace. It was a fact Cadence truly found disappointing as she pushed Sunburst down dominantly onto her mattress. No matter which room she bounced about in, the story was the same. King, queen, double, single, twin, bunk, even the cots for the guards in the barracks did not utter a single squeak. It was something severely lacking in what was otherwise a comfortable experience. Although she accepted the matter for what it was, it still took away some of the ferocity to her pounce as she pinned the male pony under her.

She had been waiting for this moment since ‘breakfast’, when she’d given him a taste of what to expect for ‘lunch’, and maybe even ‘dessert’ that evening. How the poor darling had tried to remain reserved in the dining room while his mistress had taken several minutes to retrieve an item of lost cutlery from under the linen of the table. He was rather flustered at the end, especially when the palace cook came over to offer to make him more eggs in the middle of him pouring cream for Cadence’s hot coffee.

The thoughts alone had stimulated her through the first half of the day, so much so that she even found herself eying up Spike in the darkest haze of her lusts. She’d have had to add a few years to him, of course, but perhaps…She ground her groin against Sunburst’s lap and was pleased to find he did not need much encouragement from her either. Good.

Cadence would not have been considered the Princess of Love if she didn’t appreciate the skill and effort of good foreplay. When it was after a charming night being wined and dined by a significant other, then it was expected and necessary to set the night of lovemaking off just right. There was even an absolute art and power to warming up your partner and showing them just how much they mean to you while enjoying the tastes, touches, and smells that lead into the main event. However, she also knew when it was appropriate to skip the introduction and get into the meat and bones of sexual intercourse.

This was one of those occasions. She felt a slight pulse of love and passion here from the stallion, giving mewlings of joy as she pressed her warm wet pocket against his hard and ready rocket, but nothing like she experienced the first time she got her hooves on her husband. Nor anytime since then, to be fair. The love had never died, it had grown stronger with the past years since their first date, their first anniversary, their first ‘roll in the hay’ and well past their marriage. Even the expectation and realization of their baby daughter did not dampen spirits, only increased the dampness of the bed sheets. That did, of course, raise an important question. Why was she here, about to mount a stallion who indeed was not Shining Armor?

The answer was simple in principle, difficult to explain. The shortest answer was that she hated a cold and lonely bed, primarily when she was far from her beloved. In the past, her answer had been to foal-sit, to help the littlest of ponies get to sleep by tucking herself in with them and telling them bedtime stories. It did not go to mature extremes, far from it, but it did help. When she slipped gracefully into adulthood and had to observe greater duties as a Princess, she tried stuffed toys, but these were significantly useless as they did not breathe, move, or mumble against her when she was drifting off to sleep. She did try enchanting one of her six-foot-tall bears to gain some of the same experiences, and while she did have fun being dry-humped by the stuffed toy until she was relieved of an orgasm, it still was not the same.

Thankfully, she rarely had to be without her knight prince. Before their marriage, they made sure not to have too many nights without each other, whether it meant sneaking out in the dead of night and finding somewhere cozy enough to bed down. After marriage, this had seldom been an issue but when she was, she found other ways to keep herself comforted and held against a living body.

That was all well and good, but she could do that without taking the activities to other levels, so why did she hold Sunburst between her thighs? Honestly, because she could.

He wasn’t a bad looking stallion. His chin fluff was cute, his fluffed firestorm mane was endearing and his length… well, it was modest enough to be of interest, although she was undoubtedly not being spoiled in that instance. The real riches lay at home, she knew that much indisputably, but here and now, it would do.

She glanced out of the window briefly where the curtains were still apart. Beyond the window stood five of the six snow-stallions she’d built first thing that morning, holding her guest room safe from the threats of the colorless powder still draining from the sky. There had been six, but the sixth was otherwise occupied. She had others when she was done with him, she thought to herself.

A passing pegasus might have happened to glance in and see the sight of her galloping at a standstill on her handsome steed, but she did not care if they did. She was stronger than rumors and hearsay, although she did envy those who might glance in. She’d often wanted to pull in a mirror so she could see herself from the outside with a cock deep within her, it was one of her few kinks Shining sadly was not into.

Cadence finally stopped smearing his dick with the natural oils of her body’s arousal and raised herself so that she could reposition her penis upwards. Her penis? She, naturally, meant Sunburst’s, and she looked to his face with a bewitching smile and a stroke across his cheek while she levitated his rod up from his body, admiring the pond of silvery goo settled from his tip onto his paunch. The glasses had been placed on the side, and the squint to try and see everything that was being offered and taken from him was equally as adorable. It was like watching a confused puppy who she only had good things planned for, even if he did not perceive it yet.

Perception came when he felt the unmistakable crease of her vulva touch the flat cap of mini Sunburst. He sat up to look into the blurry space between him and her, where an orange and pink pylon connected between them. He did not have a lot of time to admire his personal trophy, as it was suddenly swallowed up into the haunches and abdomen of the Princess on top of him. He neighed out in shock and surprise as he felt her pussy snuggled and squeezing around the base of his crotch, pressed into his sheath and testicles. The head that had only a second ago been nudging her lips, was now knocking on the gateway before her womb. He sucked in several deep gulps to oxygenate his body from what had been lost in awe, but Cadence was already starting to bounce.

“O-Oh… B-Buck, P-Princess…” He shut his eyes sharply and shook from the intensity of the mare pounding his groin, “A-Are you supposed to take a cock so quickly? D-Didn’t that h-hurt? M-Maybe you w-want to -Ohhh! S-Slow down... “

“Sh!” She hissed at him sharply, laying a hoof tenderly on his lips. “N-No, th-that’s a common misconception. M-Mares and stallions just draw out the insertion and withdrawal of the p-phallus to make it sexier and more romantic. B-But mares can take dicks far quicker than is suggested in those naughty novellas you pretend not to read.” She smirked smugly then proceeded her rocking, rolling and bobbing on top of him, grabbing his foreleg and pressing his hoof to the showing nub squeezed between his meat and her lady petals. “And rub here, hard as you can. I’m not doing all the work here, stud.”

She straightened up and sighed joyfully. It wasn’t Shining, but it wasn’t bad. Her hooves rolled through her stomach, chest and neck fur, moving it out of place. As she disturbed the tiny hairs, they shook the perfume scents of blood oranges and figs she’d sprayed onto her body once they’d got back to her room, and spread the smells into the mixed aromas of arousal and currently-clean bedding materials. Both noses flared, drew in the fragrances of their partners and relished them. Sunburst started to get the hints that Cadence was sending down to him, and eventually he was stroking her body to release more of those pretty bouquets. He was pushing that little switch at the top of her cunny as well as finding the places that got the best groans from her. Ribs, cutie marks, and thighs seemed to do the trick, and when she leaned down over him to tease his horn with her tongue, his teeth against her neck increased the cries to squeals.

Bed springs were an integral part of the orchestra when it came to a positively good dicking. She could imagine them now, the percussion to the rest of the band as they slapped bodies, cried lust and sang in joy at the feelings of pleasure rippling within them. She was getting faster and she knew those spirals of strong wire would be joining in, pitches and frequencies changing, squeaking together like a choir of mice. It really did make a difference.

“O-Okay C-Cadence, I’m close now, so- a-ahh!” She lifted herself so far she nearly pulled clear, then tightened a band of magic between his testes and his shuddering length. She gave him a severe stare as she lowered back into his lap, spreading out her wings dominantly.

“Not. Right. Now. You’re. Not!” She bashed out each word with a slam of her hips on his, his tied sack unable to deliver an early load of presents. He wailed in urgency and tension as his body felt always on the edge of a climax but wasn’t given the pleasure or relief of a release. He hoofed at her with a whimper as she shut her eyes and tossed her head back, riding his mantle like a thoroughbred.

“P-Pr-Princess, pl-please…” he gulped, trying to plead for his own good, “I-I h-have to-I have to~mmmfm!” A slippered hoof rested on his muzzle and stopped him there. She snatched his free leg and knocked his foot on her doorbell once more as she pulled him in and out of her entrance. She was not going to be denied an orgasm from a trigger-happy stallion, not even one as appealing as Sunburst. She kept him pinned as he struggled and neighed on her pressing hoof, while she took what was rightfully hers.

“Uh-uh-ah-ah-mmm~ Mmm~” she added her own sounds to fill the memories of bed creaks gone by that she deeply missed. She had never faked an orgasm. What was the point, she had always thought to herself, if the partner was not good enough there was always a hoof or toys. Not that she had that problem here. He may not have the girth of her precious Shining and he may have been a little smaller, but he was still hitting all the sweet spots with his excellent slab of meat. He just needed extra motivation.

“Sunburst,” she crooned, opening her eyes to the perfect sultry level, beyond sleepy but before disgruntled, “oohh y-you’re filling me just right… B-Baby, i-if you get me cumming, I-I’ll let you squirt a-anywhere you want… M-Mouth? Pussy?” She slowed to stroke from the base of his cock to the slightly downier fur on her muff, “...Ass?” She sneered in a way almost unlike her, as though old Chrysalis was back in play. She could assure him and anypony, she was not. She just knew that little Sunburst really wanted to claim this strawberry pink plot for his own…

It worked. As soon as the last ‘s’ hissed from the tip of her tongue he was rushing up into her, arching his back with his face contorted into the expression of effort and his hoof expertly rubbing her clit now for hopes that it might produce a genie. She cried out blissfully and watched him finally get the hint. She loved to see a companion understand their partner and attend to there needs. She finally saw his mind firing up as his piston fueled her racing heartbeat and drove her body at full steam towards a climax. She knew it would be there now and she knew it would come soon, so she kept him stoking the fires and brayed her new found confidence to him.

“AH YES! That’s it, Sunny, that’s it~ Oh buck! YES! C-Come on, you cute little b-bookworm. U-Use that- ah! H-Handsome brain on me!”

Now she could overlook past the parts that didn’t match her passions. The squeaks, the throbs, the extra muscles, the cocky remarks, and loving intimidations that set her going may have been absent from this session, but the spanking hips, squelching sexes and even an upward tail slap from him across her spongy hide made this encounter perfectly acceptable to her. The only thing missing was a lovely gooey finishing to her-

“MMMF! NNnnnnn~NYAH!”

Suddenly, she was on her back. Blinking in surprise, she yelled out in turmoil at the absence of the thrusting force in her midsection, about to get very angry with the stallion who had pushed her off. Her head turned, except she did not see Sunburst. She wondered if he had left or vanished until hooves and telekinesis caught her other side and flipped her again. This time she discovered her warm, wet and sweaty puddle that had pooled in the center of the bed. The only view she was granted was the wedding-white headboard of the bed, her sight of a learning mate now a memory. However, he was still there and still learning.

More enchantments grabbed at her waist and rose it, then stole her tail and lifted that higher. The weight of the pony joining her on the bed made it shake and slant. His forehooves were stomped onto her backside only a second later and his dripping, unbridled shaft tucked under her tail and stamped its head on her star.

“Ah-AH WAIT~” she cried, trying to look back to him, shuddering in anticipation, proud of his taking the initiative, but also fearing him spearing her unprepared asshole. A leg dropped onto the bed beside the edge of the snout before she could turn to look back at him, and the other hooked under her hips. She whinnied as she felt his surprisingly close breath by her ear.

“M-Mares can take dicks far quicker than they do in those naughty novellas you pretend not to read,” he teased, making her eyes widen.

“C-Clever col-AAAHHHHT!” She screamed. She had never, ever in a million years expected that a stallion like Sunburst would make her scream. Maybe she put a little too much of Shining into him.

Panting heavily, the corners of her eyes went dark and the rest blurred with humidity as she tried to grow used to the offending item in her exit. He was not giving her time to familiarize herself with his member delved deep in her anus, as he instantly began taking his gift before he’d probably presented hers. She could have dragged him back off, refused to liberate his finale and rubbed herself off in front of him until her skilled hooves were covered in her love waters, but she chose to let him have this. He wouldn’t get another chance and frankly, she was enjoying the change of pace.

Thankfully, he had not entirely neglected her. The limb around her midriff moved his hoof against her coin slot, massaging her pip as he tore into her flanks with reckless abandon. She grit her teeth, buried snout into pillows, and shrieked again as slap-slap-slap went his groin on her tush, slop-slop-slop squelched their cocktail of pre-ejaculations on his pole and neeeeigh~ went the two needy ponies.

His recent actions had sent her body into a new and shocking overdrive. Perhaps it was because she expected this determination from her husband, but not from a recluse like Sunburst. Perhaps it was because she had not had anal this rough since before Flurry came into this world. Perhaps, perhaps, but whatever the reasons, the apex of their hard, fast screw inside her body even startled her. Her wings sprang out, her eyes squeezed hard, tears dripped and her mouth dropped open.

It did not start as heat or a flutter, it did not come with a warning, it came rough and fast as an explosion from her most mysterious, most carnal depths. Then she was squirting, actually spurting her honey so forcefully that it splattered on the furthest wall. She coated his still striking balls and his rocking legs, tails, bed, and beyond. She bit her pillow as she wailed in awe and nearly sank into unconsciousness from the excitement every nerve ending and prickled hair felt.

“Nnnngh PRINCESSHELPPLEASEBUCK~!” Sunburst! She had almost forgotten him. She let out a wheeze that may have been close to a breathless chortle and used the last of her energy to spark up her horn, crackling sparkles from the tip.

He felt the band crushing his manhood subsequently lessen and went to town. His hams jackhammered her butt with reckless abandon. His prick hit her cavity, again and again, the throbbing becoming so immense it even filled his ears but soon he experienced what he had urged her to allow him to have. The excruciating restriction on his pipes was gone at long last and he bent over her rapidly, bit the back of her neck and mane with a breeding whinny.

The paint clung to her rear passageway walls within the first barrage. He had her drenched in two shots and nearly full after seven. By the time his marinade was scattering from the edges of her derriere where his stallionhood plugged her crudely, his limbs had given up on him and he had collapsed on top of her, weighing her down onto the bed. She gave a defeated grunt, too worn out herself to fight it, and enjoyed the fluctuations of pleasure that swelled and dropped back and forth inside her, from head to toe. Even as his maleness disappointingly started to shrink in size within her before his last and least useful load had joined inside her black hole, she still could not deny that it had been a surprisingly successful buck.

She let her eyes drop closed and relaxed, listening to him sigh, moan and finally snore. Ah, he was only a little stallion and had not been on the planet all that long. She was not mad at him for having such low stamina. Not anymore, at least. She let him sleep and chuckled tenderly, borrowing a spare blanket to cover him.

“Goodnight, Sunburst. Happy Hearth’s Warming.” She turned her head to the window and peeped out at the snow soldiers still stood in the frozen world guarding her warm and safe room. She still had five more willing suitors. She smiled, closed her eyes and~

Ping~

Ping? She reopened her eyes as a burp of emerald flame unfolded in front of her nose, disappearing quickly to produce a tightly rolled scroll in its place, bound with string. It floated briefly then fell, plopping on the pillow beside her.

“Mmm~ Already, Twilight?” She mumbled. When her magical power failed her, she nipped the letter, unrolled it with her nose and held it open with a moist hoof so that she could read it.

“Dear Cadence,

Apologies for sending you this message so early into our mission but I had to tell you how well we are already getting on!

We have just got seven messages from some of our old school friends, including Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts. We realized after we’d left the palace, that Minuette is out of Canterlot for Hearth’s Warming, so we’re looking for a way to catch up with her as we travel around.

Some of these notes are already so beautiful. ‘Princess Celestia, you taught me the magic of laughter~’ that one is Twinkleshine’s. ‘Celestia, without you I would have felt like I was always doing the wrong thing, I’d never had seen the things I did right.~’ A stallion called Starfield wrote that. Oh, and one more that Moondancer particularly likes, by a stallion called Silver, ‘I wouldn’t have seen that I’m actually stronger than I used to feel without you, Princess. Thank you.’

This feels right, Cadence. It doesn’t just feel like it is a good idea, it feels like it’s the right thing to do for Princess Celestia. She’s gone too long without knowing how much she’s appreciated. I just hope we get this to her in time.

Thank you, I’ll message you tomorrow with our progress.

All my love and the blessings above,

~Twilight”

Cadence smiled after reading it and rerolled the letter up, tucking it on her nightstand.

“Way to go, little Ladybug. Keep it up,” she thought to herself, closing her eyes once more and settling into her bedsheets for another hour of rest before she had to reclaim her duties.

Author's Note

Want to discuss the story? Follow me to get ‘Switched On,’ on Discord...

One of the songs I was listening to while writing this was ‘Walking In The Air,’ by Mimicking Birds, have a listen...

Happy Hearth’s Warming, all.

Thank you to Syn and AA for their editing on this story.

If this is when you stop reading, goodbye and safe travels.

If you're still strapped in for the ride, see you in the next chapter.

All good things,
Duskhoof

Chapter Three

A Tender Touch of Snow
A story by Duskhoof, Edited by Synesisbassist & AmorousArts

Chapter Three

The second scroll appeared on the second day while Cadence had taken a new throne during her break. This time it was a member of Celestia’s guard, and specifically, his face was the cushion she’d perched on. As she had ground her minge into his pale snout, her attention had been on the clasped member in her sleeve of magic, which rubbed it nice and steadily to the tempo of his dancing tongue. The appearance of the message removed his pike from her engrossment and she unfurled the letter to read it out for the benefit of both of them.

“Dear Cadence,

Progress is going so well on our mission! We’ve gotten eleven signatures now and are currently on the Manehatten Flyer, steaming our way through Ponyville to get to Manehatten and Fillydelphia to pick up a few more. We’ve decided that we can even make Green and Solid with some forward planning.

Some of these comments are actually making me tear up. I knew Celestia influenced us all, but I guess I was so worked up about how she saw me, that I forgot to consider how she saw everypony else.

Like this, for example. A mare called Belle wrote, ‘Princess Celestia gave me the courage to know that being me is the best thing I can be.’ Another mare called Piper added, ‘she showed me my creativity is more impressive than I think. I’ll not forget that.’ Then, a stallion called Servus wrote, “thank you, Princess Celestia, for the advice that love remains no matter what the distance,’ and another called Crazed wrote, ‘I’ve discovered my worth and seen how much I matter to the ponies around me, thanks to the Princess.’

So far, all the ponies we’ve spoken to have said they’re coming to the pageant. Moondancer had an idea and it’s a brilliant one; we can present the signed class photo to Princess Celestia at the pageant! She’ll get the recognition she deserves, to show we don’t take her for granted. There’s no way she’d miss the Hearth’s Warming pageant, she never does.

I only hope she likes this. She will, won’t she?

All my love and the blessings above,

~Twilight”

“Mmmf mmm mMMf!” offered the stallion under her, his response vibrating through her love tunnel.

“Mff- Y-Yes, I s-see your point, General Inabiaf, but-AH!” She whinnied with a start as the rod in her mystic grasp gave a sudden jolt, seeming to bulge with an egg-shaped lump traveling at a significant speed, up from his wiggling sack. When it reached the summit, the whole membrum virile gave the impression of sucking in a breath, before expelling thick serum across her naked fur, his legs, and bed, having enough force to knock the report out of the air with a missile of cum. Cadence could only close her eyes when it looked like his fountain was coming for them and wait for the release to subside.

“Oh, you meant ‘suck’, not ‘book’, how hilarious,” she dripped, staring ahead at the wall with a dark frown.

“Summy,” grunted the stallion apologetically under her ass and kept licking. She sighed, leaning into his lap to lick clean what remained of her spoiled lunch and looked out of her balcony window. The snow had stopped, for now, but four of her snowpony warriors remained loyal to her cause. They would not fall or falter before their time...

On the third day, Cadence’s mouth was already occupied when the next communication appeared in front of her, so she levitated it up to the owner of the shaft she was sucking. It took a few moments for him to understand why she was smacking at his nose with a rolled up papyrus until he realized what her intention was. He took it quickly and unwrapped it, glancing down at her with pants.

“I-I have to say, Princess, in terms of-aah- roleplay, this one is a tad bit peculi-OW!” His hooves scrambled at her ears and tried to tug her away, to stop her teeth from sinking into the end of his turgid branch, “you bit me!” Cadance growled and slipped her head off of the length, licking her lips with annoyance.

“Read the letter, Chancellor Neighsay, or this head will COME to a head without any CUMMING from you! Got it?” The Chancellor nodded with a terrified gulp but his mighty pen never lowered for a second, despite him wincing as she engulfed it into her maw to suck on it thoughtfully. Her eyes waited for him to read out the note to his class of one. With the shudders and moans of a stallion who protested too much and relished being put down a peg by his superior, he spluttered through her next reply from Twilight.

“Dear Cadence,

We’ve just checked into our hotel in Fillydelphia, we’ve got one more signature to get tonight before we fall into bed, and that is Minuette’s. That leaves Solid and Green to get tomorrow, then we’ll be on our way home. It’s tight, but Moondancer has already written ahead and arranged the ponies to meet us on the stations, so we just have to hop off and on again.

