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