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