Here’s a couple more of the messages Celestia’s received. Coal writes, ‘I now recognize my own integrity and trust that I am more honest than ponies perceive me to be, thanks to Celestia’s words.’ A mare called Highland said, ‘I finally looked past my limitations and saw my potential with Celestia’s help,’ and another stallion, Blaze, had this to say; ‘the princess showed me that love would come to me when I let myself accept it.’ Spike thinks that this latest one from a pony called Dreamer is important, ‘Celestia saved my life, She really did. Without her, I wouldn’t be here.’

I’m looking forward to cuddles with Flurry Heart when I finally come home. Oh, and Spike’s stopped calling me Regina! At last!

All my love and the blessings above,

~Twilight”

“Th-There! I read it! Are you happy now, Your Highn-OW!” She slipped her mouth off of his meter ruler with her teeth marks etched above his medial ring and huffed at him, grabbing his cock and beating it in one leg with an idle glance out of the window.

“You were a bad choice,” she informed him, but he naturally did not seem to care about the negative feedback. He was content so long as his hardness was given a shortcut to the happy ending he had not done anything to deserve. Neighsay was a wildcard decision this time around, and one she regretted. He had the length that she had tried to ride, but he didn’t have a clue what to do with it. He would have had better luck in stimulating her with a wet fish.

She watched the three staunch fighters she had remaining on her room’s veranda. She’d make a better choice tomorrow, she knew exactly who she’d invite to stay for the day...

Lunchtime came and went without a reply from Twilight on the fourth day. Cadence waited as long as possible and held herself back from the afternoon courts, but she could not escape her duties waiting for Twilight Sparkle’s latest news. She returned to her throne and spent her day overseeing the arguments and debates of the ponies that came in. No matter how interesting the cases, from ponies who wanted the final decision on the colors for the Summer Sun Celebration, to an update on a mission to take the first ponies into space (other than Luna’s extended stay in the moon), Princess Cadence remained distracted. She watched the clock tick by and contemplated over and over writing a message to check if her little sister-in-law was not in any danger.

The last trial came and went, followed by a school visit of foals who were a little disappointed Celestia wasn’t there to greet them. Thankfully, Cadence had learned a lot from her little Princess Flurry and was able to keep them entertained by dressing them as little guards, princes, and princesses, and ensured they all left having learned something too.

As the last student waved to her and headed through the big gold doors, she fell into her gilded chair with a relieved sigh. She flicked off her slippers and rubbed her aching hooves with a sigh. Relaxing, she glanced aside to the stallion who stepped out from around her chair. She hadn’t been surprised by his appearance.

“You did fantastically to survive your day, my Lady. Still no response from our young Princess?” He enquired, taking a very humble bow.

“Thank you, Fancy Pants, I’m afraid I’ve heard nothing from Twilight at this time. I must admit, I’m a little anxious…”

“Do not fear, Your Highness,” he assured her, stepping forward, “I’m certain she will be in touch shortly.” She let him climb to the foot of her seat and bend again, but this time he took one of her stretched hind hooves and began to do something remarkable. He started to caress, knead and massage them. Cadence did not resist for one iota and pushed the rubbed limb into his hold, smiling from ear to ear.

“Ohh~ do not stop,” she sang, her eyelids dipping in the leisure of a pony finally understanding what she needed after a hard day. Even her husband lacked in this particular sector.

“Indeed, do not stop, on my account,” said an amused voice.

Princess Cadence sat up in a hurried reaction to the unanticipated pony. Fancy had his snout punted by the recoiling hoof and fell, sliding down the ramp on his back. He came to a halt between two alabaster pillars, dressed with auric jewelry. The rose quartz eyes of Princess Celestia blinked at him and her mane seemed to swirl a lot slower in her confusion.

“Good eve, Sir. Pants. I trust you are not hurt?” She asked gently, a slight lack of energy in her voice. Cadence’s ear prickled as she heard it, but she said nothing.

“Not at all, Your Highness.” He rolled rapidly, crouched in respect and backed out of the way so that the Princesses could see eye to eye without distraction. Celestia observed him for one last moment then approached Cadence.

“Good evening, Cadence. I hope you’ve not been too worn out by my duties. After tomorrow night, I will be returning to them and will allow you to take your deserved break for the holiday season. Thank you so much for managing my rule in my absence.” It seemed the daytime ruler was prepared to leave her response at that and started to turn to go nonchalantly, but her niece stepped down after her promptly.

“Auntie ‘Tia, wait,” she stopped gingerly when her aunt did stop and glance back at her. “Are you okay? You’ve been-”

“I’ve needed time to myself to resolve several matters, which your aunt Luna has been gracious enough to aid me with. Do not worry, your old Aunt Celestia will be back to her usual sunny self in no time at all,” and she gave a smile. A weary, lonely smile. An expression Cadence, as the Princess of infatuation, understood straight away. She chose not to admit it.

“Will you be back for the pageant tomorrow night? Flurry Heart will be there, it will be her first Hearth’s Warming show. She’d love to see her great auntie there.” The blush pink mare picked her words carefully as she tried to ensure Twilight’s plans went without a hitch on her end. There was a tense trice as her Aunt gave it some thought.

“I would not dare deny Flurry Heart a cuddle from her Aunt Celestia,” she promised with a warmer nod. “I shall see you then, Cadence.” She carried on walking and her temporary substitute watched her part ways for the night. When the last wisp of the marshmallow rainbow tail disappeared through the main doors, Cadence grabbed a quill and paper and drafted a speedy communique to Twilight.

“Dear Twilight, Moondancer and Spike,

I’m writing this as I have not had any returning message from you today.

How is your task going? Do you have all of your signatures yet? Are you on your way home?

I have just seen Celestia and I believe I have a better understanding of what is upsetting her now. Your ideas will help, but we need to speak as soon as possible when you return. I can confirm she will be at the pageant, I just hope you make it in time.

Looking forward to seeing you soon,

All my love,

~Cadence”

She sealed the rolled mail with a kiss, then whisked it on its way with a blast of magic. Watching it depart gave her a small buzz of elation, her moment of espionage acting as a secret agent for her husband’s sister proved rather exciting. She glanced across the room to Fancy, glad he had not deserted her and waved him back while climbing onto her hooves with a groan.

“Come, Sir. Pants. I’d like to get a nice shower and follow it up with a specially nice massage. Do you do back rubs as well?”

The Romantic Princess did get many backrubs that night. Fancy Pants stroked her neck, her navel, and her thighs first. His tongue spoke a private tale to her plot, bringing her to an exciting climax without once touching her groin. Lastly, he carried her gentlecoltly into the bathroom and ran her a shower at her perfect temperature. He lathered her delicately with soap, washed away all the bubbles. Then with one small request from her, he pressed her up against the tiled wall and pushed his near-perfect cock into her drizzling folds.

The last two snow ponies on the outdoor box ignored the noises of the important mare being gloriously screwed and taken to limits that could shatter any other Equestrian girl. They watched the flakes slip from the night sky once more, and they kept the fornicating goddess safe with the knowledge that she would not be alone. Although they had lost a number each night, they were stronger than ever.

As the mists of steam and cries of celebration floated from the ensuite into the bedroom, a jade fireball brought the final mailshot of the night. It landed on the bed and broke open on its own, the fastening wax having been attached in haste. It rolled out, revealing the response to Cadence’s message which the Princess would find when she stumbled out in her after-sex rapture.

“Dear Cadence,

Today’s been a difficult day. Celestia sent me a message, Cadence. She has said she cannot do Hearth’s Warming Eve with me and Spike anymore, she does not feel it would be appropriate. Have I really upset her that much? Will this idea even work anymore? I’m not so sure...

We got our last signature from Solid and that’s all that’s keeping me hopeful now. It says, ‘Princess Celestia brought me to a place where friends were never scarce and my mind was never bored. She not only saw my potential, she saw my flaws and helped me see that they were, in fact, my strengths. I just didn’t know it.’ I hope Celestia sees my mistakes in the same light.

As for Green, they merely wrote, ‘I’m thankful you’ll never, ever desert us, Celestia.’ She wouldn’t, would she, Cadence?

We’re on our way home now. We’re going to meet you at the pageant, as that is where we plan to reveal our surprise to Princess Celestia. It’s going to be very close, we’ll have to gallop off of the train and straight to the auditorium. I hope we’re not delayed or stopped completely…

… And even if we get there in time, I really, really hope I’ve not ruined things too much already.

All my love and the blessings above, see you very soon,

~Twilight”

Ecstatic gurglings came from the youngest Alicorn in known existence, for Flurry Heart was having a fantastic day. She’d been on the choo-choo, had a lot of snuggles with a very fun pink pony and her other friends, managed to decorate a whole room with mashed peas and was now lovingly nomming on big white auntie’s nose while trying to keep Whammy sat nice and still on her wavey colorfully mane. However, the best bit of all was getting back into the warm cuddles of her mommy. That did not mean she didn’t enjoy snuggling down with her daddy, but nothing beat mommy’s hugs.

However, mommy Cadence was still a little concerned. She’d heard nothing from Twilight today, and while she had greeted her family and even Twilight’s friends from Ponyville on the station, she had not found a train with her sister-in-law on it. Eventually, she could no longer hold off their journey to the auditorium where the pageant was being held, a night before Hearth’s Warming Eve on this occasion, as they had agreed to meet Princesses Celestia and Luna in the royal box before the show started.

With Princess Celestia distracted by the fuzzy, talcum scented foal clinging to her snout, Cadence quickly brought her husband up to speed on the current events. She’d already told the story once to Fluttershy, Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity, so this time was a breeze. She explained to Shining that Twilight had read Celestia’s journal without meaning to, and the Head Princess had been livid when she found out. In recompense, Twilight was out trying to get a gift for Celestia from as many ponies as she could.

“...She’d hoped she’d get here in time for this, but I guess the task was too big, even for her.” She explained sedately, glancing to the main doors with her ears lowered. Shining tugged his wife gently so her head rested under his chin and gave a weary sigh, sniffing from a slight cold he’d managed to accumulate from his past few days with Flurry in the Crystal Kingdom.

“Don’t count Twilly out just yet, Cadence. If I know one thing about my sister, it’s that she never gives up. That’s coming from the brother she remembered had played a prank on her in third grade and got him back for it, just before he left for boot camp years later.” He chuckled at the memory and shook it out of his head as Flurry was finally encouraged to release the nostrils she kept a prisoner. Celestia hugged her once more to her breast then let her hover back over to her mommy and daddy, just in time for two kisses on both cheeks!

“She’s as sweet as the day we first met her,” cooed Celestia in genuine happiness, smiling to her niece and nephew-in-law. Her expression dipped in her next breath, however, as she looked to the two empty seats beside them. “Has anypony heard from Twilight and Spike?” The couple shared a quick look and Cadence approached the subject tenderly.

“Aunt Celestia, Twilight was-“

“Fillies and Gentlecolts!” The announcer from backstage boomed over her attempt to start an explanation, “welcome to this year’s Hearth’s Warming pageant!” The crowd of ponies below whooped and cheered as their heads turned to the lit burgundy curtains, hundreds of faces gleaming with excitement for the show. For Cadence and Shining, the call meant something else, as it was the voice of a young dragon they knew exceptionally well. They both said the same thing at the same time with the same amount of delight.

“That’s Spike!”

Celestia pulled an altogether different face as she also recognized the voice of Spike, wondering what her ears were doing hearing it call from the stage when he had not been assigned a role in this year’s production. Her answer was about to come.

“The story of Hearth’s Warming will begin shortly, but before you can sit back and enjoy the show, I’d like to introduce onto stage Princess Twilight Sparkle!”

The white ears perked between Celestia’s calm streak falls, as she watched Twilight Sparkle enter from stage right. A friendly ripple of applause greeted her and Pinkie Pie’s cheers dominated it. However, after reaching the main center of the playing area she gave her stretched out mulberry wings a light wave at the tips to settle everypony down.

“ARNY TWILLY!” squealed Flurry excitedly and tried to flap her wings to get to her auntie, but fortunately Cadence had enough of a careful hold on her to keep her from getting away. ‘Tia looked from this, to the lone pony on stage and leaned forward apprehensively to hear what she had to say.

“Hi there, Fillies and Gentlecolts! Are you all excited to see the show? Are you?” She paused for the loud neighs of eagerness from the cordial audience. “That’s great! I won’t take up too much of your time, I first want to thank this year’s director of the pageant, Mr. Skeeter. He has been generous enough to give me five minutes to address you all with something important.”

Celestia bristled, her eyes zipping from Cadence to Luna, approaching her sister first, “did you know anything about this?”

“Of course not,” whispered the night Princess, adding smugly, “although, if I did, Twilight clearly wanted to keep whatever it was a surprise and I would not have betrayed her wishes.”

“But what if it’s-” The spectral mare turning paler started to say, but for once it was Luna’s turn to silence her.

“Then we’ll deal with it. Have some faith in your old student, Celestia. She has never let you down before.”

“She has never known this before,” Celestia dreaded and looked down to the Princess who could break the confidence of her loyal subjects with a single word.

“Ponies, I’ve discovered something about Princess Celestia that you need to hear,” Twilight advised, trembling lightly with a dip in her mettle. She rose her head to the mare in the box above and the rest of the house joined her, all eyes blinking softly at their beloved leader before returning to the Princess of Friendship. She cleared her throat, trying to avoid the horrified eyes of her teacher.

“I’ve done some research and I just wanted to say… well, I wanted you to know that… I felt you should know that…” Twilight was out of her comfort zone. Usually, she had thousands of notes prepared for a group like this and this time she hadn’t written a single one. This had to come from the heart, she had told herself then. She reminded herself of that fact again and straightened up. “Ponies, you should all know that Princess Celestia is… great. I’ve done some research and my conclusions are that Princess Celestia is great. No, more than great,” the purple horse took a breath. Now she was getting to the words from her heart.

“Princess Celestia is your friend. She’s your mother, your father, your sister and brother, your foals and fillies, and your family. She’s your Princess, but she’s so much more than that, because she’s been here for all of us at some point or another. And, Princess Celestia, I can prove it.” She looked at the royal box once more. Celestia’s horror was gone, replaced with surprise. Twilight shut her eyes and prayed to that Princess that this worked.

“If you have ever asked for Princess Celestia for anything in your minds; be it help, guidance, hope, love, courage, anything. If you’ve believed your thoughts might find her and that she would help you, stick up your hoof. Stick them up right now!”

Behind the shade of her eyelids, Twilight heard movement. For a few seconds, she dared not open them until something fist-shaped socked her in the side. She looked down to see Spike smiling at her on stage, his left claws in the air. Moondancer stood beside him, a leg in the air too. Behind her, the cast of the show ready in their costumes, all with a hoof held high. As somepony brought up the house lights, there was an apparent show of unity.

Celestia also looked around at the show of support all around her, ears tipping back again as she glanced to her family around her. Cadence, and Shining, and her sister Luna held up a limb with loving expressions, even Flurry Heart had a hoof wiggling in the air (although the cheeky giggle suggested she was just following the crowd). If one or two legs hadn’t been raised, it wasn’t visible now. A pony in the gathering clopped, then two, and then more were doing it. From levitated legs to stomping hooves, the hall broke into a tremendous ovation for the Princess of the sun as a small, humble smile broached her lips.

Twilight waited for the show of appreciation to quieten down before she gathered up her cracking voice.

“Because of this, I wanted to present to you a small token of our gratitude, I wanted to present this,” Twilight winked to Spike, who hurried quickly to the wings and pulled a rope. At first, it seemed like a new curtain was dropping down, but it soon became clear that was not the case.

“This is the class of 2010. I’ve been and visited every pony on this photo in the last few days, and everypony has signed it for you with a personal message, Princess Celestia.” As the screen unrolled, it revealed an enlarged class photo, with a very familiar face in the center and a very well recognized head teacher and Princess on one side. Across the surface by each foal and teacher in the photo were black scribbles, unmistakable hoof writing. Twilight was not done there. With a flash of her horn, the words came to life and floated off of the glossy page with the voices of the ponies who wrote them echoing through the theater.

“...She showed me my creativity is more impressive than I think. I’ll not forget that...”

“...I believe in myself now, I never did without Princess Celestia…”

“...Celestia saved my life. She really did. Without her, I wouldn’t be here…”

“...I now recognize my own integrity and trust that I am more honest than ponies perceive me to be, thanks to Celestia’s words…”

“...I wouldn’t have seen that I’m actually stronger than I used to feel without you, Princess. Thank you...”

“...Thank you for understanding us, giving up everything for us and loving us, Princess Celestia. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight let a feather of peace drift through the room as her words and the words of all the other ponies returned to the canvas, everything going silent. No thought of the distance between them, she looked up into the shining pink eyes and ignored her blocked nose, the small tear cupped under the bag of her eye and the croak in her voice.

“...Happy Hearth’s Warming, Princess Celestia.”

The stillness was so powerful that when the white monarch rose from her chair, everypony heard it. She said nothing, Twilight fearing she would leave and never be seen again. The pleas for her to stay, to abolish her for her foolishness and not discard her ponies were rising in her throat but before they could come, Celestia’s horn flicked with life and she was by the lilac mare with a snap of magic. Forelegs and wings curled in around the surprised and nearly fainting pony. Droplets of happy rain fell on the hugged filly as the mass erupted with jubilation once more.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming, Twilight Sparkle,” she sniffled emotionally, hiding it for a moment for all but her with a wing and then emerging with a smile sunnier than her brightest day. She took a bow to the adoring Equestrians and straightened up, clearing her throat.

“I’d like to thank Twilight and all who put together this… Beautiful gift,” she admired it once more before returning to the gathering. “We shall not hold up this show any longer, please allow me, my sister and my family,” she gave the student Princess one more healthy grin, “a very happy Hearth’s Warming and all the best for the coming year. Enjoy your evening.”

The praise lifted the roof once more. Ponies hurried to carefully take down Celestia’s gift and store it away safely, while the Princess turned to Twilight, Spike and Moondancer.

“You will be joining us, won’t you? I believe Flurry Heart is very eager for a cuddle,” she asked hopefully. Twilight glanced to her other friends who gave a pair of cheery nods and then beamed, her head agreeing fiercely.

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

Once the play had ended, the windigos had been warded back and the three tribes of ponies had been united with the power of friendship, hot drinks and sugary snacks helped keep spirits high. A lot more ponies seemed to want to add their own words to the gift, so it was hung up on the wall with several markers available. The cast and crew came out to join everypony else and the Princesses ensured that each of them got congratulations for another successful pageant.

“ARNIE ‘TIA!”

Twilight was lucky to have Flurry Heart’s eyes as she cantered around the room talking to every pony she could, or else she might have missed Celestia attempting to slip out of the theatre with as little fuss as possible. Before she could be stopped, the little foal flapped up after her eldest Aunt and snagged her around the back of the neck, half in the hall and half out into the snow. The Princess nickered in surprise then nuzzled the foal before looking to her caretaker who hurried over.

“A certain little pony appears to be as eagle-eyed as her aunt,” she responded with some amusement, stepping back in to hug Flurry in the warmth and share her mirth with her young prodigy. Little Heart was snuggled up and happily crooning to her in no time at all.

“Celestia?” Twilight softly murmured, shivering at the chill coming through the door, “were you going to leave without saying goodbye?” The Princess parted her lips slightly and breathed in gently, yet she released it in a sigh rather than an explanation. She gave Twilight a fond sort of look and stroked the back of Flurry’s head, wriggling her wings.

“I apologize for lying to you about the legitimacy of the journal and for my harsh tone the other night, Twilight. You must understand, those were different days. I was younger and not as cautious as I am these days, nor as… wise?” She asked as though she was asking herself and it was herself who corrected her choice of words, “clear-headed.” She clicked her tongue and stretched out her spare leg, inviting Twilight into her bright clean fur along with her niece. Soon plum and cream furs happily mingled and a few content whiffles came from both mares.

“I understand why you were upset, Princess Celestia,” Twilight spoke up when she felt she could, “and I’m sorry I read the book and the letter. I only did it because I was concerned.” Her violet eyes glanced up to the sad pink tunnels belonging to her benefactor.

“You thought I might someday become Daybreaker as Luna once became Nightmare Moon?” She asked tenderly, before touching her nose on Flurry’s angel soft mane. The silkiness and sweet foal scent of it eased some of the troubles on her mind. The smart horse beneath her flickered her eyes away in shame.

“I did at first,” she replied honestly, then quickly protested with a twist of her head back to the Princess, “but only at first. In fact, it was the letter from Sombra that swayed my mind! The way you-” she paused and gulped, something that did not pass Celestia’s notice. Her brow quirked despite her cheeks hazing softly.

“...The way you loved him,” Twilight managed to say, “and even the way he loved you all those years ago, told me that it must have taken a lot to break up with each other. Even when he turned into a tyrannical monster.” She sensibly went quiet after that.

Celestia let everything her star pupil had told her slowly drip into her dark thoughts, and color them with a spectrum of light she had not seen in the old problems before. She rolled her hoof along the head of the foal against her breast, examining her. Flurry gave a wide and squeaky yawn that made her smile, so much so that it earned a noise of relief from Twilight too. The mare extended her leg to her good friend and brushed her cheek considerately.

“For both of us, ponies came first. We just saw different sides of the same interest. I nearly followed his path and it was Luna who braved the darkness to bring me back. Since then, I have never let a pony take me down that route. It is as your gift shows,” she trotted around to look over at it and the ponies gathered around it, “I have put the needs of others above my own. That is the way it should be.”

“Is it?” Twilight asked softly, then turned scarlet as she realized the implications of proposing such a question. However, Celestia merely smiled at her and glided a very sleepy, yet objecting foal back into the embrace of her cool violaceous auntie.

“I must take my leave,” she explained gently, slipping in a small nuzzle to both young and youngest ponies cheeks, “happy Hearth’s Warming once again, my kind and faithful student.” She created and wrapped a scarf around her neck, turning to the doors for the guard waiting dutifully in the snow for her. In a flash, Twilight was at her heels once more, although she did not stop her from leaving entirely.

“Wait, Celestia.” The white princess turned her head around once more, looking back affectionately.

“Yes, Twilight?”

“Well, I was just wondering… Will we still be able to meet up on Hearth’s Warming Eve tomorrow night? Spike was really looking forward to it.” Celestia considered it as the poor crystalline flakes confused her fur for their kindred essences only to melt into the energy of her beautiful body. She shook her head gently, releasing a small dusting.

“I’m sorry, Twilight. Maybe in a few night’s time. The discovering of my old journal has still given me a lot to think about. I hope you can forgive me.” She gave a sad but gracious gaze, bid her goodnight, and trotted out into the safety of her guard’s escort. Sparkle gave a soft farewell of her own, gladdened that she’d fixed some bridges with Celestia, but disappointed that their date the next evening was still crossed out in the calendar. Something didn’t feel right about all of this. Something still felt incomplete tonight, as though she’d taken a shortcut to fix a friendship problem and missed the point of the matter in the first place. The difficulty came in working out what that was.

“Twilight Sparkle, are you free?” Luna’s voice nearly had the mare leaping out of her skin, muscle, and bones in shock. She spun around to greet the night mare with a wheeze in her voice.

“H-Hello, Luna! Can I help you?” The teal eyes drifted to the baby-pink and teal eyed foal snoozing under Twilight’s chin, then smirked blithely.

“Ah, you have little Flurry. It appears she has drifted into my realm as well,” she showed Twilight a snoozing Spike on her own back, nestled between her wings and they shared a small giggle at the precious little cherubs. “The dreamland is too magical to resist it seems.”

“It sure is,” agreed Twilight, “I guess we should take this one to her Mommy and Daddy, then I should get Spike home to bed.”

“Indeed, although it is a pity,” Luna mused as they started to seek out Cadence and Shining, “I had something I wanted to discuss with you and the sooner, the better.”

“Oh?” the friendship scholar stopped as she looked about the room, although her mind wandered elsewhere. Could she be wanting to talk about Celestia? “If I can find Moondancer, I could ask her to take Spike home for the night? Then I’d be free to spend another hour or so with you. Maybe not much longer, I’m really beat after several days traveling.”

“An hour will be sufficient,” Luna advised with a charming grin, before locking her head to a particular direction, “I spy Shining Armor there. Let’s swap foal for dragon and I shall meet you at the main doors when you have met up with your friend.” She made the exchange with Twilight, gliding away to deliver the curled up filly to her father.

Twilight trotted about the room several circuits before she located Moondancer, and it didn’t take much persuading for her reddish-maned travel buddy to agree to take the little scalie away to bed. All she requested in return was that Twilight filled her in on whatever details were not confidential when she got back. The Princess agreed, gave her friend a strong cling and a thank you for everything she’d done to help her get this far, before galloping away to wrap up and join Luna into the wintery seize of the night.

The clinking of glasses and hum of conversation kept the soul of ‘Moxie’s Bar’ busy. The little drinking hole that Luna had brought her youthful friend to was a peculiar and interesting place, certainly not the expected establishment for a Princess, let alone two. Twilight’s head whirled around to look at the neon lighting, the one-armed bandits, the chrome and veneer decor, so much so that she nearly missed seeing a bat stallion trotting towards them on the other side of the bar, glancing at them with a grin far too friendly for a bartender. Luna merely gave him an untroubled wave and placed their order.

“Two Lemon Dusters, please,” she turned to the Ponyville Princess sat by her side on a stool and grinned cheerfully, “you have to try this cocktail, Twilight Sparkle. After my first, I was hooked. They only do them in this bar, which is lucky for me.” Twilight tried to respond but found herself too fascinated by the thestral currently tossing their drinks together into a tumbler, then launching it around like he was juggling a hoofball.

“There’s my girl!” A mare whose first noticeable feature was the pirate’s eyepatch on her face did draw both Princesses attentions away from the stallion dancing with their drinks. This pony had a shapely maroon figure with salt and pepper tousled mane, bangs over her bad eye and a good aventurine eye gazing back at her. The bookworm did find herself admiring this mare who she mistook for an attractive barfly until Luna spoke again.

“Moxie!” They cradled each other with adoring and affectionate whinnies, then shared a loving kiss that unnaturally surprised Twilight. Realizing this, Luna made her introductions. “Moxie, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle, Celestia’s prodigy. Twilight, this is Moxie, my wife.”

“Wife?!” Yelped and spluttered Twilight, nearly falling from her chair, “w-when was the wedding? How did I miss it? Was I busy?” Luna blushed and shook her head, giggling tenderly.

“My apologies for the confusion, Twilight. It is what we call each other, as we are engaged, yet not quite married.” Luna rested her cheek on the cheek of the brownish red pony she was in love with and smiled with an adoring warmth that their friend couldn’t only see, but feel resonating from them. Once the embarrassment of misunderstanding Luna had passed, she was able to smile at the happy couple and greet Moxie properly.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, would you like to join us? It would be great to get to know the mare who caught Luna’s heart.”

“Actually, Twilight Sparkle, I need to have this word with you in private. Not that I do not trust my love, but-,” she looked ruefully to Moxie without a full explanation, and yet the one-eyed darling gave a small accepting nod. After telling her to, “whistle me over when you’re done, hon,” she watched the Princesses levitate their drinks and carry them to a booth where they could expect a little more privacy. Luna sat back, her wings spread to cover the backrest. Twilight tried a sip of the Lemon Duster cocktail Luna had bought for her and a note of satisfaction came from the liquid sweetness with an alcoholic bite that washed over her tongue.

“This is delicious,” she exclaimed once she’d swallowed, going in for another gulp. Luna quickly stopped her, chortling gently.

“Do not forget it is alcohol, young Sparkle. We do not want you too tipsy to hear what we have to say.”

“Oh, right!” Twilight sat the glass down and crossed her forelegs on the table, leaning in to hear what the mare of the moon had brought her to the quaint but enjoyable dwelling for. “You said you had something to tell me?”

“I do,” despite her advice to her subordinate, Luna cleared half of her libation in one swift swoop and settled it on the table too. “Twilight, I am so sorry for what happened these past few days. It was I who left the journal in the old tower library, but it had been so long ago that I completely forgot I had done it until Celestia informed me that you were temporarily returning to reside there for the holidays.” The mare across the booth from her listened with a furrowed forehead. She drank again, licked her lips, then carefully approached the subject without horror or anger in her tone.

“Why? I don’t understand how Celestia’s journal got into your hooves or why you felt the need to hide it from her.” Her tone came over as regretful as she came to know that this whole matter could have been avoided if Celestia’s sister had not made a rash decision. Princess Luna took down the rest of her Duster and ordered another from their seating. With a sigh, Twilight inhaled the rest of hers and waved as well, “make that two more Lemon Dusters over here, please.”

“Twilight, the alcohol,” Luna prudently reminded her.

“I’m not minding my intake if- hic!” She quickly covered her mouth, “excuse me- if you are not minding yours.” However, Twilight was a lightweight when it came to a tipple and her eyes were already swimming.

“Very well, if you wish to keep up with me then I shall answer your questions while you can still remember them.” Luna moved their depleted glasses away with petroleum blue emissions and shifted forward to contemplate Twilight’s gaze, her brow dropping ingloriously. Her wings tucked back in, strikingly smaller than they had seemed earlier.

“Twilight, not long after you reformed me from the fury of Nightmare Moon, Celestia and I briefly fell out. I was still struggling to come to terms with a world that had moved ahead a whole millennium without me and I was struggling to adjust. My sister tried to help me but I was too headstrong to listen to her and we exchanged words harsher than we meant to throw. It was not as Equestria-shattering as my mistakes one-thousand years prior, but it still hurt to hear my sister still struggling to trust me. Not that I could blame her.” Luna stopped to thank the stallion from the bar flap over on leathery wings with their new drinks. Twilight watched the thestral bow in mid-air with the empty tray perfectly balanced in his hoof, and nearly prayed for it to drop just to cause a distraction. However, his self-control was too good and he was flying back to his station without a single mistake. After a sip of their spirits in unison, the Princess kept going.

“That night I caught her looking over the precious book of her memories of Sombra and I felt stung with jealousy,” she sighed seethingly, a sign that the resentment had not entirely evaporated over time. “How could my sister still forgive and love a monster like him, when she expected her own sister to turn into a villain the moment we disagree on something? It was painful to think about, to say the least. That is why I took it from her side as she slept that night and hid it away in your old library in the tower.” They paused again at that and took a couple more sips of their drinks.

Twilight had questions, but she was sure Luna hadn’t finished explaining her story. So, she watched over the rim of her cocktail glass while around them, revelers enjoyed their evening with jokes, chatter, and songs. One curly-maned mare even clambered onto her table to dance. Some might say it did not end well when she slipped on a wet patch and fell from it, but she would have challenged that as she landed on an attractive young stallion. They looked at one another, laughed and hurried to get each other another drink.

“The next day,” Luna continued, regaining Twilight’s attention from the two brand new lovebirds, “Celestia apologized to me for her outburst and explained that she was still getting used to me being in her life once more. She held me and in her warm cradle, I felt ashamed that I had let my anger and spite get the better of me and yet, I could not tell her where I had hidden her book.”

“Why?” Twilight said directly when Luna appeared to be trying to end the story there. It surprised the Princess who suspended her beverage at her lips and gazed at her. She lowered the glass slowly.

“Why?” She repeated, licking the citrus sugar off of her lips, “I recall I once had to help you clean up a mess in Ponyville created when Rarity read a book of dark power?” Twilight could only nod mutely, wondering what that had to do with this. “If I remember correctly, the longer she held onto the spell without being told it was a bad thing, the more erratic her actions became until Spike had to be honest to her to stop it. Celestia’s journal may not have been cursed with any enchantment but the matter was still the same, the longer she held onto the memories of herself and Sombra, the more lost she seemed.”

“Didn’t Celestia search for the notes and the letter, Luna?” There as a small note of dissatisfaction in Twilight’s voice, as though she still did not believe this was a good enough reason for the blue sister to have kept such a prized possession from the Daylight Bringer. Luna confirmed with a motion of her head.

“She did but no matter where she searched, she did not find it. Worst of all,” Luna closed her eyes and sucked the air through perfectly glistening teeth, “she never blamed me. She asked me if I knew yet never once called me out on my lies when I told her I did not. It was only this week, years later, that I chose to tell her where I had hidden it and that was only because I was worried your friends might find and read the journal. I am glad it was you who reached the book first.”

“Glad?” Twilight allowed a chink in her armor to release some of her frustration, “I thought Celestia was disowning me when she found out I’d read it all and that does not even cover the humiliation of her finding out that I’d masturbated to the letter!” She stopped herself too late to admit the horrible truth in front of the Day Princess’ sister. She looked to the drink against her hoof, as though it was at fault, then whinnied in further shame.

“I warned you the drink was strong,” advised Luna, finishing hers. “I am also sorry I put you through all of that. I made mistakes and I will make more in my long life to come. Celestia forgave me almost instantly and I am not certain I deserved that, but I only hope you can forgive me as well.” The Element of Magic gave it a long think and two more swigs to clean out her glass before she decided her verdict.

“I forgive you, Luna,” she slid off the side of one chair and joined her on the other with a hug for the pillow-cool princess, nuzzling her wing feathers. The cuddle was returned with gusto. “We all make mistakes in anger and depression. It’s learning from them that makes the difference.”

“You are very wise for one so small, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna chuckling, squeezing her Princess companion before whistling shrilly to her ‘wife,’ with a sparkling grin, “You may come back over now, dearest. And bring more Lemon Dusters with you!” Before Moxie could reach them, the Lady of the Moon saucily whisper to Twilight, “let us make a few more mistakes before this night is out, hmm?”

Thus it came to be that Princess Twilight Sparkle got royally sloshed throughout the next hour or two of that evening, with her drinking party buying her all kinds of wild and colorful scrumptious cocktails great and small for her to try. She took on challenges, she sipped coolers bigger than her head, and soon was having a tough time standing or flying right. She would never know how or where it came from, but in the midst of this disorder, she had an idea. A fantastic, incredible, awe-inspiring idea. One that could not wait.

Before anypony could see her or stop her she had grabbed somepony else’s scarf, hat, and coat and was swooping lopsidedly out of the door towards the castle. The bell jingled as the door closed and kept the cold night at bay from the rest of the gleeful boozers.

Moxie broke a kiss with Luna and peeped out from beneath her in the same booth they’d been in all eventide, looking around her bar with a confused squint.

“Hey, wh-where’d your friend go?”

The halls that took the little purple alicorn to Cadence and Shining’s quarters were longer than she had ever remembered them to be. Not only that, she’d never recalled the statues and suits of armor wanting to leap out into her way before! It was really very rude indeed! She snorted angrily at a white marble bust that she hurt her poor snout on and glared at them, pointing accusingly.

“More o-of that insolence and I’ll-I’ll have you… lick my …. hooves!” She laughed at the absurdity of the suggestion and shrugged when the static statue did not laugh back, prompting her to move on. She tried to keep to the gold pattern on the red as blood carpet she was following.

“Ah ha, seeeee~ I can follow this line! I drunk-hic! Cannot possibly be!” This created a bunch of pleased nickers as she did not stumble off or falter, neglecting to notice that the yellow stitching went back and forth regularly as the theme of the royal train dictated. She was so engrossed in it, she almost missed a couple of ponies trying to hide in an alcove just across from Cadence’s room.

Almost.

As her blurry eyes did spy the two horses behind the still suit of gold armor, she squinted fiercely, trying to recognise them. The closer she got, the more she saw; the pink fur, the yellow and lilac mane, the gold slippers… Cadence! Twilight gasped softly at her first victory and focused on her second.

Silver armor, definitely a stallion, trying to climb over Princess Cadence? Had to be Shining Armor, but why was he….No, trying to lay on her back… NO, wait! They were~ oh gosh!

Ordinarily, Twilight would have blushed, squeaked and ran away faster at the sight of her brother mounting and doing some severe PT on his wife. Ordinarily, Twilight would not have said a word to either of them, now or long afterward. Ordinarily, Twilight would have been mortified. However, this was not ordinary Twilight. This was drunk and disorderly Twilight.

“Whoo! Shining!” She squealed, flapping into the alcove to cuddle the startled pair of ponies, “look at you! Making another Flurry Heart? I love you both so-GASSSSSSP!”

Drunk Twilight was temporarily in possession of Pinke’s suspension and awe as she watched the terrified stallion slowly turn his head. She looked him over, from the blast of orange coming through his tail to the ignition of golds and reds burning on his head under the helmet, held up by a solid bone horn. His blue eyes looked scared and bemused at her appearance and his sweat-drenched armor rattled as he shook, even with his cock still locked in Cadence’s slit.

“SUNBURST!” Twillight yelled furiously.

“Oh! Bu-buck, buck! Twilight! What-what? What are you doing here?” Cadence gasped, still quivering from the tensions of public sex and the stress of being caught with another pony by her sister in law. In a flash, Twilight pointed into Sunburst’s face and held out in disgust.

“You’re cheeeeating on my br-brother!”

“Twilight I-“ Sunburst was shaking harder than ever. Twilight was like a dog with a bone trying to bury it in someplace warm.

“You are b-banging my bestest foal sitter!” She cried out tremendously, loud enough to raise an alarm. Sunburst chose not to stick around and wait to get arrested getting caught ‘knotted up’ in a public place with a Princess.

He pulled out from Cadence unceremoniously with a wet slurp, the cascade of cum pouring from her nethers. The sister watched this in disgust as she realized this hadn’t been their only ride together. He dived off of the back he’d been mounting as Twilight made a clumsy grab for him, and was running away as the usually friendly princess slipped and struggled on the cum drenched floor.

“Twilight!” Cadence whimpered in protest, trying to stop the justice-seeking mare. But Twilight found her hooves in no time and was immediately giving chase. Sunburst galloped as quick as he could in the distance to get away. The armor he’d been roleplaying in was weighing him down, he couldn’t get it off without stopping and soon his hunter was catching up.

They weaved through the castle, up and down staircases, along corridors and through rooms, Twilight closing in on him. She made several magical swipes, none successful, to try and grab him. He was a slippery fellow to say he was not too athletic and always managed to dodge just in time. Nonetheless, his luck had to run out soon.

His body lurched, the first indicator to him that something was wrong. He needed a safe place to stop. He dived through the doors at the end of their last corridor and fell into a closed box room with bedroom furnishings but no other way out. He tried to close the door behind him but Twilight slammed through it with ease, her alcoholic soaked brain refusing to stop her from doing anything rash. She landed a meter away from him and readied her horn.

“Sunburst, how could you…?” She began, tears welling in her eyes and teeth bared. Sunburst staggered back from her, his hind impacting into a cabinet. He moaned and clutched his chest as he felt his body shift, swirling like it was made from angry bees.

“I didn’t, I-I…” his stomach gurgled. He looked at it, whimpered and nickered, “oh dear! Listen, Please! I’m-“

“You’re a no good ch-sheet!” Twilight slurred furiously, prodding him in the metal chest. His rumbles spread throughout his body

“Please, don’t! I’m-“ he tried again, patting his stomach, his body suddenly starting to fill the armor and look bloated...

“Oh no!” Bleated Twilight, her stewed eyes not seeing the odd changes, “I’m not letting you get away with it! I’m taking you straight to Shining-“ he whinnied, armor creaking as his mass increased, “-and his hooves are going to kick-“ groooowl~ “-your-“ ruummmble~! “Asssss~”

POP! Before her, the once panicking unicorn was suddenly gone. Immediately, he had burst with the full ordeal of a water balloon, spraying the room, the bed and Twilight not with gore, but with surprisingly frozen slurries of watery powder! The emptied armor fell into a melted frost stallion with a heavy racket, and then a dreadful calm returned to the quarters.

Twilight was stunned into shock as she stared at the flour mound that had once been Sunburst. She did not scream nor sob just patted the melting mess on the floor then brushed at her cheeks, looked from the hollow uniform to the evaporating spray on her hoof.

“Oh-k-kay, n-neigh…. w-wha-what?” She sat, covered her forehead with both legs and stared at the relinquished shell of the irradicated pony’s costume. An ache in her throat was gulped down and her cheeks puffed, finally finding a wastepaper basket to relieve her stomach. Half a minute and an empty tummy later, she composed herself and moaned.

“... I am n-never… never d-drinksing again!”

Author's Note

Want to discuss the story? Follow me to get ‘Switched On,’ on Discord...

One of the pieces of music I was listening to while writing this was ‘The Love Theme,’ by Craig Armstrong from the 'Love Actually' score, have a listen...

Happy Hearth’s Warming, all.

Thank you to Syn and AA for their editing on this story.

If this is when you stop reading, goodbye and safe travels.

If you're still strapped in for the ride, see you in the next chapter.

All good things,
Duskhoof

Chapter Four

A Tender Touch of Snow
A story by Duskhoof, Edited by Synesisbassist & AmorousArts

Chapter Four

By the time Cadence reached the guest bedroom, she was already too late. She pushed open the door like a pimple she didn't want to burst, and found Twilight slumped over a breastplate full of defrosting ice and slush, a bucket beside her that the Love Princess was not touching with any amount of magic. The mare splattered with sleet turned slowly to Cadence, tears gushing from her eyes as she stared in horror at her.

“I killed Sunburst!” The inebriated pony wailed, pulling her ears down and shaking heavily. The Princess came in very calm and composed, considering the stallion who had matted her backside with a snowstorm before the whole fiasco began. She stroked the chilly sludge from Twilight’s face and pulled her in, her legs and wings covering her.

“No, no darling ladybug, you didn’t,” she whispered, hugging her and brushing her mane away slowly.

“Yes, I did! Th-That was him! He wus der! He was there! And now he’s… he’s… he’s…” She looked down to the shiny advocated armour plating, boots and helmet sticking out of a small white hillock. The word fell out of her mouth with disgruntled confusion, “snow?!”

“He was always snow, Twilight-“ The sober princess noticed some of Celestia’s guard had come to the door to check out the disturbance and she waved them back with an expression to tell them she had this under control.

“No! No I saw him! He was Sunburst an-an-and…” she gasped in the same amount of horror as the first time she caught them, “he was dickinging you! D-Doing you! He was m-making Flurry Hearts with you!”

“No, he wasn’t. Well, he couldn’t-“

“Yes! Yes, he was!” She scrambled out of Cadence’s hug like a cat who didn’t want to be hugged and started staggering for the door, glaring daggers over her shoulder at Twilight as she went. “I’m telling Shin-Shinning. He’s gonna be sho-hic! Mad!” She slipped through the door and stopped, wavering on her feet. She turned to the closest guard and pointed to his helmet, requesting it.

Confused, the guard nonetheless complied with his Princess’ order, a duty he regretted as seconds later Twilight hurled chunks into the decorated hat. Behind her, Cadence winced in apology. The soldier did his best not to pull a face.

Twilight raised her head up, wiped her mouth on the back of her leg and thanked the stallion while she was about to place the garment back on his head. Cadence snapped it away just in time and put it with the other disturbed waste bin in the room.

“Okay, come on, Ladybug, time to go to bed. Sirs, we can take it from here… request a new helmet, Officer Doomande, I shall see to it your previous one is cleaned thoroughly,” she stressed apologetically, holding Twilight and guiding her with a wing.

“Thisss changes nuffin’ y’know, Caysense,” garbled the sozzled bookworm, “Im shtill gonna tell Shining Armor.”

“You do that, Ladybug,” Cadence sighed, already confident things would be okay.

“I will! And he’ll… he’ll… Shining Armor has a fabtastic bum, right?” Cadence stopped for a second, glancing with astonishment at the words spilling out of her sister-in-law’s mouth, “I mean, a stallion hash no right to hash a butt that shexy~”

“I… um… hey, Twilight, let’s play the silence game. Try to beat little Fluttershy’s score, huh?”

“Oh, I’m the best at that! Watch!” And Twilight took a deep breath, shut her lips and grinned unblinking at Cadence. The Love Princess kept them walking until the stumbling increased dramatically, catching Twilight quickly.

“Okay, remember to breathe. Breathe, Twilight, bre-“ then caught the unconscious Princess as she fell into her. Cadence’s earlids lowered in frustration, a sigh breezed over her lips and her nose tried not to inhale the scent of fresh illness. “Breathe. Fine, I guess I’ll be carrying you home on my back just like I did when you were a foal.” She levitated her up and groaned. “Except now you’re heavier... And you smell worse.”

The last morning before Hearth’s Warming came and Twilight Sparkle had never felt worse. Her head was made of solid lead and her eyelids remained on lockdown until she had a reason to open them.

“Hey, Twilly? You doing okay there, LSBFF?” Her lids crept up and she gave a painful moan to Shining Armor, closing them again as her stomach growled in depression.

“No,” she mumbled, wincing. “Everything hurts. Did I run out in front of the Canterlot Express last night?” She settled back into her pillow and cycled through the film strip in her mind of last night’s antics. “Let’s see, we were forgiven by Princess Celestia,” Twilight mulled over the inner movie of her memories, “we were invited to a drink with Princess Luna and she told me she was responsible for us finding Helia’s journal. Then…”

Brain cinema brought up a swaying, shaky cam version of the sex scene she witnessed from the evening’s rendezvous of Cadence and Sunburst. She sat up with a bolt of energy, grabbing Shining by his shoulders and showed him the entirety of her bloodshot eyes.

“OH MY GOSH!” She yelled, staring at him. He stared back, partially shocked by her outcry. However, as he waited for her to explain herself, she had a mini mental crisis over her responsibilities to tell him what she knew. Could she really crush her big brother and put Flurry Heart’s parent’s marriage in jeopardy? How was Shining going to take this horrible news? She winced as this only cranked the knife of the hangover in her head harder but knew she had to persevere. Whatever the cost, he needed to know.

“You might want to sit down for this, BBBFF,” she whispered sadly, feeling the heat build up in her eyes before she had even began to recount the truth.

Though, when Shining Armor planted his flanks on the floor by Twilight’s bed, his hoof gently reached out and pushed her lips shut. She gazed along his leg in confusion while his head tilted and he smiled compassionately.

“I already know what you’re going to say. You saw Cadence with another stallion, right?” The grin lasted even as he said the words that should have broken him up. Bemused, Twilight’s eyebrows moved through a series of emotions from sorrow to tumult, to annoyance and eventually flabbergasted bashfulness. Her brother chuckled and pulled his hoof away slowly, which had the little sister’s blushing face finally turn into anger.

“You’re laughing?”

“I’m sorry, Twily, I’m really not laughing at you,” he told her, although her emotive frowns did have a part to play in his amusement. “I can explain what you saw. Cadence wasn’t being unfaithful.”

“Oh, is that what she told you?” The young princess asked skeptically. He rolled his eyes with a sigh.

“It’s what I know. Look, you’ve mastered the transformation spells, right?” He quickly snorted, “what am I saying? This is you we’re talking about, Twilight. You’ve mastered the transformation spells. Well, so has Cadence.” The mare attempted to understand what he meant but with a cranium full of nails it took her thinking longer than she was normally famed for. Several seconds later, it sank in and she gasped.

“That was an… Avatar?” She asked tentatively. Shining bobbed his head to signal that she was sort of right.

“It wasn’t Sunburst. He’s back in the Crystal Kingdom with Starlight Glimmer, helping sit in for us while we’re not there. Instead, it was a-“

“Shiny? Is she awake?” The voice of Cadence was much smaller and humbler than Twilight was used to. The mare first poked her head into the room, looking to him, then to her before slipping in and sitting at the foot of the bed, eyes downcast. “Twilight, I’m really sorry you saw what you saw last night. But I promise you, I-“

“It’s alright, Cady,” the blank furred horse gently assured her, “I’ve already explained it to her.” The pained purple pony shifted out of the sheets and moved to the end of the bed, reaching out to take hold of her pale pink sister-in-law.

“I’m sorry for coming to assumptions, Cadence,” she mumbled as the pair of Princesses cuddled softly, “I should have known you loved my brother too much to let another stallion breed you.” Cadence gave an awkward giggle and glanced to Shining, who promptly zipped his lips and threw away the key. She nodded lightly in response to the suggestion and bunted her nose tenderly under the bone spire of the shorter mare.

“Exactly. If anything, all you really caught me doing was playing with a sex toy… Which is only marginally better. I’m sorry, Twilight.” Twilight smiled and accepted the apology, but as she did so, something else crept into her mind.

“Wait, why did you need a, um, ‘toy’ at all? Wasn’t Shining with you last night?” Cadence blushed and glanced away slowly.

“Well, yes, and we were both ‘in the mood’ for something, but Flurry Heart wouldn’t settle after all the sugary treats she got at the Pageant. So, Shining agreed to watch her if I wanted to magic up somepony and get a little relief, which I did-“

“After a lot of persuasion,” Shining added, smirking. “She was prepared to wait for me.”

“I was prepared to stay up with Flurry Heart and let you slip off, Mr. Ego,” she scoffed playfully, giving him a sock in the leg. There was a genuine whinny of shock from him and a rub on the knocked spot, because the Love Princess was tougher than she looked. Returning her gaze to Twilight, affection glistening in her eyes. “If you want, I can at least show you how I did it, to ease all doubts?”

Princess Sparkle ruffled her wings and considered it, but she could hear her heartbeat in her head and her eyes would have hurt less if they’d been torn out from their sockets. Her stomach wanted nothing more than to leap out of her throat and roll away, and every sound was like a thousand Pinkie Pies having an orgy in her ears. She lowered her head in agony and rubbed away the tears she’d been shedding since the moment her peepers opened.

“I could do with a few painkillers first, guys. Got anything strong enough to cure an elephant-sized headache?” Shining hoofed this question over to Cadence, whose horn blossomed with rose-colored radiance.

“You’re in luck. It’s because your brother’s such a light-weight with the drink that I’ve been able to perfect this spell. One hangover cure, coming right up.” As she finished the last words, her horn charged up and Twilight watched the fuschia light encapsulate her. Suddenly, it felt like somepony had scooped out all the dead weight in her skull and kissed her brain better. It sucked out all the evil from her belly and even blessed her with renewed vigor. By the time the curing spell had dispersed, she felt like she could read a thousand and one books before lunch.

There was reserved amount of sheddings gliding down from the clouds above that morning. It was still chilly enough for the pair of mares to require a lot of warm coats, scarves and a woolly hat for good measure, but with good visibility they could hear plenty of ponies in the city bustling to give, collect and buy their presents for tomorrow’s festivities.

It was just the pair of them. Shining had slipped out with Flurry Heart for a wander around Canterlot, which translated from stallion-speak into mare-speak as ‘I’ve forgotten to buy a Hearth’s Warming gift and I’m going to pretend I’m not going out to get it.’ Spike was presumably still in the Library with Moondancer, but all Twilight had done was posted a quick message to them to say she was alright, and hadn’t come into any great danger. Now, she was stood in the blanketed balcony outside of the guest suite with Cadence looking at her last remaining snow horse, a lonely soldier ready to be relieved from battle.

“This is what you made last night’s Sunburst out of?” Twilight asked in disbelief, before switching to a face of understanding. “Ohh, that explains why he turned into snow when I confronted him! But, still, snow?” She turned on the spot to Cadence. “Isn’t that cold on your, you know… foo-foo?”

Cadence couldn’t help but giggle and give an adoring little coo at her sister-in-law’s cautious language, shaking her head gently.

“No, Twilight. See, I use a spell to make the snow-” She stopped herself, grinned and reached down to gather some of the powder from the floor, impacting it together with her hooves quickly. She levitated the ball with a beam of loving light, a flare of red pulsing once from base to pinnacle of her horn and transferring through the ball of frozen precipitation. Twilight watched, transfixed.

“Think fast!”

The speedy-savant's intellect was far quicker than her reaction times and as the ice orb suddenly whizzed straight at her, she only had time to lift her leg in protection. The projectile shattered across her shielding limb and the debris spread as far as her face. Feeling the shower patter over her cheeks and nose, Twilight's clenched eyes broke open, lowering her guard down. her tongue flicked out and captured some of the clear crystals from her snout, analysing them in her mouth.

"It's warm!" She concluded with a confirming laugh from Cadence.

"Warm snow. Kind where it counts," she winked, making Twilight blush once more. She weaved a new snowball and trotted over to her Princess companion, sitting beside her with the mini moon settling on her upturned hoof. "That's step one. Then, I cast the transformation spell. I fully focus on what or who I want to create and put that image into the spell I'm using..." She concentrated on the soft milky globe and swathed it in a glittering film with a touch of her horn.

Inside the coral bubble, the snow ignited and dramatically shifted shapes, developing a head, ears, long thin tail, and finally legs. When the effervescence dripped away and the glow faded, a tiny white mouse with little pink eyes remained. Twilight let out the breath in her lungs and her grin widened, carefully stretching a hoof out to feel it. However, Cadence quickly covered the small winter rodent and pulled it away slowly, her horn lighting once more.

"Lastly, I cast a fail-safe spell," she said as a single twinkle fell over the miniscule creature and disappeared on its head. The Princess lowered her hoof down and let the mouse skitter away from them, seeking warmth inside Cadence's quarters. Twilight watched it leap through the cotton wool covering towards the door as Cadence spoke up.

"...After twenty-four hours or if the snow doll gets too far away from me, all other spells cast on it are negated." Together, they watched the mouse jump for the crack under the door to the hallway but never make it. Instead, there was a flicker and a wad of snow landed at the foot of the door where a little critter had been.

"Aww, poor little guy," Twilight whispered, sitting and looking at the blob of snow melting in the ensuite. Cadence gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"It was snow. It didn't think or feel, it wasn't scared. It was acting how my spell was telling it to act, like cogs make the hands of a clock turn and springs create the melody of a music box."

Music box...

The mind is a very curious thing. At the barest of thoughts it can find the file associated with it and see all other files important to that one image conjured. In the case of Twilight Sparkle in that moment, the words 'music box' brought back the memory of Sombra's letter, the saucy details included and the Hearth's Warming gift given to Celestia at the end of the night. Twilight looked quickly across the veranda to the last snowpony belonging to Cadence and then to her sister-in-law, whose head was already turned in her direction with a knowing smile.

"You want to learn the spells?"

"I- What? How did you know?" Twily gave a startled neigh and circled around in a hurry, much to Caddy's amusement.

"I foal-sat you, Twilight. I know you better than most other ponies I’ve known my whole life." She crossed around the infallible single snow statue, gazed out into the wide world of Equestria, ready to be born. The aubergine colored mare went and sat beside her, letting the larger wing embrace her calmingly. They both looked at the model like it was a slab of clay, ready to be shaped and carved into a work of art and quietly pondered what pony Twilight should create.

“First,” Cadence soothed after a short moment, “you have to change the temperature of the snow. You have to imagine somepony you know the warmth of, somepony who you can imagine hugging and knowing what it feels like to hold them close. Can you do that?” Twilight frowned and looked ahead at the blank figure, wandering through all the ponies she’d hugged over the course of her life. “Close your eyes if it helps.” She did as was suggested, taking a deep breath into her lungs and practicing the breathing technique the same regal sister had taught her.

Shining appeared in her mind first. The times he held her happily, as he read her first books to her and gave her loads of brotherly love. The way he would help her get to the cookie jar and would rest by the hearth with her on the coldest nights were fond recollections, but her memories also recalled the day Shining had to go to cadet school and her to magic school, and the sorrow of parting ways.

Next were the rays of kindness that came from each clasp in the delicate legs of Celestia. She remembered the pride that came from a teacher watching her student go from strength to strength under her light tutorage, the stimulating conversations over research, stories, ideas and what they all might mean, and of course, the Hearth’s Warming Eves curled up before the fire together. Yet, as Twilight’s knowledge grew, she strayed further from the Princess’ entwine until she was too busy with books to keep building her relationship with Celestia. It wasn’t until she left for Ponyville that she understood the importance of her friendship, not just her loyalty, to the Mare of the Sun.

Each pony she could think of had come and left her life loved but missed, and the hints of warmth she could recall but not the full experiences of holding them, dozing with them, telling tales and wiping tears, laughing and crying. Not until one particular friend came to mind. Someone who wasn’t just a sidekick, they were her family. Brother, son, companion, these were just words. It didn’t matter which one fitted, it only mattered that he’d always been there, listening to her whims and wonders of her busy thoughts without complaint. He wasn’t a pony, but she could imagine his comforting heat anytime she needed it.

“I’ve got it, Cadence.”

“Good, hold onto it, power your horn and surround the snow pony with an aura,” she advised the young mare, who nodded gently and did just this. A see-through plum dome sealed over the figurine. “Good, now just transfer that body heat to the snow pony by imagining you are hugging them and feeling that warmth come from them.” Twilight imagined the horse was Spike and she was tucking him into bed after exhausting him from a hard day’s study. In her head, she could see the blankets folding around the snow creation, felt the build-up of radiation drive through her horn and flow into it. “Okay, drop the magic for a moment…” The purple shell powered down and Princess Mi Amora stepped closer, holding out a hoof. The look of delight on her face told Twilight she’d managed the spell, but she still moved in to hold her hoof up and feel the body radiance coming from the sculpture.

“Wow,” she giggled, warming both forehooves until Cadence encouraged her to back away again.

“Okay, before we give this thing hooves to run away on, it’s wise to put the precautions in place first. It’s,” She looked to the town clock, “ten-thirty now, we don’t need this pony walking around all day so imagine one-thirty this afternoon on a clock, then imagine you have a piece of string on this snow pony. If it goes further than the length of the string in your head, it pops back into snow. Simple enough?” Twilight wasn’t sure at first, but she tried it anyway. Her horn shimmered and she centered on an old grandfather clock from school, and the leash and collar she used to use on Spike, when he was learning how to run away. She didn’t feel the twinkle of a star leave the tip of her cranial wand, but she saw it as it floated gracefully away from her and plopped as light as a lost leaf onto the back of the snow horse, evaporating into it.

“Great job, Twily, you’re acing this.” Cadence rolled her wing along Twilight’s back, warming the young Princess’ heart. It was nice to be congratulated for learning something practical and she didn’t realise how much she’d missed it. “Now is the most critical part, the transformation. Don’t worry if you don’t get this right the first time, we’ve got enough snow to make a few more. Just like before, generate the aura around the snow pony, but this time imagine it’s your chosen pony. When you’re ready, send the strength of that image to the snow pony and transform them…”

Twilight singled out the white equine and captured it in the violet seal once more. Shining, she thought from the start, it had to be her brother Shining as he was the safest of all options. He wouldn’t cause a fuss, he’d listen to her and Cadence, and it was far safer than trying to conjure a pony or creature that might panic. But…

But her mind had been reconditioned from the other tasks to get to this point. When she thought of his brotherly hugs, she thought of Spike’s. When she thought of his smile, it was Spike’s ever hopeful and encouraging grin that jumped to mind. When she imagined being loved and protected and entrusted by any creature, the little lavender and basil drake was there.

The snow pony’s body glowed white hot for a split second in the purple shield, then dropped away onto amethyst scales with emerald spikes along it’s back and long, sweeping tail. The slender but brawny creature sat up until it knocked its head on the magical ceiling. It then looked around, hurt and confused as it saw its creator.

“Twilight?”

Slam!

Twilight shut the balcony doors immediately as Cadence guided the significantly-not-baby-dragon into the bedroom and sat him down on her four poster bed, using a nudge of magic to decline his head under the cloth roof. He just watched as both Princesses shed their snow protective clothing and shook off in the warmth. She told him to sit and be still like a good dragon should and was pleased that he obeyed her order, looking between them curiously.

Once Mi Amore had dealt with one concerned party, she quickly went to the other. Twilight was pacing the room now and not letting herself calm down as she looked from the snowfall outside, to the tall fire-breathing lizard sat indoors with them.

“Oh gosh, what have I done? It’s Spike but, he’s huge! What if Celestia sees this? She’ll think I’m trying to rule over Equestria with a great big dragon!” The Friendship Princess worried feverishly until her big sister grabbed her.

“Hey, calm down. Firstly, no she won’t, secondly,” she glanced at the scalie sat at the end of the bed and he gave her a wave. Smiling, she waved back at him. “It’s Spike. He might be bigger but that’s your friend.” She gave this reasoning some consideration and then asked, “were you trying to think of anypony else when he came to mind?” Twilight glumly nodded yes and admitted that it was supposed to become the effigy of her brother. This made Cadence give a breath out as she found the explanation and grinned gently to the pair in the room.

“I understand now. You were thinking about Shining, but you were also thinking about Spike. So, instead of creating either one, you created Spike if he were the same age as your brother, or at least what you, to the best of your knowledge, perceive he’ll look like when he’s that age.” She looked him over from top to toe and her smile widened, “I have to say, not bad either.”

“Cadence!” Twilight hissed and then looked up to Spike, tilting her head kindly if a little awkwardly, “How are you doing up there, buddy?”

“I’m doing alright, Twilight,” he answered smiling at them before looking at the toes he could wiggle on the floor now, “Whoa~” The Highnesses giggled at him gently but not cruelly which caused his cheeks to color cutely.

“That’s good, we’ll be right back, I just need a quiet word with Cadence,” The purple mare reached out her wing and turned the pink one around, turning their backs to Spike to let him mind his own business and see what’s new with this more massive body.

“You’re sure it’s not him?” Asked Twilight quietly, keeping her feathers up to hide their conversation. “He’s so much like him. Just, bigger.”

“It’s not him,” Cadence assured her, “as soon as it strikes one-thirty, he’ll be back to a pile of slush, just like Sunburst.” She thought about it carefully and then whispered, “what do you want to do? Want to turn him back into snow so you can try the spell again, or do you want to keep him around for a bit?” As Cadence asked this, she found her pulse quicken at the thought of keeping Spike around. Nothing too substantial but it was enough for her to notice it. What she didn’t detect was the way her tail gradually lifted and flagged gently at the ideas, dropping from left to right in the manner of a revealing feather dance.

The Aficionado of Love may not have been aware that her tail had become a lure for the tremendous yet innocent beast, but he had marked it as he spun back around from admiring his own dock. At first, it was just the choreography of her long silken pony hair that intrigued him, yet as it kept enticing and inviting him, he saw more. He saw the curves of her hind legs, the tight toned buttocks dressed with a crystal heart on either side. Finally, he caught the glimpse of the puffy pink privates exposed just for his eyes. Whether or not it was intended, his body responded positively to the still-early Hearth’s Warming gift.

“I’m unsure,” murmured Twilight carefully, “I… I don’t think I could turn him back. Snow or not, it’d feel cruel to do that to him. To Spike. Besides, if this is what he’s going to look like in a few years, it would be good to get a head start on the approximate size of his wingspan, his tail and more in preparation.”

“You mean science, don’t ya, Ladybug?” Cadence teased to a blushing Twilight, who mumbled that there may be a few points of research that this Spike could help her with too. The dragon behind gave a small growl, unheard by the two mares as his eyes switched from the rear showing all, to the starred butt that was holding back. It was fluttering a little but not enough to show the sweet jewel beneath the lilac drape. If he could reach out and nudge it out of the way…

No. This was Twilight! He couldn’t do that. She’d never forgive him… Would she? She’d forgiven him before… The Spike that Twilight built reached his claw out tentatively...

“Okay, it’s decided. We’ll look after him until he turns back into snow and-WHINNY!” ‘Whinny’ was not what Spike’s closest friend had intended to say next, but it was what came out of her mouth. Her head swiveled to look behind her at lightning speed and her jaw dropped at the sight she beheld.

The vision before her was ‘Big’ Spike, with her tail hooked between his thumb and fore-claws, lifted to expose her mauve flower she’d kept from his eyes from the moment he had hatched. Worst still, his free hand was wrapped around the biggest, thickest and most ribbed phallus either of them had ever seen, stroking it like a new puppy out of a bow-seal Hearth’s Warming box. Despite the sound of shock, Spike continued stroking and staring at the treasure his friend had kept from him, until his vast jade marbles turned to see Twilight’s magenta circles of horror.

“Oh,” he mumbled, slipping his claw away slowly from that highly restricted cookie jar.

“Ah~” was all she could gasp at the untoward turn of events.

“Oh, goodness,” trilled Cadence, head volleying at a soft pace from the unnerved pony, to the horny friendly giant. Eventually, Twilight spun around and not only covered her flank, but sat on it as well, however it wasn’t lost on Cadence the time it took before the learned Princess took this initiative. The mare most skilled in this sector stepped between the pair and sat too, holding her hooves up to both of them.

“Now, calm, both of you-”

“HE WAS LOOKING AT MY FOO-FOO!”

“I’m-I’m sorry Twilight! I-I don’t know what came over me!”

“I THINK I CAN SEE WHAT CAME OVER Y-”

“BOTH OF YOU! Silence.” Adopting the strength and stare of a furious Fluttershy, Cadence waited until the pair had yielded before she relaxed her state into a more natural calm and caring persona. “That’s better. Oh, Spike, don’t hide it, dearheart. It’s a perfectly natural part of biology.” She referred to the way his much larger clawed hands were still having a problem covering up the massive dragonhood still full-blooded between his legs. He let them drop and glanced away, growing more beetroot than purple in his face by the passing second. “And Twilight, it’s still Spike’s persona. This is all new and interesting to this guy so cut him some slack, okay? He’s not been through puberty. Remember what he is behind the veil...” She hoped that might help her little sis relax, but apart from a wiggle, Twilight was still on the fence.

“N-No, Cadence. It’s more than that. Spike’s more than a baby dragon I helped to hatch. He’s more than a friend, more than a personal assistant, even if he’s the best number one assistant and friend I could dream of. He’s,” her voice fractured slightly, but it did not take her long to recover it, “he’s my special little guy. I’d have given up a thousand times without him and I’d give up a thousand things for him.” She looked up to Spike this time without fury or fear in her eyes and gasped as she caught a teardrop from his cheek. Ignoring the dragon cock that curved up in front of his washboard scales, she flew up and held him around the neck comfortingly. There she nuzzling the wetness away.

“Y-Yeah, y-you’re okay too, I guess,” he mumbled playfully, creating a soaked set of giggles as they squeezed one another close.

“Come on, Little Ladybug,” thought Cadence with a smile, watching Twilight’s rump dangle precariously over Spike’s jagged prick and her wings working hard to keep it that way. “Don’t be shy…”

She nimbly tip-hooved closer to the hugging pair and motherly stroked Spike’s knee with a wing. He shifted to see her and gave a little gasp as he saw her hoof stretching out to touch his pride. He shuffled a little and extended his hand to silently stop her from getting to it without alerting Twilight. However, he was tenderly but insistently batted out of the way several times, as he tried to stop her from reaching it. After several tries to nudge her back, she flapped up and onto the bed, then shot out her leg and caressed it. He shut his mouth tight, humming what should have been a moan, which still alerted Twi’. She glanced down and squeaked, looking for answers as to why her brother’s wife now held her number one best assistant’s dick and was masturbating it slowly. Cadence was happy to provide.

“Spike, doesn’t this hurt?” She cooed sensitively, “wouldn’t you like some relief?”

“No!” He yelped rashly before another groan escaped him, “I-I mean, a little...” That small admission caught Twilight’s attention and her head wheeled back around to look at him, eyes bright but not shocked or furious. He glanced into them, seeing the shimmer and stammered softly. “B-But, I don’t need anything. I-It’ll go down...” He shied his head away and released his hold on her, tucking his arms and wings around himself as his carer flapped back to assess his honesty and humility. She noticed that he let his eyes flick to her again briefly and it was enough for his body to squirm at a thought that arose.

“Oh, did something here take your fancy, Little Spike?” Twilight heard Cadence ask and let her eyes drop, nostrils sucking in all of the air around her as she watched the slim pink mare lean over his lap and lick a bead of ejaculation from the end of his cock. “Mmm, delicious, sweetheart. Where did that come from, hmm?”

“Did it-” The words stuck in Twilight’s mouth. Spike’s head turned up to her slowly and although she had yet to complete the sentence, he knew what she was about to ask. He waited for it to come or pass, and his fluttering friend knew it had to come. “Did… I arouse you, Spike?”

Gulp~ His large leafy Adam's apple bobbed up in his throat, as he could just stare for a few seconds and only nod after that. The air left Twilight’s ribs with a melodic note attached to them and she bit her bottom lip slowly. She hadn’t admitted it at first, but the moment she’d turn to see him being a bad dragon moments earlier, a candle lit up in her mind. One she didn’t know she held for the drake she knew as a babe. It had warmed her inside and she had protested to hide it, but now that heat had found her nethers and she could not deny the saturation on her lowest lips. She took a seat in front of him, their gazes having not parted since the question.

“It’s okay, Twilight,” Cadence soothed between spreading coats of saliva on the knob at her nose, “if this is too much for you, I’ve got this. I can bring him the-”

“No.” Much to the surprise of Mi Amore Cadenza and Spike the very big dragon, Princess Twilight Sparkle got to her hooves. She challenged her own rational instantly, but it only showed in her face in one blink, before she was fixed on her direction once more. “A very dear friend to me told me recently that I’d do anything to make things right and I’d make sure I succeeded, too.” She placed her hooves on either side of his strong knees and levered herself up, smiling nervously but lovingly to the guy she knew from the moment his shell broke open. “I can be your first.”

That made Cadence’s ears prickle and had her shoot back out of Twlight’s way as the mare shimmied her way between his legs, still not looking at the task in front of her.

“Er, Ladybug? You know that it’s just snow, right? This isn’t the real Spike…” She leaned in to whisper as the purple pony got as far as she could, wings comfortably spread across his thighs and muzzle breathing on the throbbing prick. “This isn’t an accurate representation of what might happen between you and Spike…”

“I know,” Twilight answered with a frown, her ears flattening as her mind worked ten-to-the-dozen with this information. When the thoughts settled, one remained lit up and flashing in front of her foresight. She blushed up at him as a smile crept onto her lips, “but if it does, I’ll do the same thing there as I’m doing now. I’ll be his first.” As Cadence put her feelings about this to the back of her mind, she kept an eye on the Princess climbing up onto the slender but elegant drake, while urging him to lay back on the bed with a soft push of a hoof. Before his back had hit the sheets, she was progressing quickly across him, her hooves as light as butterfly feet with her wings flapping to keep her from dropping any weight on him. Her snout quickly arrived at his and emeralds shone into heliotropes.

Was this the right thing to do, Twilight was still asking herself at the back of her mind despite her bold words. He wasn’t just a friend, nor an assistant, he’d been a brother when Shining couldn’t be there. She raised him, she trusted him and he trusted her. Here, their trust was about to take the most challenging leap it ever could. Could they survive it? Yet, one look through the windows of his soul told her she could see he was asking the same thing.

If he’s thinking the same thing, then he cares the same way, her head explained, he would rather be unhappy and uncomfortable if it meant I was safe. He’d do that for me because he… She moved her mouth onto his larger muzzle, tilted her head and kissed him. She kissed him because she understood. She kissed him because she knew he wanted her to. She kissed him because she wanted to.

A claw moved over her back and pressed on her deftly, making her wings stop and her legs slip over his scales to cause her to straddle his stomach and chest. He tucked his other hand under her flank and scooted her forward with his new strength, then he truly kissed her back.

The Element of Magic entwined with the former Dragon Lord. It did not feel wrong. Twilight marveled at the splendor and beauty of her lover and rejoiced with tears, tongues and stroking hooves, her body feeling the embers in his belly burning strong, fueling his emotions and love for her. He did love her, didn’t he?

No, reminded her inner voice, he’s made of snow.

But he’s made of the memories from my Spike, her consciousness told her common sense, and he loves me. Ergo, Snow Spike loves me, therefore I… I love him. Her lips pulled back with a small pop of suction, her eyes characterizing the second half of her name. His tongue swept the remaining taste of her off of his lips while he waited for her next move. She smiled apprehensively, rose her rear and started to back up. Her horn gleamed and his substantial length was raised towards her petals, tail folding over her pelvis.

“Spike, I-”

“Twilight, wait!” She had been so engrossed in Spike, that she had forgotten Cadence was still in the room with them, until the unforgiving hooves pushed against her backside and stopped her within an inch of his rod, meeting her folds. She whimpered and looked back, her ears flat.

“Cadence, I… Please? I want this.”

“I know, Ladybug, but you cannot go driving a shaft even half his size into you without a little more lubrication. Come here,” without any hesitation or warning, Cadence planted both hooves on the soft parts of Twilight’s backside, then buried her face into the snatch, immediately setting her tongue to work. Twilight’s front jolted up as she whinnied in astonishment.

“Wh-What? What is-” Spike looked between Twilight’s forelegs and saw through the gap between their stomachs the Princess of Love eating out the Princess of Friendship. “Oh!”

“Ooof!” Cadence pulled back and rubbed her stomach with a blench and a scowl at his throbbing, bouncing cock. “Careful, big boy,” she croaked, “you’re as strong as you look!” She gave time for Twilight to pant and mentally prepare for the return of Cadence’s skilled muscle. Spike offered the hind princess an apology and wiggled his toes fumblingly, his claw stroking Twilight’s cheek. As they gazed to one another again, Cadence moved back in and clasped Spike’s hammer with her magic. They were kissing once more when she gracefully waltzed her tongue around Twilight’s engorged clit and rubbed Spike’s member in her magic again. Her customers gave positive sounds of appreciation.

A splatter of thick pre hit Cadence’s chest as she lapped at the winking hood. She paused to look at it, quickly scooped some in her hoof and massaged it into the puffy labium. With an extra flavorsome treat as incentive, she delved in and slurped around to the extra cries of a very pleased sister-in-law. Not once did the thought of who her brother was, or what conventional etiquettes ought to be cross her mind, as the Princess of all infatuations great and small understood this one between a little mare and her big drake. She knew that, in the future, she would have to deal with the ramifications of Twilight mating with a fake, grown up version of her sweet young friend, but she also knew that she was responsible for getting them all into this and had to help Twilight see it through to the end.

It was a final rub of Cadence’s manicured hoof on her cute little nub that caused Twilight to burst. From quaking to neighing, the purple pony’s eyes creased with a tickle of moisture on the edges and her wings flailed out, flapping like a baby bird falling from its nest. From her hot spasming cave dripped viscous oils, scented to entice even the stubbornest of mates and Caddy was hard-pressed not to snuggle her nose in and drink. This anointment from within was here to bless the next great guest to her welcoming sanctuary

As Twilight collapsed briefly on Spike, who, despite being uncontrollably aroused and eager to breed, still had the kindness to comb away her messy mane and stroke her cheek. Blindly, they both heard their third wheel slurp and groan, but only one felt the benefit of it. He moaned, groaned, even growled with satisfaction. After a few slaps of her tongue, a lot of drool and a wipe down hotdogging her puss on his penis, the shaky Mi Amore found the strength to trot around and flop on her back beside the dragon on the bed. Her legs were thrown apart carelessly and her head turned to them both.

“Y-You’re ready for each other,” she sighed, smiling hot-cheeked, “j-just take your time and no-one will get h-hurt…”

Twilight and Spike acted as they had always acted; together. He cupped her flank as she nimbly wiggled backwards, her magic levitating him once more into position. This time, nothing and nopony stopped them and Cadence looked to their expressions as her hoof cupped between her legs to enjoy this private show. When both faces gasped and shone with embarrassed excitement, she knew they’d made contact.

Together they held each other with their steamy pants mingling in the air between them. The pointed tip of the long lizard length rested on her pursed pony pocket. It was already an odd sensation for both of them and yet it felt like a long time coming, too. The subtlest of nods between them signalled they were ready to continue, and Twilight put her weight into Spike’s shovel sized hands. He needed one more bolstering gulp, before he let her decline and they both called out as he entered, stretched and filled her.

“AH-SPIIII~,”

“TWILIIII~GRRRFN!” A guttural draconic snarl oozed from Spike's gritted teeth. He paused her before she was ready to stop, not a quarter of the way inside her and already made her foal hole look like the last tunnel before Canterlot jammed up with an extra long Friendship Express. Lil’ Sparkle’s jaw was open as wide as it could go and her eyes watered at the sensations, but when she stopped him from going further, she managed to open one a little wider.

“Mmmff-Sssspike… I-I can take a l-little m-more… C-Come on, Spikey-Wikey,” protested Twilight sweetly, even though her mostly closed eye was already twitching a little. The drake steadied himself and scrunched his snout, flicking his tongue over his fangs.

“S-Spike… W-Want-Twi-Twi, I-I d-don’t wanna hurt you…”

“Yo-You never would, S-Spike,” she moaned, feeling a little more press into her, managing to reach out her hoof and unsteadily brush his mauve chop, “you’d n-never hurt me…” She kissed his claw as he pulled back one hand to stroke her fuzzy violet cheek, nuzzling against the points to prove her fact. His brow creased and he huffed through whistling lips, as he let her seat another inch of him inside of her. A shuddering nicker got the attention of both of them and they turned to a shivering Cadence, rubbing on her groin at break-neck speed while following their actions through squinted eyes.

“C-Carry on, d-don’t mind -oh-me…”

“I-Isn’t there an-anything we can do?” whimpered Twilight, moving her flank back up that same inch, then returning it to her warm crevice. Spike grunted under her, shuddering gleefully and growled with his deeper, older voice.

“A-Already on it, Twilight,” he groaned, as his arm and wing hooked around Cadence, pulling her closer to his side like a cuddly toy. Laying her on the coriaceous green inside of his wing, he ran the hand he’d coaxed Twilight with along her chest and belly now, culminating at her still clopping hoof. His delicate nailed fingers nudged her leg away and took their place, rubbing the outer limits first, before finding the wet spot and pushing inside.

“Ahh! Oh, b-buck yes, thank you Spike,” moaned Cadence gratefully, shivering and wiggling her hind as the no-longer-innocent dragon probed her, giving her the sight of him dipping in and out of her to enjoy, as well as the view of her not-so-innocent Princess sister riding him. She didn’t waste any time laying on her back and helped guide him only slightly to the places he could touch and push to really delight her insides. Pivoting and rocking her hips with him, a dopey smile fell over her face and her tongue dripped from one corner of her mouth.

Sparkle watched her special little guy’s claws pump Cadence and her body took over at the mere arousing vision before her. She used what she had inside her already and started pushing from behind with gasps, whimpers and whines. The more Spike’s spike pressed and slipped him backward and forwards along her slick slide, the more it smeared his pre into her channel and encouraged her to gush again. As her cunny clenched down on him, her body thrummed with waves of stimulated passion and her head swirled as she’d been into Applejack’s private batch of the strongest cider. She straightened up and tossed back her head in a loud neigh when her added weight squeezed him halfway deep inside her while her slippery waters streamed down around his meaty pillar.

“Ah-mmmf...n-nnnf…. Y-You’re… So tight, Twil- Rrrf… I-I…“ Spike shut his eyes hard again and snorted fiercer, his finger delving deeper into the pink pony squelching on his fast-moving hand. His tail whapped hard from one bedpost to the other, and he took no notice and did not cry out in pain. His foot paws shifted up onto the bed, knees raising behind Twilight’s back and his hips gyrated up to help the column fit further inside her. “S-Spike… Spike wants-”

“SPIKE TAKE!” Twilight found her voice disembodied and out of control from her physical body, yelling out without her ability to stop her mouth from moving or her voice from calling. The little bubble on consciousness she now resided in could only squeal warnings at the back of her mind as the outside force puppeteering her, fueled by a love for the dragon and devotion to his drilling spire, now gave him access to properly take her. She saw his eyes widen at the prospect and faintly heard him ask if she was sure, as his claw dipped and stopped inside his writhing, panting pony glove.

“No!” She wailed in the cage of her subconscious.

“YES!” The imposter screamed, bouncing in his lap and gleefully delighting in the way the nubs and bumps on his cock rumbled back and forth in a strip against her sweetest places. Some even tormented her clit in the most glorious ways and she was sure the trembles even reached the elusive G…

Twilight flapped her wings in panic when she found the bed was no longer under her hooves. She looked around, finding the room moving around her, but she was still safe in Spike’s sturdy grasp, as he moved from the bed, to the furthest wall by the burning hearth. His length added extra support to keep her upright, but it jumped and pounced even further into her ever strained open slot, nearing three-quarters and now busting the pointed top through her cervix. She only briefly caught sight of Cadence rolling over on the bed to watch, before her back was pushed into the crested wallpaper by the fireplace and the whole world became a mix of purples and greens. Spike had pinned her to the wall, completely off of her hooves, and was hammering her like a lustful picture being nailed to the wall.

“RRRRRRF! S-SPIKE….. TAKE!” He released a roar and she felt the flame blister some of the paint on the ceiling above her head, and still, she was not afraid. Maybe now he had truly fucked her senseless or she had lost that incredible brain of hers to the wonders of his draconic dong. but still, she trusted the beast. Her legs and wings were the limbs of a doll that she could do nothing with and when she looked down she could see him threatening to bust through her belly like an alien baby, but she still felt secure and loved and happy. Sweat flew, tears dropped and her excitement became a troublesome stain for the paid cleaners on the walls and floors, but she did not care about that. All she wanted, all she needed, all she craved was-

“SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE!”

The boy dragon accelerated in years had been stroked magically and physically, incited visually and mentally, licked, ground on and now was as close as he could get to being hilted inside a mare who meant the world to him. Indeed, he’d always have a place for Rarity and he’d never refuse to put her in the same honored position, yet for him and Twilight, this was special. This meant something and now it was nearing the end. He shut his eyes hard, letting the emotional salty rain sprinkle despite the lustful, animalistic part of him claiming her as his mare and he warned her with a yowl rather than a snarl that he was almost there. His whacking bag of nuts under her tailhole drew in, his body tensed up, and Twilight was squeezed between a hard wall and a harder dragon.

“TWILLLLIIIIIIAGHHHHH!”

She was already on the edge of a cliff with black creeping into her eyesight through the corners when she heard him howl, felt the reverberation of his last few clumsy thrusts, then pressure as he seized her sanctum with all the fat, filling fornicating tool it could receive. She accepted the flooding donation, and soon, with nowhere else for it to go, her womb bloated and she ballooned with the soup of his infatuation. She cuddled it like it was his egg and brayed in giddy, love-drunk happiness while he exploded with the pride all newly mated dragons felt. He could have kept going and going, but as his sweet, kind baby dragon mind returned inside the body of the hungry, greedy big drake, he looked down and saw her swaying, struggling and sagging.

Panting and grumbling contentedly in the pit of his throat, he turned and staggered back over to the bed. Cadence, breathless from diddling herself as she had watched them helped to receive the little wet and weather-beaten Princess, as they both ensured she lay down. When she was down and safe Spike subsequently wiggled and tugged until he came loose, his staff springing from the opening like a dart from a trap, chemtrails of cum following from the end as it continued spluttering them out. He landed on his tail with a grunt and a hiss, and crumpled his face at the feeling of it bending unnaturally. He reached down and started to move it out from under him. but stopped at the sight in front.

The mulberry legs were still flopped out, the mound between them a misshapen ‘O’, while his snow blitz poured like an avalanche from the gapping portal. Princess Cadence had moved over to look into it in awe and licked her lips, leaning down for a soft dive of her tongue through the draining offerings with a filthy flash of her eyes at him. She tipped her head back, swallowed and sighed happily with one ear cocked to listen to Twilight’s incoherent ramblings and shallow moans.

“W-Wow…. That was something, Ladybug… Are you okay?” She asked sisterly, reaching over to stroke the drenched purple mane with flamingo highlights. Between ravenous swallows of air, she gave a long and zealously rich smile, and cuddled her forelegs under her chin, peering across at her sister, before toppling her head towards Spike.

“That… W-Was…. I… ah- I … Love…” The few disjointed words were all that came. Her eyes closed on the last utterance and a deep, heated blanket of exhaustion draped over her. As her mind powered down for the rest of the day, she thought she heard Cadence in some distant place somewhere.

“...I hope your time’s not up yet, Spikey-Wikey… I’ve wanted to try this for a while…”

Spike’s elated roars came again in the far-off place, yet she still drifted towards the dreamscape. Before Princess Luna opened the moonlit gates and let her into the garden of fantasies, she ensured two thoughts remained on her mind when she awoke.

The first was that she would always prove her love for Spike no matter what.

The second was that she had to make sure they still saw Princess Celestia that Hearth’s Warming night. She now knew how she could make things right for her teacher again…

Author's Note

Want to discuss the story? Follow me to get ‘Switched On,’ on Discord...

One of the pieces of music I was listening to while writing this was ‘The Christmas Medley,’ by Two Steps From Hell, have a listen...

The idea of Spike was a late addition to this story... hopefully it works.

Thank you to Syn and AA for their editing on this story.

If this is when you stop reading, goodbye and safe travels.

If you're still strapped in for the ride, see you in the next chapter.

All good things,
Duskhoof

Chapter Five

A Tender Touch of Snow
A story by Duskhoof, Edited by Synesisbassist & AmorousArts

Chapter Five

It was noon. Precisely four in the afternoon, if the gentle bongs of the old grandfather clock in Cadence’s room was anything to go by. The sound soothed Twilight’s new aches and made her smile as she snuggled her cheek into a soft feather-filled pillow, while her body got used to being awake once more.

Life was odd. She was utterly exhausted and her lower half felt like it had been in a boxing match with Iron Will, yet her heart was full of songs and joys and energy. Unlike the last time she awoke, she remembered where and how she had been before sleep overcame her. Unlike the last time, she now had somepony in bed with her. All she needed to do, to understand who, was tilt her head to the sight of the blossom leg hugged around her.

“Mmm… Cadence?”

There was no answer. It seemed like her big sister had crawled into bed and passed out cold once she’d had her fun with Spike…

Spike…

Twilight carefully moved slowly, so as not to disturb the other Princess. She lifted the hoof hugging her off from around her and snailed gently to the edge of the bed. As she ran out of mattress to shuffle on and her hooves hung over the side, she tipped one shoulder forward to shift the balance, rolling her off of the bed and onto her hooves. A sharp pain lanced through her flank and she sat quickly, adding another sting through her. She put her hoof into her mouth to muffle the yelp and shut her eyes, letting the drip-droplets tingle along her eyelashes.

When she could stand it once more, she stood carefully and limbed over to the window, a hoof resting on the glass. Outside of the palace walls, the world kept going; the shops were finishing trading for the day, ponies were eagerly taking their gifts home to be wrapped and given away, good cheer to all ponies was a cause for celebration. Yet, in her own little bubble within the feminine scented room, Twilight’s eyes could only fall on the empty shallow pit quickly filling with snow, where her special some-creature had arisen from with her magical touch. Just like they had on the day her cutiemark came to her. She traced the pane between her and the reminder of what had been and sighed fondly.

“Spike…” It hadn’t been him. It had been a snow doll built with enchantments and her own perception of what Spike would be at that age. Yet, it had felt like him. It had breathed like him. It had bred her how she imagined he’d breed her... She touched her stomach tenderly, flat once more. Still, her backside did not feel quite as messy as it should have been, with it only as matted as it would have been after a heavy session with just her and her hoof.

“Mmm...Ladybug?” Her head turned, her mane flying out like the skirt of one of Rarity’s dancing dresses. Slowly, Cadence’s uncouth hair lifted out of the sheets, followed by her horn, her nose and the rest of her head. There was a squinch of coral and black between her mostly shut eyes as she spotted Twilight. “He’s gone, Twilight.”

“I know.” Despite feeling the carp swirling inside the pond of sadness in her heart, she smiled over at her. “Thank you for showing me the spell, Cadence. It was a lot of fun.” She swished her hoof back and forth on the window, then turned to the coat rack, gathering up her items to brave the outside world once more. The light fuchsia sister-in-law watched this with a puzzled and concerned frown.

“You’re going? You haven’t gotten cleaned up yet, Ladybug.” She tried to sit up straight in the bed and gave an “oof,” as she discovered she was having the same trouble as Twilight’s faltering walk was experiencing.

“I’ve got a lot to do and plan for tonight, Cadence. I can get a quick shower once I’m back in my old home. I don’t feel all that dirty, really.” She was determined, the coat was already on and her magic was fumbling with the zipper to it, although the previous activities had affected her horn’s depth perception. Cadence grasped the zipper instead and pulled the two parts of the jacket together, sealing it all the way up to her chin just like she used to when the young alicorn was a foal. A motherly smile turned up her lips at the memory.

“When the animated creature turns back to snow, everything created by it turns back as well. Even its semen. You have a lot to do?” She asked calmly, looking to understand rather than interrogate her friend. Even so, Twilight faltered. She licked the dryness from her lips and wandered back to the end of the bed, sitting to gaze up at her brother’s partner.

“The whole business with the photo and the signatures and Celestia? It’s all because of the journal I found in my old library. It once belonged to Celestia a very long time ago.”

“I remember,” Cadence assured her, shifting to sit closer to Twilight, “but I don’t understand how-”

“The journal had some of Celestia’s deepest, darkest secrets written inside it,” Twilight explained, her expression apologizing for interrupting, “about her, and about…” She hesitated as she realized how sensitive the information she was about to give was. Cadence rested a dainty hoof on her shoulder.

“You can trust me not to tell another soul, Twilight.” Cadence advised, giving her aching leg a rub. Twilight sighed, appreciating the suggestion and the stroke and nodded.

“I know… Celestia used to be in a relationship with somepony who later became her enemy. That pony was-”

“Sombra,” it was Cadence’s turn to interrupt as she correctly guessed the name of Celestia’s old lover, “I did wonder why Celestia sent us to the Crystal Empire when it returned instead of coming herself.” Twilight nodded gently.

“It broke her to defeat him the first time. I do not think she could stand the idea of doing it again…”

“... Because she still loves him,” concluded the Princess of Love, closing her tired eyes and sighing through a partially stuffy nose. “After all this time.” She helped tuck Twilight’s scarf up to her throat without it choking her and gave her a faint look of consideration. “When I saw her before the pageant I was curious as to why she seemed so lonely. I was going to talk to you about it, but you figured it all out before I had a chance to, clever little Ladybug.” She moved down to touch noses with Twilight, and the little Princess returned the embrace happily. They hugged and held their last share of affection for that afternoon for a short while, parting naturally when Twilight tugged on her hat and collected her saddlebag. “What is your plan? It is a little too late to find Aunty Celestia a coltfriend before Hearth’s Warming Eve.”

“I know that Cadence,” Twilight hearteningly replied, hobbling towards the door, “I’m just going to make sure that she spends the night with ponies who have cared for her instead. Past and present.” Turning the bedroom handle, she gave her sister one last look. “Again, thank you so much for showing me that spell. See you tomorrow for Hearth’s Warming at Mom and Dad’s, Cadence! Give my love and belly raspberries to Flurry Heart and Shining.” She giggled as she exited, fettering along the corridor towards home.

Before she was too far gone, a thought struck Cadence. She jumped from the bed and skidded over to the door, sticking her head out to call after her.

“We still need to talk about this stuff with Spike!”

“We will!” Twilight waved, clearly dismissing the implications, “after Hearth’s Warming! See you soon, love you Caddy!” Then she was gone and the Matchmaker sighed, resting her head on her doorframe with a glance at the stallions guarding it. They were obediently blind and deaf to all that had occurred there, as they were supposed to be.

She slipped back inside and shut the door, clumsily finding the balcony window now empty of her beautiful loving volunteers who had been made from the temporary tools nature provided. She could make more, but there was no need when her real warrior, teddy bear, and prince would hold her tonight.

As she watched new snow arrive, she sighed and let the cold glass chill her pressed nose.

“Did I do the right thing?”

The clock on the mantelpiece ticked steadily over the radiant glow of the fireplace that night. The walls coated in burgundy and sunflower wallpaper of the sitting room were lit well by lanterns, candles and the glittering lights dressed on a Hearth’s Warming tree. The rest of the room was filled with elegant bookshelves, seats and an excellent coffee table with the remains of that evening’s supper on a golden tray. The scents of cinnamon and spiced apples hovered through the room like Hearth’s Warming specters and occasionally the odor of the crackling wood in the hearthstone came to meet it.

There was a flutter as Celestia turned the page of the journal she was devotedly reading between her forelegs, laying out to bask in the presence of the fireside. All regalia and essence of her regal position were put away for safekeeping tonight, she was just Celestia. As a mere pony, she could divulge in her past and worry about whether she had made the right or wrong decisions, rather than accept that she had to make them for the good of ponykind. She could be proud of herself for the things that she did right, and lick her wounds for the faults in her stars.

Her hoof traced a drawing of Sombra. It was a good drawing, she was quite the traditional artist and yet most ponies did not know this. There was a lot that ponies did not know about her, such as her ability to create beautiful music with a flute, a harp, and a guitar. They had not heard her sweet singing voice and her powerful rendition of some of the Hearth’s Warming classics. They did not know that she could love one above all others and trust and need them. They did not know her. They just knew the idea of her.

She pressed her lips on the image that had lasted over a millennia and sighed softly, her eyes glancing to the music box playing faint jingles after all this time above her fireplace.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming, Sombra. I hope you are somewhere warm and loved...”

A knock sounded on her door. She had expected it and she knew it was not the maid coming to clear her dishes away.

“I did ask to be left alone tonight,” she called insistently but not furiously to the door, “I apologize Twilight Sparkle, but I need my space.”

“Erm, ma’am, it is not the Princess,” responded the guard loud enough to get through the solid pine, “it is her assistant, the young dragon.” Celestia’s ears perked at this and she got to her hooves, trotting gently across the carpets that muffled her steps, before unlocking and opening the door.

Spike’s head turned from the guard as though he’d been having a quiet word with him and looked up brightly to the intrigued, relaxed Celestia. He was covered up in a hooded top and scarf, his namesake poking up the back of the hood in several small hills. In his claws sat three gifts arranged in size. Celestia could only blink thoughtfully down at him, giving him a moment to speak.

“Oh, Hi Princess,” he started as though they’d bumped into each other passing in the street, “I don’t want to disturb you. I just wanted to leave the gifts from Twilight, Moondancer and I with you and wish you a happy Hearth’s Warming.” She levitated his burden away from him and placed the presents in a safe place, then turned back to him with a kind smile.

“I’m sorry Spike but I have to ask, did Twilight send you?”

“Twilight? Nah, she’s with Luna and her filly-friend tonight, helping them celebrate Hearth’s Warming Eve. We were going to leave your gifts with her, but…” He gave a great sigh, pushing his claws into his hooded top, “I’ve always been a little obsessive about making sure my friends get their gifts firsthand from me after I never got to give Moondancer a birthday present.” He shrugged softly and Celestia considered it before she beamed again.

“Well then, in that case, thank you, Spike. It was most thoughtful.”

“You’re welcome, Princess,” he bowed gently and backed up slowly, playfully saluting on his way back up, “I’ve got to get back before they query where I am. Have a really nice Hearth’s Warming, Princess Celestia. See you again soon!”

“Happy Hearth’s Warming, Spike,” Celestia offered the little drake as he hurried away, then backed up into her room, thanking the guard as she shut her door slowly.

Turning, she looked around at the orange flickering fire, the greens and reds of the decorations lovingly dressing the room, the bookcase filled with her favorite stories, many of which she’d read to friends, pupils and one little dragon in times gone by. Finally, she looked down at the old, dusty, leather-bound book laying on the carpet. She gazed at it as though it had appeared from nowhere and collected it in her magic, sitting it delicately on the shelf with the rest of the books. Immediately, she reopened her door and stepped out.

“Spike!” She was just in time, he’d only gotten as far as the first pillar, as though he hadn’t been in a rush to run away at all. He turned around and waved at her, making her laugh. “Wait a moment, I just have a few things to grab and warm clothes to discover, then I would like to join you.” She disappeared back inside and the hooded drake grinned in satisfaction, resting on the stone column.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” he chuckled to himself, “Spike the greatest actor in the world does it again.” He wandered back to the guard with his pointed tail swinging in pride and waited for her Highness to reappear. She shimmered into existence in the doorway, having teleported away to her quarters briefly to dress for the occasion. He admired the designer saddlebags having a hard time hiding the Hearth’s Warming gifts inside them and stepped back to let her out.

“What changed your mind, your Highness?” He asked as she closed the sitting room door and nodded to the guard to attend them.

“My own advice to Twilight in, what feels like, a very long time ago,” she advised, giggling and letting him lead the way to their next destination.

The cocoa steamed away happily in the tall bronze pot it had been brought into the hall in. The smells were enough to waft around Luna, Moxie, and Twilight despite their distance from the hot beverage, enticing them to come over. The table between them equally teased and encouraged them to feast as it too had been filled with every Hearth’s Warming goody imaginable, from cakes to pies, bites to mouthfuls, fruits and nuts, and baked delectables. Yet, it was all going untouched.

Moxie, in her first Hearth’s Warming Eve visit to the Palace, was a single audience member to a debate that had been going on for so long that only she had realized one of their party was missing. Her head volleyed back and forth between the game of verbal tennis.

“...And I say you should be the one to invite her, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna insisted. “This was all your idea. She should know that you were the one to arrange this for her.”

“I don’t want her to know I arranged all of this, Luna,” came the reply. “I just want her to come down and have a good time with all of us. I don’t think she’d do that for me, she’d find an excuse. But I think she might for you.”

“An incorrect assumption, little Sparkle,” The Night Mare advised, “I believe she would listen to you first and foremost, as you are so clever that you would find a way to encourage her down.”

“If you don’t decide who’s going up to ask her to join us, I’m going to go up myself,” Moxie ordered her superiors, obstructing the last round of their match. The Princesses both turned to look at her, causing her to subconsciously fiddle with her awkward eyepatch, a crimson one for the season, and shrug to them. “How about we all go together, hon?”

“That…” Twilight stopped to think about it, “that isn’t a bad idea?”

“I knew there was a reason I loved you, dearheart,” Luna chirped, trotting over and nuzzling her beloved on the cheek.

“You only love me for being the voice of reason?” The ebony and ivory maned mare quizzed with a flourish of her eyebrow, “the other week it was for my fantastic butt, the week after it was for my ability to dance like a megastar, which is it, Luna?”

“It is all that and more,” Luna remarked, smirking, “there are too many reasons to count, let alone advise you of them all, but I shall let you know each time one appears to me. Come, let us go find our main guest.” She helped shuffle her vision impaired darling off of her chair and the three grouped at the end of the table, trotting as one along the short walk to the entrance. What they did not expect was to have a well-dressed Sun Goddess and her little dragon friend stood on the other side of it when Twilight opened it. It seemed the pair had not expected this either.

“Good evening, all,” Celestia greeted them cheerfully, “either your psychic powers are more influential than I had perceived, Twilight, or you were expecting us.” She glanced to Spike who gave an abashed chortle, kicking at an imaginary football. Twilight gave a devoted grin to Spike and then addressed the question with a step back.

“We were all going to come up and ask you to join us, but I guess Spike beat us to it.” She walked forwards until she was beneath Celestia’s gaze and conveyed her honesty through her body language up to the grand mare. She took a breath, then started to write her old tutor a letter vocally, holding her fuzzy violet chest with a hoof. “Dear Princess Celestia, I know you want to be alone this Hearth’s Warming Eve, but I’ve come to learn something over the last few days that I wanted to share with you.

“It’s important to remember the past, the ponies we’ve loved and lost, and the ones that tenderly touched our hearts then had to go away. However, if we keep on looking at what came and went, we won’t see what we still have and we’ll miss making magical moments with those ponies before they too have to leave us.

“That is why, on this Hearth’s Warming Eve, I ask you to come to join us for a little bit, share stories and laughter with us and let the old woes of long ago go just for tonight. Would you like to do that, Princess Celestia?”

The tallest pale as pearls pony lowered her head to Twilight’s, sharing a ray of sunshine in her face that could heat and melt the coldest of hearts.

“Twilight Sparkle, that sounds like a excellent idea.” Her legs slipped out and wrapped around the smallest Princess in the room, pulled her in and held her close as they laughed and cried and enjoyed the love the other shared for them. Luna rested a wing on Moxie’s back, the red velvet love shifting in and kissing at the chilled blue cheek. Spike watched with a pleased sigh, then yelped as a purple wing bound around him and squeezed him close too. Momentarily, a peck brushed his scales, but it was so quick that he could not tell which Princess it was. They all unwrapped from one another and the colorfully glistening mane of Celestia lifted once more, her eyes thanking them all. She slipped out the foil papered gifts hid in her saddlebag and slid them under the tree for all of them with a daytime aura as she spoke.

“Twilight, Spike, Moxie, and of course Luna, thank you for arranging this. Let us not let this feast go to waste. Is that baklava? I love baklava...” She guided her friends and family back into the warmth of the room, closing the doors behind them.

A refreshing blast of silver fragments burst across Celestia’s snout, making her squeal out and duck too late to avoid the bombardment her sister threw at her. “Ahh!”

“Haha! That put them off!” Luna exclaimed gleefully, pointing across the snowy battlefield at her older sibling, “we are winning, Twilight Sparkle!”

“That’s great and all but we are trying to build the fastest snowpony by hoof, Luna, not start a war!” Twilight grunted as she hurriedly molded the head to go on the base of the figure they were building. The first to get the scarf around a complete snowpony would be the winners. The other group, consisting of Spike, Moxie and Celestia, were still shaping the limbs from the block of ice they’d constructed. Another ball of snow whizzed over their heads.

“Don’t worry, your Highness! I’ve got this! Keep going you two.” The one-eyed pony dived into the snow and snatched whatever they could spare, clumping together an arsenal, before peering out with a smirk. “Hey, sweetheart! Kiss THIS!” Luna looked over to see her mare spin, wiggling her curled chess tail and the flank it was attached to at her. She laughed and gathered a globe to throw at it, but suddenly her fillyfriend vaulted and span in the air, whizzing a ball towards her.

Luna’s wings sprang out and she squealed as the bolt crashed off of her horn, the equivalent of having brain freeze applied directly to the skull. She neighed and bucked as she tried to shake off the sensation, inadvertently smashing through their own submission to the competition and to the lamenting cries of Twilight. There was a louder groan as a large company of the guard from the Day and Night corps who’d been invited to watch the proceeding winced at seeing one team fall so severely behind the other.

“Haha! Now we’re winning, your Highness!” Cheered Moxie, getting behind Celestia to help roll the body for their statue as the other Princesses attempted to rebuild their efforts.

“My dear Moxie, call me Celestia. After all, you are the mare who captured my sister’s heart.” Celestia reminded her endearingly. Moxie fell behind the pushing of the torso for their creation, looking in reverence at the Princess almost blending into her surroundings. She gasped gently and felt a happy heat warm her chilled single eyeball. She was accepted.

“Celestia, I- AHH!” A fragile dove replaced the touching moment with an engagement as it burst into pieces across her chest, Luna whooping at another successful hit. Moxie blinked at her applauding future wife and snorted, stomping her hooves into the white shifting sands.

“HEY! We were having a moment, hon!”

“LUNA!” Twilight clopped her forehooves together demonstratively. “Focus! You’re behaving worse than Rainbow Dash after one of Pinkie’s cakes!” Luna fell back to task with a tiny apology and urgently attempted to repair the damage done to their work of art with her racing partner. The gleeful whoops when Team ‘Tia got their body on top of the legs did not help sustain their spirits.

From that point, any attempts to put off the other team were left to the wayside as they concentrated on being the first to finish. Twilight and Luna had a stroke of luck as Celestia accidentally dropped their snowpony’s head on top of Spike as they tried to sculpt it onto the top of their fiddly ice carving, causing him to flail as it replaced his actual head for a few seconds before shattering. The audience cringed.

“Opps! Sorry Spike!”

By the time they’d rebuilt a new one, the other team had their body renewed and were catching up on the lead. The chassis of their pony was placed down and the pair gave a supporting bugle to each other as they hurried to collect the finishing parts. They were lucky that the head Twilight had made earlier had not been destroyed in Luna’s prancing, yet the other group were now neck and neck with them. Both competitive parties cautiously tried to lift the shaped heads on to the frames of their models, both seeking to be careful and at the same time be faster than their acting adversaries.

However, one of them was faster. One managed to slot the head on, pat the neck around it to make sure that it stayed in place, gave it big black coal eyes and pointy ears, before finally wrapping it up in a warm woolly scarf. The referee, a nearby guard, blew the whistle he was given and held up his right leg.

“THE WINNERS,” he called to the groaning losers, “Celestia, Moxie annnnnd Spike!” The crowd applauded and stomped in congratulations as the triumphant team stepped around to the side of their creations and took a bow. There was mumbling between some of the soldiers in the left half of the spectators followed by a member of the rank breaking through to gallop over.

A gold canteen, emptied and cleaned with a sticker stuck to it that claimed it to be a trophy for “The Winners Of This Year’s Snowpony Contest,” was passed to the referee who looked at it and offered it to the Princess with a humble bow. She took it gratefully without a single concern for how small and insignificant it ought to have been and looked out over her shared squad. Clearing her throat, she straightened up.

“Thank you all for coming out tonight. My fellow Princess Twilight, who has long surpassed being my student and teaches me more often these days, gave me a good bit of advice tonight. This celebration is about enjoying being together with friends, family, and comrades. That is why, on this night for the foreseeable future, this competition will be held for all those in the Royal Household who wish to enter. A golden canteen shall be the prize for the winner. Afterward, the great hall will open up to everypony, so that all can share and be thanked for their hard work throughout the year.”

She glanced to Luna and Twilight, broadcasting joyful gratitude across their group. The Night Princess nodded and stepped out in front of their defeated monument, lighting up her horn for the doors behind them to open wide and allow every witness in.

“Spread the word, good ponies. Tonight’s festivities are on us.”

Author's Note

Want to discuss the story? Follow me to get ‘Switched On,’ on Discord...

One of the pieces of music I was listening to while writing this was ‘Carol of the Bells,’ by Dean Evenson, have a listen...

Nearly there...

Thank you to Syn and AA for their editing on this story.

If this is when you stop reading, goodbye and safe travels.

If you're still strapped in for the ride, see you in the last chapter.

All good things,
Duskhoof

Chapter Six

A Tender Touch of Snow
A story by Duskhoof, Edited by Synesisbassist & AmorousArts

Chapter Six

The party went on until late after midnight, with songs and stories, laughter and feasting with good will among all ponies in the company of the Princesses. More food and drink came out from the kitchens than the ponies had ever seen including at the buffets provided for the Grand Galloping Gala. Guards mixed with maids, chefs mingled with the secretaries of the palace offices, princesses rubbed shoulders with their serving ponies. It was a magnificent night, but like all fantastic times, it had to end to become another warm memory for all.

Each and everypony chipped in to clear everything away then bid goodnight to their friends, new and old, as they parted way and wished each other a delightful Hearth’s Warming. There were hoof-shakes, hugs, and the odd kiss of promises beneath sprigs of mistletoe between some of the more adventurous mares and stallions.

Luna and Moxie sneaked themselves away for a snuggle before the Night Princess took her place guarding the Dreamscape once more. Spike fell asleep long before the end and was levitated away by a giggling Twilight from the cushion he snoozed upon. Celestia was the last to leave, smiling sleepily at the recollections of the night that she would remember forever. Soon the palace was quiet once more, lights were dimmed and the only creatures that should have been stirring that night were the mice and the watchful patrols.

Tap tap tap…

Celestia sneaked open her eye, her head on her pillow already facing the noisy window with its curtains drawn. Her heart skipped a beat as she looked to the shadow painted on the covers of her doorway to the snowy outside world by her sister’s moonlight. A foot of the silhouette puppet lifted and tapped on the glass again.

Tap tap tap…

”My intentions are to be reunited with the one and only holder of my heart...”

The old words that were spoken from the lips of the stallion she once cherished above most came to her mind. She lifted herself to perch on her bed, unnerved by the similarities of that night and this one. She closed her eyes, breathed in through her nose to strengthen herself and swept forward, tearing open the blinds to see who was genuinely tormenting her this Hearth’s Warming night.

The violet irises of Twilight Sparkle shone in the moon’s delicate brilliance, the star pupil still dressed in her thermal winter clothes. Celestia opened the balcony door rapidly and took a step into the frozen night to recognise her student.

“Twilight? What are you doing up at this late hour on my balcony? Why are you not in bed, sleeping?” She asked with concern, “is something the matter?”

“Nothing’s the matter, Celestia,” she spread open her wings and backed up, her legs drawing lines through the sugary dust piled up on the porch, “I just wondered if you would mind taking one short flight with me. I have something I’d like to show you.” She tried not to plead too hard with her expression but hoped Celestia wouldn’t need any more information to take up the request. The mare of all things daytime considered it shortly then gave a light smile, bowing her head.

“I’ll get my cloak.” She retreated inside promptly and shuffled about, gathering the things she needed before reemerging at the door, ready to face the gloom and the cold with her young friend. The little Princess welcomed her with a smile and beat her wings, carrying her up into the air. Celestia followed her into the sky and together they soared up above the palace, looking down at the snow-covered terraces, frosted buttresses and the white-capped spires of her home. She twirled over Twilight and steadied herself beside her, gliding swan-like in the crisp sky.

“I realize this is something I should have done with you a long time after you ascended to an alicorn, Twilight. I am sorry we did not do this sooner.”

“I have to admit, it does feel good to fly with you, Celestia,” Twilight confessed with a blush, glancing to her old teacher as their feathers ruffled in the breeze.

“Then let’s not wait until next Hearth’s Warming to do this again,” came the reply with a loving grin, which was returned with gusto.

“You got it,” she pointed down, “what I want to show you is here, follow me.” She tipped her body forward and pulled in her wings to allow herself to decline towards the ground, with Celestia and matching her unquestioningly. As they drifted down, the elder Princess noticed their destination and what was prominently missing from it.

They landed in the Palace gardens where the snowpony challenge had taken place hours earlier. The bushes and trees looked like glucose-coated pops and the ground still bore the markings of the ponies who had been there that eve. Yet, something was not the same. The snowpony designed by Celestia, Moxie and Spike was now wholly dissolved, leaving a gap in the alabaster matting where it should have been. Celestia looked to Twilight for clues after she trotted about in a full circle to try and find it. Her young charge sat in the freezing slush and cleared her throat of nerves.

“Celestia, when I read your journal I breached your trust in me and for that I’m sorry,” she held up a hoof as the older Princess started to speak, stopping her, “but after that and speaking with Luna and Cadence, I realized something else that I never knew until now about you. You never got to resolve things with Sombra and that made you lonely. All these years, you’ve filled your life with the lives of ponies like me and my friends because you’ve been unable to fulfill the thing that has been missing from yours.” She stopped and looked up at Celestia, hoping she had not overstepped the mark by speaking her mind. The ruler of Equestria stammered, sighed and trotted over to sit with Twilight, draping a wing over her shoulders.

“I’ve regretted many, many things in my life, Twilight Sparkle, but not once have I regretted the attention I’ve paid to ponies like you and your friends.”

“I know that,” Twilight smiled, nuzzling against her side, “what I mean to say is, you’ve given up all this time to us. but you deserve somepony to give you something that you want. That’s why I did it.” She shrank sheepishly as her brain directly told her how badly this next part could go. Celestia furrowed her forehead and slipped her wing away slowly, giving her friend a face to say she was not mad, just curious.

“Did what, Twilight?”

“Did… Well, that.” She pointed ahead and Celestia lifted her gaze to where she was indicating. A second later, she was in front of Twilight in full defense mode, wings spread and horn empowered.

“DO NOT COME A STEP CLOSER.” Inside the bushes, the stallion she recognized froze in shock like a fox gazing at the point of a spear. Twilight darted back around and threw herself between Sombra and the embattled Princess.

“Wait! Wait, Celestia, wait! It’s not King Sombra! At least, not the way you know him.” Celestia looked from the contending filly to the veiled umbra in the shrub, then back again. She lowered her energy and folded in her wings, keeping her tone authoritative to secrete the nerves of finding her lover returned in her private gardens.

“I trust you, Twilight, but I am going to need you to explain everything to me. And I mean everything.” Twilight accepted this term and waved the mustang out from his hiding place as she started the story from the top. She explained how she had caught Cadence schmoozing with other stallions and assumed the worst, only to discover that the Princess of Love had developed a spell to animate snow into escorts for the day while she was missing Shining. After explaining how her big sister taught her the spells, she gestured to the pony Celestia had been keeping an eye on the whole time.

“This is the snowpony you built, but he’s enchanted with the spells Cadence taught me,” she revealed as she charged up her horn. A small pair of twinkling stars lit up from the tip of it and traced around Helia and her shadow pony, before disappearing against their chests with a final flicker. “He’s now in your care. If he goes more than twenty feet away from you then he’ll return to snow. When dawn comes, he’ll disappear. Will that be long enough for you, Celestia? I can make it longer if-”

“That-” Celestia faltered, gazing at Sombra, “That will be long enough. Thank you, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight looked between them, still noting the influential manner her senior was speaking and fearing if this had been a bad idea. She was about to apologize and call the whole thing off, but a quick snag into Celestia’s warm hold stopped her. “This was incredibly thoughtful of you, Twilight. I never thought I’d have another chance to speak to my Sombra. I-” her voice cracked again, then Twilight felt the kind loving press of her Princess’ lips against her forehead. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you, Celestia,” she whispered, bunting like an affectionate feline under her chin and nuzzling her chest. At lastly, she stepped back and tried to hide a yawn behind her hoof. Celestia observed and smiled, nudging her young student on the head.

“Time for bed, young Sparkle,” she insisted, stroking her mane, “I think Sombra and I can take it from here.”

“Y-You’ll be okay?” Twilight asked, rubbing a fatigued eye, “you won’t need me around in case-”

“No,” promised Celestia, smiling, “you’ve done more than enough. Thank you again, Twilight. Happy Hearth’s Warming.”

“Happy Hearth’s Warming, Celestia.” Twilight smiled and turned, waddling towards the door. ‘Tia watched this with a little amusement, guessing after the story told just why this was so, then lifted her voice for the last time to her fellow Princess that night.

“I’m always proud of you, Twilight. I hope you know that.” The purple mare stopped, folding her ears back and gasping gently. The words had been simple enough, but the motherly gravitas behind them held more meaning than her teacher could ever comprehend. She looked over her shoulder, watching the Sun and her Shade walk away into the winter wonderland together and sighed, sniffing back her emotion.

“Good luck, Celestia,” she whispered, watching the lovers go until the world of white agreed to hide them, letting them understand their place in this world for one more time.

The pair walked together through the trees silently for a long time, one not knowing how to find the confidence to speak to the stallion she had not seen for over one thousand years while the other obediently kept his mouth shut. The snow crunched under hoof and danced between their eyes, and their manes were speckled with the tiny dancers falling from the sky. Finally, Sombra cleared his throat.

“I do not wish to interrupt your thought process, but as we only have a few hours to discuss what has taken place in the last one thousand years, perhaps we should start speaking?” He suggested, glancing to Celestia. She snorted derisively and nodded her head, unable to look back at him.

“You are right. We have until dawn. Let us start at the part where you broke my heart.” Sombra stopped, watching Celestia continue a short way, before she stopped too and looked back at him. The image of the stallion she once knew lowered his head and huffed a steamy breath.

“I’m sorry.”

“Excuse me?” Celestia looked at him, taken aback and slightly furious the two words had even left his mouth.

“I’m-“

“I heard you,” she snapped, “but that does not clear up the damage you did! Ponies enslaved, a war waged, an empire lost to Equestria for more than a millenium all because you decided you deserved the power over all things-“ she stopped, expecting him to defy her once again with his supercilious beliefs, and yet he did not. Instead he gazed at her sadly and lost a sigh in the dark.

“Did you not make the same decision?” He asked so gently that she was taken aback. Their final conversation had been full of fire and brimstone and she expected this to be no different, but why was it? She considered his question and swayed her head.

“No, I didn’t. I decided that ponies deserved the choice of how they wished to live.” She wiped something wet from her eye and wandered back to him, gazing down at her last great flame. “The good creatures of Equestria have the right to tell my sister and I that they no longer need us, find other ways to raise the sun in the morning and set it at night. After the Crystal Empire was frozen in the ice of the North, we let our subjects decide whether they wanted us to continue to rule over them. The vote was unanimous and has been ever since.” The stallion opened his mouth to reply but he couldn’t, there were not any words that could make things better.

“Power can be taken, but if it is to last then it has to be granted freely by those that are to be overpowered.” The snow Sombra knew these words from the account in the journal Twilight had read of their last meeting. Celestia had spoken them and she had been proven right. Her power went unquestioned and even defended by the ponies who loved her, fending off him and countless other endeavors to conquer her throne. All failed because she had the respect and belief of her citizens. They wanted her to succeed.

“You were right,” he said eventually, startling her once more, “power earned is far more potent than power taken. I was a fool not to listen to you, my love.” He smiled at her with genuine lamenting in his eyes, a sight which made Celestia realize why he felt so familiar.

“I was a fool not to see that sooner,” she murmured, watching him and giving him a turn in feeling perplexed. She returned her voice to its natural volume. “You are Prince Sombra, seen through Twilight’s eyes. Not the cruel stallion I saw in our last meeting, but the one who rapped at my window one cold Hearth’s Warming like this one. The one who brought me my music box with a dash of Twilight’s own heart thrown in. You apologize to me because you have not committed any heinous crimes nor will you ever, by the dawning of Hearth’s Warming day’s sun you’ll be gone.” Sombra listened to her intently and let the stillness when she finished wash over them. He mulled over her examination, his ears lowering as he understood what she meant.

“I am not here to apologize, am I?” He watched her shake her head. “Then, what good am I? What is my purpose for returning for a single, solitary night?”

“I think,” Celestia offered thoughtfully with a small, fond smile, “you are here to help me move on. I loved you Sombra, but I need to say goodbye to you now. I need you to bid me farewell as well. Properly, this time.” He gazed at her inquisitively for a small period, before his eyes widened, tilting his head in astonishment.

“You want to do… ‘that’ with me?” He asked skeptically, causing her to titter.

“Can you, snow pony? Do you have the equipment my beloved once claimed me with?” He looked under himself to check and raised his head again stammering, blushing hard behind his black-furred mutton chops.

“It appears so, but we have walked far. I have no magic, being what I really am, would you teleport us to a bed or-”

“No need, dearheart,” she interposed, smiling seductively, “the snow shall be our bed for the night.” He reacted even more hesitant at that, looking from the ashen floor to her and back. He started to stammer more questions, only to be silenced as she pushed him quickly into their accommodations for the evening, her horn flaring as she did so. He flailed and neighed shrilly as he expected to tumble into an iced quilt, but was thrown as his body hit a warmth akin to that of bedding that had been recently slept on. He studied his keeper of the sunshine as she strode over him, her horn’s light dimming to nothing.

“The warming spell,” he uttered in awe as she started to lay down beside him. “You learned it from that single conversation with Twilight?”

“Nonsense,” she laughed, shaking her head and rolling her eyes at him, “who do you think taught Cadence the spell in the first place.” She sighed blissfully as she spread out her limbs in the hot snow, shifting it about, to create an effigy of an angel before pausing and glancing to Sombra. She took him in, admiring the hoof work Twilight had put into making him the exact double of the stallion she had drawn in her book. He had the muscles, the rugged good looks and-

“Oh…” He blinked and flicked up his ears, following her eyeline before covering up his swelling genitalia.

“I apologize, I-”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she muttered, reaching out to push his legs out of the way, “I want to see it. It’s just that it is the only thing that does not match.”

“It doesn’t?” He whickered softly, his cheek meeting hers as they both stared at his protruding length sliding out of its casing.

“It doesn’t,” she confirmed, nonetheless fascinated, “your penis was redder, not mottled with black splodges and perhaps a bit thinner, too…” Despite this, she moved in. He gulped, rolling further onto his side in the pleasant cotton sheets covering the land and lifting his leg a little higher. She took in this new addition to her long-lost sweetheart and looked up at him considerately. “May I, dear Shadow?”

“Please, Helia,” he returned, extending his forehoof to feel the swirls of her mane stream across it, “you never had to ask.” It was the right answer. Her face filled with love once more and her head broke the gap slowly so that he could admire that adoring gaze, before it separated to exalt his stallionhood. The tool may not have matched up to the one she once knew, but the sounds the workhorse made more than repaired the memory.

“Mmf… oh… m-my lady,” he whispered as her tongue cradled the red hat resting on his toughening two-tone pole. She listened to him and pondered whether her ancient methods of loving this stallion would still work, or if the different equipment meant learning new tricks. To find out, her oral muscle swirled the head, then curled around the circumference of his meat, hugging it as she lowered her head to the base and back up. Her ears pricked and her eyes closed in ecstasy as she heard the sounds from her stallion that she had gone without for so long. She took the flute into her lips side-on and showed him just what songs and melodies she had learned to play in his absence.

“Mmm-mm-mmm,” Sombra’s eyes lit as he heard the song she hummed up and down over his instrument, making him quiver and sigh with a stretch of his limbs. He listened to the tune and smiled widely, shivering at the carnal music being shared with him and cooed a few bars of the tune too.

“Hearth’s Warming Dreams, our favorite carol,” he sighed, feeling her nod with his pipe still clasped in her mouth, slipping upwards to the tip once more as it produced its donations to the tune being created in the otherwise silent night. “You r-remembered…Ohhh…” He shook as she gathered him into the heat of her maw and suckled away the pieces of silver dribbling from him. His hoof traced her ear and circled it, then lost it completely as she moved swiftly to gobble him up. Her muzzle came to rest on his medial ring, he tossed his head back and broke the hymn with his elated bray, his tail spraying snow as it smashed the heated coating repeatedly. He quaked as she gradually and dutifully escalated backward on the pony-maker until his tip was back against her lips. Then he felt her pant delicately, nuzzling his groin as it wobbled and throbbed from her current ministrations.

“It-It has b-been a while s-since I tried anything like that,” she gasped, melting blasts grunting through her nostrils on his muscle.

“Y-You’ve not taken a mate since I..?” He asked in innocence, causing her to laugh blithely.

“You-mmmf- flatter yourself, good Shadow,” she stroked the dick with a careful hoof and licked away the new specks of seed appearing at the end. “I have, of course, but… None were like you,” she admitted softly, glancing up dotingly with the end of his cock rested on her nose. He smiled at the admission and gave her head a light brush then pulled away from her. She looked to the organ being carried away and gazed at him in uncertainty as he got to his hooves. He shook off the dampness clinging to his body, limbered up, then made his move with a wink.

She let him manipulate her with his touch, prompting her to roll and lay on her back then stretching out her wings to keep her there. His last urge was a parting of her hind legs, the dawn-tinted split resting inside them. It scintillated in the reflection of the moon and seeped softly over her thighs and dock. He sniffed into the vapor of her amorous steam and sighed like a pony about to enjoy a great meal. Before he eagerly tucked into it, he carefully stepped and stood over her, his flesh resting across her mouth as he bowed between her legs. The fat member restricted her view, but she still felt the first run of his tongue along the leaves of her sex and every tour it made after that.

“O-Oh… S-Sombra, j-just like that,” she sang, her eyes turning upwards in wonderment at the pleasure of cunnilingus provided by the oral skill of her idolizer. Soon her hips were moving of their own accord, drawing a different kind of angel in the forgiving sleet under their mating motions. Her eyelashes fluttered with an aim to shut, but sprang back open when the vibrations of noise rippled through her susceptive walls. The very same music she’d played to him was now being harmonized to her on her personal harmonica between his loving lips. She gasped and withered, stretching her legs up at once to ensnare his hips and return his musical material to her maw.

He struggled with the ballad as the sensations of her vocal cords reached him once more, but he persisted still to create the tune with her, a duet of star-crossed ponies having their final hurrah. With music came dancing and their bodies soon found the rhythm. She rose and he dropped, he lifted and she sank. They swirled and bounced to the tango then hopped and bopped to the Charleston, finally swaying and swishing to the Equestrian Smooth. All the while they created new tunes from their whimpers and sighs that would only be heard by their ears that special, unprecedented night.

Suddenly, the tongue finding the right notes on the keys of her soul stopped playing and the pianist pulled from her piano.

“NNggfff- Celestia, I-I’m h-holding it for you, b-but… But I-” Sombra gulped in oxygen as he tried to explain himself abjectly, his hips struggling to keep with the beat and clapping her throat in an irregular pattern. She opened her eyes, seeing the rising and falling balls in the veined obsidian sack definitely pulsing and clenching as they held back a powerful climax to this sweet piece of opera. She tasted the precipice drizzling from his whistle, pulled it all the way back and brushed his cutiemarks steadily with her gold slippers as she tunefully gave him his next order.

“Release. Release for me. Give it all to me and do not hold back anymore.” He might have asked if she meant it, but he soon found out before his words came into being as she grabbed his waist, rested his lower horn on her tongue and pulled herself up, filling her throat with his instrument. He neighed out at the sudden euphoria of musicality blazed throughout the entirety of his magical existence. His legs weakened and his hind half sank as he delved his head back inside her thighs, trying to get her to the fanfare of her aria. Yet, his lips quivered and his voice wailed, and his song finished first.

Celestia was still on cloud nine as she felt his essence pour into her gullet in recognition of her melodic accompaniment on his elegant cornet, satisfying her stomach with rich foal batter. The inflamed tube beat the cadence over her warm, wrestling tongue, but not once did his bastings meet her taste buds. Regardless of this, she hugged his squirming rear as it still tried to produce some sort of encore while in the midst of its close and kept it restrained as she listened to Sombra finishing his chorus.

“N-NNNff…..Oh… Ah! Ah-Ah, H-Helia, swe-sweet and loving Helia, I pray t-to thee!” He brayed, his hips finally quietening and his body soon rising from its seat for the bow. She tasted the final three drips of his meaty sauce, then watched the bow pull from her nose and hover above her. The stallion, although shakier, was still careful as he stepped around her, circling until he was facing into her snatch. Like a wild cat in the brush, he gazed over her pubic fur at her and leaned his lips towards his unfinished work...

“M-My S-Shadow… W-Wait a moment.” The breathless princess moved her hoof over her puffy, moistened sex and recomposed herself after the use of her lungs was allowed once more. She shut her eyes, letting the temporary dizziness reach a manageable state then raised her head and settled her passionate eyes on him. “Come.”

He knew what she meant, just as he had understood all those years ago. He admired her sweet bud one very last time and then gathered himself up, stepping gently across her once more. Still, on this circumstance, his face and hers were aligned, and as beauty reached for her beast she embraced him adoringly and kissed him, with the knowledge that she would lose him. Tongues clashed, tastes were swapped and bodies brushed, but they did not waste any more time as Sombra dropped his hindquarters to the level of her resting pelvis. She wiggled her hoof down to clasp and direct his maleness, and together they reacted when his tip touched her slip.

Celestia broke the kiss and flopped back, the snow beneath parting like a cloud of flour. Her eyes admired the romancing crimson stones glistening back at her and her free hoof petted the pitch black mane dripping with water over his handsome features. She would miss this again, she knew that, but she would not let it stop her finding something else. Somepony else. Until then, she would make sure she never forgot this moment. A roll in the snow with her greatest weakness. She raised her hind legs and wrapped them around his flank, gave him a reassuring nudge on the nose, then tugged him in hard and fast.

The shadow’s companion had no resistance with Helia’s tunnel. It raced into it like a bat out of Tartarus and hilted her in the first swoop, the two devotees whinnying in lust and pleasure. Sombra gave Celestia no reprieve and she did not need it, as her hips instantly tried to rise to him as he parted from her. The gap did not last long and rapidly he slammed her back down onto the heated powder, squelching his cock into her once more.

“AHHH O-Oh dear sweet good Shadow,” she moaned as she tossed her head back, trustingly exposing her neck to him. His lips brushed it as his hind floated again and kissed as it pounded down. He felt her breath quicken and her gullet swallow as his body dropped and filled her, pressing into the places that had not felt a lovers touch in far too long a time. It became more than Celestia could possibly hold back and eventually she found herself thrashing and tossing as he made her body reach its ultimate peak.

“SOMBRA-AAHHHH~!” Her walls clung onto him for dear life and attempted to milk an orgasm from him that he was not quite ready for. They forced a jet of sweltering love juice across his cane and squeezed out across butt and balls onto the snowy ground beneath. Celestia held him for her own comfort as she swam to fainting heights through her zenith, but did not drop in motions and kept pulling him down to mount her over and over again.

Once her ability to see and understand the world returned, the Princess pulled her stallion into another kiss and clung to him like that. Her tongue caressed and massaged his, speaking a language without sound as their owners bred and loved one another. Her strokes and curls around him declared that she would be okay, the collection of salivas approved that he could go his own way when the last dowsing on her fires was complete, and the rest on top of his oral guardian told him she trusted him entirely. Utterances and wails were shared, yet none said more than the expression of the kiss.

Their four forehooves pressed into each other when his actions accelerated. His body rolled and waved with some familiar and some original moves, all of them driving her completely wild. He knew her, he loved her, and he gave her what she wanted without compromise or complaint. She, in turn, gave him herself for one night only and let him into her deepest reaches, where he had once left a piece of him inside the residence of her womb. She drew him and urged him to seal a fresh helping of his lifeforce inside her body, although she knew the day would inevitably come and every part of him would go. That made her want a small bit of him to keep even more and she matched his tempo, to the speed and strength that he was prepared to go to make love with his last desire.

“Yes-Yes again, more! Ah-Ah-AH-AAH!” She sweetly whimpered when she dropped back from another smooch, feeble, joyful sobs beaten by loud, exultant cries. They had made their den of concupiscence in a place where no guard nor wanderer should stumble upon them, and so they allowed themselves to lay bare every yelp and howl that reached their vocal range. The melodies and songs were now in the past, the screams and shouts amidst the wet slapping, clapping, stamping groins were the present and future as the pair eagerly showed what this last procreation meant to them.

“RRf! NEIGH! MMFF!” He snarled atop her as he rode in place, prompting her to open her eyes and watch him. In the forgiving pale illumination, he was like a charging wolf with his marmoreal teeth bared and his nose producing veils of steam. His muscles rippled and fur gleamed as his shape shifted back and forth in a race to nowhere. He was like a classical painting, that could be admired for hours and still something new would catch her eye and excite her. Yet, as his eyes switched down to look at her, she found her body fluttering again and her twitching eyelids had to close as her loins warned her that the next build-up of ecstasy was about to blow. Another bray from him, spraying spittle and heat across her gaping jaw, prepared her for his pending explosion too.

“Nnnnf- Cel-” He started, only to find her muzzle try to smother his mouth. She did not let him signal that his crashing, flinging bones would soon come to rest on hers as his ultimate climb would be reached. She would not let him end without her. She lassoed his middle with a shockingly perfect bind of magic, and with the charm, her legs, and his brawn, they broke out all the stops to reach their frenzied accomplishment.

“MMMMMMMFFFFF!”

“AAAAAAAMMFFFFH!”

The roars, the screams, the neighs, and whinnies were all drowned in the maws of the two copulating lovers as they came together in hearts, in bodies, and in liberation. Hot spunk sped past watery gushings and collided in the middle in one sloppy, cherished clash. The movements ceased, the legs squirmed to hold one another and the glow expanded to encompass the reunited couple, as they felt each other provide the most fitting end to their parting nestle on the tender snow.

Their bodies had not relaxed when Celestia allowed Sombra to have his mouth back, her eyes partly shut and her chest working overtime. He breathed deep greedily, though he did not need the oxygen the way she did and found enough strength to ensure his weight did not pin her down, his tail swishing across her legs as they lazily dangled off of his hips. Both found a foreleg each move over her filled stomach, and so Celestia pressed her Shadow Stallion’s hoof against her slightly distended belly, smiling up to him cordially. He returned the caring grin and rested his horn to hers, letting his eyes shut for a good, long while.

“I may not be your real Shadow, my sweet strong Helia,” he said at last when only warmth remained, “but still, I love you.” Celestia basked in that knowledge and sighed, smiling as she allowed tears to finally move up high enough to trickle over her rose pink cheeks.

“Tonight, and onwards, y-you are the Shadow I will remember casting, S-Sombra,” she wept, choking back a laugh as she added, “even if you are a dream created by my closest living friend.” She raised her head and let him nuzzle away the streams no matter whether they stopped coming or not. “I love you…”

“...But you will love again,” he assured her, raising his head from her. Her dianthus florets rose to his wide poppies, and together they bloomed for as long as they possibly could.

“I will love again,” she agreed, sniffing and emanating her own reverent ray. She could love again.

“Goodbye, my love,” Sombra sighed in a hushed whisper.

“Goodbye, sweet Shadow,” Helia replied, her wet smile shining to him admiringly.

The last chime of the bells of the Palace rang out, indicating that dawn was ready to arrive. Sombra sat in front of Celestia and bowed his head gently. He said nothing else and neither did she. They had sat in front of each other, prepared for the toll. They let the echo of the gong reverberate around them and when it was gone, Celestia’s horn awoke.

The vast ball of brilliance rose from the edge of the horizon as she let the morning of Hearth’s Warming arrive for all of Equestria. He watched it in awe and sighed, cuffing a droplet of ice falling out of one eye. He turned his head back to her and let her see how proud he was of how far she had come in the space of a mere millennium and she, in turn, showed her joy at how far he had come in a single night. She tilted forward and rested her lips on the front of his curled horn and gasped at the sensational chill that came from it.

As her sun continued to rise steadily into the sky, she watched his body break up slowly into millions of new snowflakes. They drifted into the air like the umbrellas of a dandelion, carrying him away to destinations she could not follow. Before he was gone completely, his disintegrating form moved his hoof to his lips and blew her one last kiss, spreading a spore of ice dust into the atmosphere and curling around her, before glittering onwards and upwards.

The last clutter of the snow stallion evaporated and twirled away, new daylight made them sparkle and shine as they glided up, and Celestia sat and watched them until they were completely out of sight. She sighed longingly once more, already missing that tender touch, but knew she had to move on or she would risk being frozen in place once again.

She got to her hooves, made her cloak and garments as presentable as she could, and took the long walk back to the Palace and the warmth of her bed. She could have teleported, but with her mind abuzz with the entire night’s events she felt it better to stroll and make sense of all the things her mind held onto. In no time at all, it seemed she’d made the journey without realizing it, stood in her bedroom facing the warm inviting bed.

Yet, besides removing her sullied clothing, there was one last thing she wanted to do. She shed herself of her burdens until she was in her fur and nothing more, and lifted one of the gifts she had received from where it sat on her bedside table. Her horn blushed and she turned the tag to read the note on the other side.

“To Princess Celestia. Happy Hearth’s Warming. I hope this brings you new memories. Your faithful student, Twilight. x”

She peeled the card from the wrapping and set it aside for safe keeping, then nipped the ribbon fastening the paper and pulled on it to release the surprise from its trappings. As the gold and silver foil sheet dropped open with the undoing of the purple bow, Celestia found herself looking at a new music box. Although it was not identical to the first she had received, it was equally as ornate with birds and flowers carved into it. On the top, in exquisite writing, flowed two words.

“New Memories.”

The Princess contentedly beamed with satisfaction at the thoughtful token of her dear sweet Twilight’s love and opened the box, listening to the first tuneful pings of the device start to play. Sighing a relaxed breath, she levitated the musical ornament onto the table beside her bed and crawled into the covers to get as much sweet tranquility as she was able.

Her eyes blinked as she watched the music box lull her to sleep and before she found her new, happy dreams, her last thoughts played over the back of her mind.

She would find love again, and the memories that came with that special somepony would be sweeter than ever.

~The End~

Author's Note

Want to discuss the story? Follow me to get ‘Switched On,’ on Discord...

One of the pieces of music I was listening to while writing this was ‘Carol of the Bells,’ by Dean Evenson, have a listen...

And here we are, the finale. Loves labors have been lost, won... and yet one thing remains unfinished...

Thank you to Syn and AA for their editing on this story.

If this is when you stop reading, goodbye and safe travels.

If you're still strapped in for the ride, see you in the epilogue...

All good things,
Duskhoof

Epilogue

A Tender Touch of Snow
A story by Duskhoof, Edited by Synesisbassist & AmorousArts

Epilogue

Hearth’s Warming morning had come at last.

Twilight watched her young drake friend Spike hurry around excitedly with the Hearth’s Warming gifts he’d opened the night before. He’d gotten a bunch of Power Pony comic books and a pair of big-headed bug-eyed statue versions of Hum Drum and Masked Matter-Horn, a lot of new clothes that made him look even more dashing than ever and the biggest jar of gem cakes he’d ever seen.

His last present from Twilight was held back until the end and nudged over to him when he was done watching her open her gifts from him (a new quill and ink set with over twenty colored inks to choose from, some scarves and a self-cleaning rotating whiteboard/chalkboard) to his surprise. He’d opened it to discover a readily prepared and stylish wall chart but with the loud clanging of drink tankards and pony chatter that night he hadn’t actually heard her explanation of what it was or meant.

As he brought his other items to show and tell about with their gathered friends and family, he reached that particular one and stopped.

“Err, Twilight? Remind me again what this is?”

“It’s clearly a schedule, dear,” Rarity commented over her first cup of Earl Grey. Pinkie Pie bounced out in front of her, nearly causing her to spill it.

“NO! It’s a remastered game of chess with 36 new squares and ONE HUNDRED PIECES THAT YOU CAN DRAW ON!”

“It’s none of that,” Rainbow Dash sniggered overhead, “it’s a training regime, you’ve got to start working off that puppy fat, little buddy.” She prodded his belly playfully, which he grumpily flailed away before giving a concerned looked to Twilight, asking if that was true. She chuckled fondly and shook her head, cheeks reddening.

“Nothing like that at all! It’s a bucket list, Spike.” She trotted over and took one of the magnetized squares and a pen, showing him, “I realized we’ve been so caught up in doing the things I’ve needed to do that we’ve neglected a lot of things you’ve wanted to do. I’m going to make sure I have more time for my special little assistant.” She nuzzled him lovingly and gave a sweet sigh, but could still see he and a few others were still confused.

“It works like this; what’s one thing you’ve always wanted to do? Anything at all in Equestria but it has to be something you’ve never done before, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” She expected him to say that he wanted to meet the actors of the Power Ponies live show or see Equestria’s biggest gem, something she expected the little, beloved dragon she knew so well to say.

“I want to drive the Friendship Express!” She started to gleefully say that she knew he’d want to do that, yet stopped herself quickly. She HADN’T expected that.

“The… The train?” She checked she hadn’t misheard, only to see him nod and giggle bashfully.

“Sure, I’ve always wanted to pull the whistle, Twilight, ya didn’t know that?”

“I… I guess not,” she confessed, shrugging it off slowly, “you’re full of surprises, Spikey-Wikey. Okay, so we put that on this board,” she drew the train to the best of her ability on the chip and put it in the first square, “and then we make sure you get to do it one day! If we do all one-hundred things, then you get to think of another one hundred things for us to do.”

“Wow… So you’re really gonna fix it that I’ll drive the Friendship Express someday?” He asked with growing excitement, almost squealing when she nodded. He threw his arms around her in a loving hug and thanked her wildly. Cupid’s spell was given new kindling as she felt him press against her and she sighed, stroking him leisurely and peacefully.

“I’m glad you like it, Spike. I hope you fill it up real soon so we get to have a lot of adventures together,” she added, circling her wing with a hoof.

“We can all help, darling!” Rarity beamed, setting down her cup, “there may be things my contacts can help you accomplish or Fluttershy’s animal friends…” Fluttershy nodded hastily.

“...And there’s an Apple family member in almost every state an’ country if y’all need a place to stay on y’journeys!” Applejack called. The friends excitedly murmured about all the possibilities and for once, just this once, Twilight was almost jealous that this thing couldn’t be an experience for just her and Spike. Something they could grow and bond over, maybe even-

“Twilight, sweetie,” her mother called suddenly as she started to daydream, waking her from her thoughts. She looked over curiously and saw Twilight Velvet raise a gift still in its wrapping from underneath the tree. “It looks like you missed one. It’s got your name on the tag.”

“Oh. Well, that’s strange. I don’t remember seeing one.” She got up and broke away from the others, trotting over to take the present from her mom in her magic and lightly nuzzling her. “Thanks, Mom.”

She turned the tag but found no clue as to who the gift had come from, only that it was indeed addressed to her. As Mrs. Velvet went into full motherly/ grandmotherly mode and ensured everyone was being fed, watered and entertained, Twilight Jr. turned her attention to the wrapping and nipped at a lifted fold, pulling it to tear away the glittered covering. Inside was a square box the size of her head and a note. She unfolded the letter and gasped as she recognized Celestia’s coat of arms instantly, spreading it open to read it.

“Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I know I told you not to read dusty old books, however, I have decided to go back on my word on this occasion.

I hope this particular one shows you just how much you’ve come to mean to me, too.

Your proud teacher and friend,

Princess Celestia.”

She read the letter a few times, smiling brighter each time she ran over the words. Then, touched and more curious than ever, Twilight refolded the letter and put it down, taking the cardboard lid of the keepsake box and lifting it. She found a bundle cloaked in yellow velour and helped it out of the case, uncovering it. Within she discovered a book almost similar to the old journal that had caused her so many problems a week ago and she wondered whether Celestia was trying to share more secrets with her. She undid the lace keeping the pages and the cover flat, turned the leather hardback up and gulped.

The notes on that primary page spelled it out for her.

“~The first volume of memoirs of Princess Celestia, regarding her pupil Twilight Sparkle.”

Then, beneath that;

“Now, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight released the breath she was holding with a shudder of emotion and turned the leave over, reading the opening paragraph of the book her tutor wrote and documented on her.

“Twilight Sparkle. If everypony had an enigma to solve in this day and age, then she is undoubtedly mine. From the moment I met her, I knew there was something special about her and it was not her magical prowess that inspired me to grant her a place as my personal student. There is something about her that I cannot put my hoof on yet that tells me she is going to be vital to me and Equestria. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that I’d feel unsafe not taking this gamble on her, regardless of my mistakes in holding faith in my last promising pupil.

She has studied under me for some time and soon I will have to decide where I shall send her for her to benefit from the wider world. Yet, I am scared that she might forget me and move so far that I am unable to follow her. However, for her good, I will find her a place that I know she will flourish and build new friendships in. I am considering Ponyville, as it is a thriving rural town with a lot to offer her young mind. I will set her tasks there and believe in her because her heart is pure even when her mind is distracted by her studies. She never dismisses a chance to help somepony older or younger than her and she always has time to teach her lesser skilled peers.

I know that wherever Twilight Sparkle goes next and what she does, she will not let me down. Ponies may have chosen long ago to trust in me, but it is in Twilight Sparkle that I place my own trust. I look forward to seeing what she does next.”

“Hey, Twilight?” The Princess of Friendship lifted her head and looked over, Spike gesturing to her parents, family, and friends readying the table for their Hearth’s Warming dinner. “You want a bit longer to read your new book?” She looked down at it, then back up, before finally shaking her head and hovering it away to place on an empty lectern.

“No, it’s fine, Spike. I’m coming.” She got back up from the Hearth’s Warming tree and cupped him in her wing, holding him happily against her shoulder as they walked the short distance to the table.

“What is it about, anyway?” He asked nosily, glancing up at her. She thought about the best way to describe it and smiled at the only word that came to mind.

“Memories, Spike. Memories.”

~Until we meet again...~

Author's Note

Hey, want to chat with me and fellow readers, writers, and editors? Pop into our ‘Switched On’ Discord, Just tap on this link!

A particular piece of music that often inspires me for the future is this one; "Hopes and Dreams", originally by Toby 'Radiation' Fox, but orchestrated on this occasion by Rush Garcia. Have a listen ;3

I wrote this story as a thank you to a lot of people who've bolstered me and encouraged me to keep writing, told me that one day I'll be noticed and given me the greatest gift of all; Friendship.

If you've read, liked, or commented on one of my stories, then thank you so much. If you've helped me, edited for me, sang to me (yeap, that happens), talked to me, befriended me or done anything at all to keep me going then you guys are the salt of the earth to me.

Lastly but not least, Thank you to Syn and AA for believing in this story, editing it for me and making sure I saw it through to the end. Y'all deserve a drink for putting up with me, but I hope you'll settle for me saying I think the world of the pair of you, the favor will ALWAYS be returned. Just, ask :3

All this leaves me to say to you is, have a cracking 2019. I hope this is your year.
2018 has certainly been mine.

I love you all more than words can say.

Always, All Good Things,
Your Friend, Follower and Encourager,
Duskhoof.